RANDOM BUT WONDERFUL

As if you needed another reason to love either A) Sir David Attenborough or B) Adele's gorgeous new single, Hello, this video will have you smiling in no time. Totally random, but sure to make you happy on this otherwise boring Monday.

Hope you had a great weekend!

WE'RE BACK!

We got back from our two week adventure in the United Kingdom super late on Sunday night. I am still trying to get back into a normal routine (like not eating a proper English Breakfast every day (sigh), getting to bed at a normal time, and actually writing this dang dissertation), but I wanted to check in with you guys and let you know that we had a great time and there will certainly be some photos and recaps of the trip to come. In the meantime, I stumbled across this funny round up of images of majorly overloaded vehicles from all over the world. It reminded me about how, during our trip, we stuffed our miniature-sized Kia full of our overflowing luggage and attempted to navigate the tiny (read: the size of a golf cart path) roads in much of back woods Scotland. We got used to using "laybys" regularly—small pull overs on the side of the road—that laughably looked like rain gutters. Combine that with a ludicrous number of Highland cattle and bleating sheep in the road and many of our drives felt like the last photo—borderline chaos!Hope you had a great holiday weekend. If you are interested, more crazy photos of overloaded vehicles can be found here.
 

OM NOM NOM

Totally random, but I love this print by Aled Lewis (who I have written about before here).  Om Nom Nom Nom!
Check out more of his funny work here.

A FEW THINGS TO MAKE YOU GIGGLE

I am in full force productivity mode these days as the semester draws to a close, but with that focus comes the occasional binge on YouTube (who's with me?!).  Here are a couple of videos I have stumbled across recently that made me giggle, smile or generally forget my massive to do list for a couple minutes. Hope you enjoy!

above | they are doing a ton of facade work on my building right now and the noise is basically like this, with the added bonus of guys in cherry pickers popping by my window every few minutes . . . just a bit distracting, ha!





above | sometimes I feel like every girl in New York is like this; either way, this is a pretty funny parody of a show I regularly watch to make myself feel like my life is reasonably put together (is that too honest?)






above | james corden is hilarious, jennifer hudson is the shiznit and this video just makes me miss having a car . . .





above |  . . . though if I were to be doing my own car karaoke, it would probably sound more like this . . . .



Hope you have a productive day full of laughter and dance/karaoke breaks!

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

Happy April Fool's Day! My family has never really been the prankster types, but I have always admired people who can come up with funny little tricks that leave the recipient smiling and not chasing after you with a broom. So here's a quick little round up of some funny pranks you can pull on family and friends that will leave everyone in a good mood—no meanies here!
above | oh happy day suggests googly eyes on everything! studio diy makes tiny french toast!
Click through for a couple of hilarious tech-related pranks ideal for adults and work friends . . . .

EMILY McDOWELL IS HILARIOUS

How hilarious are these cards by illustrator Emily McDowell? So after greeting can seem staid or trite—after all people have been having babies and birthdays since the beginning of time and it's hard to find new ways to say 'Yay!'. But McDowell has some pretty clever takes on celebrating those important moments in our lives, plus some lovely illustrations to boot. Bonus: she also reproduces her work onto bags, mugs, prints and more. I recommend you check them all out here.

(Thanks to A Cup of Jo for the tip!)
  

GUILTY PLEASURES

Happy New Year! How was your holiday? I spent the majority of it alternating between bouts of rolling around in the snow, bingeing on sugar, reading, doing jigsaw puzzles, cuddling my hubby and napping. Guilty pleasures all around. Isn't that what the holidays are for?!

I am back in action here in New York and excited for 2015! I am planning to share some goals with you (as I did last year here) shortly, but in the meantime wanted to indulge in one last guilty pleasure: Pitch Perfect! I watched the original (more info on it here) with my in-laws recently and they loved it. It's total brain candy but who cares. It's fun! I was so psyched to hear that they were doing a remake. Bring back Fat Amy Fat Patricia!!!

Learn more about the sequel here.

What's your guilty pleasure?

SASSY HOLIDAY CARDS

As I have been doing my holiday shopping this year, I have noticed an abundance of truly sassy Christmas cards in stores these days. Has that always been the case or are we hitting a new level of sauciness in our season's greetings? No matter, I love it and thought I would share some of my favorites here.

ONE

"HO HO HO, HO"

SadShop, $5 (also comes in sets)

TWO

"Santa and I both like making lists"

SadShop, $5 (also comes in sets)

THREE

(illustration of a broken candy cane) "Have a safe and happy holiday season"

PaperSource, $16.50 for set of 8

FOUR

(illustration of Jesus opening presents) "Christmas AND his birthday on the same day!"

PaperSource, $5.95

FIVE

"Dear New Year's Resolution, Well, it was fun while it lasted. Sincerely, January 2nd"

PaperSource, $5.95

SIX

"Dear Mary, Just admit that you slept with someone else. This is getting out of hand. Sincerely, Joseph"

PaperSource, $5.95

SEVEN

(illustration of gnomes in red convertible) "Rollin' with my Gnomies"

PaperSource, $4.95

EIGHT

"'Merry Christmas Eve.' —Adam"

Lure Paper Goods, $4.25

NINE

"'Happy Mew Year.'—Cats"

Lure Paper Goods, $4.25

TEN

"'I smell carrots.'—Snowmen" 

Lure Paper Goods, $4.25

ELEVEN

"Dear __________, Let me be totally honest, you're on the naughty list. It wasn't even a close tie. Better luck next year. Sincerely, Santa"

PaperSource, $16.50 for set of 8

TWELVE

"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house everyone was on their phone"

Burro, $5.25

LOW BATTERY: BIG HERO SIX

Geez, this month has been crazy! This week is literally the first week since the beginning of October that I don't have two to three deadlines on the imminent horizon. I am beat!

As a little treat—and to help recharge my low battery—I went to see Big Hero Six yesterday with my hubby and some friends. It was great! Very well done all around, even though it is typical Disney with some very teary parts thrown in for good measure. I highly recommend you see it; it's fun for all ages. (This scene, for instance, had the adults in the theater absolutely dying with laughter.)

Meanwhile, if you need me I will be lazing about in my pajamas today, taking a break from the real world for a little while longer. :)

MALKOVICH, OH MY!

How funny is this project? Undertaken by photographer Sandro Miller, it features a restaging of countless historical photographs that have inspired him over the years with one important twist—the subject is now actor John Malkovich! Hilarious! As a history of photography nerd and someone who appreciates silly humor, this series had me smiling ear to ear.

Check out the whole project (and more) here.

(thanks to My Modern Met for the tip)

WES ANDERSON IS OCD

Have you seen the new Wes Anderson movie 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'? I love, love, loved Moonrise Kingdom and the trailer for this new film looked enchanting too.

(By the way I have a new theory about the luscious 'look' of Anderson movies and why art nerds like me adore them: every second looks like it has gone through a perfect instagram filter! Basically my dream world!)

A couple of weeks ago I went to see Grand Budapest and really enjoyed it. The sets were gorgeous (that pink box scene!) and there were lots of perfect moments of dry Anderson wit thrown in there too. So, when I got home after the movie, I decided to do some research on the movie and was surprised to see just how many people are talking about Anderson these days.

Basically, everyone thinks he's an obsessive compulsive mad genius dictator, they just won't come out and say it.

Why? Let me break it down . . .

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

In honor of April Fool's Day and all things hilarious, here is a quick round up some fabulously funny things I have stumbled across recently.

Amy Poehler, as always, is amazing in the outtakes of this Old Navy commercial.





The Ballad of a Wi-Fi hero is so dead on, except for me it's my fairly luddite husband calling in the cavalry for help. :) Also, the music and graphics are perfect.





Jimmy Fallon's lip sync battles are epic and hilarious. Also, news flash: Stephen Marchant can booty dance! (Also, this clip with Paul Rudd is not to be missed.)


Another thing I have to mention, while I am on the topic of funny: the new show on Comedy Central called @midnight is gut-bustingly funny. It's pretty much the only reason I don't feel insanely bad about going to bed at 1am on the regular. This clip with the cast of Community—another guilty pleasure of mine—sums up the awesomeness of the new show (wouldn't seem to embed properly, so you will have to go to the link!).

INSTA-BULLSH*T

I am not a big facebook poster (though you can follow the O.I. on it here), but I am pretty big into instagram (check me out here). I am sure if you popped over to my feed right now you would see a shot or two of a pretty beach/tropical fruit/exotic activity/other vacation cliché taken by yours truly in the last week. This hilarious post, by Drew Hoolhorst, shows the reality just outside all of our perfectly filtered photographic frames.

Check out more written by Drew on his website here (including the Bachelor/Bachelorette recaps, a show to which I find myself shamefully addicted).

LET'S GET CREATIVE

Have you guys heard of Creative Mornings? I have written about it a couple times before (see here), but I was feeling in dire need of a jolt of inspiration yesterday and—without fail—the Creative Mornings site delivered big time. I mean, look at that homepage! It's like a perfect venn diagram of my obsession with bright colors and maps. Drool!

Besides being beautifully designed in and of itself, the Creative Mornings website also hosts an incredible archive of all their previous talks, now taking place in 71 (!) cities around the world. Since I will be giving a presentation on the first chapter of my dissertation next month at this fabulous design-focused symposium, I think it only proper to brush up on my public speaking skills by watching some of the masters at work in the Creative Mornings spotlight. In case you want some presentation pointers too, or are just in the mood for some good advice and a few laughs, check out the videos below. You won't regret it!

I loved Debbie Milman's talk when I saw it in person way back in 2011. I loved it even more when I rewatched it this week. Her advice here is both thoughtfully considered and amicably delivered—the whole presentation feels like an uplifting pep talk from a parent or friend.

This talk, by MailChimp founder Ben Chestnut, was the only one of my three picks today that I didn't get to see in person (it took place in Atlanta in December 2011). But it is absolutely hilarious in the way that a brilliant but rather crass friend can be—there is a common recurrence of a middle finger icon in the talk at very funny intervals—and is all the most inspirational for it. I can't recommend it enough. And I now I funny understand the MailChimp radio ads that say they make hats for small dogs and cats!

Last, but definitely not least, is this belly-laugh-, drool-, and awe-inducing talk by Christoph Niemann (who I have extolled on many occasions before, see here). His illustrations and masterful creativity never ceases to amaze me and this short and sweet presentation will show you why. I shared before and I have to share it again—it's that good.


See more of creative goodness at Creative Mornings here.

VIDEO PLAYLIST: MUSICAL INSPIRATION

In case you feel like procrastinating from work today, here are a few fun videos that I have come across that I have been dying to share. So, without further ado, lets surf the interwebs and hit up the YouTubes!



Have you been watching Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show? My goodness, he is hilarious. I love this segment, but also highly recommend watching Paul Rudd lip sync Tina Turner, and Jimmy play charades with Bradley Cooper, Emma Thomson (she's amazing!), and Tim McGraw (part one and part two).




I am obsessed with Pentatonix (evidence here) and their version of my new favorite song is gorgeous.





Also, how incredible does this documentary look? Several friends have recommended it and I can't wait to watch it myself. Bonus: iTunes rental is only $0.99!

WILL IT BEARD? BY STACY AND PIERCE THIOT

I am kind of in love with this silly series by a dynamic photography duo (aka married collaborators) Stacy and Pierce Thiot. Entitled, Will it Beard?, the series features images of experimentations of various wacky objects they have tried to store or present in Pierce's bushy beard. Doesn't this seem like the perfect project to do in studio on a cold winter's day? It sort of reminds me of the early video experiments by William Wegman or the more ardent 'body object' work of Ann Hamilton.

I really enjoy reading about artists that don't take themselves too seriously these days. Art is supposed to be about exploring the world and making the viewer see things—or ideally, the role of the artist—in a new light. With this in mind, I think the Thiots' project is fabulous. See more of their work through their portrait studio, Red Poppy Photography, here and see more beard-a-licious shots on their tumblr here.

(thanks to My Modern Met for the tip)

LET US GIVE THANKS FOR HIPSTERS AND PIE

How was your Thanksgiving? Clearly, given my absence for the last several days, I had a great time! I went home to my parents house and baked up a storm, including this amazing Apple Blackberry Pie (ha, if I do say so myself). It's a recipe from Martha Stewart that needs a little tweaking but once you hit the sweet spot—zing!—it proves to be a unbeatable combination. It was the first time I had ever used homemade pie crust and, for this recipe, I think it made a huge difference both in taste and aesthetics! I mean, how pretty are those leaves that the recipe calls for?





I also stumbled across this hilarious video over the weekend. Here's hoping your holiday wasn't this obnoxious . . . or full of ugly cat sweaters!

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

WHERE THE WILD (LAUGHS) ARE

Thought you might like a little something to make you smile on this dreary day (there's a 70% chance of rain in New York this afternoon!). I meant to post this amazing Stephen Colbert interview of Maurice Sendak when the venerable illustrator died last month but it somehow slipped my mind. No matter, the brilliant author's acerbic wit continues to shine through in this hilarious and endearing interview; turns out Sendak was the perfect repartee partner for the cheeky Colbert.

See more humorous hijinks by Colbert on his website here and view part two of the interview here.

AB FAB: ABSTRACT AERIALS AND SAUCY STATIONERY

I have mentioned before how much I love the new flash sale site Fab.com. Love! About 1/3 of my holiday presents were actually purchased from them. But I couldn't resist sharing two of the amazing sales they are offering this week. First off, the gorgeous abstract aerial landscape photography taken by Denver-based duo Brent and Sarah. These super saturated prints (bright colors! my favorite!) are being sold in an 18 x 18 inch size for the very reasonable price of $70. What's not to love?!








Also on sale at Fab.com this week are the hilarious greeting cards crafted by the good people at Old Tom Foolery (whom I raved about here). I love each and every one of the cards on offer at Fab; you are sure to find a set that will put a smile on the faces of any recipient. Also, be sure to check out their Typestach poster--funny and informative!


If you haven't signed up for an account, you can only do so by invitation; I have got you covered! Head over  here to sign up! If you are already on the Fab bandwagon head here to see the photos and here to check out the cards. But act quickly because the sales end in three days and things sell out fast!

THE MUPPETS: COMING TO A WALL NEAR YOU!

Have you seen the new Muppets movie? What, you think muppets=puppets=just for kids? Sacrilege! 


The movie is actually hilarious--the funniest I have seen since Bridesmaids this summer--and comes very well reviewed, in case you don't believe me. I would highly recommend it! I dare you not to smile the entire time!


With that said, I am posting also to tell you about the amazing wall stickers created by Blik to celebrate the release of the movie. How cool would it to have these guys popping up all over your home? They would be perfect for a kids room, but I could also imagine more cheeky placements to jazz up otherwise dull areas: on a wall normally covered up by an open closet door, in the laundry room, even (gasp!) in the shower (hehe) . . .  the list goes on and on!


Check out all the Muppet wall sticker options here.


(thanks to swissmiss for the tip!)


p.s. Still need more reason to see the movie? I just found out that Bret McKenzie (of the amazing musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords) served as musical director for the movie! No wonder I can't get 'Life's A Happy Song' out of my head . . .