Good Morning: The Moon Balloon

Tambako the Jaguar

Tom Brokaw Explains Canada

I love hearing Tom Brokaw's voice. Makes me feel kind of safe. This is a great piece explaining the history of Canada and the U.S. Not going to lie it makes me both a little patriotic as well as appreciate our friends on the border.

Good Morning: Double Dutch

Ferdi's World

Good Morning: From the Balcony

PacoCT

Major Olympic Events Tonight

I've been totally loving the winter olympics this year. Part of it is that I'm stuck at home so I've watched every single event. But I think also part of it is that I was lucky enough to go to a couple events in Torino in 2006. Once you catch that Olympic bug, its hard to shake. I have to say it is honestly a major thrill just being there.

Tonight's lineup of events is really solid. I am most excited about the halfpipe (one of the events I went to in Torino). Seeing Shaun White win gold last year and hearing about all the new tricks he has been working on since then, it will be fun to see what he pulls out tonight. Other events tonight include Men's Speed Skating with Apolo Ohno chasing his seventh gold medal and Women's Alpine Skier Lindsey Vonn competing in her first of many events since being injured.

Since I've been reminiscing so much about my trip to the 2006 Olympics I thought I'd share a few pictures. Check your local listing to see when the games will be airing.

Pictured above are Canadian Snowboarders Brad Martin and Hugo Lamay. Looks like only Brad Martin is returning to the Vancouver Olympics this year so it will be fun to see how he does this time around.

Torino Olympic Halfpipe

Torino Olympic Torch

Torino Olympic Halfpipe

Torino Olympic Halfpipe

Torino Olympic Luge

New Cloth-Bound Classic Penguin Books

I was really excited to see in my inbox this morning that Penguin had added several books to their beautiful cloth-bound classics series. It makes me hope that they continue to expand their collection. Someday I'd love a whole bookshelf filled with these books. You can pre-order now, as they are released March 10th. Also they are $7 cheaper on Amazon compared to Anthropologie/Bookstores.

Alice's Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

Emma

Treasure Island

The Odyssey

Good Morning: Living in a Paper Bag

Mark Sebastian

Good Morning: Coming Back to Life

photographer padawan *(xava du)

Good Morning! I'm finally back. Well sort of. I'm still at home recovering from surgery, but well enough to take my blog back from my friends Katie and Jasmine. Though they did a great job while I was laid up.

Posting will still be a little slow. And unfortunately I'm not leaving the house yet, so I don't have any fun activities to blog about. But I will do my best to provide inspiration from around the web. Its good to be back and I plan to get to 100% soon!

Good Morning: Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'll leave you with an Ingrid song lyric that I love, about love.

<3 Katie

"Baby you've got the sort of laugh
that waters me
And makes me grow tall
and strong and proud
and flattens me
I find you stunning" - Sort Of, Ingrid Michaelson

You Should Be Wilder, You're No Fun At All

I have been crushing on A Fine Frenzy lately. While Jasmine is the music guru 'round these parts, sometimes I get down with it. And the new A Fine Frenzy Album is delicious. Jasmine and I agreed that with her, you either love the song or you hate it. Most of her other albums I've found one or two gems, but hated the rest of the album. Her sound can be that of a Disney princess in a saccharine movie, but most of her new record A Bomb In A Birdcage is light without being sappy and playful without being fake. I just can't get enough.

Here are a few of my favorite tracks:

Good Morning: Drip Drop

'(042/365)'
courtesy of 'kimberlyfaye'

Decorate Your Dome

Well, Katie may love nail polish, but my accessory crush is on headbands. I tend to wear pretty simple clothes (hello, jeans + tshirt), so I love that headbands can pretty up an otherwise boring outfit so easily.

'_'

courtesy of Clara McAllister

I feel like headbands have been making a little comeback recently, but I must say, I am kind of over the feathered look. I also don't really know what the deal is with wearing them over your forehead. Sorry, hippies, I just don't think it's cool.

'Day Seventy One'

courtesy of fearless_mess

What I'm interested in is something pretty, feminine, and fun. I love unexpected pops of color, maybe a little bit of shine, and flowers are always nice.

Good Morning: Time To Get Up Yet?

'no feet on the walls please'
courtesy of '`this.is.epic'

Design: Grow

I might not have the greenest thumb ever, but I am a big fan of bringing a little bit of the outdoors inside. House plants naturally purify the air, and they can look really gorgeous when they're integrated into a room's design.

Spring Style Essentials a la Katie

Katie again. Because I'm bored, and sick of the snow, and wishing for warm weather, I decided I should think about spring styles. I was laying in bed dreaming of better weather and chic wardrobes: nights out with friends in skirts, beer on patios in strapless tops, strolls through Dupont Circle in sundresses. I curled up with my collection of Anthropologie and J. Crew catalogs and went through them lusting after spring and gorgeous clothes, carefully studying each page. As I was doing this, I realized I should probably make a look book with all of my favorites, and then decide what essentials I was missing from the looks that I love. I started by cutting out all my favorites:



And then arranged them by work and play. The work looks should take up most of my wardrobe, since I've got some exciting things happening in my career, both full-time and my freelance writing. Both of my jobs require stylish, upscale looks, and so that is where I put most of my focus. These are the looks that really stood out for work.



I also pulled out a few play outfits. Outfits to wear out at night, or outfits to do things in on the weekends.



The first thing I did was pull my overall favorites. The must-haves, the absolutes. I loved this work look, and want to replicate it with pieces I already have in my own closet.



I also love this cardigan. SO MUCH. I am buying it just as soon as it goes up on sale. Rebecca promises to keep an eye out for me. I think it's perfect for spring and summer, I just can't bring myself to spend $128 on one piece that isn't a suit or another lifetime investment.



Everyone who has met me knows that my signature style is large cocktail rings. I buy them cheaply because I go through them crazy fast, I've got some favorites that I'll wear over and over, but mainly they're like a firework, large, sparkly, pretty, and then I'm over them. So I tend to buy them all either on sale, or from Forever 21. It's a strategy I've learned to love since it always keeps my feeling trendy without being broke. Anyways, I'm newly obsessed with this J.Crew glass cut ring.



I searched around a little to find a replica. This one in blue is not quite it, but it's still gorgeous, I might need to make it mine. And then I found this Vast Square ring, and if you get it in the cream, it's very similar to the J.Crew look.

After that I started looking for patterns in what I liked. I noticed that I was drawn to the brown belts over cardigans.



So, of course, I went off in search of one that would be like those, but not quite as spendy. I came across this wide, woven belt from Forever 21 (where else!?) (God bless you F21 for replicating all my favorites.) I also fell in love with this more unique Jennie Woven belt that looked similar to some of the Anthropologie styles.

The next thing I noticed was that I love the long cardigan. It was in tons of the pictures that I pulled.



So, off I went to find a cheaper alternative. (This snow storm is giving me way too much free time! Gettin' spendy over here.) So I headed to Target. Cause Target is great for basics. I found this Converse cardigan that looks a bit weather worn and is the perfect length and color. Good ol' Forever 21 had this really cute ruffle sweater that I think I might HAVE to try... how cute is this?

My final must-have of the spring is a ruffle blouse. While I have lots of them from Winter, I think a pale pink is in order for summer.



On the back of my US Weekly this week (there was all kinds of dirt on Bachelor Jake's final four ladies that I HAD TO READ.) Target advertised a super cute ruffle blouse that they still have in black. But I am sort of stuck on this coral color of spring, so I kept looking. I found the PERFECT Dramatic Ruffle Blouse from Ann Taylor Loft, it's work and weekend appropriate. The spring coral will look fine with my pale winter skin and it's exactly what I'm looking for.

Basically, this was a super productive afternoon. I identified all my favorite looks, found them for less, and am on my way to sipping margaritas on the roof of Lauriol Plaza looking stylishly sophisticated. If only this snow would melt... like, now.

Oh. Right. I forgot about this:



"I am unimpressed with your shennanegans, all you need is fur. Kthanks."

Important Issues Of Our Day: Nail Polish

'08/24/09'
courtesy of 'B_Zedan'

Lovely to meet you, I'm Katie. And while I usually write about food, I'm happy to have an excuse to write about the subject that has been weighing heavily on my mind recently. Nail polish. Not just any nail polish, generally I have conquered nail polish, like traditional pinks, reds, even dark purples and blacks. I feel naked in the winter without a nice red (I love Essie's Lollypop red right now.)but I'm ready to branch out into uncharted nail polish territory.

Lately I've been feeling yellow. I realize that this is going to make me lose credibility, but I got inspired after seeing Callie on The Real World: DC, with her cute yellow nail polish she wears all the time. Now, before you go getting all weird on me and thinking I'm crazy, I'm not thinking neon yellow. None of this:


'Too bad shadows are always gray.'
courtesy of 'Giulio Menna'

More like this: (Forgive the weird flickr picture, but the yellow is ahhhhdorable.)


'Precision The Next "It" Girl'
courtesy of 'aprilrobin'

You see what I mean? Isn't that so cute?! AAAHHH.

The other thing I'm dying to try is different colors on different nails. I've got two examples for you - the first from BleuBird Vintage (must-read blog)



And then look at this example from American Apparel.



I'm dying of the cute. (Well, and cabin fever, but we're focusing on nail polish here people.)

Also, I'll have you know Lauren Conrad from The Hills (she may not be able to write for crap, but I enjoy her fashion sense) was pimping it recently too, with navy and red alternating.



Oh, and this was the picture that started it all for me:




So, between yellow and multicolored, the possibilities for spring nail colors are endless, and far more creative than I ever thought I'd be. Who is up for a painting party?

Good Morning: Snowoverit

'*'
courtesy of 'MarcinMoga / Lolek'

Where We're Spending Our Time

Between Rebecca recovering from surgery, and the extended five-day snow captivity, we're spending tons of time right here:


''
courtesy of 'Iván Santiesteban'


'I want to mess up my sheets with you, there is nothing I'd rather do.'
courtesy of 'Zawezome'


'Sleeping In'
courtesy of 'John Haro'


''
courtesy of 'ohhhbetty'


'52.39 - Cushions and laziness'
courtesy of 'dichohecho'


'IMMERSED IN DREAMS'
courtesy of 'dr_vaibhavahuja'

Fol Chen: Cable TV

Hello Inspiration DC fans, it's Jasmine and I am all set to carry on the IDC legacy while Rebecca is recovering (good, healing vibes are coming your way, Rebecca!).

As you can tell from Rebecca' pics below, we are all snowed in here in DC. This cold and snow can be beautiful, but I am a summer girl through and through, so I've been spending my time mentally being somewhere else. Somewhere warm, with bright colors. And maybe dancing in empty pools. Yeah, that would be nice.

This video is from a group called Fol Chen, on the Asthmatic Kitty label (which was started by Sufjan Stevens, whose name is a little more recognizable). I'm not a huge fan of their other stuff, but this video is really enjoyable.

I really like the stop-motion (or maybe they just took out every other frame, who knows), but I especially appreciate the blue skies and palm trees in the video. I realize that they are singing about going inside and watching TV, which I have been doing plenty of lately, but I prefer to imagine being outside and maybe listening to this song in my car with the windows rolled down. Much nicer, right?

Headed to Surgery

I'm headed to surgery today and will be out for the week. Instead of leaving my blog dead like the last time I was in the hospital, I'm having a couple of my friends step up.

My friend Katie is the food writer for We Love DC and Washington Life. She is always keeping me in the know of great deals and delicious dishes around town.

My friend Jasmine is a former music writer for We Love DC and now writes her own blog about becoming vegetarian and environmentally savy called District of Change. She is always introducing me to new music as well as being conscious about my footprint.

I'm giving them free reign to write about whatever they want and have fun. And I'll be back when I'm better!