November Wish List

As the weather turns quickly colder, I find myself coveting leather skirts, wool jackets, cashmere scarves, and plaid everything. I've also been on a bit of a skincare and haircare kick lately, no doubt inspired by the ravage of harsh winds and dry air.

01. Anthropologie, 02. Madewell, 03. J.Crew, 04. Madewell, 05. Amazon, 06. Madewell

October Ins and Outs: What I Bought and Read Last Month

Before my Anthropologie discount ended, I scooped up a really cool Scandinavian cookbook and a The Little Prince pop-up book I've thought about buying for years.

The only other book I bought in October was a used collection of Poe stories illustrated for children. It's the perfect Halloween book.

Land of Love and Drowning, and Not that Kind of Girl were both book-club reads. Despite its beautiful language, I found Land of Love and Drowning to be very hard to get through. I think I maybe should have read it more slowly and spent more time just sitting with things, but I had to finish it in time for our meeting.

Lena Dunham's book was about why I expected: very smart and funny in parts and somewhat underwhelming in other parts. 

I absolutely tore through Love Me Back. It's beautifully written, but not for anyone who wants a linear story or a tidy ending.

The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was hugely enjoyable and quite moving. I'm glad I finally got around to reading this often recommended book. 

Cover, Peter Mendelsund's book about his career designing book covers a big ol' tub of candy for anyone who loves design or books. Since I love both, I absolutely reveled in it. 

This is Where I Leave You was quite funny and moving in places, but left me somewhat unsatisfied. I think it's mainly because none of the female characters felt flushed out well enough. I'm still interested to see the movie. 

The Afterlife with Archie was surprisingly substantive. I knew I'd enjoy the art, but I didn't expect to get so hooked into the story. 

I finally finished Sleep Donation. It's taken me forever to get through this tiny novella because it's only available as an ebook and, for whatever reason, I can't download it on my iPad, which means I had to read the whole thing on my phone. Phone reading has worked for me in the past for simpler stories, but it just wasn't conducive to Karen Russell. But, I really wanted to get through it, so I decided to read in on the plane to New York. It was just lovely: very inventive and thought-provoking, and it put me right to sleep. 

September Ins and Outs: What I Bought and Read Last Month

So, I seem to have calmed down a bit in terms of how many books I read this month. I did, however, buy more than usual. I picked up Brooklyn at a Half-Price Books (because I loved his Testament of Mary so much) and I bought Land of Love and Drowning for book club, but the other five are the result of a small shopping spree I took just after hearing I'd landed a great new job. 

I've heard amazing things about The Empathy Exams, and it sounds like exactly the kind of nonfiction I like to read: scientific, but not too technical. Not that Kind of Girl and Tiny Beautiful Things are the other kind of nonfiction I tend to gravitate toward: personal, confessional, funny but insightful.

Not gonna lie, the cover of I am China is what drew me to it, but the story sounded really original and interesting. I've been hearing good things about Love Me Back, which also sports a great cover, and I've enjoyed what I've read so far.

The Color Purple and The Handmaid's Tale are both feminist classics, and I thought that they both lived up to everything I'd heard.

Bad Feminist was both enjoyable and challenging. Even when I didn't fully agree with Roxane Gay, I couldn't help but admire and respect her argument.

Orange is the New Black was an interesting read, and it didn't feel completely redundant to the show. In fact, it answered a lot of questions about the penal system that the show had raised for me without ever fully addressing.

Persuasion was, of course, lovely. While it's not my new Austen favorite, as some people claimed it might become, I found it to be very enjoyable in and of itself. I mean, it's Austen, so there's no going wrong.

Fall Wish List

01. Moorea Seal, 02. Madewell, 03. Madewell, 04. Urban Outfitters, 05. Amazon, 06. Moorea Seal, 07. Converse x Missoni for Nordstrom, 08. Target, 09. Moorea Seal, 10. Madewell, 11. Moorea Seal

As with home decor, I'm really excited right now about neutrals, good quality materials, and basics with a twist. I've been drawn to well-designed minimal pieces lately. Whether it be a delicate piece of gold jewelry, a great leather bag, or that perfect go-with-everything scarf, these are the pieces I continue to love and wear season after season, year after year. 

August Ins and Outs: What I Bought and Read Last Month

Recently, a couple of books about what happens in our brains when we read have been blowing my mind. The first, What We See When We Read, I've just glanced at and haven't delved into just yet, but a glance is all it takes to know it's gonna be awesome. The other is Understanding Comics, and reading it feels like sitting in on a very, very good art history class. 

I've been enjoying Bad Feminist, but taking it slowly. It's nice sometimes to read essay collections because you can pick them up and put them down. 

As for the Archie Comics, I used to read Archie as a kid, and I recently heard that the new experiments they're doing with this series are worth looking at. So far I'm enjoying the cheesy, familiar world. 

I read In Cold Blood for book club. I liked it a lot, and I'm looking forward to discussing it. It's definitely weird, as a modern reader, to read something billed as nonfiction that has clearly taken a lot of liberties with constructing scenes. Knowing that Capote was really treading new ground here and that fact checking as we know it didn't really exist in the early sixties makes the experience of reading it all the more engrosing. Plus the story is simply riveting.

Austenland was just fine. I enjoyed the movie, so I thought I'd give the book a whirl. Longbourn was kind of mesmerizing. Both put me in the mood for more Austen, so I've started Persuasion for the the first time. 

Mr. Penubra's 24-Hour Bookstore was enchanting, Some of the characters were a little flat, but the concept was a lot of fun. Even though it was thoroughly modern, it kind of reminding me of The Night Circus. 

The Leftovers was really good. I've started watching the show now.

I thought Look At Me was just okay. I enjoyed Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad, though I had some issues with it, especially the last story. But, after this experience, I think she may just not be the writer for me. I really love the way she can parody culture so sharply, but then there are all these other nebulous ends of things that I don't enjoy as much, and they fill up so much of the book.

Spike: Into the Light was fun but not that great. I always enjoy the character, but there just wasn't a lot to the story. 

Boy Snow Bird was really interesting. There were definitely some parts that I found more interesting than others. But, all in all, I enjoyed this thoroughly unique book. 

Happy Handmade Home was disappointing. I'm a fan of A Beautiful Mess, and I liked Elsie and Emma's first book about photography, but this one just left me wanting more substance. It was mostly just ideas, a lot of which were variations on the same idea, without a lot of information about how to execute bigger projects. 

Fangirl absolutely roped me in like almost all of Rainbow Rowell's books before it have. If you like smart romantic comedies with realistic and flawed characters, and you're not reading her stuff yet, you need to get on that, stat!

Home Office Wish List

With all of the work I do from home, it's so exciting to finally have a home office. At the moment, it's still just a chair and desk surrounded by boxes and random piles of things, but I've already spent hours at my desk writing, recording podcasts, and editing photos.

As with the rest of the house, I'm trying to balance masculine elements with feminine ones and harder things with soft pieces. For my home office, I've been drawn to lots of white, gold, and lucite, with bits of unbleached canvas and dark wood to keep things grounded.

Having a space of my own to focus on my writing and other projects feels like such a luxury, and my biggest hope is that working in a fresh, dedicated space will help keep me motivated, focused, and inspired as I continue to make strides toward my goal of supporting myself full time with my writing.

01. Target, 02. Terrain, 03. IKEA, 04. Anthropologie, 05. Madewell, 06. Target & Target, 07. Target, 08. Anthropologie, 09. Madewell, 10. Madewell, 11. Anthropologie

July Ins and Outs: What I Bought and Read Last Month

July was a month of a lot of reading, probably because I've spent a lot of time listening to audiobooks while painting. I've also been tearing through a lot of home decor books lately.

The month's highlights include The Goldfinch, which I read for book club and which I thought was just amazing. The character Boris definitely gained entry to my list of favorite characters of all time.

I also finally found the time to sit down and tear through the first trade of Sex Criminals, and I was just blown away by how smart, funny, and sexy it was. I can't wait to see more from this series.

All My Friends are Superheroes was another highlight. It's hard to explain this poetic, funny, haunting, romantic, beautiful book. It's not like anything I've even read, and I kind of want to read it again just to spend more time in that world.

Landline was just a perfect romantic comedy of a book. Rainbow Rowell is really killing it. I'm glad I decided to stick with her after my lukewarm reaction to Eleanor and Park because I've liked all her other books much more.

An Untamed State was a real powerhouse. It's got a lot of tough stuff in it, but it was riveting, so I ended up reading it too fast and really messing myself up for a few days.

I got my nonfiction fix from Bonk and Smarter Than You Think, which were both entertaining and informative, exactly what I want nonfiction to be. 

The Magician King was even better than The Magician. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say that Lev Grossman once again asks questions and goes places that I've just never seen done before. He's opened so many cans of worms with this series, and is really treading brave, new ground. He explores meta questions of genre in a way I haven't really seen since Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which is not to say it hasn't been done since then, just that I haven't seen it), and I've just been eating it up.

I finally read Interpreter of Maladies, which has been on my TBR list since I read Unaccustomed Earth in college. Now that I've read both short story collections of Jumpa Lahiri's (and loved them), it's time to tackle the novels. I guess I feel the need to take my time with her because I know that I'll love all of it, and I'm comforted by the fact that it's still out there waiting for me. Sometimes you want to gorge yourself of things you love and other times you want to savor them.

Minor disappointments include The Woman Upstairs, The Fever, and Little Failure. The first two had their moments but I've found them to be pretty forgettable in retrospect. The third I read on a whim after enjoying a Fresh Air interview with the author. It was disappointing in that it just wasn't as funny as I expected, and it was kind of meandering in that way memoirs can often be. I'm not giving up on Shteyngart, though, as I suspect I may still enjoy his fiction.

New Home Wish List

01. Anthropologie, 02. Society6, 03. Anthropologie, 04. Target, 05. Jonathan Adler, 06. IKEA, 07. Terrain, 08. Anthropologie, 09. Urban Outfitters, 10. eBay

As we settle into our new home, I'm striving to decorate in an invested and enduring way, choosing pieces and making decisions that feel sophisticated and timeless.

As with fashion, I'm often drawn to masculine things with whimsical touches. I want our home to feel industrial and luxe but with plenty of softness, humor, and warmth.

As for colors, I'm really excited about slate-y grays, woody browns, and milky whites, with pops of metallics.

June Ins and Outs: What I Bought and Read Last Month

June reading was full of both triumphs and disappointments.

Dark Places was extremely engrossing; I liked it even better than Gone Girl, which so many people raved about, and I'm eager to read Gillian Flynn's other novel, Sharp Objects.

Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down was every bit as good as About a Boy and High Fidelty (which is to say awesome) with the bonus that I hadn't already seen the movie so I didn't know where the plot was going.

I tore through Astonish Me faster than I've torn through anything in a while. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in ballet and anyone who loves a good multi-generational, multi-narrator story.

I listened to Meryl Streep read The Testament of Mary. It might be the world's perfect audiobook. Her performance is incredible and the language of the book is so poetic and arresting. Plus, the whole thing is only three and a half hours. I listened to it one morning at work while prepping for inventory, and I've been re-listening to it as I fall asleep most nights since then. I keep picturing Streep performing it was a one-woman show. Now that would bring down the house!

Shine Shine Shine, a very strange and strangely beautiful book made me realize that one of my favorite "cross-genres" is "science-fiction-romance". Her and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are two of my favorite movies, and Shine Shine Shine shares their strange loveliness and sense of futuristic intimacy.

Attachments is a sweet and breezy love story. I really liked how, just as in Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park, the main characters aren't typical romantic-comedy-leading-man-and-woman types. The woman is described several times as having "very wide hips" which the man finds attractive, and his social life is mainly comprised of playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Since Catherine Called Birdy is still one of my favorite books of all time (and another that I like to listen to, tuning in and out, as I fall asleep), I've made an effort lately to check out Karen Cushman's other work. Unfortunately, I found The Midwife's Apprentice to be so boring that I didn't even finish it. Figuring that it might be because that book was aimed at an even younger audience than Catherine Called Birdy, I decided to give Matilda Bone a try. It was better, but it just didn't hit me the way Catherine Called Birdy did. Maybe it's simply because I'm an adult now. But, since I still get a kick out of Catherine Called Birdy, I think it's more likely because Matilda Bone isn't as funny and because the main character struggles to overcome piousness and narrow-mindedness, which isn't as interested as watching Catherine strive to find her place in the world, tempering her wildness without losing herself.

I knew Dead Until Dark would be trashy, but I thought it would be more fun. The camp wasn't tempered with anything more substantial like it is in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and, while I liked the setting, I didn't find any of the characters to be very interesting.

Them was good but didn't blow me away like Ronson's The Psychopath Test did. I'm really looking forward to the book he's working on now about public shaming. I think that topic is right in the zone of what he does really well, and the specificity of it will keep it tighter that Them, a book about extremists (defined as anyone who has been called an "extremist").

While I enjoyed the photos and doodles in Alexa Chung's It, I didn't enjoy the meandering substancelessness. I did, however, enjoy the opportunity to use the word "substancelessness" just now.

We closed on our house on June 25th, so I bought a few decorating books and I've reaquested about 20 more from the library. More to come soon on what our new house and this new stage of life will mean for the blog. I'm excited!

May Ins and Outs: What I Bought and Read This Month

This month, I tried to keep my spending in check and read the books I already own, so I only bought a few comics and some audiobooks. Gotta love that Audible subscription. 

I've really enjoyed branching out into comics (beyond just Buffy), and this month I read the first trade and bought the second trade of Y the Last Man. I also read Evelyn Evelyn, the first issue of Saga (which everyone raves about), and the first two trades of Fables, and soon I'm going to read the first trade of Sex Criminals (which I've peeked at enough to know I'm going to really like it).

This month also marked a foray deeper into the works of Mary Roach and John Green. While Roach's Stiff delighted me even more that Packing for Mars and Gulp had, I thought Green's Looking for Alaska was noticeably a first novel. I liked it, but it just wasn't as polished as The Fault in Our Stars. The humor and the heart weren't completely there yet. He's definitely developed as a writer in the last few years. Have read his first and last novel, I'm curious now to see what the ones in the middle are like. 

I finally read The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I liked it, though probably not as much as I would have if I had read it as a teenage. I wouldn't say it's over-hyped; it's just maybe not the perfect book for me at this moment in my life. 

The Magicians has hooked me into a spiral that can only mean more Magicians books and Narnia books to read. I love how Grossman brings a dark nihilism to the question of what real magic would mean in a really unique way that I haven't seen explored in fantasy before.

The Secret History and Skippy Dies were both five-star books for me. It's rare that I discover more than one book I absolutely love in a month, but these both nailed it. They both were suspenseful and had lots of twists and turns as well as unique characters. I couldn't put down The Secret History while I was reading it, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about Skippy Dies since I finished it. I think both make for compelling examples of why some books totally need to be 600 pages long. 

April Ins and Outs: What I Bought and Read This Month

April was a month of varying obsessions for me. The books I read seemed to come in pairs as each lead me to the next.

Oddly, Mary Roach's Gulp, an exploration of the digestive tract, put me in the mood to read about the extreme foodie-ism Dana Goodyear covers in Anything That Moves.

The Dinner, a story of parents dealing with the horror of their son's violence reminded me to read We Need to Talk About Kevin, which has been on my TBR list since I became obsessed with psychopathy after reading The Psychopath Test a couple years ago.

On a lighter note, Sarah Vowell's Hawaiian history, Unfamiliar Fishes put in in the mood to tackle another novel that has long been on my list, The Descendants.

While I was at it, I read Sideways which, like The Descendants, was a movie I enjoyed so much I thought I should give the book a go. This is the reverse order of how I prefer to enjoy film adaptations, but it works almost as well. I went ahead and rented the movie We Need to Talk About Kevin as well as the movie version of Never Let Me Go, both of which I'd been putting off seeing until reading the books.

Never Let Me Go was my book club book last month, and I think I enjoyed it more than anyone else in our group, though not so much as I expected to, given all the raving I've heard from friends who've read it and various voices around the bookternet.

Of the books I acquired last month, I've only starting The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Sex Criminals. So far I'm enjoying both quite a lot.

Easter Wish List

Clockwise from left: Wind and Weather, Etsy, Terrain, Terrain, Modcloth, Anthropologie

Like Halloween, Easter is one of those holidays that you can definitely still enjoy as an adult, sometimes even more than you did as a kid. Easter candy is the best seasonal candy – as far as I'm concerned Reece's Eggs could replace Reece's Cups year round – and it's always fun to get dressed up and fill your home with flowers.

My Spring Wish List

It feels absolutely nothing like spring outside. March has made this Very Hard Winter, if anything, even harder, with temperatures plunging below zero yet again. And so, even something as small as the scent of a honeysuckle candle gets my thoughts turning to the sunny days that must be ahead.

Still, I find it hard to even think about spring clothing right now. I don't think I can remember a time when I wasn't wearing wool socks and a thermal every day.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Our Wedding Registry Wish List

For our wedding, Ryan and I decided to forego a traditional registry, and created an Amazon wish list instead. That way we could register for all kinds of a fun things from a variety of sources. We have lots of Etsy items on our list as well as things from Modcloth, Restoration Hardware, Leif, Anthropologie, Terrain, and even the online printshop of a Swedish photographer I found through Instagram. 

Since we've been living together for four and a half years, we don't need a lot of traditional registry items, so, instead, we're asking for a few pretty odds and ends, and a lot of art.

01. Etsy (Banana Tree Studios), 02. Modcloth, 03. Restoration Hardware, 04. Annette Pehrsson, 05. Etsy (Clare Elsaesser, 06. Etsy (Flapper Doodle), 07. Etsy (Clare Elsaesser), 08. Etsy (Ashley Goldberg), 09. Etsy (Pretty Little Theives), 10. Etsy (Fifi Du Vie), 11. Etsy (Stone and Violet)

01. Amazon, 02. A Sunny Afternoon, 03. Leif, 04. Terrain, 05. Anthropologie, 06. Sears, 07. Amazon, 08. Reiko Kaneko, 09. A Sunny Afternoon, 10. Anthropologie 

My Fall Wish List

01. H&M; 02. Jung ee eun, Boticca; 03. Sisters of the Moon; 04. J.Crew; 05. Frye, Urban Outfitters; 06. Mociun; 07. Tattly

As fall approaches, I long for good leather boots, sweaters and sweatshirts with a touch of sparkle, and long quartz necklaces. What are you looking forward to wearing this fall?

25th Birthday Wish List

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about pretty little things, details that make life more beautiful: a neon-hued makeup bag, a fashionable camera strap, decorative silverware, and lovely undergarments that no one else sees but that make you feel sexy all day long. 

I'm turning 25 on June 4th, and I know it will be the little things that make the day special as well: a brunch cocktail, a walk with Ryan through our neighborhood, a happy-birthday message from a friend. 

What do you like to do on your birthday?

01. Marc by Marc Jacobs neoprene framed "Big Blitz" pouch, Shopbop; Oriental flower strappy bralet and knickers, Topshop; Rookie Yearbook One by Tavi Gevinson, Amazon; Ticket stub Diary, Modcloth; Confetti dot teaspoon set, Leif; "Super Deluxe" chain-and-leather camera strap in black, Sarah Frances Kuhn

Warby Parker Home Try-On Program Review

I was excited when Warby Parker reached out to me about reviewing their home try-on program. I'd already heard good things about their glasses, and who wouldn't want the opportunity to try on fives pairs of their choice, delivered to their door, for absolutely no charge?

The way their program works is that you order five pairs you'd like to try on, you get five days to wear them (you can wear a different pair each day if you like), and then you send them back. The program is completely free. They do take your credit-card info just in case you don't return the glasses, and they charge you a dollar to confirm the payment info, but they refund the dollar a few days later.

I like that the program allows you to try on glasses in the comfort of your own home. I, for one, am not very comfortable trying on glasses in stores. I feel rushed, and like everyone is looking at me.

It's also a nice that you get to actually wear them for a few days to get used to the feel of them. It helps you decide which frames best fit with your wardrobe and your lifestyle. That said, the try-on pairs you receive are non-persecription. So, if you're really blind without your glasses, wearing the trial pair all day isn't really a great option.

Also, I found that five days, although it sounds long enough, really wan't as long as I'd have liked. The day they arrive in the mail counts as your first day. And, I didn't even find my package 'til I got home from work late at night. The day you mail them back also counts. So it feels more like three days.

For a busy girl like me, this wasn't enough time to really wear every pair out. But it was definitely a longer, more luxurious time than I would have gotten in a store.

I, for one, love the convenience of online shopping, but I hate it when I buy something that doesn't turn out to be what I expected. The home try-on model Warby Parker has adopted keeps the convenience of online shopping, but eliminates the risks. If only you could buy bathing suits this way!

The other cool thing about Warby Parker is that they follow the Tom's model, so when you buy a pair of glasses, they provide a pair to someone in need. Definitely a plus!

I wanted to pick a variety of frames, but I wanted them to still be something I would wear. So, I went with a classic wayfarer shape in a non-traditional color, a wayfarer that fades from brown to clear, a more narrow rectangular shape like Ryan wears, gold frames, and some navy wayfarers that are slightly rounder than the classics. 

I liked the "Watts" in Blue Saphire. I found the color to be surprisingly wearable, and I liked the way it contrasted with my green eyes.

The "Fillmore" in Tennissee Whiskey were adorable. Currently I own a pair of classic black wayfarers and a pair of clear-framed super-nerdy wayfarers. I love the way these fade from brown into clear for a different take on a look I love. 

The "Sibley" in Revolver Black were cute; they had a more "academic" look and less of a "hipster" look, but I wasn't entirely satisfied with them. I couldn't tell if they weren't a good shape for my face or if I just wasn't used to wearing glasses that shape. Either way, I just wasn't feeling it. 

I tried the "Sawyer" in Brushed Gold because I loved the idea of gold frames. I still love that idea, but I don't think the Sawyer are the best proportion for my face.

The "Begley" in Midnight Blue were Ryan's favorite. I liked their slightly-rounder-than-traditional wayfarer shape.

One thing I learned from this experiment is that glasses don't have to be a boring, neutral color to be wearable. Whether ombré, colorful, or metallic, a variety of bold looks can work for this everyday accessory. 

I had a lot of fun trying out Warby Parker's home try-on program. My only real complaints are that their selection is a bit limited, and some of their more interesting limited-edition frames aren't available for the home try-on. 

I got pretty obsessed with these for example, but they weren't available to try-on, and they sold out in like two days. 

All in all, though, it's definitely a program I'd recommend, especially if you like the convenience of online shopping and the luxury of taking your time to make an important decision like your next pair of frames. 

Note: This post was solicited by Warby Parker, but all opinions are my own. 

Spring Wish List

The arrival of spring has put me in the mood for lots of fun colors, especially brights and pastels! And, as we do some spring cleaning, I've had my eye on a few small decorative items for our home. I've also had my eye on some different styles of jeans like boyfriend, super-high-rise skinnies, and front patch pockets. I think I might need to expand my denim collection a bit this spring. 

Sources: 01. / / 02. / / 03. / / 04. / / 05. / / 06. / / 07. / / 08. / / 09. / / 10. / / 11. / / 12.

My Valentine's Day wish list

I love making holiday wish lists, especially for Valentine's Day because it has such a lovely and specific aesthetic. See last year's Valentine's Day wish list here. 

What's on your list?

Clockwise from top left: Handmade cashmere classic-cut undies, Etsy; "Swans Upon a Time Tea Pot," Modcloth; Vintage silver plated ice cream spoon set, Etsy; "Straight Shot Necklace," Anthropologie; Love bracelet, Cartier, imitation; "Erotic Poems" by E.E. Cummings, BHLDN; "Close-up to Heart Photo Frame," Modcloth

Join me on: facebook // twitter // bloglovin // pinterest // instagram

Fall Trend: Graphic Novelty Sweaters

One of my favorite trends this season is the graphic novelty sweater. I especially like cute intarsia ones with portraits of animals or people. At the top of my wish list right now are sweaters from... 01. J.Crew, 02. Urban Outfitters, 03. Urban Outfitters, and 04. Madewell. Which is your favorite?

Join me on: facebook // twitter // bloglovin // pinterest // instagram