hurry up and wait

we had one of the biggest weather teases a couple weeks ago here in nyc (with a high of 70 degrees) that everyone's been fixated on ever since. new yorkers had smiles stretched across their faces, and people just seemed... nicer. then it went back down to the 40's, and we've been crying on the inside ever since.

here's a new mixtape that's been pulling me out of this winter slump, though, prepping me for the glorious spring ahead. happy listening!

mixtape #6

1. "houseboat babies" - reptar
2. "canopy" - painted palms*
3. "coronado" - deerhunter
4. "40 day dream" - edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros
5. "weekend" - smith westerns*
6. "black night (magik version)" - the dodos*
7. "seafarer" - tennis
8. "still sound" - toro y moi
9. "lahaha" - shugo tokumaru
10. "tryst with mephistopheles" - owen pallett
11. "commotion" - the hundred in the hands
12. "bury us alive" - strfkr
13. "machu picchu" - the strokes


*note: the dodos' new album (no color) and the smith westerns' album (dye it blonde) are way cheap on amazon right now and way worth it. and painted palms' ep (canopy) is free to download. free! treat yourself. spring would approve.

white space

in my quest to become a real person with a real home (i am 25 after all...), i began my hunt for reasonably priced art to hang on my otherwise naked walls. i started searching etsy for some original pieces and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of work. don't get me wrong, etsy's a great forum for talented artists to hawk their wares, but i've seen my fair share of outrageously priced cut-and-paste art on the site. i stumbled across quite a few talented photographers/illustrators during my search, though, so i thought i'd share them here in case anyone else found themselves in a similar predicament. enjoy!

photography:

instantanalog (what a nice guy! i bought two of his enlarged polaroid prints and he sent me a lovely note of thanks)


sixthandmain/zuppaartista (i especially like the los angeles shots of the santa monica pier/venice/chinatown)

illustration:

corelladesign (i rather fancy the "bears love flannel shirts" print)

berkelyillustration (these whimsical, tongue-in-cheek animal prints make me light up)

cup of cheer

i ate "sunday supper" with some friends last night at lot 2 in park slope. we had the most delicious spaetzle and pork schnitzel i've ever tasted (the fixed price dinner also included a tasty salad with roasted beets and a creamy herb dressing and apple cider cake with orange glaze). what. a. treat. no, seriously... i wish i could afford to "treat" myself to sunday supper more often. all the more reason to scrimp and save this holiday season, i suppose :)

speaking of holidays, i had the family up all last week for thanksgiving in nyc. good food and good company always make me really excited this time of year. i'm hoping we can get a tree sometime this week for the apartment. i want to go all out this year... stringing popcorn, cranberries and anything else that won't rot whilst hanging from a spruce for a month and a half. the only thing that could make december better is a bevy of holiday parties. anyone...?

my christmas wishlist:


*re-cap from my travels: i returned from europe/mexico in mid-october, and then jetted out to california for three weeks. i stayed in los angeles for two and a half of those weeks and then hopped up to san francisco for a long weekend. long story short, i was robbed in sf (which is unfortunate, considering that's one of the places i was most excited about visiting) of my phone(s) and computer. sadly, i lost all of my photos from europe (along with the computer). travel was great otherwise! i'm happy to be staying put for a little while, though.

promises, promises

i know, i know. i'm a terrible blogger. i promised i would write updates throughout my three-week stint in europe, and all i managed was one measly post. for shame! i thought i'd make it up to you, though, with some highlights from the trip in photo form... enjoy:

london - borough market

london - design show in shoreditch

paris

paris - ooh la la

geneva - village of nyon

geneva

madrid - general strike that struck

madrid

san sebastian - with katharine and iñaki

san sebastian - "wind comb" sculptures

san sebastian

istanbul - blue mosque

istanbul - blue mosque

istanbul - turkish (delight) tea

munich

munich - chinese tower in english garden

swedes take on london

i saw the swedish electro-pop outfit little dragon at koko in london tonight. the lead singer, yukimi nagano, is quite the entertainer... so fun to watch! koko is very webster hall-meets-BAM's harvey theater. give "runabout" a listen if you please.

music for movement

i'm not across the pond yet as promised in my last post, but i wanted to share another mixtape before i go. the songs are perfect for an autumn day in brooklyn (or wherever you might be)... uplifting and smile-inducing. most are new, but there are a few oldies tossed in for good measure. preferential order encouraged.

mixtape #5

1. "heart to tell" - the love language
2. "boyfriend" - best coast
3. "fixed" - stars
4. "ruby" - apples in stereo
5. "ghost train" - summer camp
6. "windstorm" - school of seven bells
7. "sprawl II (mountains beyond mountains)" - arcade fire
8. "i walked" - sufjan stevens
9. "leave everywhere" - toro y moi
10. "les cactus" - jacques dutronc
11. "slow" - twin shadow
12. "lewis takes off his shirt" - owen pallett
13. "go do" - jonsi

bon voyage(ish)

i posted ages ago about having a bit of a travel bug.

well, in t-minus 48 hours i'll be checking several cities off my lengthy list. i'm heading across the atlantic for work for three weeks, making stops in london, paris, geneva, istanbul and munich. i'm also going to san sebastian, spain to visit my dear biddy, katharine (!).

i've been planning this trip for months now, so it's a little difficult to wrap my head around the fact that it's quickly approaching. in preparation for my adventures, i've been doing a little reading. i thought this trip was a good excuse to get my paws on the pocket-size wallpaper* city guides that i've been ogling for months. since i'm going to be bouncing around every few days, i thought their sight-seeing/eating/shopping suggestions were perfect and condensed. kind of makes me want to travel just so i can collect the books...

as usual, i hope to be more regular with my updates. next time i write will be from ye old london town.