50 days, it seems like a dream♥

Just fifty days!  July 15th is coming so unbelievably fast.  It will be such an incredibly bittersweet moment.   I can imagine all the tears and smiles and wonderful chills that shall come along with this brilliant ending of a wonderful series.  We talk about these films as old friends, and that's perfectly suiting.  For many it's their childhood or, in the least, their children's childhood.  That is what it is for us, some of the best days were spent playing with wands, nights warm and cosy in bed reading Harry Potter by candle light, late evenings watching the perfectly magical films, or hot Summer nights waiting in line to see the films at midnight with spine-tingling excitement. Although it won't truly end, because we will forever love and enjoy the story of the boy in the cupboard and we will continue to read the books and watch the films for years to come, holding them in a such a very special place in our hearts.     

Have a perfectly wonderful day!  

Cheers, darlings, 

Rachel&Erika

{written by Erika}

P.S. My Birthday post shall come soon dears.♥  Sorry, for the hold up, but the ending of school is keeping me rather busy.

::Stripes and flowers and dappled sunlight to joyously welcome Summer::

Summer is near. Blissful, practically-perfect-in-every-way, Summer. May has swiftly come and we are already nearly into June. June! That is the official start to Summer and I can hardly believe it's arrived--Summer is so wonderful it feels almost like a fantasy. I shall start my Summer holiday next week and Erika shall be starting in two weeks. The first day of her Summer holiday she shall come stay at my house and we shall watch blissful Pride and Prejudice, take grand pictures capturing the day, and sip smoothies.

The days have been bliss. My woods has blossomed with leaves, cool shadows, and warm patches of sunlight. I slowly walked through admiring the beauty. I stared up the long, vast trunks and up into the brown branches full of green leaves and the sun shined through in gorgeous splendor. 

Some videos that shine with Summer. Keegan Gibbs, The Beach, is very divine. I've always fancied the thought of surfing in California and romping the beach with friends, still wet from the salty sea with your hair blowing dry in the wind. And, of course, my favourite video, Miss Dior Cherie. It completely captures blissful Summer in Paris-I cannot wait to be there someday biking through the streets, visiting Laduree and eating macaroons as I roam the streets and visit the grand Eiffel Tower. 

We celebrated Erika's birthday with a grand party and I promise she shall be sharing pictures with you soon. Next week my sister and I are visiting Chicago for four whole wonderful days! It will be practically perfect. I have been dying to visit the city. I can't wait to be there among the tall buildings, the swarms of people forever walking along the sidewalks, and visiting the huge three-story H&M. We also plan to visit the Art Institute and I am so ecstatic! I'm currently working on a research paper on impressionists (but particularly my favourite ever artist, Renoir) and I have absolutely fallen in love with them and am nearly giddy at the prospect of seeing Monet's and Renoir's work in real life. AH!

Monday night my sister and I shared an Italian dinner with a friend and afterwards went shopping at the mall. We, of course, had to visit H&M where I discovered, much to my joy, an adorable striped French sweater (I am currently obsessed with all things French!) with elbow pads for....$15!! Hooray! It will be lovely in Chicago. Ah, Chicago~I am so every excited♥

Warm sunshine, sun-kissed skin, cool shadows, the rythmic waves bouncing your shining sailboat, biking through beautiful boulevards wearing breezy tops, cuffed shorts, and Oxfords, and the breathtaking seaside. What bliss! Summer is utterly blissful and I am fairly giddy that it has nearly arrived.

I am currently adoring blue&white and dreaming of a holiday along the east coast.

~♥~

Also, I'm planning to buy two prints for my bedroom. 

Monet's, The Artist's House at Argenteuil

Renoir's, Bridge at Chatou. 

Hope your days are beautiful, my darlings! How have you been celebrating Summer being just around the bend?

xoxoxoxoxo,

-Erika&Rachel

{Written by Rachel}

Just 57 little days until it all ends♥

::Splendid May delights::

May has arrived and it feels almost like a fantasy. The birds sing blissfully, I sit in the sun and read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, my woods is an enchanting place with pale green foliage and leaves with the sunshine making it shimmer and glimmer, and the grass is a lush haven. 

My dreams have been soaring lately and Paris is utterly on my mind. I call Paris "my city" because it is the city that just the thought of it never ceases to make my heart skip a beat. I dream almost daily of bright sunny mornings in Paris walking around street markets buying baguette's and speaking French, enjoying the blissful environment and people. 

Erika and I were just discussing the other day, during one of our late night phone conversations, how we think it's almost surreal that Europe even exists because we dream of going there so passionately and idealistically. 

Our hearts go all aflutter at just the thought of romping around Europe together someday--watercolouring in the Lake District where Beatrix Potter once sat, riding a gondola along the shores of Venice, and taking late night strolls with the stars shining and the Eiffel Tower gloriously shining right above us, just like in Ratatouille, where perhaps we would casually stop at a sidewalk cafe for a macaron.

Summer is wonderfully on my mind. I dream of warm evenings spent on the screen porch within the warm glow of lamplight, picnics in the bright afternoon sunshine reading and painting, and glorious weekends at mine and Erika's grandma's lake house with the sparkling water and after-dinner swims.

:: Merci beaucoup ::

 

I enjoy these days of blissful splendour as the leaves burst forth in glorious beauty and the forest floor becomes sprinkled, almost like fairy dust, with pale green foliage and flowers. I sit barefoot on the grass and read Sorcerer's Stone in the bright afternoon sunshine feeling perfectly content. It is bliss. I am ecstatic that as each week rolls by wonderful Summer is nearing.

 

Erika's seventeenth birthday is a week from today and we're going to spend her whole birthday weekend together. We're hosting a splendid picnic on Sunday, the 15th with friends. It will be outdoors with decorations of flowers and penants to hang from the trees, scrumptious food of cheese and baguettes, leisurely games of croquet, and Half-Blood Prince projected outside once nighttime falls.

How have you lovelies been? I hope the weather has been treating you well wherever you reside! Seize the day and enjoy the revealing of lady Spring♥

Currently feeling:

 Homesick for Hogwarts. I am, however, perfectly happy to say that I have been there. Right there. At the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. And it was heaven. 

It is 68 days until it all ends and the excitement and bittersweet feeling is mounting for Erika and I. On Wednesday, April 27th a trailer for Deathly Hallows part 2 was released and oh my lands, it blew our minds. You can watch it right

here

When we first watched it we got major chills, tears stung eyes, and hearts raced. It is incredible. Harry Potter is incredible. ♥

All my love to you, darlings! I hope your weekend is magical. Do tell me what you've been up to!

xoxoxo,

-Erika&Rachel

{written by Rachel}

♥The Royal Wedding♥

As This Is Glamorous said, I am "still a little caught up in the romance of it all, the stolen glances and secret smiles, the horse-drawn carriages and chantilly lace, the balcony kisses and moments so breathtakingly lovely you can barely stand it." It was surely something I'll always remember from my teen years-seeing all the photos and videos from the perfect wedding day and pre-wedding, and the many covers of magazine with Kate and Will's faces on it. 

It was perfectly elegant and ever so extravagant-but, rightly so! For what better way to make a princess feel like a princess? The beautiful draping wedding gown, and sparkling tiara beneath the dainty layers of chenille from her veil just took my breath away. The extravagance of the ceremony in Westminster Abbey was incredible. I adored the hats that all the women wore to the wedding, adding a very nice British touch. 

And may I just say, I would have loved to have been in England on that day.

And on the subject of weddings, I thought I would share with you some of my dream wedding ideas-I have so many! My mum and I discuss weddings and my dream plans often which is such fun and I am always staying tuned to the most beautiful wedding blog Once Wed.

Being fifteen the subject is very exciting to me! My colours would be: peach, champagne, cream, rose, pale grapefruit, and a soft celery green for accents (like the foliage pictured at right). I love a very elegant wedding with lush flowers, draping tulle, twinkling lights, candles, and lovely wine glasses on the tables to sparkle. But nothing too fussy! My wedding has to be on a Friday evening with the ceremony outside at perhaps about five in the evening, in September ideally, and the reception being outside at my very own home with hundreds of lights strung and round tables beautifully decourated with chiavari chairs. 

I dream of having a dessert reception. The food consisting of bread pudding, cheesecake, fruit tarts, a chocolate fountain to daintily dip strawberries and apples, fruit kabobs, lemon bars, delicious chocolate cookies, with beautiful loaves of baguette sitting out, a fine selection of cheeses and water crackers. 

And of course there's the cake. I've told my mum that it's always a letdown to go to a wedding and have the cake be dry with frosting purely made out of. Personally I think your wedding cake should be one of the best cakes you've ever tasted. I adore this wedding cake on the right, with a beautifully coloured creamy frosting making swirls and the gorgeous peonies.

I dream of each layer being different. One layer being a raspberry cake with a jam filling, another perhaps being a heavenly chocolate and vanilla swirl, and another even being mocha. And all of this covered with a delicious almost mousse-like buttercream frosting.

I completely adore how unique weddings are now and how each one shines with the couple's own personal style. The prospect has always seemed exciting of planning the wedding and I've sort of vowed to myself not to get stressed over it when it might come around someday. I think that time of planning should be really fun for the bride and groom and also that time of being engaged and getting to know one another even better and creating that perfect day. 

I am utterly swooning over this wedding gown-the sweeping layers of silk and gorgeous details is completely elegant and feminine. As I've mentioned before one of my dream gowns is BHLDN's Cascading Goddess gown and this dress pictured above very much reminds me of it. I am currently loving very feminine and elegant wedding gowns with beautiful layers and sleeves with nothing too overdone. I also adore this very simple wedding band-it's just perfect!

Dancing is an absolute must at my wedding. My guests must stay and party until one in the morning, in the least! I've told myself that I'm pretty sure the thing I'll be the most keen on finding is a perfect photographer. I suppose that's because I myself am an artist and photographer and will want the pictures to be just right capturing the joy and classiness of the day.

Before I close this little post, I will mention that both Erika and I think it would be incredibly brilliant to learn a swing dance for the bride and groom's first dance. It would be so fantastic at the reception and also quite delightful to learn beforehand. A song choice that would be perfect is Love by Nat King Cole like from The Parent Trap.

This photo utterly sums up what I dream of having my reception look like. Twinkling and warm glowing lights, elegant wine glasses and beautiful flowers on the tables, and all of it outside at dusk~so perfect~with Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and Glenn Miller playing in the background, the sound of good conversation and laughter from the adults while looking so sophisticated sipping wine and champagne, and the kids running around blowing bubbles.

♥

So, lovelies, did any of you watch the Royal Wedding? What were your favourite parts and scrumptious details you liked most about it? Erika stayed home a few hours from school just to watch it! We are such kids of the 2000's, right?! 

And please do share what your dream wedding ideas are!

♥

Another delightful Spring post come this week! 

xoxoxoxoxo,

-Rachel