4th Estate

This animation by 4th estate is ridiculously cool. (via mustard and sage)
*see large version here.

simple + sweet

I saved this clipping for years and years and still love it. It is the wedding of the late John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. And what I find so remarkable about this wedding ceremony is that this high-profile couple could have planned a huge blow-out wedding at the Plaza Hotel in New York City with a guest list easily into the hundreds. And yet they chose to get married in this tiny church by candlelight, with only a handful of close relatives and friends surrounding them. Sigh...I'm a sucker for romance!

happy 2009!

Happy New Year! As mentioned in an earlier post, our family is lucky enough to celebrate 'Chrismukkah' {or alternatively 'Chanumas' as our creative friend Lynn calls it} and here is a glimpse of our hors d'oeuvres spread. Notice the menorah and gingerbread house side by side! I hope everyone had a great holiday...

my house: the living room

Happy 2009! I have found myself over the holidays on a cleaning binge - organizing, tidying, chucking, and donating tons of items to Goodwill. It is crazy how much junk can pile up and just gather dust. We pared down the clutter in our living room too and I think it looks a bit better...

I am still searching for a cool area rug to throw over the carpet here, to define the space of the sitting area.

But I finally framed my beautiful birdie prints by Geninne...and I am now hungry for more of her nature-inspired artwork!

I am still debating about what to put on this blank stretch of wall...this cool NYC graphic piece I found at HomeSense? Or my brand new Keep Calm poster? Decisions!

Happy New Year!

I thought I would peek back in from my temporary little cave to say Happy New Years! I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday and are excited about starting a new year. Hip hip...

I've been having a blast playing with my girl and her new toys -- toddlers are a riot, and working on crafting my new goals. Did you have a nice New Years? Have you started writing those resolutions yet? Cheers to a new year of a possibilities and refined visions. Happy 2009.

(image from fieryeyed)


ps. To help with my healthy + skinny down resolution I am digging this iphone/itouch app called Weightbot that you can read more about here.

Quiet thoughts

If any of you are actually able to read, through your champagne induced headaches, here are my resolution-ish things for the new year.

Slow down. I love this stage of my life with D, I love our apartment and our neighborhood and our friends and I want to bask in that for a while without thinking too much about the future.

Indulge myself a little more. I have no problem buying things for other people, but I tend to get embarrassingly cheap when it comes to little things for myself ($5 for a box of Tazo tea? I usually pass). This year I will buy myself little luxuries that make my days more rich. It's cheap in the long run.

Be a little selfish with my time. I tend to get overbooked and overextended and I feel guilty saying no to anything. I'm going to start making sure I get a little bit of time, even just 15 solid minutes a day, to sit quietly and think.

You'll notice I don't really have any concrete goals, which I'm sure is the way you are supposed to do this. Also, all my goals are a little selfish. I guess that makes this the year of being selfish, but in a good way. Hopefully.

I hope you're all on your way to starting a lovely new year!

Favorite jams of 2008

Inspired by memories of listening to year-end countdowns on the radio, I've put together a little post highlighting my favorite sounds of 2008. Be sure to share your favorites too.

Here are my top 10 favorite sounds of the year.



Lykke Li - Youth Novels: I love her sound, hip style, and how she dances.



Bon Iver : When I first downloaded "For Emma, Forever Ago" I listened to it like five times in a row. See previous post here. His soothing voice and guitar strums are super comforting.



Coldplay: Viva La Vida is their best album yet, and according to my high play count numbers they got added to this list.


Joshua Radin - Simple Times a brilliant songwriter and overall pleasant album.



Cat Power - Jukebox my go-to chill music, she has definitely got rhythm and soul.




Vampire Weekend: listening to this album makes me happy, great music to lift your spirits.



Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree : This video that I posted here let alone makes me put their album on my favorite list. Love it. Go take a peek, it'll make you smile.


Once: Music from the Motion Picture - This album is mesmerizing and brilliant.



Death Cab for Cutie: Narrow Stairs - My brother introduced to me this hip Seattle group over ten years ago and it has been fascinating to see how they have evolved. This is another great album to add to their collection.


Ingrid Michaelson- Be OK - I like her simplicity and genuinely crafted songs.