Gold Shoes

gold shoes by emdussau featuring glitter flats

I have an equal amount of black and brown in my closet. This can be problematic when deciding whether to purchase black shoes or brown shoes. But I have discovered the magical non-boring neutral that is gold. It holds up a bit better than silver, matches everything, and can be dressed up or down. Gold shoes. Do it.

(clockwise from top right: marc jacobs glitter mule wedges, TOMS glitter slip-on, betisa gold shoes, joy and alexandre herchcovitch jelly oxfords, metallic t-bar flats sigerson morrison)

Let's Be Bandits

Midlake is one of my FAVORITE bands of all time. And this is one of my favorite songs of all time. Make sure to keep watching until the actual songs starts. The piano stuff in the beginning is just a sort of intro.

Midlake's music always reminds me of springtime. Especially early spring, when there are still cold days and dirty snow piles. Which is weird, because pretty much everything about this time of year is ugly. But this music is gorgeous.

It is so simple but lush, deep but unpretentious, emotional but not too sappy. I love that every song is a story. The harmonies are lovely, and holy man alive the guitar solos KILL me. These songs seem like they come from a different era; sometimes the past and sometimes the future. I would recommend everything this band has ever done, especially the album this song is from, The Trials of Van Occupanther.

March Favorites

It is kind of a given that I would love Adele. She is soulful, British, timeless, with a flair for drama... All things I aspire to be. But dang, her new album is ridiculous. Not only does she sing soul/pop in a refreshingly big yet clever way, but there is also just some really good songwriting going on. A lot of this album is on repeat for me this month.


I recently purchased a pair of bright coral-red jeans. I was a little freaked out by them at first, but they just looked so happy. I pair them with neutrals, like a chestnut sweater and boots, so the whole look isn't too overwhelmingly vibrant. I love them, and I am excited for a pair of shorts in the same vein when things warm up around here! I could probably wear them with tights if I get impatient... Hmm...


Alec Soth has gained a lot of worldwide attention for his photography over the last few years, so it is kind of cool that he remains a local boy here in the Twin Cities. I love his "Sleeping by the Mississippi" series. On the surface the images can be sorrowful, almost grim, but I see so much hope and life in them. Check him out!


Another bright color... Can you tell I am sick of winter? Now that I am completely comfortable/kind of addicted to red lipstick, I thought it was time to branch out a bit. I have always heard good things about MAC lipstick, and I am thrilled with my purchase of this bright pink shade called "Girl About Town." It is a bit shocking at first, especially for daytime... But I think if you wear it with a smile, and once again, not too many other bright colors, it is a piece of cake!


I am not getting nearly as much downtime as my brain requires in order to not be a walking ball of stress. But the downtime I DO get is so so sweet. More, please?



(shorts from Forever 21; photo by Alec Soth; lipstick from MAC; Emma Watson image from here!)

Etsy window shopping

I like this striped blouse, and I like her haircut, and I like that her Etsy shop is organized by color.

That's all. Back to watching Dexter, eating an incredible fried egg, bacon and avocado sandwich, and writing wedding thank you's. Good stuff.

Let's go to the movies!

The Academy Awards are this Sunday, and although I do not get too caught up in who wins or loses (it is too much about hype and money and timing, in my opinion), I DO quite enjoy the show. And this year, I quite enjoyed a good number of the movies getting Oscar attention. Here is a quick look at some of the films I saw this year that made me smile or cry or swoon or whatever. :)


1. Inception
What style! This movie was like a date with a super sexy, kind of European guy who buys you strong drinks and everything he says seems like the most epic thing ever. (Note: I have never been on a date like this. But I have an imagination, ok?) Anyways, I have always found dreams fascinating, and I was worried this plot would be too sci-fi and not enough about what makes dreams fascinating in the first place. But I was not disappointed. It was smart, tight, and clever. Leo was devastatingly handsome and sufficiently angsty. Marion Cotillard was haunting and lovely. Ellen Page was a cute little thing. Oh, and JGL's suits? Yum. All in all, a great time.


2. Black Swan
Of course I loved this movie. Smallest surprise of the century. I have loved Natalie Portman for ages, and I love psych-thrillers, and I love ballet. I loved that it was so heavy-handed. I love that they didn't back down from the symbolism. Subtlety would not have suited this movie. I think that movies these days, and art in general, suffer from an obsession with subtlety. Subtle can be lovely, but come on, it's ART! Go for it! Balls out! Yes, put Nina in white and Lily in black! Yes, let's see her literally sprout wings and grow webs between her toes! Make our skin crawl and our hearts race. Some of the imagery reminded me of fairy tales, for some reason. After I see a movie like this, I feel so over realism. And Natalie Portman? I wish it were possible for her to have my babies. (However, I am super glad she is preggers with that ballet man's baby, because she really needed some drastic weight-gaining action after that movie).


3. The Kids Are All Right
Can I just say, Julianne Moore was f-ing hilarious in this movie? And yes, Annette Benning and Mark Ruffalo were also great. But Moore was Great. I also really liked Mia Wasikowski (and holy cow, I cannot wait for her to play Jane Eyre). This film overall didn't blow me away, but it was honest and funny and refreshing. I think they did a nice job of balancing between "OMG this movie is about LESBIANS, aren't we edgy and boundary-breaking?" and "yes, this is about lesbians, but we are going to practically ignore that and pretend like it isn't a big deal." Because it IS a big deal. It's who they are. But they are also so much like every other family in America.


4. Winter's Bone
My heart was breaking throughout pretty much this entire movie. But it was so breathtaking, I could not look away. How did they make simple shots of bare, late-autumn trees under overcast skies look like gorgeous, sweeping landscapes? Why was I moved by a bunch of dirty cows being herded through gates? (I'm from the midwest, this is not a foreign image). Dirty houses full of meth-addled Ozarkians seemed somehow majestic... or something. I can't seem to articulate my feelings about this movie as well as I wish I could. Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role was incredible. She played this part as if it were a legendary heroine of Ozark lore. Maybe it is.

*Whew*

Have fun on Sunday, no matter what you do!

P.S. I am watching the movie Suspiria on TV right now, and it is freaking my shit out!

My Sartorial Obsession

I love this photo from The Sartorialist. The classic fedora and blazer combined with the worn sweater and floaty skirt... But the best part, as is the case with most really good Sartorialist pics, is her smile. You can always see it in the smile when people are truly comfortable in their own skin.

Hello!

Hello! Bonjour! Welcome to my blog!

This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time now, ever since I fell in love with a handful of blogs out in the wide wide blogosphere. Blogs that introduced me to beautiful things and new ideas. I'm not sure exactly what direction I will go in with this blog, but I hope that it is a source of joy for myself and maybe some others, too. :)

It is the dead of a brutal winter here in Minnesota, and we just received another foot of snow. Yuck. I am trying to focus on positive things, such as: cozy days off spent on the couch with my cat and man, hot pink lipstick, good coffee, red carpet season, and the fact that spring will be here soon...




Zooey pic from here!