Scout Bird (Display) Nest (Case)

Prior to leaving on vacation we made several purchases. One of which was a nice display case (^) for my Ittalla birds (and some Kate Spade candle sticks). It's comforting to know that my birds have a nice new modern nest.

Day 2: "If this isn't paradise, I'm not sure what is..."

David's wise words.

New Order & The Strokes - 4AM Entertainment to Share

Say what you will about the film, but trailers don't get any better than this. /I heart New Order./



/Loving this song - a year later./

Day 1: No Goat Cheese For You

I've never had a reason to visit Wal-Mart. Living in a city, there aren't any (#1) - and when away from the city it never seems like a dersirable place to be (#2). However, the house we are staying at in Michigan left us a $50 gift card to Wal-Mart...so always happy to consume, we stopped in. I immediately realized that I've not been grocery shopping in a very long time and was amazed by the number of frozen food products. As most of you know, David is a master chef - so warming up texas toast or a lasagna entree is out of the question. Another observation: the number of shredded cheese varities (25ft wall) at Wal-Mart is quite unreal - sadly, with all the varites of SC, there didn't seem to be any room for goat cheese (perhaps due to its unshredable nature).

Anyway, the drive went well. I will post the amazing 3.5hr set list. For now, I'm posting a video of a song I'm now obsessed with (MIA - Paper Planes).

I can't sleep because I'm afraid of being murdered by some kind of deranged escaped convict roaming Long Lake at 3:30 AM est.

Good night. Good morning.

7hr Drive Playlist + Marie Antoinette Obsession

David has promised the best playlist of all time for our drive 'up north.' This got me thinking about two albums I've been obsessively in love with lately (clearly my film influence is playing a very large role here): There Will Be Blood (Jonny Greenwood) & Marie Antoinette. I will focus on Marie Antoinette here because it's brilliant for all sorts of activities - cleaning, driving, walking, eating, drinking, sleeping, card playing, exfoiliating, etc.

The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack = Amazing, Lost and Translation Soundtrack = Brilliant, Marie Antoinette Soundtrack = Genius (see below). Which begs the question, what happened to my WWSCD club? I need to resurrect that.

Disc One
"Hong Kong Garden" – Siouxsie & The Banshees
"Aphrodisiac" – Bow Wow Wow
"What Ever Happened" – The Strokes
"Pulling Our Weight" – The Radio Dept.
"Ceremony" – New Order
"Natural's Not in It" – Gang of Four
"I Want Candy (Kevin Shields Remix)" – Bow Wow Wow
"Kings of the Wild Frontier" – Adam & The Ants
"Concerto in G"[1] – Antonio Vivaldi / Reitzell
"The Melody of a Fallen Tree" – Windsor for the Derby
"I Don’t Like It Like This" – The Radio Dept.
"Plainsong" – The Cure
Disc Two
"Intro Versailles" – Reitzell / Beggs
"Jynweythek Ylow" – Aphex Twin
"Opus 17" – Dustin O’Halloran
"Il Secondo Giorno (Instrumental)" – Air
"Keen On Boys" – The Radio Dept.
"Opus 23" – Dustin O’Halloran
"Les barricades mystérieuses" – François Couperin / Reitzell
"Fools Rush In (Kevin Shields Remix)" – Bow Wow Wow
"Avril 14th" – Aphex Twin
"K. 213" – Domenico Scarlatti / Reitzell
"Tommib Help Buss" – Squarepusher
"Tristes Apprêts, Pâles Flambeaux" – Jean Philippe Rameau / W. Christie[2]
"Opus 36" – Dustin O’Halloran
"All Cats Are Grey" – The Cure

3 More Days...

...Until this is our bedroom view. Heaven.

Favorite Summer Films, Part I

As I was trying to get to sleep last night, I began thinking of my favorite 'summer' movies. I quickly realized that it was much easier to think of my favorite fall and winter films; I guess I'm dark, cold and dreary vs. bright, sunny and cheery. This process made it very difficult for me to sleep - but I was able to come up with 'a' top ten (sure I'll think of more/potentially better later - hence, Part I):

• On Golden Pond
• Jaws
• Magnificent Obsession
• Stealing Home
• Badlands
• Anything Else
• Wind
• Cape Fear (1991)
• The Virgin Suicides
• Swiss Family Robinson

'Husbands and Wives' (1992)

'Husbands and Wives' was the first Woody Allen movie that got me 'hooked' on him. Of course I had seen 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan' - but 'Husbands and Wives' was the one that made me want to see his brilliant late 70s/80s stuff ('Interiors,' 'September,' 'Hannah and Her Sisters,' 'Another Woman,' 'Crimes and Misdemeanors,' etc., etc.) - and the love affair continues ('Casandra's Dream' was amazingly overlooked by critics). I can really appreciate just about everything he does - (sans 'Curse of the Jade Scorpion' w/ habitually hideous Helen Hunt) - even Jason Biggs (barf) makes me laugh in 'Anything Else.' My point, see 'Husbands and Wives' if you haven't already - and if you have, see it again.

Love,
Previous Life Video Store Employee Geek (that would recommend 'Fearless' to just about every customer...which is just hysterically funny + ironic (my fear of flying) at the same time)

Maggie the Seersuckered Samurai & Bogie the Turtlenecked Turkey

In typical DINK* style, we buy our 'kids' clothes. Here we have Mags in a green seersucker dress (which she seemed to enjoy) and Bogie in a 'Greasers London' sweater (which he was terribly uncomfortable in). This weekend we had reason to celebrate because Maggie's heart murmur (diagnosed last year) has 'gone away.' I wasn't aware that this condition could just disappear...but Dr. Marcs told us she heard no heart murmur and that she simply has a heart 'click' (typically a non-issue condition). We were so happy that we went out and made the above purchases - because, you know, clothes is just what dogs want...

(*Double Income, No Kids)

Missing Michigan

A little over a week until we head up to the beauty of Northern Michigan. I'm just now realizing that it will be a 7hr drive which I'm actually looking forward to because it's time to get up early, drink a large coffee + splurge on a scone, listen to good music and 'take it all in.'

Avec Celebration

David has been having a great year so we celebrated this weekend with a nice bottle of red wine and some lovely small plates at Avec - a wonderful little wine bar in Chicago. I think the chorizo-stuffed dates with bacon was a small slice of heaven.

http://www.avecrestaurant.com/

Here's to good eating!

I Heart Bemelmans

Since it's been a little over a year since our last trip to New York, I've had 'one of' - perhaps 'the' - favorite bar on the brain: Bemelmans. I'm mildly obsessed with hotel bars - and New York hotel bars are the best. While we really enjoy the Gramercy Hotel bar (for hipness), as well as the Mandarin Oriental (for great views), Bemelmans is just plain classic - and great to hit after a 'walking tour' from the Cloisters to Harlem (:)). I'm not one for cosmos, but it's probably the best drink I've ever had - and free snacks!

(Grandogger + End of School Year) * Technology =

Mom sent this to me today ^ - She's proud of Bogie's recent 'roll' loss!

Northern Michigan = Happy Thoughts

I'm in a very grumpy mood today (for no particular reason). So, I tried to cheer myself up by googling 'Northern Michigan' - where we are headed for a 8 whole days over the 4th of July. I found this very cool picture (^) of gorgeous Lake Michigan. It did put me in a better mood, so that's a start.

Only 19 more days until the real thing.

Ms. Organization

David and I love taking roadtrips (and traveling in general). However, it's always super annoying for me - being completely neurotic - with all of these cords and electronic devices. So I'm super psyched about this nice little tech organizer (>) I purchased for ~$19 (that's with shipping). I found it on the Dwell blog. You can find it at: http://www.kangaroomstorage.com

Whimsical Wine Glasses

These wine glasses made me laugh a little.
http://www.gnr8.biz/product_info.php?products_id=797

Manners, Big Boga Lovin!

As you can see, Bogie's manners aren't quite where they should be for a 2 1/2 year old Pug. As we can all see, his elbows (<) are firmly planted on our patio table. Of course, we'll forgive him because he's so darn...lovable. Bogie can't go one moment without being around people - if he's not on a lap, something is up with him. Bogie also needs LOTS of sleep, but when have guests around, he'll power through it just so that he can receive as much love as possible. Hence the name Big Boga Lovin'!

Tyra is K-razy

I caught an America's Top Model marathon this weekend (after a Friday and Saturday of late nights with house guests) and it was CCCCCrazy. I've never watched this show, but it's quite amazing. I've included a clip here - it's pretty long, but worth every minute.