facebook status this evening:

PLEASE put this as your status if you know someone who has been eaten by dragons. Dragons are nearly unstoppable and, in case you didn't know, they can totally breathe fire. 60% of people WON'T copy and paste this because they have already been eaten by dragons. 38% of people are sitting in the shower armed with fire extinguishers, and the remaining 2% are awesome and will re-post.

at the movies, you can share my peanut m&ms, but you better act fast

I am feeling good today. Lots to say, but for now: 2011 is going to be sweet. This picture is from last night. I was talking to one of my friends whom I have come to really depend on to drag each other through all the rough times. We somehow got on the topic of emotional intelligence (by somehow, I mean that I am sure there was a very logical and coherent path toward it). The conversation proceeded as follows:

"On the scale of emotional between 1 and 10, you are a 2."
"What!" (I tend to say "What!" a lot, except that it sounds very classy, like, "Whaaaat!")
"Fine.... 2.2"

We've worked it out. But anyway, despite my 2.2 emotional level, I do love this. Like I said, sweet.

i am feeling like getting out of the city and living in the mountains where i can ski all the time and live in a cabin.

a picture I took in Switzerland, 2009

photo by pruginko

And there should also be a lake for kayaking in the spring. I have a friend who took a kayaking class in college and it was really hard for him. He claims it was because his partner had a hard time getting back in the kayak when it flipped over. Uh, why did your kayak flip over? seems an obvious question. However, he did end up getting an A-, which he clarified for me when I was laughing about the C that I thought he got. In kayaking class. He also took a vampire class. It was a communications class, but we called it vampire class. He had a hard time with that too. I e-mailed him a daily vampire reference... for two days. It turns out that I don't come across vampires as often in my life as I had once thought.

(I couldn't remember the first one I sent, so I had to go back and search "Vampire" in my inbox. The response I received from my friend: "Hahaha. Keep em coming.")

thank you for your message, but I don't understand

december never felt so long; you're not where you belong, inside my arms

via whiskeysoaked

This is what I look like in the winter. Not. Maybe the blanket-esque shawl over the head. All the same, there's something I find extremely captivating about this woman. Sure, the picture looks pretty, but those of us who experience real climate changes know that a real winter? A real winter is not pretty. But she is determined. It seems spirited, haughty, and defiant of winter. I admire that in a woman, especially during the winter. (As long as she doesn't complain. We can forgive someone who can't walk in the shoes she decided to wear that day, but there's nothing worse than being subjected to listen to her own decision failures.)

Until then, the rest of us can sit inside with our Frango Cafe Collection Limited Edition Chocolates (Macy's). Mine was a much-needed, sweet gift that includes Coffee, Caramel Macchiato, and Marshmallow Hot Chocolate varieties in an attractively color-palatted box. And we can ponder how these images of winter are so incongruous with our actual experiences of it. (Actually, I love winter, usually. But that's for another post, another time.)

photo by photoriel

photo by visbeek

american style.

The following is a post by Cary Randolph via that kind of woman that I liked. I'll be back tomorrow :)
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American style is self-made. It’s borrowed. From your boyfriend, your ancestors, your favorite movie star. It’s a wool peacoat from the Army-Navy and the slinkiest stiletto heel. American style is rooted in history: for every Norwegian sweater turned out by L.L. Bean there is another tale about how it got here and was adopted and adapted by generations before ours. Slip on a silk evening gown and wear it with nothing but salty hair and a tan. This is a look that evolved from sport: tennis whites, rugby stripes. It’s seasonal: tartan in winter and linen in spring; but it’s also season-less: Levi’s 501s witha great white button-down in rain, snow, or shine.

A true connoisseur of American style is conscious of where her clothes originated. I think this is a new phenomenon that has developed from the menswear movement to modernize heritage brands. Filson, Gitman, Pendleton, Woolrich, the list goes on, and they all have something in common: they were made here. In your town, your state, your backyard. Yes, you’ll still be hard-pressed to find great women’s brands made in the States, but that is soon to change. Did you know that you can drive to the Schott factory in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and stand by each jacket as it rolls down the assembly line? I think this quality makes clothing so much more special. I think it makes clothing important.

American style is healthy and active. It is defined by entrepreneurs striking out on their own and then coming back together. One thing you’ll notice about the current heritage revival is the prevalence of collaborations between brands global and local. A quick glance at J.Crew’s In Good Company sub-site can prove the success of this strategy. But small brands join with other small brands and the effect is even more poignant; these are not companies working in vacuums. Consider it a sartorial democratic republic.

American style is iconic, and a single name can conjure incredible images of a shared history. Ali McGraw in Love Story. Katharine Hepburn in pleated trousers. Ralph Lauren’s barefaced beauties have worn our national wardrobe for decades, and each season Lauren turns out a collection completely different from the one before it. Yesterday’s gypsy becomes today’s cowgirl becomes tomorrow’s flapper. But it all has that same American-ness. It’s mythic, legendary, larger than life.

Let’s talk brass tacks: how do you work more Americana into your own closet? Start with the fundamentals: great jeans made in L.A., a men’s oxford from Pennsylvania, boots and coats born in Maine. Keep a clean palette, and fill your shelves with natural, durable materials. Make investments. Buy vintage. Be thrifty. Ask yourself, “Can I run in these shoes? How fast?” Watch Bonnie and Clyde: Faye Dunaway never looked so chic, and she did so while taking violent turns in her getaway car. Dress for moments like that. Dress for the elements. Our country is defined by its terrain: ranges and oceans, coast and plain, but it is also defined by the creativity and beauty of its citizens. Translate that rugged freedom into your canvas and chambray and suede. Who said you can’t have your sequins and climb the Rockies too?

you're so beautiful you could be a part-time model, but you'll probably still have to keep your other job...

... spend part of your time modeling and the rest of your time with me.

I'm not extremely familiar with a lot of the Flight of the Conchords, but from what I know, I'm always entertained. This song The Most Beautiful Girl is hilarious, in my opinion.

And if you're science-y, this parody is genius.


And on a completely separate note, I adore this song: