Oh, Monday...

It's been kind of a slow day today (my brother made us an incredible meal last night, and I'm still recovering), but here is my exciting news.
You guys know the website The Sartorialist, right?  Well, my father is on it!  In the background, but still...

He's the chap in jeans with lots of hair (I get the hair thing from him) to the right.  Cool, yes?  Or am I overreacting?

(Photo from the sartorialist.  That's kind of obvious)

Wanderlust: Croatia Edition

I have two weeks in April off, where we actually have to leave Paris, and I really, really want to go to Croatia.  Let's take a look at it, shall we?

The Lonely Planet describes Cres as "perfect for wandering around primeval forests" and "swimming in hidden coves."  Sounds good to me!

Hidden Beaches......

Ruined Villages....

Or how about the quieter inland Plitvice Lakes?  

Looks like Middle Earth, doesn't it?

Cool walks in quiet forests.....

Have you been to Croatia?  Did you like it?  Would you like to go?  If so, where?  Happy weekend!

(pictures from here, here, here, and here)

Ursula, again

To continue on our Ursula theme from yesterday...

from here.

What self-respecting young lady wouldn't want a circus?  Especially one who knows how to unicycle....

Movies

I have a couple of really silly movies that I absolutely adore, and those I love have often been very accommodating and let me see them more than once in their presence.
I'm not talking about the kind of movie that the whole family wants to watch (Love Actually, Casablanca, Dr Strangelove, Being There, Out of Africa) or well-made but girly movies (the six-hour-long Pride & Prejudice) or even popular geeky movies (the Lord of the Rings extended editions).  I'm talking about movies that no one else likes that I do.

We can start with the one that's least offensive to everyone else, and that's Say Anything.

(via)

I love Say Anything.  I love how the father uses the phrase "to champion mediocrity" as an insult, I love that In Your Eyes is played throughout the film, I love that Lloyd Dobbler says that his father wants him to go into the army but "I can't work for that institution."  I love that Diane Court is afraid of flying.  I love that she gives him a pen when they break up, and then gives the same pen to her father.  Oh, and I love that he serenades her plays a song on the radio outside her bedroom window.

I first want to say that I know one other person (Kuzu!) who likes this movie, but my family, my other best friend, and my ex-boyfriend have all watched this with me, and that takes endurance and true love.  There is one word for this, and it is Stardust.

This happy face on Claire Danes describes my emotion when I watch this film.  (via)

I love that Take That plays the credits song.  I love that they made a Neil Gaiman book into a movie (not Coraline, but still, Coraline was good too).  I love that the story is somewhere between geeky adventures and true love.  I love that Robert deNiro is in this film as a cross-dressing sky pirate.  I have seen this at least three or four times, and I'm not going to stop now.  Because it is excellent, and I don't care what other people say.  They still watch it with me (thank you, family and Mike and WW)

Okay, the last one is Labyrinth, and that's the one that polarizes everyone.  Because seriously, either you love David Bowie as the Goblin King or you don't.

This is one of my favourite scenes.  (via)

It's not even that, though.  You can like David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust or as a cocaine-ridden genius without liking this film.  I will be the first to admit that the film is not very well made or anything.  It's not cinematographically ground-breaking or incredible.  It's David Bowie singing songs and dressed up strangely.  Either you like this or you don't.  It's like dark chocolate - either you like it or you don't.  There isn't a lot of middle ground.  But I still adore this movie.  I saw it when I was about eleven at my friend Miriam's house and fell head-over-heels for the Goblin King and just never stopped.

So... those are the films I'm embarrassed about liking but still adore.  Do you have any movies or books or music like that?

Ursula

It is now less than a month until my darling sister's birthday!
You remember Ursula, right?  My little sister, the firecracker?  Well, she'll turn twelve on April first (so old!), and since she has to share a room with me and put up with the alarm going off at six-thirty (as a rule, she isn't out of bed until eight-thirty at least), I figured I would post something special about her (as far as I know, she doesn't read this).  Maybe for her birthday?

Ursie wants her ears pierced so badly, and the deal was that she could get them pierced when she was twelve.  She loves turtles, and Anthropologie used to have turtle earrings, but not anymore, so....

How about some firework studs for our own firecracker?

Alexandra's Mixtape

Here is the lineup from the mixtape I gave Alex, if you would like to see....
I have included justification for each of the songs I put on here....
Thank you for your help, Mike and Daddy!

I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
I just like this song.  We listened to it basically on repeat when we went driving through Greece when I was twelve...
Alex - Punch Brothers
Obvious choice, no?  A song about a girl named Alexandra.  Plus it's the Punch Brothers, so it's really good.
Space Oddity - David Bowie
Um, my favourite David Bowie song. And that's saying something.  One day I will write about David Bowie and you will understand.
Southern Cross - Crosby, Stills & Nash
Not my favourite CSN song, but it made sense with all the wanderlust-ey music I was putting in here. 
I'm A Cuckoo - Belle & Sebastian
Also somewhat wanderlust-ey.  Also, I just like it.
We Work The Black Seam - Sting
This is in here entirely because of the line "Your dark satanic mills have made redundant all our mining skills."  It's not every day that pop music references Blake.
I Know You Rider - Grateful Dead
Again, somewhat wanderlust-ey. And it fits between these two...
What Am I To You? - Norah Jones
I like this song, and I needed some melancholic slower songs in here
Graceland - Paul Simon
Again, it's about travel, and that was a vague theme tying this whole mixtape together.
Mercedes Benz - Janis Joplin
I ask you: why not?  Also, when we lived in Rwanda, there was a woman named Cheryl who sang this incredibly well.
Third World Child - Johnny Clegg & Savuka
I like this song, and it ties the other two together a little.
What About Everything? - Carbon Leaf
This was a suggestion of Mike's.  He likes this song too, so if you're going to judge my musical tastes, you have to judge his, too.  Yes, I'm that insecure.
Carolina In My Mind - James Taylor
Again, wanderlust and travel - AND slow and melancholic. 
Spanish Bombs - The Clash
Wanderlust and travel - though I'm not sure anyone goes "hey, I really want to go to Spain" after hearing this song....
Love and Some Verses - Iron & Wine
Slow and melancholic.  Alexandra likes the Weepies, so I figured she would like this.
Asleep - The Smiths
One of my favourite songs in the world.  Also slow and melancholic.  Also something that I just think everyone should know.
Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
Well, I'm going to hazard a guess that you know why this one is here.  It's about just driving and driving and "city lights [laid] out before us."
Amelia - Joni Mitchell
Specifically the line "I slept on pillows of my wanderlust."  Also I adore Amelia Earheart.  
And She Was - Talking Heads.
This seems like a good song to end on.  Alexandra is always happy and excited, and this is a happy (ish) song.  And it ties things together.


So, um, there you go - a mixtape I made Alexandra....
Should I have put other things on there?

Soooo

Today is the start of Fashion Week Fashion Nine Days in Paris!  I'm really excited - I've never really been in a city that has a fashion week/nine days before!  And yes, I know I can't get into anywhere or anything, but I think my darling brother and I might just show up outside the Chanel show.... you know, on the off chance that they have two extra seats or something, or just to see all the beautiful people doing their thing.
Yesterday Alexandra was here and we had an absolutely incredible time!  Thank you, Alex!!  See you in Budapest...
I also wanted to gauge interest in a new project I'm thinking of doing on the blog.  Would you guys be interested in reading about the different arrondissements of Paris?  Perhaps not absolute arrondissements, but little bits of neighbourhoods once a week?  I would maybe start next Tuesday, if you wanted to hear about it... what do you think?
Happy Tuesday!