these are a few of my favorite things

I haven't been on the internet as much this year as I was last (that's how fast time goes by for me lately! "This year" seems like a reasonable time frame to report on!) but every once in awhile I'll find something that sticks out and stays with me. Here are three:



The real-life UP house, photos by National Geographic Channel




Aqualillies at Hitched, photography by Brandon Kidd




Stills from Bertrand Norman's Ballerina (I linked to this clip on Twitter but I can't stop watching it! Also this: the tragedy of first position)

p.s.

In my past two days on the road, I've seen not one, but two youngish vagabond-looking couples walking along the side of the highway with giant backpacks, bedrolls, and a dog. About 70 miles apart, so I assume it was not the same couple. I suppose it's that time of year that the snow has melted and the train hoppers are beginning to head north? Can you train hop with a dog? Fascinating.

(Photo from this amazing Flickr set by SW▲MPY. Yes, freighthopping is still a thing with the youth of America.)

storms a-brewin'

I had to drive out to Tooele this afternoon and made a spontaneous stop at Saltair, since I've always meant to visit it and never have, and was handily armed with my iPhone camera. What is now a venue for random concerts and raves (most recently, Ke$ha) was once a pretty amazing bathing resort/amusement park on the Great Salt Lake (circa 1893-1925, rebuilt after being destroyed by fire - twice.)

The history of this place floors me. It's unbelievable to see old pictures compared to now, when the lake water is what seems like a mile away from the building, and almost everyone steers clear of it. I walked almost all the way out to the water, but as you can see, there were some intensely foreboding storm clouds above me and as I got farther and farther out on those desolate salt flats, the wind suddenly picked up like crazy and I had one of those scary panicky stomach-dropping moments that actually happen to me quite frequently on the Great Salt Lake - the storms out there are no joke! And I seem to get stuck in one whenever I go near the place, though I still love it so. They come on quick, and I always seem to be either alone or close to it, and far enough out that I'm certain I'll be struck by lightning by the time I get back to safety.








Adventure!

I really hugely, unironically think that the Great Salt Lake and all of the West Desert is one of the most beautiful areas of a very beautiful state. I know I'm in the minority here, but...do you see it?

Oscar superlatives

Best Dressed - Cate Blanchett in Givenchy
Best Close-up - Michelle Williams in Chanel (from the waist down, not very flattering, but close up with the hair and makeup and dress color, perfection)
Cutest Couple - Mark Ruffalo & Sunrise Coigney
Best BFFs - Michelle Williams brought Busy Philipps as her date
Best Significant Other Recognition - Christian Bale
Best Post-Show Wrap-up - James Franco's Best Faces at the Oscars

simply lovely

I'm not sure why, but I can't seem to make this blog into anything other than an advertisement for the ShakeIt photo app. I'm a one-trick pony.

This week started with a low-key Valentine's Day at home. Hermit that I am, I can't tell you how pleased it makes me to have reached the point in our lives where holidays are spent homebodying. Cameron made buttermilk pancakes, fruit salad and scrambled eggs with fresh-pressed apple juice for dinner, and we went on a cold evening walk around the neighborhood. I constructed a saccharine Valentine's display of anything red, white, floral, and porcelain in our home, accented by heart paper chains and sugar jars.

Some of the internet i've been loving lately:

-Saipua on the Makers Project
-BHLDN launched on Valentine's Day (aka: Anthropologie weddings), and while I am in love with the concept, the vintage stylings, and the romantic Marie Antoinette details (watch the prelude, it's especially beautiful), there's surprisingly no one item in the shop that I would rush to buy for my own imaginary wedding. (What, you didn't know wedding websites were one of my internet addictions? They are.) I can't quite put my finger on why - the gowns just seem a tad too poufy/high maintenance/frou frou or deliberately wacky/non-traditional for me personally. For example: this one would very nearly be a dream come true but only if you took away the poufy skirt and the Swarovski beading. It's just a titch too "look at me, I'm a faux-vintage wedding dress" for me, but I'd probably die to see it on someone else who could own it better than I. It's all for the best, because it saves me from yearning for a dress that costs $2600. (Why not go to the extremes of the impossible and pine after these three dresses from Valentino? That's how you nail feminine and romantic. And for an elopement or informal dinner wedding, I'd wear this one in a heartbeat - but I'll gladly settle for seeing Michelle Williams wear it to her next premiere. (Am I right??))
-Too much fashion for you? Ah, well, this one has a little bit of short film and a little bit of Elle Fanning thrown in too. The Curve of Forgotten Things is a dreamy little film by Todd Cole featuring the clothes of Rodarte. (Speaking of dream dresses: that blue one!)
-Kate's preview of the new collection of Warby Parker frames
-I started a Pinterest which clearly shows I like wood, books, light, plants, and animals (one. trick. pony.)
-Arcade Fire, and the 'Never Heard of It' Grammys - really amusing and spot-on analysis of music fans and internet cultures
-My best friend just finished assembling an orca whale skeleton for the marine science center she works for. No big deal.
-Have you seen Portlandia? So funny in an absurd, awkward, cringey way. My favorite clips, in order of favorite: I Dream of the 90s, Did You Read?, Hide and Seek, Put a Bird on It.

bebe

Met the newest member of the Brown family this weekend, Miles Jupiter. He's 10 weeks old and an Idahoan. He has an expressive old-man face and a small tuft of chicken hair that sticks straight up at the back of his head. Cameron and I got a kick out of hanging out with him.

Yesterday we had gorgeous, spring-like weather and went for a walk up Memory Grove without even a coat (with baby and mama). I took a long, hot bubble bath and Cameron made a delicious dinner of whole wheat linguine with pesto, asparagus, and bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic. Tonight we plan to make Napoli-style pizza from scratch, maybe go to a movie or finish our Netflix DVD, clean, and relax.

Hope you've had a nice weekend, too.

outtakes from our Christmas card

Cameron and I got a real kick out of taking a family portrait for our Christmas cards this year. We had found these Santa and reindeer cat costumes at Target and I had to have them (the best $20 I have ever spent). Taking the picture required a lot of test shots with different positions, exposures, etc., using a jerry-rigged tripod of books and furniture stacked on the bed to get this angle in our tiny apartment. I know I might be the only way to fully appreciate the hilarity of this, but I have so many pictures setting this up that crack me up.








I laughed so hard everytime we forced the cats to wear these. Frankie acted like the reindeer hat rendered her incapable of movement, and would just squat underneath the table, frozen and humiliated. Finnegan went wild, spinning around like a drunk and trying to attack his own face. Getting them to pose for a picture was equally as humorous as herding cats.

The final eight exposures that were "winners":



I did feel a little guilty, but they both looked so cute it killed me. And here is the one we chose, and gave out to family wrapped in envelopes made from kraft wrapping paper: