Guess Who?

What I usually find most attractive about Anne Hathaway are her clothes. For me, she falls into that Julia Roberts over-sized mouth category of actresses that are definitely beautiful but something with their faces is just a little bit off — most likely that said over-sized mouth. I also appreciate her acting (loved Rachel Getting Married) and how she embraces her incredibly pale skin (like mine), but her looks and that gaggling laugh-at-yourself, trying-to-be -witty personality (also very Julia Roberts) just put me off. But in the new issue of British GQ Anne looks particularly out of character and particularly good. She oozes sexiness and that 1960s rock n' roll girlfriend quality of Jane Birkin or one of those other Euro chicks everyone is obsessed with blogging about these days. Naturally I am into it, but maybe in the end it's just because I can't really see her face.

Skype Shots

Long distance relationships are hard, but thank God for Skype and a bottle of wine. I feel like I have given a whole new meaning to "online dating" with the magic of that web cam. But let me tell you as enthusiastic I was when I discovered the beauty of video chat and as excited as I once was to just see his face, I am a thousand times more excited to never do it again. I am over it and counting down the days (12!) for my romantic life to begin in 3D once again. The Skype magic is gone, the novelty has worn off, whatever you want to say — I did just take some cool mid-chat photos though. Who would've thought this new technology could also transport us back in time and produce some shots that may have as well been taking in 1979. I do love an old (looking) photo, and even better if its of him.
           
           

Little Things I Love About New York

Mitchell.

He's so fab I can barely keep my eyes open.

Balloon Obsession Cont.

                   




                

Rainbow Goblins

Speaking of colors, did you ever read the children's book "The Rainbow Goblins" about the devilish little creatures who like to steal/eat (I think) rainbows? I have vague memories of putting it on as a play in Kindergarten, myself playing the yellow goblin, and vivid memories of loving the story. It was so exciting and the illustrations were magical, I think I should get it for my nieces. Oh and hey Tim and Spike, please don't make it into a movie.


Thanks for the reminder Progressive Pioneer.

Not So Random Sunday (Super Bowl)

I'm going to be a cheerleader this evening, just have to figure out who's playing first...

SEATTLE—High-school football cheerleaders, 1955.

The head cheerleader and the team captain embrace after a game.

Seeing Red

Over the last couple months I have developed a great aversion bordering on hatred toward the color red. I have gotten rid of most of my red clothes and cringe every time I see a red(eek!)-carpet gown or something in a magazine in the intense hue. I'll take red wine, red balloons (99?) and red lipstick but red attire - no thank you. I even find these fashionable ensembles from the Jak & Jill blog cringe-worthy. I have no idea where this repugnancy originated and I honestly find it a bit strange, but just the same it's a part of me now. Have you ever depised a color or am I just plain crazy? At least my friend's blog Color Hater makes me feel better about myself. I mean she hates all colors, I loath only one.

No.

No.

No! 

Note: I will only make an exception for a Freddy Krueger sweater I bought in S.F. because it is oh so comfy.

Eureka!

The search is over — I finally found the perfect orange-y red lipstick I've been lusting after and wore it out the other night to rave reviews. It is my new secret weapon, appropriately named Lady Danger. M.A.C always does me right, I love the way they describe it: vivid bright coral-red. Perfect.
            

Love Walls

Haven't done one of these in while now have we?

The Boys of Backyard Bill Round 2

I blogged about Backyard Bill's fellows awhile ago and now there is a fresh crop of fineness up on his freshly remodeled site who are equally as intriguing and delicious. American boys can be oh so dreamy in the right light...

Little Things I Love About New York

Fort Greene the morning after a snowstorm. 

               

               

               

Took these photos walking back from a sleep-over at Sunny's this morning. It was surprisingly quite lovely to be out on the streets at such an early hour instead of going straight from my bed to my computer as I usually do. 

A Few Things That Made Me Smile

While browsing the World Wide Web I came across these amusing tidbits. I like them, maybe you will too.

Song on Repeat

I listened to my favorite band from last year Beach House's new album "Teen Dream" in its entirety today and... I was impressed. They managed to produce an appropriately nostalgic and dreamy third record on the tail of "Devotion," their equally (if not more) amazing sophomore album. At first I thought there wasn't a particular song that I enjoyed more than the others — just the album as a whole — but then it popped out at me like a really gentle and slow slap in the face and I have been listening to "Walk in the Park" on repeat ever since.

Oh and we just bought tickets to see them in Berlin(!) at the end of the month.

Chanel in Quotations

I am not so into Twitter, it just doesn't seem to fit in my life and I don't find it very entertaining to follow random peoples' daily rants and activities (at least in such a format, I do love random blogs) or those I could just Facebook, text, or God forbid call if I was curious to what they were up to. But I just came across an account that I am actually a bit fascinated by, well maybe more than a bit. First and foremost because Mr. Karl Lagerfeld has written just 49 tweets and has 186,828 followers, but he himself is not following a single soul. Awesome. And he's a pretty entertaining albeit a bit lonely seeming guy, some of his tweets are hilarious, some ridiculous, some profound-ish and some terribly melancholy written in the wee hours of the night. Here are a few of my faves.

I like imagination -- and the way I think things could be, had been, or should be -- better than reality.
4:38 AM Nov 27th, 2009 from web

Forgiveness is too easy. I can forget by indifference, but not forgive. I prefer revenge.
6:07 AM Sep 13th, 2009 from web

I think I'm going to have a dinner party where no one speaks. I'll give all my guests pens and pads instead of the usual dinner conversation
6:47 AM Apr 24th, 2009 from web

What I like in Monte Carlo is that I feel liked, I feel wanted, but I can walk on the street with nobody grabbing.
8:41 AM Mar 30th, 2009 from web

My dream? Transparent fur. The hair on plastic and not on leather. We’ve tried, but nobody has found it yet.
7:34 PM Feb 18th, 2009 from web

After the couture, I am spending a quiet weekend in my all-glass apartment, floating over the river on Quai Voltaire.
6:55 AM Jan 31st, 2009 from web

Florals are for middle-aged women with weight problems.
9:15 PM Jan 26th, 2009 from web

Believe it or not, I love rap.
7:46 AM Jan 19th, 2009 from web

Fur is not murder, but it is quite expensive.
4:53 PM Jan 3rd, 2009 from web

Chanel is an institution, and you have to treat an institution like a whore – and then you get something out of her.
11:12 PM Nov 16th, 2008 from web

P.S. His bio reads "A terrible underachiever." Ridic.

Random Sunday

Gotta love the pomp.

CHICAGO—Three young men uptown, 1965.

                   
WEST BERLIN—Wannsee Park, 1961.

BAGHERIA, Sicily—Schoolmates working in the classroom, 1960.

Speaking of Grunge...

The good people over at Opening Ceremony are continuing to celebrate their designer Chloë Sevigny's Golden Globe win for best supporting actress in Big Love by posting a menagerie of photos from the ultimate cool girl's chic life. Although the more recent shots get me going fashion wise, I was most tickled by the ones from 1990s when Chloë was a little less Courtney Love a little more skater chick, but so grunge just the same. Check them out...

         

         

       

             

Mid-Winter Remedy

It's that time off year again when everyone is just longing for a break from the dregs of winter. Well, it's summer flashback week over at Mr. Newton's blog and though it may be torturous for some to look to the happier time we call summer, I find it a good quick fix for the wintertime blues. I am rather enjoying checking out the bight colors, funky rompers (my fave) and vintage tees the local hipsters sported at the weekly pool parties at the East River park in Williamsburg last summer. Unfortunately I was in Berlin (boo hoo) and missed out on all the fun, but it has at least brightened my day today. You can almost feel the warmth of the sun seeping out of the computer screen, well almost.
              
              
              
              
              

              
Dare I say that I like Mr. Newton's blog better than the king of street style's The Sartorialist — I think I will. He just shoots more relatable people that you wouldn't necessarily find in the tents at Bryant Park or the pages of a magazine, but still have an edgy fashion sense or spirit — I find that refreshing and frankly more entertaining.

Grunge Lives and Loves

               
                 
                
                
So the other day I was reading some good old celebrity gossip when I came across Celebitchy, well, bitching about this fashion spread Emma Watson did for Vs. magazine — calling it too racy and scandulous for a classy young girl like herself and claiming that it could have been styled by Courtney Love and better suited for Taylor Momsen. For some reason this stirred a few things up inside of me. So here they are:

1) I like Emma and her (or her stylist's) sense of style. I've even featured one of her fittingly Teen Vogue fashion shoots here on the blog. But for some reason I cannot really accept her as a participating member in the adult fashion world (don't get me started on Tavi), I mean she is on the tipping point of gorgeous (just let her hit 20), but call me crazy or does she still have a baby face? She is at least too young to star in a Burberry campaign.

2) Compared to that said Burberry campaign, despite the use of the eyeliner that Celebitchy is so against, I feel these photos are much more age appropriate. She looks like she is just a girl dressing up and having fun with clothes, makeup and jewelry. Nothing wrong with that. Not too sexual or explicit to me either — even though it involves some underwear and lace we are nowhere near Lindsay Lohan territory. Better than an old lady trench I say, I mean I have like five of them but I pretty much am a grandma compared to the 19-year-old.

3) After seeing these photos and reading the comparison to Courtney Love I had to ask myself: am I crazy that I actually like her? Despite the plastic surgery, the drugs, the supposed killing Kurt Cobain, am I crazy that I actually like her? Then I found this picture and realized hell no, she's rad.

RIP JD

I certainly had my Holden Caulfield days, as most of us did, and I just learned last night that The Catcher in the Rye was the first book Karsten ever read in English. It seems that not only did JD Salinger capture a generation of Americans, but lost teenagers all over the globe. I think I will read that dusty copy of Franny and Zooey on my shelf again in his honor.

His n' Hers

Looky looky what I stumbled across today. Do you think it would be weird if my boyfriend and I started wearing matching grandpa, navajo-inspired sweaters (hey, he can get in on the trend too right?). You think not, I think yay!

P.S. This is a joke, I am going to wear both. I think I have had too much coffee or maybe just too much sleep today.

My No Longer Daily O (State of the Union)

It was a confident performance, more defiant than contrite, more conversational than soaring. He appealed to and scolded both parties, threatened vetoes, blamed his predecessor and poked fun at lawmakers. The agenda was largely the same, dressed up in fresh packaging, as he offered point-by-point rebuttals to the litany of critiques he hears with increasing frequency. He acknowledged only a failure to explain his policies without retreating an inch on the policies themselves. His main message: “I don’t quit.

I thought it was an effective and emotional speech, the kind that I was so accustomed to during election fever, goose bumps and all. I especially thought he did a great job addressing health care (even though he didn't even bring it up until the 11th page of his speech), the insane costs of higher education, and the extreme divide between Democrats and Republicans in congress (and the media) that ultimately results in not much getting done. I am sure the haters will still hate (and most of them didn't even clap when he discussed the tax cuts he had given to working families) but there is no denying that Obama is good man who truly wants the best for his country, and not simply for his own gain like some other politicians we know.

Read more analysis from the New York Times here.

Song on Repeat

Charlotte Gainsbourg's "Me and Jane Doe." Simple. Pretty. Catchy. Beck. I like it, na na na na na na oh na na na na na na.

Am I a Shoe Stalker?

First it was these, then it was these, now it's these dope Chloé Susan boots (yes I said dope). I will also say that The Cherry Blossom Girl has got some good taste in footwear.

Nothing Beats a Grilled Cheese

Waiting patiently. 

Oh my. 

Gimme one. 

Delish.

Hands off. 

One for you?

Fuck Lady Gaga (Song on Repeat Nostalgia)

Fever Ray (Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson's solo project while she is on hiatus from the Knife) blows Lady Gaga out of the water on every possible level. With her avant-garde costuming and acceptance speeches, but especially and more importantly with her music, it's just not even comparible. Oh man, and The Knife, they will always have a very special place in my heart. "Heartbeats" was my song on repeat for a few years of my life, blasting it over and over pretty much before every night out on the town.

THE KNIFE - Heartbeats
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