guest bloggers amy and trey

Introducing Guest Bloggers Amy and Trey! From the fashion blog A Certain Crossroad.

Oh, oh the Oscars! You know, never believe it's about anything but fashion.

It's me and my blog partner here. Let's get started by recapping some of the trends.
*White
Taraji P. Henson (of Benjamin Button, Cara!), Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, and Sarah Jessica Parker (though she described her dress as "barely mint") are just a few of the many who chose white last night.

More controversially in white was Miley Cyrus: who has been called a "cream puff" and a "Disney Princess" in this Zuhair Murad ensemble among other things. Personally I think it is beautiful and age-appropriate. I also appreciate that it is quite different from all the other (sometimes snooze worthy) gowns.

Another white-wearing gal was Penelope Cruz. If you didn't catch the television airing of the Oscars and are forced to view them online like me, I hear you may be at a loss on this dress. Apparently the detailing is gorgeous and stunning, but does not show up well in most photos. Here is the most sharply focused image we found:

Tim Gunn called this a "museum piece" and he is absolutely correct. Look at the insanely fine work cascading down amongst layers of tulle.
Lovely as a cloud was Evan Rachel Wood.

When she lays off the super-heavy Dita Von Teese makeup and puts her hair up, you can see how beautiful she really is. And though her role in The Wrestler was kinda of a less-intense reprise of her role in Thirteen, I still loved it. A lot.

Another "trend" (if we can call it that) which is always present, who knows why it just happens are:
*Poorly fitted, awkward, just not nice gowns

Check out Meryl Streep and Heidi Klum. Something just looks weird, doesn't it? Neither among the faves.

What's that, Amanda Seyfried? You want to be included too?

Of all the Valentino gowns in all the world, you chose this one. Why? WHY?

Of course
*Beyonce
stands in a category all her own. Donning a self-made (House of Dereon) couture mermaid -tail number, she certainly stands out.

We can't really say we like it...but we do appreciate it.

Several ladies layered on the jewelery heavily to sparkle it up.
*Blingity Bling!

Amy Adams borrowed quite a heavy load for her outfit:

We think it complements her eyes beautifully. Natalie Portman's jewels were actually sequins in the bodice of her Grecian gown.

The color choice was unexpected for her, and it works. And then we have Alicia Keys.


The earring she is wearing (count it- ONE) accents the hair style she's chosen. Quite fierce! Mickey Rourke's necklace was an homage to his recently deceased beloved dog Loki:

The Jean Paul Gaultier look really works for him. Let's look at the pup.


He even had a specially fitted tuxedo for the pup all prepared for the big night. Poor guy didn't win the Oscar either. (GRUMBLE).
Speaking of the male population, let's check out two other notables:
Robert Downey Jr. makes a great example of what NOT to wear - the outer pockets on formal wear? No thanks. (Not to mention the sack his wife has chosen to billow around her)
In the mean time, James Franco is looking coy and hot. That's what we're talking about, folks. (His date looks good as well.)
Kate Winslett gets her own section because we can't agree. This look is out of her usual though, and at least she's thrown us that bone:


Finally, BEST AND WORST:

Best goes to Marisa Tomei. She is such a slender, darling little lady and this fabulously pleated choice was a knock-out:

That gown is timeless on her.
As far as WORST goes, we're seriously giving it to Freida Pinto for her icky lacey eighties dress. Imagine it with two sleeves. Imagine it with no sleeves. SO much better, right? The one-sleeve is just tacky, wrong, gross.

The kind of serious but not really WORST goes to Sophia Loren. It just hurts us so much for the former screen siren to show up anywhere (let alone the Oscars) looking like THIS:

oscar preview

Taraji P. Henson was my favorite from last night, I don't know who she is though. Michelle Obama wasn't at the Oscar's but I loved her necklace so much I wanted to include it. There will be a much more in depth look at the Oscar fashions later from Amy of the fashion blog A Certain Crossroad, her blog has been educating me on the world of high fashion.

links to love

Delicious looking food here, here and here.

Someone found these books available somewhere on the American continent! And they are cheap too!

I want to try making something like this for baby shower season.

This got me excited about starting my container garden this spring.

I love this idea for neighbor gifts or something of the like.

bracelet craft

I think I am going to try and make these bracelets I found on Martha Stewart's website...

calendars

I finally got my calendars for 2009. Better late than never, right? I actually went a few weeks ago to buy one at the bookstore and they were all gone! Now I am glad they were all gone, I found way better calendars on Amazon. The first is the Ultimate Trivia page-a-day calendar, to help me with the daily trivia question at work. The one for my house is 1000 Places To See Before You Die, with pictures of the 1000 places. I am so excited to get them.

victoria, british colombia

View of the Fairmont Empress Hotel and the Parliament Building

Whale watching and the a picture of the abundant rain forest
around Victoria.

The Parliament Building and Victoria harbor

Butchart Gardens here and here

The Fisgard Lighthouse and the ocean around Victoria Island

One of the most beautiful pictures I saw was Victoria at night.

Victoria is Vancouver Island in British Colombia which you can only get to by ferry or plane. I originally thought it was Victoria Island, but that is somewhere around Nunavut I believe. The Vancouver Island tourist website describes the island by saying, "Emerald forests are dense with towering trees. White-capped waves crash thunderously onto glittering beaches and jagged shorelines. Pristine bays and inlets, lakes and rushing rivers, snow-capped peaks and glistening glaciers - its nature in all its splendour."

Some of the big attractions in Victoria are Butchart Gardens, Fairmont Empress Hotel, Fisgard Lighthouse and the Parliament Buildings. If I were going to Victoria, some of the museums I would make sure to stop by would be the British Colombia Maritime Museum and the Craigdarroch Castle Historic Home Museum. Visiting old homes is one of my favorite things to when I travel though. If I had kids I would probably add the Pacific Underseas Garden to the list.

As for the outdoor recreational draw of Victoria and Vancouver Island, they list hiking, boating, horse back riding, kayaking and canoeing, scooters, and zip lines. I am getting more and more excited about Victoria, hopefully my sister can talk my Dad into a family trip there, it looks and sounds amazing.

P.S. My sister demanded more research to go with the pretty pictures, behold my research.

lombok

I recently heard about this company Lombok, they specialize in eastern inspired pieces, and they have some wonderful things! They don’t have any stores outside of England yet, but I will definitely be signing up for their catalog, if for no other reason than to enjoy and dream about the beauties in its pages.

I love these log baskets, although with as beautiful as they are I think it would be a shame to use them to store logs, blankets and throws are more what I have in mind for these gorgeous baskets.

I have been thinking about getting matching lamps lately, you know to try and rid my home of the mismatched college look, if at all possible. Quite frankly any of these would do, do you think matching lamp shades with different bases would work? Is that even possible to do? I think my favorite lamp shades would have to be the Linen/ramie square shade and the Tussar silk drum shade, one day when I have a fancy house with a fancy front room; I will get a fancy dupioni silk lamp shade for it.

I can see the usefulness of all those plastic laundry baskets, I have two. But wouldn’t it be nice to have beautiful laundry baskets like these that you could keep in your room or bathroom and not have to worry about hiding it when company comes? I think so.

I think these glass oil lamps would be perfect for a summer party, can you imagine how fun they could be? As soon as I have a yard and patio I will be getting some of these, hopefully they will still be in stock in say 3 or 4 years.

I need this mirror (the small sqaureish one), not just want; I am pretty sure I physically need it. It would be absolutely perfect for the jewelry display I am planning for my wall.



I love this lamp base, but I can decide if I like the square base or the round base better...

guest blogger camille: board books

Note: Camille has a Masters degree in Children's Literature and is currently teaching a course on it...

I love board books. They are so great for little ones who want to tear pages. And the stories are short enough to capture young minds and introduce them to reading. A lot of the picture books that my 3 1/2 year old likes are too long for the short attention span of my 18 month old. But if we want to all read together, my three year old still LOVES our board books. I am a firm believer that one never becomes "too old" for a great book. Here are a few board books that are loved parent and child alike at our house:

(As you can see my pictures are from Amazon where you can "Click to LOOK INSIDE" the book)


A fun story with amazing pictures. This story is also "the very first full-color picture book to feature a small black hero" (Horn book). A great story for a snowy day.

I love all of Dr. Seuss's books. They are so clever and fun. This is probably our favorite board book to read. It has a great rhythm and your kids can buzz, moo and cockadoodledoo.


This is a favorite bed time story. It also stars a father and child, which is fun.

A classic. I love the pictures, the text - it never grows old.

A friend recently gave us this one and my kids love it. There is very little text so it is a great introduction to "reading the pictures". The pictures are very funny to my kids.


My mother-in-law gave us this one and we love it. It has come apart from being read so much. The title alone tells you how great the text is and there is a "look and find" element as well.


I love Sandra Boynton's books. But this one is far and away our favorite. (Birthday Monsters is second). This book has a great rhythm, is silly and fun. Sing this book to your child while promenading around the room. It's really how it was meant to be read.


These are just a few of my favorite board books, what are some of yours?