yes, please.

Can't wait!

"I'm pretty sure I didn't do it; I just don't have the wherewithal to defend myself."

I haven't been on in almost a month, kiddos. Be sure that I shall remedy this blunder with goods that more than make up for it (in the form of online shops and new outfit posts, and recipes and playlists)!

In the meantime, enjoy this tasty little slap-in-the-face, almost literally.


And and... my own special Word of the Day segment a la Stephen Colbert, even though it won't be every day. So here, loveys, is The Word.

where·with·al   [hwair-with-awl, -with-, wair-]
–noun
1. that with which to do something; means or supplies for the purpose or need, esp. money: the wherewithal to pay my rent.
Origin:
1525–35; where + withal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source | Link To wherewithal

Use with care, friendlies!

we two are makers, just made this mess

I know it's been quite a while since my last post, but not much has been going on except that I'm getting together some good inventory for my online vintage shop. :)

In honor of the She & Him concert I went to yesterday at the Hollywood Bowl, this entry is dedicated to all things She and all things Him (but mostly She, because I love Zooey so very very much).

Here is their new single, "Thieves", and the pretty pretty video that goes along with it.


I've had a Zooey obsession ever since she played the Who-loving stewardess sister in Almost Famous and I didn't yet know who she was. Then Elf came along, and All the Real Girls, and on and on to the mainstream crossover 500 Days of Summer. I even have the horrible movie that no one needs to see, Flakes, on dvd.

Anyway, when She & Him came out with Volume One, I tried to get tickets to their show but it was sold out in a heartbeat. This Sunday, I finally got to see them at the Hollywood Bowl, on their tour for Volume Two. We got to the venue super early so we went to the park right next to the Hollywood Bowl with some Trader Joe's provisions-- palmiers (yum!), salt and pepper chips, and Orangina, along with a copy of A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole. It's great, really funny and well written. We took turns reading pages aloud in the shaded cover of the park until we decided to head in to the Bowl.






Once we decided to go in, we waited a bit before taking our seats because it was pretty hot out, up until maybe 7:00pm. Instead, we sat in the shade outside our section and people watched/judged. Kinda. Okay, basically we tried to spot all the Zooey lookalikes and just look for people who we thought were dressed cute. There were some pretty cute contenders for best dressed, and I want to and tried to unsuccessfully take sly pictures of them without their noticing, to later post up here, but I chickened out. Too bad I wore an outfit you guys have already seen on this here blog. Oh well, I love it.



And here are some shots of the performance and the darling Zooey in action. Check out that magnificent electric uke!






Also, check back for an edit because I uploaded a video of me and my uke covering "Sentimental Heart" even though they didn't perform it that night. <3 It's taking a while to show up on YouTube, but when it does, I'll include it in this post. So check back if you want to see me embarrassing myself. It's pretty rough because I just learned it, but I plan on recording some other tunes for your enjoyment once I get better. For now, you can go to my YouTube channel and check out some old things I've recorded, back when I had long glorious hair, as well as some videos of my friends and their creative/musical/artistic endeavors. :) My YouTube Channel.

And here is the video. It got chopped off the top when exporting it somehow, so my head got cut off a bit. Oh well. Enjoy!

Later, lovelies!

shop shop shop

I'm in the works to start an Etsy and/or eBay shop. So be on the lookout. I've got lots of goods. Maybe I'll preview some stuff on here like my friend, Christine. Go check out her blog, by the way, and buy up her goods. :)

the minor fall and the major lift

Magnetic Fields - With Whom to Dance
Beirut - Hallelujah
The 6ths - You You You You You Katherine Whalen singing a song by Stephin Merritt (of Magnetic Fields)
Noah and the Whale - Five Years Time
Jens Lekman - La Strada Nel Bosco

Sorry for the lack of posting, but I've been super tired lately, even though this weekend I did a whole lot of nothing except eat. Eat... and play my new ukulele! It's pretty pretty. I've already semi-learned a few songs, like "Hallelujah", and "Postcards", and "New Soul". I lovelovelove it! And in honor and reverence of that love, my mini playlist is comprised of all ukulele songs. There are plenty more by both Beirut and Magnetic Fields but I didn't want to make it heavy on one artist, so look 'em up!

I also spent the weekend with four crazy little dollfaced girls, which is why I'm so tired. I'm glad I have the day off today. It was a nice and pleasant surprise. I've decided to spend it cleaning, running, yoga-ing, and crafting. Doesn't sound very relaxing, but it is. Really.

Here's a picture of my new little beaut, followed by some pictures from the weekend and a ukulele session from Yael Naim. (I should have thought to take some outfit pictures. Nonetheless, I'm wearing the oversized chiffon blouse in bone with the navy tap shorts from American Apparel and then the vintage cutout schoolgirl dress from California Select.)

I hope your 4th of July was splendid! What did you all do?

s&m and bible study

Today on this fine Sunday I tried to do something fun, since I had the rare day off from work. I'd been looking forward to the Riverside To-Do at Fairmount Park and the promise of different interesting little workshops like baking, bicycle maintenance, composting, crafting, live music, etc. But when we got there, it ended up being a few sad tents and a dj along with a small scattering of people.

My friend/photographer really wanted to attend the bike workshop and I was all about the baking and crafting, but alas, we had to improvise and instead went swinging at the playground and then took a paddle boat for a spin around the lake in the middle of the park, which turned out to be fun aside from being super hot out on the lake! It seemed really tiny at first-- or I was expecting it to be, but it ended up being pretty big; and from the pictures, it seemed very Jurassic Park-ish. :) Also, there were some cute birds and friendly people out.

All in all, it turned out to be quite fun in the end!

I Know Where the Summer Goes - Belle & Sebastian





I also got to make use of my new favorite dress from Reformed. I love the sleeves, and the cutout in the back (you can kind of see the back in the second to last picture), and the pleated detailing on the skirt, and the neckline. Pretty much everything about it! It was really sunny and my eyes are very sensitive to the light, so that's why I've got my sunglasses on. They're just some cheapies from Forever 21. Anthropologie headband. Black shoes from Kimchi & Blue. (I also have the creme ones).

If You're Feeling Sinister - Belle & Sebastian

mary & max

I loved this movie from Adam Elliot so much! It was adorable and sad and depressing and wonderful. I'm obsessed with writing obviously and I love writing letters and getting postcards and little packages in the mail. The premise of this movie is so strange and whimsical and I wish I had thought of it, because it could go in so many directions. Especially since I've been wanting to write more on the strange side, a la Flannery O'Connor, one of my most favorite of influential writers.

The movie centers around Mary, a lonely little girl who decides to find a friend by choosing a name and address at random and begins a penpal relationship with a lonely old man, Max J. Horovitz. I really like the weirdness of it, above all.

Voiced by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette respectively.


It's all in claymation, and pressing questions like "Do you have a favorite-sounding word?" or "Have you ever been a communist?" and "Have you ever been attacked by a crow or similar large bird?" are answered. If you haven't already done so, rent, buy, just watch this movie.



And if anyone wants a penpal, I'm in. I just bought the cutest stationery set from Anthropologie. We can send little trinkets and pictures and if we go travel somewhere we can send each other postcards from our adventures. I collect postacards. Here are just a few of the more recent ones from my modest collection from friends who've travelled much more exciting places than I've been so far.



Just send me your address at melissasonico@gmail.com. :)