(3) Coach Bleeker Shoulder Bag (4) Music: Hozier | From Eden EP
3.30.2014
Currently No. 3
Currently loving some serious ice cubes for cocktails, glossy black t-strap Birkenstock sandals, this relaxed cornflower blue clutch from Coach, and playing Hozier's From Eden EP on repeat.
3.28.2014
Recommended Reading
Have you read anything great recently? I read Far From the Tree (recommended by Ethan Hawke in an AMA) and the parent/child relationship is fascinatingly complicated. I always love reading DFW and caught up with some more popular titles including the book Netflix's Orange Is the New Black was based upon and a thriller that is already in post-production with Ben Affleck as the lead.
Here are snippets from all four:
1. Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) – "I hovered in the doorway, watching my wife. Her yellow-butter hair was pulled up, the hand of ponytail swinging cheerful as a jump-rope, and she was sucking distractedly on a burnt fingertip, humming around it. She hummed to herself because she was an unrivaled botcher of lyrics. When we were first dating, a Genesis song came on the radio: "She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah." And Amy crooned instead, "She takes my hat and puts it on the top shelf." When I asked her why she'd ever think her lyrics were remotely, possibly, vaguely right, she told me she always thought the woman in the song truly loved the man because she put his hat on the top shelf. I knew I liked her then, really liked her, this girl with an explanation for everything."
2. "Consider the Lobster" (David Foster Wallace) – "Up until sometime in the 1800s, though, lobster was literally low-class food, eaten only by the poor and institutionalized. Even in the harsh penal environment of early America, some colonies had laws against feeding lobster to inmates more than once a week because it was thought to be cruel and unusual, like making people eat rats. One reason for their low status was how plentiful lobsters were in old New England. "Unbelievable abundance" is how one source describes the situation, including accounts of Plymouth Pilgrims wading out and capturing all they wanted by hand, and of early Boston's seashore being littered with lobsters after hard storms–these latter were treated as a smelly nuisance and ground up for fertilizer."
3. Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity (Andrew Solomon) – "My interest in profound differences between parents and children arose from a need to investigate the locus of my regret. While I'd like to blame my parents, I have come to believe that a lot of my pain came from the larger world around me, and some of it came from me. In the heat of an argument, my mother once told me, "Someday you can go to a therapist and tell him all about how your terrible mother ruined your life. But it will be your ruined life you're talking about. So make a life for yourself in which you can feel happy, and in which you can love and be loved, because that's what's actually important." You can love someone but not accept him; you can accept someone but not love him. I wrongly felt the flaws in my parents' acceptance as deficits in their love. Now, I think their primary experience was of having a child who spoke a language they'd never thought of studying."
4. Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison (Piper Kerman) – "There are a dizzying number of official and unofficial rules, schedules, and rituals. Learn them quickly, or suffer the consequences, such as: being thought an idiot, being called an idiot, getting on another prisoner's bad side, getting on a guard's bad side, getting on your counselor's bad side, being forces to clean the bathrooms, eating last in line when everything edible is gone, getting a "shot" (or incident report) put into your record, and getting sent to the Special Housing Unit or SHU (aka Solitary, the Hole, or Seg). Yet the most common response to a query about anything other than an official rule is "Honey, don't you know you don't ask questions in prison?" Everything else—the unofficial rules—you learn by observation, inference, or very cautious questioning of people you hope you can trust."
Here are snippets from all four:
1. Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) – "I hovered in the doorway, watching my wife. Her yellow-butter hair was pulled up, the hand of ponytail swinging cheerful as a jump-rope, and she was sucking distractedly on a burnt fingertip, humming around it. She hummed to herself because she was an unrivaled botcher of lyrics. When we were first dating, a Genesis song came on the radio: "She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah." And Amy crooned instead, "She takes my hat and puts it on the top shelf." When I asked her why she'd ever think her lyrics were remotely, possibly, vaguely right, she told me she always thought the woman in the song truly loved the man because she put his hat on the top shelf. I knew I liked her then, really liked her, this girl with an explanation for everything."
2. "Consider the Lobster" (David Foster Wallace) – "Up until sometime in the 1800s, though, lobster was literally low-class food, eaten only by the poor and institutionalized. Even in the harsh penal environment of early America, some colonies had laws against feeding lobster to inmates more than once a week because it was thought to be cruel and unusual, like making people eat rats. One reason for their low status was how plentiful lobsters were in old New England. "Unbelievable abundance" is how one source describes the situation, including accounts of Plymouth Pilgrims wading out and capturing all they wanted by hand, and of early Boston's seashore being littered with lobsters after hard storms–these latter were treated as a smelly nuisance and ground up for fertilizer."
3. Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity (Andrew Solomon) – "My interest in profound differences between parents and children arose from a need to investigate the locus of my regret. While I'd like to blame my parents, I have come to believe that a lot of my pain came from the larger world around me, and some of it came from me. In the heat of an argument, my mother once told me, "Someday you can go to a therapist and tell him all about how your terrible mother ruined your life. But it will be your ruined life you're talking about. So make a life for yourself in which you can feel happy, and in which you can love and be loved, because that's what's actually important." You can love someone but not accept him; you can accept someone but not love him. I wrongly felt the flaws in my parents' acceptance as deficits in their love. Now, I think their primary experience was of having a child who spoke a language they'd never thought of studying."
4. Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison (Piper Kerman) – "There are a dizzying number of official and unofficial rules, schedules, and rituals. Learn them quickly, or suffer the consequences, such as: being thought an idiot, being called an idiot, getting on another prisoner's bad side, getting on a guard's bad side, getting on your counselor's bad side, being forces to clean the bathrooms, eating last in line when everything edible is gone, getting a "shot" (or incident report) put into your record, and getting sent to the Special Housing Unit or SHU (aka Solitary, the Hole, or Seg). Yet the most common response to a query about anything other than an official rule is "Honey, don't you know you don't ask questions in prison?" Everything else—the unofficial rules—you learn by observation, inference, or very cautious questioning of people you hope you can trust."
3.23.2014
Vanity Project No. 1
I love Bleubird Blog's Vanity Project series. As someone that spends way too much money at Sephora and Ulta, I love peeking into someone else's beauty routine and the products they recommend. Here are a few of the products I've been reaching for lately...
Jao Goe Oil is great for taming frizzy hair and adds a lovely texture, a little goes a long way.
Korres Face Primer provides a great foundation for makeup and primer always feels luxurious.
NARS Lipstick 'Barbarella' is a lovely peach shade that I tend to reach for each morning.
NARS Illuminator 'Copacabana' is perfect mixed with tinted moisturizer and to use as a highlighter.
NARS Blush 'Deep Throat' is a sheer peach with a little shimmer. I've also been eyeing 'Taos' a desert rose shade.
Bare Minerals Hydrating Mineral Veil is a great finishing powder. I prefer the hydrating version for a more matte application.
Anastasia Brow Wiz 'Ash Blonde' is a great brow pencil. I read once that no matter your hair color to get a pencil for blondes, it's especially more natural-looking than the reddish-tones.
Josie Maran Argan Oil is addictive. Argan oil doesn't need to be branded Josie Maran, but it is important to look for 100% argan oil from a company that ensures the protection and reforestation of Argan trees.
Ahava Dry Oil Body Mist is a great moisturizing oil. I especially love to spray it on after a hot shower, as it is light-weight and smells amazing.
This Murad Essential-C Cleanser is a more recent purchase, but it smells great, offers gentle exfoliation, and a vitamin packed cleanser can't be a bad thing, right?
Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream is creamy, rich, fragrance-free and under $10. Perfection.
Molton Brown 'Black Peppercorn' Bodywash is my favorite scent. Technically it's a men's bodywash, but it's a cult favorite for a reason.
(Inspired via Bleubird Blog)
3.17.2014
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3.13.2014
Travel List: Chicago
I've been wanting to go to Chicago for a long weekend for a few years now and I'm hoping to make it there this fall. The birthplace of skyscrapers and Second City, the city also boasts some serious options for culture.
A few stops on my list are The Loop, Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill, The Art Institute of Chicago, and John Hancock's Signature Lounge for a drink and incredible views...
Do you have any can't miss spots in Chicago?
A few stops on my list are The Loop, Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill, The Art Institute of Chicago, and John Hancock's Signature Lounge for a drink and incredible views...
Do you have any can't miss spots in Chicago?
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