Saturday, October 29, 2011

What I'm reading: October

Holy cow, I can't believe we're at the end of October already. Time is flying by! 

Here is what I read this month:

The History of Love. I had heard really good things about this book, so I was excited to start it. It would be best as a book club book. I say that because, I needed someone to talk about it to figure out what the heck was going on. The first half of the story, I felt really lost. I actually had to read the synopsis online to find my way. It contains 2 stories that intertwine as the story goes on. The second half of the book clears things up, so I would have seen the light eventually. I really liked Krauss's writing style, even though this might not be my favorite book.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. I have a deep love for anything Audrey Hepburn or Breakfast at Tiffany's, so of course I loved this book. 

Monday, October 24, 2011

What's your favorite scary movie Sydney?

Sidenote: the title of this post was asked of me incessantly throughout middle school. Thanks, Scream. 

What's your favorite scary movie? Most people I know don't like them, but I love them. I definitely prefer suspenseful scary, not blood and guts scary. And no better time to catch up on scary movies than Halloween. Here are my favs:

Hocus Pocus. Technically not a scary movie, but I have to watch it every year. In fact, I'm watching it right now. 

The Others. I've seen this a hundred times, and it still creeps me out every single time.

Shutter Island. Wonderfully dark and unsettling.

Psycho. There's a reason this is a classic. Hitchcock is the master of edge-of-your-seat suspense. I love how the story builds and builds and just gets creepier and creepier. 

The Shining. The book was so scary, Joey on Friends had to hide it in the freezer. The movie definitely belongs in there too. Watch this one in the daytime. 

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Dream wardrobe

If you had an unlimited budget, where would you shop? It would be a tough choice for me - but I'd probably pick J. Crew. Their clothes are classic, but still fun and modern. Here's what I'd scoop up if I could grab anything I wanted:





Where do you like to do your virtual window shopping?

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Paris

So, let's talk about Paris.

Paris, my dream city. 
Paris, the reason I took French in high school. 
Paris, the place I was most excited to visit on my backpacking trip to Europe in 2008.
Paris, the city I was hoping would be like this. (It's still like this in my head)

Oh Paris, someday I'll revisit you. When I have more time and money. When it's not 90% humidity out. 

There's so much I'm dying to do. Walk around inside Versailles and see the fountains outside. Visit Shakespeare and Co, an English-language bookstore. Go inside Notre Dame. Explore the Louvre more. Eat macarons at Laduree. Stroll down the Champs-Elysees. Climb up the Arc de Triomphe. Go to the tippy top of the Eiffel Tower. Remember what it felt like to be in a new place, witnessing something amazing, and dancing with pure joy. 


Thursday, October 13, 2011

Favorite books

What are your favorite books?


I thought since I share what I'm reading each month, it would be fun to do a post on what books I absolutely love.

Anything by Roald Dahl. He was my favorite author growing up - I loved his crazy, whimsical stories. I think I may have to ask for his boxed set for Christmas.

The Harry Potter series. I admit, I came to this party pretty late. I refused to read these when they first came out, I guess I thought they were too juvenile for me. After much pleading, a friend convinced me to read them after our freshman year of college. I read them all in one summer and then made my mom read them. Now we're both die-hard fans. And we really want to go here.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. This is one of the first "adult" books I remember picking up. I found it in the classics section in the library. I don't think I was able to finish it the first time I read it - it was a little too long for me when I was a kid. But I tried again, and fell in love. It's a richly detailed story of a girl named Francie growing up in the early 1900s in New York. I re-read it every couple of years and always come away with something new.

Those are just some of my absolute favs (although, honestly, there are too many to list!) 

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Fashion fate

Do you believe in fate? I sure do. 

Let's take a trip back to this post. I had talked about buying myself a treat. Well, I never ended up buying anything. I decided to wait until my birthday (next month) but couldn't quite decide what I wanted to get. Well, the other night I was reading the November issue of Lucky, and in the back, one of their Lucky Breaks caught my eye. The Love Knot ring I had on my lust list, half off. Shut the front door! The yellow gold version was $87.50 (with Ariel Gordon donating $50 of that to Doctors Without Borders). After sleeping on it for one night, I bit the bullet. Can't wait to get it in the mail!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

#11


Today I decided to make these buckeyes, from Smitten Kitchen. All this time, I had been operating under the assumption that these require baking (clearly I only skimmed the recipe), so I wanted to wait until summer was over to make them. Well, they don't require any baking. But they make a perfect Fall, Halloween-time treat, so my waiting worked out. Pretty easy to put together, but a little messy (which is why I put up the picture from the recipe rather than a picture of my own). So good and so rich, these definitely won't last long around here. 

Thursday, October 6, 2011

I think I remember the spellbind



Did you know this week marks the 50th anniversary of Breakfast at Tiffany's? The movie started filming on October 2nd, 1960 and premiered on October 17th, 1961. I'm currently reading Fifth Avenue 5 A.M. which tells the story of how Truman Capote's novel was made into one of the most influential movies of our time. 

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Hey grandpa

Ok, so I'm kind of an old person living in a young person's body. For instance: 

I promptly go to bed at 10 PM every night (slash fall asleep with the light on every night by 10 PM...)
I don't understand twitter (I may or may not call it the twitter)
I say such modern phrases as "slower than molasses on a cold day" and "doesn't blow my dress up darling" (or are those southern phrases?)
And I love me a good grandpa sweater...




So glad that the weather is finally cooling down so I can wear mine!