another surf shack.

who's surprised?

i'm now convinced i was never supposed to live in kansas for the rest of my life and an ocean must be involved for the rest of it.

at least a vacation home i can escape to... my current lake house does the job but i didn't get far, in missouri.

 

did you see this in the new lonny?

its another bachelor-pad-montauk-surf-shack dream of a house in the hamptons.

this time belonging to a photographer, ben watts, who've i've had a photography crush on for forever.

compared to my my other favorite montauk shack, which i posted, almost to the day, this time last year, it's a little more refined. still tons of edge and tons of i love it.

with lots of really cool australian-turned-new yorker-bachelor details.

i've heard the parties here aren't forgotten.

in case you missed it, here are some of my favorite details.

and you can obviously, find lots more here at lonny.

YES!!!!

dreamy.

my only visit to the hamptons didn't involve montauk and now i'm also convinced i should go.

elle, can we sometime soon?!??!!

:)

JILL

!!!!!

i'm outta here.

happy 4th!

i'm already enjoying my 5 day weekend.

JILL

california.

 

i've always been a little more on the bohemian/eclectic side.

i like pattern, and color, and texture, just extra stuff. extra layers.

mexican/ethnic textiles, and bright colors.

it speaks to me more than anything else.

 

my friends in college used to call me 'expensive hippie'.

like i shave my armpits and bathe... lets not get crazy.

but my hair is crazy ass long and almost always left to dry on its own...

and i've been wearing maxi dresses for almost 15 years.

 

but lately, its even more than before!

i live in carefree-type layers of loose, worn-in tees, with scraggly denim cut-offs.

and i want my house to have to same feel.

 

casual. with a spark of a little somethin somethin.

does that even make sense?

it does in my head.

 

maybe its summer talking.

maybe it's the fact that half of the people i follow on instagram are from california and they're rubbing off :)

 

but this is me this summer,

and i want it to stick around.

 

i'm kicking off the starchy and proper,

and kicking-back.

 

join me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

all good things.

and maybe they don't even make total sense to you.

but they all evoke a feeling for me.

and i like it.

 

p.s. ascotfriday just bought a winnebago, the 'wertzebago'!

and i'm sure it will end up even cooler than the one just up above.

i kinda freakin love that idea and just added it to my life list.

 

 

JILL

sneaks.

i've never owned a pair of chucks before.

but this summer, i have the urge to get some.

i'm thinking white. or black.

i appreciate the 'i don't care vibe' that they kinda exude, because alot of the time,

with my wet hair and minimal makeup, i don't either :)

especially with looser fitting shirts (all i wear these days) and dresses (what i'm wearing when i'm not wearing skinnies and a baggy shirt, or cut-offs and a baggy shirt).

easy.

that is my motto for this summer.

and chucks seem easy.

JILL

this summer.

this summer you'll find me in a mixture of stripes, florals (who's surprised?), and a dreamy combo of earth's prettiest pastels.

3 reasons why it's the coolest:

JILL

neeeeed this.

you guys.

i saw this this morning and gasp! i need it.

(i'd take that hair and her necklace, too.)

i can't find where to buy it.

but i want it.

i think it'd make the most excruciatingly, devastatingly, handsome swimsuit cover-up.

so.

here are 2 things that i have in my brain that makes me feel confident that i should attempt to make this cover-up for myself to wear this summer:

1-- i watch project runway.

like every season. every episode. of all time.

so that gives me all the false confidence in the world, that i can also do what they do in a day. or hours. it just might take me a smidge longer. (or alot.)

2-- i actually bought a dress form.

i bought it at an estate sale a while back. because i couldn't not buy it.

it was my exact body proportions and it was only $10. sure it was from 1950 but i figure they used to make things better back then anyway.

so with those 2 things in my arsenal, i figure....

why the heck not?

i sew. (kinda.)

i'm now looking for lots of yards of a breezey gauzy fabric. white preferably.

and then.

i'm gonna try.

(does project runway do that to any of you guys, too? make you just want to make stuff?)

until then.

JILL

coming around.

there are 2 things trending right now that i was not very fond of in the beginning.

waterfall hemlines

and

cropped tops.

but i think i'm coming around.

the cropped tops are so vintage-retro and perfect done in a tropical print or polka dot.

as for the waterfalls, i'm a bigger fan the longer the hemline gets.

like this maxi skirt for instance:

 

 

waterfall skirt by thebluehouse featuring a gray t shirt

Bustier top, $16 / High waisted skirt, $195 / Converse shoes, $61 / Madewell flat sandals / House of Harlow 1960 stud earrings / Juicy Couture jewelry / Gray t shirt

 

done 2 ways.

 

one more casual.

and the other, more summer-festive.

 

i would do both!

 

what do you think?

 

are you already a fan of these styles?

 

 

JILL

i suck...

at blogging today.

i'm all out of creative juices.

i think it's the 139873 degree temperatures.

i kid you not.

and how everything- every blade of grass, every flower- has turned brown.

blah brown.

even the trees are starting to look droopy and sad.

we were watering our yard but it was turning brown just like the neighbors who weren't so we just stopped and saved the money. and now it's dead.

don't even get me started on how hard it is to dress for work when it is legitimately between 97 and 105 degrees straight for 3 weeks.

i don't even want to think about what the forcasted 103 will "feel" like today.... and what i don't get, why can you say it'll be 103 out but it will feel like 111? why don't they just call it 111?

 but seriously what do you wear? i'm running out of ideas. what i'd like to be wearing and what i can wear are on two totally different spectrums.

i did find this yesterday:

this is what i'll be wearing tomorrow.

and until my brain can cool off, i'm afraid i have no fun junk to blog about today.

my apologies.

JILL

soak it up.

summer is half over.

i feel like it goes by so much faster than it did when i was a kid.

i turn around and its july 20th.

where.has.the.time.gone?

i had a realization this morning as i was running.

i usually run to music but i turned it off.

i just listened to summer as i went along.

birds. lawn mowers. sprinklers. the breeze.

i made a vow to myself to take control over the last half of summer so it doesn't slip right on by like the first half did.

i want to go to the pool more.

make fruity cocktails and drink them with bright straws and umbrellas.

head to the ocean.

stop saying it's too hot.

sure, it's 108 outside but come january, i'm going to wish for a little more of this.

play more games.

i wanna wear more dresses.

more hats.

get a little more tan.

take deep breaths.

listen to the wind. and the birds and all those summer sounds. more.

i wanna take more photos.

i want to eat outside more.

take a road trip.

stop at the fruit stands along the side of the highway.

eat more fruit. more peaches!

worry less.

be colorful.

think happy thoughts.

remember the same feelings summer used to give me when i was a little kid.

sit on more patios.

go night swimming. at least twice.

take my dog to the dog park and let her go swimming in the lake more.

go to the lake more.

laugh more.

smell the smell of sunscreen.

worry about work a smidge less. it will be here tomorrow.

listen to children laughing.

feel the sun. let it warm me up.

take more walks at night and more runs in the morning.

hang out with my husband. outside.

listen to my music a smidge too loud.

go barefoot.

and thank God for summer.

who's with me?

i'm taking back summer!

happy friday.

now go outside.

love.

JILL

{all images via anthropologie, tumblr or pinterest}

surf shack

so i had an entirely different post ready for today.

but it got moved til monday.

i have been in obsession with this little surf shack for about a year now and i thought it was high time to share it with you all in the off chance that you haven't seen it yet.

and if you have, too bad. i don't care. here it is again.

an australian turned new yorker/ad exec decided he missed the outdoors of his home and purchased this property in montauk.

it's not your usual hoity toity hamptons beach house.

this one is quiky with a capital q.

{and if i had a surf shack to call my own, this is exactly exactly EXACTLY how i'd want it to look.}

with teepees and firepits. and old rickety lawn chairs.

where the more color and pattern equals the better option, always. neons, you betcha.

where surfing and outdoor living/dining/sleeping trump high tea and stuffy interiors, and movies are played on a giant white sheet amongst the mosquitoes.

where wood panneling that would normally appall anyone, is not only embraced but awesome.

where friends and family can come by the dozens and not have to worry about wet suits and dirty feet.

where old vanities and old sinks aren't ripped out but loved.

with couples sleeping in bunk beds, together or separate, i don't care.

and summer cocktails are served with breakfast.

where bees live:

and honey harvested:

and cheesey pick-up lines are painted on all the mirrors:

nothing is sacred in this place. and you know it took a ton of money to get it to look this way, but it kinda looks like it all could have come from the flea market at the very same time.

husband always tells me:

"if you were a booger, i'd pick you"

{he's so romantic.}

but that would FOR SURE end up on a mirror in my dream surf shack.

hell, i'm tempted to paint one in my current house. tonight!

tgif.

JILL

{all these images came from nytimes or vogue living}