a letter to Tumnus

Saw this and nearly died.

The Chronicles of Narnia was one of my favorite series when I was little. Do you remember being so engrossed in fairy tales that you were sure they were real?

image via weheartit

the sweetest engagement.

steering you here because I nearly fainted from too much cuteness.

The Little Prince

Antoine de Saint Exupery's The Little Prince is one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking, profound, and educational books I have ever picked up. It's full of childish wisdom and perspective, laced with Exupery's sweetly simple illustrations -now brought to life in pop-up form!


Available at Anthropologie.

Some quotes:
"Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

"I should never have listened to her," he confided to me one day, "One should never listen to the flowers. One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance".

"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction."

"You become responsible forever, for what you have tamed."

Are you in love yet?

Please Sir, I Want S'more

I learned this past week that one of my favorite people in the world has never (never!) had a s'mores*. Yeah, I gasped a little too. Having a pretty insane sweet tooth myself I just couldn't stand for that. In my opinion, the choco-marshallow confection is integral to a healthy childhood (did I say healthy? I'm sticking to it!). So tomorrow we're doing it up right: Homemade graham crackers, homemade vanilla bean marshmallows**, and slabs of deep dark chocolate.

Graham Cracker recipe HERE.
Marshmallow recipe:

after trying several recipes over the years I assembled this one which uses egg whites. If you're wary of whipping egg whites (I understand) you can find one without, using a little internet research.

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water

1/4 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon powdered gelatin

2 egg whites, room temperature

1 whole vanilla bean, split open and scraped or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

cornstarch

Line an 8X8 baking pan with plastic wrap. Spray generously with cooking spray and sprinkle lightly with some cornstarch, shake the excess off. In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine 1/4 cup of the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer. Sprinkle the gelatin over 2 Tbs cold water and let dissolve. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites. Add the vanilla seeds and continue whipping until stiff. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and let set 24 hours at room temperature. Unmold and cut squares with a hot knife.

To assemble: Lay your chocolate on the graham cracker and the marshmallow on top of the chocolate. Now stick it all under the broiler until the marshmallow is toasty ( like mine burnt) and the chocolate is soft. Finish with another graham cracker on top.

*poptarts don't count.

**I homemake everything, it's sort of a sickness.

Are you in love yet?

Am I out of line to say this is the best fashion shoot Vogue has ever done? The high fashion magazine brings to life a classic fairytale in which Model Natalie Vodianova poses as Lewis Carroll's beloved literary icon, Alice, alongside designers dressed as Wonderland's whacky inhabitants. You couldn't ask for a more beautiful collision of fashion and whimsy.



Photos by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue, via A CUP OF JO. See the slideshow here.

Where The Wild Things Are

One of my favorite childhood books coming to the big screen. It looks so dreamy.

Based on the books by Maurice Sendak. I have a Wild Things stuffed doll that I call The King of the Monsters.