hopping the pond

some exciting news:
i'll be spending a month at oxford this summer studying shakespeare with the british american drama academy! i'm already fantasing about my english summertime wardrobe, so i made a polyvore about it.
yayyy!!!

no. 1 lady

from jillscott.com

this morning i read this article by stanley crouch on dailybeast about "the no.1 ladies' detective agency" and i thought it was a little too complimentary to be true.

however, i just finished watching the two-hour premiere on hbo starring jill scott. and, while i've never read the novels by alexander mccall smith, i absolutely loved the pilot. jill scott shines as precious, the lady detective, and her botswana accent is spot on. great casting! anika noni rose is also fabulous as her nervous secretary. the show is beautifully shot on location in africa. i'll definitely keep watching!

lovely liya

photo from ethiopianreview.com

just got the april 2009 j.crew catalog in the mail featuring the gorgeous liya kebede.
the ethiopian model apparently struck up a deal with j.crew; she will model their spring collection, and they will buy pieces of her children's line, lemlem, for their kid's line, crewcuts. (lemlem is an adorable line made of organic ethiopian cotton by native ethiopian artisans.)

from the look of the catalog spring/summer at j.crew looks very promising! these are some of my favorites so far:

retro polka-dot glamour bikini in navy, jcrew.com

pearl flower ring, jcrew.com

printed silk chiffon whitney long dress in bright sun, jcrew.com

the look for less

photo from target.com

felix rey for target launched today.
i'm not crazy about most of the bags,
but i thought this clutch was pretty.
plus, it has a bright orange lining!

love at first bite

photo from butterlane.com

i have a new favorite cupcake place!
it's called butter lane, and it's at 123 east 7th street.
my boyfriend and i discovered it on the way home from the movies the other night and we were caught in their tractor beam of deliciousness as we walked by.
they specialize in a "better cupcake", with pure ingredients like vanilla, cocoa, and organic dairy.
while i still love sugar sweet sunshine on the lower east side, i feel like butter lane offers a more grown-up cupcake.

butter lane...cupcakes = love ~ how true!

bright light city

from infohostels.com

back to blogging now after my spring break trip to sin city!
3 of my favorite things about las vegas:

1) beatles LOVE
i'd never seen a cirque du soleil production before, and this totally went beyond my expectations. great music, great theatre, great seats and some incredible tricks...i'd see it again.
2) three card poker
i'd never gambled in vegas, but my bestie sandy's dad turned us both on to 3CP this trip. it's so easy! and there's no animosity because you're playing against the dealer, not everyone at the table. my first hand? sandy got a flush and i got a straight...whatever that means.
3) sunshine
the weather was so beautiful! 80 degrees with a little breeze. only a month and a half until that comes to nyc, right?

quote of the day

"Having spent a few weeks in a nearly all-female office environment, I see that criticism is delivered in subtler ways (whatever people's impressions are of fashion editors, there is no shouting here).

My favorite is what I call it the "criticism sandwich." You're probably asking yourself, "What is a criticism sandwich?" but I'm willing to bet you hand out or receive these sandwiches all the time without realizing it. The CS (for short) is best described in an example. Let's say Jane wants to tell Sally that the presentation she's working on needs a better introduction. If Jane used a CS she might say something like, "Sally, I loved the conclusion of your presentation, but the introduction needs some polish. And oh, what a cool necklace! Is it antique?" The only thing that Jane wanted to convey was that the introduction sucked, but by using the CS she gets her point across with less resistance (and fewer tears) from Sally." - stewart bradley for elleblog

i am obsessed with this, and plan on pointedly making criticism sandwiches often. mmm tasty.

what a stila

photo from natalieportman.com
i remember in 8th grade, i read in a magazine that jeanine lobell (creator of stila cosmetics) liked working with natalie portman so much that she named a lipstick shade after her.

now stila is doing something very recession chic, and offering a 20% discount on all of their products online, indefinitely. just enter the promo code "stimulus" at checkout.
literally.

can't spell arrested without s

from gginsider

so, i'm making a concious effort not to make this a gossip girl blog, because there are better ones out there, but this picture from the set was just too juicy not to post!
i wonder what's going to happen!
only 5 more days...

fashion is danger

it can't believe this is the last season of fotc.
what could hbo replace it with that would be anywhere near as amazing?

quote of the day

"if you don't have satellite radio, you're missing out. it's like a kindle, but for your ears, but for music, but you can read it and drive." - john mayer via twitter

also, favorite twitter pun of the day: twittilating

today i wish i was...

photo from glamour

photo from teenvogue



emma roberts

she's 18, she's totally adorable, and her aunt is julia roberts.
'nuff said.

also, a"lymelife" math problem:
culkin brothers + family dramz + jack donaghy + indie love
= me - $11.75

coming soon to a theater near you...

3 movies i want to see asap:


every little step

easy virtue

gigantic

tweet tweet tweedly deet

reasons i'm glad i joined twitter:

1) it's just like facebook, but dumbed down.
when i'm in the mood for some brainless thumbtwiddling, twitter only allows me to see one, maybe two lines of text. it's a lot easier and more instantly gratifying than sifiting through my mini-feed.
2) famous people have twitter. i have twitter. ergo, i am famous.
john mayer, martha stewart, p. diddy, diablo cody, hillary clinton, britney spears...all the cool kids are doing it.
3) opportunities for twitter wordplay abound
while the vernacular of facebook is pretty nailed down (friend, de-friend, poke, superpoke, etc.) twitter allows for more creative verbage: tweet, twittering, tweedle...on and on.
4) you only get 140 characters
so you better make it interesting.

it might as well be spring

Spring 2009 - by alexandramichelle on Polyvore.com

sorry for taking so long to post. :(
i just got a polyvore account and i am obsessed with it.
this is a pretty collage of some things i am excited about for spring in new york!

d'you know...

• nymag launched a new fashion channel (translation: the website looks way cooler.)

• red mango has a rewards program now? yes, please.
  

• mcq for target launches tomorrow! call your mom and ask her to mail you some because you don't want to go to brooklyn.

out of control (top)

not pants.

so, apparently la lohan has been cavorting around london with samantha ronson, and has ditched her signature leggings-as-pants look for tights-as-pants. i used to really be anti-legging, but they are just so comfortable and omnipresent that i've had to soften my stance. however, tights as pants? that's too far, right?

these people think so, and they're doing something about it. i love their flyers!!

i want to go to there

5 places in the city i've never been to that i want to visit...

1) tea & sympathy
in this snowy weather, i just want to play hooky and go have high tea. 108 greenwich avenue, www.teaandsympathynewyork.com
2) physique 57
apparently, this is "the" place for lotte berk method in the city (translation: super-hard ballet barre workout). classes are pricy, but they do a 2-for-1 offer for students. www.physique57.com
3) bar americain
this is one of bobby flay's restaurants in the city - the other is mesa grill. i recently bought a gift card for someone here and i'm dying to try it myself! 152 west 52nd st. www.baramericain.com
4) 92nd st. y
the jcc in my hometown used to stream lectures from the 92nd st y, and i have been meaning to go up there for a long time. they have such neat programming, everything from swing dancing to concerts to tours of the waldorf-astoria - and under-25 discounts on practically all of it. 1395 lexington ave. www.92y.org
5) jin soon hand and foot spa
i want to go here so badly! it is the ultimate place to get a mani-pedi and jin soon is the be all and end all expert of all things manicure. her website is super impressive - it has nail geometry! www.jinsoon.com

top 5

what i loved this past week:

1) "you're welcome america, a final night with george w. bush," starring will ferrell
i did student rush/standing room for $29 dollars, which was fine since the show is only 90 minutes. ferrell is absolutely hilarious, and he creates a really fun back-and-forth with the audience. my favorite part: when g.w. volunteers to create nicknames for audience members based on names and occupations. (e.g. - gina, who worked in creative advertising - "imma call you shit out of luck.") i'd see it again!
2) "fired up!"
i totally thought this movie was going to be awful, but i didn't care because i have a soft spot for cheerleading movies. to my (and sandy's) complete surprise - it was awesome!! it's so so funny; a great, quirky buddy movie - the 2 leads have great chemistry. i would recommend it for guys as much as i would for girls, if not more so.
3) san marzano pizzeria
my boyfriend has been talking my ear off about this place for some time, so we finally went on saturday night. it's nominated for a timeout new york award, and it deserves to be. the pizza has a crisp and yummy crust, and the mozzarella is super fresh. also, the atmosphere is very romantic, but very casual. it's byob, and pizzas run about $11-$14 dollars, and they are a good size. good place for a date. (rivington & clinton)
4) girls aloud
i finally decided to give these girls a listen after seeing perezhilton talk endlessly about them. i guess they are the equivalent of "edens crush" here...except that they actually still exist and sell records. it's totally manufactured, bubblegummy pop, but it's been well produced. i think it would be great for a workout mix. i downloaded "the sound of girls aloud" which i guess is a mix of their past singles, and it's very fun, with covers of "jump" and "i'll stand by you." favorites: "love machine" and "no good advice."
5) "fallen angels" by noel coward
just got assigned a scene from this play in my acting class, and i love it! it's a "frothy nothing", but the dialogue is stitch-inducingly funny. jane and julia are brilliant as they"quarrel, make up, get high on champagne and quarrel again." it's also allowed for me to learn a lot about the history of telephones in the UK, which is you know, always helpful.

eskimo kisses...

gorgeous sandy and beautiful ellie

...are the new hugs.
photo by me

eavesdropping

i love listening to people on public transportation.

interior: M14 bus, evening.

woman 1: i don't know, she's from nicaragua.
woman 2: from where?
woman 1: ni-ca-rag-ua. nicaragua.
woman 2: nicawawa?
woman 1: no, nicaragua.
woman 2: shit, i don't even know where that is.
(pause)
woman 2: want to have a staring contest?

for jessica
xx