Out of Office Message:

Howdy! I'm guest blogging over at a couple of my most favoritest blogs today. Stop by & say hi!

What Possessed Me

Design Crisis

Hope Monday is treating you as well as it can. She's a harsh lady, but it's not entirely her fault.

xoxo,
gracie

"Champagne (& crab legs) for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends." -Francis Bacon

Now Playing: Shorty

Looking in the bathroom mirror...

Ungrateful me: "Damn, I wish I had longer legs. Fuck, they're so short and stubby."

Reflection: "At least you have legs at all, you little twatwaffle."

Eames Inspired Leg by Joanna Hawley

Ain't what they used to be...

I scream,

you scream,

we all scream

because

this ain't no

ice cream truck...

t'is a molester van!

Ice cream trucks in AZ look totally dodgy.

It really fucking

grinds my gears

when YouTube

doesn't let me

embed videos.

Especially

this

one.

Sculpture by the Glue Society;

drawring by EDREM

top photo by yours truly

FACK!

I burned my upper lip while trying to obliterate my 'stache!

This shit had better not look like herpes tomorrow,

for, I have a calendar full of v. important meetings.

For Megan:

The sweetest girl with teeth & heart of gold.

Can't wait to catch up.

here via me love for you

P&P&Z

Has anyone read this? It looks amazinggg.

Blogging can feel like this sometimes

“The best way to waste your life, … is by taking notes. The easiest way to avoid living is to just watch. Look for the details. Report. Don’t participate.”

- Chuck Palahniuk

quote via What is Imperfect

It all went too fast.

First night. Soho. Walked out of TopShop and looked up. The sky was amazing. Everyone was stopped dead in their tracks. There was an eerie quietness reminiscent of a pre-alien invasion scene in some Will Smith flick. Wasn't sure if the world was going to end just then. It was beautiful.

R upgraded to a suite without my knowing. My cheap ass was a little miffed for a moment, until I saw the view from my side of the bed. "Let's just squat here, forever and ever."

Dinner at DuMonts with Zeke & Chiyo, then drinks at Daddy's with the boys. These guys have known each other since age 12. It's so nice to have OLD friends. Brooklyn is crawling with AZ transplants. I had my first "margaveza," margarita mix + corona. I'm hooked.

Met up with the inimitable Mr. Johnny Sagan for drinks at the Waldorf & dinner at Balthazar.

SHELL SHOCKED. We ordered Le Balthazar seafood tower. And tower it was, did.

Little lovers.

Afterwards, we strolled over to Union Square and bid farewell to our Brooklyn bound bud, but not before securing some ice cream cones. R & I sat on the steps under the glow of Shoe Mania and devoured our snacks whilst watching MJ videos on a laptop hooked up to big speakers in the park. Made so many amazing memories that I'll never forget.

"She has ink in her blood."

Ugh, I'm being tortured by the dreamy stationary wardrobes described in this tantalizing NYT article. Custom correspondence stock is definitely at the top of my wants list.

via Cup of Jo

Nebula Nova Cygni Turns On // Chloe Boots

via jak&jil and nasa pic of the day

HEE!!

Check out my radical keyword searches!

Grrrrrrrratitudes!

Ooh, rawr, sour mood today! That means I'd better count the good things:

1. So excited for this weekend's NYC jaunt & all the buds & fam waiting at the other end.
2. Perfect mani/pedi from Fashionable Coke Nail. I chose "Big Apple Red" because I'm a nerd.
3. Spending time with my BFF in from LA last weekend. So fun, as always.
4. The hugest blueberries from Fresh&Easy ever, ever.
5. The prospect of acquiring this paper pot tissue dispenser for my desk in the future.
6. Seeing Segways outside my window is endlessly funny. Me: I'm afraid to ride a segway because I'm afraid that I'll eat shit...or look like a douche. R: Both are likely to happen. (Also, it's very hard not to type "segue.")
7. Summer weather still being mild & kind.
8. You. All my blog buddies & readers. Every comment from you is like an unopened present under the x-mas tree. Thanks for taking the time.

Phew! I feel better already. Thanks!

♥

drawing by marc johns

See you soon, old friend.

I was in love with New York. I do not mean “love” in any colloquial way, I mean that I was in love with the city, the way you love the first person who ever touches you and you never love anyone quite that way again.

I remember walking across Sixty-second Street one twilight that first spring, or the second spring, they were all alike for a while.

I was late to meet someone, but I stopped at Lexington Avenue and bought a peach and stood on the corner eating it, and knew that I had come out of the West and reached the mirage.

I could taste the peach and feel the soft air blowing from a subway grating on my legs, and I could smell lilac and garbage and expensive perfume and I knew that it would cost something sooner or later.

- Joan Didion, 1967

photos via ffffound

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day."
— Stephen Hunt

Yummy Summer Reads

Can I get a witness?? I'm in love with these candy colored paperbacks from Harper Perennial. The covers are to DIE for! I'm currently suckling on Dostoyevsky. Got to catch 'em all!

What's on your summer reading list?

OMFG: Scratch 'n' Sniff

Another damn reason to hate the French (I kid..) Them there lucky frogz can get these hot choco stamps here. GRRR!

As seen on Paper Schmaper & LWA

Never too soon for monsoon

My favorite part

of summer, monsoon season,

started yesterday.

What is your current obsession?

Acquiring good stationary & this motherfucking lobster dress I saw on Pour Porter.

What is your weirdest obsession?

Making sure that I haven't sent the same paper to the same person more than once!

What is the weirdest sub-obsession of the weird obsession you just described?

I tried to keep a list of recipients on the back of each type/package, but I couldn't keep it up (see bad habits).

Coffee or tea?

Coffeeeee, goddammit. Wait, this meme sounds familiar...

What was the last thing you bought?

A puny nine dollar salad that really pissed me off.

What are you listening to right now?

The gurgle of my stomach. It's screaming, "Feed me chocolate, you fucking fat whore."

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Cherry Garcia. I had a dream last night that I was eating B&J's chocolate cookie dough ice cream. It was so realistic, that I thought I was sleepeating.

What do you think of the person(s) who tagged you?

I think Designers' Brew is a total sweetheart, and I hope to meet her someday. That said, her Michael Phelps obsession makes me go ????? To each their own ;) Oh! pee ess... I will be in NYC on the 26th-29th! How's that for (semi) advanced notice?

Which language do you want to learn?

Japanese, so I could communicate with my friends better and I'd love to learn to read/write Mandarin. I'm an illiterate foo'!

What is your favorite colour?

Black or orange.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?

Navy Marni dress.

What is your worst habit?

Not finishing things... losing interest...

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?

New unders. However, I refuse to size up, even though the muffin top is telling me it's time to do so. Le sigh.

Describe your personal style?

Dark, simple

What is your favorite fruit?

Bananas/blueberries

What inspires you?

Inertia
Do you collect something?

Nope, too much of a commitment (unless shoes count).
What are you most proud of?

Keeping it together, one day at a time.

Cats or dogs?

DOGS! I am unequivocally NOT a cat person.

What’s your biggest fashion mistake?

Those big chunky foam Rocket Dog flip flops & dressing too slutty. Oops!

We watched Wanted with wed wine.

Wanted = Office Space + the Matrix + Fight Club + Willard + Hard Boiled + Gone in 60 Seconds + Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon + High Fidelity + Da Vinci Code



Am I missing anything else?

In memoriam: Pony Edition

If you've been following my love affair with the pony across the street, (here&here) then you'll know why I am saddled with melancholy. I regret to report that the pony is... GONE. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that he was nowhere to be seen. I was able to successfully convince myself that he was just behind the little shed or on the other side of the pen. This kind of self deception could only last for a few days. I drove around all over the desert with apples in my cup holders, hopeful, still, that he'd be waiting for me at the fence after work. No such luck.

"...a heavenly ranch..."

"...with apple mountains..."

"...and fences made of carrots."

Pony had just gotten a beautiful new haircut, too. He looked so dapper. I was going to photograph him for you to show you how well the little man cleaned up! But alas, I was too slow for the heavy hand of fate. On one such drive by on 32nd St. I broke down and shrieked, "HE'S FUCKING GONE!!!" as my eyes welled up. R tried to comfort me by saying that, "Perhaps he went to a heavenly ranch, with apple mountains, and fences made of carrots." This made me laugh and feel a trillion times better. Yes. I sure hope so. Wherever he is, I hope he's not alone.

Spot on

I think this is pretty true, for me. However, I, for one, read your stupid tweets. Oh, also, LISA LOEB follows me on Twatter! Seriously, though, I was pretty stoked. I bet she didn't realize she was signing up for poop updates and other such nonsense.

Follow, follow!

shirt by rumplo

Trifling troubling truffles

The word "truffles" is a never ending source of anxiety for me. I never know whether we're talking fungi or chocolate. I love both, and it never takes longer than a few seconds to confirm, but the ambiguity makes me sweaty.

Now Playing: No, but, thanks.

Dear Amazon,

Puh-lease stop trying to sell me a Kindle. Don't you realize that the synergy, no-- the magic, that occurs between flesh and paper is too salient to ever be replaced by a piece of plastic and a tangle of wires? I cannot dog ear a Kindle, nor fit it in my back pocket. I cannot inhale the scent of its decades old paper, nor run my fingers along its jagged edges. I cannot pick the glue off its binding, nor bring it in the bath tub. Cannot. Will not. Do not want.

Yours ever,
Gracie

fortune from last night's meal