The Ultimate Man

Gregory Peck.
They don't make em like that anymore.

Amsterdam Brought Back to Life

As I've mentioned before, one of my favorite things about Europe was the bikes. Not only did I like the fact that they rode them everywhere instead of driving, but the bikes themselves were awesome.
Here in Newport there are 3 major trends in bikes:
The road bikes for all the men who take cycling extremely seriously. You can usually spot these men on saturday mornings racing down PCH or going out towards Irvine.
Then there's a new breed of bikers; Hipster kids on their fixed gear bikes (aka "fixies") with their cut off jeans and slouchy beanies heading to a local coffee shop to discuss global poverty and the great influence our generation can have on the world.
And finally the beach cruisers for basically everyone else. This group typically consists of adolescent boys and girls riding back from the beach talking on their cell phones, barefoot and helmetless, in nothing but their bathing suits. Real safe, guys.
And because I take issue with something in each one of these peoples, I was floored when I got to Amsterdam and realized that I could stop the lifelong search. I had found what bike group to which I belong! Everywhere I looked, sharp dressed men and women rode with wicker baskets full of flowers to the market, or work, or the park or even to drop their kids off at school. I stopped in my tracks when I saw this girl ride down the cobblestone street with her pup accompanying her on the ride to Whereversville. So chic, I want to die. The bikes they ride are also pretty neat too; An awesome mix between a street bike and a cruiser, they have a simple, handsome look to them that I'd never seen before.
Ever since I've been back, there have been a few internet treasure hunts, but I've never been able to really find exactly what I'm looking for. Until now. The other day, I stumbled upon a European company called Velorbis that makes high end bikes.
Um, HELLO!?! I want this ad to be my life.

Small problem. Their bikes retail for over a thousand dollars.......hmmm......

I think the only way I could swing that one would be to combine this into my birthday and christmas gifts for the next 5 years or so. Not happening.

I guess I'll just have to dream.

Judging a Book by Its Cover

So, I'm not a huge reader. I want to be and when I do get into a book that I really respond to, it consumes me and there is nothing I'd rather do than sit in bed and just read and read for days. Even when it's done, I typically find myself referencing the storyline or the characters for the next few weeks until it slowly fades away. (You know it's a great book when that never stops)

Many of you are probably familiar with Coralie Bickford-Smith... though you may not know it. She is the talented senior cover designer at Penguin Books who is responsible for the jacket designs of the new classics that many of us have been lusting over for the past few years as they continue to be released...

What I didn't realize is that she had created a series of deco inspired covers for the entire F. Scott Fitzgerald collection, and I have to say I'm more motivated than ever to dive into the rest of his books...

We read The Great Gatsby in school and I loved every page, not only for the story and the style of writing, but also for the decadence of the twenties that was so well portrayed throughout the book.

My only complaint is that these covers aren't hardbacks, so they will be harder to preserve. On the upside... I think I just found some serious inspiration for a Gatsby-esque birthday bash come September!

The Fierce-Some Foursome

I'm so excited for dinner with the Patton cousins tonight.

I love all of my family, but spending time with just Tracy, Taryn, Kaitlin and me is always such a blast. Since Tracer went off to college....3?....4? years ago, and all of us living fairly busy lives with very opposite schedules, we try to get one night down on the calendar about once every 6 months to just hang out and catch up on life. It is so weird to think that we are all in college and getting closer and closer to being real life, fully functioning, job having, bill paying adults! Since when are we doing this for real and not just playing dress up and pretending to be old? Actually now that I think about it, not much has changed since then. It's funny because when I think back on us playing house as kids we had the same basic storyline every time. Basically, we were always sisters in a family whose parents had died in a tragic car accident and now we were forced into the great big world just trying to find our way while still being a family and maintaining each of our identities (can you tell we had a little bit of the flare for the dramatic? What can I say-- we watched a lot of 7th Heaven back in the day). And then there was something about the firemen chasing the policemen or whatever. The characters we played back then have really seemed to oddly show up in the paths we are taking even today. Tracy, who is now in Nursing school, was always the calming and responsible mom who wrote all the checks and did all the cooking (bow-tie pasta with butter and parmesan cheese, of course). Taryn, currently an English major, was the teacher who gave us math lessons on the whiteboard and made us all practice our handwriting. I was always a painter (the countdown to SCAD is now 29 days, by the way). And Kaitlin, was always always the older sister of the family who "went to Hollywood to be an actress and a model and made it big in the entertainment business only to come back and help her lowly siblings in their rather tragic predicament while simultaneously dealing with the turmoil of maintaining her dazzling career."....Don't quite know how the fits into her now going into Psychology, but we'll just go with it.
I just re-read this whole thing and I can't think of a way to close out this post without quoting the Graduation Song by Vitamin C or Ferris Bueller. There is no way to finish this without making it even more cheesy than it already is. I'm not even going to try.
Urg. For me being a pretty apathetic person in real life, it feels like a lot of my blog posts end up being a large bowl of emo soup. I need to stop being so ridiculously mushy.
Alright, well all of that to say that I am so excited for dinner with the Patton cousins tonight. I know it will not disappoint. :D

Iceland Just Gets Better and Better

Alright, this obsession with Iceland may be getting just a tad bit out of hand, but how can I help it when I keep finding all of these amazing facts and stories about this totally under-rated country!? This Michigan couple invited their family and friends to Iceland, where they tied the knot in a teeny chapel. The portrait by the hot springs is so rad.
I've never been one of those girls who's planned out every last detail of my wedding in my head. The only real details I have nailed down are that I want my dress and my groom to be extremely hot. Maybe a destination wedding in Iceland would be just the ticket to the perfect wedding. Yes-- I like that idea. You hear that, future husband? It's been decided. We'll marry in Iceland in the Spring!
.....Jumping the gun a bit, perhaps? Maybe.
Whatever.

Boy, O Boy, do we have a lot to talk about.

I have oodles of fun posts coming up that I can't wait to share, but tonight, it is late and my head is all fuzzy due to the untimely cold that has overtaken me. So I will leave you with this video that just has been cracking me up the last 49 times I've replayed it. Behold: The Cat Who Can't Jump.

P.S. I really love that she still tries! There's a life lesson in there. :)

Turner, Room 154

Today I got my official room assignment and I could not be more excited. Not only did I get the residence hall that I wanted, but everything worked out with the roommates I requested. Hassle averted. (P.S. Get familiar with the names Spencer and Claire)
So, one of the main reasons I even signed up for this whole college whatever is so I could decorate a dorm room. The roomies and I have talked about it and we are going for a bohemian, Anthropologie, colorful vibe. I can definitely work with that.
The other day mom and I made a few key first purchases and it just awakened the inner shopaholic in me because now I'm even more buy happy than I was (something I didn't think was possible).

The first purchase was this owl we found in Urban Outfitters. Not necessarily a necessity, but I could not resist taking him home because he is just so lovable! I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be an ash tray, but I figure I can use him to hold my keys or phone or bobby pins or something. Or I could just talk to it when I'm lonely. Notice that I am already calling it "him"....it's obvious he is male, but only time will tell what his actual name will be.

The comforter is basically the key piece in any dorm room. It sets the tone for essentially everything. A bad comforter means poor sleep which leads to poor study habits which leads to poor grades which leads to emotional eating eventually leading to the expulsion from college. Basically, I explained to my mother that if I didn't get this comforter, I would turn into a fat college dropout with sleep apnia. She understood. Am I taking this too seriously?

I also got this great hook from Anthropologie as a graduation gift from Auntie Anne. Nothing better than a great hook. Plus, she just happened to pick my favorite letter "J"! It's my favorite because my first name starts with J. Such a great coincidence.

There will be much more buying before and after I move to Turner 154, so I'll keep everyone posted. 38 DAYS!