auld lang syne

sorry i've been a delinquent blogger lately! things have been crazy with cross-country travel and all. It's hard to believe 2011 is less than 15 hours away. have you made any new years resolutions yet? Here is a quick list of mine... what are yours??

1. travel to 5 places I've never been. For the first time since college, I don't have a vacation on the calendar and it's sort of driving me crazy. maui, tokyo and las vegas are a few goals for 2011 however we'll see how it plays out.

“The three most exciting sounds in the world: anchor chains, plane motors, and train whistles.”

 - George Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life)

2. find an animal shelter in los angeles. i like volunteering and i like animals as mentioned here.

3. take the gmat. eek! i need to dust off my study skills and take the first step towards my MBA.

4. get my apartment completely together. Three months after migrating to Los Angeles and my apartment is still NOT together! i'm drawing inspiration from images like these. time for a grown up apartment!

Creattica

Apartment Therapy

thedecorista.com

SmallPlace Style

HGTV- a girl can dream right?

5. tour Los Angeles. (as well as California) maybe i'll use a list similar to this or the old favourite Frommer's.

  

I'm sure i could think of many many more but these are the ones i'm sticking with. Happy 2011 to all!

-Katie

happy christmas!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

He sprang to his sleigh, 

to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim

as he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all,

and to all a good-night!"

-scenes from my Christmas tree.

-Katie

renegade craft fairs!

as mentioned here and here, i love art shows, craft fairs and flea markets. A few weeks ago, i finally made it to one of the biggest craft fairs that travel the united states.

I even found my perfect secret santa present here because i attended a holiday version here in Los Angeles. Here were some of my favourite vendors...

as you like it

Hannah Made

lelabela

They haven't posted their 2011 tour dates yet but if they're in your neck of the woods be sure to check it out!

-Katie

"Such beautiful words, 'Leaving' and 'Oceans'"

I really do believe the phrase "everything happens for a reason". Even though reasons may not always be apparent when you want them to, or ever at all, I think they are always there. It's good to reflect on your life, examine choices made, and move on. There are decisions I've made and things I've done that make me shake my head in disbelief/disappointment but in moments such as those I feel important lessons are learned and better people are made. 


I recently made the decision to leave my job in Dallas, and the city in general, to pursue a new path. Lots of pros and cons lists, sleepless nights, annoying family members and friends for advice, and some soul searching went into this conclusion. Come January I will become an intern at a music supervision and sound design house in Santa Monica, CA. Me being excited in an understatement (oh and also terrified).

Leaving all of the lovely people I've met in Dallas over the last 2 years will be sad. I've learned a lot and will take away so many fond memories from this wonderful city. 

The blog WILL get a makeover come January 1 since Katie and I will now both be living in the same city (3 cheers, hooray), and you'll probably see even more music posts from me in the future :)

This song just about sums it up.... 


 Happy Holidays and safe travels to you all! 


-Libby 

shoe(s) of the month/ les chaussures de le mois

As I was looking at Jeffrey Campbell's spring lookbook i found myself loving several pairs of his shoes. I am kind of torn so I'm unable to choose just one pair for the shoe of the month. Therefore... i chose two December shoes of the month. Love!

-Katie

a tchaikovsky weekend.

My weekend was filled with two of Tchaikovsky's most famous works, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake in the form of Black Swan. i find it pretty amazing that over 100 years after these pieces were composed the works of Pyotr Tchaikovsky are still influencing pop culture. I was even inspired to create a Pandora station that I feel like will get me through these next two days of work!

Black Swan certainly is an interesting film. I'm not a big fan of scary movies and I personally wasn't a big fan of this one. However I definitely came away from it wishing I could dance a pas de deux. :)

After seeing a very dark side of the ballet, I headed to Royce Hall at UCLA to see the Los Angleles Ballet perform The Nutcracker. It definitely set the tone for Christmas Week and I suggest seeing it if you'll be in the Redondo Beach area over Christmas.

-Katie

Top 10 of 2010

This year has been a wonderful one for new music. I feel like I've doubled the songs on my i-pod this year alone. Since 2010 is coming to a close I kind of just wanted to look back and take in some of my favorites. Below is a list of my Top 10 Favorite Albums Of 2010. I started out not doing it in any particular order but now that I examine my i-Pod, this is about right. I know I'm leaving out a lot of music that seriously touched my soul or got me dancing and singing in my car but it's a top ten list, so I had to be cutthroat.  Seriously, what were some of your faves? I'd love to know!

1. Mumford & Sons -- Sigh No More
2. Sufjan Stevens -- The Age of Adz
3. The Black Keys -- Brothers
4. Frightened Rabbit -- The Winter of Mixed Drinks
5. Hellogoodbye -- Would It Kill You
6. Sleigh Bells -- Treats
7. Taylor Swift -- Speak Now
8. Two Door Cinema Club -- Tourist History
9. Vampire Weekend -- Contra
10. Ra Ra Riot -- The Orchard

-Libby

we are living in a material world

and i am a material girl... :)

I've been obsessed with make-up, hair products etc. for as long as i can remember. When winter rolls around girls definitely have to change it up to prevent things like crazy static hair, looking like a ghost and chapped lips. Here are a few of my favorite winter products that also conveniently stand as perfect stocking stuffers. What are some of your favorite products?!

-Katie

1. Benefit Throb Blush 2. Dior Iconic Mascara 3. Bobbie Brown Lip Gloss, Icy Rose 4. Rosebud Salve Minted 5. Jergens Natural Glow (Although the Target brand actually smells better!) 6. Kiehl's Pineapple Papaya Facial Scrub 7. OPI, Lincoln Park After Dark 8. OPI, No Spain No Gain 9. Shu Uemura Fabric Spray 10. Moroccan Oil Glimmer Shine Spray

5 Awesome Holiday Movies

Tonight I watched 'It's a Wonderful Life' for the first time ever and I started thinking about what my favorite holiday movies are, since 'Wonderful Life' seems to be on most people's lists. In no particular order here are my favorite 5. Of course there are more so if you feel like I missed an amazing one, feel free to share!

1. Babes In Toyland ( I regret to say I  haven't seen the 1961 version)

2. Elf

3. A Charlie Brown Christmas

4. Home Alone

5. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (the original.. none of the remastered stuff)

-Libby

snow in LA?

While i know most of the states are dealing with winter warnings and ice storms, it's been unseasonably warm here in California. I'm not trying to be braggy, however it was 83 yesterday and i still got to see snow showers! The Grove is a famous mall here in Los Angeles and a visit there is one of the only ways to tell it is December for us Californians. They decorate with lights, a tree and even a brass band playing holiday tunes. Also, my favorite part? At 7 pm every night they simulate a snow storm with a shower of pretty snowflakes. If you're in the area I recommend going!  Sorry for the picture quality I only had my iPhone with me to chronicle the scene.

 Hope you don't have a case of the mondays!

-Katie



Santa coming in for a landing



Santa's house!

Snow Storm in Los Angeles



Holiday Flare

...because the trees and houses don't have to be the only things that sparkle! haha. I'm sure all of you have an abundance of Holiday parties to go to, and NYE 2011 to think about, so I went on a hunt for the perfect sparkly accents to add to any girl's winter wardrobe. Plus, I like shiny things, so it was fun.

1. Gold Sequin Skirt, J. Crew 2. Sequin Embellished Strapless Dress, Diane von Furstenberg 3. Glitter Party Clutch, J. Crew 4. Sequin Heart Hair Clip, Ban.Do 5. Glitter Ballet Flat, Gap 6. Sequin Tank, Aryn K.  7.  Glitter Pump, Steve Madden 8. Happy Birthday Glitter Polish, Deborah Lippmann 9. Sequin Stretch Mini, Forever 21 10. Black Glitter Party Dress, French Connection 

I'm still on the fence about what to wear on New Years Eve.  I'm going to a concert, that will get rowdy, so I think I'll probably go the Forever21 route so I don't mind if it gets trashed. We shall see... :) Happy Holidays!!!

-Libby

around the world

in my whirlwind trip through chicago earlier this week, i felt like i was playing a game of 'around the world' getting to all my favourite restaurants and seeing old friends. directly after landing in chicago, i headed to a restaurant i've never been to, La Madia. (Thanks to a great recommendation from my awesome coworker Corey!) My old roommates and i had a delicious reunion dinner in River North.

Sunday morning we woke up and went to a brunch at Jack's in Lakeview. By the way, if you've been to Chicago and not been to an all-you-can-eat-and-drink brunch you've not really lived. Their food is SO good; I think we all ate more than we had in a really long time! it was awesome.

Casey and Megan

Finally Monday, i rounded out the trip at one of my favourite restaurants, Cafe Ba Ba Reeba in Lincoln Park. For those of you that have lived in or visited Spain, this will be a lovely walk down memory lane. They serve authentic Spanish food with Pinchos and Tapas.

Also, hanging in above the bar are several legs of Jamon Iberico, which I don't particularly find appetizing but is definitely true to Spanish form. Those babies are everywhere you look in Spain. My housemother was always strangely proud of her fully hooved pig legs displayed in her pantry.

Chicago has some good food and it was great to see my long lost friends and coworkers. Until next time...

-Katie

Movember Finale

Welp, November is over which means so is Movember. Trevor raised the highest amount of dolla billz on his team, The Milwaukee Mo's, this year! Thank you to everyone who read this and donated, you are kind. 

                Trevor pre-shave (we learned from this that he has red facial hair, weird) and Trevor closer to the mustache (attempting to mirror Christian Bale on the cover of Esquire haha).  

and finally...

.

Until November 2011... Libby 

hey chicago, whaddya say?!

i'm headed back to chicago for a few days for a work trip that i've turned into a chance to visit friends. as i think i've mentioned a few times... i rather enjoy the city of chicago. i'll be giving my opentable account a workout with plenty of good food, seeing friendlies and enjoying the chilly holiday spirit!

Have a good weekend!

-Katie



Daley Plaza 2008
 



Trump Tower 



Hilarious Stef in traditional Chicago winter wear
posing with the famous Michael Jordan statue before a Bulls Game 

Our fireplace decorated with care

I like new music.

So, it's no secret to anybody that I know, or even just come in contact with, that I love music. Whenever I find a new website, magazine, or person (this list goes on) that leads me to new music I feel like that kid in the YouTube video on Christmas morning opening a Nintendo 64.
This week I was lucky enough to be introduced to We Are Hunted. If you already know what this is I am sorry for being repetitive. We Are Hunted is a music aggregation site that was started a little over a year ago. It does what i-Tunes can't and tracks blogs, social networks, and forums (like last.fm, twitter, spotify, BitTorrent, etc..) to find out what people like you and me are discussing/listening to and then creates a list of the 99 most popular emerging songs for you to check out! The site is updated in real time so if there is a spike in an artists chatter, you'll see it on We Are Hunted. Pretty cool right?

(a screen shot of the websites front page)



We Are Hunted is super easy to navigate around and has a very fresh, clean lay out. If you are looking for some new tunes to rock out to, or some new artists to add to your i-Tunes list, this website is highly recommended. Even if you just want some jams to listen to while you are working away at your desk We Are Hunted is an must visit!

-Libby  

shopRuche

i've recently become quite addicted to online shopping. I love coming home from a day of work and having a big FedEx package waiting for me. After seeing the success experienced by ModCloth and ShopBop, i wanted to share a new site i found recently that shares the same bohemian chic vibe that is wallet friendly. ShopRuche is a lovely little boutique-y shop that has really low prices and their lookbooks offer really good ideas. they're amazing at layering. Here are few samples of their goods... might be a good place to score in some holiday shopping.

-Katie