Christmas Countdown: Baby Talk!

All my friends have babies.

Or are having babies....

Or are in the process of birthing them.

{like literally... due at any second!}

I couldn't be more excited

for these little ones to be around...

the more the merrier, right?

But all this means,

my shopping list

has plenty of the PG crowd to consider...

From baby to big kid-

here are some fresh picks 

that will keep you on 

your munchkin's "Nice" list...

Ruka Ruka Custom Birth Day Print {girl shown}/ £25.00 Salvador Dali coloring book- Nest Dallas/ $8.95

Airflow Collectibles, Sky King Plane- Gilt Groupe/ $300.00 Trumpettes Nordic Baby Socks {3 pairs}, Gilt Groupe/ $11.00

Baby Life glass bottle {pink}/ $14.49

Monday Mood: I feel... fancy

Emma Watson. Family Affairs.

It's a well known fact on this blog

that I really like Emma Watson.

So naturally,
I've been pouring over her cover piece 
for December's VOGUE UK.


It seems that famed photog,
Mario Testino,
was channeling her doe eyes & cropped do
to pull together a Twiggy-esque shoot.


And it's amazing.

While reading celeb gossip researching the shoot

I learned that Emma's younger brother, 

Alex Watson,

is making his way into the spotlight.

He was even brought into her Burberry ad campaign.

via

 Mario Testino also made these images of the starlet...
yet, I feel that the mood of this series is a bit more vague to me.


Maybe he was envisioning:

"A British family checks into a French hotel...

and the brooding little brother is forced into

carrying his famous older sister's bags up the elevator?"

Because if he wasn't, 

he did a great job accomplishing it.

I'm off to pick up my dress for this evening.
We have a white-tie Christmas Ball!
{white tie = tuxes with tails}


Fire eaters, an ice skating rink in the quad, nine bands, 
& a whole room dedicated to sweets...
plus the promise of snow?


I'm so excited- I might join Ms. Watson and start jumping on my bed.

Missoni Impossible.

Did you know that there is a 

Hotel Missoni in Edinburgh?

Oh you did, did you?

Well, thanks a lot for letting me know!

Because I lost my cool 

{in a really bad, Bieber-fever-school-girl, way} 

when I was walking the streets of Scotland...

and stumbled upon a doorman standing in a Missoni kilt.

It was just too much happiness without warning.

The breeding of two great loves-

fashion & travel...

is a concept so gorgeous,

I can hardly wrap my mind around it.

And with rooms starting at $239.00...

neither can my friend, Stephanie!

*images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 

Souvenir Stylings: Canary Islands

Hello again!

Beth Dotolo, from Hello, Splendor, here... 

Aspiring Kennedy's faithful interior designer.

Do you remember how faithful??

Yes, that's right, so faithful...
 I work for free!

Well, Mr. & Mrs. Aspiring Kennedy

are back from a brief jet set

to the Canary Islands.

For this souvenir styling edition, 

I wanted to give them a small reminder

of their blissful getaway!

Not everything has to be so literal...

So, we're introducing a hint of canary yellow! 

Let's give them just a pop...

A hint to remind them of their quick trip to the Canary Islands...

Because don't we all need 

a small reminder

of our escapes?

How do you keep your vacation alive 

when you come back to the real world?

Aspiring Kennedy's 

Faithful Interior Designer,

Beth Dotolo

Hello, Splendor

P.S. Are we friends on facebook? Because we probably should be!

*All images via the Bright.Bazaar Pick Your Colour Tool

Ignlenook Design + AK = A Blissful Combination

Visit 

Inglenook Decor Blog

today to get some 

really great, professional, & swanky 

wedding advice from an industry pro....

Ok.
So not really "industry pro..."

In fact, 

it's just me,

sharing my own
tips for wedding bliss!

I got married, and it's turned out so well- 

I feel like I must really know a thing or two...

Go drop the bride-to-be, Maureen, some tips of your own!

Monday Mood: I feel... blue.

Though I couldn't be any happier!

Beach Bag Essentials

I'm in a tizzy with my to-do's as I write this.

{it's 2 am... I leave at 8 am... haven't started packing...}

But hey- this time tomorrow,

I'll have been at the beach for 9 hours. 

Serenity now.

via

I'll be bringing a swimsuit, sunglasses, iPhone, sandals, a dress or two,

 and makeup... well, maybe, we'll see about that last one.

One thing that for sure is coming with me...

is my beach tunes playlist.

I made this lineup when my family used to go sailing in the BVI 

when I was a teenager....

so are most some of the songs dated & cheesy?

Yes.

But will the music always remind me of the beach?

Oh yeah.

 Aspiring Kennedy's

Songs of Sunshine

Sleepwalk- Santo & Johnny

Is This Love- Bob Marley

Kokomo- Beach Boys

Fools Rush In- UB40

Son of a Sailor- Jimmy Buffet

Sloop John B- Beach Boys

Crazy Game of Poker- O.A.R.

Could This Be Love- Bob Marley

Under the Boardwalk- The Drifters

If you're aren't as into kitschy, steel drum, beach music as I am...
you'll might enjoy
Corinne Bailey Rae's 
new cover of Bob Marley's classic, 
Is This Love.

                      

Island Time > England London

Last night,

Mr. & Mrs. Aspiring Kennedy

were feeling a bit bogged down...

and really cold.

So we did what any of us would do:

We booked a vacation 

leaving tomorrow

for the 

Canary Islands.

....

{the what?}

It's this pretty little island chain 

off the coast of Africa.

Hello, Sunshine!

via

We leave tomorrow morning, 

and are looking forward to a long weekend together.

{I'm so excited for some one on one time with Tyler. He's been so absent busy with school.}

I know it sounds ridiculous & exotic...

but it's SO cheap to travel from London.

I wish you were coming, too!

Londoners Do it Better...

London Blog Parties 

are the Best Parties in the World!

I didn't get to go to POST the other week, 

so I can't speak definitively...

{though from what I hear, it was pretty rockin'}

but I can tell you:

we had an amazing soiree here in London!

I finally got to met

 Helena 

of

A Diary of Lovely

& 

Will 

of

Bright.Bazaar

{These two are even better in real life... if you can imagine!}

The three of us met up first

for a little 

rendez-vous...

then it was onward to the party at

Drink, Shop, & Do

{or as Will coined it, London's Anthropologie.... with drinks!}

This Texan-a la-London

loved meeting 

 new faces in the blog world!

Here are some of my new bloggers I got to meet:

Heather * Arianna * Ellie * Lynne * Carole * Katie

The Lucky One

Yesterday was amazing, wasn't it?

We are SO close to finalizing that water well.

{if you haven't donated- it's not too late!}

It seemed a bit serendipitous 

that my friend Jon

emailed me this beautiful video.

Jon wrote & directed this movie-

and its really good.

Like, so good...

it's up for Sundance Film Festival.

{That little ole thang?}

Watch it, and if you like it-
 you can vote to send him to Sundance!

Who knows... 

maybe someday

Jon will make a movie

as a tribute to the bloggers who helped along the way.

{The More Social Network?}

I'm nominating Will & Grant to play our Winklevoss boys :)


P.S. What did you think about the movie?
I loved it.

Monday Mood: I feel... foreign.