I saw an advertisement for Beastly the other day. The movie stars a High School Musical girl and some other dude. These two actors are the top billed on all the print ads I've seen and so with this in mind, I assumed that I would have no desire to see it. Then I saw the trailer on tv, and man did I swing 180 on that decision.
Mary Kate Olsen is in this movie!!! The commercial shows her for just a moment but just as she disappeared from the screen I knew it was her. Not for a second did I think that was Ashley, Ijust knew. How in the world is she not on the posters? I get that her adult movie role choices have not been the best, but she is still way more famous than these two. Who cares if she is a supporting cast member, she is freaking MK Olsen.
I gather she is the wicked witch, or just the witch since the guy has it coming to him (remember this is an updated version of Beauty & the Beast). From this still, I would say she is pulling off the creepy and intensity just fine. Now I need to find time hit up the theaters...something tells me I will find time to see this before I get to The Fighter or The Kings Speech.
There are people who tag up walls with spray paint, and then there are others who cover telephone poles with yarn creations. Boston.com recently published an article entitled "Watch your streets - knitters are on the loose". The South End Knitters is a group of women (at least I assume they are all female) who have taken it upon themselves to create knitted graffiti.
When I first read the article I smiled and thought how funny it would be if I walked home and saw an elephant (like above) hanging off a tree trunk. Seeing random pops of color on dreary winter days would help brighten my mood, and I totally appreciate that these crafters periodically clean their pieces to keep them look like trash that got tangled in a bush.
However, I don't understand why the group chose to do all this. I mean if you have extra yarn and no current project, why not donate mittens/hats/scarfs etc to charity. The graffiti is cute, but it makes me think of littering more than anything else. I understand that no one has to be charitable but I don't know why you pick defacing property (no matter how cute it is, these creations are still vandalizing property) over helping the greater good.
Oh well. To each his own. Let's get back to shoes and fashion!
Cabot and I normally on the same page. I love their Habanero Cheese big time and occasionally splurge on a block. (It's like twice as expensive as regular cheddar, thus a special occasion kind of cheese) Well, the other day I saw they had a spreadable version, I thought AWESOME. Snagged it, paid for it, and brought it home.
I realized I was in charge of snack for my staff meeting, so it came to work with me. (Don't worry, I also brought along some crackers and some chips/salsa too,. I know how to make a good good last minute snack) The meeting ended up getting canceled. Score! I don't have to share the spread. I get home, open it up, slather some on a cracker and take a bite.
YEA-OWWWW
That shit is hot. If you are considering trying it, be sure to keep a glass of milk near by, you will need it.
-------- Dear Cabot, If you see this, don't worry. I still love your stuff, my mouth is clearly a big wuss when it comes to heat. Me :)
Angry Birds are thisclose to being yesterday's news. I mean it took the world by storm, but pretty much everyone I know has beaten the game by now (I did so in December). Needless to say, I still get excited when I see those crazy birds online or in stores.
A few weeks ago, there was the video of the peace summit - I could have sworn I posted it, but apparently that came out in my lazy poster period.
On Saturday, I stopped in Urban Outters on the way to the bowling alley to get out of the way of some bone chilling wind. There I saw plush versions of the birds and pigs. Love it. They are on my short list of silly things needing to be purchased for my office. I feel that my coworkers and I would love to zing this back and forth, as we are about to enter a super tense part of the year.
But today, I saw an article about a man who recreated the game into the form of a cake for his son's birthday! As much fun as it would be to play a real life Angry Birds, I don't think I would really want to eat cake that was flinging around the dining room. But if anyone wants to make me an Angry Birds cake to help me get through the Spring Semester, by all means get cooking. :)
Every so often I get the urge to be "cultured". Often I consider attending a ballet, but in the end I know I can only handle so much action without a narration. In the end I will settle for watching a movie about ballet, Center Stage anyone? Watching a professional dancer is hypnotic, even in Black Swan, no matter how undernourished Natalie looked, I couldn't take my eyes off her movements.
Ballerina bodies are quite remarkable, even from afar, a viewer can make out the definition in their form. In a recent New Yorker article, we get a brief glance into a coffee table book which focuses in on ballet. The three pictures below are my favorites. The last has no dancers, but I find it to be the one I would most want framed and hung in my apartment.
I've been keeping tabs on NY Fashion Week and saw Christian Siriano's new collection. This immediately made me wonder about some of my other favorite PR contestants. I found Uli Herzner's website. Her dresses are still amazing and fun. I won't pretend that these dresses are in my price range, but there are some that are only $270ish, and maybe some day I can treat myself to an Uli original. The prints used and fluidity of pieces really draw me in. In my opinion, they are visual expressions of my own personality.
Normally, I don't care for one shoulder numbers, but the dress featured here really calls to me. I think it has to do with the proportions along with the tight bottom and flowing top, aka my M.O.
I love it when they crack up. If it were me I would have been laughing after the first few sentences. Clearly I am not going to be asked onto SNL any time soon.
UPDATE: Found the Stefon channel on hulu.com. Enjoy!
Like many others out there, I have decided to devote a number of my Sunday nights to the major awards ceremonies. The best part of the whole pomp and circumstance is the pre-show Red Carpet coverage, obviously. Haute Couture Spring 2012 were shown a little bit ago, and I just went through and decided to pick out what I would wear, if I were invited and allowed to borrow the good stuff. :)
Versace
As this is my first awards show, I would want to make a statement. The rookie mistake is to go with the first pretty dress you see. While I adore this dress, I do understand it is probably a bit too busy for me. I just don't think I am tall enough to pull off a silhouette like this. There is a lot of design going on, very visually appealing, but I don't think I have enough practice "owning" my look to come out on the Best Dress List after getting photographed.
Valentino
The daredevil in me is drawn to this sheer number. I had no interest in Rihanna's sheer, but this, I love. I think because it is just showing the outline of the body underneath. The purple hue keeps me from wondering if the woman is wearing any underwear, and her boobs seem to be covered well enough. This photo is taken during a runway show, I do have a few concerns that it could be little bit more see through on the RC. Let's keep going
Dior
Voluminous skirts win over sheath dresses any day in my book - well maybe not on a wedding day but that is a whole other bag of chips. Dior provided me with a number of dresses to consider. I could see myself going with this if I were a pro at the RC, not for my first go.
This is getting warmer. The skirt is a little flat for me. But the colors are good for my hair/skin/eyes. Really the draw back is the sleeves. I overheat and tend to be a bit sweaty in long sleeves. No one wants pit stains ruining a good awards ni
And it is Dior for the win. Yellow is my color and tulle is my thing. The design along the neck would help give me a more womanly as it creates an illusion of a bust. I don't think I would style things the same way though. The gloves are fun but would have to go - remember I need to stay cool.
I can't wait to see the Oscar dresses, those women better bring the glam!
The Grammys aren't known for having a classy and tasteful Red Carpet. This year was no exception. Even with some of the crazy disco ball dresses - I'm looking your way JLo - there were some celebrities that simply knocked it out of the park. I tried to think of an order of addressing my favorite looks, but ended up just loading pictures at random.
Justin Beiber
I'm going to get the only male in this post done first. In general, white suits look silly on white men simply because there isn't enough contrast. Therefore, he looks ridiculous, but I would like to think this was his idea which makes me warm up to it. Think about how many boys went to prom looking exactly like this - they thought they look hot and urban, but no, just silly. It's nice to know Beiber really is like any other 15 year old boy.
Nicki Minaj
Of course Nicki would be mentioned. She rocked this. Leopard from hair to toes is no easy task and she just went for it. At first I was on the fence, was this outfit too much for me? Then I saw it came with pockets. SOLD. This girl is definitely growing on me and I can't wait to see what she wear next.
Florence (sans The Machine)
I hate shear dresses with cut-outs...normally. This I love. Best Swan Dress ever sported on the RC. Quirky but elegant. She is totally making a dress that revolves around an angry/unfriendly bird and turning it into rock-star fashion. (Seriously, probably my favorite of the night)
Kathy Griffin
This dress is cut well and compliments her frame. The detailing is amazing. But the main reason this dress is worth mentioning is the color. Kathy has been really into this mustard yellow shade for the 2011 award shows, and I applaud her for going for it. This is the exact dress I would put on my fake roommate, she also has a soft spot for this color and while she is curvier, I feel she could rock it.
Nicole Kidman
I forgot how much I love Nicole. Her addiction to Botox threw me these past few years, and I would have a hard time looking past her face. Now that she is allowing her forehead to return to it's former glory, I can appreciate her style. What draws me to this dress is that it is so earthy in its tones. No glitter, but the texture draws you in. Again, here is a case where the sheer doesn't bother me, it makes the skirt cloud-like.
Rihanna
This was the best stage dress of the night. I have no desire to post up her RC dress. A friend and I were sitting on our respective couches in our respective apartments and feeling the same way - how was this allowed to be shown on tv? The dress was tacky and all it made you wonder was, is she wearing underwear? Unlike the other dresses posted here, I would have no desire to wear that thing. Oooops, didn't focus on the gorge dress that is above. Well, it rocks.
Katy Perry
I'm ending with this tall glass of bubbles. The wings are a bit much, but given that it is the Grammys, I like that she went with them. When else could she pull it off? I think the only reason I like the dress is because she is wearing it and it fits her persona. The other reason I wanted to end with Ms. Perry is because of the interview she had with Seacrest. Loved that Granny has a bedazzled cane and didn't know Ryan's name. Also found Ryan's question so bizarre about Russel being there, only to find out Giuliana asked the exact same thing when talking to Jesse Eisenberg a few weeks earlier on the SAG RC. Clearly Ryan doesn't watch E!'s Red Carpet show, or he would have stayed away from repeating a stupid question.
Phew, that was a long post. Can't wait for the Oscars!
Lady Gaga showed up in an egg - so no major fashion statement on the red carpet. Boo. She had the first performance slot (beyond the opening number) and so I figured that there would be glitter and glam. She had so much time to get ready as she gave no interviews. Nope. It was like watching Madonna doing Express Yourself (yeah, everyone is saying this, I know). Double boo.
Thank you Cee Lo for bringing the crazy back to the Grammys. It looks like Muppets are very in right now. They are slotted to be guest judges on Top Chef this week, and Cookie Monster has been lobbying for a host spot on SNL.
I will say, while I love them, Gwenny should have reconsidered those heels. She can barely walk in them, let alone move. The version she did on Glee was particularly fun because she was able to spin and dance around. I was a little bummed that she wasn't able to have more fun this time, I mean who wouldn't want to dance with the puppets! Loved the pink earrings. The set was crazy fun, and it wouldn't make any sense to compete with Cee Lo's parrot outfit. But the little splash of color helped out the all black.
While browsing through pictures of NYFW I found that in addition to runway looks I wish I could have (to be posted soon), there were many outfits in the audience that I would be happy to take off these celebrities hands. I mean they don't wear clothes more than once, so donate to me :)
I really have a thing for white and black dresses. Sadly, I can never find one that works for me in my size. Normally, I stay away from long sleeves (even my sweaters are 3/4) but I really think the sleeves make this dress. Tinsley, want to let me know who this is by? Ok thanks
Polka dots are not my thing. But by adding two rows of larger dots makes it look more like a tasteful pattern/embellishment, rather than fabric that should be the base of a dolldress or table cloth. I am pretty sure the salmon/pink color would flatter my complexion more than my usual taste of hot pink crazy.
Here I like the silhouette more than the actual print. Given my small bust, I find that when I wear looser tops with tighter fit bottoms I appear much more girlish. Tight tops just remind everyone that I am lanky and slightly boyish in the torso. I'll keep my eye out for similar looks.
Ok, clearly this outfit is not for me. But Mr. Hamm just looks so darn cute. I mean who wouldn't want to have him around to hang out with?
More to come about the runway shows/new spring collections, and of course the Grammy's (dropped the ball on the Globes and the SAGs).
Whenever facebook.com releases updates/changes to the layout, everyone reacts with "I hate new facebook" and "bring back the old format!". Over time I have gotten used the new formats, the most current one still confuses me when I want to find photo albums. Hopefully, the site doesn't get another makeover for at least a few months so that I can get the hang of things again.
Around the time of the latest facebook upgrade, twitter decided to reformat. There was an option to revert to old twitter, which I have been using religiously up until two days ago. I accidentally hit "see new twitter" and now when I try to "return to old twitter" the site refuses to load. Guess, I don't have a choice anymore and I need to get with the times.
I accept that social networking sites will revamp every now and again. What I wasn't prepared for was Gawker, Jezebel, Lifehacker, and the like to go from familiar and easy to busy, complicated, and unfriendly. The new site was released earlier this week, maybe Tuesday, and as soon as the page loaded I immediately checked to make sure I entered the correct web address. After confirming that I didn't load jezebell.com I attempted to scroll through the posts, got overwhelmed and immediately left. I wasn't sure if I should have been scrolling through the main section or whatever that is on the right.
Today, I returned to give the site the old college try. I was able to find a post I wanted to read, but then I went to read the comments at the bottom. WTF. Could not for the life of me understand what was happening down there. Comments are my favorite part! Realistically if the article is long but the headline is catchy, I have a tendency to skip down to see what the people are talking about. Sadly, it is as if these designers hate the comment section (and their readers) - these sites are just hot messes.
Normally, I get annoyed at revamped sites purely because my habits have to change. The facebook and twitter updates don't make it harder to read/update, they just make me look in a new spot. The Gawker/Jezebel/etc sites are actually giving me a headache. Too much in too little of a space. Please designers, think about doing some revisions.
The Black Eyed Peas really put on a train-wreck of a half-time show. Their people need to send Christina Aguilera some flowers for messing up the National Anthem, as that bit of idiocy overshadowed a major performance bomb.
While I was surfing the internet for general reactions to the Superbowl in all its glory, commercials, half-time, opening, game-play, I came across the most shocking piece of information.
Did you know that Fergie started out as Stacy on Kids Incorporated????? I used to love that show. I still remember the opening credits where the stars jump up and become a letter of "KIDS". I found a montage of Stacy Ferguson transforming from a 80s child tv star to the lady of the Black Eyed Peas.
Finally, to set the record straight, there will only ever be one "Fergie" in my heart. And she is a royal redhead whose weight was often in the spotlight.
This year I opted to root for the Packers to win the Superbowl and was pleased to see that they won. Well, I actually didn't even notice that they had won until we glanced up and saw that confetti had started to fall - oops. Even though we threw a Superbowl Party, my friends and I were more interested in the commercials and the Puppy Bowl, so we socialized during the game play. **It is important to note, we had ZERO interest in the half-time show. We are all in the target demographic and found it painful/awful**
Sadly, we were convinced that the game started around 7:30. When we switched over for some pre-game coverage, we had already missed the first few minutes of plan and probably at least one set of commercials. Grrr. As the game progressed, the general consensus was that the ads were not overly memorable, and the overall quality has been going downhill the last few years.
Even with a number of flops, Brisk/Eminem combo - wtf??, there were a few good ones. My absolute favorite was the Volkswagen Darth Vader ad. I had seen a preview online, and was a little sad they had to cut it down a little. But still super cute/charming. The entire room erupted when it finished. Volkswagen, give your design/marketing people a raise or at the very least take them out for a round of drinks!
The other ad campaign worth mentioning was done by Doritos. Over the years, I have enjoyed their commercials. We did not see the finger lick coming and reacted loudly as a group. Again, drinks all around.
I love commercials, but with my current lifestyle, rarely have the patience or time for them. I am the kind of person ad people hope to reach and, for me, the cornier the jokes, the better! Thank you Superbowl, for making commercial watching a national past-time.
The Superbowl is tonight. I will be watching with some great friends. We have arranged for wings, pizza, beer, dip, pigs in a blanket, and cake. My personal responsibility is to bring a little beer and buffalo chicken dip. Nom nom nom.
I love making this dip, it is super easy, and it is super yummy. Honestly, why mess with a good thing, right? But after watching Snoops video, I would be interested in making 8 layer dip for next year.
I used two of my gift cards this past weekend and purchased much needed snow boots. Just try to find a pair of quality size 7 snow boots right now, totally not an easy endeavor. Much to my surprise, all my stuff was waiting for me at my doorstep when I got home from class. It kind of felt like a mini Christmas. Too bad I only just took down my tree a week ago.
I happily have warm waterproof winter boots, new tasty coffee, face wash and new make-up tools. In case you have never ordered from Sephora, you should reconsider online purchases rather than store ones. You get to pick out your samples online. Yeah, most of it is perfumes, but it is still it is fun to pick things out that I really want to try out. There are also codes you can put in to get even more samples, I now have some Bare Essentials powered. Coooool. :)
Can't wait to try out my boots tomorrow. The bus stop is a good 15 minute walk away with the snow, I hope my toes stay super warm.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
When I started work I got such a great deal at the beach snack stand - free - that there was no cost benefit for bringing a sandwich from home. Two years later, my summer job changed and I started at an office. With no snack girls around throwing around free stuff, I realized there was a major advantage to packing a dinner (night shift 11 am - 10 pm) than buy a sandwich from D'Angelo. That advantage was $6 a day.
Nine years later, I am still bringing my lunch - a girl has got to save if she wants new snow boots! My one big beef with bringing a lunch is finding containers to put food in and then a bag durable to hold everything. For a while I tried using regular plastic bags but, since I bring along my silverware rather than plastic utensils, they were constantly getting ruined. I keep my eye out for shopping bags that are sturdy enough for the silverware but big enough to hold the containers I buy at the grocery store. (I am more of a leftovers than a sandwich kind of girl).
The only downside is that they are not microwave safe. So I would have to transfer food into a bowl to re-heat, but I try to do that now as I hear microwaving shortens the life of my rubbermade tupperware. I would lean towards the 3 tiered version as I now have to bring lunch and dinner most days with school and all.
Let's keep these on the "I want" list for when I have some spare change lying around.
Yes, I chose to live in the Northeast. Yes, I chose to live in the greater Boston area, in the most densely populated city. Yes, I have a car but no off-street parking which means I depend on street-parking.
But, even with this, I am so overwhelmed by snow and cannot handle any more until some of these snow banks melt down.
The snow has already started up again, and I am just going to waive my white flag. My car is going to stay in the garage at work, and I will depend on the bus to get to work. To help me cope with the exhausting morning commute that will be my future (~80 minutes from start to finish) let's look at some color, quirk, and happiness by Mary Katrantzou
I would so wear this skirt. Alright, I would wear this outfit
I gather she is the wicked witch, or just the witch since the guy has it coming to him (remember this is an updated version of Beauty & the Beast). From this still, I would say she is pulling off the creepy and intensity just fine. Now I need to find time hit up the theaters...something tells me I will find time to see this before I get to The Fighter or The Kings Speech.
