happy feet.

i’m working from home for a majority of october (more on that craziness later), which means that i get to wear my awesome CHIMP SLIPPERS around during the work day. basically it’s the most awesome perk, along with the 5-minute-break dance parties, turkey bacon accompanied breakfasts, and italo disco playing out loud in the home office. i’m even getting used to (and actually liking) the 18-hour work days i’m putting in. you read right. 18 hours. all in the name of obsessive perfectionism.

here’s to working hard & adorable slippers!

have a wonderful evening!

and yes, this post is absolutely going in the blog’s ‘style’ section. thank you, target dollar isle.

toy stories.

london-based artist Aled Lewis is the clever schemer behind these toy one-liners.

the below images are from Lewis’ “Toy Stories” series.

this last one is my favorite. the boy always calls me his ‘clever girl’.

…i’m wondering if the raptor has something to do with it

it’s friday. let’s dance.

this week i’ve done the macarena  > 3 times.

WHAT THE WHAT?!, you say.

some would think that dancing the macarena more than once in the past ten years indicates maturity issues. but this time travel back to 1995 has been cheering me up during a week that’s had more lows than i’d like to admit.

for those of you familiar with the dance song phenomena, you’ll find this chart entertaining. my recollection & performance of the song resembles this breakdown.

in case you forgot the moves, this aweseome 90s videos will get your groove back. eeehhhhhhhh MACARENA!!!

later tonight i’ll be trading in my macarena moves for the Naked and Famous‘ ultra synth bliss. i’m in need of a girls date night like WOAH.

check out my favorite track, Girls Like You, off the 2010 album, Passive Me Aggressive You.

flick chicks & the klutz.

mindy kaling is close to topping my list of favorite hollywood ladies. better watch out tina fey, this girl is movin’ on up. in a recent new yorker article, flick chicks, kaling digresses on her obsession and fascination with romantic comedies, one i’ve similarly harbored for years. she expounds on the characters we encounter in the zany alternate universe in which these stories exist. because, we can all agree, it surely isn’t reality.

kaling says in this article, all those things i’ve been thinking about rom-coms for years. i nearly fell off the bed laughing when the boy read this quote aloud:

I regard romantic comedies as a subgenre of sci-fi, in which the world operates according to different rules than my regular human world. For me, there is no difference between Ripley from “Alien” and any Katherine Heigl character. They are equally implausible. They’re all participating in a similar level of fakey razzle-dazzle, and I enjoy every second of it.

GENIUS.

my favorite rom-com character profile, as described by mindy, is most certainly her depiction of “the klutz”:

When a beautiful actress is cast in a movie, executives rack their brains to find some kind of flaw in the character she plays that will still allow her to be palatable. She can’t be overweight or not perfect-looking, because who would pay to see that? A female who is not one hundred per cent perfect-looking in every way? You might as well film a dead squid decaying on a beach somewhere for two hours.

So they make her a Klutz.

The hundred-per-cent-perfect-looking female is perfect in every way except that she constantly bonks her head on things. She trips and falls and spills soup on her affable date (Josh Lucas. Is that his name? I know it’s two first names. Josh George? Brad Mike? Fred Tom? Yes, it’s Fred Tom). The Klutz clangs into stop signs while riding her bike and knocks over giant displays of fine china in department stores. Despite being five feet nine and weighing a hundred and ten pounds, she is basically like a drunk buffalo who has never been a part of human society. But Fred Tom loves her anyway.

this hilarious & articulate description of the most common of rom-com prototypes could not have come at a more perfect time. over the past two weeks i’ve been hemming and hawing over my final call of fox’s new prime-time sitcom, the new girl, starring zooey deschanel.

my poor boyfriend has heard many a dissertation on the subject. i admittedly foster a complicated relationship with ms. deschanel. while i adore her aesthetic & soulful sounds, i can’t seem to stomach her personality, the branded “cuteness”, or the blunt & slightly unfriendly interview demeanor. i’m constantly perplexed when masked rudeness is perceived by journalists as lovable. personality opinions aside, i’ve considered zooey’s new gig with as unbiased opinion as possible.

style icon and indie pop goddess, check. sitcom carrying comedian, she is not. the show is failing me for many reasons, all of which are summarized extremely well in lindsey bahr’s recent post on the subject via the junior varsity. but the most offensive trait of the new girl is the branding of zooey’s character, jess, as an awkward, lewd, geeky, klutz. i’m sorry fox, but i’m just not buying what you’re selling here.

the show is definitely marketed to women just like me, those vintage loving, sundress wearing girls who wish they could exist in the setting of 500 days of summer. but here’s the thing about “those girls”, they are educated. they aren’t just style conscious indie sweethearts, they are intelligent and thoughtful. they will consider the whole picture and formulate their own opinion of the entirety of a piece of work. this is exactly why jess’s character falls completely flat.

we are meant to believe that this gorgeous elementary school teacher has travelled through twenty-odd years of life and education unaware of social norms, etiquette, beauty and femininity. i’m sorry but there is NO WAY IN HELL that jess would have perfectly curled hair during the middle of a week long emotional breakdown spent glued to the couch with tissues & dirty dancing. trust me, i’ve been in this place. there are no curlers & mascara. there are only brownies and edy’s maxx. and as bahr points out, it is inconceivable that this perfectly styled vintage sundress wearing pixie would even dream of donning overalls to a date.

this isn’t a rant, this is a plea. please fox, stop forcing this unbelievable and ridiculously unreal character down our throats. we’re tuning-in to watch zooey. turn her into someone we can side with, who we would befriend rather than grimace at, someone who we want to see find love.

i’ll keep watching, with hope…for now.

smile.

here’s to working with some fantastic & supportive colleagues on a challenging and insanely exciting project.

when the going gets tough, we buy cookies.

a much welcomed sunshine-y day brightener.

monkey see.

it’s a gloomy, rainy, cold monday here in chicago.

on weekends i’m ALL FOR this type of weather, cozying up with a cup of tea, fuzzy blanket and kindle. but, seriously, a monday morning is NOT the time for the monsoon we experienced this morning. my morning commute started with a wind whipping trek downing irving park and ended with a soaking wet office arrival. not winning at all.

when i’m feeling less than my usual happy-camper self at home, the boy cheers me up by puppeteering our chimp stuffed animals. yup, that’s right. they’ve got songs and stories and they MAKE my day. i’d even go as far to bet that they’d make yours as well.

so, how about some whimsical monkey prints to cheer us up on this bleak monday?

a little weird? yes. adorable? you bet.

i obviously want these. so precious.

awesome people hanging out.

the boy pointed me to this ADORABLE little duet performed by zooey deschanel & ben schwartz to the tune of “tonight you belong to me”. they’re accompanied by a yukaleli– i’m dying over this. serious bf win for sending this my way.

isn’t her voice the coolest? i remember hunting endlessly on the internet for her rendition of Baby It’s Cold Outside after seeing her performance in Elf (2003).

and do you recognize the gent in the video? perhaps from parks and rec as jean raphio–the sleezy guy hanging around the parks department, known for highly suspect business and romantic ventures.

hilarious that these two should be performing this little number together, right? well folks, there’s more where that came from. check out of the source, Awesome People Hanging Out. the moments captured range the gamut of heartwarming to questionable to straight up nostalgic.

some favorite shots:

jerry lee lewis, carl perkins, elvis presley, and johnny cash.

louis armstrong and grace kelly.

alfred hitchcock & françois truffaut

clark gable, van heflin, gary cooper, and jimmy stewart

joanne woodward baking sweet rolls, paul newman making eggs, and anthony perkins dancing.

the daily to and fro.

gettin’ around town is important!

city commuting is a topic near and dear to my heart. here are some transportation tidbits from recent news, a mix of fun finds & realistic expectations for a large and growing city, like chicago.

a dutch railway station recently installed a “transfer accelerator“, also know as a slide, to increase commute efficiency.

IS THIS NOT COMPLETELY AWESOME.

leave it to the dutch to crack the code on bringing a playground hit into the daily to and fro.

or how about this, chicago?  tourist lanes on sidewalks. hilarious!

as a city resident, i can attest that its highly inconvenient to be bogged down during your typical daily commute by tourist traffic. i’m allowed to say this, because i’m admittedly hypocritical and am 100% that person meandering in the sidewalk, taking snapshots on my iphone, and busting out maps in the middle of the street when i’m visiting another city (ahem, london).

speaking of regulated commuting lanes, i’ve always wondered ranted on the topic of bus lanes, especially during those jam-packed mornings spent on lake shore drive. chicago is begging for more efficient and sustainable commuting.

why must my morning commute be cursed by car commuters who, for the greater part, are one to a vehicle? what happened to car pooling? ironically chicago was the first city to enact bus lanes in 1939, though they sure aren’t around these days. but all hope isn’t lost,  a recent article breathes new life into my bus lane dreams–aptly titled “rapid transit lanes”. i can see it now–the 148 rocket ship blasting down lake shore drive. me, popping champagne and mixing mimosas as we zoom past lanes of bogged down car traffic. ahhhhh…

{spotted in london. i dream of these.}

along the lines of commuting fantasies coming true, chicago recently announced plans to make the city more bike friendly with the addition of protected bike lanes. in fact, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has committed to adding 25 miles of lanes each year.

BOOM. SAFE LEANER.

this makes me happy. as a biker, i’m terrified of getting “doored” (biking straight into a passenger opening their driver side door when parked). just last night the boy and i were in a cab which went past this spot on kinzie road. i want to bike down there just to use the paths!

i know i’m blessed to live in a city with public transportation at all, but i can’t help but dream for some of these improvements to come to fruition.

my dears, what are your transportation dreams for getting around town? am i crazy for being so passionate about commuting?

my rhyming urbanite.

sometimes we discover hidden talents in a friend we’ve had for years.

rhyming urbanite, a blog hosted by one of my best of friends, is one of those gems. i’d always known of her solid literary background, but i was taken by surprise to find that my very own ms. beth was a comedic poet.

i roared while reading her very first entry, My Romper, a sad tale of a hip chicagoan destined to a romperless summer, cursed by the seemingly infinite temperature drop this “spring”!! my heart goes out to beth for her endurance during the winter abyss of 2011. where were you spring 2011? we know you not.

a few stanzas from My Romper (because YES it is actually a long tale):

Beloved romper, hanging there
Believe me when I say I care
I’ve looked at you so longingly
And I think you’re looking back at me.

You’re tired of the hanger, I know
When I bought you Chi Town still had snow
We met at Forever 21
I took immediate action
Into the dressing room we ran
Moving quickly as girl and romper can
The disbelief slowly took hold
In the mirror, solid style gold
Your drawstring, so fetching
My legs, suddenly stretching
Into longer limbs than I’ve seen
On myself since age 16.

Yet here we are, July draws nigh
Still in my closet you hang high
Removed, rehung many a time
This evening’s shindig seemed so prime
For your long awaited Lakeview debut
But Accuweather.com hates you
The temp below 60 will plummet
I guess I should just wear a blanket
And cry while chugging vodka lemonade
I thought in heaven we were matchmade.

and pats on my back for befriending such a clever and thoughtful girl. i even got my very own customized birthday poem, a time travel through our 3 years of best friendship!  is that not the sweetest gesture?!

an abridged version, for your enjoyment

Two girls were educated mere hours away
Kenyon and Michigan, takes less than a day
From one to the next, the trip is so quick
But the length of the drive is not our topic.

Both girls were chosen, from job seekers countless
To come to Chicago, their talent deemed boundless
Whether or not the assessment was true
Both ladies arrived, their “real lives” were new.

Who could have predicted, on the quiet street Pine Grove
Unaware of the other, these graduates drove
To new apartments, located so close
One building small, the other taller than most.

The first day of work came, that’s when they met
And despite what you hear, the tall one didn’t forget
The shorter one’s name, though that’s what she’ll claim
They met again at the bus stop, things were never the same.

More than three years have passed since the day they first met
The friendship still flourishes (and they’re now both brunette!)
They’ve glowered in unison at Red Line commuters
Made endless XOI jokes at their work computers.

They’ve witnessed the Rapture in the Gold Coast
And listened to Phil Collins more often than most
Acquired bags that result in life altering change
Made incredible nachos with steak that’s free range

Wherever they go and whatever they do
These girls have such fun, and help each other too
Through highs or lows, whatever comes along
This friendship certainly will be lifelong.

This “poet” must thank the 135
For the friendship that flourished along Lake Shore Drive
Happy birthday Eileen, you’re now five-and-twenty!
And in your 25th year, you’ll have “bright spots” aplenty!

{beth & i on a romantic pizza date outside ace hardware. sophisticated.}

check out beth’s blog, rhyming urbanite, for more hilarious heart-felt tales & deep thoughts.

uttttohhhh.

this afternoon i’m heading across the pond for 3 weeks to work out of our london office on some highly confidential top secret agent work. this means the boy has the apartment bachelor pad to his own musings.

{leaner gone.}

{leaner home.}

dear sir,

while i’m gone, please don’t donate all my worldly possessions in effort to trim the fat of the apartment, especially my excessive wardrobe (precious headband and pashmina collections included). and i beg of you, don’t swap out the bed for lumbar support pillows. no matter how you argue it, i can’t bear to part with my pillow-top mattress cover.

household concerns aside, i shall miss you dearly.

{the comics above come from the hilarious Exploding Dog}