photoire:

Richard Avedon

• We watched the Oscars and and let out a frustrated sigh when Anne Hathaway said “it came true”, even though we didn’t see Les Mis so we couldn’t really judge.
• I combed through red carpet pictures more than I should have
• We went to get cupcakes paired with wine (peanut butter cupcake w/ chocolate inside + a malbec = exactly how good you think that would be which is really good).
• I wore a robot printed dress with a Peter Pan collar.
• Printed a picture of my friend’s hands holding a coffee mug. She has great hands.
• Wore my sock bun for the first time in a long time. It’s fun to squeeze while bored at work.
• Didn’t finish Downton even though I’m two episodes away because I don’t want to be without Mr. Bates, or Daisy, or any of the Downton Gang.
• We spent the weekend in Andover, VT where we drank a lot of prosecco, dyed hair, played with The Best Dog in the World, crawled in snow (read: too much prosecco), ate our weight and then some, and watched Clueless. It was glorious in every way.

Rules: Pretty self-explanatory. Say two truths, and one lie about yourself, so that people can get to know you. So, two (doodle) statements below are true, and one is a lie. Guess which one! This shouldn’t be that hard… I just felt like trying new things (ie: doodles) on this tumblr space! 

1) I watch Downton Abbey because it’s emotionally cathartic. 

2) I am a natural redhead! 

3) I prefer iced coffee to hot coffee, any day, no matter the temperature outside. [Side note: This isn’t depicted in the doodle, but I’d stretch this sentiment toward milkshakes vs. hot chocolate, if those can be compared in a hot/cold kind of way, and if they can’t, then I still choose milkshake > hot chocolate any day. Brr.]

The end! These are probably 3 extremely easy examples for the game, so I probably won’t post the correct answer, or whatever. But, I think I’ll continue the game for doodle’s sake, and because it was fun to do on a cloudy Sunday. 

source: feministsofthe90s

Embracing the self-representational GIF, especially if it is Judy Funnie.

(Source: thewiregirl)

Today is Valentine’s Day* and I am thinking of Arthur the aardvark. Yes, that Arthur. Every year around Valentine’s Day, I am always reminded of a particular episode of the Arthur television series when the gang has the post-holidays blues. The episode begins with the group sitting in some sort of diner, their chins slumped into their hands, elbows resting between milkshakes, mourning the end of the holidays when one friend (I forget who) realizes that Valentine’s Day is only days away. I forget, admittedly, the details of this episode, but I remember their scramble to properly celebrate Valentine’s Day – creating Valentines for friends, heart-shaped decorations, etc. They realize that Valentine’s Day is a perfectly timed holiday; right when you’re really feeling that post-holiday lull (we’ve all felt it right. Aren’t we all a bit cranky this time of year? I know I am) – you get another holiday; an excuse to be festive and to be nice to each other (Hey, what a wonderful kind of day, if we can learn to work and play, and get along with each other! – thanks Ziggy).

I won’t play dumb, lots of people hate Valentine’s Day. I can’t say I always have the best Valentine’s Day, but I do always like the festiveness around it (this does not include Facebook bragging of relationships, but rather the in-person generosities that Valentine’s Day can bring out in some people). I always got Valentines from my parents, doled out those Valentines you’d buy in CVS to friends – the ones with the latest and greatest TV craze (Spongebob, Rugrats, whatever), and over indulge in chocolate. I have always liked the festive spirit around Valentine’s Day.  It’s an excuse to wear pink or to paint little hearts on your nails, or do whatever you do. I always tried to look ~romantic on Valentine’s Day – maybe I’d twist back part of my hair and stick a false flower in my hair tie, or wear some sort of gauzy shirt (gauzy always makes me think of romance, couldn’t quite tell you why). I like being festive, and I like any excuse to be festive – just like the Arthur kids.

So if you have a Valentine or not, join me in eating lots of chocolate today, being a little festive (I might not be wearing any pink today but I honestly couldn’t resist some pink lipstick), and hanging with ones you love: for me, today, that means friends, happy hour and a (large and cheesy) pile of nachos.

*According to my blog archives, which I comb through more than I should let on, I have blogged on or about Valentine’s Day every year since I’ve had this blog, so I didn’t want to leave today hanging. 

Usually don’t re-blog pictures, but ugh, had to.
Comprehensive Beyoncé post coming soon. 

(Source: beyonce)

Here’s a list of things I did in 2012. Some of it interesting, some of it not, but it all happened. 

January:  Spent most of this month at home, on winter break. Got my new Warby Parker’s and fell in love with the company. They’re one of the few retail e-mails I actually read. Went to Chicago and had yummy pancakes (and lots of other food - you will notice a theme), saw the Bean, and had a lovely time with friends.

February: I list-chronicled this month here. But some highlights from that list include learning a lesson about eye-makeup to red-lip ratio, spending the best weekend in Andover, Vermont with best friends and the best dog, and the 100 Days To Graduation dance was pretty fun - I wore a white lace dress with black tights. 

March: Went on my first spring break trip with friends. We went to Miami: paid too much for 2-for-1 drinks, got into a Victoria’s Secret themed party, got massively sunburned and thus spent the rest of our beach days renting umbrellas and buying baseball caps, and enjoyed alcohol-infused slushies at a place called Wet Willie’s. I finished The Hunger Games series. Also, I spent a night out at Skidmore in a colorful silk shirt exclusively flipping off the camera in every picture.

April: Won the poster competition for Fun Day aka my favorite darty (day party) at Skidmore — I have actually dreamt of winning this poster competition since Freshman year, as nerdy as that sounds. Fun Day ensued and it was really awesome. Did a lot of things I thought I’d never do, and maybe one day I’ll tell my grand kids. 

May: Last month of college. Went to a wonderful senior art show by the Art majors that kicked off the best Senior Week I could have imagined. Showed off my non-existent bowling skills, had a Fun Day repeat, went on a rainy booze cruise where I danced a lot in rain boots, and went to the best Senior Formal where I wore my hair in a beehive. Then we graduated and we all cried at different times.  Also, they read my name as “Catherine” as I walked across the stage. Bye-bye Skidmore, we had the best year. Bye-bye The Ranch, thank you for being the best college house ever. 

June: Birthday month! I wore a black dress on my birthday with a sparkly headband, ate churros, and went to a bar that got very crowded. Adjusting to living at home. Started a new internship. Went to see the Chanel Little Black Jacket photos in some warehouse in SoHo. 

July: Melted on the 4th of July with some friends and homemade Sangria. Spent some lovely weekends on the beach in Connecticut - got sunburned again. Picnicked in Central Park. Saw Best Coast in concert at Terminal 5 - we had lots of fun and all the songs were stuck in my head for days.

August: Friend visited NYC before she left for China for the year and we went to see Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, ate pizza and Chobani yogurt, and chatted on a rooftop. That all sounds romantic, and it was. Spent some time in Quogue, NY, and got judgey at a bar in Hampton Bays - I wore a blue and white polka dot dress. Tried to late night swim but it was colder than we thought. 

September: Went to my first wedding since I was little - had fun dressing up and meeting new people. I wore a black dress and black heels (!!), but more importantly Joe wore a tie clip. Wore matching t-shirts and sweats in Willimantic, CT whilst eating matching burritos - the first of two burritos that day. Got hired full-time - I’m a big kid now. Joined a gym - I’m a buff kid now.

October: This month is basically defined by Sandy. Got lucky in terms of power/LIPA - got addicted to watching the news and Sandy coverage; couldn’t go to work for a week. Spent Halloween weekend (prior to Sandy) dressed as a (homemade thankyouverymuch) skeleton on a NYC booze cruise in the company of none other than the best Rosie the Riveter.

November: Visited a friend in Boston and had a lovely weekend. We took pictures by giant baby head sculptures and got matching t-shirts that say, “Chillin’ with my gnomies.” Went to a double birthday party at a beer garden in the Lower East Side in the afternoon - nothing’s nicer than lots of beer in the afternoon. Thanksgiving rolled around and that’s my favorite holiday. I wore a dress with lots of fall browns, but that was also loose enough to cover up my imminent food baby. Saw the last Twilight movie.

December: Participated in an office-floor wide White Elephant gift swap. The gift I received was a lantern and batteries. Ended up bartering for a poster in the end. Got to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas this year! I’ve been wearing new fuzzy reindeer socks for days. Drove around looking at Christmas house decorations and we got very judgey. Ate a lot. NYC got very crowded with tourists that all hold hands. It is very difficult to walk. 

Now, I am spending my last hours in 2012 awaiting a New Years Eve party (by awaiting I mean I’m googling hair/makeup tutorials while still in bed). I haven’t come up with solid resolutions for 2013, but maybe I will. Like everyone else, I hope 2013 is a happy, healthy, and bright new year, with lots of new adventures, and maybe I’ll move out on my own one day. But for now, Happy New Year from my childhood bedroom (I even still have a memory candle in here from my bat mitzvah - but we’ll discuss that further another time). 

• That I will accidentally let a violent criminal into our office floor when I’m letting myself into the office (coded card required for a satisfying little “beep!”). So often someone will call out to hold the door and I don’t know who they are! I feel bad shutting the door in their face, so I let them in. But what if! What if!?
• Automatically closing doors (i.e: elevator doors, train doors).  Maybe something happened to me as a child? But I never run to part the closing subway doors like Moses & the Red Sea.  If it looks like they’re about to close, I’ll wait for the next train.  I walk unnecessarily fast through the LIRR threshold even though I know I have many minutes before the doors shut.  I never run to a closing elevator door because nothing’s more awkward than the door closing as you and the person inside the elevator stare at each other, helpless.
• Sometimes the news makes me nervous, but I don’t think that’s unreasonable given the state of the world sometimes.
• FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. I has it.