Sunday Best-Clever People's Clever Ideas

The last thing I need to do is take on any more projects, but I'm always finding cool things that groovy people have made. Here are a few of my faves from this week:

paper cup garland via Hey Gorgeous

Make my own clutch? Maybe I will, Martha.

Make your own perfumed locket

DIY Secret door. I WANT THIS SO BAD!! Probably won't work in my small apartment.

What about you? Did you find any fun projects this week

Sunday Best-The Funnies

Ever since I was a kid the first thing we would grab from the newspaper was the comic section, or as we called it, The Funnies. I read that people who read The Funnies are smarter than the people who skip them. See? Laughing is good! (we all know that)

There are a few places online that make me consistently laugh like an idiot (well, I laugh like that anyway) and I wanted to share them with you today. Some of these you may know and some not. Either way, I hope it brightens your day a little.

The first place is Awkard Family Photos.  You've probably seen it. It's pretty famous by now.These pictures and captions makes me howl.





Another favorite is Catalog Living. This lady has taken home decor catalogues and created a fictional family(Gary and Elaine and their various children and pets) and pretends they actually live in these rooms. Sometimes these pictures are styled so bizarrely that it's funny to see them called out.


Of course I want her to excel at sports Elaine, but don’t you think we could come up with a more appropriate word of encouragement for her bedroom wall?

If you are a fan of Project Runway, you are missing half the enjoyment of the show if you're not reading Tom and Lorenzo's blog. I've been reading it since it was called Project Rungay and it was only about PR. Now it's gotten so popular that they also talk about other shows and fashion. These two guys are so insightful and hysterical that it's hard to miss their recaps once you've started. They have funny nicknames for the contestants and they tend to say what most people watching the show are thinking. 


Go to the blog to see what they said about this

 These are probably my top three funny sites right now. Do you have any funny sites or blogs that keep you rolling on the floor and laughing your arse off? Also let me know how you like the ones I mentioned even if you've seen them before.

Have a funny Sunday.

If you're visiting please feel free to follow and comment. Hey, we're all friends here.

Sunday Best-My BFF On Her Birthday

IFB is having a project this week about cherishing your friendships and telling everyone why your best friend is so awesome. This is perfect for today, because it is my best friend's birthday! Just so you know, I will probably be crying the whole time I'm typing this.

Also, I'm warning you in advance that some of this may sound a little braggy because my BFF is a star.

Rachel York

I met Rachel at a lunch in New York with some mutual friends about 23ish years ago. There was this instant connection, almost like a remembering, like we had made an appontment to meet in a a past life and here we were. She was just a kid but I was very immature so we were basically like the same age.

We  were inseperable for 6 months until she got her first Broadway show.

And the rest, as they say, is history:

Rachel played Fantine in Les Mis on Broadway at the same time I was a dresser there. So we got to see each other every day at work for six months.

Kiss Me Kate tour.
Got to see this with my daughter. She was old enough then to understand what her "Fairy" Godmother did for a living.

One of my favorites, Victor/Victoria.

We've been best friends and soul mates for over 20 years. We've never had a fight. We always see the best and most beautiful in each other. We have been through the darkest and most magnificent moments together and always had each others' backs. It's just pure, unconditional love. I wish for everyone at least one relationship like this in a lifetime. I sincerely mean that.

Wow. I really needed to be reminded of this today.

As for style, Rachel is very glamorous, I think. She has to dress up for events and openings and so forth and I think she has a sort of Old Hollywood, Goddessy style. She plays a lot of divas because of her voice and powerful presence and beauty. In real life she is one of the most loving and grounded people I know.

Rachel inspires me because she works so hard and makes everything seem so effortless. She sees more of what I'm capable of than I see in myself. Like being able to make her wedding dress from scratch. Yikes. That was ridiculously hard, but way worth it.

Rachel, this is your birthday card. I wish you many more years of joy and happiness with your beautiful family. I can't wait to see you. I love you through many lifetimes and always will. You are the light of my life.

If you want to know more about Rachel you can find her at http://www.rachelyork.net/ .

Sunday Best-The Little Things

My Mom is doing the coolest thing ever. As you know if you read my first post, I actually officially turn 50 soon. August 12th to be precise. It started freaking me out. For the first time I could see signs of ageing on my face (and neck). I put on some weight a few years ago and my eyesight is going. 

What?

So it's not the number itself. It's all the things that go with it that made me start to panic. I started this blog to come to terms with this next phase and to figure out how to still feel stylish and cool and sexy.


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Also, the same month that I turn 50, my daughter turns 16.  I didn't really want to plan two big parties and I tend to feel uncomfortable in big loud gatherings anyway. (For some reason being onstage in the spotlight with my voice amplified is okay. Weird, huh?) Also, my sister and best friend are out-of-town for the summer. So I was kind of ready to just ignore my birthday altogether even though I knew I would probably regret it later.

Then, exactly one month before my birthday, my Mom started bringing me presents. Little things. Lovely things. I got a bouquet of flowers, which unfortunately I didn't get a picture of but they were beautiful.

Then she did this. Bought some herbs that I like to cook with and repotted them:

Basil

Rosemary

Sage

Chives

Thyme

And I got these beauties:

She's also buying me tickets for my daughter and I to go see Harry Potter. (I'm a huge Potter nerd btw just haven't had time to go yet)

And she's getting me maid service for a day. Woo hoo!

Yesterday she went to an Estate Sale and came home with this beaded scarf:

Oh my God!!! It's so beautiful! On my birthday day I think we're just going to have some cake and hang out a little and then I'll go to the comedy club and hang out some more. That sounds like a perfect plan. I always think birthdays should last at least a week anyway. The little things make me very happy. Including my Mom. (She's 5'2") Thank you, Mommy! I love you!

Sunday Best-FIDM

On Sundays I've decided to post about something I appreciate or that I'm grateful for. I always feel better overall if I take the time to remember what's going right. I'm actually grateful for my job (one of my jobs. I mean I'm grateful for all of my jobs but this is one of them. :P)

I've mentioned before that I teach at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. My degree is in Costume Design for Theatre and I've done that professionally for 30 years (only every now and then at this point) So I get to teach my favorite subjects: History of Costume and 20th Century Fashion Designers.

I love going on campus. All the guys and gals are so cute and fashionable. And there is a public park attached. Here's the view from the faculty lounge balcony.

I think my favorite part of the school is the library. All but a small rack of fiction books are materials related to the majors. We are an Applied Arts College so there are a lot more majors besides fashion. Almost anything I tend to be interested in seems to be represented in the library. For instance, I wanted to learn more about photography for my blog and I found about 5 books there that fit the bill. I'm reading one of them right now that has already taught me quite a lot about my little camera (haha. Read manuals much? ---no)

We also have a fabulous museum. It's kind of famous for displaying some of the Academy Award nominated films costumes around Oscars time.

Burlesque

Right now they have a sweet little exhibit about the Little Black Dress and it includes the iconic dress Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast At Tiffany's. Below is a dress designed by Monique Lhuillier (FIDM Alum)

One more thing, if you're interested in vintage clothes and want to know a little more about them, FIDM has a museum blog that showcases some of the items from our collection and gives some historical background.
They're launching a new website which looks terrific. http://fidmmuseum.org/

Claire McCardell Playsuit from 1948



Oh, one more one more thing. I mention the FIDM Scholarship Store in my outfit posts. It's a store on campus that is open to the public. They get donations from stores like Forever 21, BCBG and Torrid and sell them really cheap. The money goes toward scholarships. There's also jewelry, lots of fabric for $1 a yard and other things. If you live in LA you should definitely check it out.

Nick Verreos  from Project Runway-FIDM alum and teacher

Wow this is the longest post in the world (at least there are pictures). I guess I have a lot to be grateful for. I'm grateful for you, too. Have a great Sunday.