Tired of 2011 Yet? This Should Help.

I'll be honest with you: I am a procrastinator.
As such, it is nearly February and I have not fulfilled my 2011 calendar needs.

UNTIL TODAY!

I printed out this adorable (and free!) calendar from this stylish print and design blog. (Disclaimer: this is a picture of the calendar from her website -- I only have blue painter's tape at the moment so I'm waiting to hang it until I have the appropriate fixative.)

Jeannie's blog is full of beautiful, inspirational things steeped in a graphic, minimalistic, and distinctly New York aesthetic. Check out her posts, especially this one (for all you New York-o-philes out there) which shows two contrasting and distinct sides of the city. Here are two of my favorites from the series:

The Arctic Circle

Beautiful, creative, and bleak. Exactly what an animated short should be:


The Arctic Circle from Kevin Parry on Vimeo.

Via the wonderful Laughing Squid Blog.

Any Given Sunday Or: What I Learned from Watching Football

Via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (one of my all-time favorite webcomics)

I'm a casual sports fan at best. I went through a baseball phase in about seventh grade where I followed the Mariners like crazy and looked at all the stats and watched most of the games, but I think much of that might have been due to the fact that baseball players are cute and wear tight pants and I was thirteen years old.

Though my interest in sports has dwindled over the years, I still watch baseball and football games and count myself a genuine fan of both the Mariners and the Seahawks. So it was with a passing but not insignificant interest that I sat down to watch the Seahawks play the St. Louis Rams two weeks ago to determine who would be the NFC West Champions. (If all that is sports-babble to you, it was a game to determine who would go to the playoffs [win all the playoffs, go to the Super Bowl] -- winner goes on, loser goes home.)

Though both teams had less than stellar win/loss records, the Seahawks were the definite underdogs and were expected to lose. Their playing had been sloppy for the majority of the season, and they were going into this game with six wins and nine losses under their belt. On top of that, they were playing without their star Quarter Back, Matt Hasselbeck, who was recovering from an injury.

It was a tense game, to be sure, but it was evident that the players were given new life by this unlikely opportunity to become division champions despite their poor season. The rookie QB, in only his second start in an NFL game, kept a cool head and didn't let the (immense!) pressure get to him. In the end, they pulled off a 10-point win, beating the Rams 16-6.

Okay, okay, you say. Sure, they won that game and made it into the playoffs. It must have been some kind of a fluke -- and they were clearly playing a team of equal caliber who were probably making mistakes and stuff. They won't last a minute in their first playoff game against last year's Super Bowl champions, the New Orleans Saints.

The thrilling conclusion (and the point of this whole thing) after the jump...

Cat's Eye View

Remember all those times when, looking wistfully at a sunbathing feline, you thought to yourself "What do I have to do in this life to be reincarnated as a cat? Because that life would be AWESOME."?

Well, if your karmic future is still uncertain, here's the next best thing: a movie filmed entirely by cats. If there was ever any doubt in your mind that "Cat" is the best job ever, let this put those doubts to rest.

Alehouse Cowgirl

I'm not going to lie -- I love pigtails. But I'm always afraid of making a messy part in the back (since I'm not that NYU professor who implanted the camera in the back of his head), and/or looking like Pippi Longstocking.

Totally badass kid? Yes. Fashion icon? No.

But when I saw this fresh take on braids from Elle...

Elle Fashion Assistant Kristen Shirley

...inspired by some very avant garde pigtail-esque 'dos on the Givenchy Spring 2011 runway...

...I had to try my had at this much beloved but oft maligned coif.

Certainly not as extreme, but I definitely avoided wearing the men's snap-front plaid shirt I thought about putting on to head down to a local Alehouse for fear of looking too much like a cowgirl.

The interesting thing about this tunic is that it needs to have some sort of tie or belt right under the bust, which is usually a flattering place for most women to have a belt fall. However, my narrowest part, my natural waist, is about where my hands are in that photo above. So, although I think it looks fine as is (it's a little more casual this way), it would look best if I were able to belt it at my narrowest point.

Tunic: Anthropologie

Belt: Target

Jeans: American Eagle

Necklace: self-made

An Incomplete Recap

A very limited recap of a very small number of the many outfits I've worn in the past few months.

 

Fall Formal (and also, incidentally, my birthday)

Green lamé dress: vintage 1980's

Pumps: J.C. Penny's

Sash: from a skirt from Forever 21

Earrings: a gift

Necklace: vintage, from my grandmother 

Rally to Restore Sanity, Washington D.C.

Shirt: Buffalo Exchange

Cardigan: J. Crew

Coat: Nordstrom's

Apple pin: vintage

Snappy slogan: my own

 

Fiercely modeling the latest in Snuggie Couture on the bus from D.C. back to New York

The day of the first snow flurries of the year in New York

 Face: John Lennon

Shirt: Gap

Jeans: American Eagle

Belt: Nordstrom

Scarf: vintage

Boots: Hunter (probably the most expensive boots I own, but definitely the most worth it. Also, they were a very generous gift)

 Waikiki Beach, O'ahu, Hawaii

Tank: Target

Skirt: street vendor

Two very authentic instances of me encountering some genuine Hawaiian waves

Dress: Forever 21

Cardigan: J. Crew

Sandals: Target

Flower hair pin: ABC Store

Litmus Test...

If you realize why this is the greatest thing in history, we can definitely be friends forever:

Via 24 Free Dinners

If not, well...that's okay. I just have my work cut out for me.


Although I will point out its inaccuracy in that this is clearly the Death Star 2.0 in its half-completed state, as seen in Episode VI. However, the line which this painting references comes from Episode IV and is referring to the fully built Death Star 1.0. I hope you all imagined that in the voice of the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons.

Capturing Childhood

I know, I know.

But the point is, I'm back! Hopefully for good. And what better way to get back into the swing of things than to share images that contain the wonder, imagination, and joy of childhood?

In these images, from wedding photographer Jason Lee, I can see and re-experience so many of the emotions and creativity that I felt when I was his daughters' age. It's a touching and fun walk through childhood that I'm sure anyone who was once a kid can relate to and enjoy.

See the rest of the photos (and read a short interview with the photographer) here.
Or check out even more amazing pictures of the girls at http://kristinandkayla.blogspot.com/, a blog Lee started to keep his sick mother up-to-date with pictures of her granddaughters.