we're the ghost children, and these are our haunting grounds.

Yea, it was cold and rainy.

But we made it fun.

photos taken by me.

thanks, Serena!

You're such a good sport to put up with 

my weird requests

(because not everyone will hold a 

sparkler directly in front of their face)

I'm going to work for you, right?

The woods began just a few yards beyond the barn,

 and once in them and out of the sun it was damp, 

with the damp chilliness of early spring. 

The ground was soft, the green moss on the tree trunks shone like jewels. 

I picked my way carefully in my old ballet shoes, 

trying to avoid really sharp rocks and soggy places.

I was wearing a pair of blue jeans pulled over a black leotard

 and bound about with a royal blue sash.

My hair was loose and kept getting caught in the branches 

and my bare feet in their slippers were chilly.

We forded a stream. That is, Tomi, forded it easily enough in her loafers. 

I, being a city girl, didn't even try: I slipped off my soggy slippers 

and stepped right into the icy, fast-running water.

The stream was quite shallow and not very wide, 

but when I stepped out my feet and ankles were white as parchment ,

 two of my toes were numb, and the bottoms of my jeans were dripping. 

The far bank of the stream sloped and we clambered up, 

slipping and sliding, laughing and pelting each other with leaves and pieces of bark.

At last the ground grew drier, it leveled off,

 and we came to a clearing full of sunshine where a few huge boulders 

lay basking and sunning themselves.

I climbed a rock and lay down on my back in the sun,

one arm thrown over my eyes to shield them and my wet muddy shoes set beside me to dry.

I could feel the warmth from the stone soak into my body, 

could hear the headlong rush of the stream full of melted snow, 

and the soft, hesitant rustles and occasional birdcalls 

of the woodland creatures in my self-created darkness.

excerpt from "Memoirs of a Beatnik" by Diane Di Prima 

photography by the ever-amazing Sophie Mörner (who I'd love nothing more than to work for???) 

That's all I got.

Hope you're all loving fall, my dears.

Save Fashion!

This is a fashion update.

First, and foremost, if you're in New York,

go to the sample sale at Inven.tory

Amazing, amazing things going on there.

.........

Also, I just recently revisited Vera Wang's 

SS10 collection.

I'd like to just live in these tulle dresses.

Or really, I'd be perfectly happy during the summer months

if I could wear that cobweb necklace. 

Vera, Vera, you can do no wrong.

who's the fairest

I'm sure you've all gotten 

your little paws on the new Lula by now,

but if not, this is how you'll be greeted!

And really, whether you've seen them or not,

you really can't look at them enough.

Be bop a lula, Karen Elson, I love you on their cover.

photos by Yelena Yemchuck

falling down. toppling over.

This is Snow White's Unhappily Ever After.

The wicked Queen peered deeply into the looking-glass, and asked:

"Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall, 

who in this land is the fairest of all?"

"Thou art fairer than all who are here, Lady Queen. 

But more beautiful still is Snow White, as I ween."

The Queen, enraged by this response, 

threw the magic mirror to the ground, 

shattering it into a million pieces.

She picked up one of the larger pieces, and set out to find her nemesis.

Grabbing Snow White, the Queen pointed 

the jagged edge toward the young princess's throat.

Snow White desperately fought for her life,

but with no prevail.

The Queen was victorious, and left the dying princess in her wake.

She no longer cared for her looking-glass, 

for she knew she now had no one to fear.

With the princess dead, 

she would forever be the fairest in the land.

And with one last triumphant look,

She ventured back to her kingdom.

photos and twisted tale by me

(except for the quotes, those belong to the grimm's brothers)

Best collaboration on a shoot to date.

Thanks to everyone who helped!

what would you choose, where will you be.

A little brother and sister were once playing by a well,

and while they were thus playing,

they both fell in.

A water-nixie lived down below, who said: 

"Now I have got you, now you shall work hard for me!" 

and carried them off with her.

She gave the girl dirty tangled flax to spin,

and she had to fetch water in a bucket with a hole in it,

and the boy had to hew down a tree with a blunt axe,

and they got nothing to eat but dumplings as hard as stones.

Then at last the children became so impatient, 

that they waited until one Sunday,

 when the nixie was at church, 

and ran away.

But when church was over, the nixie saw that the birds were flown, 

and followed  them with great strides.

The children saw her from afar, 

and the girl threw a brush behind her which formed an immense hill of bristles, 

with thousands and thousands of spikes,

over which the nixie was forced to scramble with great difficulty; 

at last, however, she got over.

When the children saw this, 

the boy threw behind him a comb which made a great ridge

 with a thousand times a thousand teeth,

but the nixie managed to keep herself steady on them, 

and at last crossed over.

Then the girl threw behind her a looking-glass 

which formed a hill of mirrors, 

and was so slippery that it was impossible for the nixie to cross it.

Then she thought: "I will go home quickly and fetch my axe, 

and cut the hill of glass in half."

Long before she returned, however, and had hewn through the glass,

 the children had escaped to a great distance,

and the water-nixie was obliged to trundle back to her well again.

"The Water-Nixie" from The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales

Photographs by Izima Kaoru

I was just recently introduced to Kaoru's "Landscapes with a Corpse" series.

I love the contradiction of death and beauty.

It really is enchanting horror at its finest.

La, la, killing off Snow White for my photo shoot on Sunday...

no tricks, all treats.

Hey, owners of dreamy rooms

and enchanting homes,

Can I stay with you for a bit?

all photos taken from the blog, rooms with views.

Get cozy, dolls.

It's getting cold outside...