alela diane's music reminds me of a dense forest...with a little melodic cold struggle mixed in...yet still very beautiful. if that makes any sense. and i think these earrings (by black and white jewels) fit her sonic mood perfectly.
6/21/12
ear candy: alela diane!
alela diane's music reminds me of a dense forest...with a little melodic cold struggle mixed in...yet still very beautiful. if that makes any sense. and i think these earrings (by black and white jewels) fit her sonic mood perfectly.
6/20/12
a picture & a poem: sandra beasley!
The Piano Speaks by Sandra Beasley
--------------
For an hour I forgot my fat self,
my neurotic innards, my addiction to alignment.
For an hour I forgot my fear of rain.
For an hour I was a salamander
shimmying through the kelp in search of shore,
and under his fingers the notes slid loose
from my belly in a long jellyrope of eggs
that took root in the mud. And what
would hatch, I did not know—
a lie. A waltz. An apostle of glass.
For an hour I stood on two legs
and ran. For an hour I panted and galloped.
For an hour I was a maple tree,
and under the summer of his fingers
the notes seeded and winged away
in the clutch of small, elegant helicopters.
(poem source)
6/19/12
just because...i need to start wearing brighter colors!
i saw the knit kid on the oh joy blog and around pinterest recently...
knitwear that's perfect for summertime tans!
knitwear that's perfect for summertime tans!
artistic appreciation: carrie schneider!
these burning house images by artist carrie schneider are not only haunting and engaging, but eerily balanced. to me, the placement of the solitary fury and destruction of a home on fire within a completely stark landscape seems to keep the danger in check.
6/18/12
6/15/12
goodbye/hello...a serious post.
this may be my first "serious" post...where i talk about my life and not about my favorite artist, etsy shop or song. so, sigh, here goes: last year around this time my life was turned upside down by the sudden dissolution of my long-term relationship and all of the related messy aftermath. and, to be brutally honest, it was a really tough year that i am still healing from, but i must acknowledge that it has also been one of tremendous growth - professionally (i got a promotion and an award at work), personally (i ran 10 miles...in a row and i got new glasses!), and even emotionally.
through these ups and downs a small seed of an idea started to grow inside my head. i came to realize that RIGHT NOW in my life i can do anything i want to do...and i what do i want to do? i want to decorate my very own bungalow! i want to plant a raspberry patch! i want to take my niece and nephew on an adventure! to name a few things.
and i realized that i didn't want to do any of these things in philly. so, in order to open myself up to a whole slew of new challenges - i have decided to leave my life here in philadelphia at the end of august and move (back) to minnesota.
of course it's with a little terror and a lot of excitement that i plan this major life change. i have been living in philly for over 11 years and it has become more than a home filled with amazing people and places that i love - it's an utterly unique city and i'm forever blessed to have experienced a decade of my life here.
but, it's time for my exit...so....
goodbye rocky, hello paul bunyan!
goodbye cheese steaks and "wooder"-ice, hello walleye and state fair food on a stick!
goodbye roots, hello prince!
goodbye 100% humidity, hello snowstorms!
goodbye mummers, hello? actually the mummers have no comparison!
...and MOST importantly...goodbye to my supportive and amazing philadelphia and east coast friends, hello to my supportive and amazing minnesota friends and family. i cannot begin to thank every freaking one you for all you have done for me! i am excited to share the next phase of my life with you...even if we are in different time-zones!
i want to savor the time i have left in philly and will try to get that on the blog as often as i can...as well as adding some new MN flavor as the big MOVE date gets closer.
thanks for letting me get serious and have a wonderful weekend!
(these marc johns prints are my new mantra - image source)
6/14/12
just because...i love geeky chic!
i saw a little blurb about (waterproof) native shoes on the a cup of joy blog, but i had no idea that
they would so totally appeal to my geeky chic tendencies and my cheapskate tendencies as well.
they would so totally appeal to my geeky chic tendencies and my cheapskate tendencies as well.
perfect for maintaining style while biking in a rainstorm!
ear candy: elvis meets my itunes library!
for some reason i have been listening to a lot of elvis on my itunes lately...solid summer BBQ/public dancing/public beer drinking music! thought these "pause and play" earrings from secret find were a perfect fit!
6/13/12
just because...andy lifschutz's jewelry speaks for itself!
i heart the creations by andy lifschutz. ahhh...sigh.
a picture & a poem: dancing!
Nostalgia by Billy Collins
----------------
Remember the 1340s? We were doing a dance called the Catapult.
You always wore brown, the color craze of the decade,
and I was draped in one of those capes that were popular,
the ones with unicorns and pomegranates in needlework.
Everyone would pause for beer and onions in the afternoon,
and at night we would play a game called “Find the Cow.”
Everything was hand-lettered then, not like today.
Where has the summer of 1572 gone? Brocade and sonnet
marathons were the rage. We used to dress up in the flags
of rival baronies and conquer one another in cold rooms of stone.
Out on the dance floor we were all doing the Struggle
while your sister practiced the Daphne all alone in her room.
We borrowed the jargon of farriers for our slang.
These days language seems transparent, a badly broken code.
The 1790s will never come again. Childhood was big.
People would take walks to the very tops of hills
and write down what they saw in their journals without speaking.
Our collars were high and our hats were extremely soft.
We would surprise each other with alphabets made of twigs.
It was a wonderful time to be alive, or even dead.
I am very fond of the period between 1815 and 1821.
Europe trembled while we sat still for our portraits.
And I would love to return to 1901 if only for a moment,
time enough to wind up a music box and do a few dance steps,
or shoot me back to 1922 or 1941, or at least let me
recapture the serenity of last month when we picked
berries and glided through afternoons in a canoe.
Even this morning would be an improvement over the present.
I was in the garden then, surrounded by the hum of bees
and the Latin names of flowers, watching the early light
flash off the slanted windows of the greenhouse
and silver the limbs on the rows of dark hemlocks.
As usual, I was thinking about the moments of the past,
letting my memory rush over them like water
rushing over the stones on the bottom of a stream.
I was even thinking a little about the future, that place
where people are doing a dance we cannot imagine,
a dance whose name we can only guess.
(poem source)
6/12/12
artistic appreciation: keep company!
this is less of an individual appreciation and more of a brand appreciation...specifically the LA based keep company. i want to put all their comfy casual (yet stylish looking) shoes on my "wish list" ASAP...my arthritic toes are already thanking me.
6/11/12
just because...i want to eat cold things right now!
this green apple sorbet recipe from kitsch in the kitchen looks like it would hit the spot. yes, and yum.
6/8/12
friday fab/five: SCDP/amino acids/thunder, etc!
1. quinoa: i'm trying to break-up with white rice...and it's freaking hard! basically, my strategy is to phase out the rice and bring in the "super food" quinoa. strange fact: "quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration human occupied spaceflights." wow...all nine of those essential amino acids quinoa contains will help the me and astronauts! this recipe looks yummy!
2. crazy nail polish: i have even started to get into this fad, but what the heck - crazy nails are fun and it's fun to have a party on your fingers every once in a while. find all kinds of nail tutorials here and here.
3. thunderstorms: being from the mid-west, i just love a good thunder/lightening show. i prefer to experience this type of weather awesomeness tucked into bed since getting caught in a soaking downpour is no fun.
4. mad men: i'm losing sleep over the recent twists and turns on this beloved show and super SAD that the season is ending on sunday. how will they end it? HOW? HOW? HOW? and more importantly, how long do we have to wait until season 6?
5. hero king jewelry: AKA zachary little from ohio. i want every single thing on his etsy page. really.
6/7/12
just because...moonrise kingdom was really lovely!
i had a chance to see the new wes anderson movie - moonrise kingdom - last night and it was delightful...really. and it made me cry...which is not too hard, but should be noted as a positive reaction. see it!
(image source)
6/6/12
a picture & a poem: matthew rohrer
Childhood Stories by Matthew Rohrer
-------------
They learned to turn off the gravity in an auditorium
and we all rose into the air,
the same room where they demonstrated
pow-wows and prestidigitation.
But not everyone believed it.
That was the most important lesson
I learned—that a truck driven by a dog
could roll down a hill at dusk
and roll right off a dock into a lake
and sink, and if no one believes you
then what is the point
of telling them wonderful things?
I walked home from the pow-wow
on an early winter night in amazement:
they let me buy the toy tomahawk!
As soon as I got home I was going
to hit my sister with it, but I didn’t know this.
(poem source)
6/5/12
artistic appreciation: alex farnum!
i just love all the LIFE, richness and depth in the work of san fransisco based photographer alex farnum. you have probably already seen many of his pictures in your favorite magazines, cookbooks, websites, etc...enjoy a few of my favorites:
6/1/12
friday fab/five: edward sharpe and samosas!
1. it's time to embrace the season of outdoor eating and drinking...i recently enjoyed having a few watermelon beers at the newly open morgan's pier along the (lovely?) delaware river.
2. i just kept listening to the new edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros album (that was streaming for free) on my NPR music app over and over...so dreamy. (image source)
3. indian food. i know, how could you want to eat hot food when it's so hot outside? let my samosa and basmati rice addiction speak loudly here...because indian food is so flipping good. especially the local fast food indian from mumbai bistro on 10th and locust or you can make make your own samosas!
4. organic elements in jewelry! i just love this trend...check out: midwest alchemy // lexluxe // emiliebliguet.
5. salads...as much as i love hot food, who likes cooking right now? not me. spicy arugula salads are making my stomach smile, but here is a delicious recipe for the blood orange, beet and fennel salad pictured above.
5/31/12
ear candy: santigold & pyrite!
santigold (AKA santi white, AKA santogold) not only rocks, but also has great style! perhaps she would enjoy wearing these awesome pyrite nugget earrings by krista peel.
5/30/12
a picture & a poem: stuart dybek
chord by stuart dybek
--------------
A man steps out of sunlight,
sunlight that streams like grace,
still gaping at blue sky
staked across the emptiness of space,
into a history where shadows
assume a human face.
A man slips into silence
that began as a cry,
still trailing music
although reduced to the sigh
of an accordion
as it folds into its case.
(poem source)
5/29/12
artistic inspiration: going birdy for abigail brown!
my mom is a serious sewer and thus has a walk-in closet in her basement that's FILLED with fabric...i kinda want to bring british textile artist abigail brown to meet my mom and see what sort of bird magic ensues!
5/25/12
friday fab/five: sunscreen/tumblr/beer and more!
1. sunscreen: really, the damage has been done...i was a camp counselor for five summers for goodness sake! but i'm trying to embrace some serious SPF and am especially fond of my facial sunscreen by origins.
2. i have a tumblr page! follow me as i feed my visual addiction.
3. JANDD bike bags: almost every week someone asks about my bike bags AKA my panniers AKA my mobile trunk. they are worth their weight in gold!
4. philadelphia brewing company "fluer de lehigh" beer: my favorite summer beer...named after a road near my old place in fishtown. and, according to the PBC site, includes: "a dose of ginger, lemon grass, rose hips, cardamon, and rhubarb."
5. iced coffee: boy, if this is not iced coffee weather, i don't know what is!
(coffee image)
5/24/12
ear candy - best coast and leather feathers!
the new best coast album is blowing up. these dreamy layered sounding songs kinda make me want to be 13 again, slow dancing in a friend's basement...wearing these leather earrings.
5/23/12
a picture & a poem: a. e. stallings!
four fibs by a. e. stallings
--------
1.
Did
Eve
believe
or grapple
over the apple?
Eavesdropping Adam heard her say
To the snake-oil salesman she was not born yesterday.
2.
Miss,
This
is not
Bliss. Wisdom
is not the abyss,
but visceral innocence. Kiss
the windfall of the world, she heard him whisper, or hiss.
3.
Not
me,
Not me!
Cried all three.
"You shall creep the earth.
And you shall labor giving birth.
And as for you, you shall toil and sweat for all you're worth."
4.
Cross
your
heart and
hope to die,
stick a needle in
your eye. That is the awful oath
5/22/12
artistic inspiration: petra borner has so much talent!
petra borner's illustrations are a mix of modernity and nostalgia plus a little scandinavia...which equals awesome!
5/18/12
friday fab/five: atlantic city/cindy sherman/cropped pants and more!
1. cropped pants! what a great option for work/warm-weather/life...this is my go-to style right now.
2. i'm not much of a STUFF person...very often i go through my closets, drawers, etc. and just purge out as much as i can...but, i have always loved refrigerator magnets! they are the perfect "collection" for me and such a great way to have a little bit of a vacation or experience right in my kitchen. i even did a magnet DIY recently.
3. on wednesday night, my friend bri and i participated in philly's ride of silence - which honors local bike riders who have been killed while cycling. the circumstances were solemn, but the police escorted ride through philadelphia was a rare treat and (hopefully) an obvious visual example to drivers of how especially vulnerable we cyclists are.
4. i'm writing in defense of atlantic city. hear me out...i'm from MN, so any little bit of the ocean is exotic to me...and the bus ride from philly to atlantic city is only $15 round trip. that is cheaper than a cab ride across town! it's so cheap because they want you to gamble, but i just skip the casinos and hit the beach...and enjoy a day of intense sea-side people watching!
5. hopefully i will be able to see the cindy sherman show at the moma before it closes next month. what a good reason to get up to NYC!
(jcrew pants//ride of silence source//bathing beauty source//cindy sherman source)
5/17/12
5/16/12
a picture & a poem: billy collins action poetry!
in his recent TED talk poet billy collins described the project/process of animating a few of his short poems. it was an amazing presentation with equally amazing videos, so i thought i would share a couple of my favorites.
(all the videos can be found here)
5/15/12
artistic appreciation: kaelyn michaels!
i love the balance of positive/negative space in (fellow PA resident) kaelyn michael's photographs. her peaceful engrossing landscapes seem so far away from my (often) loud and hectic city life! i found myself looking at them and sighing.
5/14/12
5/11/12
friday/fab 5: little bit earth and sky!
1. there is a ton of constellation jewelry popping up all over the place on etsy and pinterest...i am partial to this brass leo pendant by julie nolan.
2. i was in love park last friday and i realized what a great symbol for the city. who doesn't love love in all of it's forms...i'm looking at you north carolina!
3. speaking of love...i realized that although last season was pretty pitiful, i love my philadelphia eagles and am not ashamed to admit that i am one of those yell at the TV kinda fans. i just put the 2012 regular season schedule into my planner and discovered a BIG shock...the last game in december is not against dreaded dallas, but the giants...what??!!
4. my friend recently posted a picture of the andy goldsworthy storm king "wall" on pinterest...i saw this amazing and magical work of art in person a few years ago and have been in awe of andy's talent ever since.
5. OLIVES! i would choose a bunch of briny olives over a slice of cake any day.
(eagles image source//wall image source//olives image source)
5/10/12
ear candy - grimes and gold talons!
i cannot stop spending my cool spring evenings listening to canadian singer grimes (AKA claire boucher)...this is my grimes/earrings/mash-up.
and for your eyes...
(white talon and gold earrings are by Tennineteen - Christine Guibara via etsy//grimes photo by JOHN LONDONO)
5/9/12
a picture & a poem
watermelons by charles simic
-----------
Green Buddhas
On the fruit stand.
We eat the smile
And spit out the teeth.
(photo by me//poem source)
5/8/12
artistic appreciation: nan lawson!
LA-based illustrator nan lawson's art warms my heart...it's the perfect balance of cute and sophisticated. that's a compliment!
5/7/12
just because...eco resin is so beautiful!
don't you want to wear some lichen and moss? you can! these (and many more) are made by rosella resin via their etsy site.
5/4/12
friday/fab 5: m-m-m-may!
1. i'm running in the broad street run on sunday morning! butterflies! so ready to cross that finish line.
2. spring blooms: philly is in the midst of all kinds of vibrant blooming...which will not be ignored!
3. new girl: this show just gets better every week...and poor schmidt gets more endearing. it's the yin (or yang?) to my mad men viewings.
4. lemon-infused olive oil: is it bad that i want to rub this all over my skin? so yummy. olave also makes a basil infused olive oil...ahhh, what!
5. trampled by turtles: i know - horrible band name, but i heard them so much during my MN vacation that i got past the name and grew to like this progressive bluegrass group from duluth.
(image #1/#3/#4/#5 by joshua timmermans)
5/3/12
books i read last month...
(oops...in all the vacation hubbub, i forgot to take pictures of a couple books...had to grab the cover images from amazon)
5/2/12
a picture & a poem: dogwoods & jane kenyon
evening sun by jane kenyon
---------------
Why does this light force me back to my childhood? I wore a yellow summer dress, and the skirt made a perfect circle. Turning and turning until it flared to the limit was irresistible . . . . The grass and trees, my outstretched arms, and the skirt whirled in the ochre light of an early June evening. And I knew then that I would have to live, and go on living: what a sorrow it was; and still what sorrow ignites but does not consume my heart.
(image by me...i am in awe of how beautiful the dogwood trees look this spring!//poem source)
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