carry-on

until my new [rose + gold!] spring bag arrives from across the pond via topshop (i dislike the weekend crowds in soho almost as much as i dislike the phrase "across the pond"), my [cynthia rowley, pony-hair, increasingly unseasonable] backpack stays.

wishes and dreams

oh god, i would probably never go through with it, but when asked a few weeks ago if i would ever have cosmetic surgery i said: "only lip injections." they seem [relatively] harmless and sometimes pretty. have you ever had surgery? i had non-elective surgery three years ago and it is not something i would do again if you paid me. let alone something i would ever pay for. it's painful and disorienting, though the hospital was an adventure of sorts and was fairly interesting.

anyway! lip injections. ever since my comment, it's been a total case of "you get what you wish for." last week, ben's friend gave me a robust side-hug in which his watch went straight  for my bottom lip. much pain. the next day, the solid-block-of-ice in my water bottle [thanks, freezer!] came crashing down on my top lip [more pain] as i tried to take a sip [of the 3 droplets] of water.

all the results without the price and stigma!

ink

when i love something, i can not stop talking about it. to the point where i might as well just do the product's/place's pr. this list includes dr. dennis gross glow pads, clarisonic [order your mia 2 today─you're welcome], wolford tights [in matte opaque 80], ysl volume effet faux cils luxurious mascara and/or eyelash extensions, wild ride beef jerky, momofuku milk bar birthday cake truffles and blue bird coffee. 

and magazine cafe. oh gee, i have definitely blogged about this joyous store before. but really. this is one of my favorite places in manhattan. they have all of the best mags. and even though i am there twice a month to pick up my required reading, they always tell me that they've missed me. and even before they were featured in the daily a few seasons ago [should find a scan of this, they proved to be very knowledgeable], it has always been my go-to.

magazine cafe
15 west 37 street
new york, new york

rabbit

last year's weekend in burlington included at least four trips to thrift stores. i was trying to stock up on tschotskes for my apartment. my bedroom [in the lower east side apartment that i shared with emily] was stuffed to the brim with beauteous knickknacks, but i soon realized that i would have to distribute everything from a single bedroom into a kitchen and living room when living on my own. my new apartment suddenly seemed empty. so last year's trip to burlington was my chance to stock up. new york just doesn't have that many options. at least not in my budget. nothing ever seems that unique at picked over second-hand shops in the city that i can afford. 

my usual motto of don't buy unless i love did not apply so strictly on this trip. this phrase pops into my mind when i am debating whether something is a must-have. if there is any debate, i put it down. this time in vermont, i purchased just about everything that caught my eye. including a seashell rabbit.

and this rabbit [or mouse, i can't quite tell] is so bizarre. because, though hard to see in this picture, it has googley eyes. and i always try to understand if it was someone's craft project or something that was once sold in a store. after painstakingly taking the time to apply all of the shells to the animal's body, why are there googley eyes? there are plenty of real-looking eyes at craft stores that would make this shell rabbit look less like a [talented] 14-year-olds arts and crafts idea. i didn't exactly love it at first, but now i really find it quite fancy.

a suntan

after reading a book with my dad before bed, he'd tell me stories about his childhood. mostly about his friends, brett and boo, who he would get into all sorts of harmless trouble with; breaking their arms falling out of tree houses and the like. think dennis the menace. he had many, many stories to share about growing up. friends, family, school. all entertaining enough to become bedtime stories.

one story that i remember: a boy from his school, in preparation for a dance, used a [first generation?] self-tanner that turned his skin orange. everyone laughed at him at the dance and, after countless requested story-repeats, so did i. every time. an orange boy? ha. just think, that self-tanner tale was so memorable that my dad used it as a bedtime story, and i still remember it over 15 years later.

and still, i laugh, because i [countless times] have had an orange hue. at the start of my job, i willingly tried every tanner that passed through the office doors. nobody else would. streaky skin and orange palms were just a part of the job. i am now more discerning, i swear. there were also the unseasonable [winter in vermont] spray tans from body le bronze in preparation for ultra-glamorous nights out in college. and i still get slightly nostalgic every time i smell some variant of that jergens gradual-tan moisturizer. i was champing at the bit to buy it as soon as it hit store shelves. oh and of course, sally hansen airbrush legs. clearly i am no stranger to an enhanced complexion.

but, i can not fail to mention my first dabble into the world of self tanning at age 11. bizarre to think that i even cared about tanned skin at that age, especially only years before i was laughing at the thought of changing your skin's tone. but, it was a purchase from [now defunct] limited too. they had just launched a collection of personal care products, va-va-vanilla shower gels and berrylicious body sprays, which oddly [since its target customer was more/less 10 and this was before the reign of paris hilton] included a self tanner. it came in a sky blue tube and had a yellow sun squiggled on the packaging. i remember using it several times, without any truly noticeable difference, before it remained untouched in a bathroom drawer for several years.

though i am no longer in search of the perfect faux glow, a hint of color is always nice and i can't get enough of dr. dennis gross skincare alpha beta glow pads. they provide a reasonable amount of warmth to winter's skin-sans-sun without the risk of leaving streaks or orange hands; and offers a dose of vitamin d. see? i am now discerning.