My 5 Favorite Oscar Dresses

Did you guys watch the Ocsars last night? I was impressed how many great dresses there were this year! Less impressed by? James Franco. But let's focus on the positive here, shall we? Below are my top 5 of the night:

Cate Blanchett. Wowzers! Her pale purple Givenchy dress was 100% awesome, in my book. Divine. See close ups here.

Florence Welch wore a vintage inspired Valentino dress. Loved the detailing, the tiers- everything was just spot on. 

Scarlett Johansson wore a lovely floral lace number by Dolce & Gabbana. I love the color and the shape of it!

At first I was on the fence about Mila Kunis' lavender Elie Saab dress, but it really grew on me over the night. It's so feminine and delicate looking! Lovely.

My favorite part about Hilary Swank's Gucci Premiere dress was the ombre coloring, but I do love the feathers as an additional bonus.

Regarding the award winners, I was pretty content with how it all went- I'm glad Inception got some well-deserved recognition for Best Cinematography, Visual Effects, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the winners of last night!

Rivers and Roads

This outfit feels like a collision of some of my favorite things right now: lace, mustard, and wooden jewelry. Yummm.

These shorts are so fun! I'm thinking the day could last forever because I'm having so. much. fun wearing these puppies!

[sweater- urban outfitters (on sale! I bought a larger size so it'd be loose and comfy)
shorts- Lulus.com | shoes- f21 | necklace- LB antique fair]

Have you heard of The Head and the Heart? They're a Seattle band that recently signed to Sub Pop. I'm really getting into them. Check them out here.

FTF #2

Yesterday I said that today's Five Things Friday post would be a good one. Well, I try not to say that unless I'm really going to deliver a whopper. I suppose to call this one a 'whopper' would be a little biased of me. Nevertheless, it's a whopper in my book.

Today's Five Things Friday consists of Five Fictional Characters I'd Like To Hang Out With & The Things We Would Do On Said Hang Out (I'm not sure why I put that in title caps...it seemed more official, and once I realized halfway through that it was a little ridiculous, I was already committed).

Here it is!

I grew up watching Matlock with my grandma. I love the guy. I know it's not the most advanced in the realm of crime solving shows, but there will always be a space at the top of the list for Ben Matlock. We'd play bocce ball. I'm actually pretty good at it. Since I try to only play games I'm good at, this seems appropriate to me.

Wizard's chess with Ron Weasley. I feel like I don't need to justify this one. I love Ron. I'm also good at chess. ;)



Laser tag with Barney Stinson would be legen- wait for it - dary. Any How I Met Your Mother fans out there? Blog five!

I know I'm not the only one with a soft spot for Amelie, so I'm hoping those of you who are in cahoots will back me on this one. How cool would scrapbooking- or anything- be in Amelie's company? I imagine it would be kind of quiet, but that's alright with me. We could put a record on and hum along to it. Maybe take breaks to listen to what the neighbors are talking about.

Finally, I'm embracing my primal urges and opting to howl with Max. This one goes out to all my favorite little boys in Wisconsin. We have some fun memories of driving 14 hours to Virginia, listening to the soundtrack by Karen O and howling along.

If you're interested in guest posting your own Five Things one of these Fridays, let me know! Leave a comment or email me at blythehill[at]gmail[dot]com. !!

Happy Friday folks!

Triple Threat

Good morning lovelies! Or good afternoon, or good evening- depending where you are! That ought to cover all the bases.

Guess what?

These shoes again------------> magic!

Can shoes really make life better? Methinks so. Great shoes & good food & a good book = the trifecta.

I didn't include dumpster photo shoots in that equation because then it would have been a quadfecta. Otherwise, dumpster shoots are totally in, right? ;)

[sweater- urban outfitters | shirt- f21 | pants- f21 | purse- vintage

necklace- claires | shoes- Lulus.com]

Is anyone else excited for summer but already nostalgic about the year being one sixth of the way over (it's almost March already!)? It's an interesting feeling, this being happy and sad about time passing.

In other news, tomorrow's post will be my second FIVE THINGS FRIDAY post! I'm pretty excited about this one, so check back tomorrow!

Hope your day is swellegant. !!

Kiss Me Coral

I've always been fascinated by lipstick, in a love/hate sort of way. On the one hand, it's so feminine, in kind of an untouchable way ("you can't kiss me, I've got lipstick on"), and nearly every great leading lady through the decades was seen rocking it on more than one occasion. On the other hand, it toes dangerously near the line of trying too hard, or throwing an otherwise classy look into hoochie zone. At least that's been my experience. I've also always thought my lips were too full to wear lipstick without ending up in the lesser of the two aforementioned scenarios.

But the times they are a changin', friends. I sported those 5" heels yesterday on the most ordinary of days (to work and then the grocery store- which proved useful in reaching higher shelved items) and, thanks to my pal Amy's lipstick-rocking example, I put on this fun new lipstick to meet my friend Jen for coffee before heading to work.

Holding White Fang, and wearing my new pocket watch necklace from Lulus.com!

Also, I got my roots touched up! Sweet relief.

[dress- vintage | cardigan- old navy | shoes- urban outfitters

purse- vintage | ring- banana republic | necklace- Lulus.com]

My lipstick is "Kiss Me Coral" by Revlon. Now you know the secret behind this post's title!
Happy Wednesday folks! Almost to the weekend!

Slowly, Lightly

I'm feeling much better today, thank you! I did have a little trouble falling asleep last night- tossed and turned till close to 3am. Isn't that the worst feeling? Being tired and knowing you have to wake up early but not able to fall asleep?

Anyway. This one might look super dressed up, but it actually makes for a really comfy ensemble. I melt into this knit cape:

Behold! My new shoes!
They're actually really comfortable, but the height takes some getting used to (my center of gravity's all off kilter). I'm just go slowly and treading lightly...no casualties as of yet.... ;)

[cape- zara | scarf- vintage | dress- old navy | tights- gap

headband- urban outfitters | shoes- Lulus.com | clutch- vintage]

 That's all for now! Thanks for reading!  

Sick Day

I'm sick. Again. Bleh.

I've been working on my MA project- which is a collection of children's books (!!), and have been thinking a lot about some of my favorite children's book and movie characters. On the top of the list are Carl and Ellie from Up. If you haven't seen Up, you might not want to watch this clip (but do watch the whole movie!). Theirs is one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever seen depicted in a children's movie (or any movie, perhaps):



That sequence with Carl's different ties is one of the coolest/most creative ways of showing the passage of time. I love it. How much do I love it? Enough to make this little collage of stills from the youtube clip:

Hope your day is going well and that you're feeling better than I am.

I'll be sharing little bits of my MA project with you as time goes on, so stay tuned! :]

NEW: Five Things Fridays

I'm taking a tip from some of my favorite blogs (like Cupcakes and Cashmere and A Beautiful Mess) and starting a new feature called "Five Things Fridays," where I'll post five of my favorite things - anything from trends to things in my house to food! I'm thinking of opening this up to guest bloggers in the future, so let me know if you're interested by emailing me at blythehill[at]gmail[dot]com, subject line: Five Things. Send me your ideas! I'd love to hear them. :]

For this first edition, I'm going to let you in on five of my current favorite bands/musicians:

1) Radiohead! This shouldn't come as a surprise after Tuesday's post about their new album. Love these dudes. Check out one of their new songs here. If you're a new listener, start with the In Rainbows album (or with The Bends, as I did a few years ago).

2) Dr. Dog! Give a listen to "Hang on," "The Breeze," and their cover of "Heart It Races" and try not to be hooked. I dare you.

3) I've only recently gotten into Florence and the Machine, and I'm obsessed. I could play "Dog Days Are Over" on repeat and never get sick of it. Florence Welch has pretty sick style too. !!

4) Ah, Andrew Bird. World's Best Whistler. Hand's down. This guys is all kinds of poetic - His lyrics are thoughtful and clever, and his music is sweetly complex. The whole Noble Beast album had me at hello - er, at track 1?

[photo cred: me!]

5) Here's where I brag about knowing someone(s) 'famous.' Not only do I love Local Natives for their jungle-y beats and sweet harmonies, but, being their friend, I know and love them as human beings. They're some of the best dudes around. It's pretty convenient that their music is also pretty killer. Certainly makes things less awkward with musician friends when you like their music, eh? ;) Check out "Airplanes" and "World News," two of my personal faves. Also, here's a recent Take Away show they did with their song "Who Knows Who Cares":


Local Natives | Who Knows Who Cares | A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

In case you were wondering...

The three items I ended up scoring with my $50 Lulus.com credit are the Touch of Stud Platform Heels:

the Where? Everywhere! Lace Shorts:

and the Horseplay Bronze Watch Necklace:

It was so tough to choose, even from my narrowed-down list! I love my new loot, but I'm still daydreaming about those crochet boots and that tapestry necklace. C'est la vie.

70s

Ok. Back with gusto this time! Thursday does that to me. Only one more day standing between me and the weekend- that's something definitely worth gusto-ing up about.

I want to apologize for that uncharacteristically moody and personal post yesterday. I really don't think I have anything to complain about; sometimes life just gets to you, you know? The same circumstances can make you a negative Nancy one day and chipper the next.

And a fabulous skirt can turn everything around, am I right? ;]

This is actually a dress, worn as a skirt. I love love love the print! Whenever I wear it, I tend to spend long periods of time staring at it.

I added an agate slice to this necklace after finding it (the agate) in my sister's craft drawer, waiting to be showcased.

[dress worn as a skirt- owl talk vintage | shirt- thrifted | cardigan- target | boots- forever 21

belt- forever 21 | headband- urban outfitters | necklace- f21 with an agate slice added by me]