There are certain things that come up over and over again in my (very small) wardrobe: Geometric shapes, black, white, grey, saturated colors, heavily textured knits, furry stuff, golds…and, of course, scarves. I have a lot of scarves. It can be 95° out, and I’m in a scarf.

My Bookhou bag and I continue to be best buddies. I’m also wearing my most favorite scarf of all here—it comes from the amazing Martha McQuade at the aptly-named Scarf Shop (GIANT size; mustard). I’ve had this scarf for a little more than a year now, and I’ve definitely worn it in every season!

And yeah, that’s a new watch I’ve got on. It’s from the Issey Miyake men’s GO line (I always wear men’s watches), and it’s the first non-Swatch watch I’ve owned. I still think Swatches are the best watches around (I have about a dozen of them that I’ve acquired over the past 25 or so years—and they all still work!), but it’s fun to have another option that’s a little bit more elegant. I’ve very very brand loyal when I like something a lot, though, so my heart will always belong to Swatch in the end.

(Is it weird that it never occurs to me to check my phone for the time? I always wear a watch.)

Oh, and? NEON PINK NAIL POLISH. I’ve had a bottle of this stuff for ages (it’s some weird generic brand), but I’d never tried it until last week. I wasn’t sure if it would look too garish or weird, but I wound up loving it. I don’t think I’d feel the same way if my nails were really long, but on stubby talons like mine, it’s pretty nice.

1. That totally incredible cape/poncho was a birthday present from Jen, and it’s from Pendleton’s Portland collection. It’s kind of the greatest thing in the world—thick and warm and beautifully made. I’ve worn it at least three times a week since October, and it’s one of those things I’m sure I’ll have forever.

2. My favorite favorite favorite earrings! They were a Hanukkah present from Evan a couple of years ago, and I’ve worn them almost every day since receiving them. They’re made by Lila Rice in Brooklyn.

3. Those rad superhero lightning bolt socks were also a present from Jen (clearly the girl knows how to give a gift), and they come from Sock It to Me. She got a red pair for Evan!

4. Ahhhh, yes, the Wookie coat. This thing is totally ridiculous but I also completely awesome. It’s basically like going out in a Chewbacca costume. (It’s surprisingly warm, too! Too warm for this Global Warming Winter™ we’re having in New York this year.)

OK, this is just silliness, but when I was thinking about the textures I love most, I realized that I’ve been a fan of superfake fur for a while now. The photo on the left is on my Wookie coat (earrings by Fay Andrada—Brooklyn ladies make nice jewelry!), and the photo on the right was taken almost exactly ten years ago. I was modeling my “nylon squirrel” muffler, which I still have and wear. And I had no bags under my eyes.

Confession: I haven’t worn a swimsuit since I was 12 or 13 years old. Yeah, it’s been well over 20 years. I have gone in the water a couple of times since then (sporting the classic underwear-and-tee combo), but swimming is really a thing of the past for me. I don’t think about that fact very much, but when I do, it makes me a little sad. I miss the water. But I don’t miss swimsuits.

I really don’t want to be one of those people who kvetches about body image and dressing rooms and all that (yeah, yeah, I know I’m OK), but…well. Sometimes you don’t want to put on a swimsuit. And sometimes that “sometimes” lasts for a couple of decades.

These swimsuits are pretty cute though, right? The one from Grey Ant (sold in separates as a bandeau top and underalls) is like an awesome Scandinavian blanket re-sewn into swimwear. I can get behind that. The other one is from Minnow Bathers (they also have an Etsy shop, and Leah told me they’re happy to make suits in custom sizes). It kind of looks like what the emcee from Cabaret might wear to go swimming. Or modern lederhosen. Only good things.

I want to go swimming.

Once a year, just as it truly begins to feel like winter never really had a beginning and can’t possibly have an end, I read Moominland Midwinter. My brother Gordy, ten years my senior, read all of Tove Jansson’s Moomin books to me when I was very small. (We’re a very Moomin-loving family. Have you seen my mother’s dolls?) I remember being most fascinated by Comet in Moominland back then, but as I got older—and a little darker, let’s be honest—Midwinter was the one I gravitated to the most, coming back again and again until it became this annual winter ritual for me.

I’ve had the same set of editions all this time. I’m sure my brother will claim that they’re his, but I’m not giving them up! The covers are all loose, and the pages are yellowed and falling out. Love.

What I love best about the Moomin books is that there’s nothing “childish” about them, despite being fully accessible and understandable by even very young children. The tone of a lot of them is quite somber, but in the best way—they always, even 30 years after my first exposure, bring me straight to a place of contemplation that’s sort of otherworldly. If you’ve read one of Jansson’s books, you’ll understand exactly what I mean.

The Moomin books are still in print, and English translations are readily available.

Here’s an excerpt from Moominland Midwinter:

And so Moomintroll was helplessly thrown out into a strange and dangerous world and dropped up to his ears in the first snowdrift of his experience. It felt unpleasantly prickly to his velvet skin, but at the same time his nose caught a new smell. It was a more serious smell than any he had met before, and slightly frightening. But it made him wide awake and greatly interested.

The valley was enveloped in a kind of grey twilight. It also wasn’t green any longer, it was white. Everything that had once moved had become immobile. There were no living sounds. Everything angular was now rounded.

“This is snow,” Moomintroll whispered to himself. “I’ve heard about it from Mother, and it’s called snow.”

Without Moomintroll knowing a thing about it, at that moment his velvet skin decided to start growing woollier. It decided to become, by and by, a coat of fur for winter use. That would take some time, but at least the decision was made. And that’s always a good thing.

Meanwhile Moomintroll was laboriously plodding along through the snow. He went down to the river. It was the same river that used to scuttle, transparent and jolly, through Moomintroll’s summer garden. Now it looked quite unlike itself. It was black and listless. It also belonged to this new world in which he didn’t feel at home.

Copyright © 1957 by Tove Jansson

Lovely, yes? I mean…isn’t that exactly what winter is, right there? It’s snowing very heavily in New York City right now. (We’ve had SO much snow this year!) The sky is dark and cold and the wind is gusting. It’s past midnight and the streets are empty. Tomorrow morning I’ll wake up and look out on white, rounded edges, then laboriously plod through it all as I make my way to the subway.

If you follow me on Twitter and you, like me, are generally home alone on Friday nights pretending to have a social life, then you may have read my pleas for advice on how best to color-match the amazing lipstick and nail polish colors in the November 2010 J.Crew catalog.

It immediately reminded me of the photo on the left, an incredible living room featured in LivingEtc that I’ve been obsessed with for ages. Hot-orange-red! Paired with neutrals! Love!

I’d read an snippet of an interview with Jenna Lyons a while back where she mentioned that they used NARS lip pencils in Red Square on their shoots, but after seeing said color in person, I ruled it out as a possibility for the lipstick. After noting that J.Crew sells Essie nail polish in Lollipop on their website, I figured that had to be the nail color.

After a serious misfire with MAC lipstick in Ruby Woo (a lovely color, but far too blue for my complexion and miles away from the inspiration photos), @ClaraJudgypants chimed in to say that she had contacted J.Crew (why didn’t I think of that?) to ask about the colors, and that the nail polish is actually Essie Clambake and the lipstick is MAC Lady Danger. Now, I have a bottle of Clambake, and while it’s definitely an orange-red, it’s also semi-sheer. I love it during the summer, but it’s not right for fall. To my eyes, Essie Lollipop is perfect—it’s basically an opaque version of Clambake.

On to the lipstick! I’m not usually one to wear opaque colors (I almost always wear a sheer gloss, sometimes with a stain underneath), but I’ve really been trying to make Lady Danger work for me. I like the way it looks, but I feel really, really weird wearing it. I kind of feel like I’m in drag, to be honest, and as much as I love drag, I have a hard time pulling off this kind of look in a way that makes me feel comfortable. I’m trying, though! In these photos I’ve sheered it out just a bit with some gloss, because MAC isn’t joking around with their matte lipsticks. They are Serious Business for Super-Ladies, and I am…not that.

I can’t resist throwing in a couple of “outtakes”. I always feel like a super-loser when I take photos of myself, which is why I don’t even bother trying to hide the camera. And now you know why I don’t show my teeth when I smile. I’ve never learned how to do it right! I always wind up pulling a face like a 2nd-grader on picture day.

Clipper Street Residence, envelopeA+D (see more at the NY Times)

Peacock Hill, Budget Living magazine (Oct. 2003, see more here)

Houston, TX house (via Carolina Eclectic)

As with all-white interiors, I really like the way that a monochromatic exterior plays down the details of woodwork and other kinds of trim on older homes. Of course, all-black looks great on more contemporary structures, too!

Harts Lane (via desire to inspire)

Swedish cabin, PS Arkitektur (via Remodelista)

18karat store in Vancouver, BC (via Grey)

Private residence, Lahaska, PA

This looks very much like my living (1) room (2) in terms of layout and architecture, and I think that’s a curtain solution that could work for me. Maybe with window film on the lower panes?

Yet another convincing case for white-painted floorboards!

Oh! Those little yellow lamps!

We actually saw (and lusted after) this very same sofa last year at the Rhinebeck Antiques Fair. Doesn’t that rich, orange-red look great with pale grey? I love how it curves into the bow-front of the house, too.

(All photos from LivingEtc, my most favorite magazine.)

Chest of drawers from Knack Studios.

Molto sectional from CB2.

Togo sofa from Ligne Roset.

Paige ankle boots from Frye.

I’m curled up on the sofa with my coffee and a manuscript for a book I’m working on the cover for. The story is told from a dog’s point of view, which sounds really awful, but it’s actually quite smart and well-written. I’m still trying to figure out what the protagonist looks like and what kind of dog he is, but that information can really only come from the dialogue of other characters in the book (I do know he has one black ear and one white ear). Dogs, apparently, don’t spend a lot of time looking in the mirror or worrying about their fur color.

I made Bruno a new bed on Sunday (big enough for two!), and he’s enjoying it more than I expected he would. I just sewed an oversized envelope-style pillowcase out of linen, and put a really soft down pillow inside. I was thinking about sewing on a circle of boiled wool in the center, but now that the weather is slowly, slowly getting a little bit warmer (I still need a scarf, though), I think I’ll just leave it as is.

p.s. The plumber is coming today! By this afternoon, all of the roughing in should be done.