pandas and fashion?

Love this month's Bazaar cover!

pandas and fashion?

Love this month's Bazaar cover!

thin mints!

Oh my!  I know what I'll be doing this weekend!  cupcakesandcashmere posted this recipe for thin mint cookies...my favorite!

Photo by cupcakesandcashmere

whimsical

Wheewww, it has been a long week.  Nevertheless, when I came across these paintings by Odilon Redon this morning, my mood was instantly lifted.  These are so dreamy and nostalgic...they kind of make me think of Peter Pan's Neverland....they draw you in and take you to better places.  Hope you all have a great weekend!

Works by Odilon Redon

parapluie

This photo from Garance Dore makes me think of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's work.

analysis of value my life

Speaking of thesis, this funny from PhD Comics really captures how I feel lately.  Thank you Jorge Cham for summing up my life as of the past few weeks into one nice theory.

rude boy

The past week I have done nothing except enter data in Excel and run regressions for my thesis.  Sitting at my computer for hours at a time doing this monotonous work, I have found myself unable to resist playing this song on replay.  Go Rihanna.

Does this video remind anyone else of M.I.A. circa 2005?  I really love the in-your-face-ness of the colors and shapes.

lane 248

I found out today that my uncle, aunt, and cousins from Toulouse are moving to Shanghai for my uncle's job!  Since I've never been to Asia, I decided to see what Shanghai is all about.  What I found is this trendy district called Lane 248.  Check out this New York Times article to read about it.  Maybe if I keep my fingers crossed I will be able to visit them next year!

taikanglu

shanghaiist

bahighlife

dark inspiration

These photos from this isn't happiness gave me chills.

 Light and Shadow

The Londonist

Camera-less Photography

hypothetically speaking...

Apparently, if you're going to have a band, the new hipster thing to do to find your band name, first album title, and album cover is to

1) Hit "random" on Wikipedia....the title of the article that comes up is your band name.

2) Go to this random quotations page and refresh three times, then the last four or five words of the last quote on the page is your album title.

3) Finally, for your album cover, go to flickr and hit "Explore last seven days."  The third photo is your album cover.

So, I did this, and here's what happened:

My band name is HMS Heureux.

My first album title is "This is the Brave and Happy Life."

Photo courtesy of Yoshi Gizmo

What's yours??

v-day

Happy Valentine's day my friends!  Any big plans?  Tonight I will be at a couples' gathering...this is the first Valentine's day that all of my best friends have a significant other :) 

I'll leave y'all with these romantic pictures:

 by Alfred Eisenstaedt

Paris, Hotel de Ville 1950

love, david yurman

Here are my favorite photo entries in the David Yurman Valentine Contest.  Feel the love!

mississippi

from binxbolling

somewhere in between

Lately I've had the weird sensation of longing for France/Europe and what awaits me next year while simultaneously wishing that this semester would slow down and never end, because I don't know what awaits me next year.  It is exciting, and I hope I make the most of every adventure and opportunity that comes my way during the next year.  But, I also know that it will be the biggest transition I have yet faced in my life:  For the first time since I was five, I will not be in school (and, isn't it sad that I find that terrifying???)

Who knows what next year will hold in store.... an internship in the U.S. or abroad, waiting tables in a big city, au pairing in Europe... I have quite a long list.

Until then, here are a few snapshots of things I love:

Playing in the snow with my sisters

Music in the Hall

Friendships

the force

This Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial makes me smile each time I see it!  What a great spot:

every woman should have...

Coco Chanel

My mom sent this to me and I found it so inspiring.  It's often called "Maya Angelou's Best Poem Ever," but after doing a little research, I found out that the list was actually published in this Glamour article in 1997.  Nevertheless, it's a good poem!

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

enough

money within her control to move out

and rent a place of her own,

even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .

something

perfect to wear if the employer,

or date of her dreams

wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD

HAVE .

a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .

a past juicy

enough that she's looking forward to

retelling it in her

old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .

a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .

one friend who

always makes her laugh.. and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .

a good piece

of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her

family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .

eight

matching plates, wine glasses with stems,

and a recipe for

a meal,

that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

a feeling of

control over her destiny..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD

KNOW...

how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to quit

a job,

break up with a lover,

and confront a friend

without;

ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN

SHOULD KNOW...

when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK

AWAY..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,

the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that her

childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she

would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....

how to live

alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY

WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..

whom she can trust,

whom she can't,

and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to

go...

be it to her best friend's kitchen table..

or a

charming Inn in the woods....

when her soul needs

soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..

What she can and can't accomplish in a day...

a

month...and a year...

snapshot

The other day when I walked into my room, this sight of my desk made me extremely happy for some reason...probably because of the pink flowers, yellow flowers, and balloon given to me from friends for my 22nd birthday last week.  Flowers are my favorite.

mark twain

Apparently Mark Twain impersonators are on the rise. 

Right now I am sitting in my school computer lab drinking a cup of coffee, and a Mark Twain quote on the side of the mug caught my eye.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.  Broad, wholesome, charitable views cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth."

-Mark Twain

What a great quote and how true!



wanderlusting- prague

What a dreary day!  While the north is getting buried in snow, we Mississippians are swimming through monsoon-like rains.  I overheard fellow classmates betting that we get more rain than Seattle during the months of January-March.

So, what else to do other than look at these colorful pictures of Prague to brighten my day?  I took these last summer while I was traveling around Europe.  The color and brightness of these really surpass what I remember from when I was there...although that could possibly be because lately everything here has been so gray and sad.  Nevertheless, I hope these shots bring some summer warmth into your day.