I don’t spend a massive amount of time on Flickr but I do troll ~80 blogs, so I’ve decided to do images from them instead.
Each will be sourced. Enjoy the eye candy.
Jamie from Julia's Poppies - Wardrobe Wednesdays
From This is Colossal - Rainbow of Food
Street art by Pavel Puhov
Birth in Futureverse- David Benjamin Sherry
Fireworks by Ktinka
Tags: fireworks, this is colossal, Julia's Poppies, Rainbow, Pavel Puhov, David Benjamin Sherry, Birth in Futureverse, ktinka
You’re in the car and you put your purse in the passenger footwell and you get out of the car and ask your passenger to hand you your purse and they invariably go “What’s in this thing?!”
Well, I’ll tell you…
the bag. a Christmas gift from the wonderful Jenny Morgan. it’s got amazing pockets, a great lining and straps that I can’t possibly bust. it’s the perfect size to fit all the crap i carry without being uber-mondo.
kindle. always carrying it around now. great for waiting rooms and reference.
what is a healthy church member. i talked about this a couple posts ago. it’s great. also, very light.
moleskine journal. i love the red ones. in this i keep lists, dates, thoughts, story notes.
i don’t go anywhere w/out these things.
sunglasses. i love my raybans, a birthday gift from my dad. and since i hate smudgy glasses, always a cleaning cloth.
orbit. i’ve always been a big gum chewer. i love the orbit taste and duration. plus the packaging design is cute.
wallet. vintage from Yesterday’s Rose in FFX. not even going to bother you with all the crap that’s in it.
headphones. urbanears, Plattan, in Mocha. Clare Rich & I highly recommend these & they come with an in-line mic & audio control.
ipod. i have way too much music to keep on my phone so i tote this everywhere. gotta have my full discog of the Mamas & the Papas!
iphone. i love this stupid thing. and it’s massively useful for research and communication. also, gorgeous.
notepad. featuring British propaganda. gift from husby. grocery lists, notes, bright ideas, phone numbers.
novel. lately i’ve been carrying around chapters from my novel so i can edit when i get free time. know what’s harder than writing a novel?
second drafting a novel.
tide pen. Kendall P and I have strong feelings about our Tide Pens. I have one in my car, one in my purse and one in Spencer’s nightstand.
pens. the Pentel needle tip .5mm ballpoint liquid gel. one in black, one in blue. i like options.
hand food. hand lotion by Soap& Glory from Sephora. i’m not wild on the fragrance but that’s b/c i’m not wild on fragrances. but my hands get dry and cracky in the winter time and this stuff makes them all better and it has a fabulous finish on your skin.
lip gloss. Lustreglass lip gloss from MAC, in Morning Glory. I like it. It’s shiny without being obnoxious and while initially a bit sticky, it blends really well.
lipstick. Bare Minerals lip color in Ripe Fig. I’m a big fan of Bare Minerals makeup and this is a yummy purple that I get a lot of compliments on.
lipbalm 1. Burt’s Bees tinted lip balm in Honeysuckle. I got this in place of the MAC Gaga lipstick b/c I wanted a nice nude. I like it when I have on noticeably eye make up and minimal lip color. it feels very yummy and low oil.
lip balm 2. Smith’s Lip Balm in Minted Rose from Rosebud Perfume C. This stuff is my new jam. It’s tint free, tingly and delicious. Super healing and gives you just a hint of shine. picked mine up at Anthropologie but it’s also available in both pot and tube forms at Sephora and Urban Outfitters.
So that’s that. It snowed last night in Baltimore. Husby and I are in our jams for the day, videogames and reading.
Enjoy your weekend!
h
Tags: bag, bare essentials, burt's bees, hand food, iphone, ipod, jpk paris, keep calm and carry on, kindle, mac, makeup, moleskine, novel, orbit, pentel, plattan, ray ban, smith's lip balm, tide pen, urban ears, vintage
The next couple of entries will be featuring stuff I’ve been liking lately. Hopefully you’ll like it, too.
The Canton Safeway has Little Pepe’s Pizelles. A friend I was house sitting for last summer introduced me to these delicious waffle cookies and they’ve since been my favorite. I prefer the chocolate but I’ve heard the anise is also pretty tasty, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Heavy Seas has produced some really wonderful brews. Small Craft Warning is a crazy pils. My good friend Caitlin recommends this. And me I’m the lager girl, and think this one goes really well with pork and most red meats.
Dinner with friends. Caitlin, Cymber and I made dinner the other night at the Purple House. The sausage was supposed to go in the stuffed pepper but Cymber forgot. Didn’t matter, still delicious. The pork chop was grilled in salt and pepper and a little oil. I dipped mine in the Brianna’s Poppyseed dressing (a classic favorite of Clark House dinners). Caitlin made delicious brussel sprouts and we had a simple salad. Caught up on the Office, talked. Good stuff.
Kindle. Spence got it for me for Christmas (but gave it to me December 1st) and I’ve already read three or four books on it. It’s SO handy to take around. I have on here my Bible, a commentary, the Complete Works of Shakespeare, a bunch of novels, a dictionary, some devotionals… it’s great. I can also keep pdfs on here, so it’s good for reviewing stories and articles I’m working on. It’s crazy light, surprisingly durable and with almost daily use, I’ve only had to charge it once since I started using it. I highly recommend it.
Knitting. I’ve been knitting a lot lately. Made myself a circle scarf and a cowl for dad. Currently working on another scarf for Spencer. I’m still on pretty basic patterns right now but I find it’s therapeutic and I have a lot of fun. Plus it’s cheaper than buying a whole scarf. I’ve been thinking about going to knitting nights at Carma’s and expanding my knitting horizons. In other news, I’ve turned into an 80 year old woman, knitting at home with her cats, listening to books on tape…
What is a Healthy Church Member by Thabiti M. Anyabwile. The members of our church are reading this collectively. I’m only a couple of chapters into it but it’s incredibly thought-provoking and illuminating. I’m being challenged to interact more deliberately both with scripture and with my church as a whole. It was harder to do that with McLean, although I think a big church like MBC could definitely benefit from a reading of this book. It’s hard to foster community and accountability ever, even in a small church like The Garden but it’s still very possible with loads of people.
Genius Loves Company by Ray Charles. This is a really fun collection with a lot of great collaborations. My favorites being “Sinner’s Prayer” with B.B. King, “Sweet Potato Pie” with James Taylor and “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?” with Bonnie Rait.
Ghostbird by Zee Avi. They’ve been playing “Book of Morris Johnson” on WTMD a lot and ”Concrete Walls” was on last week’s Gossip Girl, so I expect she’ll be blowing up soon but she’s really quite talented and her backstory is really interesting. The album is a mix of inventive and standard pop songs, really light and floaty.
And that’s it for the first edition of “The Good Stuff”. Time to make dinner.
h
Tags: dinner, friends, genius loves company, ghostbird, heavy seas, kindle, knitting, pizelle, ray charles, thabiti m anyabwile, what is a healthy church member?, zee avi
beyonce is fantastic. “countdown” is so danceable and gorgeous.
and the Sondre Lerche cover ain’t bad…
Tags: beyonce, countdown, covers, sondre lerche
This is Colossal, a blog I love, does a weekly “Flickr Finds”, a collection of great images from flickr.
I think this is a great idea. It promotes artists that might not otherwise be found and also, it makes for a beautiful blog post. So I’m going to do a bi-weekly flickr finds, a collection of 4-7 images.
I hope you enjoy.
By Kimber
by Cody Griffith
By Aziz
By Jared Tyler
by maks39
Tags: flickr, flickr finds, photography
Christmas Albums You Should Really Hear:
Soul Christmas : you should be listening to this. Especially Otis Redding’s “Merry Christmas, Baby”. Do it. Do it now.
Harry Connick, Jr. What a Night! I know, right? HCJ? But yes. Get it. “O Come All Ye Faithful” is so beautiful. He’s got a great voice, he’s not Michael Buble, and hello, cute as a button.
Christmas with the Rat Pack. Dean, Sammy, Frank! All of them have great Christmas albums but this is the combo pack.
You can find my Spotify Christmas mix here, featuring these and others. Elvis’ Chritmas, Ella Fitzgerald’s Christmas, Christmas with Rosemary Clooney!
It’s gettin’ close. By now, Joseph has decided not to publicly humiliate Mary, they’re hitched and she’s waayyy preggo and they’re about to start hoofing it up to Bethlehem, which will be packed, so they’ll crash in a manger-cave. Even if you don’t believe that the Savior of the World and lover of our souls is about to be born, it’s still a great story.
<3 h
Tags: a very special christmas, bing crosby, christmas, harry connick jr, Music, rat pack, she & him, soul christmas, spotify
I have decided that despite the tension the Christmas holiday can cause– family, gifts, money and the lack there of, traveling concerns, the weather– I will not be a humbug this year. I will celebrate the joy and grace of being alive and blessed by God in so many ways, the greatest of which being the birth of his Son (even if it actually was some time in August, or whatever).
A lot of this has to do with the Muppet Christmas Carol, so thanks Clare.
Another large part had to do with being at my grandparent’s house for my cousin’s first birthday. The McFaddens are Christmas people, there is no denying. All over Christmas and a lot of love. Also Drew nomming a whole cupcake to the face in about 20 seconds, which was incredible.
Also, putting up Christmas decorations today felt good. I’m trying to do more DIY this year. Hopefully I’ll get Woody over here and we’ll make our paper chains and string ornaments. But even if I have to do it alone, it should be fun. A little mulled cider, a little Bing Crosby. And this year, I WILL watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. ‘Tis my favorite. Besides the Grinch.
Made Joy the Baker’s Kale and Sweet Potato Soup today. I’ve made it a couple of times but for some reason it turned out especially delicious tonight. I highly recommend it for nasty chill wet days. Comforty!
Anyway. This weekend, Spencer and I are going up to New York to visit Johnny & Jovo with Killer. I hope to see Jay and Greggy also but these are tender hopes, easily dissolved by hard cold fact. At least I’ll see the city lights. Huzzah for New York.
Hope you all are well and getting into the Christmas Spirit!
oxoxo, H
things i’ve been up to
nanowrimo. half way through my second novel.
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cooking: acorn squash- pumpkin soup; pasta with bacon, acorn squash and blue cheese; chicken and dumplings; fancy hawaiian pizza; Dutch oven chicken; fried chicken livers with sriacha. now making chicken soup with the carcass.
and i’ve been perfecting cranberry chess pie. SO good.
i love cooking. i’m finding that cooking for people puts me at my happiest.
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spencer’s roof was cut over the weekend. it was parked in a garage and there was nothing in it. thanks, criminals. two days later, on his way to pick me up, someone smashed into spencer in my car. so now both our cars need doctoring. Betty’s ok, I can pick her up tomorrow but the Red Rocket has to have its whole roof repaired, which will take longer.
“Car crap comes in cascades.” – GK
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my pre-Christmas Christmas gift from my husband: a new set of headphones. The UrbanEars Plattan in Mocha. They are very cool. I was initially a little nervous about them. It takes me forever to pick out headphones. I like sound quality but I never have more than $50 to spend on headphones. These didn’t get glowing reviews but they didn’t get bad ones either. Anyway, the sound is good. Good bass and mids, which people were hesitant on. They’re stylish, the fold up and they have a really good inline mic/ volume control.
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listening to a lot of music lately– cooking, writing. Spotify is my new boyfriend, also. Here’s some thoughts.
Ceremonials is great. But I agree with the Pitchfork review (surprisingly), that by the middle it kind of feels like she’s shouting at you. There’s no midstream ballads or soft songs like in Lungs, it’s just her yelling. Dunno.
Live by R.E.M is my favorite live album. The end. “Leaving New York” is so good and you can tell, even in a random city, how in love with New York Stipe is. I’m so sad they’re gone as a band. Prompted by this article, I’ve been listening to them again, going over albums I hadn’t thoroughly appreciated. While I agree with most of Stipe’s ideology/theology, I hugely agree with his musical choices.
Achtung, Baby is brilliant. It just is. Prompted by this article, I started relistening to all my favorites, Joshua Tree forward. I miss the days where it was the whole band, not just Bono’s voice blasted over everything and The Edge self-gratifying in hi-fi.
Also, Camp is out. Donald Glover references not only tumblr but also Invader Zim and raps about James Mercer and asian girls. He’s just… I can’t. anyway. Everyone lobby hard for Community to come back. NBC is a moron.
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Meeting with some Garden girls tonight for a small-group. Pretty stoked about it. I really like these women and am so blessed to have good fellowship with people I find interesting. Also, I baked chocolate chip cookies for the hang out and they are DELICIOUS.
Sad to be missing the Yojimbo screening @ Hopkins but if you’re free, you should go. Go!
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Going to Arlington this weekend. Mom and Fred are hosting a Thanksgiving open house to celebrate mine and spencer’s marriage and also, all our friends that we’ve been graced with over the years. I’ll get to see people I haven’t seen in ages and eat DELICIOUS treats. I’m stoked.
xo, h
Tags: acorn squash, butternut squash, car accident, chicken, chicken and dumplings, florence + the machine, headphones, NaNoWriMo, pasta, pizza, plattan, REM, soup, The Garden Community, u2, urbanears
