5 FRIDAY FAVORITES

Some of these sites have been among my favorites for a loooong time and some I've just discovered:

1. As you can see, I looove making lists. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this little gem. Such a simple and wonderful idea!!

2. Flickr is heaping with all sorts of talents but this has always been one of my favorite photo streams. Zalita makes all of those edible goodies in her shop "Cupcake D'lights" in Durban South Africa. Everything looks too good to eat!!

3. Kewlest worldwide art project idea: A Home For Alice. People from all over the world send a Polaroid picture of their house (along with a little text about why they feel at home there) to Alice who displays it on her blog. The entire collection has already been displayed in a few galleries across the globe AND... "At the end of the project, all the best pictures will be collected to become a book, that will relate the whole adventure." AWESOME.

4. Lately I've been obsessed with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. There is nothing more romantic than a TRUE Hollywood love story that lasts a lifetime. You can watch their story here.

5. Zooey Deschanel + Joseph Gordon Levitt = 500 Days of Summer. August 20th can't come soon enough!!

MY ALL-TIME FLICKR FAVORITES!!!!

Images that I return to again and again:
1. Untitled, 2. Nopal, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. Black Tongue, 7. holga. venice beach, ca. 2005., 8. Narcissist, 9. RidgeDeer, 10. usattheparker, 11. clockwork fish, 12. Donky_Desert, 13. an english pool, 14. monument_bus_2l.jpg, 15. sandiego_12, 16. poison apples, 17. Untitled, 18. Florida Pool, 19. Airstream, 20. Untitled, 21. My Office, 22. it's showtime, 23. Fire Island surf #1, 24. view from our hotel room, 25. Primo Amore, 26. Double-Fisted Double-Dipper, 27. Untitled, 28. No Matter What, 29. superslide polaroid, 30. trailer

photographers include: lou o'bedlam, stoopidgerl, redbuttons, hal bergman, won7ders, fotones, zenbombed, ilisu, charlynw, eyetwist, juliagaldo, daniel minnick, evenstar0586, jen gotch, tinkernoonoo, bluecitrusart, iso-50, iilii-n, aquaticdream, 7-how-7, prettypertelote, buradori, melaniecoles, davebias, dipanna, casoulbyrd, ed bopp.

my latest addiction: POLYVORE.COM

i stumbled upon the greatest, girliest gem of a wesbite called polyvore where you build your own outfit by mixing and matching articles of clothing and accessories. if you love fashion and collage making... or have a uterus, you will love this site.

here's how it works: there are thousands of items to browse or you can search by brand or color. you simply drag the items onto your work space and arrange them however you want. you can collect as many items as you like and even add non-clothing objects like food... basically anything you can find online. if you're feeling even more creative, you can add backgrounds.

***shopaholics beware... if you hover over a particular article of clothing, a thumbnail will appear with a link that will take you directly to the website that is selling that item. i'm already tempted to order two things i've included in one of my ensembles.

here are some sets i created (then lightly edited in MS paint). check them out:





the site is pretty easy to navigate. if you have ten minutes (or are bored at work), you'll figure it out in no time.

12 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!!!!

have you finished you finished your holiday shopping??? i'm almost done!! i'm glad to be going home to spend the holidays with my family and friends but with temperatures in the 20s and 30s... i think i am going to freeze. :(

My Top FIVE Favorite Christmas Songs:
1. Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
2. The Waitresses "Christmas Wrapping"
3. Lou Monte's "Dominick the Donkey"
4. Harry Connick Jr's "Sleigh Ride" ("It Must've been Old Santa Claus" is a good one too!!)
5. Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby"

My Top FIVE Favorite Christmas Movies:
1. A Christmas Story
2. Christmas Every Day
3. Home Alone
4. The Grinch (the animated version)
5. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas... Happy Hanakakah, Happy Kwanza, or nothing (if you are a Johovah's Witness)!!!

my two favorite insects.

lightning bugs vs. fireflies
lady bugs vs. lady birds ....what do you say???

some questions about lightning bugs answered here:

Q: why don't fireflies live in the western US???
A: because it's too dry... lightning bugs like moisture, humidity, lakes and rain.

Q: i've noticed fewer and fewer fireflies every summer, why???
A: you can thank urban sprawl and chemicals/pesticides. :( basically, we are the only ones to blame.

Q: how do lightning bugs light up???
A: it's complicated.

why some people call lady bugs "lady birds" (and vice versa):
Ladybird is a name that has been used in England for more than 600 years for the European beetle Coccinella septempunctata. As knowledge about insects increased, the name became extended to all its relatives, members of the beetle family Coccinellidae. Of course these insects are not birds, but butterflies are not flies, nor are dragonflies, stoneflies, mayflies, and fireflies, which all are true common names in folklore, not invented names. The lady for whom they were named was "the Virgin Mary", and common names in other European languages have the same association (the German name Marienkafer translates to "Marybeetle" or ladybeetle).

source and more info found here.

steve martin and loquats... two of my favorite things.

this weekend was pretty mellow. on sunday rick and i went to his parent's house and did laundry. we hung out with aldrin, picked up magoo food and checked out head units because mine is busted. i ate A LOT of loquats because they are amazing. for those of you who are unfamiliar with the loquat, it is a small, fragile fruit with the most indescribable taste!! they have a semi-fuzzy skin that needs to be peeled off and about six smooth seeds in the center. the seeds feel really kewl in your mouth when your teeth slide across them. the fruit that you need to eat at least a half dozen in one sitting. my boyfriend's parent's have a loquat tree growing in their back yard. i tried to start one in NJ, but no luck.

one spring, my best friend andrea and i were visiting rick and we raided his loquat tree while he was at work. we ate THIRTEEN of them... EACH!! we were savages!! you should have seen our fingernails!! they were so gunky. we scouted the biggest and best in the tree and i stood on andrea's back trying to reach them. after we told rick about the lengths we went to get the good ones, he asked "why didn't you guys just get the ladder that's sitting right alongside the house???" hahaha.

rick and i wound up eating dinner at chilli's with aldo, tim and his girlfriend morgan who is on spring break right now. we all are going to go hiking this week and aldo and his friend jen want to go to the griffith observatory. i've never been there but i've seen it in the movie Bowfinger, hehe. of which, i had no idea steve martin wrote the screenplay to Bowfinger!! he never ceases to amaze me. he's an amazing writer. i love his voice, his talent and his movies. he's timeless. he's a good looking man and i bet i'd even enjoy watching scary movie 3 (my least favorite movie) if steve martin narrated it.

some facts (from imdb.com) you may not know about mr. steve martin:
*He was chosen as #6 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.
*He was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
and... *drum roll*
*Contrary to popular belief, Martin was never a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" (1975). However, he holds the records for guest appearances (25) on the show, hosting (14 times), and hosting in a single season (3). He is also the only person to have hosted a season premiere, a season finale, and a Christmas show.

"All I've ever wanted was an honest week's pay for an honest day's work." ~steve martin

hot and bothered.

today reached 99 degrees!! (and some say global warming is a hoax...) the mystery of the closed-library has been solved. rick and i drove to the library only to discover it was closed. this is the third time this has happened to us. once was on president's day tho... apparently, as we discovered today, the library is closed on mondays. DOH!!

i am loving daylight savings time... the extra hour of sunlight has already proven to be useful today when rick and i played tennis. we got there late, when the sun was just shy of setting and stayed until about 7:00. i haven't played tennis is over a year and rick hasn't played since sixth grade... so needless to say we were a bit rusty. regardless, we managed to have fun. i wouldn't let us leave until we successfully hit the ball back and forth ten times. we got twelve!! we plan on playing again tomorrow if we aren't too sore. if i want to play again, i will also have to pop this lovely blister i got from hanging on the monkey bars yesterday when rick and i walked through the park. ye-ouch.

we finally finished watching Sybil. it seemed like a long movie (i can't believe it was originally a made-for-tv movie!!) but it was REALLY GOOD. sally field is one of my favorites. for those of you who aren't familiar with the movie, Sybil is based on a true story of a woman suffering from multiple-personality disorder. while we were watching the movie, rick noticed a scene was shot in the Ambassador Hotel which happens to be where 311 shot their album cover for "Evolver." the sad part is The Ambassador Hotel, a historic 500-room hollywood resort in its heyday, was torn in february 2006. los angeles seems to be infamous for reinventing itself and renovating, but unfortunately the city has no respect for the preservation of historical sites. despite protests, the city opted to demolish the hotel in order to build more schools although there is ample space in the surrounding areas. while destroying the site, the builders discovered methane gas, so the schools can't even open. this will only add to the $270 million budget. and so this discovery inspired me to create...

FIVE REASONS WHY I DISLIKE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:
(beside the fact that it is far from my family).
1. smog/pollution.
2. TRAFFIC.
3. constant contruction and building/lack of respect to historical sites. A LOT of kewl places simply don't exisit anymore :(
4. THE HEAT. the sun is nice and all but not when it's burning your skin off while you are sitting in traffic.
5. overall wastefulness. (ie. sprinklers that face the pavement/street that are actually only wetting the cars that pass by).

FIVE REASONS WHY I LIKE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:
1. the weather. as rick says, "california has two seasons: summer and not-so-summer."
2. LOTS to see and do.
3. career opportunities, especially in the creative industry.
4. palm trees. no lie... i am obsessed with those gangly trees!!
5. my strong, indescribable affinity to the area... perhaps a magnetic force at work?

i want my 118 minutes back...

i don't ALWAYS talk about movies, i swear, but rick and i watched "the crime of padre amaro" ...highly overrated. such a let-down. (SPOILER ALERT!!) i can summarize the movie for you in three sentences and it will save you the 118 minutes of watching it: padre amaro (bernal) is a priest who impregnates a young girl. he takes her to get an abortion. she dies. -the end.-

i'm really disappointed because i've heard this was a good movie, but then i realized something... only TWO of my top ten favorite movies were recommended to me. the rest are all movies i have either stumbled upon or actively scoped out. of the ten, i've only had the pleasure of seeing ONE in theatres... and that was amelie. :)

here are my top ten favorite movies (and some commentary).

1. amelie - i dragged my ex-boyfriend to see this in theatres. i think we were the only people in the theatre, and my ex slept through it because of the subtitles. i love the cinematography, the digital cross process of colors, the montage of scenes in the beginning of the film, the scene of her discovery, the photobooth, the gnome, amelie's bedroom, everything!!!!!! audrey tatou plays the role PERFECTLY. this movie made me a huge fan of hers. don't deprive yourself of seeing this movie.

2. sunset blvd. - i WISH i had the opportunity to see this movie when it was playing at a two-dollar theatre near my boyfriend's house, but i wasn't in claifornia at the time. gloria swanson does an AMAZING job here. it's been called one of the best screenplays ever written. it contains some of the most quoted lines. it's a CLASSIC hollywood tale of the darkside of hollywood. i can't praise it enough!!!!

3. hable con ella - my FAVORITE almodovar movie. almodovar is the master of creating characters and relationships. all his characters multifaceted and complex. i love how the film is broken into chapters. i love watching the relationships between the characters develop, grow, crumble, rebuild. there's a beautiful scene of caetano veloso singing "cucurrucucú paloma." and the opening and ending dance scenes are breathtaking!!!!

4. jeux des enfants - my friend cali cory was raving about this movie so i had to check it out. since the video stores by my house only carry the basic foreign films, i was forced to buy it off of amazon. boy was i glad i did!! i've made a handful of people watch this movie now, and no one has EVER said anything but positive things about this movie. it takes you for a ride. you will NOT be able to predict a single moment and that's why i love it :)

5. shopgirl - i rented it because i adore steve martin and it is based on a novella he wrote. claire danes and jason schwartzman really play their characters well. (you will fall in love with schwartzman's character). peter suschitzky (the director of photography) does an AMAZING job capturing so many great images that leave me saying, "THAT would be a kewl picture!! THAT would be a kewl picture!!" and the story itself is brilliant introspective tale about relatioships.

6. what about bob? - my FAVORITE comedy. i rented this movie from shoprite when i was in elementary school because i liked bill murray. (i used to watch ghost busters religiously). every scene is hilarious. my best friend andrea and i quote the movie like it's our job. we even played the movie in the limo on the way to junior prom until our dates vetoed it. haha!! it's bill murray best comedy (in my opinion) and it's highly underrated.

7. a la folie pas du tout - another audrey tatou film. a GREAT contrast to tatou's character/role in amelie. i love this movie and how it was put together. if this were an american movie, it would not be as good. american movies are waaaay too predictable and this movie is anything BUT!! i rented this, watched it, made my mother watch it with me and then watched it again before i returned it. my mother isn't a fan of foreign movies/subtitles and SHE even recommends this movie to friends. watch it and you will love it BUT don't read about it before you watch it!!!!! the english title is "he loves me, he loves me not."

8. ghost world -found this movie in a rental place and got it because i like thora birch. it was the first time i saw scarlett johansson and it made me a HUGE fan. (however, the more and more i see interviews with johansson, the less i like her). this movie is original. it's based (nearly verbatim) on a daniel clowes comic book/graphic novel of the same name. i once made an entire room full of people watch this my freshman year of college and i could FEEL that they weren't into it or weren't getting it... and then they made me take it out. it's dark humor and it's not for everyone who like "blockbuster" movies, but the people who get it, LOVE IT.

9. fear and loathing - a cult classic. my friend ed LOVES this movie. i went over his house one night during high school and he made me watch it. my first reaction... "ohmygod, is that johnny depp?!!! he's bald!!" and yes, he still looks GOOOD. this movie is a trip about people who are triping on a trip. it's hunter s. thompson's autobiographical novel of the same name come to life!! AND further proof that johnny depp is a terrific actor who can nail ANY role. depp REALLY does a terrific job playing thompson here. his actions, connotations, mannerisms... everything!!

10. norma rae - i always wanted to see this. then one night (REALLY LATE/EARLY IN RHE MORNING) senior year of college, it was on AMC... but i missed the very beginning. after seeing the rest, i HAD to buy it on amazon.com. for me, it's thee ultimate feel good movie. truely inspiring... makes you feel like one person CAN change the world!!!! sally field is a doll. there's a part of the scene before she stands on the table, when she's yelling back at her bosses, that almost always chokes me up.