Hit Em Up (Coachella) Style

It's that time of year. The magnolias have bloomed, the sun gets to stay up a little longer past its bedtime, and I spend hours dreaming I could afford to take the time and money to spend my days grooving to live music at the biggest music festivals in the country: SXSW, Bonnaroo, Coachella.

While I cannot, alas, drop everything (work, and more importantly money) to fly to the second weekend of Coachella, I can at the very least partake of these festivals in my own small, secondhand ways. YouTube has been streaming many of the performances live so I can feel almost as much a part of the action as TUPAC (I mean, really?!?). But, perhaps even more fun, and certainly more complicit in my daydreaming, have been the fashion roundups chronicling the very best of festival style. Half the fun of anticipating an event, in my opinion, is planning what to wear. A music festival poses an interesting challenge for the style-conscious: comfort and breathability are of utmost importance, but individuality is also at a premium. Plus, it's a unique chance to break out that totally crazy thing you've never been able to wear before. White boys are wearing Native American headdresses, you can certainly wear that sparkly headband or neon shorts you've been wondering if you could pull off.

I am no music festival expert. I went to Lollapalooza once, for one day, two years ago. I did attend Creation Festival every year from 1998-2004, but I don't think those experiences necessarily translate. I can offer you no tips on what you should or should not wear, should you find yourself at such an event.

But as Coachella heads into its second and final weekend, I offer you some fun pictures of celebrities and mostly-normal people rocking some great style at Coachella's first weekend. Enjoy!

Grace Potter, frontwoman of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, is rocking the layers like a pro. Mostly, though, I just love her lipstick.

(LOTS MORE PICTURES AFTER THE JUMP!)

99 DAYS!!!

Today we hit DOUBLE DIGITS. That's right, folks...only 99 days remain until the best 3 weeks of our lives begin.

We've already been planning our Opening Ceremonies party for months, and boy is it going to be a good one. If you don't leave filled with the Olympic Spirit and overwhelmed by the amount of time we put into creating an extravaganza worthy of the occasion, we will have failed. Over the next 99 days we will be writing more about our favorite quadrennial athletic competition/global cultural event in preparation of this most glorious celebration of the human spirit.

July 27, 2012. Be prepared.

Introducing...Anais Mitchell!

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be a regular feature, "Introducing..." As many of you know, I am kind of obsessed with music, and sharing the music I love with others, so this is one more way for me to make my joy more complete.

I'm starting with Anais Mitchell for one simple reason. She is playing a show at SPACE in Evanston this Friday night, and I would love for anyone and everyone to attend this show. Mostly because I think it will be incredible, but also because I don't want to go alone, though I absolutely will if this post doesn't convince you to lay down a mere $12 for a ticket.

The first time I heard Anais' deceptively innocent rasp, I was driving through West Chester, PA with my brother. It was on a mix he had made for a road trip with his friend Max, and only a few lines into "Why We Build the Wall" I was hooked. Actually, now that I think about it, Greg Brown is the main singer on that song (it's from Hadestown, her rock opera based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and features many wonderful artists like Brown, Justin Vernon, Ani DiFranco, and others) but that was my first experience with her music. And I knew I had to hear more.

So I got myself a copy of Hadestown, which was at the time her most recent album, and pretty much wore it out. Pretty soon I knew it right and left and every way to Sunday. The album's highlights, for me, include: "Why We Build the Wall," "Flowers (Eurydice's Song)," "Wedding Song," "I Raise My Cup to Him."

The Trouble with Poets Is They See Poetry Everywhere

Earlier this week my friend Liz introduced me to book spine poetry and now I'm obsessed. The idea is simple--the poet simply stacks his or her books vertically so that the text on the spines form a poem. Share. Repeat. When I saw the blog post introducing the concept, I thought it seemed like an interesting idea, one I would theoretically like to try but probably wouldn't. For some reason poetry has always intimidated me, at least when it comes to approximating anything like it myself. My brother has always been the poet in the family (see his absolutely beautiful new poem "Expatriate" here) and I'm happy to let him have the title (that's how it works, right?). But lately the constraints of poetry that once constricted and frustrated this committed narrative nonfiction writer have drawn me to it. I may have found in book spine poetry the "gateway drug" I needed to push me toward the harder stuff.

My first, and proudest, attempt.

My very favorite thing about my apartment (and this is saying something, I really love my apartment) is the built-in bookshelf in my bedroom. It's more of a book WALL, as the shelves extend from the tops of the floor cabinets to the ceiling. I spend a lot of time staring at my books. On Tuesday night, with the challenge of book spine poetry set before me, I gave in to their call and give it a try. I did not expect to get as into it as I did. I started by pulling any books with titles that intrigued me (followed quickly by titles with verbs, these are more rare than I thought and necessary to a grammar freak) and for the next hour, I was climbing up and down the ladder (yes, my bookshelf requires a ladder, I'm basically Belle) trying to find just the right books to create the unexpected combination. Each poem took shape over dozens of drafts, as books swapped in and out, up and down, until I had three little book spine poems I felt happy with.

Crazy for Katniss

Yup, I said it. I'm Team Katniss! Actually, I think technically I'm supposed to be Team Peeta and Gale, but whatever.

It look me a while to get on board with the craze, but I read The Hunger Games this week in preparation for the movie. Of course, like a logical person, I started reading a book people said I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PUT DOWN during one of my busiest work weeks in recent history. Ah, well. Live and learn.

Anyway, I loved the book (even though it was incredibly predictable) and am so excited to see the movie.

Suzanne Collins isn't the greatest writer ever (please, no JK Rowling comparisons...) but in terms of writers whose books have turned into blockbuster movie franchises lately, she's way better than Stephanie Meyers. So, thank the Lord for that. We're celebrating not-horrible writing again!

The books was so engaging and fun to read. She used the ol' love-triangle-in-the-middle-of-a-fight-for-your-life method to hook me in, and gosh darn it, it worked. If you haven't read the book yet, I think all you need to know is that Collins used to write for Clarissa Explains It All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Convinced? I thought so.

In honor of the movie coming out this weekend, I could launch into a deep review of the book, but like I said, it's been a super long week, so instead I've compiled a list of my favorite outfits from its star, Jennifer Lawrence, who has amazing style. And amazing hair. She's right up there with Connie Britton for woman whose hair I most covet. And I think that now marks the second time we've discussed coveting Connie's hair on this blog. We can't help it!

Anyway, without further ado, here are her best looks as chosen by me:

Helllllllllllo, bombshell! It's like the Baywatch bathing suit on top, but then it's a dress, and it's perfect.



She looks like a cross between Anna Kournikova and Emily from Revenge here. Not a bad combo.



LOVE this. Love it. If I were planning my wedding, I would seriously consider this for my wedding dress, and I'm not kidding.



Here we are at yet another Hunger Games premiere. I love the bold lipstick and simple - yet daring - dress.



This one is cute and fun, but also a little cleavage-y. I think Cinna would dress her in this.



OK, so, her hair's not real here, right? It's too perfect-looking.



Not her best choice, make-up wise (looks like me going to the winter formal dance in 9th grade), but I love the bright pink color of her dress.

Kate Middleton is Bringing Field Hockey Back!

Kate Middleton, you are my favorite Brit (except for maybe Marcus Mumford, who was too busy serenading the Obamas last night).

Field hockey, you are my favorite sport.

London, you are my favorite city.

The Olympics, you are my favorite cultural event.

When you all combine forces, it is almost too much for me to handle.

That is all.

(Also, where do I get those jeans?!?)

Playlist: Gettin' Hitched

Today, I’m listening to a mix I made on Spotify called “Gettin’ Hitched.” And since that’ll probably show up on my Facebook feed, I want to clarify that I don’t just randomly listen to wedding-themed music. Normally. But tonight, I’m going to a wedding, and I get pretty excited about seeing good friends get married, so I wanted to celebrate love and marriage all day long by listening to my favorite wedding-ish songs.

Here’s my “Getting’ Hitched” mix – let me know what I’m missing!

1.       Going to the Chapel – The Dixie Cups (of course)

2.       Let’s Get Married – Jagged Edge (love seeing the bad-boy groups get all sweet and romantic)

3.       I Do – Colbie Callait (current favorite)

4.       Let’s Get Married – Al Green (of course)

5.       Marry Me – St. Vincent

6.       Love and Marriage – Frank Sinatra

7.       White Wedding – Billy Idol

8.       Wedding Day – Rosie Thomas (shout out to Kristin – who had an amazing, beautiful wedding, btw – for introducing me to Rosie)

9.       January Wedding – The Avett Brothers (a favorite of the bride and groom)

10.   Wedding Bell – Beach House

11.   I Do (Cherish You) – 98 Degrees (Am I right, other girls who grew up in the 90s?)

12.   Wedding Day – UB40

13.   Love Like a Sunset Part I – Phoenix (not necessarily a wedding song, but Laura’s list yesterday made me remember how beautiful this song is)