First Week in February

I know I’m late!
Lets get right down to it…

1. Pret A Manger. This is my newest addiction. Although there are 18,696 eating establishments in New York City, this particular chain caught my fancy this week. I’m usually not a fan of chains, but I stumbled upon this place in midtown ( and apparently has a few locations throughout the city ). They make everything so fresh that you can actually taste the difference. Their Avocado and Parmesan sandwich is out of this world. Its also got arugula and pine nuts in between the whole grain slices. I am definitely in love. They also make these amazing perfectly sized chocolaty-walnutty-coconutty squares of goodness called “Love Bites”. A-mazing.

2. PostSecret. One of my favorite blogs. I remember when these books came out. I remember years later when in an Urban Outfitters, I was looking through one and somehow reading other people’s deepest secrets in the form of a piece of art was comforting. It makes you realize time and time again, that we aren’t so different from one another. That we are not alone in this quest.

3. Pickup on South Street and Fools Rush In. It was a toss up this week for the movie that wins a place on this list. There were so many good movies that I watched this week.. old and new, and in the end I couldn’t choose just one. Both of these movies are amazing for different reasons. First of all, Richard Widmark stars and his character is named “Skip”, which in itself is enough for me! Lots of pulpy fiction in this story, with all the trimmings, and of course stolen microfilm make it one of my favorites. Fools Rush In on the other hand, is not a piece of cinematic revelation. It is however filled with the classic movie theater butter ( code for cliches and key plot points ). I love its comforting sense of “I know exactly whats going to happen in this movie”. I love the silly acting. Its predictable and what most people would call a “chick flick”, but I have to say, its just plain old fun!

4. Ecostyle by Vidal Sasson. This is hands down the best hairdryer on the market. It is the only one that actually DRIES my hair. For some reason it leaves it silky smooth. I haven’t gotten one yet but was using my best friend’s for a time and it grew on me. Just had to put that out there for all you ladies!

5. The Beauty of the Husband, by Anne Carson. I read this book in one sitting. The half prose/half poetry configuration hooked into my bones and kept me clinging on till there were no more words to attach to. I felt as if Anne had written down everything all of these incredibly tender and intimate details about all of our lives and created a story that anyone who has ever gone through any sort of tribulation in their life can relate to.

6. Yogi Tea’s Inspirational Sayings. I don’t have a real reason for liking these. Mostly its like a version of fortune cookies, except with tasty healing tea. I love that they are inspirational and small enough to tape to the inside of a book!

7. Woodstock Chimes. There is something about chimes that I love. Maybe its because they’re hanging and I find that calming. Maybe I like the unexpected song they create unknowingly. They remind me to take a closer gander at the things I pass by every day without realizing. Woodstock chimes combines all of that along with the beautiful sounds it creates in each chime. There are a multitude of options including chimes for meditation, reflection, gregorian style, feng shui, and even chimes that will be in harmony with your chakras. In addition they sell a special series of chimes handmade from bamboo and other natural resources, and even musical instruments! I have a few sets of chimes throughout my living spaces and love them dearly which is why they made this week’s list.

8. Beach House. This band grew on me. All of the music sites are writing about them. They are pretty much the seamless love-child of Death Cab for Cutie, Mazzy Star, Murder by Death, and Iron and Wine if a child could be born out of four entities that is. I also can’t figure them out quite yet. One on hand they provide visuals of lonely beaches in the wintertime. Abandoned cottages and dusty tabletops. On the other there is this southern drawl. Something I can’t quite put my finger on. Something that makes that southwestern sun on the horizon seem like the right choice over and over again. Something that reminds me we can all make our lives into what they need to be. Like we will inevitably become what we are, and what we want and need to be.

9. Anya Marina. I’ll admit it, I first heard her cover of T.I’s “Whatever You Like” on Gossip Girl ( I know thats a lot of pop culture in one sentence for me ). But I instantly fell in love with her sharp female vocals. They are sweet and seductive to the drums of your ear. Perfect film soundtrack material for that scene when the first act is transitioning into the second act and the main character is being set up to eventually get to realizing what they need to do in order to fulfill their purpose and get rolling on the plan that will result in their growing as people and characters and the driving force for the plot of the movie. There, I said it.

10. Graphic Design in all its glory. Especially when text aligns with color and space to make your eyes do backflips.

11. Found. This is an amazing website that I stumbled across. Has that same anonymity as PostSecret except that the concept is that people send in things they find as they travel along their daily paths. Things that have been discarded or lost. Things that are no longer holding your place as a bookmark, that have drifted away from your planner of to-do’s. There is a tragic element in them, for they hold the energy of something that was once fulled invested in.

12. Johnny Depp. Every. Single. Thing. About. This. Photograph. 😀 Okay Okay so I know he’s won America’s Hottest Sexiest Guy on the Planet award eight million times over, and that is the sole definition of the bandwagon theory, but this my dears is one bandwagon I will hop on gleefully. Not only is he a beautifully handsome man, this photo is strikingly aware, angled perfectly, exposed impeccably, and pretty much just gets a ten/ten in my book.

Happy Monday Everyone!