Reader Question: Flying

mia flies, originally uploaded by ccandumplins.

Dear Readers, because you are all such intelligent people with great advice and things to say, I need some words of wisdom. Someone very close to me is deathly afraid of flying (on airplanes, duh). They used to fly all the time, but in the past few years a fear suddenly struck straight into their heart. I kind of know how this feels because growing up I was not afraid of heights whatsoever, but around the age of 18 I suddenly became terrified of heights, something that makes things like roof parties not so great for me. I don't know how this works, but I suppose there is some part of you that becomes more fearless as you age, and some part of you that gains fear...maybe due to your ignorance about the world/harshness of reality fading? I don't know, but bottom line is that it's a semi-new fear that can't be solved by simply getting drunk before a flight.

So, are any of you afraid of flying? If so, why? If not, why not? I am not a fan of flying because I feel that if something goes wrong, it usually goes REALLY wrong, but I do it because I'm comforted by the low-danger statistics. You have a higher chance of dying in a car crash than a plane crash, I know, I know. But that isn't enough comfort for some people. Or should it be?

So what comforts you? What are you words of advice, and if you too are afraid, what do you do to get yourself on a plane?

I'd appreciate any comments because I tell you a secret: I'm the worst person on the planet when someone asks me for advice. I'm a very good listener but the shoulder to cry on stops there. When asked about this I froze up and thought OH SHIT IM AFRAID TOO WHY DID YOU BRING THIS UP?!

This was the longest question ever.

Lomo LCA

173044663_81024925d4, originally uploaded by shespeaksoceans.

I want a Lomo LC-A again (long story of why I don't have it anymore). It's super small and takes really interesting photos with beautiful vignetting and amazing color.

It's not particularly cheap, but I'm hoping for an ebay miracle.

Here are the rest of my lomo photos.

Fall is for Me

I'm totally ready for Fall in many, many ways. I'm kind of like this with lots of things in life. My parents did not instill a very strong...well, in the words of Garth "live in the now" way of thinking in me. I like to think about tomorrow and how things will be better if x just comes along. But before I get all philosophical I think it's safe to say that EVERYONE in the blogging community is getting excited about fall fashion.

I'm so excited to wear gray again and not feel like a little cloud in the sunshine, plaid flannel (hey, I'm from Seattle, it's in my blood), capes (I want a cape/poncho badly, I failed to find a good one last winter), boots, penny loafers (love this coming back!), and PANTS. God damn I wore pants today and tore them off in hot sweaty rage the minute I got home tonight. I'm not meant for summer weather for very long. How I ended up with a boy from Arizona is beyond me. Could we be from any more opposite climates?



Urban Outfitters is serving up a sweet "Ivy League" look I'm all about (here & here). I want to rock this look with some penny loafers and my nerd glasses that come soon.

The Gap x Colette

The Gap is opening a Colette pop-up shop for one month in NYC, and while this seems very rad, I know it will be not so rad for me because A. things like this in NY means SO CROWDED YOU WANT TO CRY and B. 54th st? That means I have to go on the weekends, meaning even more crazy crowds.

Lately New York and it's crowdedness has been pissing me off. Tourist season is making me crrrraazzzyyy!! Can't wait for Fall, cannot wait for the crowds to die down and the weather to cool off.

I wish I was laying in the grass right now

, originally uploaded by margaret durow.

Etsy Finds

I haven't done much etsy coverage lately. I've been too busy to hunt for cool things, but due to the fact that I'm on a shopping ban (aka I am so so broke from buying glasses...more to come on that when they're ready!) so my lunch break today involved teasing myself with etsy instead of shopping. Here are a few things I love right now:


Half Stack of Rings by Painted Metal


Tribal Print Shift Dress at Houdztooth



Everyone's favorite, The Leather Store, added a new awesome belt (there's another one too) Smart move!

Vintage Miss's

My Uncle Raney sent me some amazing photos a few years ago, that I thought I lost until remembering the wonder of gmail so they were still in my inbox. Huzzah! So back on the topic of vintage photos, here are some greats. These are all my dad's side of the family.


My grandpa smoking the cig like a stud.


My great grandpa the bad-ass


My personal favorite, my dad in the '70s. Does my brother look just like him or what?

see a few more here.

Crocodile Tears at GRNY

There's a really great show up at Giant Robot right now (I know, I know, when do I not think they're great?) called Crocodile Tears. Over 50 artists contributed a small piece and the walls are jam-packed with greatness. Here are a few favorites, though it was impossible to choose.


Chauney Peck


Luke Ramsey


Emilio Santoyo

Rosemary's Baby: A mid-century design feast

I finally got around to seeing Rosemary's Baby Saturday. I didn't have a lot of interest until seeing Chinatown a while back and putting it in the top 10 of my favorite movies, so I gave this other Polanski movie a try. While I hate hate HATE the ending, the rest of the movie is great. But the best part is the apartment, and of course, the amazing Mia Farrow (no one rocks that haircut like she did). Shot in the famous Dakota building on the upper west side, this apartment is a mid-century feast for the eyes. You have got to check it out if you haven't. Ok, there are a few hideous pillows that were normal for the 60's, but for the most part it's amazing. Andrea, I thought of you the whole time. I'm an idiot and accidentally stuck the movie back in the mailbox off to Netflix land before I could get any screenshots. After an exhausting search I'm pretty empty handed on photos besides a few ok shots on this blog.

So you'll just have to see it for youself.

Get thee to the Folk Art Museum

Due to the storm yesterday we couldn't go to the MGMT show, so had to find something else to do (although apparently even if there hadn't been a storm we would have been screwed) So we FINALLY went to the Folk Art Museum to see the Dargerism show.

AMAZING. If you can, go! I've never been to the Folk Art Museum before and I thought it was fantastic. Not just the Dargerism show inspired me, the whole damn place was filled with amazing art. And here I thought I wasn't a fan of folk art. Wrong.

PS. I love this song so much

Lykke Li, Little Bit

via totes it's a blog

Mid-Summer crunch

It's been a slow blogging week, for what seems like not just me. I think a lot of us are feeling that mid-summer stress and blah feeling. I can't wait to relax (ok, not a lot of relaxing since I'm up to my ears in freelance work) and fight the sweaty hipster crowd to see MGMT for free this weekend!

Hope you all have a great weekend and Tuesday I should be back to normal blogging mode.

Annie Suckow

I've recently become completely smitten with Annie Suckow's photography. I think a lot of you are flickr friends with her, and you'd probably agree that she never uploads a bad photo..or even one that doesn't grab my attention. They're all amazing and I get extremely excited when her photo pops up on my contacts page, which to my great internet stalking pleasure is every day. It makes me want to get some film for my polaroid camera asap before it's all gone.

Vintage Dads

Dad @ Poble Sec, originally uploaded by Adrià garcía.

There are the most fantastic vintage photos on flickr, it's such a flickr trend that's exploding.
I have some cool old photos of my dad, but none as rad as this guy's.

Azita Store

Another busy busy day, but here's someting I had to take a minute to share



Things I love at Azita Store (and on sale!)





via The Shiny Squirrel

Busy, but have some ice cream

darkness, originally uploaded by shespeaksoceans.

I'm super busy today so all I can offer you is this awesome article Lauren sent me on NYC's best Ice Cream Sandwiches. I've never been that into ice cream sandwiches, but this isn't your run-of-the-mill store bought stuff. These look incredible.

See you tomorrow!

A Candy Stripe Summer

In true '80s inspired summer fashion, I've been seeing a lot of rainbow candy stripes. Not to be used too often or too over the top, they're nostalgic and fun and make hungry for one of those ridiculous unicorn lollipops. Here are some highlights:



(Clockwise from top left) orla kiely jersey stripe dress, rainbow stripe drawstring purse, rainbow aviators (on sale!), murano glass ring, candy stripe ribbon belt (totally had one when I was a kid..now I'd wear it with a pair of high-wasted jeans/shorts), vintage sundress (definitely belt it).

I heart internet friends

First I bought the Moonblood shirt that Alyson was wearing, then Jenny liked my outfit so she took a photo of her interpretation of it, then Alyson. Who will be next? It's like internet Junior High, I love it.



(you'll have to go here for Alyson's Mr Spaceball.gif has prevented me from blogging it)

A few things

I just spent almost 4 hours without a computer at work due to the wonderful world of who the hell knows what was wrong but it just wasn't effing working and then our IT guy swooped in and saved me from my hell. SO! Today you just get a quick list of goodness as I'm up to my ears right now.

1. I'm incredibly intrigued by the trailer for the new Terminator: Salvation movie. I know, Terminator. BUT! It stars Christian Bale and the teaser-trailer is giving me a Children of Men vibe that I did. If Christian took part in the revitalizing of Batman, couldn't he be a part of revitalizing Terminator? It's possible. Watch it here.

2. Speaking of Batman, while I'm really excited to see The Dark Knight, what takes higher priority in my movie life right now is Friday's opening of the new X-Files movie. I saw every single episode pre-David Duchovny's exit from the show (not worth watching afterwards), and could not be more excited to see what happens. The plot has been so hush-hush that Chris Carter said in an interview that the plot on imdb is fake! Trailer is here.

Now before you all slowly back away from your computers, thinking to yourself that you were not quite aware of just how big of a nerd I am, I'll tell you this:

3. The Selby has 3 new amazing apartments up.

4. This just came in the mail and it is everything I thought it would be and more. Photo to come later.

5. You can watch Xanadu for free on Hulu.com. You really only need to watch the first 15 minutes to get the gist of it's amazingness (the muses coming to life from the mural in all their neon-glow glory?!), after watching Logan's Run on Saturday, I was hankering for some more '70s cheese. I got more than I bargained for. If you throw up in your mouth a little bit while watching it, I cannot be held responsible. If you're in the company of others just be classy and swallow it, then act like nothing happened.

See you tomorrow friends.

West Elm August Catalog

I've never paid much attention to West Elm's bedding before, but two things that grabbed my attention in their new catalog: The Heirloom Quilt with vintage keys printed down the side (the photo in the catalog is so much better than this one, it looks so stiff here) and the Trees print Euro sham (not a big fan of the duvet though, very 'been there done that' bird print) I would love to have a big euro on my bed with those trees, and I like the idea of a cozy quilt. Both are very affordable, though not available in stores so I can't vouch for the quality. After working for a bedding company for 2 years I'm skeptical about bedding quality and know 300-thread count percale doesn't mean crap sometimes. Anyone own any West Elm bedding?

The new catalog is really nice, check it out if you can.

Weekend Assignment: beach it

beach light, originally uploaded by shespeaksoceans.

Have a great weekend friends! Sorry for the light posting lately, work is a wee bit busy and my cold is kicking my ass still (I'm the ass at work who coughs every 10 seconds). Perhaps some things to come this weekend, perhaps not til Monday.

p.s. It's nearly 100 degrees here, even too hot for the beach I'm afraid! So do it for me if you're somewhere not as miserable. Ok, thanks.

Sleek Chef

Norman Copenhagen utinsels: Beautiful, functional and on sale? I'm sold. Lots of other great stuff at the Velocity Art & Design sale.

3 Chefs set here
Salad Servers here

Update on my cooking adventures

You may be wondering how my cooking is going. Well friends, I'll tell you: It's going fantastic. I feel like I've improved my skills by at least 50% right now, and I get SO excited to cook now! I make dinner at home almost every single night now, give or take a few nights where sushi is in order or I really need a break. I make at least one thing that's semi-complicated a week. Here are my favorites so far, which I sadly cannot find the recipes for most online, so I'll just describe them as best as I can.

- Sweet & Sour Salmon. (photo above) This recipe is actually for catfish, but my local Chinese grocery store offerings are a bit slim. Salmon is my favorite fish (a true northwesterner I am) so that was ok. It's basically a thick sauce made of lemongrass, ginger, garlic, a bit of sugar and soy sauce, and the fish is cooked on the stove (I never do that). Lots of scallions, cilantro and cherry tomatoes on top, served with cous cous.

- Baked Shells. I aready gave you a small update on this, it was awesome.

- Chicken with lemongrass and mushrooms. (didn't take a photo, too busy inhaling it) A very very similar recipe as the sweet and sour fish, only it's a stir fry and is super spicy from jalapenos. A cooking accident happened when I was cutting the jalapenos and got some juice above my eye and it burned like hell for an hour. Watch out, that shit is dangerous! I hate mushrooms but gobbled these up because the taste masked the mushroom hatred I hold deep inside.

- Peanut Butter cookies : I've actually always been pretty good at baking, so this hardly counts as learning, but I found this recipe with the greatest tip for peanut butter cookies: Use the un-stirred natural peanut butter (creamy!) and then add in chopped salted peanuts, instead of just using crunchy peanut butter. Then add some chocolate chips, but use either the mini ones, or chop up the regular size kind so they're not so big and distracting to the taste. Incredible.

-Blackberryade- A modified version of this blackberry limeade, I made a small 4-drink batch with 1 lime and 1 lemon, sugar, and blackberries. I smashed the blackberries up, added the lime, lemon juice (saving 2 slices of lime for garnish) and sugar. Then I strained the juice over ice into 2 glasses, added a shot of vodka in each, seltzer water to fill the glass and the lime slices. Have fun getting drunk on this one, because it's easy.

Next I want to try something harder and very different as everything I've been sticking to is fish and stiry fry, mostly. BUT! Tonight, I'm making these fish tacos. Yummy.

brouillard - série ll ..suite

brouillard - série ll ..suite, originally uploaded by copyright depuis 1965.

I'm big fan of diptychs. I could get lost in this set of them. So lovely.

The Selby

I was flipping through the new issue of Domino the other night and bitched to Billy that people's homes just don't impress me anymore. I've seen so many perfectly decorated, perfectly arranged, perfectly lovely interiors that I don't get particularly excited by them anymore. I want interesting, I want to be wowed! Well, this morning it seems as though someone was listening to my gripes because a coworker (who obviously knows me well) sent me a link of just that.



The Selby is a photoblog by fashion/commercial photographer Todd Selby, and it looks inside New Yorker's homes that are amazing, but very off-beat. Wows all over the place.

Well played, Ladies of Leisure

Some scrumlicious vintage finds in the Ladies of Leisure Etsy shop!

someone hand me a baby, please

scrambles, originally uploaded by danske.

Sometimes I silently hate Jen for taking such amazing photos. I've never seen a bad one! Now I can take that jealous up a notch for her getting to be around such a ridiculously cute baby.
I want to scoop him up.

Andrea, you're the adult in this friendship, please have a baby I can play with, stat. Ok thanks.

Jen is looking for designers to loan kids accessories for a shoot in Small Magazine, know anyone who wants some exposure? Click the photo for more info.

Currently On Repeat: Fleet Foxes

I cannot get enough of the Fleet Foxes.

I <3 NY

Me too.
Ema Takahashi I Love NY Necklace.

The perfect afternoon read

If you need a little pick-me-up, read Joanna's ridiculously cute interview for NY Mag with some kids in New York at their lemonade stands. Totally cheered me up.

Which reminds me of the time that one year my cousin and I decided instead of a lemonade stand, we'd sell some of our sticker collection. We got zero sales and 3 angry men ask us where the hell the lemonade was. Lesson learned.

Barney Butter

I just got a box in the mail full of DELICIOUSNESS from Jennifer at Barney Butter. It's a no-stir almond butter (remember my discovery?) and my favorite is the little individual packets for on the go. I just slathered some all over a bagel and am in heaven despite this awful cold I'm fighting off today (boo). She was right, the texture is much better than the Whole Foods brand I tried, and I love the no-stir aspect. Try it out my friends (coming soon to NY!), you won't be dissapointed.

Sally Jane Vintage Photos

On top of swooning over Sally Jane Vintage's wardrobe to die for, I love her Wardrobe Remix photos. They're incredible! They all appear to be credited to Tom Bejgrowicz.

Gucci!

I went to a friend of a friends on Friday night and she was wearing this amazing belt. After an hour of oogling it I asked where it was, and she made a slightly guilty face and whispered, "Gucci!" Seeing as I'm a girl who can't afford Gucci to the point of not even knowing what on earth such a belt could cost, I did a quick google search and found it. And no, it will never, ever be mine, but oh how I covet thee. How beautiful is it?

I did manage to find a more digestible cost knock-off, but I wouldn't be able to whisper to jealous girls who want to strangle me, "Gucci!"

Or, could I?

Fred Flare, serving up the fun again

How much fun are these colorblock flats from Fred Flare? They're so cheap you could get 'em just for those rare feeling fun kind of nights.

Hot Clock

I stayed home sick today so sorry about my absence. I'm sure you shed a few tears, but it's ok because I'm back now, I dragged myself downstairs to check the mail and the new issue of Domino sat in my mailbox like a Christmas present.



I spotted this fantastic embossed clock in Domino from the Conran Shop that I'm pretty much just about to snatch up. It's sexy-minimal, a good size for my small apartment, and hot damn that's an affordable price! Ask Billy, I'm quite obsessed with asking him what time it is every 10 minutes if he's sitting as his computer and I am not. I like to know what time it is! Clearly we need a clock.

Apple A Day

27270021, originally uploaded by shespeaksoceans.

Lately I've been eating an apple a day. Are they not the best fruit on earth?

I ate a chick-fil-a sandwich (it was free at work) so I think that canceled out today's apple.

Words of wisdom

I just saw one of these prints by Jen Renninger on the Etsy homepage and did a double-take because they're so great! Sometimes these are things you have to say to yourself from time to time.

BLU book

My all-time favorite street artist, BLU, just released his first book of work. The limited edition of 200 book contains sketches and murals made between 2004 and 2007, and is probably totally amazing. Signed copies available here at Studiocromie.

Seven-nine

Andy Sargent's hand-painted letters on salvaged wood would look oh-so fantastic on that fantasy fireplace mantel I have in my head. See more wood paintings at his site, seven-nine.

via How About Orange

cupcakes that rule and why I have a sugar problem

super mario cupcakes 2, originally uploaded by hello naomi.

I've been feeling rather out of it today and have had ZIP to post about, thank god my friend Lauren emailed me a gem.

I would like to start this post with a confession: I have a sweet-tooth that is rather embarassingly large. I have to eat some kind of dessert-type thing after I eat a meal. I have to. HAVE TO. Because I'm apparently building a case to put my mother in jail for bad parenting*, I give you exhibit A of why I have a sweet tooth. (I can't actually show you exhibit A because I can't find the photo right now, but it exists somewhere because Micah needed real proof at one point so I took a picture). You know those 3-tiered hanging fruit baskets that normal people put things like bananas, apples, oranges, etc in? Well, that would just not make sense for my mother. Our basket was full of CANDY. A FRUIT basket full of CANDY. All 3 tiers. I'll post the photo later if I find it.

And that is just one example of why I have a bad, bad addiction to all things sugary.

Naomi makes cupcakes that are so fantastic, I would feel bad eating them. For like...3 minutes and then I would dive right in because I LOVE CUPCAKES. Obviously. I'm torn on which are my favorite, but the Super Mario Bros 2 is probably right at the top because that's my favorite Mario game. Clearly due to the fact that you can be the princess and fly around a bit, kicking some serious butt.

*My mother is actually a wonderful person who only let us eat whatever the hell we wanted as kids because she vowed to never make her child eat anything they didn't want to eat, like her father did. Please do not call CPS on her, she has no children in her care anymore and claims to not even eat candy anymore.

I can haz prefab?

Prefab has such bad connotations, let's look to these Marmol Radziner homes before frowning upon prefab again. The video is a must-watch, it's fascinating seeing the gigantic sections being lifted into place. Like Mister-Rogers-visiting-the-crayon-factory fascinating.
watch it here.

*edit: just went searching for Mister Rogers and the crayon factory but couldn't find it! Maybe I imagined it, or got it confused with this equally fantastic Sesame Street one "How Crayons Are Made" I think you'll especially enjoy the music in this one-- which is perhaps why everyone looks so happy!

Etsy Vintage Dresses

Hot, muggy days like today (it's super gross today) put me in the mood for cotton summer dresses with stripes in mind. Here are some vintage Etsy finds I love.


from Victoria & Sonja


from Salvage Life **Thank you so much to reader Melissa for emailing me this shop link! It's really great, check it out.


And from my old fave Ramona West

Dia:Beacon

Dia, originally uploaded by wepickpockets.

While my little vacation ended up being a bust (it was an everything that can go wrong, will go wrong vacation) Dia:Beacon ended up being worth the stress of the rest of the trip. It was breath taking, and we agreed that we have never seen art in a more beautiful place in our lives.



If you do go my reccommendation to you is to go for a day trip as the closest town with affordable hotels sucks big time. Either take the Metro-North up or better yet rent a car and drive up as it's only an hour and half away from nyc. Since we went up on July 4th everything in the surrounding town was closed, so I can't vouch for what it has to offer.


Louise Bourgeois


Richard Serra

All photos were taken by Billy because I was too nervous to defy the strict no-photos policy.

the first year: some progress

It's been nearly a year since we bought our house, and I'm still in
love with it. While we haven't done any major changes, It definitely
needed some freshening up. The previous owners were a very sweet old
couple who had lived there since the house was built in 1945! They
took tremendous care of it, but it was, well, like a grandma's house.
Things we attended to right away where the ancient carpet with great
oak hardwoods underneath, popcorn ceilings, and a lovely 80's dining
room pendant. The list goes on of things we'll eventually change. But
for now, since I always love a before and after, I thought I'd share
some of the changes our house has been through over the past year.


We just took off the screen door and painted the door yellow today! The new house numbers were put up a few weeks ago as well. We're trying to modernize our 40's house.


A new light fixture here was done pretty much immediately, as well as refinishing the hardwoods.


Look at all that carpet, it was old and gross and a pain in the butt to haul out.

ah, progress!