girls with guitars



Lately, surprisingly, I've been coming across girls with electric guitars in fashion media. I guess it's the ultimate rocker chic accessory? Although, I've yet to see anyone styled actually playing one, or even pretending to...



Bad Teacher



Not since Iron Man have I left a theater wanting to go shoe shopping so badly. Cammy's character wears an endless parade of red-heeled beauties, a perfect Christian Louboutin shoe wardrobe was real the star of the show. She has the classic pumps, and then lots of booties - and boots - in black and gray. She makes those cage booties look practical, even conservative, by pairing with pencil skirts. And let's not forget the Victorian-looking side buttons from the movie poster.

Not too many good screenshots of her shoes yet, I'm going to have to watch this again to get another look at the shoes. This is the kind of product placement I'm all for.





perfect wedding



At the end of April, I flew up to Vermont to witness my sister's wedding to her long-time partner. She had a very intimate wedding, did it on a very small budget, and perfectly. She had all of the small, and mostly inexpensive, touches that make a wedding a wedding, instead of just a trip to the court house. It's pretty astounding how little you need to make it really special: flowers, a cake to cut, the right attire, and a photographer. That's pretty much it.



She ordered a small strawberry-filled cream cake (not technically a wedding cake, which saved a bunch) from a local bakery to pick up the day of, and topped it off with a personalized ceramic cake top from etsy.


She bought an actual wedding dress - short, but satin, beaded and flouncy, and killer sparkly blue heels.


The bouquet was really important to her, and where I think she spent the bulk of money. She ordered a custom brooch bouquet with personalized details, also from etsy. And then picked up fresh hydrangea stems for the girls from a local supermarket the morning of.


Tiny touches.

French Acadian Cook Book



One of my 1/2 price book treasures ($5!), this spiral bound cook book published in 1955 by The Louisiana Acadian Handicraft Museum in Jennings, La.


Since the cookbook has no index, I snapped quick shots of any recipe I may want to try one day. It was weird to see so many people's home recipes, before microwaves and when lard and oleo were common staples... mmmm...






Also hilarious, the tips and antidotes sprinkled in:


(Still good advice almost 60 years later!)


These cookbooks make me feel so nostalgic. One of the things I miss most about Louisiana life is the food!

The Young Victoria



I watched this movie last night and loved it. I loved them! It was a perfect movie to watch when hubby is out of town, since Prince Albert was such a good guy (I can't watch movies about lying cheating men when he's out of sight).










Of course, afterwards I had to read up on wikipedia about Queen Victoria. I love non-fiction accounts of historical monarchs, and must read theirs since it seems less tragic than some (Marie Antoinette and Mary Queen of Scotts, I'm looking at you...)


By the way, I found this hysterical: The British Monarchy has a facebook page and official website! Times have changed.

the xx



My hub found this band on satellite radio and they have a really good sound. Their voices remind me a little bit of that one album by Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson. Worth youtubing.

cat condos

This is our second carpeted cat tree:




Seriously, these things are so ugly and they are taking over the apartment. I really wish we didn't have them, but our cat loves them so! He spends at least 75% of his time sleeping or playing in his tree houses.



books



I finally unpacked books. I hadn't read anything since the move, except the few books I picked up when traveling: The Happiness Project (inspiring), Neon Angel (sad, but so good), and Mini Shopaholic (so fun!).


I also bought a 99 cent app of Les Miserables for my iPhone, since I hadn't read it at all because the hardback novel is just too big to lug around. I am now officially 16% done and well on the way to accomplish my goal which is to finish it (finally) by the end of the year.

lovely



I love this picture of Erin Fetherston in her New York apartment. It's totally not my style, but she looks so airy and lovely and she matches her apartment very well.

nail polish wardrobe

I love to analyze nail polish, much in the same way I do perfume. Since once of my tiny resolutions is to keep my nails looking nice, I've been thinking about it again. After a serious de-cluttering ages ago, I narrowed down the perfect nail polish wardrobe for me. It's changed only a bit since 2007, and whenever I go through stages where I veer off a bit (sparkles?), I always regret it and wind up tossing those barely used bottles in the trash.

Here's what you need, and my current bottle of choice:

Sheer pink-y white for a no-polish-but-better look: Essie Ballet Slippers.


Red - I like to have a deep blue-red and a bright really red: OPI Got the Blues for Red and Chick Flick Cherry, respectively.


Bright, hot pink - Revlon Cherries in the Snow, or OPI Cancun Fiesta (although I'm on the hunt for an awesome OPI hot pink from my last manicure, I thought the girl said Pink Flamingo, but think maybe she said Pink Flamenco?)


Dark and sexy, formerly gothic - I alternate between OPI Lincoln Park After Dark (of course.), Maybelline Denim Dash, and Revlon Black Star.


And lastly, the granite shade: OPI You Don't Know Jaques! (This is my least favorite of the color categories, and the one I wear least. I'm not even sure why I keep it around, but I always wind up going back to it.)


(And of course, a clear top and base coat. That's a must-have.)

I actually googled "nail polish wardrobe" and found this post that completely validates my own beliefs, but with a lot more insight added to the categories and generalized to work for everyone. I highly recommend!