From The Nick to The Moth...(and Brooklyn too)

Last weekend as Sara and I drove home from our whirlwind NY trip, we queued up a podcast to keep us entertained. Sara chose a story from The Moth. (For those of you who haven't heard of The Moth, it's a non-profit storytelling org. in NY which brings in authors, celebrities, musicians, etc. to share stories live in front of an audience. Go check out the podcasts now - they're great.)

This podcast of The Moth featured Steve Burns from Blue's Clues, the old Nickelodeon kids' TV show. If your brain is as foggy as mine, let me help you out here - Steve Burns is this guy:

Nice shirt, Steve.

Anyway, Steve is no longer Steve of Blue's Clues (some dude named Joe took over); he's now a musician and off-Broadway actor. And bald. But anyhoo. Evidently he's doing pretty well for himself - or those Blue's Clues royalties still really pay off - because this is his gorgeous home in Williamsburg:

I love that his house is blue. Get it? Like Blue from Blue's Clues. Heh.

Yes, so right after I got home from said weekend trip, I came across these photos of his bachelor pad in New York magazine. Isn't the place great? Check out the interior courtyard:

I love that he has private garden space -- in Brooklyn. Who knew?

I'm glad to see that Steve o' the Big Red Chair is doing so well for himself and not, as was rumored for a while, dead from an overdose. Well done, you!

In case this post has piqued your interest, you can listen to Steve Burns' story from The Moth here. It was pretty hilarious.

The Hipsters are back...and this time they're attacking your face

It all started with a photo of a bride and her bridesmaid. Totally cute and sweet. But then I looked closer and I realized: "is that bridesmaid sporting a perm? And oversize, hardcore nerd glasses?" She's like the Steve Urkel of the wedding party here. What?

Then, the more I thought about it, I realized I've been seeing these giant nerd glasses popping up all over fashion blogs. Behold, hipster-itis in full effect:

Do you think these people just woke up one day and said, "I think I will personally campaign to bring back the 80s, and I'll do so through my fashion choices. Fugly plaid, canvas sneakers, and giant corrective glasses, here I come!"

Why have just one hipster with giant nerd glasses when you can have two?

I wonder if they shop at the same glasses store.

Anne Sage of The City Sage is brilliant and adorable and I do think she actually kinda pulls off these glasses, but really? You too, Anne? Three hipster cliches in one? (I'll let you count for yourself...)

(Hint - #1: giant nerd glasses; #2: red lipstick; #3: pictures in front of lucha libre masks (from Mexican wrestling). Isn't she so ironic? ;)

And finally, hipster glasses for the more mature set. See, pairing anything with a vintage quilted Chanel bag makes you super grown-up and super hip, didn't you know? It also strongly reminds me of my grandma...


So there you have it. Please pardon my snarky tone. I am only (kinda) kidding. :) I do think some of these examples are pretty cute... And let's be honest - my fashion stylings tend to run more preppy than edgy so I can't really talk (though I did rock the gold loafer look - so trendy now - back in 3rd grade - does that count?).

Are you feeling the huuuuge glasses?

Photo credits: 1- Sean Flanigan via Style Me Pretty, 2- The Sartorialist, 3- Emili Vesilind for the LA Times, 4- The City Sage, 5- The Sartorialist.

For some non-nerd glasses, check out this round-up.

For some more hipster goodness, take a look at this or these.

Pretty in pink (and pasta)

Image via Mary Ruffle

I absolutely adore this image. The top half is all ladylike elegance and proper with panache. Scroll down a bit further and you'll see that this girl's not just pretty and prim - she can down some spaghetti and drink some wine with the best of 'em. So maybe she's more Sophia Loren than Grace Kelley after all. Love it. (We could hang.)

The scent of Maine (hint: it's not lobstah)

All this rain has me thinking of Maine...

Photo by Anne McClain for MCMC Fragrances

There are several specific places in the world that feel magical to me. New Zealand was one of the first places that spoiled me day after day with sheer amazement of the natural beauty that abounded everywhere. The Amalfi Coast of Italy made me squeal at every turn as we Vespa-ed around the gorgeous (and steep!) mountainous seaside. Cape Cod feels like home and nostalgia and happiness wrapped into neat summer packages. And the coast of Maine to me sings of relaxation, fresh air, and the sea.


My aunt owns a house near Boothbay Harbor, Maine, that is all at once beautiful, inspiring and creaky (it is over 100 years old, after all). The cheery blue ceiling of the huge wraparound porch beckons you to relax the moment you walk in. The back looks out onto the water, and the sounds of seagulls and lobstermen conjure up classic American novels and old whaling stories. I love it there.


We don't get up to Maine very often due to work, schedules, etc., but I just read about a possible new lifeline - it's a perfume called "Maine." It's made with sage, seaweed, beach plum and pine. I wonder if they were able to bottle the crisp sea air.

Originally spotted on A Cup of Jo.

Presidential Letters

Image from Letters of Note, as spotted on Neither Snow.

Say what you will about The President, but I think anyone who takes the time to write an unsolicited thank-you note - and for an indirect gift at that - is a lovely person (especially if the person who is writing happens to be one of the busiest people in the world!).

Above, a note from #44 himself to Canadian author Yann Martel. President Obama read Martel's book, The Life of Pi, with his daughter and then penned a handwritten note, which included this sentiment:

"It is a lovely book — an elegant proof of God, and the power of storytelling. Thank you."

Birthday shout-outs

Remember when it was this chick's birthday? Well, today it's her "man-flesh"'s turn, so I wanted to wish him a happy birthday...with my ever-famous, embarrassing photo montage.

Let's start with when I first met Dan. He appears to be approximately 12 years old (and maybe albino) in this photo, but I assure you he was indeed non-albino and a college freshman:


Fast-forward to 10 years later (eek!) and here is, all growns up:

So nautical.

Here we are showcasing our respective geekier sides at a 3D showing of Avatar (I forced them all to stop outside the theater [even though it was 1:30am!] to document this):


And finally, here is the birthday boy with his twin girlfriend.

Happy birthday, Dan!

Today also happens to be my friend Eric's birthday. Whew, big day. Let's all wish him a happy birthday too, shall we? Roll the footage, Jeeves!

Eric and his lovely wife Andrea:


Try not to stare too hard at my uvula.


And I couldn't let Eric get through a momentous occasion without an embarrassing photo like this:

Niiice. E-rock, just for the record, I left out the ones of you doing yoga on this ball. You can thank me later.

Well, there it is. The tour de Dan and Eric. Happy birthday, boys! Hope you each have wonderful b-days and welcome to old(ish) age!

Regatta watching

Photo via Mary Ruffle

This morning is sunny and beautiful. I'm wishing I were out on the water, sailing and enjoying that full-on summer is here. In the meantime, this photo will have to do. Isn't this snap of Jackie O and JFK watching the sailing boat races dreamy? They really were American royalty.

Be back soon for more, in the meantime, hope you're either outside or at least able to peek out the window and enjoy some of this sunshine!

Stolen scooter

Friends, my scooter was stolen today (while we weren't home) from in front of our condo building - despite the three locks that were intertwined through the brakes/front wheel and attached to the metal railing of our building's front stairs. I've filed a police report but there are no guarantees that they'll ever find it; scooters are a hot item (especially in the summertime) and very easy to lift/hotwire (although I had hoped all those locks were a deterrent). Who knew they'd be able to take the scooter - locks, cover, helmet and all - in one fell swoop in broad daylight?

I've sent out a tweet about it to the webiverse and asked others to retweet (this is that tweet), just to get the info out and around town. Another scooter similar to mine was stolen from our neighborhood (one court over) last night and the police found it this evening. Some people a few neighborhoods away saw some guys trying to hotwire a scooter, thought it seemed odd and called the cops, so they were able to retrieve it safe and sound.

I'm kind of hoping to luck into a similar scenario if I get the word out around Annapolis and people know to look out for my impossible-to-miss, custom-painted baby blue scooter, but I don't think I'm that lucky of a person. I'm not sure they'll ever find mine. I don't know whether to resign to the fact that it's likely gone forever in case that's the truth or to hold out hope that they'll find it. I don't want to jinx myself or get my hopes up... I'm just sad in general right now (and out a ride to work - since parking downtown is prohibitively expensive, vs. parking your scooter in your office for free).

Sorry to be such a debbie-downer, but I wanted to share A) what's going on and B) why I might not get posts in today (working, searching, kickball semi-finals, checking in with police, etc.). If you could send good juju my way it'd be much appreciated. Thanks all.

Tweets from before Twitter

What would King Tut or Alfred Hitchcock have tweeted to the masses if Twitter was around in their respective times? I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess it wouldn't be "smashed on honey wine! heading down to the nile to look for biddies" or "Damn birds!" I would have loved to receive tweets from, say, Oscar Wilde or Marilyn Monroe (I bet hers would've been good!).

If you're curious, you can check out Historical Tweets and pretend like you're reading tweets from historical figures. They're hilarious. I mean, Ghandi, dieting? Whaaa?:

Ha.

Here are some other good ones:







Haaahahaha. Seriously, too funny. And there's a book of these coming out soon. (Hello, gift for my little brother...oops, hope he isn't reading this.)

Originally spotted here.

Paper and pencil

Photo via Brooklyn Limestone

I didn't even realize I'd been bookmarking pictures of journals, notebooks and writing utensils I liked, but today I saw a few of these pics in my inspiration folder next to each other and I realized I had writing on the brain. Here are a select few notebooks and pencils that I found especially enticing.

These journals are pretty; made in the material of choice for architects, designers and nerds alike (moleskine); and sporting inspirational phrases to boot:


From here; spotted here.

I'm still working my way through The Happiness Project, but in it author Gretchen Rubin talks about 1-sentence journaling. I've never had the patience to write in a journal or keep a diary every day, but I think I might be able to handle one sentence a day (I am keeping a blog, after all!).

This lovely blue book would certainly help keep me on track:

Buy here; spotted here.

And last but not least, something with which to write in all these paper goods:


Buy here; spotted here.

Because people who like to draw are awesome.

Would you like any of these notebooks or pencils? A nice little surprise "day gift" from a friend perhaps? Or just a nice treat for yourself on a rainy day like yesterday?

Have a great weekend!

Photo via Mary Ruffle

Happy Friday!

Another busy, busy day. I gotta run, but wanted to say hello and happy Friday! The sun is shining and I've got a scooter all prepped to go for the weekend. I certainly can't complain. :) I hope you have a fabulous weekend and see you back here Monday!

And in case you're feeling less bubble-gum-sunshine-y and more edgy, I'll leave you with this pic of someone's bad-ass grandma:

Isn't she cool?

Photo from The Sartorialist of course.

Bubbly pour vous?

Photo by George Barris

I'm generally not a huge Marilyn Monroe fan (not that I dislike her, I've just never been that into her), but more and more after reading some of her quotes, I think she seems like she'd have been really fun.

Just check out this hilarious thank-you note from her to a Mr. von Fuehlsdorff:

Spotted on Oh Hello!

So funny. Also, is it really nerdy of me to say that I miss typewriters? Not that we even had one in my lifetime, but the letter above looks so much cooler (than today's Word doc!) all typed out like that. Perhaps I'll get myself a typewriter and do all my correspondences on it...

Honoring the original Fly Girls

Photo from NPR

We're not even two weeks into March and I'm proud to say that DC has two major accomplishments under its belt this month: same-sex marriages are now allowed and women pilots from WWII are finally getting the thanks they deserve. More specifically, the WASPs - or Women Airforce Service Pilots, who flew military planes during WWII - will be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal.

During their service in the war, the WASPs were considered civilians, with no military status or benefits. Of the more than 1,000 women who volunteered for the training and duty, 38 WASPs died in service, though none were given military funerals, meaning their families were responsible for the expenses even to get the bodies back. These women were finally granted military status in 1977 under President Carter, but - almost three decades after their service - came close to being a by-gone of history.

Miss Fifinella, the WASPs official mascot (designed by Walt Disney!), appeared on their shoulder patches:


It's a really fascinating story of how the WASP program came to be and the background of some of these amazing women. You can read or listen to the full NPR story, as well as see photos of the WASPs, here.

My full congratulations go out to these daring women. I'm glad they're being acknowledged today.

Zebra wallpaper and in Spades

Heather of Habitually Chic posted photos from Kate and Andy Spade's NYC home a while back and it was fun to get a peek of what their place looks like. Obviously I loved it (how could you not with style like theirs?), but one room in particular stuck out in my mind: the guest bathroom. I'm crazy for the crisp white and black color scheme, with that amazing pop of fresh green from the wallpaper. Good, right?:


I thought I recognized the wallpaper, but it took me a day to figure out where I knew it from:

Remember Margot Tenenbaum's 3rd floor in The Royal Tenenbaums (one of my favorite movies, by the way)? I always loved that safari-papered bedroom and bathroom.

It turns out that the wallpaper has quite a story of its own beyond a guest appearance in TRT. It was designed in the 1940s by paper company Scalamandré for Gino Circiello, the owner of the iconic Gino restaurant in New York. As explained in The New York Times, "Mr. Circiello was a hunter without the means to pay for an African safari, but he reasoned that he could at least afford zebras on his wallpaper." The Scalamandrés, family friends, designed the leaping zebra and arrow paper for Gino's, and the rest is history (and supposedly Gino ended up going on his safari later in life, so all was well in that respect too).

Pretty good back story, no? And it helps that I love that paper, even if it had just come out of a boring old factory.

Oh, and in case you're wondering what the rest of the Spades' home looks like, here are some of my favorite rooms from the lot:

That bedding is very Kate Spade.


Although what's up with the men-with-dots-on-their-faces art?


Cute kitchen.


Lurrrv the built-in bench, with its black and white stripes against the black and white checkered tiles. Brilliant use of pattern. (And again with the pop of green against the b/w - I sense a theme...)

For Val

Dearest Valerie, this is for you:



Amazingness by Nathaniel James, via You Are My Fave