As much as I love oxfords and have been pining for a good pair for over a year, I haven’t been able to find a pair that looked good on my big feet and were comfortable enough to wear for all the walking I do. But last week I decided that this spring would be my lucky month and walked into my favorite (yet unfortunately named) cheap shoe store in Manhattan to find the most perfect, affordable pair on the planet. Just sitting there, calling out to me. They’re super comfortable, but I bought them slightly bigger and put insoles inside just to be on the comfort safe side. Highly recommended, and super cheap – but not cheap looking. I have to stop myself from wearing them every day.

UPDATE: apparently they sold out after I posted them, so I updated the link with a store that has them in stock. They’re the “holland” by Chelsea Crew. That’s probably an important bit of information in an important recommendation, huh? Also, I had no idea they were not leather until seeing this website! Very convincing fake leather.

I wish these pages from a 1970′s dictionary were posters, but at $8, I’d be tempted to have them scanned and blown up. The minerals poster is my favorite, as it’s my favorite trend right now. Did anyone else have one of those grow your own crystals kits when you were a kid? I would get so excited about them, and then have no patience for the results.

I love Refinery’s post on cute shoelaces to jazz up your shoes. Obviously you know I am a fan of this. My favorite are the UO pairs. I tried the whole floral tights thing and it didn’t work out for me (felt like my legs were screaming “LOOK AT ME!”), so maybe floral laces can be my compromise.

I want to crawl inside every single one of these photos from Old Chum‘s flickr set “Bookstore Scans“. Wanna come along?

via raised on sandwiches (awesome blog)

I was watching Broken Flowers this weekend (on a Jarmusch marathon lately), and the soundtrack largely revolves around Mulatu Astatke songs. I’ve always been a fan of his song Yèkèrmo Sèw, but never really thought to look into other songs. Ah, this movie did it for me. iTunes purchase minutes later, on repeat all weekend (luckily Billy finds it just as amazing as I do.) Tezeta is just so unbelievably beautiful. I want to listen to it while laying in the dark with my eyes closed, volume all the way up…

I don’t normally, but I thought I’d go in chronological order today with the photos. Some of my friends tease me that Bits Of My Weekend often times makes it look as though I have such constant awesome fun every weekend when they know that I did in fact not have constant awesome fun. I think that’s something a lot of bloggers project with their blog – this false sense of reality because you’re carefully curating a lovely gallery of your life. I’m so fascinated by that – the good and bad. Well, this weekend was definitely one of those not constant awesome fun weekends. But that’s not to say there wasn’t awesome fun. Let’s focus on the positive, which is my reason for not coming here and showing you the non-awesome parts. Positivity and my goal to bring more of it into my life.

Good things: having drinks at LIC bar with friends I haven’t seen in months and months (criminal) after Billy’s wonderful opening. The sun shining Saturday despite the temps dipping to freezing. Wendy having some sort of strange burst of love and cuddling under my chin not once, but twice! – A breakthrough in our relationship. Baking and its magical relaxing powers. My new camera lens (it’s probably wrong – the obsessive love I feel for that lens.) Ethiopian jazz on a cloudy Sunday morning (more on that later today.) Bringing superwoman strength into my life and making necklaces until my arms gave up. This is teaching me that I’m capable of dedication I didn’t know I possessed, and I’m going to stop joking with people about my “laziness” because I know that’s not true. Do I take the easy way out sometimes? Um, yes. But lazy? No. But I won’t lie, I can’t wait for that April 20th deadline to come. Thank you Lauren, for coming over and letting me teach you the necklace making secrets and taking some off my hands. You are good, young grasshopper.

Oh hello, bags; you are so lovely.

thank you Alison for bringing this store to my attention.

Stop by our ‘hood tomorrow evening for the Queens College MFA Studio Art opening at Dorsky Gallery. 5-8, and drinking at LIC bar will no doubt happen afterward. Here’s a peek (before it was finished) of Billy’s piece in the show. Does that insanity get you excited? I am. Especially because it’s happening literally behind our apartment.

I’m currently on a schedule of making necklaces for 4-5 hours a night for this big project I’m working on. It’s making me nauseated every time I look at a necklace now. But these stunning pieces by Marion Vidal make my heart skip a serious beat. They’re so inspiring, they give me hope that I won’t lose my love for making necklaces after this dang project is finished.

via kempt

Remember that longing for an American road trip I previously expressed? It’s in such full force lately. If I have my way (through my charming ways and vacation days saving) there will be one in the Fall, but until now I just daydream (there it is again, can you tell I’m stressed out lately?). These photos of epic train hopping journeys are a bit more roughing-it than I could handle these days, but completely blow my mind.

via a desert fete