lyricist, part I

i've been attempting to compile a list of my all-time favorite lyrics. lyrics that make me wish i was a songwriter. lyrics that, to this day, even if they are 20 years old, still tug at my heartstrings. i've always been a lyrics-slut. lyrics, to me, can change an entire song from something i hated at first listen, to a song i've loved forever. so, presented with very little comment, here are some of my all-time favorite lyrics EVER. in no particular order.

"now i write when i'm away letters that you'll never read / you said go explore those other women the geography of their bodies / but there's just one map you'll need / you're a boomerang you'll see / you will return to me."
- Bright Eyes, You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.

"separate the ones who know you / from the ones who couldn't bother to see you for all that you are"
- Tilly and the Wall, I Always Knew
i could quote this entire song, but i'll save you that. suffice to say it's perfection.

"'cos maybe / you're gonna be the one that saves me / and after all / you're my wonderwall" - Oasis, Wonderwall

"i'd do it if i could / i hope you know i would"
- Buffalo Tom, Late at Night
okay, does everyone remember the My So-Called Life episode where Rayanne and Angela go to the Buffalo Tom concert? this song is playing in the background when Angela is desperately trying to talk to Jordan. i searched for it for Y.E.A.R.S. because i didn't want to buy a whole goddamn album. this. this song. still sums up my life.

"time cast a spell on you but you wont forget me / i know i could've loved you but you would not let me / i'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you / you'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you"
- Fleetwood Mac, Silver Springs

"and it's easier in nighttime / when you've had too much whisky maybe too much wine / and you wake up in the morning / and you have to look at him / so you stare at your spoon / your upside-down reflection"
- Tilly and the Wall, Hidden Track after The Ice Storm, Big Gust, and You

"polly ann only has herself to please / she has no use for your ring or your keys / just a pocket knife / and a hole in her heart / painter's brush / an astral chart / and a music box that was broken from the start."
- Reigning Sound, Polly Ann

"she said she'd never seen someone so lost / i said i'd never felt so found"
- The Good Life, Album of the Year
it was hard for me to pick a lyric out of this song. but i think this one adequately sums up the song. though, it does have the best opening line ever with "the first time that i met her i was throwin' up in the ladies room stall."

"cos i don't want to get over love / i could listen to my therapist / pretend you don't exist / and not have to dream of what i dream of"
- The Magnetic Fields, I Don't Want to Get Over You

inspiring

i love hand painted letters, and i love the work of Baron Von Fancy. it's irreverent and cheeky. follow him on Instagram. i'm saving up for a print or two - but they are hella cheap for art, so snap them up.

listening

i'm all over the map these days, but the map includes the following:

Typhoon, White Lightning

Schoolboy Q, Oxymoron

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Sdtk

consuming

Hello Kitty USB Hand-warmers

i think i might need these for work... i can expense that, right?

LA ALL DAY

so, i was lucky enough to get some fun in the sun (and some food poisoning - yay!) whilst i was in LA a couple of weekends ago. here's a recap!

first, i have the best friends in the world. they arranged for me to stay with them at a new hotel in koreatown, called the Line. it was magic. the view was unreal - we could see all of the hollywood hills including the hollywood sign AND the griffith observatory. we were on the 12th floor, and it felt like the top of the world (kind of. maybe not that tall. but you get the point.)

i highly recommend you try this place out. the drinks at the bar were solid, the rooms were cozy, and apparently they'll be opening a pool. it's also super centrally located.

we went to Wacko's/La Luz de Jesus of course, and found the most amazing piece ever. had it not been sold, i would've bought it on the spot.

Cheyenne Ngyun, Well Hello, Motherfucker

unfortunately, i can't seem to locate the artist anywhere online - any help, please? thanks!

the highlight for the weekend for me was seeing my BFF, of course. but also getting to see the James Turrell retrospective at the LACMA.

this is an illegal shot. shh, don't call the art police.

it was inspiring, overwhelming, and exciting, just like good art should be. Ganzfeld, one of the pieces, was a light-filled room that you entered. again, much like the Turrell in Naoshima, it was incredibly trippy and felt like you were Mike TeeVee from Willy Wonka. you can see the brochure for the exhibition, here. there are better pictures in the pamphlet. i also bought the book because i can't stop myself.

it was entirely too short of a trip, and now i have to make arrangements to go back to see the Mike Kelley retrospective at MOCA. anyone like to join?

love

happy valentine's day, lovelies. i'm working on new things for this here blog, i promise. for now, here's some love inspo.

playlist, 02.14.14 (in no particular order) Bloodbuzz Ohio, The National
Cosmic Love (live), Florence + the Machine
I'll Try Anything Once (live), Julian Casablancas
Sweet Child O' Mine (cover), Taken by Trees
Drunk in Love, Beyonce
We Move Lightly, Dustin O'Halloran
Crazy, Patsy Cline
Teenage Dream, Katy Perry
Polly Anne, Reigning Sound
Here Comes Your Man, The Pixies
When I'm Small, Phantogram
This Love is Fucking Right, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
I Always Knew, Tilly and the Wall

golden globes top picks

half of me really wanted JLaw to show up like this:

but, she looks much classier with this. and that hair! and those red lips! yes, JLaw wins AGAIN. the bitch.

Lupita Nyong'o in Ralph Lauren. A CAPE. WHO DOESN'T LOVE A CAPE?

Zooey Deschanel. i don't love this. but i don't hate it. but i have FEELINGS about it. i love love love the shoes. i hate hate hate the fucking flower hair. maybe just the styling is off?? but i want to eat it. FEELINGS.

who the fuck is this. i don't know, i don't care. it's FUCKING LOVELY even if it's just too spring for january.

what were your top looks? are we excited about awards season? are we excited that JLaw might win another oscar? i know i am!

inspiring

the illustrations of Jules Julien.

consuming

it's that time of year again, so of course i start coveting lovely things.

Jony Ive redesigned the Leica for a (RED) auction - it went for 1.8 million USD. it is quite lovely.

Materials + Process Sacagawea Carryall. made to order, in SF. i've been ogling this bag for the past few years. it's way out of my price range, but isn't it lovely?

not your standard diamond earrings, by Sarah Loertscher. bonus = they are conflict free. buy them for me at Of A Kind.

Issues sweatshirt by Baron von Fancy for Reformation.

this officially makes me a nerd, but i don't care. it's Capitol Couture (yes, that capitol) by Hunger Games fashion designer Trish Summerville. and it's a gorgeous cuff. le sigh.

inspiring

Damien Hirst for Alexander McQueen. not Hirst's first collaboration in fashion, but definitely one of the more promising. the butterfly paintings certainly lend themselves to the scarves, but i do recall owning a Pit Er Pat skull poster a few years back that looked oddly like the skull-bug scarves... still, arresting and ethereal.

beat your face

it's the holidaze, so i'm looking for some makeup / hair inspiration. i'm heading to palm desert for xmas, so i'll need s warm weather look, yet still festive.

nude lip, light blush, but shockingly red nails? perhaps.

3.1 Phillip Lim beauty, F2013

Rochas beauty, F2012

copper, with dark, oxblood lip. loving the wet, metallic look.

horoscope

stolen from McSweeney's

Lexapro

You’ll feel a rush of warmth and energy today that’ll enable you to finally finish that creative project you’ve put off. This is because you accidentally took two doses and are in the grips of serotonin syndrome. Seek medical help immediately. Today, your lucky psychiatrist will put his hand on your knee while showing you photos of his daughter.

witchy style

sorry for the lack of posts - some day i'll be back. until then, perhaps start watching American Horror Story: Coven.

YES.

happy halloween!

Edgar Allen Ho:

you're welcome. via Jezebel.

girl crush: blondes

curly bleached hair problems

i decided to take the plunge and go full-on bleached-out peroxide blonde. i have naturally curly hair which is very temperamental. this was not the best idea in terms of the health of my hair, of course. in fact, it took a few weeks for it to stop freaking out and look half-way decent when it was down. i scoured the internet before and after bleaching and found anything by way of a complete hair tutorial for specifically bleached curly girls. so, here's my take.

special shout out to my beauty bible, The Beauty Department. their hair bootcamp guide really gave me some fantastic ideas.

first, don't freak out because your hair feels exactly like Barbie's. this is the price you pay. suck it up, and wear a loose bun and/or braid for a few days. try to avoid the dreaded and evil ponytail holder, because it might cause breakage.

second, have at your disposal, BEFORE YOU BLEACH, a super-moisturizing hair mask. i used Heaven in Hair by devacurl. it smells delicious and it is so luxe.

leave it on for a half hour/45 minutes/hour. you really can't leave it on long enough. i think the biggest hurdle of bleached hair is getting it moisturized and, dare i say, "dirty" again. think about it - curly hair looks best when you don't shampoo every day, and you let the natural oils take over, and calm your locks. when you bleach it, you strip all of that out. so, you've got to put it back in.

third, make your own oil treatment. i used The Beauty Department's recipe of a 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup jojoba oil, and 1/4 cup olive oil. i also added some drops of lily of the valley fragrance oil, because it smelled like pasta. put gobs of it all up in your wet or dry hair. comb it through. get it all up in there, so it feels like an oily mess. do this on a saturday where you're not going anywhere in particular. slap it in a braid and bam, leave it. add more at night if you'd like. don't wash it out until the next day. and then, don't bother with shampoo. just let it chill. in fact, just don't bother with shampoo for the next week or two.

fourth, you're gonna need an everyday conditioner, since wearing oil in your hair all day everyday is just not cute. i recommend the EverSleek line from Loreal. it's sulfate and alcohol free, so, that's good. i'm not sure why. but that's what all the blogs recommend, so just go with it.

fifth, you might eventually want to wear your hair down and show of your curly, bleached blonde locks, right? well, it's going to be a frizz monster. it just is. it's freaked out. don't touch it with a hairdryer or any other heat tools. just don't. trust me. but if you want to wear it down, and have it air dry, might i recommend some products that will help?

don't mess with the "regular strength" of this - go for the extra strength. put it on right after your shower, when your hair is sopping wet. finger-comb it root to tip.

i'm kind of on the fence about this stuff - it's way too fragrant and not in the best way. however, it gives good results. slap on a gob or two, and start to scrunch. after i get this in my hair, i do an initial, very light, scrunching with a towel to take out some of the excess moisture.

THIS GEL IS AMAZING. it smells delicious, is not drying or sticky, and gives GREAT hold. after i get this all up in the curls, i scrunch more aggressively with the towel (remember, no terry cloth!) to get all the excess moisture out. then, i let it air dry for about 45 minutes, and finish off with a light misting of any old hairspray i have lying around. i do NOT recommend the DevaCurl hairspray - although it smells like lavender and i kinda want it as perfume, it is really quite drying. i recommend a non-aerosol hairspray like Tresemme.

i promise, it will get back to normal. it just takes a little time and some SERIOUS TLC. have you got questions/comments/concerns? or TIPS? shoot me a comment, below.

beautifying

latest + greatest loves from the world of beauty:

i didn't start to use foundation brushes until super recently. but THIS. this brush. magic. Marc Jacobs, The Face II brush. i can slap on my makeup any which-way, have a tonne of streaks from my other foundation brush, and this brush blends it all away without taking it all off my face. it looks like my face has been airbrushed afterwards. i no longer have to use my pore refiner - it's THAT good. and i was obsessed with my pore refiner.

Armani's Blushing Fabric sheer creamy-blushy thingy is heaven. incredibly light-weight, and infinitely buildable. you decide how much you want to put on. it glides on like a DREAM. sigh. i think i'm in love.

yes, it's $42. yes that's way too much for mascara. yes it's the most amazing, non-clumping, super-lengthening, mega-volumizing mascara ever. and i've tried A LOT of mascara.

do you have any tips or tricks i should know about? do you know of an amazing, non-clumping, super-lengthening, mega-volumizing mascara that i should know about? (yes, thank you, i've tried Diorshow with mixed results.)

inspiring

all work is by Ana Teresa Barboza.

i'm not worthy.