I LOVE EVERYTHING about this photo of a multi-tasking mama — an unknown photo researcher in Paris — hard at work in 1982.

[via]

No related posts.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks to the wonders of the blogosphere, you don’t even have to purchase a five dollar, three pound glossy mag to get such a beauty industry fix anymore. Here, I’m chronicling three of my favorite online beauty inspirations. Starting with the awe-inspiring Jane Feltes (featured in the video above).

1. Jane is a regular contributor to The Hairpin, where she gives makeup tutorials, answers readers’ beauty questions and occasionally gets personal. She’s a producer for This American Life, her hair, face and nails are flaw-less, and her beauty advice is a satisfying mix of sage meets sass. And that’s not all folks: amazingly, her total lack of pretension makes it rather impossible to hate her for any of the aforementioned things!

2. Now let’s move on to total pretension, which is (let’s be real here) one of the sparkling pillars of effective beauty writing. And for this, I always to turn the often-lauded makeup blog Into the Gloss. The clutter-free, editorial layout of this blog is just is as beautiful as the stoic models and “beauty insiders” featured within. Take, for example, this post about the lovely Lauren Santo Domingo (pictured above) and her beauty routine, in which she admits that she can’t even remember the last time she washed her own hair! Le sigh.

3. Lastly, I love to hit up the beauty section of Refinery 29, which is a treasure trove of all things beauty related, to the point where, at times, it can get a bit overwhelming. It is all here. Everything you wanted to know about nails, makeup and hair trends. (Apparently those long pointy nails are just so very right now!) Understandably, this blog can be a danger zone for your wallet. But tread lightly, and you’ll be fine.

Happy grooming, ladies. I’ll be back to my more cynical, bra-burning-self soon. I promise.

No related posts.

I HAVE BECOME so enamored lately of the blog Cat Party. Blogger Chelsea Fairless’s depiction and exploration of femininity is just the most satisfying mix of camp and rock and eternal glam. I swoon. Here is a taste–a recent post, which embodies everything I love about being a girl:

At some point during my epically angsty adolescence I gave my Baby-Sitters Club “Mary Anne” doll a Kathleen Hanna-inspired makeover. Isn’t it hilarious? I have no recollection of doing it so I was surprised when I stumbled across her at my parents’ house over the holidays. Tragically Stacey and Claudia were nowhere to be found! Those dolls were creepy because the girls in the Baby-Sitters Club were supposed to be 12 and 13 but the dolls were really mature looking, a bit sexy even. That paired with the Catholic schoolgirl outfit that Mary Anne was wearing probably prompted me to reclaim her as a riot grrrl. I love the little safety pins on her skirt!

Hell yes. Read all the juicy archives here.

No related posts.

HAIR. OH, HAIR. MAYBE IT was the Steel Magnolias post I did a few weeks ago that brought this age-old sisterhood subject back to mind. I have, after all, talked hair here several times before, (mostly pertaining to my envy for the all-wholesome and timeless beauty of braids). But now thanks to my friend (and, ahem, hair stylist) Cara, I’ve been seeing hair in a whole new light. She’s recently started blogging about the design, science and social relevance of hair. Her posts are smart, stylish, and full of photos (see those ladies above at the Bronner Brothers hair show?) that blow my mind. Move over, Braid Wednesday, your edgy big sister is in town.

No related posts.

BIG SISTER, DIRT-MONGER, WILD CAT-TAMER, plant-lover, bigtime blogger, partner in insanity (um, trust me I know about this one), pioneeress, surrogate mother, and now tack another roaring head above the proverbial mantel: memoirist! Margaret has written a memoir about leaving her wild corporate job for peace in the, well, wild. I read it on my vacation to Tokyo last month and let me tell you, among the flashing lights, towering buildings, and throngs of people, the book transported me to Margaret’s little farmhouse where the only sound I could hear were the bullfrogs croaking.

Her journey, as chronicled in this book truly inspires me to find my own way back to the land. Charming, indeed. Congratulations, Margaret!

No related posts.

AS I WIND DOWN my last semester of graduate school and the wide expanse of adulthood opens before me, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about money. (And apparently everyone else in the world is, too!) Of course, how to save it. But I’m also constantly catching myself thinking about how I’m going to spend it (once I get it, that is). So I thought it appropriate to post this week about the book Obsessive Consumption by Kate Bingaman-Burt, in which she has illustrated every purchase she made over three years.

In the introduction to Obsessive Consumption, Kate writes:

Why focus on consumerism? Money and purchasing and the problems with money and the emotional connection to buying products have been a constant in my life. When the women in my family get together, we go shopping. We discuss important issues in our lives over sale racks instead of the kitchen table. This is how I learned to communicate.

Neither of my parents are big shoppers. They’re actually remarkably frugal, but somewhere between the pink and black polka-dotted dress that I insisted on having at age four in a Charlotte, North Carolina mall and my current woes over owning shiny kitchen appliances, I’ve become totally brainwashed.

I love the idea of having to confront your purchases after they’ve been made. And while I don’t think I’m going to try my hand at illustration any time soon, I am quite inspired by Kate Bingaman-Burt’s work.

(via)

No related posts.

Can you guess which sister cinema classic these items are from?

AS SOMEONE WHO IS, sadly, sisterless. (And who has been writing a blog about sister-ness for quite some time now) I’m constantly searching for ways to live vicariously through sister-figures. And right now, one of my favorite ways to live vicariously through all things glamourous and exciting is through design*sponge’s “Living In” series, which features little guides to acheiving the style of dreamy movies. Here are some of my sister-themed favorites from the series:

The Parent Trap (old version, obviously.) This is one of my all time favorite movies!

I love the old-timey swimsuit and those tortoise shell shades. See the full post here.

I have spent countless hours as a child pretending to be one of the sisters from Little Women (you too?).

Looking at this makes me feel like it’s recess at Bryant Elementary School and I’m pretending to be Beth on her deathbed. (Yes, that’s how I used to spend recess.)

And don’t forget these classics: Sense and Sensibility, The Virgin Suicides, and Hannah and Her Sisters.

No related posts.

I‘M DIGGING this photo post about girlfriends over at the blog size too small. It’s so sweet! This holiday season, I’m on the road, traveling in Japan with my boyfriend. We’re having a fantastic time, full of sticky rice balls and silly awkward bowing exchanges with strangers, but today, I’m feeling especially pangy for the Christmas-y comfort of my hometown girlfriends. Le sigh.

No related posts.

SPEAKING OF CRAFTS, I thought I’d share a photo that sums up how I’ve been spending the bulk of my free time lately. That’s right: I’ve been canning. It all started with this recipe for refrigerator pickles that Margaret Roach, founder of The Sister Project, posted on her gardening blog. I love how the simple steps of canning–sterilizing the jars; boiling a brine; gathering the perfect combination of spices–connects me to Margaret even though we’re separated by a thousand miles, and also connects me to the many women in my family who have done this very activity over the past hundred years. This women’s work is powerful stuff, eh?

No related posts.

Click here to view the embedded video.

CONFESSION: I ONCE CHECKED OUT The Idiot’s Guide to Quilting from the Greensboro Public Library. And then it sat in my dorm room with some fabric scraps for several months collecting late fees before I finally returned it. So I haven’t had much luck getting the basics down (which makes me feel super lame next to the women in this video). But every time I see fantastic women creating beautiful quilts I’m in love. It’s love. (Like that lovely bespectacled lady says.) Now if this isn’t sisterhood, I don’t know what is.

(Thanks to my crafty friend Cara for posting this video!)

No related posts.