Prettier World

Well. Hello.

2011-09-22T23:15:00.003-04:00

Dearest friends, family and readers,

I'm not dead, nor have I fallen onto a subway track or been wandering through Brooklyn for three weeks trying to find my way back to the Upper West Side. I'm simply busy juggling a full-time job and settling into my new apartment, seeing long-lost friends and making new ones. Life in New York is wonderful, and I'm getting to know my neighborhood, and finding myself a part of the 9-6 grind I observed and worked for my whole life. It's a dream to start my days running through Central Park and coming home at night to my very own apartment in my favorite city in the world. (Okay, Bordeaux: you're tied.) I'm only just beginning to develop a schedule, so you can expect more posts from me again soon. Until then, I'll leave you with a couple of things.

1. My new blog Lo-Fi Brow, an arts and pop culture commentary site where I'll be writing a lot more. I've been thinking about this for a long time and I'm excited to share it with you all.
2. A playlist of songs that have been a big part of my life these past few weeks.

1. "Mind Your Manners" by Chiddy Bang feat. Icona Pop
2. "Blood Bank" by Bon Iver
3. "Oh No!" by Marina & The Diamonds
4. "Let It Ride" by Ryan Adams
5. "Girlfriend" by Phoenix
6. "Born to Fight" by Tracy Chapman
7. "Too Much" by Sufjan Stevens
8. "Holocene" by Bon Iver

September is my favorite month. Do you love it as much as I do?

apartment inspiration

2011-09-01T11:51:00.001-04:00

Moving day is tomorrow, and I'm procrastinating via design blogs. Below are some of the ideas I'm excited to utilize in the new space.

An open closet [1, 2, 3]

A wall of juxtaposed frames [1, 2, 3&4]

Vintage-y floral pillows [1, 2&3, 4]

A clothespin line for odds and ends [1&2, 3, 4, 5]

Fresh florals in vintage vases [1, 2, 3, unknown, 5]

Books organized by color [1, 2, 3]

Attn. New Yorkers! Do you have a favorite thrift store or antique shop? I'd love to hear about it!

tuesday tune

2011-08-30T17:52:00.000-04:00

Givers were my favorite band discovery this summer (thank you, Mary!). This song and video make me want to be to outside for every last second of it. Now if you'll excuse me - my guitar and I have some deck-sitting to do.

The calm before the storm

2011-08-28T23:26:00.003-04:00

This Friday night was "the calm before the storm" in many ways for my family: the last night before Sam went back to college; my last weekend before moving to New York and starting a new job; and, quite literally, the night before Hurricane Irene hit. So how did we celebrate it? With lobsters and champagne, of course! (Make that just champagne for me...) I also used the sunny, pre-apocolyptic skies to take pictures of my mom's pretty garden and all the greenery I'll be saying good-bye to.

Real girls

2011-08-28T09:30:00.000-04:00

It really bugs me when street style blogs focus on model-skinny, couture-wearing girls. While those ladies look great, I read those blogs to get style inspiration from people who look like me. These two gals from Stylesightings caught my eye: not overly perfect or polished, but rocking it nonetheless.

Svpplying for Fall

2011-08-26T17:16:00.000-04:00

I've become seriously addicted to Svpply, an online database that allows you to keep all the products you're coveting in one place (think of it as the Pinterest of shopping). Stores post their products, you add the ones you like to your svpply, and you can be redirected to the store's website if you're serious enough about buying something. You can follow stores and people, so every time you sign on, there is yet another round of stuff that you're guaranteed to love. To me, the best thing about Svpply is that it allows you see your favorite looks in one place - it gives me a sense of what sorts of trends and styles I'm into at the moment, like:

Menswear-inspired booties

1. ASOS Leather Chelsea Ankle Boot; 2. Koshka Monotone Cream Boots; 3. Aubin & Wills Mosedale Boot; 4. Topshop ALEK Lace-Up Ankle Boot

Cross Body Bags

1. J. Crew Edie Purse; 2. Vivienne Westwood Canvas Summer Squiggle Cross Body Bag; 3. Topshop Teal Contrast Key Lock Cross Body Bag; 4. ASOS PREMIUM Lunar Cross Body Bag; 5. Madewell Petite Briefcase Bag

Big Gold Watches

1. Fossil Boyfriend Watch; 2. Coach Boyfriend Bracelet Watch; 3. Nixon Oversized Watch

Long Pleated Skirts

1. Club Monaco Julia Skirt; 2. ASOS Midi Skirt; 3. Pins & Needles Long Pleated Skirt; 4. Tibi Long Pleated Skirt

Colorful Trousers

1. ASOS Tailored Ponti High Waisted Slim Flare Pants; 2. ASOS Cropped Flare Pant; 3. Ksubi Super Spray On Jean

Neutral Knits

1. Aubin & Wills Muscatel Cardigan 2. Pringle of Scotland Rope Cable Sweater; 3. United Bamboo Pile Knit Pullover; 4. Cacharel Textured Knit Dress

Happy dance

2011-08-25T17:27:00.002-04:00

I must look like this walking down the street today because... I got a job! This morning I officially acception a position as a production assistant at a travel website. I start after Labor Day, and I'm moving to the city in a week. Things are moving like a whirlwind and I'm in a little bit of a disbelieving daze. I'm so excited to start this next stage of my life!

Serendipitously, I'm guest-posting today over at She Writes and Rights about my job hunt, and about coming to the realization that I want to work in travel. I sent Bethany the post mere minutes before getting the job offer. Life is funny.

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on the radar

2011-08-24T09:15:00.000-04:00

already taking the blogosphere by storm, scotch & soda's fall collection is, in a word, perfect. (um, can we talk about those red jeans?)

darren criss for gq. i mean, come on.

this photo, because it reminds me of the fleeting days of summer

dear pringle of scotland: one day, when i'm a rich lady, all your clothes shall be mine.

a cool illustration based on room by emma donoghue, which i'm tearing through (clicking the link leads you to a crazy interactive website. books these days...)

this look by les composantes

an adorable rendition of "cecilia" (thanks caroline!)

a fingernail ring = completely genius (via)

nicole's gorgeous pictures from new mexico, which remind me of my own trip there a couple years ago (only my photos weren't quite so pretty!)

Tuesday Tune

2011-08-23T18:06:00.000-04:00

I find this song so beautiful... maybe because it sounds exactly like Simon and Garfunkel.

Black and pink and gold, oh my!

2011-08-21T16:44:00.000-04:00

I've been gaga for interior design recently - probably because I'm moving to a new apartment! I'll have a New York, NY, address in less than two weeks, which I couldn't be more excited about. I love the look of basic black played up with feminine details - like antique gold frames, hot pink and yellow accents, groupings of plants, and old-fashioned photos. My head is spinning with possibilities!

1, 2-5, 6, 7 [pretty much all found through SF Girl by Bay, my kindred interior design spirit!]

Tuesday Tune

2011-08-16T09:59:00.000-04:00

You Don't Have to Be Pretty

2011-08-16T00:36:00.000-04:00

I read this post today and it really got me thinking about the idea behind "prettiness." The article is titled, "You Don't Have to Be Pretty," and it focuses on the idea that women often feel a pressure "to maintain a certain standard of decorativeness" in order to appease other people. It reminded me of another article I read about a month ago on Jezebel: "Should We Tell Little Girls They're Pretty?"

It's an extremely complex question, because while we shouldn't be teaching girls that looks are their most important asset, we should really be asking what exactly we mean by "pretty." What does the word mean, anyway?

I'm probing this because I'm thinking about the name of this very blog and if it really corresponds with how I actually want to represent it. My Dictionary.com widget defines "pretty" as: attractive in a delicate way without being truly beautiful or handsome. Curious! If I had known that, I certainly would not have named my blog Prettier World (plus, Delicately Attractive but Not Quite Beautiful World was already taken).

What I was focusing on in naming my blog was the er in prettier: not accepting just a what-you-see-is-what-you-get aesthetic in life, but gaining a deeper appreciation for places, people and things that are holistically, intrinsically beautiful, quirks and all, and beyond a simple first impression. We all know that feeling of falling in love with someone or something the more time we spend with him or her or it. The more we get to know the object, we grow to appreciate its imperfections that, in the end, become the things we love most. They become prettier, and they become real. In a way, maybe it's better that pretty things aren't, according to the dictionary, "truly beautiful"? I'm not sure "true beauty" is all it's cracked up to be.

But I digress. Why not call little girls pretty? Because they'll grow vain and all they'll care about is how they look? Maybe. What if we say, "that dress you picked out is pretty" or "you did your hair pretty today"? What differences do semantics make so long as we're getting the same idea across - that it's what a girl (and any person) does and earns for herself that should be commended?

At the same time, I will acknowledge that we are visually-driven. We're humans. I refuse to not smile and flirt with a cute baby, because when I see an adorable baby, that's pleasing to me somewhere deep down in a core I can't control. It's true when some people see certain animals. It's true, obviously, with sexual attraction for both sexes and all orientations. Looks play a huge role in first impressions, and even though attractiveness varies widely from person to person, that initial attraction is based on a first physical impression. We can't be so naive to think that, even if we never call a little girl pretty, she won't someday experience a man telling her she looks good. And that she will not gain some sort of self-esteem boost or at least mild pleasure from it.

We can't change human nature, and we can't expect ourselves or anyone else to give no regard to the way people look. It's the emphasis that matters, and it's up to each individual (and, in the case of these little girls, every parent) to shift that emphasis and to appreciate the un-truly beautiful in the pretty.

Finding it too difficult to find a picture that corresponded well with this post, I just picked the last photo I admired, by the ever-talented Abby

picture + poem

2011-08-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

corydon & alex, redux
by D.A. Powell

and yet we think that song outlasts us all: wrecked devotion
the wept face of desire, a kind of savage caring that reseeds itself and grows in clusters

oh, you who are young, consider how quickly the body deranges itself
how time, the cruel banker, forecloses us to snowdrifts white as god's own ribs

what else but to linger in the slight shade of those sapling branches
yearning for that vernal beau. for don't birds covet the seeds of the honey locust
and doesn't the ewe have a nose for wet filaree and slender oats foraged in the meadow
kit foxes crave the blacktailed hare: how this longing grabs me by the nape

guess I figured to be done with desire, if I could write it out
dispense with any evidence, the way one burns a pile of twigs and brush

what was his name? I'd ask myself, that guy with the sideburns and charming smile
the one I hoped that, as from a sip of hemlock, I'd expire with him on my tongue

silly poet, silly man: thought I could master nature like a misguided preacher
as if banishing love is a fix. as if the stars go out when we shut our sleepy eyes

photo by Lukasz Wierzbowski

on the radar

2011-08-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

Hey, it's back! A weekly round-up of the things that caught my eye this week (normally reserved for Fridays, but with all the blog catching-up I've been doing as of late, it looks like it's gonna be a double radar week):

Gallery Owner, New York City. Is not very good at small talk.

Short Order Cook, Marathon, TX. She can bench press over 300 pounds.

Bartender, San Antonio, TX. Goes to sleep at 8AM and wakes up at 4PM daily.You Are What You Eat: a fascinating project by photographer Mark Menjivar that exposes the interiors of Americans' refrigerators

Emma's list of 25 Things To Do Before I Turn 25, which has inspired me to create my own list (stay tuned, dear readers!)

Breathtaking images of girls and plants by the Polish photographer, Lukasz Wierzbowski

Folky goodness by Nicki & Tim Bluhm, a gem of a musical couple from San Francisco

Hipster Food: a new-to-me vegan tumblr that I finally checked out, c/o Nadia

I'm going through a serious Dolly stage. "I look like a woman, but I think like a man," Dolly Parton said a couple of years ago on 60 Minutes. "People think I'm as silly as I look, but I done got the money."

Karla is so beautiful, and pretty much my style icon

The blues and greens of Block Island

2011-08-13T19:43:00.004-04:00

I don't blame Brittany for spending her summers on the Island. Even riddled with tourists, the 13-mile stretch maintains an untouched, primitive feel. The colors were most striking to me: blues and greens in their summer prime that, off the mainland, have preserved themselves after all these years.

P.S. Have you guys checked out my Facebook page? You know you wanna like it ;-)

The power of forgetting

2011-08-13T12:30:00.000-04:00

That quote has been gnawing at my neglectful little brain this week. In this Age of Distraction, we allow ourselves to forget the ambitions most worth remembering.

Amongst the aspiring basketball players and marine biologists in my fifth-grade yearbook, my ambition stood alone: Writer. In college I studied it and went to every craft talk and reading, faithfully jotting little pieces of advice on How to Write Well from the writers who knew best. I happily spent hours in the library when I picked and prodded at and reconstructed my work until I felt it was as perfect as perfect could be. In college it was easy: there were deadlines, and professors to impress, and an entire built-in community of people who loved what I loved.

And then, somewhere along the way, I forgot. I don't mean to say I altogether stopped writing, because that will never happen. My need to write is as fundamental as my needs to run outside on a beautiful day, and drink coffee when I wake up, and sing in the shower. Malawi was full of inspiration, and having lots of free time and no Internet made for an ideal writing environment, and over a year later, I have dozens of long rambling pieces about that life-altering experience begging to be touched again.

And France? France was eight months of indulgence: long dinners over confit de canard and carafes of Bordeaux wine, long conversations with strangers who spoke my favorite language, long nights playing and creating music with my new best friends. But yet have I gone through the notebooks I kept with me during long afternoons outside cafés in Bergerac. Yet have I racked my brain for the anecdotes of the musicians and bartenders who played pivotal roles in my year. I'm afraid they're already forgotten.

My point is this: Don't be afraid to admit that you've forgotten why you're Here. Reclaim your passion, whatever it is. The most successful people are those who build and build and build on what they've been given.

Block Island

2011-08-12T16:48:00.000-04:00

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Hi friends, sorry it's been a while (again). Last weekend I took an unforgettable trip to Block Island with my three best friends from college. It was my second time there, and I was reminded of how beautiful and quaint the island is. Although I always miss my friends, I never realize how much I missed them until we're reunited again.

Tuesday Tune

2011-08-02T09:09:00.000-04:00

I saw Ellie Goulding this weekend and she was AWESOME. This song is currently playing on my iTunes on repeat.

Thank goodness for Tuesdays - they're the only day I remember update anymore. I hope when all this job-hunting business dies down I'll be able to increase posts again.

Tuesday Tune

2011-07-26T09:53:00.001-04:00

Patty Griffin is one of my all-time favorites, and this song in particular is so beautiful. There is something very timeless about her music, not to mention her voice. P.S. That guitarist on the right totally cracks me up.

A Lazy Saturday

2011-07-23T12:52:00.003-04:00

Life has been pretty hectic lately. Today, I'm hiding away from the oppressive heat in my air-conditioned house, hanging with the puppy, picking up old faithful (my guitar), and catching up on all your posts.

Happy weekend.

It's my birthday!

2011-07-11T23:29:00.002-04:00

After an awesome weekend in the city, I spent my actual birthday perpetually relaxed and perpetually full. It included: the Monday crossword; brunch with my mom and brother (hummus platter, eggplant shakshuka); the perfect mid-day nap; catching up with friends; an afternoon in Starbucks; a cool glass of white wine on the deck; and dinner with my family, à la mom: gazpacho, pasta primavera with vegan pesto and parmesan, and chocolate strawberry shortcake cupcakes that made everyone a believer in vegan baking. Then I curled up in bed and have been alternating between this book and this book for the past two hours. Food, wine, family, naps, good books: I'm going to bed a happy camper on my birthday.

P.S. My parents got me the Canon SX30IS, which I could not be more excited about.

Tuesday Tune

2011-07-05T22:40:00.001-04:00

This video represents everything that was awesome about the '70s.

BBQ

2011-07-05T07:26:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a perfect day for a BBQ, and I had friends in my backyard all day. It wasn't a traditional BBQ, per se: I made an assortment of yummy veg-friendly salads that I think even the carnivores were pretty happy with. (I was able to scrounge up some hot dogs and chicken sausages in the freezer, though, so those who were feeling the Fourth wasn't the same without meat got their fixes.) We played croquet, drank sangria, and took trips out on the paddle boat - a very good day.

I win!

2011-07-01T14:14:00.003-04:00

I'm so excited, because today I won these two dresses from Miss Carolyn Cecilia at The Anchor and The Bird! If you guys haven't visited her blog, you absolutely should; Carolynn commits a selfless deed everyday and blogs about it. How inspiring is that? She's done amazing things like treating a friend to a concert, volunteering at an animal sanctuary, sponsoring a child in India, and - my favorite - giving away her earrings on the spot to an admirer. Yay for good deeds!

Have a happy Fourth of July, everyone! I'm having a barbeque at my house on Monday and plan on cooking yummy vegan food all weekend. What are your plans?

picture + poem

2011-06-29T09:34:00.002-04:00

Having a Coke with You

is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Irún, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne
or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona
partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian
partly because of my love for you, partly because of your love for yoghurt
partly because of the fluorescent orange tulips around the birches
partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary
it is hard to believe when I’m with you that there can be anything as still
as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it
in the warm New York 4 o’clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles

and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint
you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them

I look
at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world
except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it’s in the Frick
which thank heavens you haven’t gone to yet so we can go together the first time
and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism
just as at home I never think of the Nude Descending a Staircase or
at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michelangelo that used to wow me
and what good does all the research of the Impressionists do them
when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank
or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn’t pick the rider as carefully
as the horse

it seems they were all cheated of some marvelous experience
which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I am telling you about it

-Frank O'Hara

photo

Mandy's Unemployment Survival Guide

2011-06-28T22:40:00.003-04:00

It's been almost two months that I've been home and looking for work, which I realize is not all that bad in this economy of ours. However, it's taken me about this long to come up with a routine for myself and find outlets that allow me to stay relatively sane. Below are some of my tips on how to survive any bout of unemployment.

1. Set an alarm
One of the few perks of unemployment is that you get to sleep in...right? While that was lovely and luxurious at first, it eventually made me feel slothful and unproductive. Do yourself a favor and set an alarm for a reasonable hour; you'll find your days will be a lot longer and you'll have plenty of time to scour job boards, write cover letters and take regular screaming breaks.

2. Network
It's way more fun than sending your resume into the unresponsive stratosphere of online job sites. It kind of makes you feel like you're getting somewhere, and you'll meet cool people who like the same things you do.

3. Exercise
Take advantage of the fact that you're not tethered to a desk from 9-6 (yet). Go to the gym or go for a run whenever you feel like you deserve a break; it will significantly increase your mood and make you feel productive even on the most dead-end of job-hunting days.

4. Get a part-time job if you can
A restaurant, baby-sitting or retail job is a great way to give your life structure and cash flow. If you can't, volunteer. For money, sell your stuff on eBay, Etsy, or at a local thrift store.

5. Take the night off
My dad always says, "Your job is to find a job." So give yourself a certain amount of hours of work everyday, and then give yourself the evenings off. Meet friends for drinks, cook dinner, or lie in bed and watch all three seasons of "Parks and Recreation." For example.

6. Be open to everything
Take all the advice, suggestions and leads that you get. You never know what might come your way.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Tuesday Tune

2011-06-28T10:27:00.001-04:00

It's a Passion Pit kinda week.

Simpler

2011-06-27T11:11:00.002-04:00

I spent this past weekend at my friend's country house in Upstate New York. My phone had no service and it was the most peaceful couple of days I've experienced in a long time. We woke up to a rainy Saturday, read our books in the screened in porch, ate homemade jam, then put on our raincoats and went for a walk in the woods.

This morning I skimmed through 300 unread blogposts in my reader, purely out of a strange sense of duty. It's a beautiful day and I've yet to go outside. Something tells me I need to pull myself away from my computer, from my phone, for longer than just a weekend.

Family, pond, hammock, willow tree

2011-06-23T09:45:00.004-04:00

That little guy is my cousin, Sawyer. He's pretty much the cutest thing since sliced bread.

The handsome fella with the wiffle bat is my little brother.

Thanks for your advice on cameras, everyone. I'm excited to take the plunge!

Nutter butter

2011-06-22T08:40:00.001-04:00

Peanut Butter & Co's Tumblr is a completely genius marketing ploy. Also, just imagine you had a job at a peanut butter sandwich stylist.

All these guys below (and most on the blog) are vegan.

The Fig-Ure It Out: Smooth Operator peanut butter, fig jelly, figs, and caramel kettle corn on whole wheat bread

The Guava Lava: The Heat Is On peanut butter and molten guava jelly on Hawaiian bread, topped with chopped peanuts

The True Blue: White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter with blueberry preserves and fresh blueberries on raisin bread

The Peachy Keen: White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter, peach preserves, sliced peaches and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar on honey oat bread

The Blackout: Black bread with Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter, black cherry preserves, blackberries, and chocolate chips (which we will imagine are vegan chocolate chips)

Tuesday tune

2011-06-21T07:37:00.002-04:00

My friend was blasting this when she came to pick me up the other day. Isn't it the perfect windows-down-on-a-summer-day kind of song? Happy first day of summer!

Adventures in Vegan Baking

2011-06-20T22:25:00.005-04:00

Today I attempted my first batch of vegan cookies, and I have to say, I was impressed with the results. I used this recipe from 101 Cookbooks to make these bite-sized chocolatey treats. These little guys are healthy enough that they can double as a dessert and a naturally sweet snack. I loved the subtle banana flavor and the texture of the shredded coconut.

Ingredients.
.3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
.1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil) [I used olive oil because I didn't have any coconut oil, and it was fine, but I can imagine the coconut oil would add a more harmonious flavor]
.2 cups rolled oats
.2/3 cup almond meal [I just pulsed some raw almonds together in a food processor - voila!]
.1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
.1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
.1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
.1 teaspoon baking powder
.6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped [I used Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, which is surprisingly dairy-free]

Directions.
.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
.In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside.
.In another bowl, whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
.Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
.Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.
.Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet (don't worry, the dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough)
.Bake for 12 - 14 minutes. [15 was actually better for me, but it will vary from oven to oven.]

Makes about 3 dozen cookes.

[By the way, in case you two haven't met, let me introduce you to my pup, Rusty. He's actually ten years old but has the legs of a corgie. He enjoys day-long naps, zucchini, and licking plates clean. He does not enjoy little children because they are a threat to his cuteness.]

My dad, 1989

2011-06-19T08:05:00.002-04:00

Happy Father's Day.

on the radar

2011-06-17T22:03:00.006-04:00

things that caught my eye this week:

these "reminders" by photographer erin hanson [via]

this blog, and every single gorgeous photo on it. [have i been hiding under a stupid rock or something?]

these turquoise accents

these vogue italia covers

this photo of the fitzgeralds

and, yes, their depiction in this movie

these vintage finds [via]

Have a very merry Father's Day weekend!

Camera hunting

2011-06-17T11:04:00.002-04:00

Attention photographer friends!
I'm in the market for a new camera, and I don't know where to begin. I've only ever used Canon point and shoots but I'm ready to take the plunge into something a bit more...ahem...substantial. I love taking pictures but I don't know much about photography, so I'd need something beginner friendly but with room for growth. Know what I'm saying? Please leave suggestions in the comments. Merci beaucoup!

image

Awesome people hanging out together

2011-06-16T09:10:00.002-04:00

sonny & cher bono & twiggy

woody allen & michael jackson

prince william, kanye west, prince harry & p. diddy

This blog is fantastic.

madonna, sting & tupac

salvador dali & coco chanel

keith richards, tina turner & david bowie

beck & thom yorke

and my personal favorite: barack obama & george clooney

thanks nads!

picture + poem

2011-06-15T21:15:00.002-04:00

photo

Plural Happiness
By David Rivard

A curtain bellying like a pregnant cloud, warm white
light refracted through a tumbler of peat-smoked scotch—
a scorcher of a day at cooling end, with stupendous berries
to eat in lieu of supper, the scoffed pint box of blueberries
chased by a half of cantaloupe & Maytag blue cheese
spread across the remains of last night's baguette—
a plural happiness—I feel encouraged for all
within range—even the hang-gliding error that sent
Jesus spiraling down to earth seems a commitment.
Tomorrow we'll go to Alison's wedding, who
at age 2 & 3/4 attended our wedding 26 years ago,
her blond curls a mystery to be held up & photographed
between her mother & father dark-haired Diane & Larry—
in the riddle of our recessive genes once in a while
something surprising waits for anybody out & about.
Like hearing for the first time a blind preacher or waking
in a Gros Vent campground south of Jenny Lake,
the best happiness is always accidental,—& why not?
I was going to say something about boundlessness
back there (or was it getting gassed I meant?), but that
isn't it exactly either. Tho it is pretty close. Close
enough. And real. Real enough, & sure. God it felt good
to heat water on a primus stove while yawning
and to wash my face in cold Gros Vent & love Michaela.

Going veg

2011-06-14T19:23:00.002-04:00

chocolate puddle cookies; quinoa with currants, dill and zucchini

Within reading the first two chapters of Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, I gained an entirely new perspective on how I eat. We all know, the shocking facts about animal cruelty and energy wastefulness are out there, as easy to preach as they are to ignore. But Foer puts it into a moral perspective I'd never considered.

Eating animals has an invisible quality. Thinking about dogs, and their relationship to the animals we eat, is one way of looking askance and making something invisible visible...

Special pickax tools called gaffs are used to pull in large fish once they are within reach. Slamming a gaff into the side, fin, or even the eye of a fish created a bloody but effective handle to help haul it on deck... No reader of this book would tolerate someone swinging a pickax at a dog's face. Nothing could be more obvious or less in need of explanation. Is such concern morally out of place when applied to fish, or are we silly to have such unquestioning corcern about dogs? Is the suffering of a drawn-out death something that is cruel to inflict on any animal that can experience it, or just some animals?"

mixed stone fruit salsa; spring fruit and rosemary oat cobbler

Foer's book was the catalyst for my recent change of heart, but I've been doing lots of research on vegetarianism and veganism and reading pro-vegan books like Skinny Bitch and The Kind Diet. I also signed PETA's 30-day vegan pledge. I like that with vegetarianism or veganism, I'd be reducing my carbon footprint and doing my small part against animal cruelty, but I also have to admit that the promises of weight loss, renewed energy, clearer skin, stronger nails and shinier hair are alluring ones. It's only been a couple of days, so I can't attest for any big changes, but I am loving discovering the vegan blogs out there, like 101 Cookbooks, Civil Eats, Sweet Beat and Green Bean, and Alicia Silverstone's website, The Kind Life.

moroccan couscous with saffron; raddichio pizza with truffle oil

Tuesday Tune(s)

2011-06-14T17:51:00.004-04:00

I watched O Brother, Where Art Thou? this past weekend, and I fell in love with the music all over again.

Picture + quote

2011-06-13T21:17:00.006-04:00

Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully coordinated as birdwings."

— Rumi

photo

Sunday Times

2011-06-13T13:26:00.000-04:00

Does anyone else like to read the wedding announcements in the New York Times? On Sundays, my mom and I skip directly to Sunday Styles and speculate about all the happy couples. This past Sunday featured the sweetest story. After the bride's former fiancé called off their engagement, she emailed her high school sweetheart with the news, writing, "You've been a light in my life. You're someone who cares about me for who I am." After talking on the phone that night for hours, she told her mom, "I think I'm going to marry Calvin." How romantic is that?

on the radar

2011-06-10T04:38:00.004-04:00

things that caught my eye this week:

this visit to ladurée (and the fact that they're opening one in new york this summer!)

that jane birkin hairstyle...

...and the modern girls inspired by it

these interiors by simon brown

this closet visit

this iced tea

these flowery photos

Happy Friday, everyone! I've decided to purge myself of the Internet on the weekends, so I'll see you all on Monday :)

"So grab this world by its clothespins, and shake it out again"

2011-06-08T22:12:00.008-04:00

Today Mary posted a spoken word poem by Anis Mojgani and I fell in love with his poetry and his performace style. There's something so enchanting to me about his voice - I think I could listen to him all day.

"Shake the Dust"

"For Those Who Can Still Ride an Airplane for the First Time"

"The Fisherman"

I also searched for the transcripts online because I wanted to read the poems, so if you want to, too:
"Shake the Dust"
"For Those Who Can Still Ride an Airplane for the First Time"
"The Fisherman"

Also, check out "Four Stars." I hate how YouTube videos look on my blog but I still want you to watch this one because it's probably my favorite :)

Summer To-Do List

2011-06-07T17:46:00.006-04:00

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to make lists, so when I saw some bloggers post their goals for the summer, I couldn't resist hopping on the bandwagon. Here are the ten things I want to do before Labor Day:

10. Practice more yoga (and maybe attend one of these outdoor yoga events)
9. Play guitar outside, barefoot
8. Go for a long bike ride
7. Eat a hamburger from the Shake Shack
6. Go to a Mets game (where, maybe, I'll achieve #7)
5. Pack a picnic with wine, cheese and bread and pretend I'm in France for the day
4. Attend an outdoor concert (like this or this)
3. Read books in the hammock under the willow tree
2. Host a dinner party outside
1. Fall asleep on the beach

photo by anna verlet

Tuesday tune

2011-06-07T00:54:00.005-04:00

Here's a fun song and silly video to jumpstart your Tuesday ("See Fernando" by Jenny Lewis). It's really hard not to love her.

Monday inspiration

2011-06-06T08:04:00.000-04:00

Literature's Best Opening Lines

2011-06-05T22:55:00.005-04:00

Stylist Magazine compiled a list of the best 100 opening lines from books. I picked my favorites from the list, along with pictures of the book covers; see if you can match the books to the openers.

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York."

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”

It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.”

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.”

For a long time, I went to bed early."

1801 – I have just returned from a visit to my landlord – the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with.”

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the answers (don't cheat!)
1. j.d. salinger, catcher in the rye 2. leo tolstoy, anna karenina (the only one of these, admittedly, that i haven't read!) 3. sylvia plath, the bell jar 4. f. scott fitzgerald, the great gatsby 5. gabriel garcia marquez, love in the time of cholera 6. charlotte brontë, jane eyre 7. marcel proust, swann's way 8. emily brontë, wuthering heights

On the radar

2011-06-04T16:42:00.004-04:00

Things that caught my eye this week:

this bikini

these tattoos

this color-coded blog

these books

this portrait

this style column

these gooey goodies

this magazine

this website

Finally, I have to thank the wonderful Ana for redesigning my blog. I'm in love!

Picture + poem

2011-06-04T13:50:00.009-04:00

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods
By Lord Byron

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

photo

Old Hollywood

2011-06-03T11:21:00.006-04:00

These photos capture spontaneous moments of old Hollywood stars. Recognize any of these faces?

via

Book Club: The Picture of Dorian Gray

2011-06-01T22:40:00.022-04:00

My Kindle broke on me me while I was in Madrid (am I the only person who has trouble with them?), so I picked up The Picture of Dorian Gray in the English language section of a local bookstore. It's Oscar Wilde's only known novel, and it always seemed to me like one of Those Books that Everyone Read in High School and Actually Liked. The thing is, we only read books my George Orwell at my high school. Mrs. Matthews failed to tell us that Animal Farm was actually about Stalin-era Soviet Russia, not just a story about talking pigs and horses.

The first fifty pages of Dorian Gray took forever to get through because I was stopping at practically every paragraph and underlining another clever / wise / witty quote that I wanted to remember. The hedonistic Lord Henry (or Colin Firth, for those of you who have seen the movie) is meant represent a typical dandy of late-19th century Victorian England. Although he's used as a symbol of the over-indulgence and superficiality of that culture, can I admit that he was my favorite? His opinions are so over-the-top and entertaining that it's no wonder Wilde is one of the most highly quoted people in the history of the English language. A favorite:

Ah! Realise your youth while you have it! Don't squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar. These are the sickly aims, the false ideals of our age. Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.

For those of you who haven't read it, the story is this: Dorian Gray is a young, beautiful man who becomes the subject of a painting by the artist Basil Hallward. While sitting for Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry, who preaches a "new hedonism," in which beauty and fulfillment of the senses are the only things that matter. He reminds Dorian, "when your youth goes, your beauty will go with it, and then you will suddenly discover that there are no triumphs left for you." Dorian is profoundly affected by Lord Henry's words, and after seeing the beautiful portrait of himself, muses:

I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die. I am jealous of the portrait you painted of me. Why should it keep what I must lose?...Oh, if only it were the other way! If the picture should change, and I could be always what I am now!

Dorian's wish comes true and, as his morals grow looser and he begins to act in selfish, heartless ways, the portrait becomes an older, uglier, tormented picture of himself. Meanwhile, the person of Dorian remains ageless. Wilde's novel is a haunting, gripping book that remains a page-turner a hundred years after its publication. Also: the themes of a society's over-reliance on beauty and youth are no less accurate today. For those of you who also were stuck with allegory-free Animal Farm in 10th grade: here's your redemption.

Katy Perry for Vanity Fair

2011-05-31T21:19:00.010-04:00

I am head-over-heels in love with these shots of Katy Perry in June's Vanity Fair. They were taken in Paris by famous photographer Annie Leibowitz. Could you imagine ever getting to wear couture like this? Seems mighty glamorous from my sick bed, where I've been lying for the past four hours watching Parks and Recreation and popping cough drops by the dozen. (This is the first time in my life that I've literally lost my voice. Come back! I have a phone interview at 8:30 tomorrow morning!)

photos scanned from VF via

Tuesday tune

2011-05-31T17:48:00.005-04:00

Beautiful. Maybe one day I'll learn how to play the acoustic guitar like that.

All-American

2011-05-27T15:57:00.006-04:00

Happy long weekend! What are you all up to? My aunt from Oregon will be here for the weekend, and my grandma's coming up from the city tomorrow. Plus, we're having a three-day long celebration for my friend's birthday. Hope it's a sunny one wherever you are!

And, on a more serious note, let's not forget the real reason for Memorial Day: to honor those who died while fighting in our armed forces.

photo

On the radar

2011-05-27T10:36:00.011-04:00

arrangements at honey of a thousand flowers
as determined by Kris Anderson of New York magazine

books galore

bleached blonde hair

1950s summer style

self-portraits by Mariell Amélie (via)

giant balloons (via)

Southern Charm

2011-05-27T00:42:00.004-04:00

In the South, strangers smile and make conversation; everyone is "ma'am" and "sir" and "miss." I was taken aback by it on our first day in South Carolina, but I soon caught on. Generosity is contagious. Also, there's a sort of calm, a relaxed spirit, so integral to the South. Maybe it's the heat. But I enjoy any reason to move a little slower, to take a little more time.

Tuesday tune

2011-05-24T22:57:00.007-04:00

Love and Southern Sunshine

2011-05-24T00:59:00.006-04:00

Hi beloved readers! I'm back from Hilton Head, South Carolina, where I spent a week under the sun, laughing and drinking vodka tonics with friends who are family and family who are friends. The wedding couldn't have been more beautiful: set on the beach under a shade of trees, the bride and groom read vows so heartfelt it was impossible not to cry. It's late and I'm travel-weary; more pictures to come.

Tuesday tune

2011-05-17T05:04:00.009-04:00

Why am I up at this ungodly hour, you might ask? It's because...I'm off to a beach wedding! The daughter of our very dear family friends (our dads met in kindergarten and went to college together!) is getting married in Hilton Head, South Carolina. The weather has been horrible in New York and I'm super excited to lay on the beach with a good book (I brought this and this). Our flight out of here will undoubtedly be delayed because of the weather...but we'll get there eventually.

This Tuesday's song has a sweet story behind it: Paul Simon was playing in Toronto last week when a fan from the front row called out he play "Duncan" because it was the first song she learned play on guitar. With little hesitation, he calls her onto the stage to perform it, and she does the entire song seamlessly, sobbing tears of joy. It's such a pure moment and it makes me love Paul Simon even more than I already did.

On this rainy day

2011-05-16T11:30:00.003-04:00

I'm missing Bergerac sunshine.

Radar

2011-05-15T11:05:00.010-04:00

travel photos of London and Paris

Mexican embroidery dresses [via]

Lykke Li inspiration board

magazine cover of Adele [via]

my best friend, in Madrid

flowering quince

London in 36 hours

2011-05-13T16:47:00.005-04:00

St. Émilion

2011-05-11T17:38:00.001-04:00

I got my disposable cameras developed from my last month in France and I love how the pictures turned out. I might actually start using disposables more often! The quality is very cool and kitcshy-looking, and it's super cheap to get them developed on a CD rather than getting prints. This first batch is from when my best friend was visiting and we spent a day in St. Émilion, a gorgeous vineyard town halfway between Bergerac and Bordeaux. St. Émilion is known for making some of the best wine in France, and we certainly supported the town's economy that day with the amount of bottles we bought.

Tuesday tune

2011-05-10T21:14:00.007-04:00

Hey, here's a new thing I'm gonna do every Tuesday, cause we all know that Tuesdays are the worst. I would argue that Tuesdays are even worse than Mondays, cause you know what you're gonna get on a Monday. And then you get through it and you realize, hey it's Tuesday and the weekend is still so very far away. So I'm gonna give you a new little ditty to listen to every Tuesday, cause I don't want you to hate Tuesday anymore.

Lilly Wood & The Prick is a Parisian duo I discovered during my many hours of watching French TV. This is my favorite Santogold song and they definitely do it justice. I love how bare this video is and how natural they seem playing together.

Little things

2011-05-10T11:07:00.000-04:00

This website makes me smile.

Hippie, nerd

2011-05-09T14:10:00.003-04:00

It should be no surprise to anyone by now that I kind of love TV, so I bet you can guess one of the reasons I'm really happy to be home: I get to watch my favorite shows when they air. Did anyone catch last week's Fleetwood Mac-themed episode of Glee? It really pulled at my inner flower child's heartstrings. My favorite part was the chorus of acoustic guitars in this rendition of "Never Going Back Again."

p.s. Follow my blog with bloglovin!

Bright and breezy

2011-05-09T00:35:00.001-04:00

I'm just loving the spring collection at Cardigan. The soft, light-weight sweaters in bright colors are right up my alley.

P.S. Did you notice you were redirected when you came to the blog today? It's cause I have a new domain: prettier-world.com!

Mamas

2011-05-07T13:05:00.005-04:00

Happy Mother's Day mommy! I'm so happy I get to be with you today! That's me, looking up at my mama in awe... Doesn't she look like Princess Diana in this picture?

This is my mom's mom - my Nana - at age 16. Is it just me or do 16-year-olds now look no where near that sophisticated?

Mimi, my dad's mom. How cool does she look? (Mimi, do you still have these sunglasses?)

And me with Gigi, my great grandma, who lived until 99. Here she is enjoying her nightly glass of whiskey. Jameson, neat.

Happy day to all you mamas out there!

Stuck inside

2011-05-07T11:54:00.008-04:00

Today I'm dreaming of places like Toulouse while I unpack and organize everything I've used in the past year. Daunting? Only slightly.
But at least I have this happy playlist and bottomless cups of coffee to keep me going.

1 "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" - Vampire Weekend
2. "(No No) Kids" - Lilly Wood and The Prick
3. "100 Yard Dash" - Raphael Saadiq
4. "Love of an Orchestra" - Noah and the Whale
5. "Sloop John B" - Beach Boys
6. "America (Simon and Garfunkel Cover)" - Lucy Wainwright Roche
7. "Little Lion Man" - Mumford and Sons
8. "Oh, Boy!" - Buddy Holly
9. "Mr. Tambourine Man (with Pete Seeger)" - Joni Mitchell

Photo-rama

2011-05-06T17:48:00.005-04:00

I don't know what took me so long, but I finally set up a Flickr account. The button on the right that says "Photos," which used to be connected to my Picasa account, will now be connected to Flickr. I have been editing and organizing my photos from the year in France, and so far I have (new, improved!) images up from October through Christmas - albums like:

Beynac-et-Cazenac

Autumn in the Dordogne

Bordeaux in the rain

Noël
Keep checking back for more Flickr updates, and expect some exciting changes to Prettier World within the next couple of weeks!

What I'm Missing

2011-05-06T07:45:00.004-04:00

After sixteen hours of travel, I couldn't have been happier to see my parents and my dog waiting for me at the airport gate. On the drive home, I was like a kid coming home from camp: catching them up on my travels and my friends, and the ways I'm already scheming to come back. Then we ordered pizza and I fell into a deep sleep at approximately 9:30 pm.

But here's what I'm missing most this morning:

Pretty bars in Bordeaux

Open mic nights in Bergerac

Churches that make me cry

Faces like this one

And this one

Sunset at the Miroir

2011-05-04T17:25:00.004-04:00

After a memorable dinner at L’Entrecôte, my close girlfriends and I watched the sunset at the Miroir d'Eau, a reflecting pool between the quai and Place de la Bourse. There were purple and pink clouds in the sky, and sailboats on the river, and we laughed and reminisced and shared a bottle of wine that I’d bought in St. Émilion to save for a special occasion. I couldn’t have asked for a better last night.

Entrecôte

2011-05-04T06:11:00.005-04:00

Elise and I ate at L'Entrecôte last night, a famous steak restaurant that originated in Paris and now exists at numerous locations throughout France. At the one in Bordeaux, a line forms around the block before every lunch and dinner, so I had to see for myself what the fuss was about. The waitresses look like they're coming straight out of the 1950s in yellow polo shirts and low-heeled Mary Janes, and when they come to the table all they ask is how you'd like your meat cooked (the menu consists solely of red wine, steak, fries and ice cream sundaes). The best part of dinner is the secret sauce, which is tangy and buttery and best poured over everything. I didn't even miss my beloved ketchup.

I was too distracted by deliciousness to take a picture at the beginning of the meal. (Don't be fooled: everything you see here eventually disappeared.)

We sat next to a window on the second floor, with the sun going on behind us on picturesque Place Tourney.

Antiquing and daydreaming

2011-05-03T23:38:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, my last full day in Bordeaux, Elise and I scoured the outdoor antique market at Quinconces. We had so much fun oogling the gorgeous furniture, chandeliers, and flatware, rifling through vintage jewelry, and daydreaming about how our own apartments would filled with things like those one day. I went home with a five-euro men's watch, a dainty cameo necklace, and two Les Modes Parisiennes prints from the 19th century.

Pub golf

2011-05-01T12:50:00.001-04:00

An epic final Saturday night in Bordeaux: 23 English and American expats dressed in golf attire, participating in organized challenges (catwalks, clothing swaps) and making mass pilgrimages between nine bars ("holes") throughout the city. It's nights like those that make me never want to grow up.

Say it hot

2011-04-30T09:56:00.006-04:00

via via

Bring May flowers

2011-04-30T08:13:00.003-04:00

I think maybe in my last life I was a florist. Flowers just make me inexplicably happy.

One day, when I have an apartment of my own, I'm going to go to the market every week and buy fresh flowers and it will make everything happy and bright.

via flowers a-z on design*sponge

Beautiful people

2011-04-28T22:40:00.003-04:00

This week has been bittersweet on oh so many levels. I can't tell you how excited I am to see my family and friends at home (not to mention to catch up on months' worth of sleep and lose the French wine and cheese weight). I also have had to say good-bye to the many incredible people who became my surrogate family this year. The worst part is, being completely torn about settling in New York versus coming back to France, I just don't know which of them I'll see again.

But I also couldn't have asked for a better last night in Bergerac. We played at open mic at Plus que Parfait and almost everyone I've gotten to know and love this year was in the room. Hugo and I performed "Poker Face" and "Hey Ya" and we had so much fun. (I do a pretty good Andre 3000.. hahahaha...) Then a big group of us went back to Ellie's, where she and Hugo surprised me with a bottle of champagne for my last night and we all drank and jammed some more. The good-byes were tearful, but alas, it's only proof of what an impact these people will always have on me.

some photos (the really good ones) courtesy of ellie

It's wedding season!

2011-04-28T01:46:00.000-04:00

Who else is excited about the Royal Wedding? We're so pumped over here in France that my friends and I are making a full day's celebration out of it: camping out at an English pub in Bordeaux, where the ceremony will be broadcast on every TV screen, followed by a party at my friend's apartment (dress code: red, white and blue.) Apparently, cucumber sandwiches and scones will be served.

And a bonus about being over in Europe during the Wedding: I get to watch it at noon instead of six am!

Speaking of weddings, I'm slightly obsessed with this safari themed wedding. I love so much about it, like the bouquets of wildflowers, the colorful rainboots, the home-made pies in mason jars, the vintage coffee tins as vases (an idea I might have to steal!), the ceremony in a botanical garden, and that a friend played an original song on the acoustic guitar while the bride walked down the aisle.

Direction home

2011-04-27T05:16:00.004-04:00

While I will definitely be sad to leave France, there are certain things I'm looking forward to at home: my mom's cooking, coffee shops with mugs bigger than your head, and of course, my dog. (Family and friends are obviously a given.) I also can't wait to drive down familiar streets again with the windows down, the sun out, and feel-good music blasting.

1. "Stuntin Like 1901" - Phoenix & Lil' Wayne [mixed by Tumblewoof]
2. "Petite Soeur" - Ben L'Oncle Soul
3. "Save Me" - Aretha Franklin [feat. Santogold, mixed by Diplo]
4. "Rumpus" - Karen O and the Kids
5. "Kiss With A Fist" - Florence and the Machine
6. "You and Me" - Penny & the Quarters
7. "L.E.S. Artistes" - Santogold
8. "Je veux" - Zaz
9. "Mr. Blue Sky" - E.L.O.
10. "Cousins" - Vampire Weekend
11. "Say Aha" - Santogold
12. "Valerie" - Mark Ronson (feat. Amy Winehouse)
13. "Armillistice" - Phoenix & Lil' Wayne [mixed by Tumblewoof]
14. "Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'" - Mayer Hawthorne

April Travels Part II: Aix-en-Provence and Cassis

2011-04-26T11:48:00.000-04:00

I studied abroad in Aix-en-Provence three years ago, and revisiting the city only reaffirmed my love for it. Even Elise has declared it her favorite city in France (over Bordeaux!). During our two days there, we went to Cézanne's workshop, shopped in the outdoor markets, and of course, ate and drank lots and lots of delicious things. Wednesday was a day trip to Cassis, which I had also visited the first time around, but this time it was spring and the sun was out - perfect for eating lunch outside and strolling along the beach with a gelato in hand. We took a boat ride into the calanques, which are breathtaking inlets in the Mediterranean. Afterwards we had a drink along the port and people-watched until the sun went down.

photos courtesy of elise

A Song That Describes You

2011-04-25T17:28:00.003-04:00

So I knock on the door
Take a step that is new
Never been here before
Is there anyone else here too
In love with beauty?

I forgot for a little bit how much I love Rufus. He's really unlike anyone else. How do you classify his music? Pop-theatrical folk? Tounge-in-cheek opera? (He actually composed an opera a couple of years ago - and dressed up as Verdi at the opening!) He has a way of bringing poetry to music that's never cheesy and always original. (Lest we not forget he sings the most beautiful version of "Hallelujah".)

I was hoping the train
Was my big number
Though I'm chugging along, put away by the crossing hand
We'll be heading for Portland, or Limburgh or Lower Manhattan
Find myself running around
I don't know what it is so get me over

But you got to do it
You got to be there

Tomorrow: travelogue, part deux!

For the record, I'm probably going to stop this 30-day song thing cause it's starting to bore me.. and I'm starting to get annoyed by all the YouTube videos on this blog (are you?).

April Travels Part I: Bordeaux, Madrid and Toledo

2011-04-25T08:27:00.005-04:00

It was like a mini high school reunion. Laura came to Bordeaux on Saturday, followed by Jake on Monday night. Anna called unexpectedly on Monday afternoon to tell us she was coming down from Paris the next day, so we spent Tuesday walking along the water, drinking wine, and reminiscing about old times. Laura, Jake and I left for Madrid on Wednesday; highlights included Plaza Mayor, the Prado, a flamenco show, a day trip to Toledo, and limitless quantities of sangria and Spanish omelettes.

(photos thanks to Jake)

Vintage

2011-04-25T01:03:00.002-04:00

Last night, I Stumbled Upon myvintagevogue, a collection of fashion images from the 1920's into the 60's. It's so fun to scour through the photos and see the way fashion has changed, and repeated itself, over the years.

Guilty pleasures

2011-04-24T18:19:00.005-04:00

Why I'll miss France: onion and port granité; foie gras; braised veal; antelope with a caramel reduction; Bordeaux Supérieur red; fondant au chocolat; cantal cheese; strong espresso. And that was just tonight.

13. A Song That's a Guilty Pleasure

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T06:46:00.005-04:00

On Easter last year, Sophie, Will, Bex and I were hiking along the shore of Lake Malawi. After having run out of food and water, we paid villagers to row us to our hostel. We spent two hours cold and wet in a dug-out canoe, looking up at the bright stars of the Southern Hemisphere, while I thought about my family around the table, drinking dry white wine and eating Easter ham.

Now, in France, we have a picnic planned by the river and drinks as the sun sets. I'll dry my laundry on the clothesline and I'll run to Monbazillac. And still, I will miss going to church with my mom, eating her homemade carrot cake and watching my little cousin embark on an Easter egg hunt in my aunt and uncle's backyard. Those of you who are with family: relish it. I'll count down the days to being with mine, while I relish the last days with the family I've made here.

photo via the daily bunny

--

Also, it pains me to post this. Day 12: A Song By a Band You Hate.

So, let's watch this to feel better.

Easter vacation, and home around the corner

2011-04-23T17:43:00.008-04:00

I've spent the past two weeks having the time of my life: a week and a half in Bordeaux and Madrid with old friends, followed by five days in Provence with a new friend. I've been to the Prado and Plaza de Mayor; I've visited cathedrals in Toledo and beaches in Cassis, the port in Marseille and my old apartment in Aix; and I've drank far more wine and eaten far more delicious food than is healthy for one person.

This year has very much been an experiment in pushing boundaries - in throwing rules and expectations out the window: staying out until the sun rises; singing and playing guitar badly in front of crowds of people; speaking constant, imperfect French; spending money I don't have. No doubt I'll always look back on it fondly as a year of the most intense and carefree fun, the year I said f*ck you to being perfect, the year I learned to live utterly and entirely for myself, the year I was 23 and France was my oyster and life wasn't serious yet. In the process of it, I've met wonderful, kind, genuine people who have seen me on my best and worst days, and for whom I've seen the same. I imagine stepping on the airplane in Paris will be like ripping a band-aid off a fresh wound. People will speak to me in English again and I'll be leaving the continent indefinitely, where all the people I've grown to love this year will stay. So all I can say is: vive the next eleven days, and New York, please be kind to me.

(11. A Song From Your Favorite Band)

A week of songs

2011-04-07T16:34:00.004-04:00

7. A song that reminds you of a certain event

8. A song you know all the words to

9. A song that you can dance to

I hope you make it through all six and a half minutes of this, because it really is an other-worldly experience.

10. A song that makes you fall asleep

It's been in the high-70s all week in Bergerac, and happily, tonight has been the first that I've sat down at my computer for more than five minutes. The sun puts me in too good a mood for me to stay away from it. On top of that, I've been on my Easter vacation as of 4:15 this afternoon, my best friend arrives in Bordeaux in 36 hours, and I have two and a half weeks of travel ahead of me. I couldn't be happier.

(Nope, I take that back - I would be happier if I had my camera. Although there's a fun retro feel to the disposables, and I like the anticipation in not knowing immediately how the pictures turn out. Remember that?)

A brief travelogue, and more Ryan Adams

2011-04-03T10:35:00.004-04:00

5. A Song that Reminds You of Someone

If I could, I'd fold myself away like a card table
A concertina or a murphy bed, I would,
But I wasn't made that way
So you know instead
I'm open all night and the customers come to stay
And everyone tips but not enough to knock me over
And I'm so tired
I just worked two shifts

6. A Song that Reminds You of Somewhere

This video isn't of the best quality, but I love her little soliloquy before she sings ("It just wasn't New Yawk."). For obvious reasons, this song makes me very homesick.

---

I had a wonderful whirlwind 36 hours in London: Indian food on Brick Lane, bar hopping in the East End, breakfast and flea markets in Islington, great theater in Hammersmith, Hugh Grant's bookstore in Notting Hill, and a pub crawl to Buckingham Palace, through Hyde Park, past Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament and into Trafalgar Square, and finally, dancing in Convent Garden. I can't wait to get the pictures developed from my Boots' disposable cameras (Buy One, Get One Free).

London, baby!

2011-04-01T04:03:00.001-04:00

Hey, I'm going to London tonight to see Bex and Will! Knowing us, the top priorities will be eating and drinking, but we're also going to a play on Saturday and do some sight-seeing. I haven't been to London since I was twelve, and I'm looking forward to exploring it with real Londoners this time. Right now, I can't imagine being in a country where everything's in English.

Also, Day 4: A Song that Makes You Sad. It doesn't get much sadder or more beautiful than this one. Finding this video led me to the rest of RA&C's BBC Sessions from 2007, which includes all the best songs from Easy Tiger performed to perfection.

1. & 5. busy making other plans 2. yupsterism 3. roderique arisiaman via pulp factor 4. ?

A song that makes me happy

2011-03-31T04:35:00.003-04:00

You're not surprised, are you?

And other things to brighten your day, because it's cold where you are, and it's raining in Bergerac.

1. jen huang via 100 layer cake 2. samantha hahn via a subtle revelry 3. emmanuelle brisson via there is a monster in my head 4. abby powell of abby try again

Your Least Favorite Song

2011-03-30T05:20:00.003-04:00

This is another tough one, because when you hear a song you hate, you try to forget about it as soon as possible. But I would say that I never turned the radio station so fast as when anything by Nickelback came on.

(Spanish subtitles included in case you're curious.)

30 Day Song Challenge

2011-03-29T02:50:00.003-04:00

At my dad's suggestion - and in lieu of some photos that won't be posted on here for a little while - I'm going to do the 30 Day Song Challenge.

Day 1: Your Favorite Song

Although it's basically impossible for me to pick one song I love more than any other, this was the first one that came to mind. To fully appreciate it you also need to watch the first minute of the following video. It breaks my heart every time.

Lens error

2011-03-27T12:58:00.005-04:00

Last weekend something funky happened to my lens and I had to send my camera in to be repaired. I feel like I'm missing a limb. The biggest bummer is that my travel plans are picking up soon: London next weekend, Madrid over April break. Keep your fingers crossed for a speedy repair.

But I wouldn't leave you empty-handed! You can watch me and Ben sing "When the Stars Go Blue" here.

image via we heart it

Bordeaux nights

2011-03-21T17:51:00.004-04:00

I'm not leaving.

All my troubles in the rearview mirror

2011-03-18T10:49:00.002-04:00

Ben and I performed at the open mic at Houses of Parliament in Bordeaux on Wednesday night, and at Plus que Parfait in Bergerac on Thursday. To start, here is a video from Wednesday night of us playing "Keep it There" by The Weepies. The sound quality is less than ideal, but I think you'll get the gist.

March, halfway

2011-03-14T16:17:00.008-04:00

It's been a great month so far.

My Running Challenge hasn't been without hiccups - I've gone four times in the past six days. Yes, I've already broken my 6-day a week rule, but it's certainly an improvement from the one or two days a week I was doing before. Plus, forcing myself to run over the weekend in Bordeaux actually turned out to be amazing, as I went along the river and, for once, wasn't gawked at for running in France. On Friday it was sixty and sunny and I passed people sunning themselves on lounge chairs outside restaurants that faced the river. Now I know where my next beautiful-day lunch destination is.

It's hard to believe that my flight home to America is scheduled for less than two months from now, and that my best friend Laura, whose visit once seemed so far away, will be arriving in Bordeaux in three weeks. Now is the time that I'm becoming extremely envious of my English friends, who can stay in France visa-free, and can come and go between here and home affordably. The thought of leaving this country in seven weeks literally gives me a pit in my stomach, and I'm beginning to think of ways I can stay in Bordeaux this summer - ways that are both financially and legally viable. Wish me luck as I embark on my summer job hunt!

Forty days

2011-03-09T13:41:00.005-05:00

Over February break, Celeste told me that she was giving up Facebook for Lent, which I thought was a fantastic idea. If I had to choose, I'd give up something food- or drink-related, as those are by far my biggest vices. But I'm not particularly religious, and I thought it would be wrong for me to give something up without taking the time to consider the meaning behind it.

That being said: I have, for personal and spiritual reasons, decided to embark on my own forty-day challenge. While giving up red wine, white bread, chocolate or any of the like would severely damage my enjoyment of my last two months in this wonderful country, I figure that adding some physical activity couldn't hurt. I can take my running sneakers with me anywhere, and I bet more exercise will make me feel great and make all those yummy French foods feel a bit less guilty. So I'm going to run everyday for the next seven weeks, taking off one day a week. The goal isn't to complete certain distances or times, but to pry my lazy butt out of bed, lace up my sneakers and get out there, even if it's only for twenty minutes. Wish me luck!

By the way, today was perfect. 60 and sunny again. I went to market, I played guitar outside, I watched Glee (really good episode, by the by), I cleaned and rearranged my room. Oh, spring: for you I am infinitely thankful.

Biarritz: The food edition

2011-03-09T01:08:00.006-05:00

Did I mention that we ate like kings? Biarritz is in the Basque region and there is a ton of Spanish influence in everything, especially the food. The best meal by far was dinner on Friday night: tapas like mussels and octopus, and the best Sangria I've ever had. And being right on the water, it's needless to say that the seafood was outstanding.

Whole dorado with fried garlic, roasted red peppers, and parsley

Octopus with paprika and chives, sautéed in a red wine sauce

Tapas: mussels in white wine and garlic; octopus sautéed in olive oil, garlic and other various deliciousness; some sort of amazing buttery local ham with a piece of bruschetta in the middle; fried calamari strips with a tartar-like sauce; and the bombest of bomb sangria

All-star meat brochette (pork, chicken, duck and beef) with roasted vegetables, a baked potato with butter and chives, and salad with roasted red peppers

Not pictured: Prawns rolled in salmon with a sweet potato purée; seafood salad with smoked salmon, shrimp, fresh red peppers, and a creamy chive dressing; awesomely tender cheeseburgers dripping with a secret sauce (ordered from the kids' menu), and lots, lots of dry white wine

Travel light

2011-03-08T07:54:00.012-05:00

When you travel, you have both limited space and a limited budget for new clothes. To say I'm tired of my clothes would be an understatement. But as the sun comes out and the weather turns warmer, I'm fantasizing about easy, breezy spring clothes: light-weight shorts and rompers, cotton tunics and dresses, and lace-up booties that look cute with all of the above.

1. Toast Chambray Shirt Dress 2. Toast Ankle Boot 3. ACNE Sensational Short

1. Heidi Merrick Painting Tunic 2. Lucca Couture Chiffon Scallop Short 3. Madewell Oxford Slingback

1. Madewell Music Hall Romper 2. Toast Linen/Cotton Button Front Pullover