my top five favorite: albums

Even before itunes and ipods and spotify I used to prefer building my own playlists (with mixtapes!) to playing an album start-to-finish, but there are always some albums that I think are so perfect that I happily play them uninterrupted, the way they were intended to be heard.

First up is Power, Corruption, and Lies by New Order. One of my all time favorite albums, although I tend to play one side more than the other and I tend to go over and put the needle back on "Your Silent Face" over and over again.



This post could have easily been five Killers albums but I wanted to limit myself to one and give some room to other bands/artists. And narrowing it down to one was VERY DIFFICULT.  But ultimately Day and Age has my heart. Honestly whatever album "Dustland Fairytale" was on was going to get my vote, but when you add in "Spaceman" and "Human" it's basically a shoe-in. (Runner up would probably be either Sam's Town or Battle Born.)



This is the soundtrack for the movie Borsalino. It's just a super fun jazzy '20s-'30s inspired album and I put this on all the time when I need to get some pep in my step for the day. If I need to clean up or get dressed for a late shift at work after I'm already done in, this does the trick. It also reminds me of the movie (which I love!) and that's always a fun bonus when you listen to soundtracks :)



I first heard this when I was staying at The Polynesian in Disney World two years ago and I ended up downloading the album to listen to on the plane home, and then I found an LP on ebay to listen to on my record player. My favorite song on the album is "Pineapple Princess" followed closely by "Hawaiian Love Talk." It's just so fun and bubbly and, especially in the winter, it's nice to be transported to Hawaii (or a Disneyesque version of Hawaii, I guess, lol!)



Last but not least, my favorite Frank Sinatra album -- Moonlight Sinatra. This has spun around my turntable so often that sometimes I think I should buy a backup. Whenever I decide to put this one on, I just can't stop. I keep flipping it over, playing, flipping over, playing, until it's time for bed. My favorites on this album are "Moonlight Serenade" and "Oh, You Crazy Moon."

happiness is frank sinatra

Today was Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday! I was a total dork and celebrated with a birthday party. I made his spaghetti sauce recipe for dinner, played a Sinatra playlist all day, and ended the party with a screening of It Happened in Brooklyn. I even made commemorative buttons for my guests, haha! And of course, I had to wear my favorite Frank Sinatra t-shirt!

shirt - old | skirt - topshop | shoes - bait footwear

may the last voice you hear be mine

sinatra mugshot shirt - gift from my dad

skirt - old navy

cardigan - old navy

belt - forever 21

tights - kmart

shoes - marshalls

I'm really not much of a separates girl -- skirts, pants, shirts, etc -- but I have this one little black skirt that I really love. It's very simple and exactly the right shape and length for me. I guess I just don't like how everything has to keep being adjusted when you wear separates. You need to pull the skirt down, hike the pants up, tuck the shirt in, etc. It's all so messy when a dress is just really simple and comfy. It's hilarious to me that this looks more casual than my posh frock friday posts, but I'm actually more comfortable in my fancy dresses than I am in this outfit!

for he's a jolly good fellow

I don't seem to mention this much online, for some reason, but I've been a HUGE Frank Sinatra fan since I was 13 years old. He and Audrey Hepburn were the two people who triggered my larger fascination with old Hollywood & vintage/classic things in general. Most of my family would probably say I was obsessed (when you can riddle off facts about someone like their birth weight I think that may be an accurate description) and until quite recently he was pretty much the only singer I'd listen to.

Each year on Frank Sinatra's birthday, I watch a double feature and a concert -- two of his films & one of his live concerts -- and make pasta with his signature sauce recipe. If you're interested in snatching the recipe for yourself and honoring Sinatra spaghetti-style tonight, here's the link to my post from last year :)

my cat likes Frank Sinatra

My cat is a Sinatra fan. Ever since we adopted her almost 8 years ago, she comes over to listen when I play his music. We have a giant stereo system in our living room (ancient, from the days when you needed a 24" speaker to get the same quality sound that comes out of a 5" one today) and she literally camps out in front of the speakers on the floor whenever I put Sinatra on.

Today I was a little afraid she wanted to take a spin on the record, but she just sat there patiently, listening to her favorite singer croon some of her favorite tunes :)

she gets too hungry, for dinner at eight...

I made a treasury on etsy! yay! I don't do this often, so I thought it was cause for some celebration :)

Actually, I really only did it to procrastinate (unfortunately procrastination is one of my chief character traits) ... I have oodles of work to do, and found myself spending two hours putting this together instead of tackling the important things on my to-do-list. Oh well, at least it wasn't two hours spent aimlessly refreshing my email and twitter, which is how I normally waste time.

You can click the image to see the treasury and click on all the pretty links :)

Day 16 - a song that makes me cry (or nearly)

Day 01 — Your favorite song
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
Day 04 — Your favorite book
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fiction book
Day 15 — A collection
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — A recipe
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A YouTube video
Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
Day 27 — This month, in great detail
Day 28 — This year, in great detail
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy



This is the song I listened to on repeat when my cat Hypatia was deathly ill in February 2008. We didn't know if what she had was contagious, so I was keeping our other cat, Chloe, locked in my bedroom while we waited to find out. I'd put this song on repeat, and lie on my bed petting Chloe and sobbing for hours.

A cat's illness might not seem like a devastating thing to people who don't have them, but to me it was the single worst time of my life, and this song always brings back those memories now, yet it is still remarkably comforting. It also reminds me, though, that even though we steered clear of anything serious two years ago, one of these days I will have to face my cats' mortality, and it will be even more heartbreaking and soul-crushing than how I felt then.

Geez, great post for "good mood week", huh?

cycles.

I started liking Frank Sinatra's music a little over ten years ago. My parents are fans of alternative - goth - punk rock music, so this was a huge departure from the kind of music I was brought up on, and my little brother thought it was extremely dorky of me to like something so (his words, not mine) old and corny. Well... after a whole DECADE of trying to convert him, I've finally done it! His ipod is finally sprinkled with Sinatra gems, and tonight we spent about two hours going through my extensive itunes collection to find him new favorites. It was seriously one of the happiest moments of my life.

As for my parents, my dad's still not sold but my mom has been known to sneak some Sinatra and Nancy Wilson onto her mix cds every now and then ;-D

While going through my collection I stumbled upon Cycles.. it was always been one of my favorite albums, even though it's usually overlooked when people talk about Sinatra's great albums. My favorite songs from the playlist are Both Sides Now and the title song, Cycles. It has such a sweet, soft sadness and sense of resilience.



So I'm down and so I'm out, but so are many others
So I feel like tryin' to hide my head 'neath these covers
Life is like the seasons after winter comes the spring
So I'll keep this smile awhile, and see what tomorrow brings
I've been told and I believe that life is meant for livin'
And even when my chips are low, there's still some left for givin'
I've been many places maybe not as far as you
So I think I'll stay awhile, and see if some dreams come true
There isn't much that I have learned through all my foolish years
Except that life keeps runnin' in cycles, first there's laughter, then those tears
But I'll keep my head up high although I'm kinda tired
My gal just up and left last week, Friday I got fired
You know it's almost funny, but things can't get worse than now
So I'll keep on tryin' to sing, but please, just don't ask me how

new wellies and adventures in sewing

Got some new wellies at Target yesterday! I like wearing rain boots all the time, not just when it's pouring outside.. I think they're so fun :)

I've been trying VERY hard lately to polish the rough edges on my sewing skills, so the other day I attempted to make a pillow from an old Frank Sinatra shirt that doesn't fit me anymore. The sewing part actually went very smoothly (no bobbin jams or anything! super!) but I'm not very good at stuffing.. it's kind of lumpy. And my mom needs to teach me how to discreetly hand-sew the part that remains open for stuffing... but other than that, I'm really happy with it! Here's the finished product!