Photo

I should have known - better photos on a British site.

Week in Review #13

AP Photo, via

Whew, yes, I got up early to watch the wedding this morning.  Great dress, great ceremony!  Like this week, next week will be light on posting since I will be very busy until exams finish up on May 10th.  Have a wonderful spring weekend!

Great spring outfit.  Can I do pegged kakis?

Please say this is true.

Yep, pizza for breakfast.

House tour: Jayne Mansfield.

Loved her as Jenny, loved her in The Conspirator, love this shoot.

A funny old PSA.

This week in Hunger Games casting - well played!

My favorite collection of Royal Wedding pics (so far).

Just in case ...

you're interested in making your own royal wedding gear ... via Kate Spade tumblr by P.S. - I Made This.

Wedding Hats

Only one more day to go!  Even Gwyneth has joined in the fun, and the Beckhams on are on their way.  Can't wait to see Kate's dress, and to see all the hats attendees will be wearing.  The big question: where to watch?  It's so damn early!

Sea of Bees

John introduced me to Sea of Bees last year and I quite enjoy them.  They are all over NYC this week, however I have much too much homework to check out one of their shows.  Luckily, their mellow music is getting me through many prolonged study sessions.

Writing Hut

Just came across this feature on writers' huts.  What a lovely idea - one that is a million times more charming than any old home office.  Check out Roald Dahl's little cottage below.

Via Re-nest.

Currently Loving

Ever since I saw this dress over at Anthropologie I just can't get it out of my head.  Since I do have a family wedding to go to at the end of May perhaps I'll scan the sale racks for something like it.  I wish I could pull off a nice sleek braid to go with it, but alas my hair is too slippery.

Via Anthropologie

The Bay Area in ... Toothpicks!

Ummm, WOW!  It's just like being back home - every landmark is included.  I love his shout out to Humphrey the Whale.  Thanks for sending Ms. Paschen!

Scott Weaver's amazing piece, made with over 100,000 toothpicks over the course of 35 years, is a depiction of San Francisco, with multiple ball runs that allow you to go on "tours" of different parts of the city. It will be on display in the Exploratorium's Tinkering Studio until the end of June!

Scott Weaver's Rolling through the Bay from Learning Studio on Vimeo.

Royal Wedding!

I'll admit I am a bit swept up in the royal wedding hoopla.  Mainly I am dying to see what Kate Middleton's wedding dress will look like!  When it comes to weddings of princesses though, can anyone ever compete with Grace Kelly?  The dress is so modest, yet so sophisticated -- the pearl detailing on top is just gorgeous as is her head piece.

Academy Award-winning MGM designer Helen Rose works on Grace Kelly's wedding dress. It took six weeks and 36 seamstresses to perfect the frock, made of 25 yards of silk taffeta, 100 yards of silk net, 125-year-old rose-point lace bought from a museum, and thousands of tiny pearls. Via Life.com - Photo: Allan Grant/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

She also had a very fun way of getting over to the wedding.

On April 4, 1956, Grace Kelly -- her bridesmaids, her relatives, her dog, and about 80 pieces of luggage in tow -- left New York for Monaco aboard the S.S. Constitution. Four hundred reporters are said to have requested passage on the eight-day trip, and most were turned down.  Via Life.com - Photo: Yale Joel/TIME & LIFE Pictures

Happy Easter Weekend

If you celebrate Easter, have a good one.  For me, "celebrate" means seeing friends & family, eating ham, and hopefully getting a nice basket.  If you don't celebrate, just have a plain old good weekend!  Above photo: Easter 1957 - that's my mom on the right :)

Week in Review #13

via Things Organized Neatly, entitled "A Day in San Francisco"

I sure wish In-N-Out burger was in store for me this weekend!  Oh well.  Herewith, some fun links from this week:

High school fashion in 1969 and vintage Seventeen magazine.

A very historically significant coconut.

More Hunger Games casting: Prim, Rue & Thresh, and Effie Trinket!

Need to spruce up your home decor?

Elaine in a political comedy on HBO.

Quite the love poem.

Super cute backpacks.

Style Crush - Diane Keaton

Talk about tomboy style.  A classic blazer never did anyone wrong.

Annie Hall

Manhattan

Manhattan Murder Mystery

Shoes!

One of my favorite days of the year is coming up: the Matt Bernson Sample Sale!  I am currently on a strict budget, so one pair will have to suffice this year, but lordy in the past ...


This year's info

Us and our loot from last year

Photo by Oh MG

Two Cool Podcasts

Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad just won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and Tina Fey's book Bossypants came out last week.

I loved Goon and can't wait to read Bossypants - my friend Jen gave it a great review.  Check out these great podcasts with both authors talking about their work - I downloaded the Tina interview and it kept me amused for the entire commute.

Jennifer Egan on Studio360, 3/18/11.



Tina Fey

You Learn Something New Everyday ... Little Witches

I saw this over on Dos Family on Monday ... so fun to learn little tidbits about different cultural celebrations.

“According to Swedish folklore, Easter was a time when witches stole household brooms and flew to Blåkulla or “Blue Mountain”  to consort with the devil.  From this ancient superstition a modern tradition has taken root in the form of a mini-Halloween where children dress up as Easter witches with headscarves and painted red cheeks and go door to door with a copper kettle looking for treats. This usually happens on the Thursday or Saturday before Easter.” Via Dos Family via Your Living City.

via Dos Family

New (Vintage) Coach

Last summer I was lucky enough to find a very cute vintage Coach purse (on half-off day at Unique Thrift Store - thank you Liz!).  Now, to capitalize on the public's continued love for their vintage look, Coach will re-issue some of its classic designs.  Love them!  (via Refinery29)

via Refinery 29

Walls Made of Books

While I love books, bookshelves, and inventive decor, I hadn't thought of this possibility: walls made of books.  David Bouley's new Japanese restaurant Brushstroke uses 12,000 recycled paperbacks to line the walls.  My only concern is that books are for reading not decorating, but I guess there are enough bad books out there that this is okay.  Looks pretty cool!  Galleycat via Gothamist.

Katie Sokoler for Gothamist

Katie Sokoler for Gothamist

One last post for the week ...

This post inspired me.  Obviously I just can't get enough of Keith this year.

via

via

Week in Review #12

Photo by Tarokuchi via Miss Moss

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!!!!!

Stephen Colbert defending Planned Parenthood - woot!

Swedish bedrooms!

If it's going to keep raining, bring on the rainy day style.

Vintage Claudia Schiffer.

Yes please, I think I could eat a million of these little treats.

Polaroids of athletes by Andy Warhol.

The father-daughter duo is baaaaaaack.

Awesome bookshelves.  Thank you for sharing Steph!

Pasta!!!!

If Harry Potter Had An MBA

Seriously, who comes up with this stuff?  I find it incredibly amusing.  Via Buzzfeed.

Design by Amy Sly

Hello Built-In Storage

Why yes, I would like you for my closet.

PHOTO CREDIT: MICHAEL GRAYDON

The rest of the house ain't bad either.  Via Full House via Sabrina Linn.

The Hunger Games

Earlier this week I finished The Hunger Games trilogy and boy are they thoroughly enjoyable.  Unlike some books for younger readers, The Hunger Games was incredibly serious and dealt with complex issues relating to politics, war, oppression, families, love and death (I couldn't believe Collins went where she did at the very end).  My finishing of the series coincided with two things: 1) the finalizing of the casting for the film versions, 2) the publication of an article about the author in The New York Times Magazine.


I think the casting is adequate.  Katniss should be fantastic (though maybe a little old?), though I am not familiar with the two young hunks slated to play Peeta and Gale.  Hopefully they pull a Harry Potter and the movies are just as good as the books.


Lastly, I could not relate more to the reaction of Collins' agent Rosemary Stimola when she read the last chapter:

“No!” Stimola wailed. “Don’t do it.”  

She was reacting as a reader, not a career adviser, but perhaps in the back of her mind she was imagining the emotions the plot twist might provoke in the book’s youthful fans: depression rather than inspiration, desolation rather than triumph. The capacity of young-adult literature for dark messaging has been expanding since the early ’70s, but this poignant loss seemed almost unbearable.

Pink-Shmink

I loved this series when I saw in on J.Crew.  I love everything Jenna actually.  (She lives in Park Slope!!!!) Therefore I was so dismayed to read about people criticizing it.  'Fox News psychologist Keith Ablow calls the ad “a dramatic example of the way that our culture is being encouraged to abandon all trappings of gender identity.”'  


I say rock that pink Beckett!!!!

via J.Crew

Via The Daily Beast: 

A new J.Crew ad is generating controversy. The ad features brand designer Jenna Lyons and her 5-year-old son wearing pink toenail polish. It includes a caption that reads: “Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink.” Many conservative pundits are complaining that the ad actually pushes a transgender agenda. Fox News psychologist Keith Ablow calls the ad “a dramatic example of the way that our culture is being encouraged to abandon all trappings of gender identity.” Neither J. Crew nor Lyons have responded to Ablow's comments.

Read it at New York Daily News

Coffee Table

Looking for a new coffee table (even though I am on a spending freeze) until the end of the year.  The Ikea one is just not cutting it anymore.  Saw this lovely thing on City Sage via Form.

PS. I also like this room because it has lots of light!

Awesome Ocean Beach Story

Last week at Ocean Beach in San Francisco some guy named Jason asked his girlfriend Kelly to marry him by commissioning an artist to create sand art with the proposal written out!  Full story below.

From Yahoo News:
Here's how it all went down: Several years ago, Jason and Kelly were enjoying a picnic of Thai take-out on Ocean Beach when they noticed Amador creating a mural in the sand. "It was one of our first dates in San Francisco and it was just so cool," says Kelly. "We took a bunch of photos and it was a great memory."

Three years later, Jason tracked down the artist via the Internet and asked him to create a wedding proposal sand mural on February 12. The artist conceptualized the design and directed a handful of the couple's friends in raking it into Ocean Beach. It took them, according to Amador, about an hour and a half to get the job done; then everyone took cover on the sidewalk above the rocks.

Meanwhile, Jason was luring Kelly back to the picnic spot. "As we walked down the beach, we talked about the mural we'd seen years ago," Kelly says. "When we came upon the patterns in the sand, I couldn't believe the artist was back!"

Because the design was so large, Kelly couldn't read the message until she climbed up on the rocks (which took some coaxing). The waves were just starting to erase the edges of the mural when Jason pointed out the words and got on his knee. 

Five Words Tell a Story

My friend Lauren, with whom I used to volunteer, posted a cool mantra from Five Words Tell a Story.  Super fun Tumblr!

All images from Five Words Tell a Story.

Robert Altman - Photographer

The Selvedge Yard has an awesome feature on Robert Altman's photographs.  Check it out.

San Francisco, June 1969 – The Jefferson Airplane at the Family Dog  — Image by © Robert Altman

Mick Jagger & Keith Richards in the Elektra Studio with Producer Jimmy Miller –”Let It Bleed” session, October 1969 — Image by © Robert Altman

Week in Review #11

Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face :)

How very nice of you Brooklyn Public Library - amnesty month!

Check out this amazing white suit, worn with matching white converses.

A very cute cooking-how-to, I can't wait for the next installment.

Hello Norway, can I visit you please?

Interesting fact, why do so many Brits have hyphenated names?

An old Vogue shoot to celebrate spring weekends.

Martha sits down with Pilar Guzman.

Tournament of Books

vs. 

The Tournament of Books is a March Madness-like event for last year's fiction - they even have bracket!  This year it came down to a match up between Jonathan Franzen's Freedom and Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad.  Goon Squad won.


Having read and enjoyed both, I was glad they were both finalists.  In the end I would also pick Goon.  Judge Andrew Womack summed up his vote nicely and touched on how music figured prominently into both novels:
"How fortunate to find two books in the championship so comparable—both spanning decades (or beyond) and heavily centered on music. For me, this decision comes down to pacing, and Franzen is the Pink Floyd to Egan’s Sex Pistols; by the end of Freedom I couldn’t take another meandering guitar solo, while I was dazzled by how much Goon Squad packed into such a compact space."  Via TOB.

Weekend Food & Drink

It's Thursday yes, but I would like to share some culinary highlights from Steph's recent NYC weekend.  I was having so much fun that I didn't take many photos (not even photos of food!) besides the one below of our LCD-pregame crew.  Nonetheless, herewith, some weekend food and drink tidbits.

Photo by Oh MG

• FRIDAY
• Momo Fuku for an early dinner (we arrived at 6:15 PM to beat the crowds).  Steph, Jojo, Sarah B and I split two orders of dumplings, chicken wings, brussel sprouts, two orders of Ramen and one frozen yogurt twist (pineapple and brown butter cake).
• 11th Street Bar for post-dinner happy hour (that's what happens when you eat dinner at 6:15 PM - NOTE: happy hour goes til 9:00 PM at this lovely joint).
• Late night drinks to celebrate a friend's birthday at The Richardson - I will definitely visit this place again.
• SATURDAY
• Swedish coffee and a red velvet muffin for our walk to brunch.
• No. 7 for a pre-Brooklyn Flea brunch (I had a broccoli, smoked gouda, and egg sandwich!).
• LCD pregraming with pizza from Pino's and pomegranate cocktails by JM.
• Late night post-gaming at The Breslin.
• SUNDAY
• Building on Bond for a post-LCD late brunch.  I want to try everything on their bunch menu!
• Ground Support for stomach calming herbal tea.
• Bar Toto for a "OMG-I-can't-believe-I-am-still-eating" dinner.

And I'm still full.

Spunky Kids

I came across these fun images over at Dos Family and Absolutely Beautiful Things, aren't they cute reminders of how much fun it is to be a kid?  I would like to play with a grown-up version of bar in the second photo while wearing the polka-dotted get-up from the first photo.

VIA DOS FAMILY

VIA ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL THINGS

Bill Cunningham

This weekend Steph and I were lucky enough to see "Bill Cunningham New York" during its limited engagement here.  I am so glad our original choice (the Justin Bieber movie) was not actually playing anymore, freeing up our time for Bill Cunningham.  The film was sweet, funny, moving, and sad, but most of all it was inspiring to see someone who is so completely in love with what they do!  Check it out.  Hey Bay Area - it opens at the Embarcadero on Friday!


Bill Cunningham New York Trailer from Gavin McWait on Vimeo.

Well isn't this just a lovely idea

Saw this over at the Kate Spade Tumblr (which I CANNOT get enough of).  Just lovely.  By Red Stamp.

Killer outfit

Now isn't this a great look.  I am a big fan of Nicole Ritchie's style.  Love the classic Ray-Bans, Native American inspired sweater, and fringe bag.  I really wish I could pull off casual braids like that!  My hair tends to slip right out of them, plus layers makes it hard to even braid it in the first place.

via PopSugar

Jackie's Living Room

I got so excited when I saw this over at The Peak of Chic today.  A photo of Jacqueline Kennedy's apartment circa 1971 as featured in House Beautiful.  It's pretty dark and overdone, but hey it's Jackie!

According to The Peak of Chic:

The fabric [on the couch] was designed by Design Works, a textile firm located in Bedford Stuyvesant that trained people in the craft of textile design and production. The company, created by an agency that was founded by Senator Robert Kennedy, was championed by Onassis who, in fact, recruited D.D. and Leslie Tillett to teach and mentor the Design Works employees.