elephantine

shades of gray

Even though I prefer a colorful summer wardrobe, Morrison's seasonal looks are lovely.

My dreams used to be plump and cinematic, sometimes indulgent (winning the lottery, flying unaided), sometimes terrifying (cornered in a natural history museum by a live, ravenous T-rex). But lately, they've all been, well, bland. I dream about having work to do. I dream about showing up late. If there's a trick to encouraging more colorful ways to keep my mind occupied in the wee hours of the night, indulge me. Because I'd appreciate avoiding experiences like this: I actually had a dream that I was using my iPhone, accidentally pressed the web browser button, and couldn't figure out how to get back to my email. How lackluster is that?

wed-nes-day

Gold jewelry from Catbird NYC: 14K tiny chain rings and bobby pin necklace.

Tonight: preoccupied with the third season of Weeds and season premiere of Project Runway. Oh, yeah. I'm going to pour a little Baileys and slump down into the sofa like the true couch potato I am.

half a dozen

Adorable children's clothing and playthings from Japanese shop Chigo.

Yesterday was beau & my 6th year anniversary. I kept thinking, "Six, really? It's really been that long already?" He gave me an incredibly lovely gift – a Corona typewriter from the 40's. (Yes, I'll photograph it soon.) We had reservations at the Melting Pot: two and a half hours of scrumptious bits of food dipped in everything from garlic-flavored cheese to bouillon to Bailey's and chocolate. And let's not forget the Love Martini – rum, schnapps, cranberry juice, and fresh strawberries.

Goals for this weekend: fight off the crowds for the new iPhone, get the novel outline to 15 pages (currently at 13), go canoeing without embarrassing myself, watch the French flick Happenstance.

ooolio

Light & summery from Olio United.

Today I saw a woman toting her dog around in a baby carrier. Its feet jutted out, dangling helplessly, but not showing disapproval in the slightest. Then the woman sneezed – a loud, mega-spray sneeze – right into the pup's face.

the long weekend continues

Digging these looks from altamira nyc.

Quick status update, one week of working on the novel outline: about seven pages completed, although still a mess of a storyline. I've got roughly five chapters significantly figured out, and another twentyish that are extremely vague. I think I'm on track for my self-assigned end-o-august deadline. I think.

In other completely random news, I've developed a fondness for pairing cheese and onions. I was notoriously anti-onion as a kid and only began liking them in the last couple years. A cheese and onion sandwich, nothing else on it? Delish. (If there's a sandwich to bring tears to your eyes, it's that one.)

the beginning

Paul & Joe and Phillip Lim Spring 2008.

I'm already in denial about how hot it's going to be today. 90, you say, little weather widget? No. You must be kidding. You must have a fever.

Yesterday (not quite as hot, but close) we hid indoors during the more saturated, burning part of the day and were out and about in the morning and evening. In the morning there was a car show within walking distance – I can't recognize a Nova to save my life, but I understand the pride and nostalgia and all that. In the evening, we made a run to the discount bookstore, and let's just say that it was a godforsaken heat trap in that place, and the heightened scent of aged paperbacks did it no favors. But I found what I was looking for: a hefty medical reference book for the novel. (My story is not health-themed by any means, but I need to get things right when they do come up.) I worked on my outline for an hour or two, figured out the first of many problem areas.

And (I promise not to continually blog about this, because I don't think it's very interesting to anyone other than myself) I feel the need to add a caveat to my previous declaration about writing the novel: this is not one of my countless spur-of-the-moment projects. It's not like the crafts, the pasta making, the occasional mixtape. I have had the hankering to write this book since fourth or fifth grade. It's been lingering, boneless and restless, in the back of my head. With recent inspiration from other novels, setting a daily routine, and some support on your end (I'm not fishing for it – I'm just pointing out that the comments left for the other post were appreciated threefold), now feels like a good time to seriously get to it. So. I'm getting to it.

Today's unrelated checklist: find a new colander with feet and a ladle that doesn't cost $30 (sorry, Whole Foods). Find new summer clothes, because mysteriously, all my skirts are either too big or too tiny. Find a way to savor the weather without being scorched alive.

bloom

Feel like wearing: Hana Sandals from Revolve and Ksubi Sunglasses from tobi.

There are these really tiny yellow flowers that have sprouted up between our balcony and the neighbor's fence. In my peripheral vision, I consistently mistake them for a reflection of mini Christmas lights. They waver in the exact spot that I had spotted a spider web a month ago, when we were sitting out there in new camping chairs, eating potato salad and letting Rufus roll in the dead leaves.

all in theory

Good & simple from Theory at Shopbop.

I ran into the mustard sandwich lady again recently – no, actually, I saw the discarded sandwich corners and those led me to the perpetrator. She wasn't wearing her fantastic getup from before; the stiff fisherman's jacket and terrifyingly big boots were no longer, replaced by less eccentric versions of themselves. She also didn't reek of my favorite condiment.

I spent the entire workday drawing storyboards for a new project. Earphones in, head down, and pencil in hand was cathartic, more organic, than the usual routine, but there was also inconsistency that came with. Today was an off day. Half my illustrated characters appeared to have been recently beaten up, and the other half had evidently misplaced a collarbone or a kneecap or a foot when I wasn't looking. Sometimes it's a tricky thing, getting the mind and the hand in cahoots.

After work: sunshine + baked macaroni + cosmopolitan = sufficiently satiated.

explosions in the sky

The start of the weekend calls for a little fun, no? Sass & Bide Fall 2008.

Today's overheard bus conversation:

"I had to go home early the other day, you know, because I was having these awful back pains," woman number one says. "Well, I went to the doctor today, and he told me that it's just due to stress because I hate my job. Ha! Ha! Ha!" After catching her breath, she adds, still humored: "I guess I just need therapy."

"Or," suggests woman number two in a dampened voice, with serious concern, "you need a new job."

This afternoon I tripped over a term that I have been unconsciously in search of for years. Now when someone asks me what kind of novel I'm aspiring to write, I can muster up a slick, sweet French accent and reply, "How kind of you to ask – I'm working on a roman à clef."

no words

Joanne Reyes' new label, Vicente Villarin, is unbelievably luscious. Link via Pomegranita, images via Refinery29.