thanksgiving

since it's nearly christmas, i'd better post about thanksgiving.

i didn't take a ton of pictures because i was in between cameras. these are all taken with my sister's iPod touch. the camera is actually pretty decent.

we ended up driving down to the bay area this year to visit family. one of my sisters flew in from utah but my other sister stayed in hawaii. there were only three of us girls in the car so the drive was easy and quick.

it was so nice to stay at my aunt and uncle's house and not have to worry about hotels and meals. my aunt even made vegetarian chili and lasagna! i felt so welcome and it was fun to see everyone.

i was so excited to be able to sight-see in san francisco. i made a list of things to see, including the painted ladies (houses on full house), alcatraz, the golden gate bridge, coit tower, union square, and ghirardelli square. we didn't end up going to alcatraz because it was really expensive and super cold. definitely our first stop next time, though.




the painted ladies were beautiful, but shorter and wider than i had remembered from full house. the years have been tough on them. just kidding, they were great.








nearly all of my pictures are of the buildings. everything was so whimsical and painted lots of colors. love it.



these were mosaics on some random street. they were amazing.




this mural was a block long and divided into different sections. we were driving so i didn't get great pictures, but you get the idea.



i went to the foremost expert on san francisco, jordan ferney of oh happy day! to find some restaurant recommendations. we ended up going to tartine bakery where we had delicious croissants, something called a gougere [gruyere cheese and pepper] and
hot chocolate. since it was really busy and they only had three tables, we walked down the street to another recommended restaurant, pizzeria delfina. we had to wait forever but the food was amazing. my mom especially loved her beet salad while i enjoyed the pizza with tomatoes, cream, and basil. our table was on the sidewalk so we did a little people watching while we ate.




we did a little exploring while we were waiting for lunch and stumbled across this gem of a store, the apartment. it was something of an antiques store, with furniture, records, vintage children's toys, and magazines from the 50s and 60s. the coolest part was their collection of used postcards. we browsed through boxes and boxes of postcards, reading the little messages on the back. my sister found ones from the 1910s! some of the postcards were funny, some were romantic, and some were poignant and heartbreaking. it was so fun to imagine what these people were like and made me want to write little notes like that more often.



this was a bookcase full of old encyclopedia brittanicas.


close up of the encyclopedias. [encyclopaedias, to be exact.]


vintage typewriter.


even older typewriter. this one was huge!


closeup of the keys.



we passed this art store on the way back that had one of those models sticking out of the side. i wanted to climb up and move it into fun positions. definitely need to get one of those for my desk.

we also went to britex fabrics, recommended by diana. what an amazing store! four floors of fabrics, ribbons, buttons, and more! i didn't take any pictures, but if you click on diana's link, you'll get an idea of just how much stuff there was. i loved how everything was arranged by color. it was fun to see what everyone was buying in the store and thinking that there were probably past and future project runway people there!

we drove to ghirardelli square and bought chocolate bars and really really good hot chocolate. that was probably my favorite place we went because it was dark by that time and everything was all lit up and so pretty. you could look across the bay and see alcatraz and the bridges. i loved it. and of course i didn't get any pictures.

i loved san francisco and can't wait to go back.

let's debrief.

i am always so excited for new fall tv shows, but also a little stressed because there's always too many shows and not enough time to watch them. this year i did a little editing and dropped a few shows that i could live without and made room for some new ones. i can tell the shows that i like the most because i watch them right away each week and can't wait for the next episode. here are those shows that i can't wait to watch:

Ringer



i cannot tell you how excited i was to hear that SMG was coming back to tv. this show is scary good and suspenseful and the mystery just keeps getting better and better.

2 Broke Girls



i started watching this out of curiosity and keep watching it because it is so funny. full of innuendos and double entendres, this is for sure not one to watch with little ones but i am loving it. i love the odd couple-y vibe and the fact that kat dennings makes me cry-laugh.

Person of Interest



this show has such a great cast and premise that even if it was bad, it'd still be so good. but it is actually so well done. i love jim caviezel from back in the days of count of monte cristo and of course, michael emerson killed it as ben linus, so they're brilliant. the stories are exciting and rich and it feels like a movie every week.

Hart of Dixie



now, don't laugh. this show is never going to win any awards or be critically acclaimed, but it is so fun to watch and makes me happy inside. that's enough, right? i love rachel bilson and am happy to see her back on tv. i'm pretty sure no one really buys her as a successful surgeon, but it is fun watching her stumble through it. what i really love is the character that jaime king plays-- a great combination of gone with the wind southern belle and 1940s movie star. her outfits are incredible, take a look.


http://backtoclassfashion.blogspot.com/2011/10/hart-of-dixie-fashion-lemon-breeland.html
i'm going to have to do a whole post devoted to those outfits. to be continued.


Unforgettable



did you watch without a trace back in the day? i'm pretty sure it was just me and my grandma but it was good, and i loved poppy montgomery on it, in her blonder days. now she's back on tv, as a redhead and with ridiculously buff arms. if you've seen it, you know what i'm talking about. apparently she is only allowed to wear tank tops so we can all be flabbergasted by her arm muscles. anyways, this show has a fun premise: a detective who remembers everything. this might get old after a while but i'm still enjoying it.

New Girl



seriously, how could you not love a show with zooey deschanel? while i despise her new tagline: "she's adorkable!" this show could not be more fun. she bursts into songs, is socially awkward, and of course wears the cutest clothes. i really love the relationship between her and the guys and am secretly hoping she and nick get together. this last episode was especially funny and delightful.


up all night



confession: i didn't love this show at first. i had to warm up to it. which is weird because i love maya rudolph and get such a kick out of christina applegate. perhaps my expectations were too high. but five-ish episodes later, i am fully converted. it's kooky but so funny. side note: did you guys watch christina's last show, samantha who? that was great tv.

Pan Am

my mom and i have recently started watching this show and we both love it. the characters are interesting and compelling and the period details are so fun--my mom had to explain what a girdle was-- and once again, the fashion is amazing. i also give them credit for making me cry twice in one episode--one time, just looking at a character's expression got me. sheesh.

not yet on the list:
i've been watching a bit of Whitney and Prime Suspect but haven't reached a verdict yet. there's
also a new show called Grimm that's set and filmed here in Portland but there's only been one episode. too soon to tell.


but what i want to know is what are you watching? what do you love? have you watched any of these shows? what do you think? are you as obsessed with the clothes as i seem to be? spill.

i caved.

i'm one of those people that doesn't like to do something if everyone else is doing it. i'm stubborn that way, i guess. it took me forever to read harry potter and now i've joined the bandwagon on yet another series: the hunger games. still not jumping on the twilight train. gotta draw the line somewhere.

the great thing about joining late in the game is that you don't have to wait for the books to come out. i'm a genius, really. anyways, everyone and their mom has been telling me to read these books but i was convinced i wouldn't like a book where kids have to kill each other. i've been proven wrong. i'm now on the third book and have really enjoyed them so far. while i admit the subject matter is not very light and cheery, it makes for some seriously page-turning stuff! i'm trying to savor this last book and i'm very nervous about how it will all end. i don't want to be disappointed!

i started about a month ago so i knew about the movie and who was playing the main characters but i tried to forget about that and just read. the other day i was getting really curious who some of the other characters were going to be and stumbled upon this article from entertainment weekly [if you like tv, books, or movies at all you should subscribe to this magazine, i love it!]

they've released posters featuring the most prominent characters from the book. i thought i'd round them all up and give you a sneak peek! the article has the specific links for each picture. i couldn't find photo credit info for each picture, however.


































while i didn't really picture lenny kravitz being the kind of person to play a character from a young adult series, i feel pretty good about all of these actors. i think the movie is going to be great and i can't wait to see a preview!

what about you? have you read the books? are you excited for the movie?


i'll leave you with this awesome collage of the posters.


from ign.com

marcel the shell

do you remember this guy?




here's the link also because i've been having trouble with videos lately: http://youtu.be/VF9-sEbqDvU

marcel is a tiny little shell with the cutest voice: jenny slate from SNL. remember her doorbell sketch?



i miss her! anyways, this video made the rounds a while back and i just heard that marcel is going to be a children's book! read the full article here from entertainment weekly.

taylor swift!

my sisters and i have been big taylor fans since the beginning, but we'd never seen her live. she came to portland last year on her fearless tour but the tickets sold out way too fast. this time, i knew when the tickets went on sale and i was waiting patiently at the computer. they sold out in minutes. it was insane! i was only able to buy three tickets and it was a group of two and one single. i could only take two of my sisters and we couldn't sit together. our seats were really great though and it was such an amazing show. my two little sisters were in the first section off of stage left so most of the pictures are from them.

i was on the floor, but way in the back so i didn't have the best view. i did, however, get to see taylor when she walked around, greeting the audience.



she was within touching distance but i refrained. i thought that would have been weird. she sounded really great live and had so much energy. she had no less than 10 costume changes, all dresses. my favorite thing was her red lipstick. and she was so tiny!



towards the end of the show she came around the back and sang a few songs on this mini stage. it was great because i could actually see her. bad thing was that they put up ropes to prevent the crazies from storming the stage so i couldn't go grab my camera from my sisters. i was just left with my crummy cell phone camera. still kicking myself.



when she sang Love Story she flew around the room in this little balcony. she was right above my head when i took this.


for Back to December, confetti snow came down all over the audience.


the stage was incredible. each song had a specific theme and there were dancers and acrobats doing crazy stuff.



she made this face a lot, acting like she was surprised that the crowd was so loud and excited. hard to imagine that many people paying to see you sing.



i think this was her first dress. fun and flapper-ish, but was not a fan of the boots. she had another cute dress that was white, lacy, and sort of vintage-y that she wore with oxfords. wish i got a good picture of that.



for Speak Now, they staged a little wedding and had taylor and her back-up singers in 50s style dresses singing doo-wop style up above. so cute.

josh kelley was the first opening act and he sounded so great live. i loved his music before but was even more impressed by how good he was in person. and so cute!

needtobreathe was the other opening act and i really liked them. kind of a southern rock sound, and great performers.


i had so much fun and it was really exciting to see her in person. this music video is basically her concert edited down to 3 minutes, if you want an idea of what it was like. everything was exactly the same except there was no water. guess you can't make it rain in the rose garden. in oregon.

happy birthday, it's the emmys!

so the emmys are always on a sunday, but this year they were on my birthday! and my twenty-fifth birthday, to boot! someone knows me well.

did you watch?

while i was sad that friday night lights didn't win best drama, i was so happy for lead actor kyle chandler and writer jason katims! so much love for that show.

holy charlie sheen awkwardness! i was totally holding my breath the whole time he was talking. can you come back from crazytown? don't think so.

jane lynch was a good host. could have been funnier, but at least she wasn't mean funny. that's no fun. did you like her?

awesome opener-- loved the walking through tv sets, such a fun idea.

anything else i missed? i didn't take notes so that's all i remember.

on to the important stuff:

so much red this year, right? do you love it? i would be hesitant to match the red carpet, but i bet no one was looking at that with these ladies walking on it. stunning!


nina dobrev. i just love her and her show, the vampire diaries. totally teared up in the premiere. and i think she looks amazing. love her hair and the neckline of the dress. so glamorous!


sofia vergara. love the detailing on the dress, and it's such a beautiful color on her. not a fan of the jewelry, but who cares, right?


kate winslet. maybe my favorite. love everything about it.


lea michele. this one has an awesome back but i couldn't find a good picture of it.


kaley cuoco. i love the shoulder detail. and the shoes are so fun, don't you think? plus, her dad was her date! too cute.


heather morris. if you've been reading my awards post for a while, you know i love dresses like this. so romantic and flowy. and a beautiful color. just might have done the hair differently.


evan rachel wood. wow. this one is just a hair behind kate's for my favorite dress. it's so glittery! and i love the boatneck shape.



elisabeth moss. gorgeous detailing.

and the parks & rec girls:

rashida jones. great bodice, great shape.


amy poehler. so different, so fun!


aubrey plaza. i love the halter shape of this dress so much, but maybe in a different color. if you can't tell, the bodice has a ruffled detail on it. love it. and her hair and makeup look great.


emily blunt. just cause.


julia stiles. i love this color and the detailing of the bodice. and the neckline is so cool, but i would love it even more if she hiked it up a bit.