fashion tip friday :: WEAR SOMETHING BIGGER

[Disclaimer] This is snarky and non-serious.  For actual great style advice, DIY ideas, fashion happenings, and lovely writing, visit Mo.  Fantastic personal stylist to the masses, an excellent cook, owner of the best laugh above (and below) the Mason Dixon line and an even better friend.

This all started when I got some super duper cute stamps at the post office yesterday.  I've had two thank you cards to send out for almost SIX WEEKS (inexcusable) because I refused to use the generic Forever Flag stamp...bleh.

So I finally got some King and Queen of Hearts (I'm feeling a little extra lovey) and sent the thank yous.  This morning I got letter writing happy and wrote to two super fashionable friends of mine: Chinae (NYC via Texas) and Elizabeth (Dallas via Kansas).  Both love themed occasions and frequently make up their own causing the common folk to witness false eyelashes, braided headbands and stilettos outside of Bryant Park.

So I pulled a couple cards I had in my stationary station and 'fashioned' a hand written goody for their reading and viewing pleasure.

Because both of these ladies are far superior in the cloaking department to myself, I thought it would be funny to give them fashion tips.

Here was Elizabeth's card ::
(Front and inside)

And Chinae's :: 

(Contents are censored for your safety.)

Let's hope their responses are blog worthy.

It's Friday night.  Put on something you feel really good in, try something new and have some fun.  Life is good.

[Post Script]

I had the most fun day ever had temping...EVER.  I'll write all about it on Tuesday, but for now, you can take a gander at the blog idea explosion that came around 3pm...and drinking champagne...AND eating a giant cupcake. 

i'm gonna...

...write on you.

i'm gonna do it...

do it...

do.

it.

just do it, for the love.

such a pansy.

so selfish not to share pictures on the hilariously unpredictable life i lead...facebook... right...that's facebook.

or up to the moment thoughts and activities...wait that's twitter.

so what do i write on a blog again?

i have no central theme.

i have no goal.

myself and my sisters are the only people who think i'm funny.

i am a woman who voluntarily left a great job for nannying, then temping, and maybe nannying again, who sleeps on a bottom bunk between the hummus kitchen and an irish dive bar, who bakes when anxious and when thinking of most men in nyc seeing a two pack of melba toast.

[right index finger shoots up into the air, mouth agape, eyes wiley]

BUT there are dreams. OH THE DREAMS! the dreams are so clear.

and the vision...the vision is in a wizard of oz technicolor that would make white house black market hang a rainbow flag in its front display window it was so inspired.

yes.

this is what to write about.

i will write about the dreams.

and the vision...

and the nannying...

and the temping...

and the bunk bed...

and the hummus kitchen and the irish dive bar and my over-active hostess disorder and how i bake to show people i love them and how i have a hard time telling people i love how i feel and my framily and NEW YORK CITY and texas and melba toast and how no one has privacy anymore and how we all are obsessed with media and surrounded by it and how do we live in it and how can we use it for good things and kids and old people and dance and how the body and the mind are so interconnected i can't even get over it and how art is therapy and redemption and sorrow and dreams and failures and love and loss.

yes.

i will write about these things.

starting...

tomorrow.

The Sounds of May

This month, I've been listening to the same play list with nearly no exceptions. Just to list a few ::

Fake Plastic Trees
Radiohead

You Can't Resist It
Lyle Lovett

It Ain't Necessarily So
Mary Lou Williams

Try a Little Tenderness
Otis Redding

Honey Dove
Lee Fields

Dear Chicago
Ryan Adams

Free, Single and Disengaged
Huey "Piano" Smith & his Clowns

White Winter Hymnal
Fleet Foxes

Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Please Read the Letter
Plant & Krauss

Wish
Paper Route

Dance on our Graves
Paper Route

North Dakota (Live)
Lyle Lovett and Rickie Lee Jones

*The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)
The Decemberists

Stay
Green River Ordinance

Your Love (Is Something I Need)
Lee Fields and the Explorers

Annie Mae
John Lee Hooker

Al Green's Greatest Hits [the whole enchilada]

Oh My Sweet Carolina (Live at SMU)
Ryan Adams

Start a War
The National

All I Want is You
U2

Kingdom of Rust
The Doves

The World That You Love
Jimmy Eat World

Second Hand News
Fleetwood Mac

Born to Move
Creedence Clearwater Revival

Check Your Bucket
Eddie Bo

I've Got Reasons
Mary Jane Hooper

Baby #2 + 2 days =

Paul David Mahaffey.

Approved.

Affectionately referred to as... (the thank you God and Google post)

Baby #2. (Name pending)

Specs:: 8lbs. 9 1/2 ounces - 19 1/2" long - red hair

The second son of Mac and ME (Mary Ellen) was...
birthed on this day
the 18th day of May
in a rather conventional way
which leaves me to say
hey #2, it's your first day
and that's not too shabb-ay.

There are a lot of days when it's stinking hard to be so far away from the Shuffles, days like this especially. But TODAY, much unlike the missed births of Bella (Washington D.C.) and Jacob (literally on a plane moving to NYC), I got to see #2 live tonight, albeit internet-ally, clean and sleepy and hang out with my sister and Mac...

and a nurse...

and Dr. Wilson...

So thank you Google for making video chat and thank you God for making people smart enough to make Google and thank you Mac and ME for making Baby #2.

Super excited.

Top night.

Napkin Art

Mike Puckett (Puc) is an artist, a LA sunshine junky, and my brother from another mother.

Puc draws on napkins...it's inspiration for his work...and has turned it into work in and of itself. He has hundreds and has even been the work of a gallery show or two. When he lived here in NYC, there was nary a meal time at a restaurant or home where a drawing was not penned post dinner much like the ritual of a leisurely coffee. Mostly, the drawings would be representative of the meal...who was there, where we were...capturing the feel of the time and space in his own unique way.

Well, it's been a while, but I got a napkin in the mail today and I squealed with joy. Without the meal, it reminds me of amazing times, some good old fashioned stress and tears, and a lot of laughter. That's one jam packed napkin.

"Honey, the Doves are here!"

Well, I guess in all reality they've been here for a while (shot taken March 2005). I had the great fortune to have the 4th and newest Doves album placed in my hands and into my thirsty ears before its release on the 6th of April. (You can listen to it in its entirety on their myspace.)

Sometimes it's difficult to listen with an impartial ear. I take into account that some albums may resonate more depending on the time of year or my emotional state upon the first listen. But gee whiz kids, Kingdom of Rust is electric in the best way possible. Layered, insightful and hopeful, pulling back just at the right moments only to barrel forward, floating effortlessly from the majors to the minors and back again...

I could split hairs and always come up with something I'm not crazy about, but I just...would be splitting hairs.

I highly suggest listening from top to bottom. Don't skip, don't repeat, don't even adjust the volume. Press play and step away.

On Shuffle's repeat ::

Jetstream
Kingdom of Rust
The Greatest Denier
Birds Fly Backwards
Lifelines

Enjoy.