$30 Thursdays: Dishtowels. Yes, dishtowels.

"Sweet!  Dishtowels!" you must be thinking.

Or not.

But, for real, there are some super-awesome dishtowels out there.  Looky here:

$18:

$16:

$18:

$10 (I have these.  My friends joke that I have scarves hanging on my oven door):

$26:

Almost makes me want to do some dishes.  Almost.

Wishlist Wednesdays: It's diamond day!

How rad is this vintage ring?
 

Um...I hate to ask...but does anyone have $20,000 I could borrow?

Wishlist Wednesdays: Diamond earrings

These diamond studs are so simple and lovely.  I want them in rose gold.

Tuesdays are for Traveling: Macchu Picchu

I can't wait to go here some day.

Canto XII from The Heights of Macchu Picchu

Arise to birth with me, my brother.
Give me your hand out of the depths
sown by your sorrows.
You will not return from these stone fastnesses.
You will not emerge from subterranean time.
Your rasping voice will not come back,
nor your pierced eyes rise from their sockets.
Look at me from the depths of the earth,
tiller of fields, weaver, reticent shepherd,
groom of totemic guanacos,
mason high on your treacherous scaffolding,
iceman of Andean tears,
jeweler with crushed fingers,
farmer anxious among his seedlings,
potter wasted among his clays--
bring to the cup of this new life
your ancient buried sorrows.
Show me your blood and your furrow;
say to me: here I was scourged
because a gem was dull or because the earth
failed to give up in time its tithe of corn or stone.
Point out to me the rock on which you stumbled,
the wood they used to crucify your body.
Strike the old flints
to kindle ancient lamps, light up the whips
glued to your wounds throughout the centuries
and light the axes gleaming with your blood.
I come to speak for your dead mouths.
Throughout the earth
let dead lips congregate,
out of the depths spin this long night to me
as if I rode at anchor here with you.
And tell me everything, tell chain by chain,
and link by link, and step by step;
sharpen the knives you kept hidden away,
thrust them into my breast, into my hands,
like a torrent of sunbursts,
an Amazon of buried jaguars,
and leave me cry: hours, days and years,
blind ages, stellar centuries.

And give me silence, give me water, hope.

Give me the struggle, the iron, the volcanoes.

Let bodies cling like magnets to my body.

Come quickly to my veins and to my mouth.

Speak through my speech, and through my blood.

                                                  ~ Pablo Neruda

Music and Movie Mondays: Best cover song ever?

Oh, yes.

This puts me in a great mood every single time I hear it. 

What are your favorites?

Fridays are for Families: If I could teach Violet anything...

...it would be that.

(image via marvelous kiddo)

$30 Thursdays: Color pop!

How about these babies? 

$30 Thursdays: Calendars

2012 is just around the corner...

$30:

$28:

$30 (A birthday calendar. So handy!):

$32 (OK, it's $2 overbudget, but it's so awesome that I couldn't NOT include it):



Wishlist Wednesdays: allen company inc.

My favorite online vintage shop. 

Here and here.

I just bought this 1970s fair isle sweater from them:

Wishlist Wednesdays: Wishing these cups were still available

How awesome are these?  Totally weird and beautiful at the same time.  My favorite combination.

Let's all write Natalia and tell her she must make more of these lovelies!

Tuesdays are for Traveling: Airport outfits

What do you wear when you travel?  I like to look reasonably put together while staying comfortable.  So, my go-to outfit is a silk maxi dress with flip flops and a cardigan. 

If you want to see how the stars travel, you can check out this website, devoted entirely to celebrity airport stylings.

Miranda Kerr looks just adorable:

I love Cameron Diaz' white luggage:

I'm not sure what exactly John Mayer's trying to do with that hat:

And, finally, just your basic traveling outfit:

Music and Movie Mondays: I'll Kill Her by SoKo

Judging from the number of youtube views (over a million!), I bet a few of you have seen this before.  I thought it was charming and hilarious.  But lots of other people described it as "beautiful" or "haunting" or "disturbing."  What's your take?

Fridays are for Families: Family reunion t-shirts

These awesome t-shirts make me want to organize a family reunion. And I REALLY don't want to organize a family reunion.

Fridays are for Families: FaceTime

This post is probably a little out of date, but here goes.

I have to travel all the time for work--sometimes a week at a time--and it's tough being away from my family.  My babe is only eight months old, so it's not like we can chat on the phone while I'm gone.  So, we splurged and bought an iPad2 for the Facetime. 

Game-changer. 

Facetime is like Skype but it's SO EASY.  (Some of you might be thinking "Um, Skype is pretty easy, too."  But I'm a technology dinosaur. ;)) You just click on the app and dial either a Mac or another iPad2 or an iPhone and voila!  It's made my work schedule so much more bearable.

So thank you, Steve Jobs.  You've made my life so much better.  Rest in peace.

$30 Thursdays: Orange is the Sun

I just adore these pieces from Orange is the Sun:


$24:

$28: 

$30:

$30:

And if you're looking to spend more than $30, check out this one:

Wishlist Wednesdays: No.6 Store

No. 6 Store makes the best dresses.  This is one of my recent faves:

This tank is pretty cool, too:



Tuesdays are for Traveling: Safari!

When I was a teenager, my family took a trip to Kenya and Tanzania.  My aunt lived in Nairobi while she was working for CARE, so we had a fascinating inside look at what it's like to live there.  In addition to experiencing the local culture, though, we went to the Maasai Mara for a photographic safari.  I'm sure it was incredible but all I can remember is being a mortified 13-year old watching lions mate with my parents.  (To be clear, the lions weren't mating with my parents.  I was just with my parents watching lions mate with each other.  Now that I think about this, it could have been MUCH worse.)

Now that I'm all grown up (and then some), I think I could better appreciate nature in action.  How amazing do these uber-luxe places look?

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Tanzania

Singita Sabi Sand, Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa

Singita Kruger National Park, Sweni Lodge, South Africa

ol Donyo Lodge, Mbirikani Group Ranch, Kenya

Mombo and Little Mombo Camps, Okavango Delta, Botswana

Singita Grumeti Reserves, Sasakwa Lodge and Faru Faru Lodge, Tanzania

So many options!

If you don't have a boatload of cash and two weeks of vacation time saved up, you could also check out this place near Glenrose, Texas:

Just like an African safari?  Maybe not.  But I went with my nieces last year and they LOVED it!  Getting to feed the giraffes even made me feel like a kid again.

Music and Movie Mondays: In celebration of vinyl

Beau and I have become obsessed with our record player lately.  Is there anything better than sitting around, listening to records after the baby goes to bed?  I don't think so. 

Now, does it actually sound better?  Or does it just feel better?  Who knows.  Please don't make me do a taste test--if it doesn't actually sound better, I don't want to know.

Here are a few essentials for your vinyl collection:



Best live album ever recorded.  Hands down.



My favorite cover art ever.

Of course.

I love all things Otis.  Buy every album you can find.  Every single one.

Such a great live EP.  I wish I had been at that party!