damn those are cute

will someone please tell me that these little darlings do not need to come live in my apartment with me. please.

nine west grey heels

nine west teal flats

oh, and they are only $30 each. gawk!

glamour fridays take 1

anna and i are fortunate to have a very glamorous friend, lucia, who reminds us that some combination of dansko clogs and hoodies are not really "bar wear" at our age. since both of us have been known to veer towards the stubborn side of life, that hasn't exactly led us into the land of 5 inch heels and animal prints, but we try. in fact, we've vowed to try out a little more glamour each friday in honor of lucia. and while we might not be doing anything more exciting at home than adding frozen peas to our annie's mac and cheese, you, dear readers, can live with the illusion we are taking our glamorous selves out every friday night.

also we promise to never reference fergie in our glamour friday's post in the high hopes you won't abandon us so soon.

chiffon necklace

vintage brooch

jcrew shoe

pandora rocks my socks

kate mentioned at the bottom of her blog that she was listening to pandora. i think that pandora should receive a few more lines of praise. i am obsessed with pandora and have been for years. for those of you who don't know, it is a website that streams music of your choice. you can choose a genre or a band or a song and pandora generates a "radio station." there are no commercials and you can have loads of "stations" to switch back and forth from. currently i am listening to the national. they are a new favorite, brooklyn based band, started in 1999. should someone come upon you listening to the national, they may think that you could be suicidal, but i highly suggest everyone check them out.

i don't happen to think it's a problem, but . . .

i love buying cheap art. love. love more than my bank account would prefer. and it's so easy with sites like etsy and 20x200. i just never understood why people would want blank walls, or (shudder) tacked up posters that you bought at a poster sale freshman year.

side note about poster sales. my freshman year an artist, Christian Jankowski, took pictures of students buying poster at such a poster sale for a project. the series is permenatly installed at the kemper art museum at washington university (which is a wonderful for those of you in the area), and was originally in a exhibited they mounted called 'reality bites'. since my parents insist on visiting my photograph anytime we are there, not to mention taking my picture in front of it and telling staff that it's a picture of me, all i can say is thank god i bought a rothko poster that day. some people were immortalized with a poster for 'the fast and the furious.' that's a reality that bites.

anyway, i digress. the sheep is one of my favorite recent pieces. the artist is sharon montrose and she takes portraits of real animals in california zoos. they are quirky and serene. i think i also want the pig. see, this, is why its a problem!

p.s. the bon iver station on pandora is treating me very well this morning indeed.

r.i.p.

pour a little out in memory of domino magazine...

out with the van gogh, in with the hiring freeze

i know, i know, i know you can't take one step out your front door without hearing something about the economic crisis, but this is a little insane. brandeis university has decided to close their art museum and sell off the entire collection in order to raise money to put back into the university.

picture via the blog science of insanity

sad refrigerator :-(

the immense excitement i have for the weekend to arrive coupled with the fact that my roommate l and i have absolutely nothing in our fridge (i would have taken a picture but the immense amount of guilt and shame i feel is too much) has led me to check the handy-dandy epicurious seasonal ingredient map before my trip to the soulard farmers market this weekend. as it turns out, this is a dormant season in missouri but that doesn't stop me from checking other states and looking ahead to the coming months.

photo courtesy of boilr

no baby birds here

i live in mississippi, a state with the highest teen birth rate. and it's a good 60% higher than the national average. without taking the time to yell about why abstinence-only programs never work, i want to offer a suggestion:

yes, that's right, it's a condom-dispensing bird. seems kid friendly enough for the high school, don't you think?

more pictures here.

is that your leg or a library book?

oh sweden. first you had ikea, h&m and the fish. now you have a website that appears to be devoted to pictures of people hiding in everyday objects. like bulletin board camouflage. it's witty and well designed where's waldo - but real. what a triumph of a civilization.

http://www.gomdig.nu

found via swissmiss

pasta and pinwheels to soothe the soul

i am usually a big proponent of making up my own recipes (unless i am baking) using whatever i have in the fridge and pantry but there is one dish that i did use a recipe for about 3 years ago and it has stuck with me ever since. i happened upon the recipe by googling "chicken marsala recipe." i guess the best things sometime happen by chance. also, i have a secret indulgence that i would like to share with you.

this photo is courtesy of about.com: southern food

unfortunately i could not find a good photo of what my chicken marsala looks like. i guess i ended up putting my own twist on it but putting it all over fetuccini pasta. the recipe i use and have committed to memory can be found here.

photo courtesy of the blog unbecoming levity

the pinwheel cookie is not something to be baked and recreating them should never be attempted. they can be found in the grocery store cookie aisle. i enjoy one of these at night with a cup of green tea.

cake and soup, how bad can that be?

one of my favorite activities is looking for new recipes to try. foodgawker and tastespotting are two websites that compile recent posts from food blogs all over the web - you just browse through the photos instead of checking in on your favorite foodie blogs each time. anna and i plan on putting up pictures of food we actually cook in the future, but until then, here are two things that i think need to be made at home in the very near future. yummy!

both recipes were found via tastespotting, but the links to the specific sites are next to the photos.

strawberry cake



porcini mushroom soup

me encanta etsy tambien

i would like to chime in on kate's post about valentine's day and etsy. while i wouldn't say that valentine's day is a fantastic holiday i will admit that v-day like all other holidays gives me an excuse to send handmade cards or gifts to my friends and loved ones. and if you find that you don't have the time to create anything yourself, etsy can lend a hand in that department. with that said, here are a few things i have found and purchased for this valentine's day...
all photos are courtesy of etsy


a little bling can brighten someone's day.








a few cute little books to jot down love notes or grocery lists.



who wouldn't want a daily reminder that holds your earrings, rings or cuff links?



getting the perfect card to make someone smile is the cherry on top!

je t'aime etsy

when did it almost become february? or almost valentine's day? annad and i have been long-time cynics of the holiday (through single and taken times) since it seems like 'i love you' ought to be said just as much as possible. but it's hard to be cynical when etsy has such lovely and precious trinkets.

so here's a little gift guide if your fella (or lady) needs a little nudging.

p.s. a lovely website for those of you who need to get in the mood.

every gift needs a card, it would look great framed too.

a pretty little necklace that doesn't scream valentines day.

a little message for the fridge.

an endearing photo print.

a great game for date night.

wouldn't you adore a necklace with your loved one's silhouette?

a pretty pincushion.

i just love that these earrings are ceramic.

i love love love love love this print.

ships ahoy!

not too far from my apartment is an abandoned naval reserve building shaped like a ship. it's tucked under the highway and forgotten, jackson can't seem to even muster up the interest to tear it down, much less preserve it.

dear readers, if you give k & i a couple million dollars we'll restore it. i think i would have USO dances and make sure there are lots of dark corners where guests can make out in sailor hats.

ciao bella

image from Lena Corwin's lovely home

how about we introduce ourselves. anna is the very first person kate met at college, and she's thought anna is pretty spectacular ever since.

anna is a supremely talented graphic designer who enjoys both robots and robotics, though did not invent the latter. kate bakes a mean cookie and has been known to listen to saint etienne's "He's on the phone" on repeat. They both enjoy percy pigs, sweet potato fries and have ears too small for ipod earbuds.

please come visit us anytime!

p.s. lest we forget, kate and anna do have a third best friend, n. n is very busy saving the world but will also take time to have a reggaetton dance party or enjoy an andes mint.

day one, post one

well it's just about time to brave the cold and drive home from work. it has snowed about 4 inches here in st. louis and while sledding sounds enjoyable, most likely i will get home, heat up the soup i made yesterday, and have a cup of hot tea.

hi. thanks for coming, we'll post soon.

image from the selby.