[sadly, this isn't from mountain day, but a trip the B2 girls & company made out to vermont for Fall Break our senior year. in a similar way to Mt. Day, there was lots of bonfires, apple-picking, sheep-shearing, and maple syrup eating and canoeing to be had]
reasoning:
Happy Mountain Day! i still remember my first year of college, when the bells rang at 7AM, and Lizz and my neighbor, NaLee – who we love – ran around the halls, banging on everyone’s door and signing her “it’s Mountain Day” song. i have no doubts she was adorable doing her little dance, but we wanted to kill her even though we were too tired to actually get up and do so. during my time at Smith, i was always swamped with work, and suffering from sleep deprivation that i didn’t actually do much on the days of Mountain Day. but now that i’ve been out for almost 2 years, I miss having Mountain Day so much. Just over the weekend, I was thinking of how good some apple cider & cider donuts would taste right now. there’s talks of a trip into Maryland for some apple picking this weekend. this is probably going to be the closest and best opportunity for me to pretend that i’m still in school, and idyllic New England.
‘it’s just a little prick’. this was the most memorable one that made me wish I was a more capable sewer in need of a pin cushion. they also sell girlie bits, bacon bits and zombies on their website or etsy.
the scenes of keri hilson in her underwear rolling around in a lush white bed are more than a bit gratuitous… but i can’t stop listening to this song. it may not be deep, poetic or metaphorical, and its message may be cheesy and borderline gloria gaynor ”i will survive’, but its reassuring to know relationships do sometimes go through breakups and they can painful. it seems like common sense, duh, or as REM said “everybody hurts… sometimes”. but its funny how alone and hurt breaking up can make you feel, when really its something that everyone goes/has gone through.
love these screenprinted city neighborhood posters – they come in pretty colors and other sites including Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Great Lakes, Los Angeles, Manhattan, NYC, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto (soon to come!), and adorably, The Heart. most posters are $22 and will ship via USPS in 1-3 business days.
The design blogs (Lost in a Supermarket, Minimalismi, Curated + many more) were all over this Stretch Shelf, even Urban Outfitters. I like it b/c it’s functional, has an element of DIY, and totally fits into the “why didn’t i think of that?!??” category. made of cast rubber and machined aluminum, the shelf is essentially like having a giant rubber band that sturdy enough to hold and fit oddly shaped items on the wall in a connect-the-dots type of fashion. living in a cramped rowhouse, i’m begining to realize how useful storing upwards on the wall is, this would be perfect for spaces in the hallway or my room. one blog posed the question of what happens when the rubber dries out and it cracks, I’m hoping the shelving kit comes with some sort of sealing solution to prevent this. design schools are supposed to teach design, but also practicality and sustainability, right?
Oyler is a RISD graduate, you can check out more of his work here.
just came back from a long weekend in Winter Park, Colorado.
Jen and I went to visit our rockstar culinary Shana who’s cooking in kitchens and snowboarding every chance she gets. [photos by JH]
we went for her 23rd birthday
along the way, we fought off nature,
warmed ourselves by a bonfire,
attempted to bake,
and french-braid,
but mostly caught up on sleep.Indy, the cutest dog ever, joined us one ridiculously lazy afternoon
but quickly resume drinking.
one great thing about winter park, CO: $1 shots
there are perhaps too many pictures of these, i claim the right one, jen has the left
it was a good time had by all.
Colorado was beautiful, it was nice to go someplace where everyone knew everybody, food was delicious (homemae bagels, which you can’t even get in DC!), drinks were cheap and people just hung out to chill and have a good time. it was a most relaxing, gluttonous and fun reunion. i really like how much we’ve stayed in touch, and made an effort to see each other after graduation, despite all of us living in different places of the country and the world. these are the girls i’m hoping to open the B2 bakery/bar with – Shana in the kitchen, Jen having designed the space, and me being the bar, of course.
i feel like i may spend the rest of my life explaining why i went to a women’s college, Smith College, or whether i’m a crazy radical lesbian [some of those may apply depending on the day]. the relevance of women’s colleges has been something i’ve definitely grappled with, but ultimately i always come to the conclusion that they are still needed and important today. certainly my college experience would have been different if it were co-ed, but now that i’m out in the ‘co-ed’ world, i can’t say i feel like i missed out on a lot. there were periods when i wish i went somewhere else, but that had more to do with the intensity and ‘bubble’ of Smith, less with its single-gender demographic. being in an all-women environment doesn’t freak me out but i’m rather comfortable in it. i learned to really speak up for myself at Smith, and so much of my personality and interests have started and evolved from my time there, so i can’t say that I regret having gone there. now if only the alumnae network could kick in to get me a job, i’d be singing the ultimate praises of the school from every high place in DC. but in all seriousness, i’m glad i went.
“With the new innovative Magisso Cake Server cutting and serving a piece of cake is easier and more stylish than ever. Magisso Cake Server is a perfect centerpiece for every party, wedding and graduation setting. The beautifully designed and functional Cake Server is an ideal gift with the space for inscriptions and engravings. Magisso Cake Server is made of mirrored high quality stainless steel and it is suitable for every kind of cake. Magisso Cake Server is developed and designed in Finland.”
reasoning:
this is one of those “why didn’t i think of that??!” design inventions that’s simple, clean and pretty. i love the lines and the stainless steel. the Magisso website has some great products and also a video of the Cake Server in action.
allow me to introduce uh… myself. i’m iris, i’ve been writing on nopostagerequired for about a year and a half now. i’m currently living in DC – trying to work in reproductive health and immigration, or quitting all that to bartend, trying to meet new people but not get my heart broken, and trying to find my place in the city while also looking to leave it. right now, life seems to be one extreme or the other.
{today i love…}
french press coffee with milk
stealing ice cream from the Room 11 freezer afterhours
taken from inspiration of olivia rae’s series: {today i love…} and rockstar diaries’ taza-and-husband’s 15 things that make taza terribly happy. these are beautiful blogs with happy, warm, and hopeful posts. i’d like to emulate them and create a blog, and a life, just as bright.
i’ve had this song on repeat ever since i saw the movie 500 Days of Summer. i believe it was the music of the opening credits, and as soon as I heard it, i knew i was going to like the movie. part of the reason i love semi-dramatic films, tv shows, reality shows (Laguna Beach, The Hills) is because they have soundtracks. whenever you’re just having an awful time, and you’re walking through your office or on the street with this numb feeling, i’ve always wanted some ‘nobody understands me’ song start playing. on Laguna Beach, whenever a revelation is revealed of someone getting dropped or screwed over, a song of ‘why does life hurt? why don’t people think of me” begins, and i LOVE that. short of me carrying around a boombox with an unlimited music selection, or suddenly breaking into song, it’d be wonderful and comforting and not creepy at all to have a sympathetic, understanding song begin playing. perhaps this is why people get iPods. i’m not a big fan of earplugs though – i don’t want to constantly be plugged in for when a ‘bad’ moment arises for me to say ‘oh, sweet disposition by temper trap would be great right now!’ but i digress. add this to the soundtrack of my life/songs for moments that make me want to become better than myself
reasoning:
reasoning:
hat i’m out in the ‘co-ed’ world, i can’t say i feel like i missed out on a lot. there were periods when i wish i went somewhere else, but that had more to do with the intensity and ‘bubble’ of Smith, less with its single-gender demographic. being in an all-women environment doesn’t freak me out but i’m rather comfortable in it. i learned to really 
