legends: april.

for graduation (how was that 8 years ago already?!), my high school boyfriend's mom gave me the book legends by john miller, which catalogs "women who have changed the world."  when i was home a few weeks ago i rediscovered it on my bookshelf (always fun!), and it inspired me to dedicate the last friday of every month's post to a different legend (in my humble opinion).  

first up: has to be ms. audrey hepburn.  

"my life isn't theories and formulae. it's part instinct, part common sense.  logic is as good a word as any, and i've absorbed what logic i have from everything and everyone...from my mother, from training as a ballet dancer, from vogue magazine, from the laws of life and health and nature."

xo. di.

*image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4, image 5

etsy love.

i am in love with all things etsy.  well, maybe not all things, as the hysterical regretsy points out.  here's a sample (because this post would be never-ending otherwise) of what i'm crushing on right now:

 total mad men dress.  from audrey and grace's shop

 heart of light's blog and shop are a constant favorite of mine

i need (read: want) this pillow from dedeetsy's shop asap

 

my friend e sent me a link to lee butler's shop last week and this top is so in my wheelhouse

 how cozy would you feel drinking tea with this from knitstorm's shop?

 i'm a sucker for hand-cut cards AND city skylines, from my friend l's shop

i just realized this was a rather random mixture of items.  but the heart wants what it wants...!

xo. di.

to dance. to dream.

this video was too cool not to share.  it opened the 2010 joffrey ballet spring gala held last week.  we are so lucky to have the joffrey here in chicago.  i can't get enough.  they are just stunning, and this video shows that off very well.


The Joffrey Ballet: 2010 Spring Gala Video from Sasha Fornari on Vimeo.

the joffrey is performing eclectica right now through may 9 (with 2 world premieres!!).  i'm going this weekend.  very excited.  

xo. di.

if you're happy and you know it.

ok, so i only know 3 people who have ever even heard of harper's island, a cbs show that aired last spring/summer about a wedding party being killed off one. by. one on an island, and those 3 people were also studying for the bar exam last summer with me.  

i don't know whether it was the stress of studying that made us watch what was truly a terrible, terrible show, or if we're all just a little bit off in general (or both), but it was literally one of the only things that got us through the summer.  it was awesomely bad.  and the 4 of us still quote some of its more epic (used here loosely) lines today.  kinda weird, huh?  (yes, that's one of them.  told you: terrible).  

why am i bringing this up now?!  well, when abc announced last season's line-up, i immediately got excited about happy town, which sounded a whole lot like harper's 2.0 (which could only last one season as [spoiler alert!] almost everyone died before the end).  

you've probably seen the creepy promos running on loop on abc in recent weeks.  and i also have a feeling you have no interest in watching the premiere tonight.  i don't really blame you. but just in case you are intrigued, know that there are 4 other people who will also be watching with you tonight (if the magic man doesn't get you first...muahahahha). 

xo. di.

*image 1, image 2

on a boat.

i make no secret of my love of boat shoes.  sperry top-siders to be exact.  others who i respect don't always agree, but i think they can pretty much be worn in any situation. 

 in ireland

 kleine schwester and me.  the whole fam LOVES their boat shoes

at a campfire

up north, mi summer 2009: 5 days after taking the bar exam.  to say i was relaxed here is an understatement.   the green socks are pretty sweet too, eh?

on an impromptu "hike"

 "lizard's mouth," santa barbara, ca march 2009

 and, of course, on a boat

do your feet a favor and jump on this bandwagon.  well, it's not really a bandwagon.  it's more like my personal mission to bring boat shoes to the masses. 

xo. di.


*all images from my personal collection of me in boat shoes (it surprised even me how many more pics i could have posted.  i decided 3 was a good enough sampling.  i didn't want to oversell, you know?!)

p.s.

found another fun giveaway to share.  now that i can officially call myself a blogger (haha, what? i technically am), i so want one of these prints from LCYgraphics

(the quote is from julie & julia)

i've been reading live creating yourself (she's in chicago, too!) for awhile now and keep wishing i had the right spot for the prints in her european series.  they're just enough. 

for all you other bloggers out there, enter yourself in the giveaway here before thursday.

and hang in there...monday's almost over!

xo. di.

mlit.

because i'm missing my roomie little j, who after being in town this weekend went back to the far away land of michigan yesterday, an oldie but a goodie:

me: you remember my next door neighbor up north?
jean shorts? tan? walks around shirtless all the time?

little j: you mean ... jacob black?!

what? he's legal now.

as much as i consider the website mlit (my life is twilight) a trainwreck of epic proportions - this post by filmdrunk illustrates that point nicely - sometimes it embarrassingly fits. 

double fail.

xo.  di.

*eek can't remember where the image is from, a random google search i believe

grateful: week 1.

inspired by my current reading of the happiness project by gretchen rubin, i am instituting sunday "gratitude" posts.  since gretchen is a published author and i am clearly not, i'll let her explain this one:

"gratitude is important to happiness.  studies show that consistently grateful people are happier and more satisfied with their lives; they even feel more physically healthy and spend more time exercising.  [good to know - Ed.]  Gratitude brings freedom from envy, because when you're grateful for what you have, you're not consumed with wanting something different or something more..." ~p. 202

"...But I find it hard to stay in a grateful frame of mind - I take things for granted, I forget what other people have done for me, I have high expectations." ~p. 203

as gretchen did, to help cure this, on sundays i will list "3 things i'm grateful for" from the previous week.  get on without already you say?!  ok, ok!

1) little j being back in town this weekend and the return of "rehash last night" sundays.  BEST.

2) all the tulips on my street are in full bloom.  

3)  my friend l made me dinner on friday night, just because :)

xo. di.

grow.

before...

growing

and after...

cut and displayed in my apt

these pretty daffodils were a gift from my friend kristen, and she grew them in the backyard of her chicago condo.  how i wish i had a space like this too... although let's be honest, the many plants i've brought home (and subsequently killed) would agree: i do not possess a green thumb.

how does your garden grow?

schones wochenende!

xo. di. 

ps for more loveliness from kristen, be sure to check out her blog, a little ditty.  kristen also happens to be the  sister of alissa at 33 shades of green, who still has that lovely apron giveaway going on until monday!

lazy.

i wish this was me right now

dress for sale here

"as kids, we'd pretend to be pirates . . . but the older that we got, the more that we forgot, that greed and treasure they go hand in hand." ~stephen kellogg and the sixers

xo. di.

yes, i see you too. you're standing right in front of me.

"i sure am glad computer technology has gotten sophisticated enough that james cameron could make his $230 million 3D IMAX movie about rejecting technology!  i think i understand: technology bad, nature good!" -  avatar: the abridged script

avatar (f/k/a dances with wolves + pocahontas + ferngully in space) comes out on dvd today.  {this is me not buying it.} 

 from this year's college humor's "honest movie posters" collection

and look! it comes out on earth day!  that jimmy cameron, he's such a cool guy, changing the world one bazillion-dollar-movie-with-an-unoriginal-plot-line at a time.  

i've never made fun of a movie i technically liked more than avatar.  it's just too easy.  read my favorite avatar review here and tell me you don't agree with him. 

and just because:

happy erff day, lovely readers!  go out and enjoy it before they discover unobtanium under your tree of souls. 

 

xo. di.

*image 1, image 2,

uhh earth to the working girls.

meekus: it's like ex-squeeze me, but have you ever heard of styling gel?

brint: i'm sure hansel's heard of styling gel, he's a male model.

meekus: uhh, earth to brint, i was making a joke.  

brint: uhh, earth to minkus, duh, okay i knew that!

meekus: uhh, earth to brint, i'm not so sure you did cuz you were all 'well i'm sure he's heard of styling gel' like you didn't know it was a joke.  

brint: i knew it was a joke, meekus, i just didn't get it right away.

meekus: earth to brint...

derek: would you guys stop it already?!

 the male models of zoolander: brint, rufus, and meekus

wait.  what was my point?  oh, yes.  ladies, when you buy a new skirt/jacket/dress this spring, check the back to see if there is stitching that needs to be removed before wearing.  you know what i mean, those loose stitches, usually in a criss-cross pattern, that are only there to keep the item neat/easy to ship and store?!  

 set those pleats free!!

yes, please cut those threads before walking around the loop like a fool.  it'll also be easier to sit down, i promise. 

that's all.... (in my best miranda priestly voice)

xo. di.

ps looks like this is also a problem in d.c.!

*image 1 & 2 from pensionplanpuppets.com; image 3 from my personal collection

i heart ny.

of course, the weekend flew by.  but i soaked up as much of new york, new york as i could in that time.

a cousins' tradition continued

car bombs!

got in our new york bagel fix

kleine schwester enjoying her bagel (they're just better back east)

window shopping on 5th avenue

henri bendel

searched for dr. ross geller at the museum of natural history

"rarrrrrrr!" - this guy

central park strolling

how was promises, promises and kristin chenoweth, you ask (just pretend you asked!)?!  

well there really are no words.  but i'll try anyway.

the poster i'm holding may or may not be signed by both of  these amazing people.  

kristin and i are now besties (obviously!) after our 30 second conversation at the stage door about pushing daisies (yes, we did that)!!!  and the play was fantastic.  sean hayes: phenomenal.  who knew "just jack" had a voice?!  and a great one at that.  katie finneran: scene-stealing.  kristin: wish i could put her in my pocket and take her home with me.   

the rest of the night i was like eliza doolittle in my fair lady:  "i could have danced allll night, i could have danced alllll night, and still have be-" ok, ok, enough gushing.  moving along...

brunch with kleine schwester and cousin k on sunday

mimosas at sarabeth's

 and then it was goodbye nyc

floating on cloud nine

back to chi city

may not be the big apple, but looks pretty great to me. 

xo. di.

*all images from my personal collection

p.s.

speaking of blogs i heart, there is an adorable giveaway going on over at 33 shades of green right now.  click here to go see it ~ you know you want that apron!  

isn't that just the loveliest fabric?!

xo. di.

blog love.

purchase this print here

pretty sure this print was made for me.  i bought it at madebygirl's etsy shop the minute i saw it.  precious.  now i just have to find the right spot to display it... btw, have you checked out the blogs i heart yet?  there's a whole lot of whimsy and other awesomeness in there.

NYC post coming tomorrow!

here's a little sneak peak until then:

(and YES that IS a signature you see on that playbill!!!!!)

xo. di.  

girl crush.

i first discovered the lovely (and incomparable) kristin chenoweth when she was starring as glinda in the original broadway cast of wicked

 no one mourns the wicked

and then came along a little show called pushing daisies

 oh olive snook, how i miss you.  

want to fall in love with her too?  kristin's emmy speech for her win last fall (so precious):

TONIGHT, the ladies in my family are going to see kristin in the new broadway revival of PROMISES, PROMISES, which also stars sean hayes.  best.

ahhhhhhhhhhh.  

there are no words.  

i. cannot. wait.  i have a feeling my girl crush is going to be OOC after tonight, but i'm fine with it!

xo. di.

*image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4, image 5

ny state of mind.

heading to that other big city for the weekend for a family reunion of sorts!  not that it's hard to do, we're kind of a small group (of awesomeness).

p

the lovely central park, print by matte stephens, for sale on etsy here

central park round 2, girls trip summer 2005

as much as i enjoy making fun of new yorkers from time to time for their love of self-indulgent* jay-z songs and their propensity to under-appreciate the midwest,  i can't deny my LOVE for this city.  stay tuned for a bonus post tomorrow about what my sister, my mom, my cousin, and i are doing saturday night! 

happy friday!

xo. di.

*don't be mad, you know it is!

**image 2  from my personal collection.

heart.

i got a young heart and i never want to get old. ~stephen kellogg and the sixers

xo. di.

p.s. stephen kellogg = best. 

*i'm a fail, i downloaded this picture months ago.  i know it's from one of the lovely blogs i read (see blogroll to your right for more)

dance.

i'll try to keep my obsession with dance to a minimum here, but today it's bursting out of me because i'm going to see the american ballet theatre dance swan lake tonight!

i've only ever seen bits and pieces.  so excited.  when i was a little girl i wanted to name my [imaginary] daughter odette.  but then i realized she'd never be able to find personalized keychains and all that good crap with her name on it, and i knew how frustrated i used to get when i could only find diana ("but that's not my name!").  i couldn't possibly do that to someone else!  {cool story, hansel? yea, i know.}

xo. di.

*image from abt.org