Friday, January 28, 2011

Friday Fashion: LBD...again

I apologize. I'm going to have to revisit the LBD. I have found more. Take this journey with me, won't you?Let's revisit this theme one more time: The Power of Ruching. That should be the title of a New York Times best-selling fashion book that I'll probably never write. Or maybe I'll just change my blog header... And I adore the sweet little bow. A New You Dress, $77.99.The sweetheart neckline is adorable. The cap sleeves are the cutest. And the upper chest mesh fabric is so modest and sexy at the same time. Love! Grand Finale Dress, $67.99.This wins as today's favorite. I am bowled over by the soft, scalloped neckline, which nearly creates an off-the-shoulder look. The seaming is delicate, and the folded decoration at the waist provides an exciting and unexpected pop of color. Mystery Loves Company Dress, $189.99.

Daily EYEEAROMG Candy

So, I cannot possibly communicate how excited I am to see Paul. Simon Pegg. Nick Frost. Voiced by Seth Rogan. Jane Lynch. Kristen Wiig. Jason Bateman. For a lover of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, this is going to be epic. For those not in the know, here is the very basic premise from IMDB: "Two British comic-book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51."

That cannot possibly cover the awesomeness that Paul is sure to be. AND THE TRAILER IS OUT. Go watch it now, I beseech you!

Daily Eye Candy

If I could do it all over again, and if I was chic enough, I just might wear this Whipped Butter Dress (ModCloth, $54.99) as my wedding gown. It is so graceful and intricate and well constructed!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Unrelated

These two links are entirely unrelated, but each of them might just make life better, in their own way.

First, Husband has turned me on to http://www.rainymood.com/. It is the sound of a soft thunderstorm, over which you can play your own music, if you so choose. I cannot play music while I complete editing work, but to have such wonderful, calming white noise in the background is a treat. The only downside: frequent bathroom breaks...

Second, Gizmodo featured a wonderful post about a new site, Philanthroper, yesterday. As the site explains, "The base concept is this: You donate $1, they make sure 99% of that gets to the charity, not into their pockets." Awesome! For someone who has become disillusioned with the multitude of mail that I (continue to) receive after donating to several worthy causes recently, at least I can feel assured that my donation through this site will reach the intended cause rather than the postal service's coffers.

Happy Wednesday!

Someday spring

As the end of January nears, I have felt the anticipation of spring so intensely. I cannot wait to lose the heavy coat and wander campus with Husband during our lunch hour again. But that is certainly a few months away, so I must console myself with a recent photo challenge from the Pioneer Woman's site: flowers! She included a gorgeous shot taken by a woman named Christine of crocus buds peeking from the tundra:I adore this photograph. It reminded me of the croci that graced my parents' old farmhouse. When I saw the colorful protrusions, I knew warmth and sunlight were imminent. The early spring grass would grow tall around the beauties, as my father refused to mow over them. I hope to plant some in my own yard now, because they seem the most hopeful of flowers.

I'm ready to be warm again. How about you?

Friday, January 21, 2011

Friday Fashion: LBD

I just adore little black dresses (LBDs). In a pinch, there's nothing better. I don't, however, actually seem to own any, except one stretchy one that I bought at a store in France, oh, about eight years ago. And I only wore it once. In a skit. Days after I bought it. So maybe I'm not the LBD expert, preferring pretty, contemporary floral patters and bright, skippy colors. But I can still love LBDs, and soon I will have a reason to wear one! Woo-hoo! Here are a few I fell in love with online (apologies for the lack of diversity in stores; one site just had too many pretty ones!).
This. Is. My. Favorite. I've come to terms with the fact that my upper body does not look best in strapless dresses (one word: sleeves), but I LOVE this enough to pretend like my body would look good encased in its pretty. $34.99.
Here's the best of both worlds for my body type: Sleeves and ruching (ruching is the gathered fabric around the midsection, for those of you who have never been concerned with muffin top). I wouldn't even have to spend time with Demon Jillian to look moderately acceptable in this ensemble. Hate those shoes though. I never understood the podiatric bondage look. $156. (I pretty much just made up the word "podiatric.")Say it with me again: Ruching. Roo-shing. It's fabric magic. If I could lift weights that were more than five pounds without tipping over backwards, this dress could potentially work for me. $32.50.*This dress looks a little Puritanical, and I kind of like that about it. The lack of cleavage is sweet. And it's hard to see from the picture, but it is covered in tiny, neat rows of ruffles. $30.*OH SPEAKING OF RUFFLES. This dress might be my second favorite. Or my first. Whatever. It's too artsy for my neck 'o the woods, but I think it's wonderful. I wish the site had a picture of an actual human being wearing this dress, because I would love to see how those ruffles fall. They probably accentuate all the right parts. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. $20.*

*These prices aren't actually dollars, they are pounds. But I don't know how to enter that little "L" symbol for pounds, so you get "$." Still, a great site, with international delivery!

LBD: What not to wear

I've been checking out little black dresses (LBDs) lately. I'm going to be in a wedding in which I will need to wear a LBD, and while, yeah, I probably have some options that will cost zero dollars, what harm is it to look at a slew of gorgeous LBDs that do cost more than zero dollars? YEAY!

Now, it's hard to mess up a LBD, but I've found a spectacular example. You are only allowed to like/wear this if you live in the 1980s and are maybe Madonna.Ew.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Friday Fashion: Need Supply Co.

Here are a few of my favorite things from Need Supply Co. And these are just from the accessory tab!I adore the rough-hewn feel of this Tangerine Ring, $49.99. And the color is dazzling!I. Want. These. I am never not cold. With these Long Gloves, $19.99, at least my forearms would be toasty!.
And for my ears...Cable Hat, $24.99. I dig the cranberry color.Even with my entire body covered in wool and fleece, one could still be stylish if holding this Vintage Floral Wallet, $18.And finally, a piece of jewelry both adorable and a little bit melancholy (can jewelry be melancholy?), Birdcage Necklace, $22.

Go forth and be fashionable.

Daily Eye Candy

I've made my love for Tim Minchin no secret, and last night he made his American television debut on Conan! Here is your Daily Eye Ear Candy. You're WELCOME.

Your other left

I came across an interesting article via mental_floss this morning entitled "Life Without Left Turns," which details several study examples (can what Mythbuster's does be called a "study"?) that add mounting evidence to the fact that avoiding left turns saves time (and perhaps collisions).

Not too terribly long after I had received my driver's license, I was hit when turning left out of my ceramics teacher's driveway late one night. The road was hilly, with dips that concealed oncoming traffic, I was inexperienced, and the other driver was surely going too fast. The side of my mother's car was pretty banged up, though the other driver, her passenger, and I were all physically fine.

For the next year after that accident, I had a strange, Pavlovian-like response to left turns. Each time I made one, I cringed inwardly, waiting for the phantom collision. Every single time I turned, I remembered the shock and embarrassment (I did pull out in front of her, after all) and fear. Eventually the response faded, but now I always do extra checks when I turn left.

Personally, I vote we all get bicycles instead.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Daily Eye Candy

For my birthday, my dearest cousin, who will turn 25 just six weeks after me, took me to see "Wicked" at the Murat Theatre. The show was so indescribably incredible. And, while I quickly became obsessed with "Defying Gravity" after hearing the Rachel/Kurt duet on Glee, I have equally as fast become obsessed with the rest of the music, particularly "For Good." Here is some Daily Eye Ear Candy for you.


Performed by the original witches, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel (remember them from Glee too??? And Idina from Rent? Oh, I'm getting the vapors!!!).

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

A quarter century old

Once upon a time, in a land not so very far from here, a little girl was born. And she was named after a lake that she fished in every summer until she was almost grown.And she had blonde curls and looked just like her father and appeared in mischievous photographs, even though she really wasn't mischievous at all.And she loved animals and reading and crafts and Barbie dolls.And then she grew into an embarrassingly awkward adolescence, with some unfortunate haircuts and outfit choices, of which no photographs were ever recorded.And then she roped herself a boyfriend, whom she decided to never let go. And they went to her first prom.And then her second (by then, they were both out of braces, though you wouldn't know it by his smirk). And she graduated from high school.And then college three years later.And two months after that, they were married.
And, twenty-five years after the once upon a time, she wished herself a happy birthday and a happily ever after, with a jaunty tip of her top hat.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

My favorite Christmas gift

I just wanted to include here my favorite Christmas gift of the season, which came from my dear, dear Husband. My first pair of Tom's shoes!They are sparkly and comfortable and so darn cute your head might explode! And somewhere in the world, Husband's purchase helped a child in need. I can't wait until I need a new pair!

2010 Holidays

I have ignored, nay, shunned, my blog for several weeks now, having just returned to work after eleven straight days of sitting on my backside watching "Intervention" (as the 2009 holidays were devoted the marathon sessions of "Murder, She Wrote," so may 2010 be remembered as the year "Intervention" reminded me why meth is never a good idea).

But I'm back, and shall chronicle our holiday in pictures with as few words as possible. Because I'm bitter I didn't have time to finish the seventh season.This was our 2010 Christmas tree. For the first time in our new house, we could install our tree in the living room, like real people! Last year, because Husband's office had yet to be completed, the tree adorned our upstairs guest bedroom. Which was weird.We spent Christmas Eve with my parents, their first Christmas in their new home. My big gift to them was re-framing an intricate pencil drawing that my father's niece had created for them depicting the old farmhouse. She's an architect, so the drawing was really an excellent representation of the building. It had fallen off the wall at the old house a long time ago, which broke the glass, and my parents never got around to getting it fixed. They stored it in their new basement until I broke in one afternoon when their place was empty and stole the thing. I thought I was being crafty, but they never noticed it was gone. This is perhaps a testament to the basement's current organizational theme.I get two stockings because I am an only child and therefore a speshul preshus and perfect being.Husband gets a stocking that seems to imply his real name is "Seasons Greetings." It has a nice ring to it, no? Perhaps I will begin using that title on a regular basis. "Oh, dear Seasons Greetings! Would you take out the garbage, please?" Yes, yes, that will work nicely. (To be fair, I don't get a special stocking at my in-laws either. This year, as Husband was "Seasons Greetings," I was "Orange Ninja Turtle.")This might be my favorite gift. Yes, those are adult-sized footie pajamas. They would only be more awesome if they included a hood and some kind of mitten attachment. For next year, I'm thinking of asking for a nice pin-striped set that would be office-appropriate.This surely was Husband's favorite gift, to him from my father. But it's the gift tag that really makes the thing special... Oh, my darling, drunk Seasons Greetings.

We spent Christmas day with Husband's family, after a treacherous journey, having gotten stuck in our own driveway in the wee hours of the morning. Yes, we were driving next door. Don't judge.
As has become tradition, we participated with a few of our dearest friends (see above: the newly engaged) in the Annual Reading of the Children's Christmas Letters. We are awful, terrible people. And you know what? It never gets old.You would never guess that we are naughty, naughty girls, eh?
And we rounded out or 2010 holiday season by spending New Year's Eve with three of the best people ever, trying to keep our eyes open until midnight and suffer through Ke$ha performances. No, Ryan Seacrest, your New Year's Eve Show was far from Rockin'. We made it until the ball dropped (this is a testament to the couple above on the right, who had a new, second baby six weeks ago. Meanwhile, the only sleep deprivation I've experienced recently was trying to fit in just one more late-night episode of "Intervention"...).Hope your 2011 is filled with much merriment and as little meth as possible. We don't actually need any meth. We are naturally insane.

This has been a public service announcement.