i have decided that i need more sweaters in my life. like right now. i just discovered these ones from nordstrom (they're all topshop brand), and they actually aren't too expensive. which is your favorite?
ps. how much do you love the combination with all of those fun shorts. i'll take a pair of each please!
we didn't originally plan to spend a weekend in philadelphia because we thought we would get some time there through the school (see this post), but after our small taste we knew we needed to go back. we spent saturday and sunday there, and seriously feel like we needed so much longer! there is so much to do and see. our trip was so fun though and we left with the sorest feet from walking miles and miles.
we got there saturday afternoon and went straight to eat, naturally. we headed to the reading terminal market- which competes with borough market for the best food market of all time. and if you remember this post, i love, i love borough market. so this is almost blasphemy. we tried to eat as many different stalls as we could. don't worry, we spread all this food over three different visits.
jarman ate at dinic's last time we were there, and that may have been the best pork sandwich ever. my personal favorite was the valley shepherd creamery. i got a fresh mozzarella and tomato sandwich the first time and it was to die for, their boylan's cream soda is also delicious. however, my second time i got a grilled cheese with mac and cheese and brisket and i didn't love it, though it is their most popular dish.
we also tried a crepe place, which was fine but nothing special. a bratwurst place, which was delicious but a little too spicy- i'm sure if you order the right thing it is amazing. a goat cheese and onion flatbread that was delectable. a smoothie that was spot on. a butter bar that tastes better than it sounds. some amish donuts that were fancier than they sound.
however, the most important thing you need to know if you ever go to the reading terminal market: get an ice cream cone from bassett's ice cream. it was literally the best ice cream i have ever had, and i have eaten a lot of ice cream. i went with the double chocolate and a waffle cone (i'm not really sure what else you would order). i almost couldn't share with jarman it was so good. i was ravenous to say the least.
next we took a really pretty walk from the market up to the eastern state penitentiary. we passed the shakespeare memorial and the city hall. the eastern state penitentiary was pretty awesome, it was one of the first real jails in the state's and reformed the whole system. al capone was housed here for a time (can you guess which swanky cell was his?). jarman loved visiting this place, and i love photographing it- the crumbly walls were killing me!
that evening, after we checked in to the hotel, we headed to the barnes foundation. their philosophy on museums is kind of interesting: they don't believe in signage, they want viewers to just see the works. it was pretty cool- there were some amazing works. renoir was the barnes' favorite artist which kind of drove me crazy, no one needs that much renoir hanging on a wall. we ate at marathon that night, which we thought was very fitting because so many people had come to town that weekend to run a marathon (why, why would they do that?). then we got cookies from insomnia which were crazy good.
the next day we slept in, because why pay for a hotel if you're not going to take advantage of the comfy bed that is way better than our rock hard murphy bed. so worth it. we headed back to the reading market for more deliciousness. then we trekked up to the philadelphia museum of art, which had some amazing works. we did not have nearly enough time there, i could have spent hours! i was most excited about duchamp's fountain that was there. so awesome.
we ended our trip the right way, by going to south philly and getting an original cheesesteak. at first, i didn't think it was that great, but it kind of grew on me and i loved it by my last bite. i really wish we had more time, someday we will be back for you philadelphia!
i don't have a regular post today because i was too busy partying in philadelphia all weekend (pictures to come), but i just wanted to share a few things with you!
first of all, i am so happy to share that i am now a contributor on striving onward! my first post went up last week. i will be writing about women artists, so if you want more art posts be sure to look there!
also, reality and retrospect now has an official facebook page! it's so exciting! go like it to get daily updates on posts and many other fun things!
oh, and you should probably download this screensaver from designlovefest for a good reminder about the important things in life! {pictured above}
i cannot tell you how much i love this poem and the artist. he writes the most awe-inspiring lyrics and recites them with such finesse. i could watch this every day, reading the words does not have nearly the same effect. prior to seeing him perform at a concert, i had never really seen a poet read his own works aloud. what a difference it makes! now imagine going back and hearing keats or wordsworth read their own poems - how much more magical would they be?
i know, i'm sure you're thinking "brittany, really? you're sharing a poem with us?" but trust me. you will not regret this.
This is for the fat girls.
This is for the little brothers.
This is for the school-yard wimps, this is for the childhood bullies who tormented them.
This is for the former prom queen, this is for the milk-crate ball players.
This is for the nighttime cereal eaters and for the retired, elderly Wal-Mart store front door greeters.
Shake the dust.
This is for the benches and the people sitting upon them,
for the bus drivers driving a million broken hymns,
for the men who have to hold down three jobs simply to hold up their children,
for the nighttime schoolers and the midnight bike riders who are trying to fly. Shake the dust.
This is for the two-year-olds who cannot be understood because they speak half-English and half-god.
Shake the dust.
For the girls with the brothers who are going crazy,
for those gym class wall flowers and the twelve-year-olds afraid of taking public showers,
for the kid who's always late to class because he forgets the combination to his lockers,
for the girl who loves somebody else.
Shake the dust.
This is for the hard men, the hard men who want to love but know that is won't come.
For the ones who are forgotten, the ones the amendments do not stand up for.
For the ones who are told to speak only when you are spoken to and then are never spoken to. Speak every time you stand so you do not forget yourself.
Do not let a moment go by that doesn't remind you that your heart beats 900 times a day and that there are enough gallons of blood to make you an ocean.
Do not settle for letting these waves settle and the dust to collect in your veins.
This is for the celibate pedophile who keeps on struggling,
for the poetry teachers and for the people who go on vacations alone.
For the sweat that drips off of Mick Jaggers' singing lips and for the shaking skirt on Tina Turner's shaking hips, for the heavens and for the hells through which Tina has lived.
This is for the tired and for the dreamers and for those families who'll never be like the Cleavers with perfectly made dinners and sons like Wally and the Beaver.
This is for the biggots,
this is for the sexists,
this is for the killers.
This is for the big house, pen-sentenced cats becoming redeemers and for the springtime that always shows up after the winters.
This? This is for you.
Make sure that by the time fisherman returns you are gone.
Because just like the days, I burn both ends and every time I write, every time I open my eyes I am cutting out a part of myself to give to you.
So shake the dust and take me with you when you do for none of this has never been for me.
All that pushes and pulls, pushes and pulls for you.
So grab this world by its clothespins and shake it out again and again and jump on top and take it for a spin and when you hop off shake it again for this is yours.
Make my words worth it, make this not just another poem that I write, not just another poem like just another night that sits heavy above us all.
Walk into it, breathe it in, let is crash through the halls of your arms at the millions of years of millions of poets coursing like blood pumping and pushing making you live, shaking the dust.
So when the world knocks at your front door, clutch the knob and open on up, running forward into its widespread greeting arms with your hands before you, fingertips trembling though they may be.
(lyrics taken from here)
bobette taught a class on how to set your holiday tables recently, and i loved everything she did so much i had to share! she created 5 different place settings ranging from vintage to modern styles. it's never too early to get started on holiday planning right??
first let's talk about what you actually need for a table setting. the diagram above shows the general way that they should be set up, but your place settings can be more or less complex depending on what you have and how fancy-pantsy you want to be. consider the diagram a guideline, you do not have to do it exactly like that- and you will see in the examples below that we strayed a bit from what is shown.
1. placemat- my grandma always has a placemat set for dinner, and for some reason it makes everything feel so much more elegant. i always loved that when i visited her house for sunday dinners. this category could include your tablecloth, should you choose to use one.
2. charger- i feel like this is the place where you can be the most creative. there are so many different things that you can use as a charger, because you don't have to eat off of it. we thought of using: cutting boards, tiles, paper, serving dishes. really anything that is slightly bigger than a plate would work.
3. main plate- this is pretty much the only thing that you have to have for a table setting. unless you are super progressive and don't want to be confined by plates. no judgment.
4. salad plate- this could also be a soup bowl. either way it has to be killer since it is on the tippy top.
5. name tag- you can play with lots of different things here too. bobette has a killer collection of name tag holders (see below). i also love when people have little treats as their name tags (ie a chocolate box with the name on the outside). the name tag can be placed anywhere really- tied to the napkin or cup, on top of or next to the plate.
6. fork/napkin/spoon/knife- there are proper ways to set all of these if you are proper and are using multiple utensils. we like tying all of them together and putting them to the right of the plate (though if i had it my way they would be on the left hand side #lefthandedproblems).
7. cup- again, you can have multiple glasses and there are certain ways to set them. we usually stick with just one glass for our signature drink, and have extras near the drink bar.
for this setting we nixed the placemat and opted for that awesome lacy tablecloth (from my wedding, excuse the wrinkles). i love this look for thanksgiving- the palate of pinks browns and yellow are perfect. that charger is a serving platter, and i love how it matches the silver centerpiece. how perfect are the flowers too? oh and you can see one of bobette's name tag holders- the pink ornaments. loves.
this is the way that bobette is planning to have her thanksgiving table set. i don't think i could love it more. i have always wanted to steal those gold chargers, and combined with the charteuse napkins- she is killing me. those white plates are super old from target, and the salad plates are from anthro a few years ago.
we have seen this look quite a bit on pinterest lately. it has a limited color palette (she wanted to use tan napkins, but i needed more color/pattern- i can't go that modern). i do love the combination of the two white plates. that wreath was made of a boxwood branch in her garden, as was the rosemary surrounding the candles. those chalkboards with the wooden stands are new- i feel like they are super diy-able for those of you who are crafty.
what plans do you have for your thanksgiving table?
