Dec 24
First, Happy Holidays! I’ve been absent from here for a while, tending to work life and life life. One of the best reasons one can have to be absent from a blog is because of a vacation, and now that I’m catching up, have a Mother Daughter vacation to share.
My Mom sprung the idea for a Napa weekend one night and three weeks later, we found ourselves in wine country. Read more
I have long been a regular practitioner of wearing Yoga clothing (Lole and Lucy, I’m looking at you), and not so good about having a regular Yoga practice. I have never been excited about fitness – I grew up chasing a soccer ball and it left an anti-fitness mark – and a few attempts at Yoga post-college left me thinking I wasn’t spiritual enough to “really engage.” Read more
Nov 1
Downton Abbey
If you have not seen Downton Abbey but saw and enjoyed Gosford Park (Julian Fellowes being the common thread, as well as corsets, cravats, and English aristocracy) you have just found eight hours of entertainment you’ll be glad to give away in front of a television.
Season Two doesn’t come out until next January (which I’m totally okay with – it’s the dead of winter for us here and a well-done weekly show will help the weeks pass), but I began to have withdrawals. I went to Barnes and Noble and found The American Heiress, which actually has a review right on the book jacket that refers to having Downton Abbey withdrawals and this being the perfect book to read until Season Two begins. Bingo.
Here’s a review. I read it while I was traveling to and from Walla Walla, WA a few weeks and couldn’t put it down. When I got home, I went straight for the sofa with Cassidy and kept reading until I had finished it.
I guess you’ve got about 12 hours of entertainment now…
Sep 29
Tomorrow morning I will be on a flight to visit this lovely place:
Where the hills really do roll:
And my 5 year college reunion at Whitman College will rock:
Because we’ll find lots of these signs:
Waterbrook Winery
I have been listening to Pistol Annie’s album pretty much non-stop for two weeks and appreciate the Rolling Stones review of the album (below). Each song takes on a new subject and different sound, giving the album a lot of big personality.
Rolling Stones, 4 stars review By Chuck Eddy
September 12, 2011
On the debut by their ad hoc trio, Miranda Lambert and friends Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley show off the kind of hard-living wit and hardscrabble class consciousness that have become tough to find in Nashville. Their feisty brand of country mixes Great Depression redneck blues, rockabilly and even a little ’65 Dylan (check the rambling Bringing It All Back Home backbeat in “Takin’ Pills”) without sounding retro. Though they sometimes opt for woozy beauty, they’re best rip-roaring about not making ends meet: deep debt, thrift-store curtains, mufflers tied on with guitar strings, no-good husbands kicked out of the trailer. It’s heartbreaking and hilarious, in equal measure.
Pinterest has lately turned from inspirational ideas to directional leads for goods (which I think is how the site was intended to be used from the beginning). I came across some pins of Linea Carta goods on her Etsy site and had to share. I love her writing style (and am seriously thinking getting the customized stamp…).
Bon Appetit Tea Towel
Linen Coasters
Customizable Rubber Stamp
I was turned on to Ruche from Tania of What Would a Nerd Wear, because, well, she’s adorable in the Ruche apparel. I haven’t purchased anything from Ruche (yet) but nearly laughed out loud when I noticed a new feature on their website: “Shop Industry.” The basic idea is that depending on what type of job you have, you dress a certain way.
"Product Manager"
Do you shop based on your style preference or profession?
So, we’ve all been told at some point that we are not supposed to wash our hair everyday because that is what dries it out and wreaks havoc. While I admire those who do this, I have yet to pull off nice “second day” hair unless I curl it. Lo and behold: Dry Shampoo. Have you heard about this stuff? The miracle product that extends the beauty of your hair between washes? I only found out about this product a few months ago and finally bought a bottle yesterday. Tried it this morning and could not believe how effective it is. Smells nice, gave my very straight glossy locks some texture and absorbed oils. I wish I had this stuff back when I had bangs. Anyway, sans bangs, I guess there are some really fancy $24 brands you can buy, but Suave was under $3 and did the job, very nicely.
Aug 18
I love Zara and wish they had online shopping so this midwest girl could get some fashionable pieces. I saw this, and I swoon.
One year ago today, we brought home Cassidy, our adorable Yellow Lab.
Over the last year, we’ve discovered that she thinks she is one of us, so sleeps with her head on our pillow, snuggled up between us. She’ll do anything for a treat and loves to run in the park. She will eat and destroy any toy that is not her galileo bone or Kong treat toy, but doesn’t touch anything in the house. She’s a smart girl and pretty disciplined: once she figured out how to get out of her crate (one month after coming to our house), we realized it wasn’t to ruin the house while we were gone, but because she preferred snoozing on the couch in the back porch. Read more
Bringing hilarity into your lives today: watch every episode of Hannah Hart’s My Drunk Kitchen. Read more
If you are looking for a fictional novel that is about the art world in NYC but mostly about buying and selling art, you should pick up An Object of Beauty by funny-man Steve Martin. I sat down with the dog, with the cat, some tea and a really warm blanket and read it cover to cover on a particularly blistery Saturday in Minnesota. Read more
The Alt(itude) Design Summit was held last weekend, and many of the bloggers I follow daily went to it, reported back and introduced me not only to The Alt, but to so many other fun-to-read design blogs! Read more
These POP’S ‘STACHEs would make such a fun hostess gift, or party favor for your guests! 8 unique clip-on mustache beverage identifiers to a pack.
The lovely Miss Elisabeth Carr from mission:closet gave Minneapolis Hunter a shout out yesterday. Thanks Elisabeth! And for those of you who haven’t started following her fashion blog, please head over and follow her latest project, which I am so impressed by, the 30 for 30 remix. Read more
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