Hair New Era

Uhhh, I may be a touch late here, but I wanted to wish you all a happy holidays! (Let's just pretend that we're not in a totally different year by now, okay?). I hope you all had a wonderful Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and the like.

B and I traveled to Phila (sadly, no cheesesteaks this time around); hauled gifts; exchanged said gifts; and did a lot of relaxing with family. 'Twas lurvely.

How was yours?

And before I forget, I have one special holiday shout-out in the form of the coolest pic ever. Val, this one's for you:

Blazow. (Yup, that's a word.) You can thank me later. ;)

Images via: 1- Walking Around Where the Sidewalk Begins, 2 and 3- Habitually Chic, 4- The Lil Bee

...what if your windshield wipers swept over this instead today?

I know it's pouring cats and dogs out here, but wouldn't this cheery rainbow be a welcome sight?

Dutch artist Helmut Smits created this windshield rainbow using acrylic paints like this:


Concept and execution by Helmut Smits, photo by Lotte Stekelenburg. Originally spotted via DesignLoveFest.

Sadly, with the weather getting rapidly cooler and the sunny days fading, I'll be putting my beloved scooter into storage for the season. I suppose if I really had some cajones I could ride it year-round, but that would require some heavy-duty coveralls (Carharts and work gloves, anyone?) that I'm just not willing to bust out.

But a girl can still dream, and evidently I have been, since these are three images of absolutely fab girls on the go that I bookmarked recently:

How stylin' is this scooter fashionista? If only I looked so glam. Instead, I rock a bobble-head helmet in lieu of this chic hat. Safety first, right?


Forget the limo - this is my kind of wedding transportation (other than wedding bikes of course). Wee vintage cars are always my fave.


And as much as I love to hate her, Olivia Palermo really is lovely. Though I refuse to believe she's actually going to ride that bicycle in those shoes.

How do you get around? (That sounded wrong.) Fall is still a nice time for bikes and walks in the crunchy leaves before the weather turns cold and bitter and I practically run to my car each morning. I must remind myself to take advantage and be my own chic girl on the go while I still can...

Photo credits: 1- photo by Laura Sciacovelli for Vogue UK (October 2010), via Fashion Spreads, 2- via Say Yes to Hoboken, 3- Olivia Palermo in London, from The Sartorialist.

Oh, and while I'm still in "holding on to summer" mode, here are two more summery items that I'm loving and just had to share.

Because really, you can't go wrong with a big, beautiful bow:

...especially when paired with cute everyday shorts and beachy hair:

Photos from Le Blog de Betty, as spotted on Dress, Design & Decor.

Or, for an even more overtly sunny-day pastime, the iREV from Motothority would be an oh so chic way to spend a day on the water:

It seats up to 10 adults, comes with bevy and utensil holders for each person, has storage drawers, a built-in charcoal grill (with vent system - don't worry!), and a great, big umbrella for shading you on the float. And, most exciting to me, custom colors and decor are available, as well as optional accessories like bev buckets, a mattress or a sound system.


Wouldn't it be fun, stocked up with lovely goodies like Mrs. Lilien has cooked up below?

Now that would make for an amazing holiday weekend afternoon activity!

Folks. I AM BACK. :) I've missed you all! Fo reals. Did you all have nice Labor Day weekends? Ah, the last holiday weekend of the summer. When did it get to be September?? I feel like summer just started and now it will be over - officially - in 19 days! (Though Labor Day weekend really feels like the true end of summer.) Boo.

In the meantime, I'm grasping on to the last semblances of summer, which to me right now is feeling like a nautical tone - for the home, clothes and accoutrement. Here are some of the nautical items inspiring me right now:

I'm going to put something out there, but promise not to get mad at me:

I hate running.

(I am scared of - and awed by - you, oh tribe of religious everyday runners...)

I mean, I totally *wish* I loved running - in theory it seems pretty amazing - but when I'm doing it, I pretty much want to chop my own feet off so I never have to do it again.

However, I just came across this Self Magazine article (via Have Your Cake) about proper running technique and tips, and am wondering if I've just been doing it wrong all this time.

For instance, did you know that "most runners strike the ground on their toes or heels, but ideally, you should land on the balls of your feet and push off"? I think I'm a "heel striker" - which makes total sense as to why each stride hurts my back and knees so much.

Dare I say these revelations (see other tips here) might be enough to inspire me to give running another try? Especially if it gives me abs like these:

Yikes.

If this 90-degree business breaks tomorrow, I might be willing to give it a try...
(I'm shocking even myself.)

(B, please remember and cite this high-falutin' talk tonight when I come home from work at 7:45 and am whining about being tired...) ;)

What about you all? Any runners out there? Any good running or general motivation tips? I need to get in shape before our beach trip!

Friends, my scooter was stolen today (while we weren't home) from in front of our condo building - despite the three locks that were intertwined through the brakes/front wheel and attached to the metal railing of our building's front stairs. I've filed a police report but there are no guarantees that they'll ever find it; scooters are a hot item (especially in the summertime) and very easy to lift/hotwire (although I had hoped all those locks were a deterrent). Who knew they'd be able to take the scooter - locks, cover, helmet and all - in one fell swoop in broad daylight?

I've sent out a tweet about it to the webiverse and asked others to retweet (this is that tweet), just to get the info out and around town. Another scooter similar to mine was stolen from our neighborhood (one court over) last night and the police found it this evening. Some people a few neighborhoods away saw some guys trying to hotwire a scooter, thought it seemed odd and called the cops, so they were able to retrieve it safe and sound.

This post is dedicated to my sweet, kind, tree-hugger (but not dirty-hippie) boyfriend, B. ;)

B, I know you're going to want some of these to post around town:

What is it?

Let's zoom in a bit:

Yup, it's a magnet - wait for a quiet moment and slap that baby on your neighborhood's biggest gas-guzzler - et voila! Guerrilla eco-campaign!

Magnet by Topos Graphics and Sarah Riegelmann; available to buy here.

Originally spotted here.

Speaking of hipsters...here's a video featuring a grown-up set...

I can't endorse mini-vans, but I can certainly endorse this video (which endorses mini-vans...it's a quandary).

The Swagger Wagon:

Link (in case you can't see embedded videos): here.

Seriously hilarious.

Originally spotted here.

I think that might officially be the worst blog title ever. MC Hammer, you can thank me later for the surge in Google searches of your name after this...

Good morning! Happy Tuesday! I am back in blogland! Huzzah!

With temps supposedly as high as 80 degrees today, I'm thinking it might be time to bring out ye ole blue scooter from winter retirement and take it to work instead of driving the car (sunroof open or not). I only wish my hair looked this good after the quick commute:

...because I can assure you it does not. I either have crazy rats' nest tangles or severe helmet head. Yes, I have a secure white helmet that makes me look like a bobblehead doll - safety first!

This girl looks chic, too, as only the Milanese can:

I tried that scarf-on-head business and all I got was a loss of 30 bucks after the silk scarf flew off my head. What you say? Bobby pins? Oops.

Either way, I can't wait to start up the Vespa and go for a ride. Do you have any fun warm-weather plans in mind?

Photo via What Possessed Me; photo 2 via The Sartorialist

Photo via The English Muse

Ms. M and I are headed to Philadelphia today to check out the Philly Flower Show, to have lunch with this amazing woman, and to do a site visit to an event venue in Baltimore on the way home, among other things. I might have a little something still yet to come today (holla atcha girl!), plus I'll be back here tomorrow as per normal.

Have a good one (and wish me luck on not getting stuck in excruciating I-95 traffic)!

Photo by Dewey Nicks, via Habitually Chic

I'm done posting about the snow after this, I promise (welllll, I might have to take that back in a few days, since we're supposed to be getting more snow on Tuesday/Wednesday), but remember the uber-amber-alert snow warnings we got on Friday? It came. Here in Annapolis, we got 33 inches of the powdery stuff, and in some parts of Maryland it was up to 38 inches. Yikes!

It took us three solid hours of shoveling on Saturday to get B's Outback out of our parking spot. The first 30 minutes of that time might have been slightly wasted since we don't own a shovel (yes, B dug with a camping hoe/mini-shovel contraption and I used a combo of ice scraper, ice sweeper and...stick. Yes, stick). Thank goodness our neighbor took pity on me with my silly stick-shoveling and lent us his shovel. The work was much more productive after that. :) [Stop judging about the stick shoveling! It's not our fault! Every store in town was sold out of both firewood and shovels by Thursday evening! Marylanders are very afraid of snow!]

Anyway, all the hard work was well worth it, because with B's all-wheel drive, we were able to make it safely and fairly easily to a bar on Saturday night to hang out with friends, and head out to another friend's house to watch the Super Bowl yesterday. Too bad when we got home last night, some giant SUV had taken our hard-earned shoveled parking spot! Technically we can have people towed for that (since the spot is reserved for us), but we were feeling charitable (and tired) so we let them stay for the night. But if you are the owner of a green SUV monstrosity parked in a spot that is not your own, somewhere in Annapolis, and you're still there today, watch out - I have a stick-shovel and am not afraid to wield it! (Kidding.)

Did you all get snowed in? Did you have fun? We made snow angels like in the photo and had a blast enjoying the "snowpocalypse" of 2010. Hope you got to enjoy the weather too!

Photo from sfgirlbythebay's flickr (found on Say Yes to Hoboken)

I love the Beatles lyrics wall art above. The graphic black-and-white of it looks really crisp among all the airy pastels throughout the room, and I love love love the idea of using sentimental/meaningful lyrics as art in a bedroom. Even though this art uses song lyrics, it also kind of reminded me of these subway station signs:


Photo and sign from Pottery Barn


Signs by Bus Scrolls, as found on Walking Around

If I ever lived in New York (or any city with public transportation that I used often) or had a song that really meant something to me, I would seriously consider trying to DIY it up with this project. So cute and probably not that hard to do!

The importance of vigilance:

Audi put up a billboard in Santa Monica touting the challenge: “Your move, BMW” - only to find themselves outdone by a much larger billboard from Santa Monica BMW with the simple headline "Checkmate." I give major props to Juggernaut Advertising for spotting the Audi billboard and proposing the clever BMW billboard in response.

Just goes to show the importance of a brand (or their advertising agency) knowing their market and atmosphere.

Photo from BMW Blog.

Good morning and TGIF! So I could not wait to post this one - it's too funny and a potential perfect gift for some of the younger folks in your life.

For those of you with a TomTom GPS navigation system in your car, get ready for a supafly ride. Snoop Dogg has lent his voice to VoiceSkins, so for $12.95 you can have Snoop read your driving directions rather than that snotty lady who's always telling you what to do.

Here's a sample:


I love that he says, "Bear leff. Yeah, just like that" - where'd the "t" go? I was almost expecting him to say, "turn right, shizzle ma nizzle" at some point, but I guess he kept it proper-like for the good folks at TomTom.

If you want Snoop as your navigator, or if you have a sibling or friend for whom Snoop would make a perfect gift, you can buy it here.

Thanks for the clutch heads-up on this, Dan!