friday favorites

I love this photo from Polly's blog! (Also: the pink coat!!! eep!)



I think this is one of the most clever ideas ever! An astroturf purse! I would love to get this and wear it with my sunny day outfit. It also reminds me of this picnic basket idea!



Pink polka dotted cat shoes. Need I say more?!



Speaking of shoes, BAIT Footwear is releasing their spring line this week and to say I'm in love would be the understatement of the year. So far the only ones I see up on the site are the pink ones, but I'm dying to get my hands on the mint and cornflower blue ones too!!



Did you see Helen Mirren dyed her hair pink? Coolest thing ever! I hope so badly that my hair turns white (or at least light grey) when I'm older so that I can dye it fun colors without all the hassle of bleach. My genetics seem to point towards having dark hair FOREVER though, darn it!



Anthropologie has a grapefruit sweater!! A grapefruit sweater! It's a little (okay, a lot!) out of my price range though so I might DIY it. I think I owe it to my undying love of grapefruit juice to own at least one piece of grapefruit clothing.



I love this print of foods from The Office! I definitely need one for my bedroom.. it would be a much subtler (and cuter!) way of paying tribute to my favorite tv show than the poster I currently have hanging up (you can see it creeping in the background of the close-up in this outfit post.) And the mixed berry yogurt will always make me smile :)



Speaking of The Office, did you see the Dunder Mifflin products at Quill? They started selling Dunder Mifflin paper last year (of course I bought a whole box!) but this year they added legal pads, post-its, markers and legal boxes! I'm so excited!!



A Ross Gellar brooch! I love it! I wish Friends would start streaming somewhere so I could watch it constantly like I do The Office and The X-Files. I have the whole series on DVD but I've gotten so spoiled by netflix instant that I hardly ever pull out my discs anymore.



Speaking of instant streaming, from Feb. 14th to Feb. 18th all of the Criterion movies on hulu are free for everyone! If you have some free time I highly recommend checking some of them out! Some of my personal favorites that they're streaming are Jules et Jim, Daisies, Elevator to the Gallows, The Seventh Seal, Stagecoach, Monsieur Verdoux, Vivre Sa Vie, La Strada, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Earrings of Madame De... and Orpheus.



This service is so cool! You upload your photographs and they turn them into a viewfinder slide, plus you get a viewfinder to.. well.. view them! I'm thinking of getting one of these made for my dad's 60th birthday in April!



My dream home would definitely have a spiral staircase, extra points if it's pink (who am I kidding, if it wasn't pink to begin with I'd probably paint it!) Honestly I think if my future home doesn't come with one of these, I'm installing one... even if it's a one story flat and the staircase is purely decorative. It just needs to be there.

grapefruit and mint

dress - dorothy perkins

cardigan - old navy

tights - we love colors

shoes - from my grandmom

hairbow - honeybean

Something amazing happened yesterday. A monumental event in my life that I will never, ever forget. Before I tell my tale, I should probably fill in anyone who isn't already familiar with my obsession with grapefruit: I love grapefruit. The juice, the fruit, the color, anything remotely related to grapefruit, I love it. A lot.

So, our story begins two years ago, when one of my mom's coworkers casually mentioned that her husband had given her a pack of pink grapefruit tic-tacs. My mom's ears immediately perked up, since she has been conditioned over the years to pay attention to all things grapefruit related, and she asked where these tic-tacs had been purchased. Her coworker did not know. She asked her husband, he did not remember. For two long years I have searched for these tic-tacs. At every single grocery store, convenience store, drugstore and mall concession stand, I have searched in vain. I had given up all hope, until last night.

My mom and I had to run out to Staples for some supplies. Just a quick errand run, no biggie. Then, while we were out, my mom remembered that she had to pick up a gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond. This realization forever changed the course of my life. We walked into the store, and got in line. My eyes skimmed over the Christmas candy near the cash register, past the pink tic tacs and the iphone stands ---- wait, the tic tacs?! The PINK tic-tacs?! Could it be?? YES, IT WAS THEM! One single pack of pink grapefruit tic-tacs was perched in front of the cashier... and I pounced on them like a panther stalking its prey. They were MINE!! VICTORY AT LAST!!

Sometimes, it's really the little things that make your year day.

ps. Ironically, I happened to wear this mint and grapefruit colored outfit on Sunday, the day before my epic discovery. It wasn't inspired by the grapefruit flavored mints! Weirdness, right?! It's like I was having a wardrobe premonition...

now, how to amuse them today?

dress - modcloth

cardigan - f21

belt - old navy

tights - urban outfitters

shoes - aldo

bag - urban outfitters

hair tutorial

I'm feeling much better today, still not 100% but better. I hate being sick, but I do like that it's an excuse to flop in bed and watch tv without feeling guilty that you're not getting any work done..

One of my favorite books that my dad used to read to me as a kid was Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne. And my favorite story in the book was Sneezles. To this day when me and my brother are sick we still say we have the wheezles and sneezles :-)

Christopher Robin had wheezles and sneezles,
They bundled him into his bed.
They gave him what goes with a cold in the nose,
And some more for a cold in the head.
They wondered if wheezles
Could turn into measles,
If sneezles would turn into mumps;
They examined his chest for a rash,
And the rest of his body for swellings and lumps.
They sent for some doctors in sneezles
And wheezles to tell them what ought to be done.
All sorts and conditions of famous physicians
Came hurrying round at a run.
They all made a note of the state of his throat,
They asked if he suffered from thirst;
They asked if the sneezles came after the wheezles,
Or if the first sneezle came first.
They said, "If you teazle a sneezle or wheezle,
A measle may easily grow.
But humour or pleazle the wheezle or sneezle,
The measle will certainly go."
They expounded the reazles for sneezles
And wheezles, the manner of measles when new.
They said "If he freezles in draughts and in breezles,
Then PHTHEEZLES may even ensue."

Christopher Robin got up in the morning,
The sneezles had vanished away.
And the look in his eye
Seemed to say to the sky,
"Now, how to amuse them to-day?"

grapefruit jackpot

Last night my dad did the grocery shopping late, and got home around 10:30pm. While we were all putting away the groceries, he happened to mention in passing that my grapefruit juice had been on sale 40% off.

It was like one of those moments on tv when you can hear the screeching halt of a record, as everything comes to a standstill. FORTY PERCENT OFF??? And here's the rub: it was a Saturday night -- the night that all weekly sales END.

With scarcely 40 minutes until closing time and my grandmom's Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, we sped off to the grocery store to buy up their remaining stock of grapefruit juice before it climbed back up to it's outrageous price of $4.99 per bottle. They only had six bottles left on the shelf, so we loaded those into the cart & got rain checks for 16 more. But that, my friends, was not enough.

With now 15 minutes until closing, we got in line at the store behind a lady with a jam-packed cart who wanted to pay for her order with two separate cards, but couldn't find either in her purse. When we finally got back in the car, we had a mere 10 minutes to get to the other grocery store down the street.

My dad pulled up in front of the store at 11:58PM, I hopped out, grabbed a cart and zoomed over to the doors, only to find they had locked them two minutes early! As I stood there, I stared in disbelief, recounting the small things I could have done differently to have made it in time. Getting in line BEFORE the slow lady, checking out on my own while my dad got the rain checks instead of standing there with him, even putting on the shoes that were laying near the front door instead of running upstairs to my room to grab my favorite pair .. any of these things could have guaranteed me more grapefruit juice.

Just as I was about to give up all hope, a man came out the store and let me squeeze my cart in through the exit door! I WAS IN! I rushed past the manager who yelled "we're closing in two minutes!", skidded into the juice aisle and threw nine more bottles into the cart before leaving, the last customer in the store.

If anyone has ever doubted my commitment to, and obsession with grapefruit juice, I dare you to continue your disbelief. DARE YOU! ;-D

ps. When you work from home and live in a boring suburban town, this is the height of adventure!

lemonade

(image via etsy)

Grapefruit juice is up to $4 a bottle now, and I really just can't afford to feed my addiction anymore. I couldn't even afford it when it was $3 a bottle, let alone $4. Heck, it could drop to $1 a bottle and it'd still be too expensive for my meager budget. So now I'm trying to wean myself off of it altogether by drinking diluted lemonade. It probably doesn't sound very appetizing but seriously, I think it's the best-tasting drink next to my beloved grapefruit juice. I just add a couple of tablespoons of Minute Maid lemonade to a tall glass of cold water, and top it off with a couple ice cubes. The heavy, sugary taste of straight lemonade is just too much for me; this is much more like French Limonade, only with water instead of soda.

I know, ice cold lemonade seem a little out of place when most people are stocking up on hot cocoa, but I like my beverages cold, even in autumn.. even in the middle of winter :)

pink grapefruit marmalade

A ginormous thank you to Casey for sending me a surprise in the mail today! Pink grapefruit marmalade!!! It came at the perfect time, too -- I was downstairs opening and closing every cabinet door trying to find something to eat for lunch and not having much luck. Then the doorbell rang and the mailman dropped off this little jar of goodness! I put some on country white toast and made a glass of refreshing grapefruit ice water (water with a couple tablespoons of grapefruit juice and ice cubes) to go with it. YUM! Thank you Casey!!! :)

When I grow up, I want to be...

Some people never get to try out the profession they dreamed about as a kid. Especially if you wanted to be an astronaut, President of the United States, secret agent or action movie star. Thanks to me being born with the best parents on the entire planet, I've had the chance to take a stab at making a living doing what I wanted to do since I was four, or at least I've been laboring under that notion for the last five years.

As a kid, I collected Mike Venezia's Greatest Artist books for children. I gobbled them up, absorbing all of the details about the extraordinary lives of artists. Only recently I realized that I didn't just want to be an artist so that I could create things; I envisioned myself living a life full of mystery, excitement and adventure. Cavorting with expatriate writers on the French Riviera while working on my next masterpiece; spending each spring in Paris to capture the beauty of the blooming city on my canvas; accidentally going days without food because I was fed enough by life itself.

None of my dreams included pricing artwork, marketing myself and my art, customer service, shipping, postage fees or crafting, let alone doing all of this in my studio/bedroom that I've lived in since I was six, let alone in New Jersey.

I always try to tell myself that I'm living my dream- I'm making money (not a living, really, but money. If I didn't live at home, there's no way on earth that I'd be making enough for rent) as an artist. "An artist"... but that's not really what I am. I'm a businesswoman. I spend about one hour every three weeks actually drawing or painting, while almost all of my time is consumed with listing things on etsy, corresponding with customers, packing orders, ordering supplies, making products and marketing those products on my social networking sites. This is not being an artist. This, unfortunately, is actually the LAST thing I ever wanted to do.

My parents have always been in business for themselves. When my dad was 22 years old, he already owned his own record store with a friend. Around 1980, he and my mom opened the business that they have now, a music t-shirt mail order company. Growing up in this atmosphere, I saw the strain that it placed on my parents and the stress that a career in customer service can cause. Keeping inventory, packing orders, corresponding with customers... these were the things that my parents did full time, that I hated growing up. And that's what I'm doing now. It's really a cruel irony.

I have fantasies of my flapper drawings turning into some kind of Hello Kitty phenomenon, being printed on little girls' backpacks and school binders; grown women getting excited to see a Flapper Doodle cell phone case or cake pan. But the steps it would take to get there just aren't for me. Unless some company swooped in and asked to license my flappers, I really can't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. And I don't want to be 40 when I finally realize that I'm living the same life that caused my parents so much stress.

If you're a fan, don't worry, I'm not stopping the flappers. I just need to reevaluate my life and figure out what I really want to do. I doubt that professional grapefruit juice taster or full time movie watcher are real professions, so I'm kind of drawing a blank.

I don't want all of my hard work over the last few years to completely go to waste, but I don't want five years' work dictating what I do for the rest of my life, either. Ideally, I really would like to be that artist drifting from European country to European country, staying up all hours of the night discussing philosophy with other crazy people like me. But I'm finally realizing my dream is as unlikely as becoming an astronaut, President of the United States or a secret agent.

I guess I just have to start from scratch and figure out what I really want to be, when I grow up.

weekend in new york

I'm still winding down from my super long weekend in New York selling my art on the street near Washington Square Park. We left the house around 5:30 each morning, and got home around 10:00 each night. My mom and I took the train into the city each morning, then walked from Penn Station to Washington Square Park --2.5 miles!-- before spending all day sitting in direct sunlight in 90 degree weather, so I think it goes without saying that I am beyond tired.

Soooo my post about my weekend is going to have to wait until I can add 5 + 5 without the help of a calculator. (yes, I'm that tired.)

Until then, here are some snapshots from my weekend :)

I found my juice at the local market!
Unfortunately, I did not have a cup.
Fortunately, I did have a straw.

also... hot weather: 1, my bangs: 0

unfortunately, it was twice what it costs at home!

sneak peek at my flapper doodle setup :)

a question for the glass-half-full crowd :)

Day 2 of good mood week, and I am trying VERY hard to keep a happy face, but, as always, that's not easy for me. So I have a question for people who have a naturally sunny disposition: do you have bad things go wrong all day long (like moi), and you just happen to have a stronger ability to deal with it than I do, or do you usually have such good luck that there's simply nothing to be blue about? I'm really curious! If you do have awful luck and manage to overcome it each day, any tips?

Anyway, I've just poured myself a glass of grapefruit juice and I'm going to take some deep breaths and try not to let anything get to me. My printer, my brother, the weather, the UK immigration department and life in general are really testing my patience today so it'll take a lot of grapefruit juice and happy music to keep me feeling remotely bubbly.

Oh, and I decided I'm going to draw some of my "cheer up" posts instead of finding photos online, I thought that would be fun! :)

things that cheer me up!

Day one of good mood week is almost over, and I think it went swimmingly. I had a lot of minor inconveniences like I do most every day -- losing the internet, and the like -- but I took it with a grain of salt. I focused on the happy things and didn't let other stuff bother me. Also, I've realized that it is physically impossible to feel grouchy whilst My Boy Lollipop is playing on repeat, so I intend to keep it going all week, or for my entire life if necessary.

For the duration of good mood week, I'm going to post some things that cheer me up. If the week goes well, I'll probably continue this series but if I feel like crap by Sunday then I'll chuck it and do a "things that make me angry" series instead.

Just kidding! ;-D


Ok, first up is I Dream of Jeannie. I got the complete series recently and have been watching it a lot while I work. My favorite character is Major Healey, but unfortunately the only good photo of him from the series that I could find online was like 200 pixels wide and really stunk so you get this one of the equally cool Jeannie and Major Nelson instead... my favorite episode is Divorce, Jeannie Style which *yay* is available on hulu so you can go watch it and see why I love it so much :)

(I love the look on Major Nelson's face. GOSH this series cracks me up!!)

By the way, I have this thing about characters and actors names... if I watched shows when I was a kid I still refer to the characters by their fake names. Whenever I watch Fail Safe I say "Look! It's Major Nelson!!"


Also, I adore the smell of blown-out candles. It's almost enough to celebrate my birthday twice each year so I get one more opportunity to smell burnt out birthday candles more often. (The extra helping of presents and cake wouldn't hurt either, I guess...)


ANYTHING grapefruit. Seriously, anything. Confession: I do have pink grapefruit body spray and shampoo. I know, I have a problem.

But I just found this recipe online for pistachio & grapefruit macarons, and I think it is the single best reason that somebody needs to invent a machine that lets you eat things you see on your computer screen. Wait to go to the grocery store, buy the ingredients and make these myself? Ok, that's all well and good but I'd much prefer to reach into my screen and eat them this minute.

Photos link back to their original sources :)

Day 9 - a photo I took

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-fictional book
Day 15 — A fanfic
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

I love grapefruit juice :)