One Rare Bird

Give Me Guide, part V: Read Me

Today is the last day of Give Me Guides, and to be quite honest I'm exhausted from all the time I've spent pouring over the things I want---the blatant narcissism probably hasn't helped either---but don't let that fool you, I'm really excited about today's Give Me Guide: books. I've divided things up into four categories: Coffee Table Humor, Art and Design, Inspirational/Growth, and Literature. I'm a bit more picky about the second two categories, so I don't have quite as many Wants in that area. But rest assured, all of these books would satiate any number of my moods and personalities, and hopefully some of them will for you too. Happy Reading!

GIVE ME GUIDE: Books

Coffee Table Humor...

Simple Times by Amy Sedaris

I Love Bacon by Jayne Rockmill

The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman

Mad Men: The Illustrated World by Dyna Moe

Screw Calm and Get Angry by Ebury Press

Dirty Spanish 

I Hate Everything by Matthew DiBenedetti

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

 

Art and Design...

The Exquisite Book by various artist

The Black Apple's Paper Doll by Emily Martin

The Principals of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman

Tossed and Found by Linda & John Meyers

Lists by Lisa Kirwin

 

Inspirational...

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown

The Dance by Oriah

I Will Not Die an Unlived Life by Dawna Markova

When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron

 

Literature...

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 

 

(I'm currently reading the last book by Kazuo Ishiguro for my book club and it's really good so I had to include it.)

I hope this lovely Friday finds you happy and well. See you Monday!

 

"The more you read, the more things you'll know.

The more you learn, the more places you'll go."

~Dr. Seuss

Give Me Guide, part IV: Getting Warmer

In general, and not necessarily on purpose, I don't wear a lot of accessories. I only have a few necklaces and pairs of earrings, and a whole lot of rings, but for the most part I don't think to accessorize. In the winter though, when it's cold and rainy and basically dark all day, you won't see me without some sort of winter accessory, or two, or three.  It might be because I'm naturally 10 degrees colder than the average human, or possibly because I like to be that much warmer, or maybe it's some sort of unconscious extension of my love for a warm bed. But no matter which way you spin it, I can't seem to stop collecting cold weather wear, and not just stop collecting it, I can't stop obsessing about it either. Here are a few of the cold weather must-haves I'm obsessing over at the moment...

GIVE ME GUIDE: Cold Weather Accessories

Ada Coat; Slouch Bow Cloche; Sweater Leggings; Alaskan Warmer

Fingerless Gloves; Ribboned Wrap; Vail View Coat; Elbow Gloves

And if you're in the mood for a little Do-it-Yourself this holiday season, check out this DIY snood....

DIY Snood

Tomorrow I will be posting the last Give Me Guide with a little something for (almost) everyone....

 

Give Me Guide, part III: In the Mood

I'm pretty certain that if left to my own devises I could spend a minimum of 12 hours in bed everyday. I'm not saying I would spend all of that time sleeping---though I'm definitely leaving that option open---but for me, being in bed with a pair comfy pajamas, a warm blanket, and a good book is the closest I'll ever be to heaven on earth. Include a warm cup of coffee or tea, and you won't see me for days (except maybe for refills and bathroom breaks.) So today's Give Me Guide is inspired by my own personal equivalent to euphoria: Bed.

GIVE ME GUIDE: Bed Me

Slippers via Etsy, everything else via Anthropologie

Four Seasons cups; Reindeer Pillow; Flannel Sheets; Chunky Cable Throw

And a little someting to inspire my life and dreams before dozing off...

Style Statement

Yaaaaaawn.... I think it's nap time already.

Give Me Guide, part II: Baked

One of my favorite things about this time of year is all the "required" baking that comes with it. I'm not really a fan of cooking in general. If a meal takes a second longer than 30 minutes to prep and cook then you might as well shoot me now. But baking, that's a different story. When the holidays start rolling in you'll easily find me in the kitchen baking any number of cookies and quick breads. Just yesterday I spent an obscene amount of moola on flour, sugar, and butter in preparation for all the baking I plan to start doing, um, right NOW actually. So without further ado, I'm going to head for the kitchen and leave you with the things my little (baker's) heart desires....

GIVE ME GUIDE: Baking and the like

Vintage Pyrex bowls found via Etsy, everything else via Anthropologie

  Sewing Basket Half Apron

Baked Explorations

I'll see you back here tomorrow with more Give Me Guides to get you *hint* In the Mood...

Music Monday: All I Want

I'll be doing Give Me Guides all week, so I thought it only appropriate that Music Monday be done in the same vain; And since the Give Me Guides are all about what I want anyway, today is dedicated to wanting.

All I Want Is You from Juno

If You're Wondering If I Want You To by Weezer

I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles

Happy Monday! I hope you get everything you want today...

Give Me Guide, part I: Greet Me

It seems that every blog I frequent does some sort of Gift Guide for the holidays, and I love looking at these Gift Guides for two reasons: First, because I love shopping for gifts, and second, because I love shopping for gifts for me. Don't get me wrong, I also love shopping for others---it's honestly one of the most satisfying feelings to buy someone a gift that you know they'll love, and even better if it's an unexpected gift. But still, part of why I love giving is because of how it makes me feel. So I've decided that I will also do some Gift Guides this year, but I'm more appropriately calling them Give Me Guides, because really, these are the things I want.

Today I will start small by featuring some awesome holiday cards from my favorite card companies, with more Give Me Guides to come next week.

GIVE ME GUIDE: Holiday Cards

Old Tom Foolery

Jackie Bos

Sycamore Street Press

Rifle Paper Company

Ash & Anchor

This guide wouldn't be complete without sharing my very favorite from the Holiday Card family, the Personalized Card. If you're looking for a unique variation on the photo card, you can't go wrong with these...
Night Owl Paper Goods

Rifle Paper Company

Jackie Bos

And speaking of Custom Holiday Cards, a HUGE Thank You goes out to my talented and good friend Erin for her mad photography skills, and to the very gifted Jackie Bos for her amazing custom work, without either of which our Holiday card wouldn't have happened...

Wishing you the happiest of Fridays.*

*Wait a second. If you had the happiest of Friday's, everyone else's would have to be less happy---including mine. Screw that.

Oh Deer!

It's nearly impossible to get any number of days into the holiday season without running into a decorative deer or two, and this year they seem to be especially popular (have you been on Etsy lately?) And I think I'm this trend's number one fan. I love this trend, and I hope it never goes away. But more than anything, the part of this trend that is deerest to my heart is Deer Art. The image above is titled Deer Wearing Gym Socks by Charmaine Olivia (who's art I've featured here before) and I am completely smitten! So sit back and enjoy the Art my Dears, or more accurately, Deers... :)

Charmain Olivia

Justin Richel

Rachel Denny

Toshiaki Uchida

Nan Lawson

Michael McConnell

 

I hope your day is a deer one...

 

*Most artwork was found via one of my favorite blogs, The Jealous Curator

The Best Holiday Movie EVER

I can't go any length of time during the Holiday season without watching the best Christmas movie of all time: A Christmas Story. I realize that some people don't share my sentiments about the movie, but no matter what you're favorite Holiday movie is, you can't deny that A Christmas Story is a hilarious modern classic. Here are some of my favorite scenes that I hope will win you over to my side of the Best Christmas Movie argument...

I can't put my arms down!

My tongue is stuck

Fa ra ra ra

Oh, Fudge

Ho ho ho

There are SO many good scenes from this movie that it was really difficult to stop myself from showing more. But I hope you got a good laugh, and even if we're still in disagreement about the Best Christmas Movie of All Time, I just say "fudge it!" We can still be friends.

Holiday Kick Off: Tree Style

Lisa sParks

It's the official first week of December and I have moved fully into Holiday Mode. The tree is trimmed, the decorations are up, and the holiday music is a-playin'. So starting today, through December 24th, this blog is single-mindedly dedicated to all things Holiday. This season only comes but once a year, and I have been taken captive by it's sweet and overwhelming power; But I don't want to overwhelm you with my enthusiasm, so I'm going to ease you into it by kicking things off with a little Holiday inspiration....

Dottie Angel

Dottie Angel

wood & wool stool

Three Red Apples

i heart napa

 

"If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, wouldn't it be a Merry Christmas?"  ~Don Meredith

 

I'm Only Happy When it Rains

Sometimes there's nothing like a rainy day to really get me smiling. So Music Monday is happily paying tribute to the the much too under appreciated Doom and Gloom of weather. Happy Monday!

I'm Only Happy When It Rains by Garbage

Ironic by Alanis Morissette

Tom's Diner by Suzanne Vega

(Ok, I know that last video is really lame, but I LOVE Tom's diner so I couldn't not include it in the repertoire. I guess that interim between the 80's and 90's really was as bad as I remember.)