Nature's Jewels

While visiting my family in California, my mother and father and I took a tour around the Academy of Sciences, where my brother works. For the first time in a long while, I felt curious and wide-eyed. Despite the post-Christmas crowds, everything seemed beautiful and wonderous. I found jewels throughout the museum, like...

Pearl

Emerald

Coral

Gold

Opal

I also met Missa from Thrift Candy in person! I swallowed my thudding heart and approached her (I always get nervous approaching people, even those I know personally), and she was very sweet! While I as living in London, I saw Susie Bubble at my Tube stop, and I didn't say anything. I vowed to never let another opportunity like that pass me again. And I'm glad I didn't!

Molasses In My Veins

During my visit to my parent's house, my brother introduced me to the band mewithoutyou. I love the playfulness music is taking these days, and mewithoutyou indulges like none other. Baroque pop bands are great at making beauty out of simple tales, weaving stories of darkness and the macabre. I feel with bands such as these (The Decemberists, Neutral Milk Hotel), that you could find them playing on a street corner for change, and not losing an ounce of their appeal.

The video below is especially enchanting and charming (the literal "string" of expletives is hilarious). Please enjoy!

mewithoutYou - The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie from David Bell on Vimeo.

Holiday Tradition

My family and I have never been big on traditions around the holidays. Scavenger hunts, Chinese food, and doing away with Christmas all together and celebrating the Solstice have all appeared as acceptable holiday activities on multiple occasions, but certainly not repeatedly, every year.

Lacking on the tradition front, my friend Richard and I started our own tradition. Every year, we make a holiday card, posing as a couple from a play or movie. The first year, we were George and Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.


The next year, we took another serious turn with Harper and Prior from Angels in America.


We went a little bit more lighthearted the next year and featured Holly and Fred from Breakfast at Tiffany's.


This year we decided to spin the tradition and be ourselves, kind of.


Happy holidays! Any ideas on what we should do next year?

Outfit of the Week: Uma Umbrella

Umbrella: Red Light Vintage

Photos: Lady Leila

Uma Umbrella goes nowhere without her trusty parasol, Prescilla. In the summery, sunny months, the umbrella's red plaid casts a rosy glow on her skin, making her look wildly in love with the world. Her umbrella protects her from the rain, and she loves the sound of droplets hitting the taut cloth, creating a tilted rhythm. Uma loves to use Prescilla in her tap routines, twirling and posing with her as she spins on the stage. While Uma adores dressing in cabaret garb, feather headdresses and discarded bridesmaid dresses, Prescilla is always the center of attention, the piece that pulls the outfit together, and functional accessory, protector, and stage prop.