The Wolf

Oooooooooh my goodness!!  I’ve got the fever because Fever Ray’s song ‘The Wolf’ for the movie ‘Red Riding Hood’ is out now on the soundtrack.  Looooooooooooooooove!!!  Gosh they know how to put together amazing, brilliant, spine chilling songs.  Some of you may know Fever Ray as The Knife another group of Karin Dreijer’s.  Along with this new song, another one of her previously recorded songs, ‘Keep the streets empty for me’ is on the soundtrack.  Another moving one, she knows how to get you entranced with a simple song.  So here is a little musical snack for your enjoyment.  Here are both songs for you.  Unfortunately ‘The Wolf’ doesn’t have one of Fever Ray’s artistic videos so it’s just a picture of the movie but it’s the song we’re interested in.  I’ll put money down that Amanda Seyfried is the wolf, just sayin, she’s a little hoodlum up to know good……hehe get it, hood-lum……………please don’t stop reading my blog.  🙂  Anyways, enjoy!

Love me a Burger?

Compliments of Boyfriend here are some close up shots of myself eating a tongue-tastic Bacon Cheeseburger from Ruby’s…..now don’t judge me, out of the goodness of my heart we have to introduce our English family to the good ole fashion tastey greatness of American Burgers.  Plus it’s mine and Boyfriend’s only time we have the excuse to indulge in a bit of greasy grimey food that tastes good but is definitely the cause of the American obesity problem (no offense to you who eat there on a regular basis).  So as much as I regretted the decision after it was down in my belly it was like a party in my mouth while going down….so I can’t complain.  Did you do anything you regret this weekend?  Hehe.

Also I HAD to include two photos of Boyfriend and Niece Bethan because it’s to precious to even talk about…..and I like showing them both off.  😉

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yes Yes YES!

So, I think it is safe to say that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are my favorite band, yes THE favorite.  It is a bold statement I know, because none of us can ever truly hone in on who specifically is our fav because most of us have many.  The first time I heard them was back in High School, I was up late one night watching music videos.  The song was “maps” of course.  I wasn’t fully paying attention at first because I was drawing at the same time.  Then I heard this powerful drum beat and dropped what I was doing to watch the unfamiliar group on the TV.  Her stage character was different than most singers, she was explaining the lyrics with her body.  You could feel the power of the emotions in the song just by her body language.  If you’ve never heard the song the main line of the song is “They don’t love you like I love you”.  Such a perfect line.  There really isn’t much lyrics but for such simple words there is so much meaning.  By the end of the song I was sitting up right at the edge of my seat not ready for it to finish.  It was that minute I was hooked.  First chance I got I went and got the album ‘Fever to tell’ and I was an official fan.  When ‘Show your Bones’ came out I could barely wait for the release date.  As soon as I had it in my Ipod’s possession I couldn’t stop listening to it.  Then when ‘It’s Blitz’ came out the first song I heard of it was ‘Runaway’ on the show Gossip Girl.  I knew instantly it was YYYs and literally frantically ran to my computer to download the album.  And to this day it is my favorite album on my Ipod.  It isn’t just because the songs are catchy or make you jam out.  The style is like no other.  If you try to compare lead singer Karen O to any singer out there….you can’t!  She can go from screaming to a smooth melody with out missing a beat.  Every song has a purpose, every song has a power behind it whether it’s ‘Heads will Roll’ that gets you rallied for the upcoming moment or ‘Maps’ that can make you stop in your tracks and make your heart ache.  And then there’s her drummer Nick and guitarist Nick….their pictures should be in the dictionary next to Brilliant.  The guitar riffs are so strategically matched with her melody.  And those drums can move the soul.  The combo is something to be marveled at.  Karen O is truly an idol, she’s my idol.  If  I could ever have a group even with a slight fraction of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs steez, I will consider it a life time achievement.  Their originality is almost unbelievable.  Their lyrics, their music, their general presents cannot be touched.  So in conclusion, I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, they’re a Daily Love.  Next time you listen to one of their songs listen to those lyrics and feel the beat and you’ll feel the power……ok, I know that was a bit corny, but I am corny.  😉  Do you have an all time fav Band?

Movin on up!

So, I’m moving, not something I love but I do love the apartment we’re moving into.  Literally we are movin on up.  The new apartment is a two bedroom (we were in a one bedroom) that is in the same complex just one floor “up” and with a better view.  However it makes it almost more annoying that we have to go through the whole packing process to move up one floor and across the parking garage just the same as if we were moving across town.  Now, since this is a blog about things I love and not things that I hate let me tell you some of the things I love about moving……

-It’s a chance to have a walk down memory lane.  Moving seems to be the only time we actually ever go through our old things that we insist on holding on to but only recognize it exists when you are deciding whether to keep it or not to bring on to the next place.  And the irony of that is that you won’t see it again until you move the next time.  But hey, somethings you just can’t let go of.  For example my jewelry box collection….do I use those jewelry boxes…no, but that’s not the point.

-You have an excuse to let your apartment get inconceivably messy and dirty.  Not that I love this, it actually drives me crazy, but I love that I don’t have to be concerned about how this apartment looks because I get to move in to a shiny brand new one with new carpet and everything, and then someone else gets to come in and clean up after us….not a bad deal I have to say.

-You get to redecorate!!  Because we have an extra bedroom and bathroom we get a whole new set for both.  And naturally we’re taking the new stuff for our master suite….duh!  Now, Boyfriend says it’s because I love to spend money, I just love shiny new things!!……not necessarily the same thing…..sort of….but not really.

-You get to reorganize.  I don’t know about you but how annoying is it that no matter how hard you try to keep things organized, the crap just some how keeps piling up and it never seems to get sorted out until you move again.

-You have an opportunity to sneakily get rid of your significant other’s things that you may not be the biggest fan of.  Not that I permanently get rid of the stuff, but you know, I may just “accidentally” put them in a random box that is “accidentally” meant for storing away.  Nothing harsh, he’ll never know it is gone.  The ‘it’ I’m referring to is a huge trophy that is kept on our book shelf.  Sssshhhhh, hehe…..Don’t judge me, you know you’ve done it before.

So there you have it, some of the things I love about moving.  As stressful as it can be it is a very exciting time.  Here is a fun fact for you- the three most stressful situations in life are moving, starting a new job, and getting married.  Now the irony is that those three things are also the most exciting things that happen in life because they all mark taking another positive step in life…..most of the time.  I’d like to look at it as exciting and ignore the other statistic.  So anyway, I’ve got to get back to my world of boxes I currently live in.  I may be MIA for a couple days just because my computer will be packed away but when I’m back I’ll definitely share the loves of my new place!  Talk soon.  🙂

Art by day….Art by night.

Okay, okay, so I know I am a little partial but Boyfriend (Artist Paul Wheatley) is such an amazingly gifted artist.  Like I said, as an artist I am extremely annoyed with how perfectly random his style is.  It’s not an easy skill to acquire, I try to be random and it just ends up looking more planned out that when I actually plan things out.  Here are some of my fav pieces.  All of which are for sale, some sold already.  Check out his website in my links to the right.

This painting is a 48×36 in size.  It was one of his first abstract and the texture of it is so rad but of course the pic doesn’t do it justice.

This fantastic painting is 30×24 and another painting I wanted to punch him in the face for when he finished….it’s not fair!!  Love it!

Here is a 12×12 baby canvas that is apart of a foursome but this one is especially my favorite because of the clever textures he made.

This was an earlier painting he had done as a customized painting request for someone when he first started out, so unfortunately it wasn’t around for long.  This was one of the paintings that made me realize how truly talented he really is.  Size 30×24

Yet another customized painting he did for someones special order.  I was about ready to shell out the cash for this painting just so I didn’t have to see it go.  This one is 30×24.  He actually tried to do another copy of this painting at my request but of course art is art for a reason, it can’t be copied.

Feb. 23rd Birthday Recap

Well, it was a good day.  Even though I started off the day with one of those depressing recaps of my life, I’m sure you can all relate.  Birthdays always put life in to prospective.  In the end after a bit of a pity party for myself, I realized I am in a great spot in my life.  I may not be where I want to be career wise but at least I know where I’m going and that’s a lot to say for most people.  I’ve got an absolute amazing Boyfriend that loves me and all of me for some reason.  Even when I stop my feet, cross my arms, and pout like a 3 year old child, he some how finds me to be the cutest treasure….that’s love!  He makes me want to be a better version of myself.  Boyfriend pushes me to pursue all my talents and dreams, he’s actually my main motivation for doing this blog.  And to have someone like that in your life love you unconditionally is that in itself an accomplishment of life.  My family, I thank God for them everyday, all 6 brothers and sisters and my amazing parents.  And my friends are a reason to be jealous of me.    So in conclusion to my epiphany, life is grand for this newly 24 year old, It’s going to be an amazing year.

So the pictures above is Boyfriend and I at one of our fab favorites, Javier’s!  Such tongue-tastic food there.  You fellow OC mates know whats up with Jav’s.  I got my usual….seafood enchiladas, capital ‘D’ for D-licious!  We got a little carried away with taking photos of the restaurant, I spared you of the majority.  I also had the most scrum-diddily-umptious Sangria of my life last night.  A-A-A-mazing!!  It was a good day!  🙂

Flashback of little Em…24 years in the making!

Here is some pre Birthday fun at my expense.  These are some photos of little Em at young ages.  Even then my hair was always changing and I was already obsessed with clothes.  Pardon the bright spot in each photo, I took a picture of a picture, I had to get crafty.  Enjoy!

This is me around age 6 riding bike wearing my favorite outfit at the time, an oversized tee with leggings and my little sailor shoes.  Little did I know that almost 20 years later this would in style again.  This haircut was my mother’s idea, I wasn’t impressed.

In this pic I am around the age of 3 at the dentist office that I loved.  As you can see I have a mullet, can’t fully blame my Mom on this one. Courtesy of  myself getting a hold of a pair of scissors and deciding I didn’t want bangs anymore so the best way to execute that was to cut them off completely…..that was not the last time either.

I believe this was the age of 4 at my Birthday party, I’m sat in the middle holding the toys and as you can see my bangs had grown out at this point.  To the far right you can see my older sister Elle making a lovely face, I had to put this picture in for that very reason.  Hehe, love you Elle!

And here I am at the age of 7 or 8, semi normal hairstyle in this one.  I’m wearing another one of my favorite outfits..floral dress, with my favorites high top boots and ruffle socks.  Yet another style that is now in fashion many years later.  I knew what was up!  😉  My Mama was such a supporter of my love for fashion even then, she always took photos like this one of outfits I put together, gotta love my Mom.

Florence & The Machine, music to my ears….

The first time I heard Florence and The Machine was with my two friends Katie and Dana.  It was after a night of drinking and we were all piled in Dana’s bed.  They both insisted listening to this song they were recently obsessed with and further insisted we watch it with the itunes visualizer.  I had no idea what to expect.  It was Florence’s song Cosmic Love……tears were brought to my eyes.  The power of emotion that comes out of that song is core aching.  The lyrics speak to anyone that has ever been in love and felt lost with out that love.  After I left my friend’s I went home immediately to download her entire album ‘Lungs’.  The whole album is as if she found my old diaries and wrote her lyrics from that.  I listen to these lyrics and tour back to those days of beautiful heart ache and newborn butterflies, I feel the rush all over again as if on a high.  Her ability to do that with her songs is absolutely beyond brilliant.  In response, as a singer myself listening to Florence and her deeply crafted songs motivates me in a way that only my heart can explain to me.  So please, if you haven’t heard her yet go to your nearest itunes download Cosmic Love, put your visualizer on and experience the rush of emotions she portrays.  Then after falling in love with her and downloading the rest of the album go to her website (in my links) and read her interesting Biog of her story.  She said “Anything with real feeling excites me…” which I can say is something I fully agree with.  Not a lot of people these days do anything with real feeling put into it but yet get recognition for it.  Which in my opinion is really one of the great tragedies of this generation.  But with every word sang in her lyrics their is feeling and reason and that is something that not only excites me but that I beyond respect!

Tavik Graffiti Beach Bikini Fashion Show

Tavik presents their swimwear designed by friend Nicole Hanriot.  Left top photo includes my friend Alexis, Calan, and Myself styled out for the special show.  The Right top photo is Nicole with planner of the event.  The show included Tavik swimwear as well as Tyler Rose, Poko Pano, Salt, Bettinis, and Sunflower swimwear.  As the show started off their wasn’t a spare bit of space in the house.  As my favorite, Tavik swimwear mixes the edgy graphics with refreshing unique cuts and styles.  Check out link for shopping locations.  Now enjoy some of the pictures of the show.  I’ll tell you what, it definitely gets you eager for the summer to get started!

http://www.tavikswimwear.com

Boots were made for struttin…

Like I said yesterday..I-LOVE-SHOES!!  And God help me if I had more money I would buy a new pair everyday for whatever mood I was in.  But due to the lack of funds I have to limit myself to the necessities.  The boots pictured above are just that.  I’ve never had two pairs of boots that I’ve loved or worn more.  The heels are Jeffery Campbell style Polands, since I didn’t have $900 lying around to buy the Burberry version I opted for the JC versions and I think they are just as fabulous….one word, OBSESSED.  Then the combat boots are surprisingly from the infamous Forever 21.  These were the best find I may have ever made in my life time….last pair, my size, at the price of $28!!!  AAA-mazing!

Do you have a favorite pair of shoes you can’t get enough of?

Here we have two pairs of boots that keep me up at night because they do not live with me.  Both Jeffrey Campbell Left style Brits Right style Stud.  Distressed biker boots were huge for this season and I believe will continue to look fantastical for the spring.  How freakin cute would these be with a floral or lace dress….ugh, redic!!!  If you have the ability go buy these NOW!  First extra cash I get those Brits are going right in my closet!

Clogs, clogs, CLOGS!!  How perfect is it that these are back and the “it” shoe for this coming Spring season.  I need, need, need a pair.  The first clog is the Jeffrey Campbell (Can you tell I love me some JC) style Charlie.  These also come in nude and I think it is definitely a best seller, sign me up!  Then we go into a little more spenzy price point here with the Gucci Janis clog.  But yet again if I had $700 lying around these would be all mine.  And last but not least BCBG’s Artic clog, a bit more basic but still as fabulous as ever.  You NEED clogs for Spring.

Feeling a little short these days?  Not a problem because Spring is here and so are Platforms!  Yay!  These are just as much a must as the clogs.  I’m actually not sure on the name for the green platforms but aren’t they killer?  The others are SOCA style Tulip, I WANT!  Do you wear shorts?  Dresses? Skinnies?  Then go get a pair of Platforms immediately!!

What shoes can you not live without?