FROZEN’S Anna & Elsa joined us at McDonald’s this weekend to meet with tiny customers and recruit for Girl Scouts of America. Thanks to Dream Entertainers for being awesome and to all of the little ones who came out!
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1. WRITEWITHPARKINSONS.COM An Art Director Created A Font Based On His Mother’s (Who Has Parkinson’s) Handwriting. My friend Tim Roan posted this on LinkedIn. “A lovely Art Director at Lyft created a new font called Shake…it’s his mother’s handwriting…and she’s in early stages of Parkinson’s. All proceeds go to research. Hope you dig it.”
2. LULULUEMON | Wunder Under Lounge Tight In Velvet I got a pair of Lululemon’s new velvet leggings and they’re wonderful. They’re pretty and soft and I don’t want to take them off.
3. TIME | Inside the Unlikely Friendship That Inspired A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood I saw this movie and cried. If you’re not a theatre person or you’d like to cry at home in private, it sounds like it’s coming to iTunes next month. You can watch the film’s trailer here.
4. THEORY | Slip Top In Stretch Silk When I went to New York over the holidays, I got to see my friend (and amazingly talented producer) Alyse. I always ask where she’s being shopping lately because I think she always looks so cool. She talked about Theory and told me about their sale. I bought this slip top in black and in ivory. It’s excellent quality and I’ve already worn them both several times. It looks perfect under a blazer. I’ve been wearing it with my leather leggings.
5. MAY LINDSTROM | The Problem Solver This is my new favorite face mask. I wrote about how it works and why I like it at TiramisuforBreakfast.com.
6. CROWDFIRE | Brands Killing It On Tik Tok and What We Can Learn From Them This is a really interesting and thorough post on Tik Tok. I can’t wait to put some of these tips into practice and launch TFB’s Tik Tok.
7. INSTAGRAM | Lizzo the Cat I love this so much
8. FEAST RVA January Dinner Feast is such a WONDERFUL concept and I always love going to these. Read more about Feast RVA here, and get your tickets here. (they always sell out!)
9. STITCHER | Office Ladies Podcast This is so great. I LOVE listening to podcasts, and this has been a favorite lately. Angela and Pam (Jenna Fischer) rewatch an episode of The Office and talk through behind-the-scenes and share their thoughts, reflections, and favorite parts in each podcast episode. It also led me to read The Actor’s Life, Jenna Fischer’s book. It’s a how-to guide on becoming a professional actor. I like that she shared her personal journey and the things she shares can apply to a lot of careers, not just acting.
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1. CREATIVE PEP TALK PODCAST | 20 Surprising and Super Powerful Prompts that will make 2020 the year you do your best work ever. I like to listen to podcasts as I’m easing into work each day and this one from Andy J. “Pizza,” is always super-energizing.
2. ABC NEWS | The Family of the late Steve Irwin is rescuing animals from the Australians wildfires. Here is where you can donate. I did.
3. TFB Favorites Spa Robes A bathrobe you can buy on Amazon that feels like it’s from a fancy hotel
4. TFB | My Favorite Tweets from Little Women One of my favorite things to do after I do or see something that makes me think is to look at what others are saying about it online. It’s so interesting to see how others put into words what I also think or feel or read things I never thought of. I collected a few of my favorites.
5. INDEPENDENT | The Impossible Task
6. PRETTY BIRD PAPER | Great Women Greeting Card I love this and have it framed in my office. I’m thinking about buying a few more to send out.
7. AMAZON | Electric Milk Frother My friend Lauren suggested that I include product recommendations in these emails (You’ll notice I added “buy” to the title) Thanks, Lauren! So, here is one of the best things I ever bought. I have cold frothed oat milk with two shots of spresso every morning. I use Oat-ly or Oat Yeah.
Read MoreMy new favorite face mask is “The Problem Solver” from May Lindstrom.
My friend Jess introduced me to this skincare line. She read about it in Goop.
I first got to try May Lindstrom products when I visited The Detox Market in New York City over the summer.
I ordered The Youth Dew serum/facial oil and the Jasmine Garden facial mist. They include little samples with each order, which is how I got to try The Problem Solver. The sample was enough for me to try it about three times, which I did, and loved it.
Here’s how they describe it:
A jet-black fusion of indulgent and antioxidant-rich raw cacao, activated bamboo charcoal, salts, and exotic spices go deep on a mission to reveal your most radiant self.
The unique formula brightens, heals inflammation and irritation, fades hyperpigmentation, stimulates collagen production, and treats and prevents breakouts.
Usually, masks that are meant to be “clarifying” or acne treatments are drying and not that fun to use. This one smells amazing and does not make my skin feel dry after.
These are the ingredients:
Solum Fullonum (Fuller’s Earth) Clay, Red Moroccan Rhassoul Clay, **Theobroma Cacao (Raw Cacao), Red Alaea Sea Salt (Sea Salt and Red Alaea), L-Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Sodium Bicarbonate, Charcoal Powder (Activated Bamboo Carbon), *Vanilla Planifolia Bean, *Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower, *Althaea Officinalis (Marshmallow) Root, *** Boswellia Serrate Gum (Frankincense) powder, *Centella Asiatica (Gotu Kola), *Archangelica (Angelica) Root, **Cinnamomum Zealanicum Blum (Ceylon Cinnamon), *Myristica Fragans (Nutmeg), *Syzygium Aromaticum (Clove), *Curcuma Longa (Turmeric), *Capsicum Annuum (Cayenne) Pepper, +Eugenol.
*Certified Organic **Certified Fair Trade ***Wild Harvested +Component of Essential Oil
The site suggests a bunch of different ways to use the mask – mixing it with their Blue Coccoon moisturizer (which I also have a tiny sample of) and their Youth Dew serum. I tried it as a spot treatment for the first time last night.
Here are her mixing tips:
Mist The Jasmine Garden generously when you feel the urge to pick at an oncoming pimple or an active breakout – stop the habit in its tracks.
When you feel a pimple beginning to make its way to the surface, spot treat immediately. Simply blend a small amount of the powder formula with water or The Jasmine Garden to form a loose paste, smoothing over just the area needed. Leave on for 5-60 minutes, up to three times weekly, in addition to your full facial treatments.
The Problem Solver + The Youth Dew is perfect for wet, active pimples that are just coming to a head or that have already come to a head.
The Problem Solver + The Blue Cocoon works magic on painful cystic acne and areas of inflammation – including flare-ups of eczema, perioral dermatitis or other inflammatory conditions.
These blends really get to the core of the breakout and help distressed skin to calm quickly without contributing to dryness or scarring, causing additional trauma to your complexion.
I’m just such a big fan. I especially love how she packages her products. “I believe that every day can feel like Christmas. It starts here, from the moment you receive your treasures and decide that these precious time-outs that bookend our days are fully yours to fill with delight.”
Here’s the founder/creator, May, and a little more about the company:
“We respect and admire our source—the planet—and conduct extensive means to ensure that each of our ingredients are procured with the highest sustainable, ethical, and qualitative standards in mind. Our collection is handcrafted using only the finest exotic and nutrient-rich ingredients that are: organic, bio-dynamic, wild-crafted, cruelty free, sustainable, and/or harvested with social consciousness in mind. These ingredients are not tested on animals, nor are our finished products. We do not sell in any countries that require animal testing.
We encourage environmental thoughtfulness in every step of our production – from the growth, harvesting, and processing of our raw ingredients to the packaging of our products. Our boxes and glassware are recyclable. Our lids are made of recycled paper pulp, and a glue derived from fruits and vegetables. We pack our boxes for shipment with recycled paper materials, rather than plastic or peanuts, send digital receipts rather than paper, and minimize branding collateral that is often tossed upon delivery.”
I love you can buy something that you can really feel good about.
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I kept a note in my iPhone to keep track of things my boyfriend mentioned or things I thought of through out the year that would make good gifts. One of them was matching robes. I took jay for his first massage two years ago, and he adapted to the experience verrry quickly.
We love staying at hotels that give you robes to wear in your room.
The Jefferson is a five-star hotel in Richmond. They have beautiful Christmas decorations and a lot of locals make a point to meet friends there for cocktails and make an experience of it. Amid the festivities, I popped into the gift shop and noticed the super-soft robes they sold. I wrote down the brand name and researched to see where I could get some for us. (I didn’t buy them at The Jefferson, because those had The Jefferson’s logo embroidered, and I wanted ours to be personalized). Theirs were the plush-lined microfiber robes from BocaTerry, which were out of stock. So I did a little digging on Amazon and found these from Monarch. They feel just the same and are perfect. I took them to a local embroiderer our names.
These robes are great if you like the kind of robes to lounge around in versus put on to dry off. The outside feels like a nice set of sheets, and the inside feels like a soft plush blanket. I bought a size large for both of us. I meant to order a small for myself. The only thing that’s a little weird about them, which several people mentioned in the Amazon reviews are the shoulder pads. They don’t bother me that much, though.
If you’re looking to make hanging out in y our home feel like a fancy hotel/spa experience, these are perfect. They’d also make an awesome gift.
I thought it would be hilarious to get one for Kitty, too, so I ordered this one that’s meant for newborn baby photoshoots.
Here’s the link to order on Amazon ($90)
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I showed this post to my friend Aíne (AWN-ya) as I was writing it because she’s a super smart Master of English and I know she’d seen the movie, too. I was struggling with the point I was trying to make and if this would be helpful/interesting. She talked me through it and I hope you have as much fun going through these tweets as I did putting this together!
I think the point I’m trying to make is that I’m really grateful that because of technology and social media, the experience of seeing or reading something you find interesting can extend indefinitely. Because there’s always someone else talking about. You can see what other people are saying about it, discuss it if you want, read about each character/director/other adaptations – anything you want to know.
My friend Diana got a bunch of us together to go see Little Women yesterday and I loved it. I LOVE when a movie makes you think. This movie made me think about all the other movies I love and vividly remember from when I was a little girl, like these:
One of my favorite things to do after I do or see something that makes me think is to look at what others are saying about it online. It’s so interesting to see how others put into words what I also think or feel or read things I never thought of. I collected a few of my favorites. There was a lot of conversation about relating to Jo vs. Amy:
I love what the director, Greta Gerwig, had to say about seeing Amy in a new light after rereading the book at 30.
One of my experiences of reading the book was actually re-experiencing Amy as a profound character and equal to Jo, and someone that is a worthy opponent in some ways of Jo. And her lines in particular, some of them are lines that stood out to me as if they were written in neon. As if they could have been said yesterday. Like, “I want to be great or nothing.” Which is so ambitious and big, and such a statement from a 20-year-old about art. It’s not a cute pursuit. It’s a completely egomaniacal pursuit in the best way. Or, “I don’t pretend to be wise, but I am observant.” You think, Holy sh*t, this girl sees everything. She knows everything. She can’t necessarily change the world, but she’s going to figure out how to win. And that seems profound.
Another thing she said is, “The world is hard on ambitious girls.” And the world is still hard on ambitious girls. And this is Amy speaking. To me it seems so obvious that she hadn’t been given her due in our collective consciousness. And then the other thing about Amy that I think is telling, and it’s interesting how this has changed, is Amy is a character of profound desires and lust that she has no problem expressing. And I think it’s interesting that for years, the character we hated the most is the character who most expresses her desire.
Jo (Saoirse Ronan) in the film is borrowed from Alcott’s 1876 novel “Rose in Bloom,” about a young woman who goes off to live (and spar) with her seven male cousins:
Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as beauty, and I’m so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for. I’m so sick of it.
Gerwig added her own final line: “But I’m so lonely.”
Do you ever wish you could go back in time and hear a story again for the first time? That tweet about someone walking out when they realize Laurie ends up with Amy made me wonder how I’d react to the story of Little Women if this adaptation had been the first time I’d come across it.
I’m rereading The Tipping Point, for book club. In it, Malcolm Gladwell writes: “A book, I was taught long ago in English class, is a living and breathing document that grows richer with each new reading.”
The same day I watched the new version in the theatre, I rented the 1994 adaptation on iTunes. I remember really disliking the character Amy and being so mad when she burned Jo’s manuscript and also sad when Laurie married her instead of Jo. This time, I feel like I had more of each character to empathize with.
It was interesting to read this hair professional’s criticism of the costuming/hairstyles of the film.
This one isn’t about Little Women but I had to include it because seeing him in this reminded me of this tweet from last year. They do remind me of each other!
There’s also this analysis of the characters’ Meyer’s Briggs classification.
These last three made me laugh.
I just think we’re so lucky to have artists. I think it’s amazing that Louisa May Alcott wrote this book and that Greta Gerwig adapted it and that the actors worked so hard and were clearly so passionate about portraying the characters.
I also love the name Saoirse. It’s so fun to say.
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1. ELLIE BURKE | From Compassion to Compassionate Action I just signed up for this 1/11 workshop all about turning your care and concern for the world around you into action from Ellie Burke, who I’m a huge fan of. 2. CNN | McDonald’s employees assist woman who mouths ‘help me’ in the drive thru
The Golden State Restaurant Group, which owns the McDonald’s location she went to, has certified each of its restaurants as a “Safe Place.”
The Safe Place program is a national youth and prevention program for “young people in need of immediate help and safety.
3. TWITTER | The Cast of Jagged Little Pill Ringing in 2020 in Times Square alongside Alanis I saw this musical in New York thanks to my friend Alyse Shorland and it was amazing. I LOVED Lauren Patten’s performance of You Oughta Know.
4. PEOPLE | Powerful Photo Shows Black Medical Students Standing on Former Slave Plantation in White Coats “It was really overwhelming. I hope that I make them proud even in the smallest ways by living out my dream and being able to exercise my freedoms… I kinda imagined this ancestral conversation where our ancestors looked down on us from heaven and said, ‘Look at our babies, they doing so well. I hope they’re happy, I’m so glad they came to see us.’ That kinda stuck with me… We literally are what no one thought we could ever be.”
5. GET BOOKED | 2020 Resolution Reads I’m especially interested in Ross Gay’s The Book Of Delights Read More
- Look Beyond Fine Art Print of a Landscape | $37.00 | Etsy I follow this artist, Emily Jeffords, on Instagram and love her work. I have never seen anything like the way she does landscapes. They feel ethereal to me.
- Ka’iuliani | $30.00 | Haley Mitchell Art This is probably my favorite piece of art that I won. I bought mine from One Kings Lane. They have that kind of clever advertising that follows you around incessantly until you buy something. So, I caved and got this. Mine has a teal acrylic frame, which I love almost as much as the art. I found the artist’s website where she sells smaller, more affordable prints. I think her abstract portraits are so cool.
- Dual Traveler Organizer | $89.00 | Mark & Graham I don’t have one of these, but the quality looks awesome. I didn’t think travel jewelry cases were necessary until I broke a few pairs of big, intricate earrings. I love that this has a structured compartment below and a pouch at the top. Plus. a monogram. I can’t believe I don’t have anything that’s monogrammed.
- Pink Leopard Travel Bag | $30.00 | Dana Gibson Dana Gibson is an artist local to Richmond, and her family created the Gibson Girl. I LOVE the home decor pieces she creates and this pink leopard design is my favorite. I bought a sunglass case in this print, and I think the makeup pouch is awesome too.
- Staffordshire Dog Pin | $7.00 | Stay Home Club I found this little guy at Quirk Gallery inside the Quirk Hotel. I learned about Staffordshire dogs just this year from my friends Lyndee and Jess and now I LOVE seeing them everywhere. I bought a set for my office from Facebook Marketplace, and then pinned this tiny version into a 4X6 mat to hang on my wall at home.
- Rocky Cardhead Ram Head | $16.95 | CBSAFARI I discovered Carboard Safari at The Shops at 5807 In Richmond, and then searched online for a Ram version. I bought the tiniest size, which hangs on my office gallery wall as a tribute to my Alma Mater where I also teach one class a semester, Virginia Commonwealth University. These come in a flat sheet, and you assemble them. I think they’d make a cute stocking-stuffer.
Kim’s Picks:
- Vegan Leather Boots | $189.00 | Alohas Sandals I absolutely ADORE these boots! I’m in love with the chunky block heel with a square toe. Plus, they’re vegan leather.
- Leather Sling Bag | $118.00 | Madewell This bag may slouchy but you can throw so much inside! I love how the handle on the bag is long, so it’s not too high. You can throw in keys, notebooks, lotion, perfume and maybe even sneak in snacks for the movies!
- Large Vintage Mirror | $448.00 | Anthropologie I’ve been searching long and hard for a vintage mirror- and as I don’t have this one in particular, I do have something similar. This one from Anthro is pricy, but if you go thrift shopping or look on the Facebook Market, you may be in luck!
- Knee Boots | $199.95 | Sam Edelman High knee boots are BACK! Again, I’m in love with the block heel. It gives your feet so much more comfort and easier to walk around in. These babies will keep you nice and warm while still looking super chic!
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- Tribe of Mentors | $16.79 | Amazon I bought this book for myself for Christmas last year and I LOVe looking through it. It’s so cool to get a peek into
- Over the Top | $16.79 | Amazon LOVED this book. If you want to smile/laugh/cry, this is a great read. I listened on Audible – where he reads it himself. I love everything about JVN, including his podcast. This is my favorite episode, where he interviews Olympic Gymnast Shannon Miller
- The English Home | $29.95 | Amazon This was on a gift guide made by Eclectic Curator, who I love following on Instagram. (I bought these pink crane plates from her) I read most of my magazines on my iPad through Apple News+, but I can’t get access to magazines from other countries. I will pick English Home up sometimes from Barnes & Noble, but it’s always a lot cheaper to subscribe for the year.
- Joyful | $15.37 | Amazon I’ve given our more copies of this book to friends than any other book. I heard about it on the Young House Love podcast (you can see their gift guide here). This book is so fun and inspiring. After I read it, I hung up a bunch of art in my house, got my nails painted neon yellow. It also influenced me to buy more Interior design/art books, which have been great for giving me ideas at work.
- Rain Earrings | $60 | Deepa Gurnani I bought these at Anthropologie and they’re some of my favorite to wear. I lost one of them while I was out to dinner at an Indian restaurant, and had to hunt down a new pair online. It turns out, they come in a ton of colors. I have the red and the black, but I love the white too.
- The Artist Way | $21.55 | Amazon This is such a cool book. I’ve talked about it with people I look up to and several of them had read it. This set comes with a workbook that you can use for the “morning pages” exercises that the author recommends.
- Nagel | $39.93 | Amazon My friend Gretchen (aka the Fairy Tan Mother) introduced me to Patrick Nagel. I hadn’t heard of him, but I’d seen his work. You may know it too. I think it’s so interesting to learn about a new-to-you artist. I tore out the pages of this book to hang them as prints. You could also do this and gift to multiple people.
