I Heart Ridiculousness

So while making my list yesterday, I totally forgot to include another thing I've been joansing after lately. Switchrings were featured on the national edition of daily candy a few weeks back, and as cheesy as they are, I think they're super fun. The middle wedge comes out and you can switch it around. You pick a pattern group and then you get 4 pieces from that group 2 wedges and 2 ring sets. The slightly disappointing part is that you have no control over what you get colorwise or which patterns from that set. In most of the sets I like lots of designs but not every one. It would be such a bummer to get ones you didn't like. Or colors you would never wear. But I still think it's worth the risk since they're pretty much adorable. Below are some of my favorite designs. I really want the Wonder Woman belt more than any of the other designs they have. Maybe I'll just have to keep trying the solid gold set until I get it. Or maybe one shot would be enough.

I Want It, I Need It, I Can't Afford It

So lately I've been overly conscious of the fact that I have been seriously slacking on my blogging responsibilities. Not only have my posts been few and far between, but I'm also not unaware of the fact that the quality has gone seriously downhill. It's been a busy period though, so what's a girl gonna do. Okay try again, as that was not actually an apology as much as an excuse. To those few of you who do actually take the time out of your days to read my self indulgent little blog, I'm sorry I've been so lazy about it lately. I'm going to try hard to get back into the swing of things. It won't be like when I was at my last job and had little to do besides post all day long about every little thing I came across (my internet scoping time has been so limited lately, which is really sad), but maybe I'll at least get in a few posts a week, or better maybe one a day. We'll see how that goes.

One thing I have been doing lately making a mental list entitled "things to buy (when I'm not so painfully broke)". I thought I would share this list with you just for fun. Mostly because I know you all love to know what is on my wish list.

At the very top of my list is an awesome t-shirt from the boys at gdp clothing. The fellas stopped into the store while on a road trip aimed at getting shops to pick up their line. While that wasn't in the cards, I absolutely feel in love with this tee. It's just how I like my edge, with a dose of serious cuteness mixed in. I plan to pick this up right away once I have some free cash. The guys from gdp were also super fun, and we know how I love to support independent designers of almost anything. While this picture isn't that great it was the only one I could copy (flash is the bane of my blogging existence), but there are far cuter pictures on their site, and many more great designs, so check it out.


Also on the list are some great things from buyolympia.com. It had been awhile since I'd scope the site, and I when I did, I found that there are some great new items up these days. My favorite is this adorable journal from Tenth and Grant. It seems like it could even potentially be a cielo blu replacement. My only reservation is that the interior is graph paper (we all know I have exhausting journal standards, and that I prefer blank pages). But it's a good size, it's soft cover and a great design, so it's worth a shot.



I broke out my "Reading is Sexy" tee on Tuesday for the first time in ages. When I checked back with buyolympia, I was so psyched to see Sarah Utter has another new and fabulous design for us adorably bookish girls. Not too mention, I have not totally ruled out pursuing the prestigious field of Library Science, I'm sure that degree will be completed sometime after my PhD in American Studies (oh if there was only the time). Can you imagine how incredibly nerdalicious I would be if I had PhDs in Library Science and American Studies. I can just see myself fending off the the male academics with my giant tomes, screaming "Down boys! I only have eyes for my massive books!" And I digress, the point is the tee is totally cute. And right on bored with Ms. Utter's typical aesthetic. I love how she continually embraces the four eyed way, mostly since I despise contacts.


I haven't been super in touch with my crafty side lately, and I've been feeling it tugging at me. I feel like I need to explore a new facet though, and I haven't done embroidery in ages. After finding these adorable embroidery patterns from Sublime Stitching, I'm feeling like it may be the ticket. These are two of my favorites, but there are other fabulous options like Pirate Ahoy, Lucha Libre!, Tattoos and more.



A totally worthless, but incredibly cool thing on my list is this set of Actaeon at Home Viewmaster wheels from Vladimir of qVladistan. Vlad does Viewmaster wheels series as a form of art. He names miniatures and then photographs them in 3-D. Apparently they're also accompanied by CDs. The CD for this series is all music, but some of the other ones have narration. The whole concept is so quirky fabulous that I, of course, love it. Why didn't I know before that I needed Viewmaster art?


The other thing on my list is a new set of herbs from Garden District. I managed to kill all mine over the winter, and while I haven't had much time for cooking lately, my windowsill looks a little sad without them. I also am still holding out hope that I will start cooking all the time again, but with my work schedule, I'm thinking it's pretty doubtful. While there are pretty loads of other things I've had my eye on that I'm currently forgetting, these are the major contenders. So hopefully I'll come in to money soon, so I can scoop these things up.

Book Nerd Heaven

Back to trying to catch up on last week (my internet has been down lots, so no holding my prolonged silence against me, okay?). One of our other big outings included a trip to the Library of Congress. Surprisingly enough, after living in DC for a solid 22 years (well except those brief sojourns in Boston and London) and being obsessed with books, libraries and even a little with library science, I had never been there until last week. We got readers cards so we would have access to everywhere, which required only a little bit of lying. Clearly, I loved it. So much so that I actually laid down on the floor at one point. Although I was really disappointed in their periodical room. As a fan of the periodical in general, and especially literary journals and magazines (I find them a comforting library presence) I found their collection a little underwhelming. For instance, they don't have McSweeney's. Which means no library in the entire city has it, including all of the university libraries (believe me, I have checked). I find this very disappointing. However, the stacks were amazing. I love stacks, and these are some pretty awesome stacks. I pretty much never wanted to leave. Maybe next time I'll take a sleeping bag and a tent.

You're Talking With Your Boots and Walking with Your Mouth

So I've actually been doing loads of interesting stuff lately, but haven't had much of a chance to post about it since the lovely Ashley has been staying with me. And the one night she was in Philly when I planned on trying to do a little catch up posting I instead spent the entire evening hunting down vintage polaroids on ebay. But that's ok, I can start now. We've done many fabulous things this week, but we definitely kicked it off right with the Shins show on Monday evening. Despite my annoying ticket issues (no seats together & paying the fees twice) and the lack of a decent venue (Constitution Hall is about as lame as it gets in my humble opinion) the show was actually fantastic. And I suppose it is time I leave my bitching about everything else aside. They played a great set and that's reason enough not to complain. Also, I thought they were super funny. Ash thought they were kind of lame. But we all know I have a bit of a quirky sense of humor. Bottom line is, it was enough to make me seriously happy, and also a little wired. So hurrah.

A Coney Island of the Mind

So for those of you who assumed this post was about Lawrence Ferlinghetti, I apologize. Because, well, it's not. Instead it's about the fantastic evening Sarah and I had. For starters I introduced Sarah to caltor (look if you went to high school around here in the time frame in which I did, you call it that, you just do, so outsiders get over it). Clearly she was dazzled. I mean it is burrito heaven. It had been ages since I had been. Months really. And it was so fantastic. I'll just have to start going to the one across from Gallery Place more often. But it's not as good, the Cleveland Park caltor is easily the best one now. Either way, I love you caltor.

After dinner we went to the evening session at the dciff (the DC Independent Film Festival). Everything we saw was a short, with the longest film lasting 19 minutes. There were a lot of things that were not so good, which I will refrain from talking about in order to not stomp on the dreams of fledgling filmmakers (or have my eye poked out with a paperclip). However, there were some that were good and two that were wonderful. My two favorites were Gandhi at the Bat by Stephanie Argy and Alec Boehm, and Coney Island, USA by Craig Butta. Gandhi at the Bat is pretty much about what it sounds like it's about, but it was well made, and it was really funny in a sweet way. Coney Island, USA was about a carnival hustler trying (and not so successfully) to adapt to the new circumstances of Coney Island. While clocking in at only 8 minutes, it was really fantastic. I also am pleased to report, that apparently Craig Butta is working on making it into a feature length film. I also feel obligated to inform you (since I myself was totally unaware of this) that Coney Island has been purchased and is being made into a water park and mall, supposedly by the same people that own the Mall of America. All of the people that used to work there have lost their jobs. Construction begins in September. When I think about this it occurs to me, that the American carnival way of life, and the "carny", will most likely die-out. Or at least nearly. Coney Island always seemed to be the last vestiges of carny culture. And now it's going to be destroyed. It was really clear from the Q&A that Craig Butta was deeply saddened by this. The Q&A really rounded out the whole experience. Especially since the directors of both of my favorite films from the evening were there. I really enjoyed the event, even though I didn't enjoy every film. All in all it was a fabulous experience. The festival run through Sunday, so if you get a chance check out a session.

Vicariously

I hope someone has orangey red in the place, because this print is so adorable. It's from good shape design, and it's $30. I love it, but it would look so out of place in my apartment. So I share it with all of you in hopes that someone might love it and have a space for it.

Greenfingers

So I just watched a totally adorable movie called Greenfingers. It's a British comedy kind of in the same vein as Calendar Girls. Not that the plots really have many similarities at all, but they have similar feels. They both also have Helen Mirren. They both are also based on true stories. It's kind of a chick flick, but it's a good one. If you tend to like that kind of movie then I highly recommend it. It was sweet and very amusing. It's the kind of movie that is so cute and funny that you can't sit still, so you just squirm in your seat (or at least I do). So if you like that then rent away!