summer cuts

The guys celebrated the first day of July by hitting the Barber Shop bright and early this morning.

How cute are they with their so-fresh-and-so-cleanness? Be still my heart.

Hive

I love this messy newfangled version of the beehive. If my hair was a wee bit longer and I was not such a klutz with the bobbypins I would totally give this hair DIY a shot.

Why I Am Disinclined To Cover My Greys

Gorgeous.

The Kiddo's First Haircut

Well folks, with the Kiddo's mane finally having reached completely unruly proportions, yesterday we decided to take the unprecedented step of getting a trim.  Here's the "before":

The "during":

And two rather model-pouty "afters":

I love that I can really see his eyes now.

Mornin'

On the Street With the Kiddo

The Kiddo and I went for a walk along 125th street in Harlem today.  Here are some of the people and things we saw...

Redhead Envy

I came across this image last week on a street fashion blog, and I was positively riveted by the look. Not just the color of the hair, but its incredible shape, along with the overall intensity of the woman's expression (those brows! Those lips!) really stuck with me. In fact it triggered the realization that I have always harbored a serious case of Redhead Envy!

It probably all started I was five years old, which is when I became addicted to playing my LP record of the soundtrack from the 1982 movie version of Annie. I couldn't get enough of the songs, always making up my own living room choreography to go along with them, while rapturously envisioning myself as feisty, self-reliant, unapologetically flame-haired, and stupendously lucky orphan. Sometimes I would go so far as to re-enact the nail biter of a scene from the movie where Annie is dangling by her fingertips from the bridge, trying to evade the villains played so deliciously by Tim Curry and Bernadette Peters. To do this, I would dangle by my fingertips from the back of the couch. I was a tall five year old, so this maneuver required that I hold my knees up so as not to have my feet touching the floor, while yelling "Punjab, help me!" (Hey, what was lost in realism was made up for in sheer enthusiasm!)

The matter of Redhead Envy was compounded when I was around nine years old and I discovered Anne of Green Gables. I actually remember seeing the 1985 movie for the first time at a playmate's birthday party, and I was immediately hooked. Soon after, I read every Anne book I could get my hands on and watched the series of films religiously. I really identified with this literary character more than any I have encountered before or since. Anne's obsession with imagination and romance, her devotion to books and poetry, her grandiose vocabulary, tendency toward mishap, and her weakness for fashion all spoke to me and entertained me mightily.

These two old favorites had receded in my memory until recently, when I happened to see an add for the 20th anniversary edition of the Anne movies, and two things hit me: First, I have now lived long enough to have a favorite something turn twenty years old three years ago! Yikes. Second, I would love to see those movies again! That got me rummaging around on youtube, where I laughed till my sides hurt (here) and bawled till I couldn't see straight (here) watching clips of my dear old redheads, Annie and Anne.

I guess the love is stronger than the envy!

And since we're on the topic, I also happened to recently stumble across an apropos blog called A Rare Breed that is devoted to portraits of redheads (boy, was this post inevitable, or what?!).

Here are a few of my favorites:

{It's All In the} Marvelous Details

After a few hectic days and the onset of a matching mother-son cold, I finally got some time to myself this morning (bless my sister's heart, she is a fabulous babysitter!) to catch up on my hobby of trawling for little inspirations online. Here are a few of the resulting finds, which are almost enough to make a girl stop wheezing and sniffling. I just have to share:

Artist Frances Trombley's hand-embroidered take on a Publix receipt (via This Is Glamorous):


These glorious Uppercase and Lowercase scarves from Little Factory (via MStetson Design):


Ok, love the bangs, scarf, and tailored shirt. Three things I always have a hard time pulling off (via Garance Dore):


And of some lucky Parisian kid's rooms, these two enchanting photos...the cubbyhole bookshelves! The gorgeous dollhouse! The loft hideaway! Oh my! (via Ohdeedoh):

Love This Look

Spotted in London and posted today on Face Hunter.

Fabulous Home Birth Mom of the Day: Erykah Badu

photo from the New Yorker

Erykah is the mother of two children, and both were born at home. Here's an interesting quote I found on Mocha Milk where the artist speaks about breastfeeding her oldest child until the age of two:

"When I first had the baby, I was breastfeeding for two years straight, so we were together for two years of his life - every day, all hours of the day. So I was two people, and I eventually morphed back into one. Now he's part of me. He's very independent as a result of it. I thought it was going to be the opposite...I was very worried that he was going to be attached since we were together every day, but I guess it made him feel comfortable: 'I know she's around. She'll be there.' It made me feel like a very responsible person and tidy, and my health was better because I'm now responsible for someone's whole reason for being."

And just because I'm a huge fan of her music and personal style, check out the video for "Honey" from Erykah's new album, New Amerykah, Pt. 1 (4th World War):

hair today, gone...