girl crush (on garance)

garance dore is probably the cutest french woman in the world. i'm pretty sure this is common knowledge to, well, everyone. you know this and i know this.

as if anyone needed more convincing however, garance has created a video series (or vlog, if you will) of her life as she covers fashion week in new york and paris:

(Pardon My French, Episode 1 also sparkling here)

so no, no one needed more convincing. garance dore is a total doll. it's a fact. but there is something about seeing this fabulous woman in her fabulous every day life that really seals the deal on the matter, isn't there?

hello again!

i know a lot of bloggers graciously apologize after being absent from their blogs for months on end, or posting too irregularly, but since i'm pretty sure i'm the only person who actually reads sparkle and swoon i'm going to just go ahead and ignore that etiquette.

basically, to keep it short and sweet, i've made a conscious decision to come back to blogging. everyone (ha!) alright with that?

how about some eye candy of the black and white variety to get us back on track?...

(sparkling here via pinterest)

(sparkling here via pinterest)

(sparkling here via pinterest)

see you again soon, blogland!

the art-affectionado's ocd dream

in this project, The Art of Clean Up, Ursus Wehrli takes ordinary objects and "cleans them up," organizing them by size, color and type. this brilliant series follows on the heels of Wehrli's successful Tidying Up of Art and More Tidying Up of Art, in which he resituated well known pieces of art, like Van Gogh's "The Bedroom," and compiled the pictures into books.

it may just be my OCD (as a child i organized my t-shirts by color and my stuffed animals by species and size. and not much has really changed,) but these photos make me so happy. seeing everything in its rightful place just delights me. i haven't watched Wehrli's ted talk yet, but the mocking, self-conscious humor that seems evident in this series makes me think he and I are on the same OCD (or CDO, for those who really understand me on this,) wavelength.

(sparkling here)

parisian dreams

in precisely one month i will be departing for europe. i can hardly contain myself! while paris will be neither my first nor only destination, i can't help but be most excited for that stop on (at least the first half of) the trip. i'm hoping it will be filled with art, romance, and meals that resemble this one:

(sparkling here, obviously. my go-to when i need my paris fix.)

romance cure

after a nice weekend, today is really turning out to be a sucker. (and a 12-hour sucker at that.) so, to get through it i'll be imagining that this is my monday instead:

(sparkling here)

wedding wednesday: best palm springs wedding ever

in life, is there really a better strategy than aiming for the best? i don't think so. being the best, doing the best, and having the best time is crucial. so what better way to approach your wedding, just like lilia and ryan did here, literally calling their wedding the Best Day Ever. genius.

that dress is perfect. she looks adorable. and a personalized tote is an awesome favor.

what gets me about these photos? it's the hanging poms, obviously.

i think this might be the best day ever, personified.

yummy-looking appetizers and super smart bud vase place settings.

best day ever: mission accomplished.

(all photos sparkling here. and mad props to photographer, sean flanigan)

namibia

(namib-naukluft park sparkling here)

isn't this painting photo amazing! yeah that's right--it's a photograph! isn't it insane?!? it looks like it could be a children's book illustration. but no, it's just this namibian sand dune and some photographic play with light and perspective. and did i mention the colors?! awesome.

this is how the nat geo photographer, Frans Lanting, explained the painting-like appearance:

"[the photo was taken] at dawn when the warm light of the morning sun was illuminating a huge red sand dune dotted with white grasses while the white floor of the clay pan was still in shade. It looks blue because it reflects the color of the sky above. ... The perfect moment came when the sun reached all the way down to the bottom of the sand dune just before it reached the desert floor. I used a long telephoto lens and stopped it all the way down to compress the perspective."

i don't completely understand it, but i do completely like it. i wish i was capable of doing something, or anything like this.

the element of surprise

... there's really nothing like it. and meg watcher does a great job exploiting it through photography in her project entitled, "Dumped!"






what i really enjoy about this project are the various expressions that having food (or soap) dumped on your head, apparently elicit. it looks kinda fun, doesn't it?

dumped sparking here