It's dirndl time.

Here we go. The dirndl I haven't worn since age 13-14. I hope it serves me well at Oktoberfest!!

Maya just has a lot of hang-ups this Halloween.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, ONE AND ALL!

Today I'm obsessed with...

• Baggu's new canvas Duck bags:

Only $18 each! In 8 colors! Buy me one!

• This French Connection dress:

I like the UK/Canadian version so much better than the US version.

• In These Arms, the new album by The Swell Season. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova broke up last year after falling in love on the set of Once, but are still writing music together. They were on All Things Considered today and the whole interview was fascinating. I think he's still in love with her.
  

• The thought of eating Mexican food tonight. Since Sunday, basically all I've consumed is soup,tea, grits, juice, and popsicles.

• Wearing my dirndl tomorrow and making a huge vat of potato salad for Oktoberfest.

• HALLOWEEEEEEEN.
  

The Halloween Dilemma.

Can I just wear a funny cat mask?

So, it's two days before Halloween and I still haven't solidified what I want to be. I'll be spending a large portion of the day rockin' my dirndl (which I haven't worn since I was 13 or so) at an Oktoberfest party but what do I wear for the nighttime?!?

I was going to be the Morton Salt Girl, but now I'm not so sure. I already look younger than my age, so dressing like a little girl is not as appealing an idea as it first was.

I need something that would be good for dancing and something that allows me to wear fun make-up. I think those are my only requirements. I don't like those overly saucy costumes, though. Ick.

Any recommendations would be great!

"There is no such thing as an unwritten life."

(I don't know why this poster wasn't used in publicizing the movie...it's so much better than the other one.)

Even though I was intrigued about The Brothers Bloom the first time I saw a trailer, I was kind of afraid to see it because I thought it was going to try to be a Wes Anderson-style film. But today, I finally watched it. I loved almost* everything in this movie, even the excessive cons-within-cons (within-cons-within-cons) that critics whined about. I loved the dialogue, the style, the cinematography...there were so many scenes I wish there were screencaps for, so I could just look at them over and over again. I loved the notebooks and card tricks and little white gloves and vintage cars and literary references. But what I actually loved most was Adrien Brody's character, Bloom.

I was intrigued from the beginning of the film, but knew it was love in the scene where he's flying down a large hill (small mountain?) on a Schwinn with a banana seat wearing pinstriped pants, a complementary plaid peacoat, a furry hat with earflaps, and goggles. Be still my heart. Bloom may now be the largest crush I have had on a fictional character. Everything he wears is perfection (everything in neutrals, with blazers and suits and ascots) and he's subtly funny ("A '78 Caddy? A controversial choice.") and, well, he is wildly charming. As are most things about this movie. So watch it, if you haven't already.



*Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't 100% enjoy Rachel Weisz as Penelope. I think she's a fantastic actress, but in this, she annoyed me! I like the idea of the character of Penelope, though.

Update: I still feel awful.

I have been moaning and groaning and moping around the house because I have the flu. Yes, that flu. But I seriously need to get over myself. Here are some things that have been jumbling around my head today:

Yogi Tea puts little sayings on their tea bag tags. It's one of my favorite things about drinking their teas. Mine today says:

Live from your heart and you will be most effective.

And I like that.

Also, my crush on Jack Kerouac has been reignited.

I was reading his list of 30 essentials for his "Spontaneous Prose" technique and I love them, so I thought I'd share.

1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for your own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside your own house
4. Be in love with your life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Don't think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better
29. You're a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

The man makes it sound so easy to be filled with the right words, places, and characters. I need to have a secret notebook again. Why is writing so scary sometimes? I owe some essays to someone and I have them, just sitting here, but have issues letting them go and being done with them. I miss my writing classes in the Forest Theatre at UNC, where it all seemed so easy. We would have great discussions, surrounded by trees, and you couldn"t help but write pages and pages. Now...well, things are different in the real world. I need to shake things up a little.

Here's a little more Jack for you:

Down for the count.

I feel awwwwful. Save for a quick excursion to Poe's for a burger (the Tell-Tale Heart is highly recommended) and an impromptu tour of Fort Moultrie (how have I lived here 2.5 years and never been out there?) and a trip to Harris Teeter for supplies (cough drops, soup, vitamins, popsicles) I have been camped out in my bed watching movies and napping, which is what I will continue to do until I conk out for the night.

Happy Sunday!

P.S. I went to see Ghostland Observatory last night. There was smoke. And lasers. It may have been the most fun show I've ever been to.

"Moments."

Doesn't this make you just love life? It's all made up of tiny, countless moments.

At The Red House...

So, while I was hanging out with my friend Cathy in Vermont, she shared something with me that is so cool that I had to pass it along. The thing that is so cool is this: ilovelocalcommercials.com.

Basically, Rhett & Link, two dudes from the great state of NC (and NC State alums) work with local businesses to create original (and freaking hilarious...to me, at least) local commericals for them. The best part? The commercials are created at no cost (this means FREE) to those small businesses.

Would you like to see some of the work they've done? Well, OK then...look below:


"I used to be a gynecologist in Cuba. Now I sell cars here in America."


"At The Red House, where black people and white people buy furniture. And Hispanic people too. And all people."


"So come on down to Cullman Liquidation and get yourself a home. Or don't. I don't care."

You can nominate your favorite local business(es) so that they can get a cool commercial too, so go to their site and make stuff happen!

I have a Lolita complex...

...but not in a Humbert Humbert kind of way.



Probably my all-time favorite perfume is Lolita Lempicka. I bought it ages ago and now that it's on its last dregs, I only wear a dab here and there when I'm feeling just so. Besides getting little samplers of the other Lolita perfumes, I've never really worn them or tried them out.

But then I saw on decor8 that there is a new Lolita perfume "Si Lolita" out in France, and this pretty little commercial has been airing in Europe:



And now my interest is sparked again. Maybe once I finally run out of classic Lolita Lempicka, I'll try one of the others...they're all so pretty:





Learn more about them here.

On a scale of 1 to 10...

...how distinguished do I look?



I'm thinking an 11.

Burlington, VT + Montreal

Fog, rain, wind, and delays in Philly started the trip, but MAN was it worth the wait. Bundling up, shopping, snacking, playing, and laughing with your girlfriends is about the greatest thing ever. My bank account is now weeping openly, but I have a lot to show for it...all sorts of things to decorate my wardrobe and memories of delicious meals/evenings.

Vermont:

This is what I looked like a lot. (Photo by Cathy.)

Amanda shopping for veggies at Burlington's farmers market.

They close down 108 mid-October, but people still wander it on foot and hike the trails.

Cathy posing with our snack.

Cathy in the red hat.

The perfect post-bar hot dog.

A Sunday afternoon walk.

The best one.

My new favorite tree.

Chopped rocks.

Autumn colors.

Montreal (I don't have as many pics because I was busy pressing my nose to the glass of H & M and Zara windows.):

Vive la Montréal!

I am.

Painted walls and graffiti covered the Quartier Latin.

Kusmi Tea is my new obsession.

After shopping all day, since the place I wanted to go (Olive + Gourmando) was closed, Amanda and I went to L'Express. It's this really unassuming Parisian-style bistro filled with cute waiters. They bring you a jar of delicious little pickles and mustard to snack on while you wait on your meal. I had the soupe paysanne and croque-monsieur and it was perfectly warming after a chilly day walking around.

After that, we wandered down to Le National to see Dead Man's Bones. It was fantastic, for more than the reason that I was in the same room with Ryan Gosling for the latter portion of last evening. The event began with a talent/variety show of magicians and burlesque and the actual Dead Man's Bones performance was something of a multi-media event as well. Dead Man's Bones is basically attractive boys + Johnny Cash + your favorite childhood haunted house. Accompanied by a local children's choir dressed as "zombie skeletons" the band sang a number of catchy and spooky-themed songs (some odd ones, also). Maybe the best part: a six-year-old girl singing the Nancy Sinatra hit "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)". Also, "Pa Pa Power" is such a fun song.

How could you not be entertained?



In summary, I had an awesome trip.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

After much moral support and encouragement, I've finally been convinced not to bring everything in my wardrobe. Here's what I've settled on for the icy north:

I've packed:

• iPod, stuffed to the gills
  
• camera
• passport
• magazines
• sweets from a sweet one
• gray jeans
• black jeans
• gray thigh-high wool socks
• gray wool armwarmers
• plum fingerless gloves
• gray hat
  
• black skirt
• oatmeal wool skirt
• plaid peplum skirt
• a variety of striped shirts
  
• brown riding boots
• black high-necked peacoat
• gray military coat
  
• black platform heels
• black and brown flats
• black and gray leggings
• black tights, textured and plain
  
• off-white cowl
• necessary underthangs
• exercise garments
• gems and jewels and other belted accessories
  

While I'm gone, if you feel so inclined, leave me some inspiring things. Quotes, movie/music recommendations, knock-knock jokes, secrets, bits o' trivia, declarations of love, or whatever else you feel like.

I will return on Tuesday with photos, tales of adventure, and a new French-Canadian wardrobe.

Rock and roll, my little girl...

So, Robert Francis has a free song on iTunes this week. It's called "Junebug" and I love it. If you don't know his music, you should. He's 22, but has these incredibly introspective, heartfelt songs that just creep up on you.

This is the music video for his song, "Little Girl":



Get to know him a little better:


Now do yourself a favor and go download his song "Junebug" from iTunes. It's free, for goodness sakes.

How Keatsian.

Ninety years ago today, John Keats wrote this love letter to Fanny Brawne:

My dearest Girl,

This moment I have set myself to copy some verses out fair. I cannot proceed with any degree of content. I must write you a line or two and see if that will assist in dismissing you from my Mind for ever so short a time. Upon my Soul I can think of nothing else — The time is passed when I had power to advise and warn you again[s]t the unpromising morning of my Life — My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you — I am forgetful of every thing but seeing you again — my Life seems to stop there — I see no further. You have absorb'd me. I have a sensation at the present moment as though I was dissolving — I should be exquisitely miserable without the hope of soon seeing you. I should be afraid to separate myself far from you. My sweet Fanny, will your heart never change? My love, will it? I have no limit now to my love — You note came in just here — I cannot be happier away from you — 'T is richer than an Argosy of Pearles. Do not threat me even in jest. I have been astonished that Men could die Martyrs for religion — I have shudder'd at it — I shudder no more — I could be martyr'd for my Religion — Love is my religion — I could die for that — I could die for you. My Creed is Love and you are its only tenet — You have ravish'd me away by a Power I cannot resist: and yet I could resist till I saw you; and even since I have seen you I have endeavoured often "to reason against the reasons of my Love." I can do that no more — the pain would be too great — My Love is selfish — I cannot breathe without you.
Yours for ever
John Keats

He was 23 when he wrote that. By 25, he was dead from tuberculosis, buried in Italy with a lock of her hair and one of her letters. (Info from The Writer's Almanac.)

In case you haven't heard about Bright Star, the film about their love story, before, here you go:

This...

...is what I am going to be seeing in a few hours.



I love Mondays. This is/will be possibly the best week of my life.

Edited to add: Amazing, awe-inspiring, enthralling. It was all exactly as I'd hoped.

If...

Image from The Library of Congress.

If you've never cruised around Charleston and over the Ravenel Bridge on the back of a vintage motorcycle, it's highly recommended.

I want...

The UK publishing company Faber & Faber celebrated their 80th birthday by putting out a set of six books of poetry. Here are my four favorites:

See the entire collection here.

And, on the topic of what I want, I'd also like to add gold chains to the list.

I like this one from Forever 21:


I also like this one:

And, the only other thing I wish for is that either a)My lawn mower would be fixed or b)Someone would come to cut my jungle of a yard for me. Otherwise, the wish list that's been growing for months is getting checked off pretty fast.

Happy Saturday!

Taking notes.

Today I'm taking notes from Charlotte Gainsbourg (can this woman do any wrong?) after watching this teaser for her Beck-produced album, IRM, out soon:



Striped shirt, check. Cool music, check. That certain je ne sais qua--working on it. Why couldn't I have been born French?

Download the title song free at her website.

In other news, check your calendars. It's Friday. You know what that means...a few short hours between you and piles and drawers-full of possibilities. Stay up late, wake up early, dance to old R&B with your friends or smooch in the corner with someone. Or something completely different. Anyone doing anything mind-bogglingly cool this weekend?

My sweet old etcetera.

It's Thursday. Friday is so close I can smell it, just like I can smell fall in the air, underneath this resurgence of heat and humidity. All of my moaning and groaning of yesterday is far behind me and boy am I looking forward to everything else coming my way.

And boy, oh boy, is it coming my way. Oh boy.



My new passport arrived this week...now the world is well and truly my oyster. Holding this little blue book in my hands is so thrilling. For so long, I pushed off travel and adventure for the same old routines, but now I'm more ready for adventure than ever.

Seriously.

What a day filled with understandings and misunderstandings. Today is one of those days where your horoscope says something like, "Don't even bother getting out of bed." Instead of wondering about all the hows and whens and wheres, I'm going to listen to this guy's cover of Fionn Regan's song "Be Good or Be Gone":

I am so dorked out about this.

Emma...the BBC mini-series with Romola Garai, Johnny Lee Miller, Michael Gambon

Today, I want...

...to intern for The Sartorialist
...this headband:

...someone to say this to me, "I see you're wearing your beret. Who are we spying on tonight?"
...to fast-forward to next week to see Andrew Bird and St. Vincent and then...
...to fast forward two weeks to be in Montreal with the best one
...this whole, cute outfit.

Sunny Sunday.

Thanks to Niotillfem, I now know about Chris Craymer's book, Romance. It's pages and pages of love, snuggling, and straight-up romance, just as the title tells us.







These photos make me feel like the song "Corner" by Allie Moss:

Pretty music, pretty dresses.

Heidi Merrick's "Chantilly" dress in paisley is up on eBay. This dress deserves to be taken out dancing. This dress needs to swish and be dipped. There's something gorgeous about a girl's back, I think. A highly underrated body part. Here's the dress in cream:



On the note of eBay and pretty dresses, If I were spending mode, I'd also try to take home Lorick's "Orpheus" dress:


Perfect for a dreamy Saturday.

Thursday.

On account of the coffee I drank to get through today's 3pm sluggishness, I'm now amped up on caffeine and grooving to this song by Temper Trap:



Also, a quick break from regularly scheduled programming for a quick word from our sponsors:

Dear Girl Who Keeps Taking Stuff from My Blog,

I basically wrote this on the comment I just posted on your latest pilfered blog entry, but am leaving this here as a reminder, also. I am trying to be nice. But it is very disconcerting to find my words written under your name. Please stop. I asked you before, privately, and now I'm asking again. The world is very small. Especially since you're from the same town as me and we have mutual friends. Live your own life. Write about your own experiences. It's much more gratifying that way.

Sincerely,

Sabrina

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I am really digging these things from Anthro:

Acclimate Jacket

Pleiad Shirtdress

Courting Lad Blazer

On that note, I need a name for my trivia team.

On another note, in two weeks from this very moment, I will be on a plane to Vermont!