doing it for less

after spending some time looking through my closet today, i realized that my winter wardrobe is lacking, and in need of some serious zhushing.  the winters in san francisco tend to be mild, so for the majority of the 3-4 months i am able to get away with jeans, a cardigan/blouse combo and a heavy jacket.  well, i'm bored with this easy, simple look.  i'm ready for an update and revamp.  i spent some time browsing through the latest winter looks from several designers.  it turns out, on my meager salary, there is no way i can afford to update my wardrobe in a cohesive manner with all of fall/winter's latest trends.  so i decided to pick out a few looks that i'm totally into and find similar affordable pieces.  slouchy trousers, combat boots, blanket sweaters and socks are hot hot hot this upcoming winter season y'all.  peep my first alternatives below.  more to come later this week! 

clockwise:
$168.00 - j. crew sequin studio sweatshirt
$59.90 - zara pleated trousers 
$35.80 - forever 21 lace up combat boots
$188 - urban outfitters 7 chi covered diamond stud bucket bag
$52.00 - need supply cropped trouser pant
$59.90 - zara jaquard knit sweater with elbow patches
$30.80 - forever 21 dyed satchel bag
$144.95 - jeffrey campbell front boots

information is beautiful

i grabbed this chart from a delightful website called information is beautiful.  these digital distractions are absolutely the reason why it has taken me so long to get off my pooper and get on this blog thing.  david mccandless is a master of visually communicating statistics and trends.

   

..and then there's this one:

zooey & m. ward

the lovely duo she & him are back with their second album, titled volume two.  you can stream it here, for free, before its release on march 23rd.  enjoy.

bent on lent

for those of you who don't know, i gave up cheese for lent.  it's been the hardest thing i've ever had to do - since the time i had to write letters to all my teachers apologizing for ditching school one day during my junior year in high school.  


but since i can't eat cheese, you all should on my behalf.  and for free (bonus!).


firewood cafe in the castro (and napa locations, if you feel so inclined) is having a special, now through the end of march: free pizza.  get it get it.

  

read more

in my efforts to better myself for 2010, i decided reading more and watching tv less were the two things i could do that required the least amount of effort-but could produce exponential results.  being less lazy wasn't one of them, obviously.


friday night rolled around, and after deciding not to go out and drink the night away, i found myself farting around on the www.  after getting pretty lost in the blogs on my google reader, i came across another genius idea from google.  it's called google fast flip.  have you seen it?  launched in september out of the google labs, it's purely a web application that allows you to read and share articles.  both print and web articles can be viewed with the ability to "flip" through each page/article.  fast flip allows for speedy browsing through recent news, headlines and popular topics.  even more amazing is that it's set up in a way that it takes cues from selections you make to show you more content from sources and subjects that you seem to like.  personalized content at your fingertips.  and can also be accessed on your iphone or android mobile device.  legit.


you can see a full list of sources here to build your frontpage of fast flip.  


"happy flipping!"

          

ivy league

crap.  they did it again.  vampire weekend's sophomore album is GOOD.  and i say crap because i feel like i got sucker-punched.  so unexpected.  well actually, what's most unexpected is that it's not bad.  


i'll admit it, i didn't have high hopes for this band's sustainability.  yea, sure, dancing to their preppy, awfully joyful afro-pop melodies pleasantly reminded me of sail boats and car rides listening to paul simon with my dad.  but those feelings soon evaporated as soon as i came-to, looked to my left and saw the 14 year old girl in moccasin boots and a headband screaming with her girlfriends "who gives a fuck about an oxford comma."  and then i just got angry because i hate fringe and embarrassed i was singing in unison with her.  it was never the jolliness of vampire weekend that resonated with me, actually.  it was ezra koenig's outrageously creepy bug-eyes.  i can't decide if he is thinking about playing with naked dolls or he has the constant urge to murder and dismember a cat.


i can't decide if i'd take the time to see them live again, but these latest 10 songs prove that they can still write and compose happy rhythms.  


you can listen here before the alby comes out next week.  for free.


**update**
pitchfork rated this album an 8.6!  hard to believe pitchfork and i agree on this one...

the gift of giving

if you find yourself near a local peets coffee on december 24th, stop in for a free brewed cup of coffee or tea.  peets coffee wants to encourage people to stop in to their franchises on christmas eve and make charitable donations.  peets will match up to $1,000 in donations to a local non-profit organization.  and as a way of saying thank you they'll be serving complimentary coffee and tea all day!