ThriftThursday: Typewriter

Ok, so it's not Thursday anymore, but I did happen to buy this item on Thursday, so it still counts.

My best bud Cristen and I went to an antique store downtown yesterday. Whist traipsing through the basement I stumbled upon this lovely lady:



It's a Tower Capri typewriter. I don't know much about it except that it was made in Holland. I did some digging online today and really couldn't learn too much more than that about it.

All I know is I love it and it loves me.

MondayMust: LOVEly dress

This icky weather has me thinking of warmer times, and I can't stop looking at this dress from Modcloth. It's so cute from the front, but the back ... oooooh. And it's only $60. Unfortunately, it's only left in a medium. I guess I'll just have to keep dreaming.

Nikon camera/lenses

Anyone looking for a new camera or maybe some Nikon lenses? Life is Love Cherish Life is selling her Nikon D300 and three lenses and for a pretty good deal!

31

It just hit 31 degrees outside, which means this rain is turning to ice. And in preparation for this weekend, I'm streaming "The Ice Storm" from Netflix. ... at least until the electricity goes out.

Pleasant weekend, everyone.

In need of some tropical air

Most years around this time I've had a vacation to look forward to. Not this year. I'm a working stiff with no time off over spring break and no money to spend.

Today was the second day in which the city was turned white by a thick coat of frost. It would have looked really pretty the week before Christmas. Unfortunately it's not the week before Christmas. At least it not minus-fuck-your-life degrees outside.

I miss actual fresh fruit. One can only eat so many apples and oranges. Last year in Costa Rica, we ate fresh pineapple, papaya, bananas and mango for breakfast most mornings. The real stuff. I didn't know that's what bananas were supposed to taste like, you know, for real fresh — not delivered to your local grocer green for consumption.

Every Saturday in the area of San Jose in which we stayed there's a farmers market. Up here in tundra country that doesn't get started until June, and even then, they don't have mangoes and pineapple. I don't see myself leaving this region any time soon, but man, it would be nice for a break from the winter for a while.

Looking back on Christmas

This year was the first time in a while that I got to spend a lot of time with all of my extended family. It seems like we are never all together at one time, but the stars seemed to align this year for a really fun holiday.

My nieces are both at a really fun age. They like to play games and do art projects for everyone, and they love to dress up, put on shows, dance and be silly. Looking through my pictures, the adults were always sitting around talking and the kids were a blur in my shutter speed. It's kind of sad that we lose that energy, but then again, we might all look pretty silly singing "Tooty Ta" for hours a day.





Maia, the 3-year-old, is really into making faces. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Happy day

Happy Little Pea from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

I've watched this video from Pacing the Panic Room three times since it was posted, so I thought I would post it to share.

TopTenTuesday: Best blogs

As I'm sure is the case for many of you who also follow a lot of blogs, I have the ones I check for first. Then if I have time (which I have more of lately!) I go back through and read the rest. I know I left some off because it was so hard to narrow this list down. Next time I might have to do a TopTwentyTuesday, but I finally did decide. This list is constantly changing, but as of right now, this is what I'm reading most:

10. The Catorialist. If you love the Sartorialist (see No. 1) and cats, then this is the blog for you.
9. Bluebird Vintage. There isn't a thing she posts that I don't love.
8. Jen Loves Ken. An art teacher with great style and taste.
7. Pacing the Panic Room. I started following this blog for reasons unbeknownst to me since the thought of pregnancy makes me want to barf. But it's got great photography and a lot of cynicism, two things I do love.
6. Style Rookie. This girl is 13 and way cooler than I ever was (or maybe will be).
5. katie did. I periodically reread this blog all the way through. Her sewing is amazing. Though posts can leave you hanging for months at a time, it's totally worth the wait.
4. the last twenty. She's full of humor and honesty about weight loss.
3. Wikstenmade. Jenny has the quietest and most alluring blog I read.
2. Sometimes Sweet. There's just something about Danielle that is so lovable.
1. The Sartorialist. I love it, I love it. It's the first thing I check when I log in most days.

What blogs do you love?

Lipstick schmipstick AND MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!

As a kid, I always liked to play dress up and put on gobs of makeup – mostly cakey Lisa Frank lipgloss concoctions that I got as a stocking stuffer. My mom always let me do whatever with it. That is until one day my best friend and i smeared all the makeup we could find all over our faces. Needless to say, that was the end of a good thing for quite some time.

I wear makeup most days now, but like most people, I'm usually rushing out the door. My newest solution to looking "made up" without much makeup? Lipstick. When I first started wearing it, a lot of people would notice and say I looked "dressed up or something." I kind of felt uncomfortable about it and still felt a bit like I was playing dress up.

I feel better about it now — mostly because I've found some colors that I really like and some formulas that work really well. I stick with inexpensive drugstore brands because, well, I'm poor and irresponsible and don't want to feel bad losing them, smashing them or accidentally washing AND drying them in the laundry.

Just peachy.

For a soft, peachy, summery shine:

Neutrogena MoistureShine Lip Sheer in "Peach." This is the one I probably wear the most because it's pretty subtle. This winter has been murder on my lips, but this stuff keeps them moisturized. And this thing costs like $7. Super.

  "Ruby Bliss"


I loved it so much that I also bought it in "Ruby Bliss." The color is great because you can just kind of dab it on with some clear gloss and it's just a hint of berries or you can full-on apply it like a lipstick for a rich red color. LOVE IT.

Warm and not to granny-like


For a quick warm up:
Maybelline Color Sensational in "Warm me up." I bought this because I wanted something that just added a little bit of color to my lips. I have a very olive complexion, so warn tones usually work best. But when I open this stuff, I was not impressed. It looked like my grandma's makeup. Discouraged but undeterred, I tried it on. And you know what? It actually looks really nice.

This can be all yours


AND MY FAVORITE. This is that elusive "perfect red" that so many girls look for.
Sonia Kashuk for Target Luxury Lip Color in "Sheer Rosebud." Again, it's great because you can layer it to make it lighter or darker. It wears really well. You don't have to reapply it every half-hour.

And it can be yours. What's that you say? You could go out an buy your own at Target no problem? Well, yes, but that wouldn't be as fun. C'mon. You know it wouldn't. This is your chance to have a brand new tube that I picked out just for you.

Rules

You will be entered once for each of the following things:
1. Leave a comment on this post with your e-mail address and your favorite Lisa Frank design pattern.
2. Blog about this post on your own page.
3. Becoming a new follower and posting this information in a comment. (This shouldn't be hard for me to keep track of because I have all of 12 followers currently).
4. Adding my button (in the lefthand column over there <-------) to your blog.
5. Becoming my follower on twitter: shaffehe is my Tweetie name.

I will stop accepting entries at midnight CST on Sunday, Jan. 10 when I will draw a randomly assigned number. Got it? Did I miss anything? Leave anything out?

I, of all people ...

... should not talk, but seriously, where has the sartorialist been lately?

Ok, I'm sure he's on holiday like the rest of us, but I miss it. Garance, too. Please come back, my enviously beautiful people.

December 2009 in pictures

More of the same.

The first of the year

Let me take this opportunity to spout some aimless facts of my day. So far:

• I've watched three movies, none of which I particularly like, but enjoyed myself nonetheless. This morning I saw "Its Complicated" with my mom. I was incidentally the youngest person in the theater at that time of the day, as well as the only person not really laughing. It's not that the movie was bad, I just think there's something lost in the generational differences. Although, thinking of my mom smoking pot before a first date is kind of great. "Confessions of a Shopaholic" had a two-star rating on my Netflix queue, which turns out, was quite generous of Netflix. I'm currently watching "Blind Date." I don't get it, like it or plan to finish it.
• My cats are both incredibly tired and insistent on sleeping on me.
• I'm poor until my pay check, so I've been eating all the weird stuff in my cupboards that I'm not really sure why I bought in the first place. Of course, I can't be too hard on these fine canned goods now that I'm reduced to eating them for a full six days.
• It's incredibly cold out. Even for Fargo, it's cold. OK, even for Fargo it's not cold. I'm pretty sure it getting below zero is quite normal in January. It's just fun to complain about.
• My neighbors are the most incredibly and unnecessarily loudest people on earth.
• Resolutions are a no-go this year. It seems like I set them and they never get much of a thought after January and (no offense to anyone who actually follows through with them), seem like an excuse for all of your bad habits throughout the preceding months. "It's OK that I drank, smoked,  ate and lazed my way through the holidays. Quitting those things is my New Year's resolution. I won't do it again until next holiday season."
  
• I have more than 1,000 pictures sitting on my memory card waiting for me to tone and post. I should really do that, huh? Oh look, another shitty movie for me to watch.
• I miss school and my school friends already. 
• I have no desire to take down my holiday decor.
• My favorite part of the day was turning my calendar to the first page.
• I finally got through the last of the 2-foot stack of magazines that has piled up since, oh I don't know, June?
• I still have a stack of Christmas gifts I can't wait to give to my favorite lady.
  

So enough of my boringness. Happy new year, everyone.