happy birthday, moron

My little brother, Kyle, is 20 years old today. WHAT. It's weird being just that much older than your sibling that you're able to vividly remember their entire life. It seems like just yesterday that he was sitting in a high chair with food all over his face, so it's just super weird that he's 20 already. Still with food all over his face.

We've ended up being ridiculously opposite in almost every way imaginable but somehow we're still really close. He's like my honorary big brother, he's always looking out for me and trying to protect me whenever he can. Despite the arguments that ensue over what music to play in the car, we're great road trip buddies and just in the last year we've been to almost every state on the east coast (and Canada!) I say it all the time, but I am SO lucky to be so close to my family, and Kyle is no exception. Even though he can annoy the heck out of me and has obsessions with things I can't wrap my head around (I'll NEVER understand his fascination with freight trains. ever.) I am super lucky to have him for a brother and even luckier to have him for a friend.

the toaster

As some of you may already know, my brother Kyle is an aspiring filmmaker and one of the funniest people on the planet (I'm not biased, I swear!) He has a kind-of-neglected comedy channel on youtube called Fleece Jackets where he's been posting videos since he was about 12 years old. He recently decided to start posting short films on a regular basis and I am so excited to share his first new video here! It's called "Toaster" and he directed it and co-starred in it.

Also... I actually wrote it! Kyle added a little extra dialogue but the concept and the script were written by yours truly :D It's kind of random and nonsensical but that's our kind of humor. If you like it I hope you'll think about subscribing to his youtube channel :) Also, if you're so inclined, you can like his facebook page here!

happy birthday daddie

Today is my dad's 60th birthday! I don't want to get too mushy*, but my dad really means the world to me and not a day goes by that I don't think to myself how lucky I am to have hit the parent jackpot. We talk constantly and conversations with my dad are never boring. I usually drop by his office to complain about how much I have to do and how I'm never going to get it all done, and then end up hanging around for two hours talking about hypothetical solutions to world issues or the possible consequences of traveling back in time.

This is a man who sat me down in front of the tv when I was barely three years old to watch Nelson Mandela's release from prison, and explained to me the significance of the event. In the car on the way home from elementary school he would use stop lights as an opportunity to demonstrate, with pieces of fruit, the way the solar system worked. Growing up he constantly encouraged me to be intellectually curious, aware of current events, and conscious of history, and to this day I think our conversations are what keep me on my toes. He challenges my opinions even when he agrees with them, not just to play devils advocate but to spark more debate about the topic at hand.

He is thoughtful, kind, generous, big-hearted, incredibly smart, and he has fantastic taste in music, movies and books. He's dealt with some hardship and failures over the years but he remains remarkably optimistic and idealistic. He is a hard worker and, despite major bumps along the road, has managed to own his own business for over 30 years. He never fails to cheer me up when I'm blue, and -- possibly aware of my fragile ego or maybe just blinded by fatherly pride -- I can't remember one instance in which he ever did anything less than gush over anything I painted or drew. And when my world shattered in February when Hypatia passed away, he sat with me night after night helping me to work through my grief. He's the most patient, level-headed and decent person I know, and no matter what happens in my life, one constant will always be having an incredibly amazing father.

Obviously -- if you couldn't tell-- I think my dad is pretty awesome. I am SO thankful that we are such good friends and that he's given me so many amazing memories over the years. Here's to many more :)



*well, that worked well. oops ;p

let the rain pitter patter

This super awesome rain coat came in the mail while I was on vacation, and once I got home I just couldn't wait for a rainy day to take outfit pictures.  It was a teeny bit overcast but there wasn't a drop of rain in sight, so I illustrated my own rain shower ;D I also couldn't find my umbrella so I drew that in too. I seriously love drawing on photos... I need to do it more often!

I felt like a bit of an idiot doing this in my front yard (I'm so used to taking pictures in the privacy of my own room, plus of all the poses to choose for my first venture outdoors I chose the one where I'm holding an imaginary umbrella!) and it doesn't help matters that the neighbors who face our house are ALWAYS outside at the same time we are. We don't really talk to them, so it's hilariously awkward. But seriously, every time we leave to get in the car, get the mail, take out the garbage, etc.. they're out there. It's so funny! Even at like 5am or 11pm, if we're outside then you better believe one of them will be pulling in the driveway or mowing the lawn or something. We're always like "oh my gosh they are out there AGAIN!!" ...of course they probably think the same thing about us! haha!

dress - h&m | coat - c/o oasap | shoes - bait footwear | tights - we love colors

nepotism and earrings

Now it's my mom's turn! ;D My mom runs a little etsy shop called Baubles Bangles and Beans, where she sells handmade earrings. She sells two kinds -- coffee bean earrings, made with real fair trade coffee beans, and "extreme decaf" earrings, which are similar to her coffee bean style, but without the coffee! My mom is so cute, it's ridiculous... I am not exaggerating in the least bit when I say that each time she's made a sale she's positively GIDDY with excitement. She usually has the order packed up and ready to go within like 10 minutes because she's so excited that she made a sale. It's so adorable!

So if you have a coffee addict on your Christmas list, this is a pretty cool gift, right?! She offers free shipping on all orders, no coupon necessary (and you know you'll get it for Christmas since she ships it within like 10 seconds of your order, lol) and if you mention that you're visiting from my blog when you order there will be a little flapper doodle goodie in your package, too! :D

ps. If you're super amazing and want to order from my mom AND my dad you can let one of them know and the orders can be shipped in one package :)

nepotism and t-shirts

My dad has owned a small mail-order music t-shirt company since the late 1970's, and since times are tough right now I thought I'd try to help him out a bit! If anyone on your Christmas list is a music lover (or movie lover -- he has movie shirts, too!) this is the perfect gift! He has merchandise on literally THOUSANDS of bands, everyone from The Smiths to Adele, from Death Cab for Cutie to The Spice Girls. If you like them, my dad probably sells their shirts. He also has baseball caps, hoodies, stickers, keychains and basically everything music related you could ever possibly want. All those music shirts UO sells for $45? My dad has them for $16. Seriously.

...AND since I'm his daughter, he gave me a coupon code for my blog post! You can get 10% off with code SB10. Make sure you use that coupon code if you order, because I'll be sneaking into his office and throwing free flapper doodle prints into orders placed with the code!! ;D

ps. He started the business in the late 70's and named it after a Brian Eno song, "Burning Airlines Gives You So Much More." It's been excruciatingly awkward since 2001, and honestly I get embarrassed every time I have to explain this, but let's just blame it all on Brian Eno. ;p

posh frock friday

dress - h&m

belt - vintage

hair bow - hive & honey

shoes - modcloth

Last night I got the longest, most random text from my brother. I think it's super hilarious so I had to share it :)

"Alright. So it's 1856 and this guy named Johann von Kramer has just invented a magic brand of cornbread that, when fed to goats, gives them both the ability to speak AND fly. He did not know the power he held in his hands, and before long... it was too late. He had sealed the fate of humankind as we know it. By 1858, the goats had finalized their plans to dominate the planet. They launched a massive attack on November 4, 1858. Thousands of goats could be seen filling the sky, flying across the grasslands, mountains, oceans, etc. The invasion had begun. Top scientists from every nation joined together to try to form a new type of cornbread to feed the goats -- one that would reap them of their superpowers and save mankind. BUT IT WAS NO USE. By the 10th day of December, 1858, everyone surrendered. The goats won. They deported all humans to a new planet they deemed "Earth." We still have yet to trace back to our home planet, now ruled by goats..."

clarissa explains insects

dress - modcloth

sweater - h&m

belt - modcloth

tights - h&m

shoes - high school

necklace - some beach store

This dress is covered in insects! You can't tell too much since my photos aren't close-ups but you can see it better in the product listing here. I got it for three reasons - I love novelty prints, Clarissa had pajamas covered in ants, and my dad has a glow in the dark roach print t-shirt that I've loved since I was a kid. So I guess my dad is a bit of a style icon for me too? ha! He'd laugh if he read that.. I always make fun of him for accidentally wearing his shirts inside out, and with the collars all bent out of shape. He's very absent-minded professor-ish. Almost eerily smart, but he has no idea how to dress himself.

Luckily I only inherited the eerily smart gene ;) har har. Actually neither of my parents like clothes very much. My mom has like 8 dresses that she wears on rotation, and my dad wears the same old polo shirt & jean combination every day. Somehow me and my brother both ended up being very interested in style, though. Whenever he mocks my extensive dress collection I just mention his tie hoarding problem and he drops the subject completely ;)

sunshine on a cloudy day

dress - modcloth

belt - modcloth

After dinner on Father's Day we went to Princeton for dessert, and then sat around the fountain on the University campus until about 10pm. It was SUCH a nice evening! There weren't too many people at the fountain, so it was really quiet and peaceful, just listening to the water trickling and birds flying around the trees nearby.

For dessert we went to Thomas Sweet on Nassau Street. The shoppe smells SO good inside, and they have one of those wacky mirrors that makes you look really short and wide -- and it's actually from a Fun House in the 1930's! It's pretty neat to think that people have been laughing at themselves in this mirror for over 75 years! :)

ps! I did a re-design for Andi's blog! Take a peek here! :)

Do you want to comment, but have no idea what to say? Trust me, I've been there! So to make things a little easier, here is a question you can answer if you can't think of anything else to say! :)

What is your favorite carnival ride? Mine is the tilt-a-whirl!

raindrops on roses

dress - h&m

shoes - modcloth

belt - modcloth

headband - gift from gee!

Isn't this headband GORGEOUS?! It's a handmade present from Gee! I knew immediately when I received it that I wanted to wear it with this dress.. they just seem like they were made for each other! My original plan was to go to the park and get some really pretty shots in the golden sunlight, with lovely floral backdrops instead of my same-old-same-old bedroom background. But since I don't have a tripod, this required the services of one very reluctant, very selfish brother... who backed out of his promise to take me there yesterday. So this isn't quite what I had in mind, but I think the first photo, shot with my pretty pink dress as a backdrop, is a nice substitute for a field of flowers. Also thanks to the little raindrop applique on the dress, it is literally "raindrops on roses" (from The Sound of Music song!)

Do you want to comment, but have no idea what to say? Trust me, I've been there! So to make things a little easier, here is a question you can answer if you can't think of anything else to say! :)

What is your favorite musical?

17 years

My little brother is 17 years old today! Even though I wish we were closer in age, I'm so glad my parents finally got around to giving me a sibling, because life would be pretty dull and MUCH less funny without him. Also, I can't imagine a world in which there was nobody to nickname me "Moron."

Happy Birthday, Kyle. You're kind of epic.

I don't know what everybody's doing but I want to do it too

sheer dress - vintage

black dress - forever 21

belt - old navy

shoes - blowfish

I hope everyone had a really nice Mother's Day! Mine was pretty terrific. We were all in goofy moods, so there was plenty of laughter to go around. At one point my dad asked my brother and I to distract our mom while he started the grill (a gopher had chewed through the gas line last year, and as far as my mom knew it was still out of commission) so I started humming really loud, and Kyle started dancing (I use the term lightly) to the humming. My mom just watched with a look of combined horror and amazement.. It was hilarious.

Later we had my Aunt Annie and Grandmom over for dinner. My Aunt Annie is 99 years old and *very* hard of hearing. She usually doesn't understand what we say, even if we are speaking deliberately, and as loud as possible. So when I made a really good joke and my family started fist-bumping me.. Aunt Annie did too! She was like "I don't know what everybody's doing but I want to do it too!" It was so funny! She's such a good sport considering she usually has no idea what's going on!

ps. There are going to be some little changes on Scathingly Brilliant this week.. nothing gigantic, just some additional posts and moving some regular features around :)

back where it all began

dress - 60s vintage

cardigan - f21

tights - h&m

shoes - h&m

bag - h&m

sunglasses - fred flare

On Saturday we spent the day in Princeton to celebrate my dad's 58th birthday! Every year at the end of April the university has a festival called Communiversity, and this was our first year going as visitors instead of vendors. From 2004-2010 I was selling my artwork, but since I gave up doing outdoor shows last year we were finally able to experience the festival and take our time strolling around. My favorite part are the tables on campus where International students represent their countries with information, food and souvenirs. After we were done walking around, we just wandered around the campus, ending up at a beautiful garden near the art museum. I put together this little video using the 8mm app on my iphone (soooo glad Diana blogged about this, it's now my favorite app!) The song is Little Bird by Goldfrapp.

My dad's mother, my dad, me and my brother were all born in Princeton so it's always nice when one of us decides to spend our birthday there.. to be back at the beginning, everything feels right.

Do you want to comment, but have no idea what to say? Trust me, I've been there! So to make things a little easier, here is a question you can answer if you can't think of anything else to say! :)

You have an unlimited budget for your next birthday celebration. How do you spend it?

here comes peter cottontail

dress - h&m

belt - vintage

tights - we love colors

shoes - from my grandmom

Confession: I like to dress like a giant easter egg. It probably stems from my mom dolling me up in light pink tights, white shoes and the most pastel dress in my closet to go over my grandmother's for easter when I was little. I lose any sense of balance with dark and light, on easter there is no such thing as too much light pink, or too much light green. Even my nails are painted all different pastel shades. I'm terribly literal when it comes to dressing for holidays. It's awfully cornball, but I honestly don't care. I love wearing red and green on Christmas, and black and orange on Halloween :)

We're going over my grandmom's today... me and my brother have the hardest time containing our laughter when we're there because my grandmom is really OCD about easter egg hunts. She writes down where she puts each egg, then follows us around with the pad to check off when we find each egg. If we're not finding them fast enough, she starts trying to direct us to the right spots so we can speed things up and eat dinner. It's equally odd and hilarious, but probably one of the best family traditions we have ;-D

Do you want to comment, but have no idea what to say? Trust me, I've been there! So to make things a little easier, here is a question you can answer if you can't think of anything else to say! :)

If you had a pet bunny, what would you name it?

some call him crazy...

My brother has a youtube comedy channel called FleeceJackets, and after an 11 month hiatus he finally uploaded a new video last night. I love his sketches so much... they're just so totally random! If you like the video, pop over to youtube and leave him a comment, he'll really appreciate it! You should also check out his other videos while you're there, especially his corny tv commercials like Gnome Seller and Wonder Wood. Sheer genius!

(ps. camerawork & some script revision by yours truly!)

jean genie

coat - h&m

jeans - old navy

scarf - urban outfitters

bag - urban outfitters

shoes - the back of my closet

I hardly EVER wear pants, but after too many windy days spent in NYC trying to hold down my skirt to keep it from blowing up around my face (and embarrassingly failing at this task numerous times) I decided to go with some trusty jeans this time. Not nearly as pretty, but much better than flashing all of New York City, yes?

Me and my mom spent the day in the city since I had to attend a meeting, and it was so nice! I really love spending time with her and don't get the opportunity very often, since she works full time and is too tuckered to do much besides watch tv when she finally gets home! After the meeting we spent some time (cough.. hours) in H&M then had drinks (lemonade & coke kind of drinks) in the cellar restaurant at Macy's before coming home and meeting my dad and brother for dinner at Olive Garden. We really don't get out much as a family so when we do it's a HUGE treat, and incredibly fun! Somehow I blurted out that I owed my mom a "gret of daditude" (instead of debt of gratitude) and it struck our funny-bones so much that my mom was crying, and I was having trouble breathing I was laughing so hard. All in all -- an absolutely perfect day! :)

where's my corsage? where's my chapeau?

dress - modcloth

cardigan - old navy

tights - we love colors

Not the best fitting dress in the world, but I love the print & neck detail so I'm in love with it regardless ;-) This is also my first attempt at a French twist. How the heck do people do this using less than 100 bobby pins?! My head was tiled in metal by the time I was finished, and even then it still didn't really look like a twist .. more like a lump. Ah well, I'll keep trying!

Thank you for all the kind comments on the post about my Aunt! Her birthday party was so much fun! Honestly, she's a riot! At one point during dinner she said she had a flask of alcohol tucked in her girdle! LOL! My mom whispered to me "I wouldn't be surprised if she's actually telling the truth!" She also mentioned that her favorite drink is grapefruit juice, so I think this bodes well for my longevity ;-D

a trip down music memory lane

I think my parents are pretty awesome. There's a hundred reasons why, but one of the biggies is the music they introduced me to as a kid. My dad owned a record shop for the 1st decade or so my parents were married, then they opened a music t-shirt/poster mail order business around the time I was born. Music is super important to both of them, and they made sure it would be to me, too. I could probably buy one record a day for my entire life, and wouldn't come close to matching my dad's collection.

I remember when I was around 8 or 9 I was singing along to a Peter Murphy song (the lyrics of which I only understand now, as a grown up) and my mom apologized to me in advance for exposing me to that kind of stuff. "When you're an adult, you are going to hate us," she said. That might have been true if they hadn't also been busy making me into a progressive open-minded person who'd totally play the same music for her own kids.

When I was about 13 I became interested in older music (Sinatra, Crosby, etc.) and never really listened to the songs I'd loved as a kid, except on road trips when my parents would make mix-tapes for the car. It was only recently, within the last six months or so, that I finally started listening and appreciating their tastes in music again. Not only are the songs little trips down memory lane, but I'm really enjoying exchanging youtube links with my dad, who, needless to say, is beyond thrilled that I'm listening to his favorite music again (except T-Rex. I just can't get into them..) and keeps sending me songs I might like! :)

When I have kids, they're going to be little music aficionados who sing inappropriate lyrics and hopefully they won't grow up to hate me for it ;-D