Day 1 - picture of yourself

ok, so here we go with the photo challenge!!! excited! so here is my picture. and don't worry, i really scoured iphoto for this one...

this is what i look like when i paint...

this is when i try to be artsy...it doesn't work out sometimes.

hi.

taken by genebean.

...but couldn't decide between silly and serious, so enjoy them and i'll see you tomorrow!

who doesn't love a challenge???

so i found this on a blog from a girl that commented on my blog (yeah, i look), and i got inspired by it, so the next 20 days are going to consist of these....who doesn't love pictures?? and a good challenge to come up with something cool? so here it is...and it's gonna be good!

The (Revised) Photo Challenge

Day 01 - A picture of yourself

Day 02 - A beach picture that you have taken

Day 03 - A picture of your street

Day 04 - A picture of where you went today

Day 05 - A picture from your morning

Day 06 - A picture that inspires you

Day 07 - Post a picture from a recent vacation

Day 08 - Post a picture from your commute

Day 09 - Take a picture today that showcases motion

Day 10 - A picture that you took at one time that you love

Day 11 - Post one of the oldest pictures you have in your iphoto pics

Day 12 - A black and white photo

Day 13 - A picture from last summer

Day 14 - A picture taken with your cell phone

Day 15 - A picture that you edited

Day 16 - A picture of you more than 10 years ago

Day 17 - A picture of what you wore today

Day 18 - A picture of you and a best friend

Day 19 - A favorite picture of yours

Day 20 - Any picture that you want!

and i'll link these up as i go so you can look at them all together! you're welcome! :)

who else read seventeen???

inspiration: 1990s seventeen magazine covers
location: le intranet
what i love: oh, the nostalgia

i can almost smell the aquanet in the air. and feel the pink sponge rollers in my hair before i went to bed. oh my middle school years. it all came rushing back after i saw some vintage seventeen magazine covers today. and you better believe that i looked up some of my favs after that...so enjoy!

my fav!!! i still have this one at mom's!

oh my so called life...and jared leto...so dreamy!!

i always thought he was so cute...so sad that he passed.

i think this one made it through too...

i definitely took that quiz...i was awesome!

i have always loved her!

these were just some of my favorites....i read this magazine for far too long i'm sure....you know, until i was about 15....haha
(and all images can be found here)

i have found one of the yummiest little treats to date!

i love dark chocolate. that's no secret. really, it's not. if i have to pick a "sweet treat" to have, it's not ice cream or some crazy nougat or caramel filled candy bar (though i don't judge those that love them), but i usually pick something spicy like hot tamales, or some dark chocolate. yum.

i have a real soft spot for trader joe's little dark chocolate snack bars (i love them with peanut butter), but i have always loved the special dark chocolate from hershey's too...when my mom would buy those bags of miniatures, she would always eat all but the dark chocolate, and i would eat them....they were so yummy! i guess that's where it all started... ;)

but do you know, that there are now some little snackies called hershey's special dark pieces??? they're like reese's pieces, but filled with dark chocolate instead of peanut butter! so what might my favorite mixture of candies might be you ask??? um, reese's pieces and special dark pieces! DONE!

you can find them (and that lovely image above) on hershey's website....enjoy! (and you're welcome...) :)

(there are also some other flavors...like almond joy pieces and york peppermint patty pieces....i KNOW!)

worishofer sandals...how do you even say that??!

today, as i was getting on yahooooooo to check my email, i saw this article in their news feed about these "old lady" sandals that were becoming popular with hollywood stars (well, the ultra indie-cool ones...) and i thought to myself, "self, what are these sandals that they are talking about??"
i figured they would be either so ugly i couldn't stand it, or just some new style of birkenstock or something. well, i was wrong on both counts.

they are called worishofer sandals (pronounced wer-sher-fer), and they were created by a pediatrist in Germany. and don't hate me, but they have a totally cute style to them (in my mind), with their perforated pattern on the top of the sandal, and their fun colors....i really like them.
so you might be wondering who these stars are that are wearing these worishofer sandals, and the ones i've seen are maggie gyllenhaal, who i LOVE, michelle williams, M.I.A., and kirsten dunst...just to name a few. check out the article from ny daily news here! (and the picture is from there also...)


and here are a couple of other sites about the shoes...
momlogic trend alert
tip top shoes blog
things i like to look at blog

not about the sandals, but one of my favorite shoe stores...shoe market in brooklyn!!! (but they do carry them!)

little, little details...

inspiration: some hand + made details
location: camh-y
what i love: um, the details?

so the hand+made show closed yesterday, and today was the big packing day...we took everything apart, and packed things up to be shipped on wednesday. and i have to say, each show has things that i like, but nothing i'm ever really sad to see go when the show is over. but, with this show, the small details of the show are the ones that are sticking with me. the delicate ceramic flowers on cynthia giachetti's piece, the buttons and individual sequins on nick cave's pieces, the hand crafted felt pieces from saya woolfalk's installation.  so enjoy some pics that i snuck as i was packing...i certainly had some fun...

tim tim hard at work...

(all pictures taken with my iphone...so don't get mad.)

to be....or not.

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages." -Shakespeare (as you like it)


so i'm inspired today by some shakespeare. i love the richness and weight of shakespeare's words, not only because of their ability to last for 300+ years, but the fact that the words capture human nature and soul.
i think it is beautiful that shakespeare died in 1666, upwards of 350 years ago, and yet we study him in school, write about his perspective, investigate his characters, visit his settings, and try to capture the brevity of his writing...but how much do we really understand about who he was and what he was really trying to accomplish with his writing?? 


just curious about what you think...let me know. in the meantime, i'll include a few more of my favorite quotes......


Absence from those we love is self from self - a deadly banishment.


The course of true love never did run smooth. (a midsummer night's dream)


There's daggers in men's smiles... (macbeth)


He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man. (much ado about nothing)


Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better. (twelfth night) 

gossip girl in paris?? ooh la la!!

inspiration: gossip girl fashion
location: paris francais
what i love: the chicness....oui oui!

i know it's lame, but i've told you guys that i watch gossip girl. and it's not really about the story for me, but it's about the costume and set design. i'm a little obsessed. but it's ok...i've received medication and i'm in therapy so that i don't talk about it ALL the time. :)
but today, i found an article at celebuzz detailing with photos the shooting that's going on in paris, and i must say that i'm obsessed. the clothes are just beautiful...and if you know any of the designers of the clothes, LET ME KNOW! i found a dress that i WANT, but you'll have to fill me in on where to go!!! hee hee

this is the dress i'm OBSESSED WITH!!! if you know the designer, let me know!

love the styling on this outfit!!

i mean, really...so sexy!!

 



















all images can be found here...enjoy, and can't wait for gossip girl season 3!!! (i'll most likely be obsessed to see what they create in there too!!)

do you like tarts with your art?

inspiration: tart cafe
location: 4411 montrose
what i love: it's so yummmmmmmmy!

so connie and i had lunch today at tart cafe...it was supposed to have really good salads and it was close to work. i was thinking, eh. but i was more like "AHHH!!" when we left. we went in and ordered at the counter, but i couldn't decide what i wanted to eat...the menu looked too yummy. but i thought i wanted the spinach salad, topped with roasted mushrooms, goat cheese, and prosciutto bits (like fancy bacon bits), but then i saw the chicken pesto tart on the menu, and since it was my first time there, i thought i would try that.

i was blown away! the flavor was really delicious, with its basil pesto and herb crust...it was served with a side salad, simply greens and some dressing...it was delightful!!! and of course, the company was wonderful as well! 

so go by when you get a chance...here's the exterior of the building, and enjoy some really awesome goodies!!!

you guys give up, or you thirsty for more??!!!

alright...i feel like i've been on a movie kick lately, but whatever. it's entertaining, and this one is part of a series, so here goes.
so i little while ago, i wrote about john hughes movies. i love them, and in fact, this is the third installment of my favorites... they are the best rainy day/sunday afternoon/sick day movies in the world. one of my other favorites is home alone. if case you've been 'cast away' living and have somehow missed it, the story goes like this:

an 8 year-old boy wakes up on christmas morning to find that his family is gone. he thinks he has made them disappear after being a pain in his tushie, but in all actuality, they have left for family vacation without him...and they don't realize it until they're on the plane over the ocean. so the rest of the movie contains his struggle to make some petty burglars leave his house alone, his mother trying to make it home to get back to him, and the continued mystery of the man with the snow shovel. now, i know its july, and it's not christmas, but just work with me people. i love this movie so much....i'm even watching it right now...

"buzz, your girlfriend, woof!"

"look what you did you little jerk."

"keep the change, you filthy animal."

"a lovely cheese pizza, just for me."

"This house is so full of people it makes me sick. When I grow up and get married, I'm living alone." (just think about it. you'll get there.)

"I took a shower washing every body part with actual soap; including all my major crevices; including in between my toes and in my belly button which I never did before but sort of enjoyed. I washed my hair with adult formula shampoo and used cream rinse for that just-washed shine. I can't seem to find my toothbrush, so I'll pick one up when I go out today. Other than that, I'm in good shape."

kevin: Is this toothbrush approved by the American Dental Association? 

lady: Well, I don't know. It doesn't say, hon. 

kevin: Well, could you please find out?

kate mccallister: This is *Christmas*. The season of perpetual hope. And I don't care if I have to get out on your runway and hitchhike. If it costs me everything I own, if I have to sell my soul to the devil himself, I am going to get home to my son. 

"Ma'am, I'm eight years old. You think I would be here *alone*? I don't think so."

"Marv,  I think we're getting scammed by a kindergartener." 

kevin: I wish my grandparents did that. They always send me clothes. Last year I got a sweater with a big bird knitted on it. marley: That's nice. kevin: Not for a guy in the second grade. You can get beat up for wearing something like that. Yeah, I had a friend who got nailed because there was a rumor he wore dinosaur pajamas. 

"Bless this highly nutritious microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale. Amen."

Kate: Have you ever gone on vacation and left your child home?
Gus Polinski (John Candy): No. But i did leave one at a funeral parlor once. Yeah, it was terrible too. Uh, we were all distraught, and me and the wife left the little tike there in the funeral parlor, all day. You know, all day. When we went back, when we came to our senses, and there he was. Apparently, he was there all day alone with a corpse. Pfff, he was okay. You know, after like six, seven weeks. Came around, started talking again. But he's ok, you know, they get over it. Kids are resilient like that. 
Kate: Maybe we shouldn't talk about this.
Gus Polinski (John Candy): Well, you brought it up. I was just, you know, trying to cheer you up.
Kate: I know. I'm sorry I did.


(p.s. all photos were found on public domain websites...for info, just search yahoo images for home alone movie)

lobster killer...qu'est-ce que c'est?

inspiration: julie & julia child.

location: my dvd player

what i love: her. all of it.


so when i was a small child, i watched a lot of pbs. i'm not really sure why, outside of a deep desire to potentially see grover run 'near and far,' or watch bob ross talk about happy trees, or become mister rogers' neighbor, or maybe to watch old episodes of 'the french chef' with julia child. who knows...but those are the four programs i remember being fascinated with at a young age from pbs. and i mean really fascinated.
so much so that i would not only impersonate grover's opposites, i would try to enter the puppet world in mister rogers' neighborhood, and i even painted a piece of furniture in my room, trying to imitate bob's style of trees (and i needed a bigger canvas). but the elusive one of those had to be julia child. she was mesmerizing. i could watch her and listen to her talk for hours. i just loved her voice, and the fact that she looked like she could be my grandma, and she always seemed to make the world sound relatable, like she was explaining something so that i could understand it. i loved that. and i still do.
somehow when julia would explain something, it just seemed to make more sense. that she is quite consistent, it's one of my favorite things about her instruction. and she always started at the beginning. "now when you go to cook a lobster, the first thing you need to do is...." it all seemed so doable.

you can find some clips at this link...it's a youtube video from pbs...enjoy!

so in honor of a modern version of julia, today's inspiration is julie and julia, which i have watched today for about the 100th time, cause it's about as close as i can get....well, without watching all the dvds of 'the french chef' that i have....(true confessions, i guess.)
so remember that lobster i was talking about...well, enjoy this clip of the julie and julia version:

i loved seeing some of the things i read about in julia's book, my life in france, come to life in the movie...and seeing what it looked like to create seemingly crazy things, like aspics, in the modern cooking age. or like this moment that julia realized that food was her true love:

some of my favorites of 'the french chef' include her episode about roasting chickens, making omelettes, and the cuteness of this episode about a chafing dish dinner!! enjoy it! and let me know if you need to borrow julie and julia...i'm happy to let you! 

...and i hope you are enjoying julia as much as i do!

...and i guess i should read the book at some point, so buy julie and julia and give it a shot! i will  too!

ARTY!!!!!!

17 july 2010

inspiration: the birth of art
location: tyler?
what i love: that my friend art is another year older

today is arty's birthday!!!!!! so pumped! so today's inspiration is just a simple happy birthday wish for arty!!!

happy birthday dude!!!

HAPPPPPPPYYYYYYYY BIRTHDAYYYYYYYYY AAARRRRTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!