Ending the week with a bang! Baby bangs, do or don't?

Enter the Baby Bangs. Yo Landi from Die Antwoord. 

Amelie. The haircut that launched a thousand trips to the salon and shortly thereafter, caused a seas worth of tears to fall.

Zoe Kravitz and a Lisbeth Salander lookalike.  (or is that Rooney Mara??)

Somehow, I always thought that Baby Bangs were the unfortunate result of an accidental slip of the scissors during a bang trim. Yet, these chicks seem to pull it off. I can't help but wonder if this style would be as "banging" out of the editorial setting.  Like say, a makeup free, tee shirt and sweatpants kind of day...think about it.  You'd look more like an insane asylum escapee than an adorable Amelie devotee.  At any rate, that's the problem with uber trendy styles--they don't always translate to the every day.

More on Baby Bangs on Refinery29.

Wedding Timelapse

Joe & Sarah Wedding Timelapse from Sarah Bardin on Vimeo.

Signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours!

A big shout out and thank you to The Flashdance for shooting and creating such a fun peek into our wedding.

Happy belated Valetine's Day!

Photos of my husband and I on our wedding day.  By the divine, Max Wanger.

To all the lovers. May your hearts be forever afloat.

Ending the week with a bang! Cleopatra edition.

Just try and resist, Marc Anthony.

Two cuts of bangs come to mind when I think of Cleopatra: Elizabeth Taylor's version, and everybody else's.  First and foremost is, of course, Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra; cut to hit about an inch and a half above the brows, curving downward at the temples.  Sort of the reverse of the Bettie Page. Alternatively, I also think of what I call the broom cut.  Extremely straight, blunt cut, with no curvature.  See below:

I'm currently sporting a self cut, shorter rendition of the latter style.  Take caution when cutting your own bangs though.  If you're bold enough to try, always, ALWAYS, cut when your hair is dry. Friends of mine haven't fared as well when cutting with wet hair.  

My forehead has donned a tamer version of the original Cleo too.  Check it out:

Look at that side boob.

I thought I had a cut that was closer to Elizabeth Taylor's Cleo...guess not.  This is the closest I could find and I am more comfortable calling this the Rainbow, or the diet Mountain Dew to the more EXTREME regular Mountain Dew of ET's Cleo. More on the Rainbow next week.

Until then, keep it bangin'!

Why this is not a food blog, in pictures

When it comes to cooking, I like to think I fall somewhere in the middle on the efficacy spectrum from cereal competent to executive chef.  For generations, people have strived to be decent home cooks, but I wonder if this comparative tendency is new. Has questioning our cooking competence become par for the course in the age of the Food Network and Top Chef?  Thanks to the rise of celebrity chefs and multiple food focused TV programs, we've all become more conscious of our own cooking skills (or lack thereof) with some of us becoming food famous in our own right thanks to the world of blogging.  While I have a pretty extensive repertoire of meals I can prepare, I don't see myself ever tossing my hat in the ring of competitive cooking or food blogging.  

Here's why:

It begins innocently enough.  Coffee beans with a dash of cinnamon.

Some EVOO in the pan

Onion chop chop

Coffee break in my sweet House of Targaryean mug 

Onions in the pan

Portobellos, baby

You get the drill

Saute city

Three eggs and a dash of skim milk for fluffiness

Getting there

Time for the eggs

Extra sharp white cheddar

Sweet baby jesus we're almost done...

...and then it all falls apart.  Is it just me or does my omelette look like the fake plastic vomit you ordered out of those gag "magic trick" catalogs when you were a kid?

Sh%t.  Well, if it's any consolation, it tasted really delicious. 

PS - This was an omelette made for two. I'm not training for an Iron Man.

Introducing: Ending the week with a bang!

Made so popular by the vampy pin up this style of bangs has the same name as the woman herself.

To help me keep up with more frequent blog posts, I'm initiating a weekly Friday post called, "Ending the week with a bang!" I started this blog because I was (and still am) obsessed with bangs. Also known as forehead fringe, I simply find bangs delightful. The side swoop, the rainbow, theater curtains, the broom, you name it, I love it! You'll have to wait to see each of these iterations featured in their own post because I am kicking off the series with the queen of all bangs, Bettie Page herself!   The Bettie Page is cut to hit at the mid forehead and curve up towards the temples.  Katy Perry rocks a modern day smurfy version below.

Comparative History

Yikes.  I've seriously been neglecting this blog.  New year's resolution? To blog once a week.  Is that too lenient a goal? Nah, I think it's a reasonable and actually attainable.  Since my last entry, I've gotten married, completed my first semester of graduate school, purchased a home, traveled to Thailand, and those are just the BIG things.  But let's not look back.

Rather, let's examine the present and the state of winter in Western Mass.  Last year around this time it looked like this:

Three feet of snow in our backyard at this time last year. 

"A dead person could be down there and we wouldn't know until spring." This was a thought that danced around my head all winter...there was that much f*cking snow.

Obligatory shot of Subaru. Subarus in the Happy Valley are like BMWs in Beverly Hills.

Keep in mind that we moved so the house is not the constant in this comparison.  The house is the variable and the time of year is the constant. Got it? Also, I'm now using the photo editing and sharing site Instagram so my pics look, in my opinion, processed but better. Here we go:

Beyond a line of trees at the end of our cul de sac is this ginormous field. Perfect for cross country skiing and snow shoeing...when there is snow.

Our home. See that pile of snow? Yeah. We're the only people on the block who still have any snow. After a few inches fell, I convinced Joe that we needed to shovel our driveway. Mind you, we were the only knuckleheads on the block shoveling, as everyone else knew that it would melt away in a few days. Hence, the remaining pile.

See? Everyone else was clued into the melting action.  That snow there? More leftovers from my genius idea.

Talk about extremes right? And some people still try to argue against global warming? I call those people bozos. Like the clown.

Robin's Roost

Early construction

The eggs are laid!

Makes you crave an Easter whooper, eh?

Once the weather started getting a bit warmer, I moved our plants outside to our second floor porch.  Being spring in New England, the over night temps can still dip into the freezing range so on a colder night a few weeks ago, I asked Joe to bring the plants inside.  "What is this?" I hear Joe inquire from the kitchen.  "I think there's a nest in here," he says as he brings the hanging plant into the living room.  I peek inside and sure enough--an early stage of a bird's nest had begun taking shape in our Pothos plant.  We cackle in unified excitement about the prospect of a little bird building a nest right outside our kitchen door!  And sure enough over the next week we watch the little red robin finish up her nest and lay her eggs, which she is currently incubating day and night.  In about a week we should have three baby birds chirping away on our porch.  Spring truly has arrived!

Metropol Parasol

The Metropol Parasol in Seville, Spain is finally complete just four years after it's inaugural plank was laid.  So breathtaking.  It's waffle like structure reminds me of a multilevel bird nest.  The world's largest bird nest that is.  The space is also multipurpose and will be used utilized as an:  archeological site, farmers market, elevated plaza, as well as host multiple bars and restaurants.  I anticipate a Spanish vacation in my future...

Florida, MA and a hairpin turn

Florida, MA sign going west on the Mohawk Trail

Absurd Florida, MA sign--Snow man and palm trees?  Really Troop 76?

Wacky hairpin turn driving down Florida Mountain into North Adams

In February, I started a weekly commute from Northampton to Williamstown for a contract gig at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.  There are numerous ways to get from point A to point B and none of them are very direct or on a major freeway for more than a few miles.  For example, I could take the 9, to the 112, to the 116, to the 8, and finally, to the 2, which would dump me off in Williamstown.  OR, I could take the 9 to the 143, to the 8, to the 7, also resulting in a Williamstown arrival.  My favorite of late happens to be the longest mileage but shortest duration is the picturesquely scenic Mohawk Trail route; the I-91, to the 2 (aka the Mohawk Trail)!  The Mohawk Trail twists, turns, spools, then unfurls, races against two different rivers, then climbs the microcosm that is Mount Florida.  The descent opens with a shocking 360 degree hairpin turn before you are whisked down the mountain into the industrial town of North Adams, Williamstown's blue collar neighbor.  At first, I found the drive sort of stressful and therefore, exhausting.  But after a few rounds at bat, I'm getting more and more comfortable and have started to really enjoy the natural beauty that envelopes me from all sides.  The Berkshires are known as the purple mountains and this morning I got my first peek as to why.  At a mid journey crest, I turned a corner to find a glorious Grimus colored purple peak staring down at me and fell a little more in love with New England.

just in time for spring

Found via {wit + delight}

A delightful and necessary addition to any afternoon bike riding adventure--a six pack holder for your bicycle!  That bike is pretty rad too...

Watercolor wedding

Fun with watercolors!

Final product

<3

Today's project was a trial of the watercolor escort map pins I'm DIYing for our upcoming nuptials.  I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.  Now, I just need the final guest count and I'll send them to the printer!

RIP LCD

Member's Only? Me and Joe in matching white members only jackets.

Arcade Fire joined James Murphy on stage to sing backup for "All My Friends"

White balloon explosion

NYC for LCD at MSG!  We had an absolute blast at the final LCD Soundsystem show at Madison Square Garden.  Joe's brother Jon, and his wife Ali, were excellent pre-gaming and dancing companions for the evening--so much so that we were all a little beer hazy and sore the following morning. LCD's set capped out at a solid four hours.  James Murphy filled every minute with his beat happy, booty shaking hits--it seemed not a single one was left unplayed, giving both the fans and the band members themselves a proper chance to say goodbye.  He closed the set with a beautiful ode to NYC, using cityscape and cloud images that LCD requested fans to submit a few days before the final show.  As the final note was played, the release of white balloons suspended from nets above the floor seats seemed to symbolize a reverse ascent as LCD passed on, into music history.  While they may cease to produce new music as a group, their records will have a place in all of our Itunes for years to come.