HAPPY HALLOWEEN (AND WEEKEND)!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and Halloween! I meant to include the DIY project above—colorful Halloween candy garlands by The House That Lars Built—in the roundup on Wednesday but forgot. Making up for it here!

I have been accumulating lots of fun reading material for you and, on the off chance you are like me and planning to hibernate over the next several days, thought it would be fun to list it all below. Enjoy!

Vital info for insider (candy) trading.

I will not be wearing any of these (ridiculous!) costumes this year. (Pizza rat?!)

I may, however, be learning to draw a person. Adorable!

A Young Man's Follies. A touching glimpse into a stranger's life (and beautifully laid out, too!).

Made me smile: #notonappstore.

Galant, clever, polite ways to say no.

A fact every minute. Perfect to stock up on dinner party conversation starters.

Annie Leibovitz and 400 women. Inspiring.

Finally, for those in the New York area, some excellent shows closing after this weekend:

Robert Morris at Leo Castello Gallery*

Robert Indiana at Craig F. Starr Gallery*

Robert Overby at Andrew Kreps Gallery*

Pierre Huyghe at the Metropolitan Museum

The Xerox Show at Paula Cooper Gallery (my personal favorite!)

*apparently I like artists named Robert?!

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!

FEMALE HEROES OF 2013

I realize this is a shamelessly promotional video from Bing (I am a Google girl all the way), but honestly, it was too sweet to pass up. Who runs the world? Girls!

HAVE A LOVELY LATE SUMMER WEEKEND!

What are you guys up to this weekend? I am taking off for Connecticut tomorrow to help out with my Dad's 70th birthday party (recap and DIYs next week!). So I am leaving you with some links to distract you on Friday and tide you through the weekend.

Photo above is from this (mouth watering) article!

I have been in an old school music mode this week, rewatching some 90s music videos. Check out these blasts from the past (cartoon cat, teleportation, bagpipes)!

Secret book paintings (so cool!!).

Everything you need to know about the latest Apple announcements.

Why your mind . . . wanders.

New (cabin) on the block.

Turning back the (cellular) clock.

Can you imagine being stuck in traffic for nine days?!!

An invisible skyscraper (what about the birds?).

Mmmm, tastes . . . fuzzy.

Letters to Ms Magazine.

Best birthday present for this polar bear EVER.

Whoa! Your touch tone could have looked like this.

Wouldn't want to meet this guy on a leisurely afternoon swim.

Step away from the computer and s-t-r-e-t-c-h....

Ready for wedding season to be over? This may make you smile.

As a Patriots fan and wife of an HLS alum, I find this pretty darn funny.


Have a great weekend, everyone! See you back here next week.

PATRIOTIC PASTA

What a cool idea! The Australian advertising agency WHYBIN\TBWA created this smart campaign to promote the Sydney International Food Festival. It consists of popular foods from 17 different countries  laid out to resemble their nation's flags. France is made with bleu cheese, brie and grapes; Greece consists of feta and olives; Japan has tuna sashimi and rice. The whole idea is simple yet well-executed—just as smart graphic design should be!

Check out more great examples here.

Still hankering for something to do over this long and potentially-rainy weekend? Here are some links to tide you over.

Four Steps to Better Photos.

I think these tips will prove useful for my trip next month.

Anthony Weiner needs more friends.

Thinking about heading up here this weekend.

This would be a lovely anniversary present.

Ununpentium—there's got to be a better name than that.

I am planning my Dad's 70th birthday party and these would be fun to have on hand!

What a useful (if nerdy) list.

I wish I had been able to see this.

Maybe this guy isn't such a dumbbell after all.

These are perfect for dinner parties, water cooler talk and networking.

This is one sophisticated first birthday party.

R.I.P. Gus.

"Trying to lift things" is this little man's only worry at college. No frat parties for him!

A cuter (but perhaps no less slobbery?) pope, ha!

I feel queasy just looking at this monstrosity.

In keeping with my post earlier this week, only clear skies from here on out.

Thanks, Miley, for degrading the foam finger. 

Have a great weekend!

SIMPLY SHOCKING

I know people like to watch YouTube videos when they are bored, but I head over to Vimeo to watch videos when I am feeling uninspired. While studying for exams over the best several weeks, I stumbled across a lot of cool videos there, but this project by artist Melanie Hoff is by far my favorite. Using 15,000 volts of electricity, which she sent pulsing through a large panel of plywood, Hoff was able to create a complex fractal pattern in wood burns. The result is both mesmerizing and beautiful.

See more photos of this cool project here.

SUPER BOWL AD WRAP 2013

Did you guys watch the Super Bowl last night? I was very disappointed with the results (if my beloved Tom Tom can't win, I don't want the Ravens to! Plus how epic would that 49ers comeback have been?). My hands down favorite part, despite being a die-hard football fan, was the half time show. Beyonce blew it out of the water! I wish Jay-Z had joined her instead of Destiny's Child, but the technical aspects of the show were out of control (many secretly feel she caused the blackout)! Did you miss it? Watch the whole thing show here.

My other favorite part of the game, as always, were the commercials. This year I was pleasantly surprised by the options. There were the standard sexy lady and silly options, but if you looked beyond that there were actually some very clever ideas. Here are my favorites . . .

Cheeky car commercials . . .




Funny food features:




The NFL had some amazing ideas . . .



And then there were the tearjerkers (that Bud ad, oh man!) . . .



Which ones were your favorites? Let me know in the comments!

FROM A TO (JAY-)Z, THE HISTORY OF RAP

I think, given my busy schedule, that I will dub this week my 'video bonanza' and post all the fun videos I have been wanting to post. Cool? Cool.

As a big hip hop fan (and Justin fan, swoon), this video of Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake performing their 'history of rap' in 3 minutes is awesome! I am particularly impressed at how much Jimmy Fallon managed to sound like Mike D from the Beastie Boys. It also doesn't hurt that they are backed up by the Roots. Just awesome.

Hope you like it!