Popcorn and Sanity

http://www.siff.net/presents/seriesDetail.aspx?FID=175

...in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, see a movie (sorry sir Paul & JL) - however, 'tis true - no matter what my mood there is nothing like a darkened movie theater, a bag of freshly popped and buttered popcorn, and some chocolate to remind me that life is actually pretty darn good - especially here in Seattle, where we are lucky enough to have SIFF - went to a number of SIFF movies last year and they ranged from quirky turkeys to profound cinematic gems - and everything in between - Hugh Hefner, Playboy, Activist & Rebel was actually pretty darn good - given unlimited fundage (or even a little more than my current fundage level) I'd love to have a platinum pass, and a yearly pass to SIFF movies - in the meantime, I'll settle for being an "enthusiast" member, and get me a pass to the to the Secret Festival (anything requiring an Oath of Silence before you get to see the movie is a "must see") - Sunday am screenings, followed by Sunday cocktails to discuss said screenings is in my future, I do believe.

Speaking of Sunday cocktails - head to June over in Madrona for their weekend brunch (Sat & Sun from 10 am - 2 PM). Went this past Sat. and was in a state of bliss for rest of day - had the mi, wonton soup with poached egg & crispy shallots, bloody June, and shared a "Tired & Bitchy" (chilled coffee cocktail) to finish - it was a whole lot of fabulousness.

Mad Women

Day 6 of this hellish NYR (New Year's Resolution) and already I can feel my resistance crumbling. MUST. REMAIN. STRONG. One of my all time favorite stores EVER is Xtabay Vintage Clothing in Portland (OR) - Liz Gross is this amazing vintage savant who finds some stunning pieces - great quality, and the boutique itself is a little gem - warm, girly- it is like stepping into a jewelbox - the kind of store that although small you can spend hours in just feeling like a girl. Lovely. Xtabay is the reason I'm thinking that my NYR may just be limited to "new" clothes in the sense that they can't come from a contemporary store - vintage isn't really new (see my diabolical thinking here?) Scary the ways our minds can rationalize. Xtabay posts some pieces on Etsy, and of course, had to come across this delightful topaz beauty - maybe I can convince my significant other that I need an early birthday present - his b-day is next week, but am I looking for treats for him? No - selfish lady.

http://xtabayvintage.blogspot.com/

Rainy days & tattoo parlours...

Lead to some amazing discoveries. Whilst Christmas shopping this year for my niece at Under the Needle tattoo parlour (she wants to be a tattoo artist, so was picking her up a book and t-shirt NOT getting inked - I think I looked like a deer in the headlights when someone asked me if I was in for a tattoo), walked by the Roq La Rue gallery on 2nd and had to dash in out of the pouring rain to check out the exhibit of Martin Wittfooth's work - just visually stunning - his execution is amazing - these dreamlike/nightmarish images of incredible beauty that you want to reach out and touch - like some of the best of the work of the Old Masters, the level of detail is astonishing. These are two of my favorite pieces "The Fountain" and "The Devil's Playground" respectively - the former is still available - sigh...

http://www.roqlarue.com/

http://www.martinwittfooth.com/

The Year of Shopping Dangerously

2011 - the year I will blog - regularly, passionately, with words of wit & wisdom delivered with style & panache. My resolution on New Year's Eve, and all the way into New Year's Day at 10:00 PM when I decided that really, I could start on the 2nd, the first really being a day of rest, etc., etc. It's now the 6th, and by gosh by golly, I will blog again. So here we go...

My OTHER New Year's Resolution is to (merchants across the globe are weeping if they read this) NOT buy any new clothes for myself this year. AT ALL. I am struggling furiously with myself as to whether or not vintage counts in this - and is it only clothes - i.e. do shoes and accessories count? These are the burning questions I'll need to answer over the next 359 days...caveat: friends & family who feel compelled to buy me things are free to do so - far be it from me to rain on your parades.

I'm still going to plug my favorite shops and restaurants - as well as provide some running commentary on what I WOULD buy if I were free to do so - fantasy shopping as it were (way more exciting, well, at least for me, than say, fantasy football). And since it's all fantasy anyway, I'm going to "buy" as if I had won that $335M MegaMillions jackpot...

So after I'd pay off my & my families mortgages, pay for kids educations, put aside some for rainy day, etc. I'd track down someone selling this Chanel Megaflap bag - I'm pretty sure that an entire cow was used in the making of this little beauty, but oh my, isn't it swell? Found out about it via my fashion juice http://myfashionjuice.com/

Other thing I'd spend some dinaros on would be to make a donation to p:ear http://www.pearmentor.org/ They help homeless and transitional youth through creativity/the arts - what is so compelling about their message (at least to me) is that they truly recognize that creativity and beauty can come from anywhere/anyone - and that our "at risk" youth need more than just a warm coat & full belly - they need to feed their minds & creative spirits as well. I'm not articulating this particularly well, so check out their site and see for yourselves.