It's Friday! Thank goodness! Even though it was a short week for me, the weekend could not have arrived quickly enough!
To help your Friday go by faster, here are a few links with which to waste some time, my pet!
If you know how to sew, Bitter Betty Blogs has a great and simple tutorial on how to make a box pleat skirt for springtime. I'm picturing a whole spring wardrobe of these in the lollipop colours above!
There is something about this photo from The Sartorialist that really does it for me - I don't think I could pull it off, but it's fun to think about!
How much do I want this Bluetooth glove? So much! Rachel at Instructables shows how it's made.
Once Wed has a DIY to make ombre napkins, but I'd love to use the same technique to dye sweet little summer nothings... Like the cotton slips I talked about in my Anticipating Spring post!
For those of us for whom Zoolander is the ultimate guilty pleasure movie, ("They're break dance fighting!"), Movie Recipes has a recipe for Dirk's Orange Mocha Frappucino... If you dare. *shudder*
Me and Katie texting and tweeting away in the front row at fashion week.
As she commented on Facebook, "What did people do at fashion week
before smartphones. Also, we are some pale, pale girls."
Truth.
Hello lovely!
It's Thursday! That means it's time for the great big love list for the week!
I had an amazing week, how about you? Here's what I love!
Katie Katie Katie. There isn't enough that I can say about how wonderful she is. She's a fantastic companion for fashion week (even though sometimes photographers think she is my girlfriend because I tell her I love her all the time and we hold hands so we don't get lost in crowds), she's beautiful, she's stylish… I'm so lucky to have her as a friend!
Roasted, salted peas. Oh my gosh you guys. These are so delicious. They seem like they'd be healthy but they're totally not! They are so good.
Munching on nori. I've started just snacking on nori (yes, the seaweed that you buy in sheets for sushi!), and wow. I love it. It's the right texture and saltiness that I need when I'm craving chips, while being vegetables! It's 10 calories a sheet! (Not that I'm a calorie counter, but still, it's nice to know that it's not going to make my clothes fit funny...)
My morning cocktail. I take a whole mess of supplements every day, everything from multivitamins to extra calcium and vitamin D at night, but I've recently added two capsules of bee pollen (which smell amazing), two capsules of maca root powder and three ginko bilobas. It totally jump-starts both my brain and my body, and it gives me more energy than I thought possible! I think this is maybe the first step in getting rid of my morning coffee, because when I take those I simply don't need it! It may be a caffeine-free 2011 yet!
Meeting Ashley Parsons of Sugarbum Designs! Katie introduced me to her on Saturday night, and I was completely starstruck! She is so beautiful and so sweet! She told me that I looked like a cupcake and that was pretty much the best thing anyone has ever said to me! She has also invited me to spend some time with her in her studio! When that happens I will totally tell you all about it!
Hiring new staff. I met incredible photographer Jesse Hildebrand on the weekend, and he has agreed to come on board as the official Your Sweet Bippy staff photographer! Keep your eyes out for guest post street style columns to come from him, as well as other pictures…
Making big plans. I am making big, big, big plans for this year. I have a huge goal for the end of the year and I am trying to figure out how to put it in motion. I have been talking about a lot of interesting collaborative projects… And lots more in store for the blog!
Scribbling in my Moleskine. I love the way the paper feels.
My fashion lookbook. I sometimes feel like my magazines are precious but lately I've been cutting them apart willy-nilly and have been pasting up the images I like in a sketchbook.
Honourable Mentions: Kissing * Exclamation points *Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig * Getting invited to clothing swaps * Anticipating tomorrow night's Girlie Night with my ladies *Foursquare! So dorky! You can totally add me if you want to see what I'm up to! * Curling or crimping my hair
I just remembered this song this morning! Boogie boogie!
They played this on the radio last week and it's been in my head non-stop. You're welcome.
What about you? What are you thankful for? What do you love? What makes your heart sing, you pretty little thing?
Even though there's still some snow on the ground, it's not too early to start thinking about summer, and how you can prepare for it! Here are some ideas I've had of things I'd like to get done over the next month or so...
Try a new fitness regime, something that you love and that is fun for you. Apartment613 had an article on staying in shape in strange and wonderful ways, and it made me really want to do some trampolining and to break out my dusty hoola hoop!
Start planning your summer travel. I may be going to St. John's this summer, and if that's the case I need to start really looking at flights and the like!
Change up your skincare routine - what your skin needs in the winter is not the same thing that it needs in the summer months! Lighten up on the moisturizer, and maybe find a cleanser that battles the greasies a bit more.
Since you won't have to wear hats for much longer, find little trinkets you can pin in your hair!
Choose a summer anthem - mine is totally "Got to Lose" by Hollerado...
It's just so great and anthemic!
Make a new friend who wants to go for bike rides to the beach with you - I made friends with a girl at work named Laura who is super-fun and loves both the beach and bike rides! We have big plans, I tell you.
Make sure your camera is in good working order, and make sure that it's portable!
Pick up some summer beach reading - I'm going to look for Archie comics at the thrift store!
Plan out what delicious veggie-heavy recipes you're going to try, or better yet contemplate a raw vegan diet for the summer! There's no better time than the summer when everything is fresh and delightful! I know that when I'm eating all vegan that I feel great, and eating raw food gives me such energy!
Drink lemonade with bourbon - this was named my official summer drink of 2009, and I still love it! I can't wait to start sipping it again!
Get new sunglasses - it's fun to try a new look for the summer.
Replace your flipflops with real shoes - with all the great spring and summer shoes coming out, there's no excuse to be wearing something that are barely shoes at all.
Speaking of foot-baring, get a pedicure. Get rid of all that scaly winter nastiness from your tootsies!
Pick up the pace when you walk and take the stairs when you can - your legs and bum will get all toned up for short skirts and bikinis!
Find some second-hand cotton slips, dye them and embellish them to wear over tank tops this summer as dresses - I am totally picturing this worn with short cowboy boots and a great satchel, and in my head it looks adorable.
Make sure your air conditioner is in working order! Now's the time to make sure!
Put some baby wipes and a spray bottle of distilled water with a couple of drops of geranium oil in it in your fridge, along with aloe vera gel or spray. You'll thank me when you can spritz and wipe yourself down with nice cool cosmetics in the heat of summer!
What about you? What are some things that you do to get ready for the change of season?
Twice a year at work, there's a gigantic book sale that's run for charity. Not only does that mean I get to donate all my books that I won't read again (of which there are always many), but it means I get to pick up new books for a song!
As someone with an unabashed love for self-help books (but less of a love for spending big bucks on the latest craze), this works out pretty great if I don't mind being patient.
At our last book sale, I picked up a copy of Lauren Stover's The Bombshell Manual of Style. I'll admit that I was attracted to it because of the illustrations - they are done by Ruben Toledo, who also did the illustrations for Nina Garcia's The One Hundred.
Toledo's illustrations are exaggerations of beauty, but the palette he uses (especially in his watercolour illustrations) makes me swoon! I just love it!
While I do love the illustrations, and it was an entertaining read (mostly for the glimpses into the lives of classic Hollywood bombshells like Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren), I wouldn't recommend it if you were paying for it (maybe get it from the library!).
The author implies a lot of chaos into the life of The Bombshell. Spilled champagne, temper tantrums, missing shoes… Quite frankly, these are all things that make me get really tense! I could never just “enjoy the ride” of a lifestyle like that!
The majority of the pages were used in discussing outer beauty (90 pages) and lifestyle (57 pages), with a mere handful discussing the psychology of The Bombshell (I prefer my self-help with a little more meat on it), and a few pages at the end dedicated to horoscopes and a quiz (because books are no fun unless they're like Cosmo!)
Regardless, there are a few points from the book that I'm happy to take away and incorporate more into my everyday life…
Show your vulnerability
Being beautiful and being brainy aren't mutually exclusive, work on your inner life as much (if not more) as you work on your outer life
Being appealing to people you want to attract is never trashy or trampy
Dignity and confidence!
Believe in the fantasies you create for yourself and make them a reality; if things don't go your way, bounce back and succeed another day!
Enthusiasm is much more interesting and appealing to be around than studied cool
Showing compassion is more important than showing leg
Have you read this book? Do you have thoughts on it? What life lessons would you add to the above list?
Also, I love this Shrinky Dink bracelet on the Country Living website by Cathe Holden.
That's it for me! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I'll be at the National Gallery all weekend, but if you follow me on Twitter you can read my tweets about fashion week! And I'll have my thoughts posted next week...
