Feb 1st 2012 04:37:19 pm

What a great weekend! What a great trip. The weather in California was amazing and my strong, sweet, enthusiastic sister-in-law and I ran 13.1 miles in and around DisneyLand. Just for fun. And because we can. We had an awesome time.

I have a lot more that I want to share about the trip, but for now I feel a little sad that it is over. I want to reiterate that I don’t run because I think it is important, or because I am good at it, or because I like to tell people how far I can go… I do it because it is fun and it teaches me a lot about myself. I recommend it. We don’t have a ton of opportunities as adults to have exhilarating/special/totally-fun experiences, but training for and running road races is one sure way to create one of those life-is-REALLY-good days for yourself. Chelsea & I shared one of those days on Sunday.

1 Comment » Categories: Exercise, Family, running, Trips

Jan 26th 2012 08:08:51 pm

You’ve already heard about my snowy adventure in Park City, but I feel compelled to tell you a little bit more about the one Sundance film I got to see: West of Memphis.

You know when you are watching Law & Order and there is that unbelievably lazy or prejudiced cop or prosecutor who just wants to close a case and so they hastily pin a crime on someone without sufficient evidence? I always thought those were dramatic exaggerations… who could ever be ok with knowingly putting an innocent person in jail?!

Turns out… lazy, stupid people are real… and some of them work in our justice system.

West of Memphis is a documentary about the West Memphis Three, three teenage boys who were accused, convicted, and sentenced to death row for killing three eight-year-old boys in Arkansas in 1993. I don’t want to tell the whole story, but basically the teens were completely innocent. The witnesses against them consisted of a bogus “satanic” expert, an unlicensed medical examiner, and a prosecutor who manufactured evidence. The boys spent 18 years in prison while devoted supporters around the world worked to prove their innocence.

Many parts of the film (which was produced by Peter Jackson, btw) made me uneasy and the entire thing was heartbreaking, but it was also eye-opening and ultimately hopeful. I recommend it.

1 Comment » Categories: Movies, Trips

Jan 26th 2012 02:22:12 pm

So, Pantone (the authority on color standards) announced that the color of 2012 is tangerine tango. Tangerine tango is a reddish orange and it is basically my least favorite color. BUT, in an effort to be more adventurous and open-minded, I thought I’d entertain the possibility of maybe growing to like the vibrant hue.

I searched around for a few acceptable uses of tangerine tango in fashion:

Kate Spade wedges | Tory Burch clutch | J. Crew necklace

I don’t know… I’m still not sure I can pull off a deep, bright orange… even in accessories. How about you?

Will you incorporate tangerine tango into your wardrobe?

No Comments » Categories: Accessories, design, Fashion, Shoes

Jan 25th 2012 06:02:18 pm

I’ve already written a lot about my trip to Alt Summit last week (you can read even more about it here), but I still had to share this photo of me and author, Margaret Atwood, that was taken in Park City on Saturday.

By the end of the day on Friday I was exhausted. After being totally “on” for two and half days of conference going, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to follow through with my plans to head up to Park City on early Saturday morning… but man, am I glad I did! The road trip up the mountain to the home of the Sundance Film Festival was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.

I stumbled on Margaret Atwood signing books at Dolly’s Bookstore on Park City’s main street. I was sort of blown away. The Handmaid’s Tale is one of my very favorite books — a futuristic story with a strong, central, female character long before the days of The Hunger Games — and I plan to read ALL of her fiction. So, I purchased The Blind Assassin and got in line to have it signed. Atwood was lovely and kind and didn’t even seem too annoyed when I asked for a photo. I am impressed by her seemingly grueling speaking and promotional schedule. She was in Park City because her non-fiction book, Payback, had been adapted into a film being premiered at Sundance.

Sundance proved to be an art adventure in more ways than one. I did indeed see a film (which I hope to write about in its own devoted post) and I also ran into this Banksy mural on the side of an ice cream shop…

Very cool. I was told that Bansky made the art while he was in Park City for Sundance when his film Exit Through the Gift Shop premiered in 2010. The store owner put the protective glass and metal bars around the piece after poachers tried to steal it. I think Banksy is trying to say something about how documentary filmakers make an adverse impact even when they are trying to be helpful… what do you think?

Oh, and did I mention that the whole time we were wandering up and down Park City’s main street, it was pouring snow? It was basically a blizzard and apparently the highways had to be closed later in the evening! I was stomping through mounds of snow and trying not to fall on my face in front of movie stars and paparazzi. (BTW: the only stars, besides Atwood, that I saw were Will.I.Am and Robin Weigert, from Deadwood.) Thankfully, I was wearing two items that made the snowy trek totally possible: my No.6 store clog boots and my Brooklyn Industries puffy coat. Both performed wonderfully! I recommend them.

Also, I posed with a moose:

3 Comments » Categories: Art, Books, Shoes, Trips

Jan 23rd 2012 05:03:45 pm

Hello. I am back from the wild world of Alt Summit! It was an inspiring, informative, exciting experience… but if I am being 100% honest, it was also exhausting, intimidating, and overwhelming. A lot to absorb in a short amount of time. I am so glad to have gone, but also quite glad to be back home.

Alt Summit is about inspiration, design, and online business advice. I attended quite a few informative sessions, on topics like “The Business of Blogging,” “Growing Your Audience,” and “Blogging Ethics and Etiquette.” Since I’ve attended similar conferences in the past, some of the content felt repetitive to me, but it was a thrill to hear the big names (like Heather from Dooce, Maggie from Mighty Girl, Ben from Pinterest, and Kal from [i]LoveLife) speak about their experiences of growing their sites and businesses.

I LOVED the keynote talk from Gretchen Rubin. Gretchen is the author of The Happiness Project, which I now feel even more compelled to read. Her talk reminded me that to be happy, you have to be honest with yourself about your true interests and passions, and it can be painful to let go of the person that you wish you were.

A few of my favorite quotes from Gretchen Rubin:

• “You can only build a happy life on YOUR interests, YOUR nature, and YOUR values.”
• “Technology is a good servant, but a bad master.”
• “Preserve open space to think. (And don’t feel guilty about it!)”
• “The days are long, but the years are short.”

To put it simply, she gave me permission to do the things that I need to do for my own happiness without feeling guilty, because being happier will make me a more productive and helpful person in the world.

As a design conference, Alt offered lots of new ideas. The business cards that many of the attendees bring to exchange are like little works of art.

Some business card trends I observed: foil embossing, deep letterpress printing on very thick stock, DIY embellishments, like washi tape, and square formats.

My favorite business cards of the ones I collected:

Michelle Edgemont | You + Me Design | Making it lovely (one of my all-time fave blogs) | Ginny Branch | Deb Averett (an internet friend) | Fleurish Events | Elizabeth Giorgi | A Girl Who Makes (Laura is a high school friend who I ran into at Alt!) | The Salty Pineapple | Turquoise Ink | The Jealous Curator | Little Bird Soda Co. | Link with Love | I Still Love You (another of my fave blogs) | Armelle (with a QR code on a tiny pack of gum) | The Cuisinerd

Since Alt is a conference for people (mostly women) interested in the online worlds of style, photography, design, and fashion, you can probably imagine how fashionable the attendees are. The outfits at Alt really were impressive.

Some fashion trends I observed: nerdy glasses, big necklaces, long, straight bangs, top knot buns, color!, stripes, red jeans, red tights, leopard print shoes, neon belts, pattern on pattern, floor-length skirts, sequins, and scarves. For men: bowties.

I did not feel quite up to par fashion-wise, but I tried. Here are a few of my outfits:

Yes, I went with the silver dress for the all-white-attire Winter Wonderland party. Thank you all for voting in my poll! (The big, blue bag was a gift from one of the Alt Summit sponsors, Epiphanie Bags. I actually love it!)

My favorite parts of the conference were the mini parties on Friday night. Different sponsors took over suites in the Grand America hotel and put on parties based around fun themes. There was delicious food and drink, party favors, and lots of confetti. I even forced myself to be brave and tried out one of the many photo booths solo.

Although the Alt Summit was a good experience, my favorite part of the entire trip was just getting to explore Salt Lake City. Seeing the mountains and the snow and staying in the lovely Grand America hotel was all very refreshing. I ordered room service, had a bubble bath, read good fiction late into the evening, and basically enjoyed spending some time alone.

I am not going to recap it all in full now, but I loved traveling to Park City to check out the Sundance Film Festival scene. I even got to see one of the films, West of Memphis, which was an excellent, heartbreaking documentary that I highly recommend. Completely unknowingly, I ran into a crazy-cool Banksy mural and I stumbled upon one of my favorite authors, Margaret Atwood, signing books and I picked up The Blind Assassin. On Saturday night, I struck out on my own, in the snow, to go see the Mormon Temple Square. It was impressive and spooky and wonderful. I had a grand adventure in Utah!

For more links from the conference, check out my “link love” round-up on the Swap-bot blog.

For more inspiration, view the Alt Summit 2012 Flickr Stream or search #altsummit on Twitter.

7 Comments » Categories: design, Fashion, Trips, Work

Jan 17th 2012 06:46:09 pm

This will be my first year attending the Altitude Design Summit in Salt Lake City… and I leave tomorrow morning! I am a little nervous, but basically just trying to get all packed and ready.

The conference is focused on lifestyle and design blogs, so there has been a LOT of talk about what everyone is wearing. A LOT of talk. There are many cute blog posts on the topic, like this one and this one. One woman says she is bringing SIX pairs of shoes. For a three-day conference!! I am a little intimidated. So I need your help….

There is a party on Thursday night themed “Winter Wonderland” and everyone is supposed to wear white. I was planning to just wear a white top and call it good, but I found a casual silver dress on Sunday at a Theory sample sale and now I am torn. What look should I wear to the party?

Either way I’ll be pretty boring and unremarkable, but what do you think…

I reserve the right to alter either look… but I will post a report on what I end up wearing on Thursday…

6 Comments » Categories: Clothes, Fashion, Trips, Work

Jan 16th 2012 12:22:43 pm

Picking my favorite Golden Globe fashions is something of an annual tradition of mine. (My picks from last year.) I didn’t even watch the full ceremony this year, but I managed to catch up on the fashion online. It is amazing how fast they get the photos up after the red carpet!

My very favorite was Claire Danes’ J. Mendel gown. It was a little weird and futuristic, but I thought it was a perfect, sophisticated choice for her third award win. I also liked the dresses worn by Heidi Klum, Helen Mirren, Amy Pohler, and Laura Dern.

The fact that I am choosing older women as my faves must say something about me… hmmmm… I really appreciate it when the women look fantastic without going the overtly sexy route. I think it is more difficult to pull off an elegant and unique look than it is to just show cleavage. (Michelle Williams also did it adorably.)

I usually love courageous and weird dress picks, but I didn’t love Angelina Jolie’s asymmetrical Atelier Versace dress. I think I may just not like red.

Who wore your favorite Golden Globes look?

No Comments » Categories: Clothes, Fashion, Just for Fun

Jan 11th 2012 07:03:41 pm

I can’t help sharing the old photos I scanned over the holidays. They make me happy. This photo was taken 30 years ago. Isn’t my mom pretty?!

I’ve been a bit scatterbrained lately. I’ve still been trying to catch up on holiday work while simultaneously getting prepped to attend the Alt Design Summit in Utah next week. I am looking forward to the trip. I think it will be a fun conference.

What else have I been up to?

Well… I’ve been doing a lot of writing over at Ace Dept:

• Check out my review of The Big Enough Company.
• Try out my two new favorite iPhone games.
• Make some split pea soup.
• And, learn about how working less can save the world.

I am also hosting two Valentine swaps over on the ‘bot:

• February Love Matchbox Swap – the fourth annual!
• Handmade Valentine Postcard Swap

Come join us and receive some fun February mail!

Oooo!! I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on Saturday (the new American one) and I actually liked it better than the book. They omitted many of the aspects of the book that I thought were silly/unbelievable/inconsistent. Plus, Daniel Craig’s attractive confidence made it more believable that every woman in the story wanted to sleep with him. I want to watch the Swedish version of the movie asap.

Ok, now I’m off to do our weekly run by the East River, under the Brooklyn Bridge, and over to the Brooklyn Shake Shack… yum… shakes….

2 Comments » Categories: Ace Department, Brooklyn, Movies, Swap-bot, Work

Jan 5th 2012 11:43:07 am

My thoughts this morning…

• A check in with my Mugshot Thursday photo tradition seemed appropriate at the beginning of this new year. I’ve taken 109 photos of myself with PhotoBooth over the past two and a half years. Some of them are not very pretty (I am getting older, people!) but I like the record. They are honest snapshots of what I look like at “work” each day in my crazy, cluttered home office. It’s not at all glamorous, but I love working for myself.
• The cute hat is from my friend, Jessica Benjamin. It is from Lululemon! I love it! Jessica and I ran the Marine Corps Marathon together, which is an experience I will never forget. Running has been my social outlet in NYC… and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
• The 26.2 mug is actually Travis’. His parents got it for him for Christmas since he completed his first full marathon in 2011. Travis has definitely caught the running bug. He is more obsessed than I am. And that is saying something! I am thinking about running three full marathons within the next year… I am not sure if that is smart… we’ll see how it plays out…

Ok, now back to work!!

No Comments » Categories: Feeling Happy, Friends, Photos, running

Jan 4th 2012 05:12:41 pm

reading: The Girl Who Played with Fire. I actually haven’t started it yet, but I just finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and I enjoyed it. It didn’t 100% live up to my admittedly overly high expectations — so many otherwise strong female characters fell in love with the dashing male protagonist that it started to feel like the author’s fantasy — but it was an enthralling mystery. I will definitely finish the series.

playing: Tiny Tower. Travis introduced me to this cute iPhone game. You build a tiny tower community floor by floor. I have 17 floors so far…

watching: Portlandia. Travis and I watched the full first season over the weekend. It is a weird show, but as a past Oregonian, I often laughed out loud. In the first episode there is a line about how people in Portland ride unicycles and double-decker bikes… which is funny because it is completely true.

getting pumped for: The TinkerBell Half Marathon. In just 22 days, Chelsea and I will be running 13 miles through Disney Land! I can’t wait to visit family and ride Space Mountain!

What are you up to at the start of this fresh, new year?

3 Comments » Categories: Books, Currently, running, Television