Lula Magpie's Favorite Room - Library

Whenever I picture my future home, the room that's most clear in my mind is the library. Whether I live in a studio apartment or a house I will most definitely surround myself with books. Here are a couple of my favorites.
I was surprised to find this library was in an English manor home. All the seagrass made me think it was somewhere beachier. The bookcases however, are amazing. The neutral book colors arranged so that the lightest radiate out from the center make the shelves almost like modern art.Here's another one that arranges the books by color. I wouldn't have included the toys, but all the bright colors are playful and fun.The best thing about this room is the indoor/outdoor aspect. While I love a cozy library, a lot of light is also a must, and the ladder is the icing on the cake.
For some reason this library just looks so American to me. I know, weird. I don't love all of the furniture in this room, but the glass doors on the bookshelf are classy, and I adore the giant globe.This room looks casual and cozy to me. I love the couch in the window and the lamp.This is another amazing one, although much too grand to belong in a residence. It's a library in Dublin and looks like it belongs in a Harry Potter book.This is more of a library/office combo. I love the pale palette injected with shots of hot pink. I think the use of objects mixed in with books works really well here.
Oh, books.

Images are from Elle Decor & Domino.

Ponds

I saw this in this month's Elle Decor and really want to try an incarnation of it in my own apartment.

It's a great mix of classical and modern. A marble column capital is re-purposed to hold the pond and the living moss would be easy to keep alive, while providing a great texture.

I also love these garden ponds, for when I have a yard...

Love the water lilies in this pond. It's great no matter what size yard you have.

This is Edith Wharton's garden in Massachusetts. It's very simple, i love the symmetry.

Ok, so this is a bit of a stretch, being on a villa in Italy right on Lake Como, but if you're going to dream...

Blue Bike

Saw this awesome bike outside the Levi's building in SF. It's completely covered in blue corduroy.

Brix, Napa

Grabbed lunch in Napa today at a restaurant called Brix. It's right on highway 29.

Right inside the door they had different groups of natural branches in oversized vintage wine jugs. My favorite was the olive branch arrangement. The chandelier was sparkly but modern. There was also a little toad hiding behind a planter outside by the pond.

This was the view from our table. It was a little rainy but still absolutely beautiful. I bet on a warm day the patio would be amazing. The bright draped striped fabric is the perfect complement to the green of the hills, and the metal bistro table and Tolix chairs are comfortable but really capture the feel of a garden patio. The restaurant grows a lot of its own food and you can see the garden boxes in this picture. Makes me want to garden myself!

Diptych

top image / bottom image

Lula's Spy Outfit

Ok, so lately I've been reading a lot of mystery/spy books. The last was The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, good to the last page. I thought I'd put together my perfect spy outfit. Well, I'd wear this any day really, but it would be perfect for tailing suspicious characters. The hair is the perfect length and shade and the cut is ubiquitous enough that you'd blend right in. And although Tini makes fun of me, I love Victoria Beckham's dresses.

dress: www.victoriabeckham.com
scarf: www.modcloth.com
glasses: www.urbanoutfitters.com
shoes: www.jcrew.com
purse: www.marcjacobs.com