Classic Seaside Style

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From blue-and-white stripes to espadrilles,
all the classic nautical looks you know and love.
These easy pieces are perfect for relaxed weekends.

Melissah xox

Images via Coastal Living 

Check out my other blogs Scrapbook and Country Style Chic

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Friday Favorites

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Doing simple things on a regular schedule is good medicine. For me, when another Friday rolls around I'll get a slight twinge of pleasure at the thought of sharing another edition of Friday Favorites. It's not some earth changing event, or uber-vital commitment. It's just my weekly opportunity to blurb some things that are tickling my fancy at the moment, and hopefully some of these things will find you fancy folks equally as ticklish to their nimble-hip-cool-tastey-classic-bold-profound-subtle-fashionable fingers. In other words...sharing my Friday Favorites is a little thing. And take it from a gal with lots of life experience, who has suffered many ups and downs...You should strive for a life full of little things. I find that it's way easier than being a big picture type o' gal. Usually the big picture is something that cannot be helped...it's something that's gonna show up whether you like it or not...the big picture is always gonna be on display...loud and clear. And because of it's glaringly bright intensity the little things may become completely blown out in contrast...like if the sun had freckles. There's the big bright face of the sun...and rumor has it that she's got an adorable spray of freckles across her cheekbones...but you'll never see these because her face is way too bright to get a good look at. But you know how you just might get a peek at those adorable freckles? There's a trick that not too many people know about...and it's simple...it's this: "Be Cool."...Because what is it that "cool" people do? They wear shades silly! :) 
What I'm saying is this...put on your shades...chill for a minute to take a look at the little things. The little things are what life is all about. So here's this Friday's list of Favorite little things. 

Ok...up above...get a good look. That is a teeny tiny truck that converts into a teeny tiny mobile bakery! Can I please just attend a yard party where this cute as a button bakery on wheels comes rolling up!! California Bakery  just may possess the cutest little mobile branch of operations ever!


Can it just be Fall already?! Not that you really have to wait till then to bake up something like this Sea Salt Chocolate and Pecan Tart...but if I'm indulging...if I'm surrendering hook, line, and sinker to this edible portion of heaven, then I'd like to give myself over entirely to the experience. I want to be wearing layers of cozy gray sweater material whilst sipping some hot coffee and watching billowy silver clouds move across the late afternoon sky. 





Again, this simple phrase rendered by Molly Jacques plays right into what I was saying above about seeing the little things in life. One very big little thing is Molly's mind blowing gift for hand lettering. The typography game is fierce right now and her work is at the top of the field. With a client list like Martha Stewart, Anthology, and Bon Appetit...I don't think you'll be able to miss her handiwork.






Totally in love with the incredibly darling, creative, handmade boutonnieres from Fritts Rosenow. You gotta take a look at their collection. With categories like "groupie", "nautical",  and "Geek Chic" you are bound to find something adorable for that boringly naked lapel. These are one of those things that fall under the "why would you not?" category. 
Example: 
Q: "oh dear...why would I wear a boutonniere that looks like a mounted deer head?" 
A: "why would you not?"



This darling dress from Marimekko. I've blogged my love for their patterns in the past and once again, I'm so smitten with how playful their designs are. I feel like their stuff is walking art. And now is as good a time as any to reference another great quote from the master:
  "One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art." - Oscar Wilde


Love this sign by Andy Carlyle hanging in the lobby at Scoutmob. Don't you want to be a Maker of the Authentic, the Unique, and the Curious? Or at the very least...don't you want to support those who are?? I do.
And speaking of Scoutmob...I'm now reminding myself to blog about them at greater length next week. Scoutmob was responsible for a very good mail day this past week and they've directly enhanced my daily iced coffee experience. I'll be blogging a bit more about them soon so be sure to check back!


And while on the subject of Makers. This rules. I love the typography, the sentiment, the lifestyle it nods to. And get ready for this...It is a temporary tattoo! One of many super fun designs over at Tattly. Their selection of temp tattoos is so so goood. I'm imaging little dudes or gals strutting around with some of these. I love the toddler tattoo scene. 
I'm totally going to be ordering some!

Ok, Happy Friday to all! Breaking Bad is only slightly more than 48 hours away!
xo, Jenny...and Aaron says hi!



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Chemophobia: Don’t focus so much on chemicals in food; focus on the quality and quantity

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I always recommend keeping variety in your diet and just eating healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins (fish, beans), and non- or low-fat dairy/dairy equivalents. By doing this, you do not need to worry about every little additive in food and worry about meeting your nutrient needs- because if your diet is well balanced and varied, it should happen almost naturally.

Many people suffer from something called “chemophobia”, when they are afraid of synthetic and natural chemicals found on their foods. Chemistry Professor Gordon Gribble from Dartmouth recently published a paper in Food Security stating that the fear of chemicals in modern food may be unnecessary since they are usually harmless and may even be beneficial. He states that many of the man-made “poisons” such as PCB’s and certain pesticides have similar chemical concentrations to those found in nature. He argues that the bigger focus should be on food safety in terms of bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens which cause thousands of hospitalizations and deaths each year.

My recommendations:  Again, I’m going to encourage you to try to eat the most natural diet as possible, and try to make 90% of that food “healthy”. Try to eat mostly whole foods (cooked grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, fish, eggs, etc) the majority of the time. However, you don’t need to worry so much about few preservatives found in the whole-grain, low-sugar cereal you eat, because as long as you are natural-whole foods most of the time, that preservative most likely won’t do much harm to you. Eating lots of added sugars or not exercising will probably harm you. Eating charred red meat or sausages will also probably harm you. Furthermore, if you wear perfume or cologne, walk outside and breathe in car exhaust, rub lotion into your skin, wear makeup, etc… you are probably exposed to many more dangerous chemicals than you are by eating your morning breakfast cereal or eating a slice of whole grain bread that has one or two preservatives. So just relax, be rationale, and try to eat whole, non-processed, non-charred food products most of the time!


Reference:  Gordon W. Gribble, 'Food chemistry and chemophobia', Food Security April 2013, Volume 5, Issue 2, pp 177-187 DOI: 10.1007/s12571-013-0251-2

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