i want to go there

I am so super-duper-uber excited to be leaving for NYC tonight. Words cannot describe. It has been too long since my last visit. My friend Christy and I have plans to eat, museum hop, eat, shop, have a bevvie or two, eat some more, shop, visit with my family and best friend, introduce Christy to Bklyn and enjoy the energy of the City. Ahhh bliss. I hope your weekend is just as lovely. See you on Wednesday lovelies!

P.S. The title is a quote from 30 Rock. If you aren't watching yet, you should be.

Wish You were here via Le Love.

roadside projects

I would love LOVE to own an original of one of these quirky, adorable paper cutouts from etsy seller Roadside Projects. I suppose I will settle for a print (avail on etsy, from $15-$20). The problem will be choosing just one. Love, love, love.

Prints via Jayme McGowan (blog), via Rifle.

love your life

This recipe for success has been echoing in my mind lately. It is a good suggestion to ponder. Do you do what you love and love what you do?

Let What You Love poster via etsy seller LookyLoo.

california loooove

Here are a few snapshots from my wonderful week of wedding fun in Cali. I seriously love love love that state. Such beauty. The palm trees get me every time. By the way, if you have never been to Huntington Beach, I HIGHLY recommend it. The people were great, the food was great, the beach was great, the nightlife was GREAT. All around, just greatness. P.S. That is me on the far right, in the yellow skirt (above).

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We spent the day of the Bachelorette wandering around the beach town and indulging in some amahzing food, girlie bevvies and hot tub time. In the evening we got the party started with an awesome dinner at Tuna Town (the.best.sushi.ever. serious must go), followed by bar hopping. The crowd in HB at night is just hysterically funny and really, really nice. Everyone loved Laura's veil and kept congratulating her. It was a fabo time.

The next morning we celebrated with a brunch overlooking the ocean at our beautiful hotel where we were entertained by a magician. Usually magician=cheesetastic, but this one was actually really amazing. Some of use were seriously stunned.

Then we wandered down to the beach so that us non-Cali girls (really just me) could enjoy the sand beneath our toes. Even though we were anticipating it being a little chilly, the weather was perfect. HB was hosting a kite flying tourney and lifeguard auditions while we were there. (Confession: The Harry Potter dementor kite kinda freaked me out.)



After a long week of last minute prep and a little champers to calm her jitters, Laura finally got to be a bride! She was absolutely stunning. Her professional pics look like bridal mag shots. Seriously lovely.

Cheers to Husband and Wife. Congrats Allan and Laura!

let the countdown begin...

Happy Monday! After a long and lovely weekend spent serving others, I am having a little difficulty getting into the swing of things today. I have a long week of meetings, meetings and more meetings ahead of me, but on Thursday evening I get to jet set off to one of my most favorite places ever! I truly heart NY, and I can't wait to be back there in just a few short days. In the meantime, wish me luck with the packing situation. It am a notoriously horrible packer, and it is not going to be pretty. Only 4 more days!

Have a lovely day!

Love NY via Perfect Bound.

bless your tombstone heart

An awesome indie band, The Low Anthem, opened for Lisa Hannigan on Monday. They had a slow, kind of Bon Iver-ish vibe on most songs, with a few bass-slappin' Bob Dylan type tunes thrown in. Pretty dang good. I feel pretty lucky that we saw them now, while they are still relatively small time, because according to all the buzz, they are about to make it big. Good for them!

I bought their first album, What the Crow Brings, at the concert, but both of their albums and/or digital dls are available on their website. Seriously, check them out.

This God Damn House, The Low Anthem

P.S. The album art is hand silk-screened onto each recycled cardboard album cover. Love it.

P.P.S. Happy Friday and Happy 1st Day of Spring! Woo hoo!

notoriously late and definitively in love

So, although I am extremely tardy, I just wanted to report that I had a magnificent 4th Valentine's Day with C.

In the morning I was greeted with a lovely bouquet of miniature tulips and a breakfast in bed (swoon) of scrambled eggs and wheat toast (by request).

After breakfast he surprised me with a clue to our first destination. I opened an awesome Piet Modrian glass (a nod to our first date) that he had purchased for me at the MoMa store the week before. We were headed to the Nasher Sculpture Center for a morning of museum browsing. While shopping in the museum store, he surprised me with my second clue for our afternoon activity. It was a little pin with a hotdog bicycling on it (so cute!) I hadn't ridden a bike in 15ish years and he was going to teach me! (Note: The bf is an avid bike rider.)

After the Nasher we headed to one of our favorite little cafes, Breadwinners, and shared a late lunch. We spent a little over an hour just before dusk riding bikes, and amazingly I didn't hurt myself (despite my apparent attempts at taking out parked cars.) After bicycle riding (it was pretty chilly-notice the roaring fire in pictures below) we headed indoors to cook our Valentine meal.

Recipe time. I like to get my culinary juices flowing with a little bubbly. This time it was pink, in honor of the day.

I started by baking the lava cakes, figuring that although they did not take much time, they would still be enjoyable at room temp. (Note: We had to bake the cakes for twice as long as the recipe called for and even them, I had to work a little microwave magic to get them solid enough to eat with a fork.)

In the meantime, C sauted up the chicken for our bbq chicken pizza. The pizza dough had been rising all day and as soon as the cakes came out, the pie went in. (That's my man. Such a hottie.)

While the pizza baked, I reduced a little bit of basalmic vinegar on the stovetop. I had never done this before, and the aroma was quite pungent. Not C's favorite smell. We also threw together the salad and used the basalmic reduction as dressing and as a drizzle over the pizza. (Note: This makes the pizza a little soggy. I might use less next time.)

Sooo good. I am wishing for a slice of that pizza right now.

After dinner we curled up in front of the fire to watch Funny Face and enjoy our favorite part, dessert.

My plate before...


And after...

SUCH an amazing day and amazing way to spend time with the man I love. Nothing fancy, but very "us."

P.S. My Valentine's present to him was a handmade (by me!) framed reproduction of the famous hipster glossary/record cover For Characters Who Don't Dig Jive Talk and a vintage skeleton key with a note reading "Key to my Heart." Because he has it, obvs.

it ain't easy being green

Poor Kermie. Can somebody please tell me this is a joke? These fresh-from-the-Paris-runway atrocities are part of the Fall 2009 "ready to wear" line from Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. I mean, I am not all couture and chic and French, but would anyone really wear this?




Perhaps this little gem below is supposed to remind us to spend our money wisely in these trying economic times. I know three things I won't be spending my money on.



All pics via nymag.com.

lucky girl

That Mandy Moore is one lucky girl.

Answering Bell, Ryan Adams

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

jcrew, i love you

Pretty, pretty, pretty.

Gwen Dress, $2000.

Confetti Flapper Dress, $700.

Printed Silk Chiffon Whitney Long Dress, $375.

Silk Taffeta Sascha Gown, $1500.

if you want to, i am game

I love surprises!

I Don't Know-Lisa Hannigan

The bf surprised me with tickets to see Lisa Hannigan at HOB tonight, and I could.not.be.more.excited! We first saw her perform live when she opened for Mr. A-Z back in October, and we were just blown away by how quirky and ethereal her music is. We were able to meet the band after the concert, and they were just the nicest people, with the greatest accents. You may recognize her voice from several Damien Rice songs. Go ahead and do yourself a favor and dl this song. And this one, and this one, too. You are welcome.

P.S. Pics from the concert tomorrow.

bridesmaidly

A little preview to a longer post later. Sorry for the extended absence. Thanks for your patience my dears!