When Joy blogged recently about balloons being the next mustache when it comes to trends I was sitting here with my head bobbing up and down in total agreement. Balloons are all I see, think about, I just love them in pretty pastel or metallic silver or gold. Festive, happy, uplifting, balloons mean fun, freedom, and femininity. I've noticed them in everything from ads to fashion photography, products, and in lots of artwork lately. Are you seeing them too? Birds of a feather...In addition to balloons, I am enjoying feathers more than usual... After watching the MTV Europe Awards in Manchester, England last year seeing all of the feathers flying around in Pink's performance in addition to celebrities donning plumage (real, faux and feather motifs), I felt this whole bird trend changing a little, going from the entire tweeter to its lovely coat. I'm starting to see feathers as earrings, feathers on hair clips, feathers on evening bags, and of course in art, craft, etc. Samantha Hahn uses them in some of her most recent work. Ez posted about the beauty of a single feather placed in a test tube just today. I notice them in more and more music videos thanks to the most intellectual channel I've been watching wayyyy to much of lately called MTV.

(Bobbin bunch necklace from Anthropologie,Rug from Anthropologie, Sustenance print by Celebrate Life, Do you believe in fairies photo by i.anton, Just a Fledgeling print by KJS Design, and feather boutonniere via Twigs & Honey.

Aside from balloons and feathers, I'm inspired by Springy colors lately... Apricot and a pale Jade green to be exact. My suspicions that others may also be into these hues were confirmed upon finding this gorgeous artist box over at the Shop House store on Etsy. It is at least the hundredth find using these two colors that has come across my desk this week. Doesn't Apricot sound better than Peach by the way? So going forward we use Apricot to describe Peachy tones, deal?

Remember my obsession with soft lilac late last year? The love affair is over. Which can only mean that my German apartment is in BIG trouble when I fly back over there in May. Looks like I will need to tone down the lilac and freshen things up with jade and apricot. Another color I think works within this palette is a mid tone aqua. Your thoughts? Not dark, not subtle, I guess I can describe it as 'there' but not screaming. A Caribbean sea, the lightest part of the water that you dip your toes into (before the piranhas snack on it).

Pink is still on my list of colors that inspire me, but pale and I'm liking it paired with either a yellow (think pink lemonade) or with apricot. It's also quite stunning with mustard which sounds so unexpected and potentially wrong but it's not. Trust me. It makes pink look less Hello Kitty and more Hellooooo! It's very SF Girl By Bay. And very Springy. As the snow hammers down here in my part of the world, Spring is all I think about.

Another popular, I guess you can say trend, I'm seeing are light blobs on photos (here's a beautiful example from Flickr photographer i.anton), along with photos out of focus, and ones that merge handwritten text or doodles though that's nothing new but certainly seems to be growing in popularity. Do you like these things?

A funny trend I laugh at whenever I'm looking at the fashion mags are those big bad circa 1985 earrings that resemble door knockers. It's the 1980's all over again. Gotta have at least one statement maker in the jewelry box this season, no matter how large or how much you swore you'd never wear them again except at those throwback parties where everyone is encouraged to show up dressed like Madonna or Boy George. I'm still on the line when it comes to massive earrings so I cannot say they are inspiring me right now, but I think seeing the 1980s reinterpreted is inspiring because I grew up then and wonder if anything is even worth bringing back. After seeing that Kelly Wearstler spread in last year's Domino magazine with her "new" style being big on 80s resort hotel-chic with a whole lot of bad 70s thrown in for a healthy fight for attention, I think perhaps others are having fun with seeing what potential lies from styles buried long ago. I think I have an answer. Very little. If I see friendship pins, gummy bracelets, and lace gloves paired with the current big earrings heading down the catwalk this Spring I just may seriously start to question those tastemakers out there. But for now, it's fun and I'm enjoying some of this cheeky 80s. The only thing I have a problem with is when people call the 80s "retro" or "vintage". I know I should get over it but man my skin crawls. I was watching a commercial the other day, and it wasn't that annoying ShamWow one (it holds 20 times its weight in liquid!), but some equally annoying 30 second blurb about some RETRO 80s Music CD with bands like Journey! Foreigner! Wham! and I hung my head low and felt really, really vintage.

What are you liking at the moment? Any trends you'd like to call out for the fun of it? Not that we care about trends here because I don't think I own anything trendy at the moment, but it's fun to talk about isn't it? Anything you see that has like been DONE ALREADY and you are so sick of it?

Share! Because sharing is caring. :)

(images linked to their snazzy sources above)