Tangerine Snail

Made this little guy for breakfast this morning. Mostly because I was in the mood to play with food after my sister Selina showed me this creative mom, but also after I saw the snail on Pinterest (where creativity goes to die). As everyone knows, food is much more fun to devour when shaped like cute little animals! Especially in escargot form so you can feel all fancy-like. 

(But real talk- shape Mac 'n Cheese? Soooo much better than the original, whose with me?)

omnomnom

BONUS: My favorite escargot joke from childhood. We all have them, so please share yours in the comments below!

...

A snail bought himself a snazzy fast car but took it in to get a more eye catching color. At the car paint shop, he asked that the car be painted neon yellow and have a large red ‘S’ printed on each side.

Confused, the worker asked, “Why a big ‘S’?”

Grinning, the snail replied, “When people see me drive past, they’ll notice and say, ‘Hey, look at that ‘S’ car go!’” 

...

So good right?? My parents read this to me every night before bed.

The Gold Standard: The Ultimate Accessory

Would anyone like to buy me this iPhone case from Miansai? It's solid 14K gold and only $10,000. 

Let me know! Thanks!!

The Power of Beyoncé

Has anyone ever listened to Beyonce's "Best Thing I Never Had" and wondered if she was singing about food? Because I have. And I realized, hey, this could be a great dieting strategy.

It's happened to all of us: somehow, a full pie makes it's way into your kitchen and sits on your counter top and stares at you. Maybe an apple, ginger and rhubarb or some sort of raspberry/boysenberry mix. Irrelevant. The point is, it can be a major distraction and it's dangerous.

This is how you overcome that inevitable moment of weakness: blast "Best Thing I Never Had" and sing to that pie at the top of your lungs. Channel your inner Sasha Fierce and tell that pie how much it sucks to be it right now (see visual below).

And that is how Queen B has her body.

So go ahead. Listen to the song below and tell me it doesn't make you want to exercise discipline whilst clad in some sexy wedding lingerie (seems to be a rather bizarre outfit choice given the intended recipient of the song but who am I to judge.)

How glad are you that you read this post today? #totallynotawasteofyourtime

ACL Style or Lack Thereof

 As I mentioned in a previous post, I was home for Austin City Limits last weekend. I had a fantastic time romping about with old friends, eating Chi'Lantro tacos (THE BEST), checking out new bands and reminiscing with old favorites (cough cough Okkervil River). But this year I also went armed with a camera in the effort of trying to get some good style shots of the blithe and sunburnt festival-goers (try being the operative word here).

 I'm ashamed to admit that it was an incredibly difficult endeavor. I figured running off between sets to snap a few pics would be a slice of cake but instead I missed half of Lissie trying to hunt people down. Yo Austin: Step. Up. Your. Game. People go to Coachella PURELY to be photographed for style blogs and probably don't even realize it's a music festival. Sure, ACL is about the music, but lets have some pride in our style, shall we? What happened to Keeping Austin Weird? 

Below are the few shining stars I came across, but next year, let's do better hm?

(P.S. Anyone beg to differ with me on this? Maybe all the Glamazons were trolling about while I was at Grimes. Who was killer btw.)

I cheated on this one because she's my friend Lauren but she's also super stylish so bonus points. Hi Lauren.

She also took my picture for her atx style blog. (Ha! Please ignore awkward stance.)

She was so sweet. Great texture/print mixing.

This girl was on every ACL style blog post. Way to be.

        

Crop tops for daysssss.

 

That low-V. Daring.

 

mmmm GoodPop.

Oh and here's a little collage of some atmosphere pics from the weekend taken by both myself and my dear friend Skinney after he gently commandeered my camera. Look out for him, he's a NatGeoPho in the making (I just made that term up, I think).

Annnnd the half of the Strasburger tribe that could make it <3

Skinned

Your daily dosage of contemporary art and design:

"Skinned is an experiment in borrowing confidence, beauty, and protection from other living beings in our world. By applying another being's skin, fur, or quills to a wound, cut, or blemish- one morphs into the donor creature. Porcupine, fish, wolf, rabbit, and crocodile skins were produced to create a dialogue between the bandaid, the user, and the world surrounding them."

....

My friend Jacob Lenard might possibly have come up with the most enticing way to bandage a wound. Call me a masochist, but sharp objects are all of a sudden a little less fearsome. Made from the actual organic materials mentioned above, see them in practice below (or on his website). 

Thoughts? Is this the new luxe look of medical adhesives? If so, which one would you go for? I've got my eye on the porcupine needles. Sure, additional lacerations may be inflicted, but everyone keeps saying pain is synonymous with beauty (you also gain things?). Talk about insult to injury.

Austin City Limits 2013

Today marks the first day of the first weekend of Austin City Limits Music Festival and I could not be more excited to be home for it! This year they're doing TWO WEEKENDS of the same festival. (Where was that idea the last four years when I had to miss every fall W.I.L.D for it??) I chose to go to the first weekend this year so that there will still be remnants of grass on the ground and everything has that fresh, new and exciting feel. And Coolhaus will still have edible paper to eat. 

A Couple of Bands I'm Most Excited For & Why:

MSMR: Lizzy Plapinger's hair.

HAIM: Saw them at SXSW & Governors Ball and the dynamic threesome never gets old. But now that they're "big" the crowd might be a bit more unruly *sigh* *eye roll* ~*over it*~

GRIMES: Pure shock value/ performance art.

MUSE: I know, I know. I'm not in 6th grade anymore. But these guys headlined in both 2007 and 2010 and they were phenomenal. I can't explain how powerful the experience is, you just have to go to a Muse concert. 

FOXYGEN: Cool name. Foxes are really on trend right now, ya know.

MAX FROST: Gotta show fellow Austinites some love.

PHOSPHORESCENT: They're from Brooklyn so I figure I'll wave at them and be like, "hey new neighbors" and they'll see me and be like "hey" back. Brooklynites are friendly like that.

THE BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR: Tryna dance.

THE WILD FEATHERS: Into "The Ceiling."

I've put together a short playlsit of most of my must-sees for the festival (sorry kendrick lamar but no). My father and sister are going to BOTH weekneds so they don't have to worry about scheduling conflicts, but there will defintly be some tough decisions to make today. GAME ON.

Until The Ribbon Breaks

Monday night I saw Lorde perform at Webster Hall (woo!) and it was as fabulous and amazing and bizarre as you'd expect. She just has the most sophisticated demeanor for a 16 year old. She also kind of  dresses and dances like a witch, but I guess that's part of her allure? 

However, what I also thoroughly enjoyed was her opening act, Pete Lawrie Winfield, a.k.a. Until The Ribbon Breaks. Out of UK, Winfield's music has the sensual overtones of The XX and the jarring synth beats of Massive Attack (not to mention he and his bandmates are incredibly attractive). The weird and somewhat haunting sampling and cutting also reminds me of Bastille's Mixtapes. It was a wise choice for Lorde because it had a chill head-nodding vibe that slowly evolved into more of a full-body sway when Ella took the stage. Although I wish someone had informed the jerks in front of us that Lorde's music at a sold-out concert venue is NOT the time NOR the place for THIS (as adorable as the Mitt Romney/Jim Carrey love child is).

Check out 2025 and Pressue, below. Thoughts?