Tuesday, May 29, 2012

the ultimate summer beer: brooklyn summer ale.



I'm guessing that most people have about the same reaction during their first few moments of interacting with Brooklyn Summer Ale... mainly that packaging is PERFECT. I mean, I really have to hand it to the marketing/advertising/industrial-engineering team at Brooklyn. The packaging of this beer instantly conjures up summertime sentiments and memories. The color scheme is simple and cheerful. The light blue is truly beautiful. 

The Brooklyn Brewery website describes its Summer Ale as follows:
Brooklyn Summer Ale is a modern rendition of the "Light Dinner Ales" brewed in England throughout the 1800's right up until the 1940's. They were also called "luncheon ales" or even "family ales", because they were refreshing and flavorful without being too heavy. We brew our Brooklyn Summer Ale from premium English barley malt, which gives this light-bodied golden beer a fresh bready flavor. German and American hops lend a light crisp bitterness and a citrus/floral aroma, resulting in a beer with a very sunny disposition.
I would like to put emphasis on the "sunny disposition." It is very lightly hopped and carries a wide range of flavors which perfectly complement each other.

Buy a pack, take it to the lake/beach/back-porch and see for yo'self!



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

5 Things I Love Tuesday.

1.
This song by the Avett Brothers. I've been OBSESSED with it lately. In my opinion, it's one of the most (if not the most) adorable songs I've ever heard.




2.
The rose-gold watch I bought recently from Fossil. It makes me feel precious every time I look down at for the time. It was the first big purchase I'd made since starting my job in February. It's nice to treat yo'self every now and then!



3.
The book White Teeth. I read this in high school and quickly deemed it my "favorite book of all time," but as the years passed by, I remembered less and less of the plot. I am re-reading it now to see if it lives up to my own hype. So far, so good.



4.
 Effortless-looking, messy hair styles. So cute.



5.
The blog A Beautiful Mess. I love all of her DIY ideas and recipes. I also love her fashion sense. She is really my blogging idol. She also owns a vintage store, Red Velvet.



Sunday, May 13, 2012

New bangs.


Yayy!! I love them so much. I feel like they fit my aesthetic really well. I'm about to leave on a cruise with my family and one of my best friends, Judith. I'm nervous and I'm going to miss my boyfriend and friends a lot, but it should be an exciting adventure!


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

lost at sea

lost at sea by the girl who tamed the tiger
This photograph makes me want to take pictures with an actual camera more. I've been spoiled by my iPhone being "good enough" and probably even better than that, so I've neglected to carry around the bulk of an actual camera. It also takes so much longer to upload digital photos and edit them and it takes even longer to get film developed and then scan them into my computer. However, I've been a lot more driven to put in these extra efforts lately because I know that in the end they really make me happy. For instance, I absolutely love making art or doing anything crafty, but sometimes I just feel too exhausted or lazy to do it. However, not a single time that I've pushed myself to do it anyway have I regretted it.


10 tumblr favs.


via http://audreyhepburncomplex.tumblr.com/
via http://lipfordstreet391.tumblr.com/

via http://audreyhepburncomplex.tumblr.com/
via http://fuckyeahreading.tumblr.com/  
via http://designaemporter.tumblr.com/
artist's tumblr (all his work is amazing and so raw): http://www.hervedieudonne.tumblr.com/

lol
via http://henrytheworst.tumblr.com/
via http://bluprint.tumblr.com/


via http://heavygraffic.tumblr.com/


via http://mylifeiscrazyandbeautiful.tumblr.com

via http://mylifeiscrazyandbeautiful.tumblr.com
via http://theking-isdead.tumblr.com/


Two fragrances I've been loving.

Two scents that I've been wearing lately are Juicy Couture's Viva La Juicy and (somewhat embarrassingly) M by Mariah Carey.

M features the following notes: Tahitian Tiare, Gardenia, Amber, Marshmallow, "Sea Breeze" accord, Patchouli, and Moroccan incense.
... Marshmallow?! I didn't know that until just now. No wonder I like this scent so much! I don't know how to describe this perfume other than to say that it's very feminine. I've also never received as many compliments wearing a perfume as I have wearing this one. Surprisingly, considering the price, M lasts a long time on my skin without being overpowering. This is probably mostly due to the fac that it is an eau de parfum and not an eau de toilette. Eau de parfum generally lingers longer because it is more concentrated. People are generally shocked when I tell them it's Mariah Carey's fragrance. It's also extremely reasonably priced and available in drugstores like CVS. 


 
Viva La Juicy features the following notes: Wild Berries, Mandarins, Honeysuckle, Gardenia, Jasmine, Amber, Caramel, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Praline.
This fragrance is extremely girly and flirtatious. Also, I must say that the packaging is adorable. This may not matter to some people seeing as it is the scent and its impact that you carry with you, but I'm a sucker for packaging. When I'm groggy and running all over my apartment in the morning, trying to get out of the door at least somewhat on time, picking up this pretty bottle, pulling off its crystal cap and spraying my neck with this perfume makes me feel like I am treating myself.


It's interesting to me the way perfume affects a woman. With a couple sprays, a fragrance can brighten your mood and heighten your confidence. It also seems that scent selection is highly individualized. In that sense, we form a special bond with our perfume, as a representation of ourselves as women and as individuals.


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

5 Things I Love Tuesday.



Lately, I've been even more obsessed than usual with all things vintage and all things related to cooking and baking. The Anthrologie Bahia Apron perfectly combines these two loves. The Anthropologie Chalkboard Spice Jars would just look so adorable and quaint on my kitchen countertop. Unfortunately, they're more expensive than I'm willing to pay. Maybe I'll do a DIY for those. And finally, Urban Outfitters Ecote Geo Oxford shoes offer a unique tribal patterned twist on the classic oxford.





In the same vein, I have been baking a lot recently. I've made M&M cookies and banana bread. It's amazing how when you first purchase baking supplies you feel like you're spending way too much and that it must just be cheaper to buy baked goods. However, those baking materials really stretch a long way! I've made large batches of cookies on two occasions and one large loaf of banana bread and have yet to run out.

This quote. It perfectly sums me up. A large lump of worry. I'm working on it, though. I'm definitely not as bad as I used to be. Moral of the story: stop thinking. (:



Thursday, May 3, 2012

How Instagram changed my life.




As you probably know, Instagram is an iPhone (and now Android) application which allows you to take photographs and apply filters, blurs, and crops to them on the spot. Once your photo has been uploaded, your followers can view it in their feed and comment or "like" it.

The concept may sound simple, but its effects are profound. I can honestly say that Instagram has changed my life and the way that I look at the world. This may sound dramatic, but it’s the truth. First, I feel I must delve into my personal history with photographic technology.

When I was young, I used to ask my stepfather questions about photography all the time. What does this setting do? How can I get this effect? However, at the time, I possessed a crappy, low-pixel digital point-and-shoot. As both technology and I grew older and wiser, I same to own a DSLR. This camera (I believe it was a Nikon D60) was the first “adult” purchase I had made: meaning the first large purchase I had made with my own money. I cherished my Nikon like it was my child, made of glass.

Because this piece of equipment was so important to me and because I knew it was extremely fragile, I rarely took it out. This all changed when I went on a semester abroad during my undergrad to the Netherlands. I brought my camera everywhere, effectively saying “screw it” to all of my previous paranoia. This plan proved promising as I posted several photographs on my imperative “I’m a student on exchange, look how amazing my life is in comparison to yours” blog. My friends and family ate it up.

And then there came Bruges. My friend Danielle and I decided to take a trip to Bruges, Belgium on a whim. We boarded several trains and found ourselves in one of the most adorable, romantic cities in the entire world. I mean, it’s so romantic that their city map includes hearts on it which mark scenic places to kiss. Anywho, we were broke and staying in a hostel and we decided to go out at night. I didn’t want to leave my expensive camera in the hostel with a bunch of other people I didn’t know in our room, so I stuffed it in my Longchamp bag (bad decision #1). We had bought two beers which we intended to drink in the hostel room before leaving to go out to bars (bad decision #2), but we realized we didn’t have a bottle opener. I kindly offered to store the beers in my bag until we ran into a stranger on the street with a bottle-opener (bad decision #3). We finished our bottle of wine before leaving the hostel (bad decision #4). Needless to say, I forgot about the two beer bottles in my bag and a night of frolicking and dancing until the wee hours of the morning ensued. After consuming large quantities of French fries, we turned to head back to our hostel. I looked down and noticed liquid dripping out of the corner of my bag. FML.

Anyways, I stopped trusting myself after that and decided to punish myself by not allowing myself to buy another camera body. I’d always loved film photography anyways… or at least the look of it. I never had the drive to follow the whole process of uploading digital photos from my DSLR camera to my computer and then post-processing them in Photoshop to get the effect I desired. This was a process that could take hours for an entire memory card of photographs.

Unfortunately, I came to realize that film processing wasn’t much less expensive in sum as just sucking it up and buying a new DSLR camera body. So, I sucked it up. I bought the camera body and now I am back to my original state of being too paranoid to take my digital camera out and about all the time. Plus, it’s humongous, especially inside of its case, and thus kind of a hassle. Consequently, I stopped photographing so much. I noticed a slight decline in my overall contentment in life.

One day, while bowling with my friend Laura, I was introduced to the world of Instagram. She whipped out her iPhone and showed me just how amazing this application is. Laura studied photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York, so I trusted her opinions on photography. I also personally adored her style of photography. I dicked around with it a little and then decided I not only wanted, but NEEDED an iPhone. Basically 95% of my decision to go ahead and purchase the iPhone was based around my obsession with Instagram.

Today, I have been the proud owner of an iPhone and a proud user of Instagram for approximately three months. Because I already constantly have my phone with me, I also constantly have a decently high megapixel camera with me.

Every day, I am continuously on the lookout for beauty around me. I’ve found even greater appreciation in the little things around me: the crack in the sidewalk, the streetlight reflecting off the raindrops on my bedroom window at night, the old run-down couch on my boyfriend’s porch. No subject is too small or too “insignificant” to find the beauty in and to capture that beauty in a photograph.
 




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