Waiting

"Is it fall yet?"

"No."

"..."

"How about now?"

You're going to have to excuse me while I get this out of my system. I think we're at.. what, 40 days in a row of 100+ temperatures? 41? Anyway, I'm close. And we're just a day away from tying the all-time record of the longest such streak. It finally starts to really fry one's brain. Like say, the first time you get in the car and see 105 on the temp gauge and think, "Ah, we're having a cool day!"

College football season is soclose and I can't wait to have friends over once it's cool enough to hang in the side yard. And grill. And run my oven. And so I'm just waiting. Waiting for fall. Indulge me, won't you?


At my dad's house in Louisiana.


Another one at dad's.


Shake Shack, Madison Square Park, New York City.


At the Dallas Arboretum.


My living room (This'll be my first football season with HDTV!!!)


State Fair of Texas (an October occurrence)

It's just around the corner right? Maybe six weeks? I can make it. I think. Also, did you know that Florence + the Machine did a cover of 'Addicted to Love'? I love it.

Slow down you crazy child

Once this song spoke to me so loudly and clearly, and it was lovely having it come up on the iPod shuffle today. Seems like ages since I've heard it. Now I've kicked off a whole Billy Joel afternoon (possibly weekend - you never know with these things).

"You can get what you want or you can just get old." Indeed.

Fan girl

Three down, one more traveling weekend to go. Gah! My plants (and my pocketbook) have suffered tremendously, but otherwise I am doing A-OK, and having loads of fun.

Case in point.



What is going on with my hair there?? But really, Philly was a blast. It helped that a cool front came through the day I arrived, so Lauren and I had splendid weather to work with. By the time I got up to NYC, it was drippy hot again (as in, you just drip sweat). Bleh. But I made the most of it and had a great time.

Harry Potter was brilliant, and I continue to be a total 15-year-old fan girl over Matthew Lewis. That's Neville for those not in the know. He went from this...



To this...



Is that amazing, or is that amazing? I mean, I think it's simply amazing. What a handsome bloke. He's 22, so a bit young for me. But really, omg you guys, it's NEVILLE! I gotta say, it took a while for the shock to wear off. Yet another reason for me to move to the UK. Also, I really need to go see that movie again.

And re Amy Winehouse. With all her issues, I'm not sure we would have ever gotten another album out of her. But obviously, now we know for certain we won't. I've been listening to Back to Black a lot since I heard of her death. But this original demo of "Love is a Losing Game" is the one song of hers that gets played the most on my iPod. Such a beautiful voice.

On the road again

June is almost gone. How does that happen? When school wraps up, and you look out at the expanse of June and July, it seems as though it'll go on forever. And then, in some strange way, time speeds up and suddenly it's July and ohlook! suddenly it's August and gah! it's over! The only comfort being that the weather is intolerable, so the sooner we get through summer, the sooner our electric bills will come back down.

A nice thing about summer in Dallas is the crape myrtles blooming. One thing this town ain't lacking is crape myrtles. I was trying to give my dad directions to my place by pointing out that you turn left where there's a big pink crape myrtle on the corner but really, they're on every corner. Not helpful.



It does make my front walk look like this, though. Isn't that nice? Like someone just got married on my sidewalk. We had one in our front yard when I was growing up too. They spit on you, you know. Like the faintest drizzle when you're standing underneath. It's nice.

So back in May, my mom helped me rearrange my living room. It was previously organized to accommodate a huge TV cabinet that I'd had for 5 years that was so large it would only fit in one place. It was wonky. So we finally ditched it, I got a new TV stand (and a new TV!), and now, this.



That's right, I can watch TV and bake at the same time. It's the best ever. I love being able to see the TV from the kitchen. My place in Austin was like that too. That's oatmeal cookie dough by the way. Yup.

But back to the summer and how it flies by. For me, July really is going to be a whopper. I'm traveling for four consecutive weekends. Can you believe it? What an idiot. First to Houston for what will no doubt be an epic house-warming party, and to finally, finally tour the Blue Bell Creamery. All my life I've wanted to do this, but since the tours are on weekdays only, and the Creamery is in Brenham, it was just hard.



Follow that truck!

Then the following Wednesday I'm off to the East Coast to visit friends in Philly and in NYC. And on Thursday night, at one minute past the stroke of midnight, my friend Lauren, myself, and a theater full of totally hopped-up, spazzed out of their minds Harry Potter fans will witness history.



Oh the agony of seeing it all end. How will we survive?? Rereading the books helps. I'm doing that now in my run-up to the movie coming out. I still turn each page like I can't imagine what's coming next. Genius. I'm looking at you, Rowling.

Then the next two weekends will be spent wearing my Auntie Manda hat and traveling to see these kiddos. And a few other people too.



Rock star Will...



Beautiful Mary...



And this deceptively adorable little girl. Just watch her, though. The second you look the other way, Suzy will rub Vaseline jelly into your mattress. It's true. Ask her mom.

Then I'm home! Phew! Can you imagine anything crazier? I can't wait, but I'm also exhausted just thinking about it. Does anyone else have superfun summer plans?

On tap

What's on tap? These days, if you really want to know what I'm into on any particular day, it's on Pinterest. It's terribly addictive and fun. For me anyway. So let's look there to see what the hell I've been up to.



It all starts here. That's The Doctor and Amy. That is, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. First of all, yes I'm now watching Doctor Who. Yes, I believe that adds tremendously to my nerd quotient. It's nothing like what I imagined or pictured from the version I was exposed to in the 80s. It's actually very rad. What can I say.

Also one of the guys who does Sherlock is the driving force behind it now, so that really helped me to dip a toe in. You guys know how much I loved Sherlock. The Doctor being super adorably cute also helps. It's British, which gives anything a boost in my eyes. And I suppose Haney is also to blame. She's my Brit/nerd enabler. So yeah.



But more importantly, Karen's hair. A little less drastic in this picture. Those of you who knew me in the mid 90s (maybe 3 who read this blog?) might recall my fascination with going red inspired due to another fabulous lady in a sci-fi TV show. Indeed, 15 years later, it has struck me again.



More red inspiration. I've got a whole pinboard of redheads (or gingers, as I and the Brits like to call them). What do you think? A little more natural, yeah? I think I can pull this off. I'm waiting for the school year to end first but will probably do it in early June. Summer red. Yes.

What else is on Pinterest? Let's see.



This picture of Paul Rudd knitting me a sweater.



This awesome Duck Hunt-inspired picture by Aled Lewis, a London-based designer and illustrator.



And a recipe for a toasted marshmallow shake. Which I am going to make. Very soon.

Also craft projects and pretty home interiors galore. It's fun stuff. And now, blog formula dictates I leave you with a song. The new Fleet Foxes album is very cool stuff. I ended up liking it much more than I thought I would at first glance, so I went and saw them live a couple of weeks ago. Check it.

Li'l Sebastian

First of all, yes I did some sort of weird adjusting of the layout of the blog. I realized there were still some computers/browsers that would not adjust the size of the photos as I instructed it to do and I just don't know enough about html to figure out why or to know how to fix it. So I just changed the whole layout instead. Obvs I still need to fix the banner and I may tinker more. Just haven't had the time.

Meantime, happy happy birthday to my awesome nephew Will! He's the best. This is what I did to his present with my new alphabet stamps. Oh my gosh, you guys, I love stamps.



Then I put it in a box and sent it off on its journey half-way around the world. I hope he's having a great day!

Also discovered recently that I still have in some dusty corner of my brain the lyrics to the entirety of Fiona Apple's 1996 epic album Tidal. Ahh, high school.



Every. single. word. I suspect this is the reason why I haven't been able to memorize my bank account number in 6 years. wtf?

Lastly, I just love this in every way:



Are you guys watching Parks and Rec? Generally I'm so behind in my TV watching, but that show is just a big ol' ball of joy for me. What can you say about that cast?? And when they add to it, they add so wisely. I'm looking at you Adam Scott.

Stamp of Approval: Spring

Oh my gosh, just realized I am coming dangerously close to ending March without a blog post! That would just not do. So what the hell have I been up to this whole, long month??

My plans to get all up on the internet during Spring Break, with photo editing and catching up on blogs, etc., were a bit derailed with a freelance project. But that = money so hey, I'm not complaining. And gosh, the weather was just so nice that week too. Mom came up the latter part of the week and we went to the 'retum to see the Dallas Blooms festival in all its glory. And, apparently, so did all of Dallas. It was so pretty though. Somehow last year I missed the cherry blossoms, but not this year.



So fluffy and white! Don't let those crowds keep you away, folks. Go down and park at Gaston and Garland and ride the bus like the cool kids do.

What else... the Kenya photo editing continues at its lovely snail's pace.



This is my new computer wallpaper. I know I know, it sucks that I'm so slow posting them, and it kinda makes the reveal super anticlimactic. But I rather enjoy the editing process, I find. And I'm getting to relive every inch of the trip, bit by bit. It's like my version of making a scrapbook.

Also in March, I became obsessed with this show.



Okay, that's a publicity photo, all in character and official and stuff.



Oooh, that's better. I love these three! As a dear friend wrote, "The 3 leads are great, esp. Russell Tovey's ears." And yeah, there's a US version of Being Human, but of course I've sworn loyalty to the UK version (and the Brit jonesing continues). Get on over to BBC America and set those DVRs. Or better yet, start from the beginning on DVD. It has the Amanda Stamp of Approval (TM).

Speaking of my Stamp of Approval, March also saw me start listening to the new Lykke Li album, which includes this awesome song.



What's going on in that video? It's not very spring-like with all that snow. And of course she can't catch him in those shoes, what was she thinking? Good grief. But on a warm day, with the sunroof open and blasting from the speakers... trust me, it works.

Okay, I think that's just about all the fun the month of March can handle. Mmmmokay, maybe a little more.



There you go. Happy spring, y'all!

The fashion report: Kenya

Hi everyone! The fall 2011 collections have been showing in New York this past week, and I know, like me, you've been pouring over the photos to see what hot clothes and trends are hitting the runways. Or.. not...? Yeah, that's probably just me. I love fashion week. Being far away from it and just pouring over the photos on the NYTimes Fashion pages and imagining what I'd buy if I had a lot of money and fabulous places to wear said clothes.

I owe my love for fashion week to watching eight seasons of Project Runway. And everything I know about couture, I learned from Rachel Zoe and her reality show, my greatest guilty pleasure. So when I stumbled upon this dress from the Thakoon collection last week, it was like (as Rachel would say), "I die."



Gee, besides being cute, that fabric looks super familiar. According to the New York Times, Thakoon Panichgul called this plaid “Masai plaid.” As in the Masai of Kenya. Oh yeah.



Here is my Masai blanket (one of two) that I brought back from my trip to Kenya.



And here is the Thakoon show. Yep.



The Masai really do wear and use these blankets. They come in lots of different colors, but predominately plaids or stripes, and in shades of red, orange, blue and black. In the photo are our guides from the safari, Ratik and James, in theirs. You also find them in stacks at the tourist market for sale relatively inexpensively, so they're a popular souvenir. Or, you know, you can buy the Thakoon version for a touch more money. Anyone want to craft me a dress?

Back in the saddle

It does fry my brain a bit that I just returned from Kenya a little over a week ago. In fact, a week and one day. It seems like ages. I returned directly into the thick of the busiest time of year in my job. I knew this.. and expected it. Doesn't make it any easier, though. I am beaten and tired, head hurts, back aches, etc. And the fun continues on Monday.

To console myself, I just placed the most awesome online order ever. A good friend gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble for my birthday, and I've been scheming over what to treat myself to for months. The items are as follows:



Um, I'm not sure where I start with this one. Like, omg sooo good, and stuff. I watched the three episodes that made up 'Season 1' of the new BBC adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes stories back when they aired here in the US - in late October and early November - and I'm still reeling. They brought the famous detective into modern times, and hit it with a dose of fantastic casting, like dear Martin Freeman (aka Tim from the UK's The Office) as Dr. Watson. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock is amazeballs. And oh yeah, the best casting ever for the character that arrives at the end of the third and final episode. I won't spoil it.

Of note, the Sherlock obsession dovetailed nicely with my whole recent psycho obsession with British television. I'm so very fortunate to live in Dallas because our PBS station is so Brit TV friendly, they even have a blog devoted to it called Tellyspotting. Heart. The last episode of Life On Mars (the original UK version) just (re)aired this week and it was so so good. And tomorrow, we finally get to see Downton Abbey. Swell!

But back to my shopping.



When Penguin came out with this series of hardcover classics designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith, I swooned over all of them. To have a shelf filled with that set, they'd be such a treat to look at and to read (I'm ashamed at how few I actually have read). But a whole shelf is a bit costly, so I decided that eventually I'd get my hot little hands on my favorite book in this lovely edition, if nothing else. Thus, Wuthering Heights. Isn't it pretty? Coralie is the bomb.

And lastly...



I'm super embarrassed that I haven't picked up Alicia's newest book yet. I would try and find it in the book shops now and then but never had any luck, so I'm left to ordering it. I don't embroider but I've come so near to teaching myself that I've bought all the supplies, so surely it's not too far-fetched a prospect! And besides, I still love Alicia the mostest and I know what a deeply personal subject embroidery is for her, so I can't wait to pour over the pretty pictures and her warm and familiar words. And with luck, the needle and thread will come soon after.

Goodness, what a haul. I do hope the package will arrive at my workplace during one of those moments when I'm on the verge of tears with stress and fatigue, and instantly make my day. One must plan ahead for these things.

Also, yes indeed, there ARE photos of Africa. Alas, I do not know when I'll have them all uploaded. But it was beautiful, and I do wish I was still there, drinking a Stoney Tangawizi and enjoying the lovely sunny days and cool nights. I felt calm and happy there, and far away from all that is my life, and I think that's the best that anyone can ever hope for in a vacation, no?