Larry David Smile

When I was watching Curb Your Enthusiasm the other night, I noticed something I never had before, which is that Larry David has maybe the whitest teeth Ive ever seen. Can you tell from this picture? Maybe not... but, in the episode I watched recently, I swear they were so white they looked almost blue. In a good way. It makes sense that he would care about having white teeth, dont you think?

Inspired to capture that smile, Ive been using a mix of baking soda and peroxide to brush my teeth. You can add some mint toothpaste so it doesnt taste so horrible, if you want to. Im pretty enamored of baking soda right now. You can do anything with it! Truly! Its so much more than just tooth whitener, de-oderant, and exfoliant. For example, you can add baking soda to eggs for a fluffier omelette; to your babys bathwater to soothe diaper rash; to cut flowers container to keep them fresher longer; to the ground around growing tomatoes to make them sweeter, or to keep rabbits away (poor rabbits!) You can also wipe it on your cars windshield to repel rain, or use it to wash the gross guck off of the produce you buy at the supermarket. Obviously, an all-around winner if youre at all concerned about having harmful chemicals in the house... which everyone should be, of course, but especially if you have little ones.

And dont forget--you can use it for baking! And its cheap! I only wish it came in a bigger package!

dreamy image via here

two people, together forever...

 Happy Anniversary, Chase!

Can you believe its been one whole year already? And can you believe its only been one year?

lolxoxo♥♥♥

I dont get it, but also, I do!

 Take a look at these ridiculous dresses from Tom Fords 2013 fall ready-to-wear line. 
Do they remind you of anything?

Were you going to say, Harry Nilssons 1971 animated film The Point!?
Um, yeah, of course, its the exact same thing:

Incredible. Honestly, I just saw this movie for the first time. Our friends Matt and Heather lent it to me last I was in Ohio, and we watched it with Felix just the other day. I loved it--it reminded me of The Phantom Tollbooth, and also School House Rock, and Charlie Brown a little, too. Have you ever seen it? Obviously, all the music is by Harry Nilsson, animation by Fred Wolf--and in the version we watched,  Ringo Starr, of Thomas the Tank Engine fame, is the narrator! And hes funny, too. It was really good! 

It was really good, but. I wouldnt want to look like any of the people in it! For some reason, the count reminds me of the villain from this My Little Ponies video I used to watch at my mothers house--whose cast, I just found out , includes Danny DeVito as Grundle King, which after having only seen him as Frank on IASIP (and as an over-the-hill male stripper who sort of ruins Pheobes bachelorette party in this one episode of Friends I saw a few times in England over the summer) is sort of disturbing.

My Little Pony, as it turns out (the original, eighties version, not the weird action/bratz-y looking revamp I just found out about on youtube a few moments ago) still sings a song to my heart, deep down. Their crazy silly names (locket, north star, twilight), the flowing pink and purple hair, the wings, their apparently serious quests to places like Cloud Castle, everything.

And look at the crystal eyes on this one. Enchanting. I think I really had one like that, you know!

But what I mean really is that whole look: fanciful beasts and creatures in easter pastels floating around a hyper-idyllic landscape--and beyond, into the clouds! Like Beethovens Pastoral Symphony in the 1940 Disney film Fantasia, which was always my very favorite part:



Anyway, back to the Point! I first saw those dresses (remember??) before I saw the film, and I thought, omg theyre ugly. Or at least, I didnt understand them. But at least, now, I get the reference. The only question is, does he?? Tom Ford, that is. Did he see it when he was a kid? The Point! I mean. Is he referencing it subconsciously? Or is that secretly exactly what he meant for it to look like? I wonder if hes ever even seen the movie! How will we ever know? And what do you think about the dresses themselves? Obviously, I hate them. Do You? 

images via here& here, screenshots via youtube

be still my heart (and feet)!

Hoo, boy. You know how something, sometimes, is so perfect, so acutely aligned with your interests and loves, its like it was made for you? Like Charlotte Olympias Cosmic Collection, whose Birthday Shoes effectively combine my love of (specifically flat) footwear, and of the symbolic catalogue of the zodiac. So inexpressibly superior to birthstone jewelry. Heres a closer look:

aries, taurus, gemini, cancer; leo, virgo, libra, scorpio; sagittarius, capricorn, aquarius, pisces

£495 each. Available for pre-order at Charlotte Olympia

Can you even imagine? These are the best! Actually, some of them are. Certain people sort of get the short end of the stick when it comes to the aesthetic of their star sign. Its all to do with their subject matter, which fall into three categories: objects, animals, and people. As a gemini, Ive always sort of felt that the humanity of my mascot, while an apt representation of the qualities of the sign itself, nevertheless limits the appeal of its artistic expression--like here on these shoes, for example: Id chose that (beautifully nautical) emerald and oyster-pink crab over those two ladies in profile any day. Putting a face on a sign makes it too specific and familiar, no longer purely symbolic. Animal and object signs tend to fare better in their myriad depictions. The hierarchy goes like this: people, animals, objects. Who wouldnt choose, for example, the intertwined fish of Pisces over some lady with long hair (which is somehow, always, supposed to connote virginity)? And are not the balanced scales of libra or the bow and arrow of sagittarius, in their lack of animate qualities, infinitely more mysterious and mystical than that silly bulls head? But of course, really, I love them all. Ideally, I would own the collection in its entirety and wear them according to which star sign was currently rising. Its all part of the upscale, park-avenue-sorceress look Im secretly, and ineffectively, trying to cultivate. Sort of a spin on gypsy prep? Anyway, Im working on it. Maybe Ill tell you more about it, later. 

via refinery29

best backpacks?

Along with Felixs impending trip, thoughts of preschool (and grad school?) and, oddly enough, thinking about autumn as a direct consequence of thinking about spring, have got me questioning our luggage situation. Talkin bout backpacks upinhere. Now, Felix and I each already have a bag, its true. But they each have their specific and pertinent problems, Felixs being that hes getting too big for his adorable turtle-shell backpack (sniff!) and anyway you cant carry much in it so its not so useful for an overnight trip anyway (its my belief that children should begin carrying their own luggage at an early age); mine being that my beloved, erstwhile diaper bag leather tote is perfect and perfectly lovely and I love it--but you just cant wear it while riding a bicycle. And once the weather warms up for good, this weekend, Im going to be riding my bike quite a bit! Anyway, you get the idea. We need new backpacks. And, dont you think it would be better if we had matching coordinating ones, like the besties we truly are? For example, we spoke recently of Herschel Supply Co--theyve got a solid, stylish, relatively affordable model, in classic colorways for big and small. But Ive found a few others I like, too.  Which ones do you think are the best? 

big & little Settlement from Herschel Supply Co ($55, $50)

big & little nylon cordura Schoolbag from American Apparel ($42, $28)

big & little Kanken from Fjäll Räven, ($75, $55)

I like those last ones the best, but, are they maybe too boxy? And how about the fact that for less than the cost of the big (and more important) one, I could get both from American Apparel? Also, we have an AA right down the street from my work so I wouldnt even need to pay for shipping to get them. This is not to say, of course, than any actual purchasing will be going on any time soon. That, probably, is not happening. But a girl can dream of luggage, no? Actually, now that I think about it, the HSC ones really are the best, after all. We want them!

Oh, dear!

Bon Voyagie, Felix!

After all the visitors weve hosted, Felix has been pretty excited about the whole concept of travel (especially all the suitcase action). Now he finally gets his day in the sun: tomorrow, Felix is off on a four-day, three-night weekend with his grandparents in Ohio. As is typical in this situation, Im nervous and excited. This will be my first baby-free weekend in the city--and whats more, my first baby-free weekend since I had a baby, almost two years ago! Its pretty big news. But also, obviously, Im scared! Felix has never been away for a whole weekend! But, hell be fine! Right?! 

Anyway, I just got done packing the adorable little duffel Im lending him. Ive often wondered: why are packing and unpacking so delightful? Does everyone feel this way, or is it just some people? Because, I cant be the only one. Packing a suitcase (less so unpacking) is one of my great joys in life. Beyond that, I realized that packing for a stylish little boy plainly trumps packing for oneself, as A, his clothes are cuter than mine, not just because theyre smaller and B, everything is so much smaller! Folding baby laundry is one of the most precious thing because you think about how little they really are. And you can get so much of his stuff in the tiniest bag!

In a somewhat related note, Even though I dont like unpacking as much (maybe because its not as challenging) I did like this editorial photographed by Eric Guillemain for Elle Korea, starring the beautiful Lea Seydoux, unpacking her suitcase in a presumably french hotel room.

 Do you think the average Korean reader can easily read that english title? Im sure they can. But how many english speakers, do you think, could read a magazine headline in Korean? Funny. And dont you love all her lipsticks? I wish I was going on a trip! But Im oh so unbelievably excited for my baby-free weekend. I really cant even imagine what it will be like! Chase will be working mostly in the daytime, so Im going to have plenty alone time to explore the city without the ticking time bomb that is a toddler out on the town! It will be so relaxing! Im going to do everything! 

omgicantwait!

images via FGR

a young Marlon Brando knows what Im talking about

via retronaut