Facebook craze

It's no secret that Facebook has practically taken over the world and the way we communicate and socialize with our friends and family, even our pets, so of course it was only a matter of time before a movie came out about it too. So if you're a Facebook addict or a movie nut then I know you're as excited as I am about Social Network opening tomorrow!

I even have Kanye's Power song playing in the background as I write this post because I'm so ready for this movie. I think one of the biggest reasons I'm so excited about this movie is because I feel like I was a part of the beginning of the Facebook movement. I wasn't on Harvard's campus in '04 or anything but I was one of the first of my friends to sign up on ol' FB (back when it was called The Facebook). I can remember when you had to be enrolled in college to have profile, or how it was used largely for connecting with your other classmates. I also have a soft spot in my heart for anything that has Justin Timberlake's acting abilities on display.

I came across some super cool pictures of Facebook's offices in CA and thought it seemed relevant to share with you on the eve before the movie opens. I know if I was coming to work here I'd have a good day everyday, I mean besides the fact that you wouldn't actually have to hide the fact you were on Facebook 20 times a day!

(pics from officesnapshots.com)

Wordle!

I have found it! Thanks to my sweet best friend, who knows I would go mad trying to remember and has a great memory for odd Internet finds too, found the answer to this blog post.

Wordle, beautiful word clouds.

Super simple to use, click the create button, type in a series of words and hit the go button and magical arrangements of those words appear. I will say the only down side is the html they provide for you to put into your blog gets you a very small image, like mine at the start of this post, and you can't save it to your computer. The best option is to print it. Either way it's a fun way to pass some time. Make sure to check out the galleries too!

Enjoy your cloud creations!

Snow White and fashion

As we slowly embrace the new Fall season the fashion world has already moved past it and is embracing Spring 2011. I wish we could be like that, just spend 2 or 3 weeks crunching through leaves, carving pumpkins and sipping pumpkin spice lattes and then move straight into warm weather again; but alas we must suffer through the cold months.

Yesterday I found some images from Dolce & Gabbana's Spring collection that just might keep the warmth in my heart throughout the cold months...



As you know anything that features a Disney princess has me head over heels. I can only imagine what these D&G tshirts are priced at, but I have to have one, or at least find an affordable knockoff to sport this Spring! Be still my heart when girly floral, bright gingham and Snow White are in fashion, be still my inner five year old heart.

37 Posters

Thanks to my movie loving boyfriend I was recently shown this shop called 37 Posters, that sells some really cool movie artwork. The studio's shop can be found on society6 a place where artists can connect and sell their work.

Their work kind of reminds me of this cool program that would take a series of words and mix them up into different directions, but I can't seem to find the link to share it with you. (man this will bug me until I find it and I promise to share when I do!)

But what is so cool about 37 Posters they have taken some of the most memorable quotes from a particular movie and arrange them into an object that symbolizes the movie. The art work speaks for itself, so check them out and cross your fingers they keep up the great work and create more. I'd personally like to see my favorite movie: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the object a Ferrari or one of my favorite Christopher Guest movies like Best in Show with a dog as the silhouette. What would you like to see?

be funky

I am totally obsessed with befunky.com , an online service that simplifies photo editing and effects for everyday people. It basically takes your everyday photos and turns them into little pieces of art. They have the huge gallery of effects to choose from, ranging from cartoon, watercolor, vintage, pop art and much more. It's really user friendly too. I mean you can't get much simpler and easier than this site. You create an account, upload a photo from your PC and start clicking away on effects. You save the images to a library and either save them to your computer or upload them directly to facebook, myspace or flickr. The best part is it's FREE! The only catch is you get a little befunky watermark in the bottom corner of your photos, but for 2.08 a month you can have access to lots more effects and your pictures turn out sans-watermark. Either way I have been having too much fun turning boring pictures into something amazing. See for yourself!

(effect:underpainting)

(effect: vintage colors #4)

(effect: watercolor #1)

Can you see what I mean? I see way funkier scrapbook pages coming my way from these pictures. So get to their website and check out the galleries for inspiration and start funk-ifying (totally a word now) your photos!

The Town

The all star cast includes Jon Hamm, Ben Afflick (who also directed the flick), Blake Lively, Rebecca Hall and Jeremey Renner.

I mean I don't have much to say on the matter other than it looks to be an awesome movie up for early Oscar contention and looks to be an action packed kind of film that everyone will enjoy. So check out the trailer if you're not already pumped by the poster than check out the trailer!

Get your butts to a movie theatre tomorrow because the best movie since Inception is rolling into town and that movie is The Town!

Navy nails

A couple months ago I read about this an amazing manicure process on one of my favorite blogs, cupcakes and cashmere, called a gel manicure. I am typing this post while staring at my new shiny gel manicured hands and I want to share the process with you all.

Let me set the scene for you: you get a manicure, your nail polish is shiny, it's hard set, and the color looks amazing. Cut to 2 days later, and if you're like me, it's chipped, smudged, and not looking shiny and fresh any more and you're seriously debating going back to the nail salon to get a new one. And, if you're like me you can't afford a daily manicure every day. I used to get acrylic nails but they were painful to get on, annoying to get filled, and they totally trash your nails if you want to have them taken off. So what do you do?

After reading about this gel manicure process I was totally stoked that something like this existed and I set out to hunt for a nail salon in Indy that did them. It's actually a healthy process for your nails. The gel will help your nails grow stronger and longer and the color lasts up to 3 weeks. Instead of just a bottle of liquid nail polish it's this thicker gel and 3 coats of it are set with the use of a UV light. The top coat seals it all in and you're left with this harden shiny surface that is reminiscent of an acrylic nail but you didn't use any harsh chemicals on your nails. The best part, this manicure lasts up to 3 WEEKS!

(color: OPI's Russian Navy)

Your nails grow out naturally and you can either soak them off and get a new color or you can get color repainted in the part that has grown out.

I am so happy to have pretty painted nails that will last! Guarantee in 3 weeks I'll let you know how mine have held up.

A vintage hello

Most of you know the love I have in my heart for Hallmark, (don't even get me started on the ornaments coming out in October!) but when I'm looking for birthday or other milestone cards for my friends I can never find one that is equally cute, pretty and different. They're either too sappy or complain about how awful it is to be getting one year older. So today I turned to my reliable, favorite place for cute cards: Borders book store.

They feature cards from popular places like Hello Lucky! and Papyrus but today I stumbled upon the cutest vintage remake brand selling there now called Nu-Vue Studio. They have a diverse collection of postcards, greeting cards, maps and other emphera. They cover all the major card giving occasions and even have an etsy store, selling only a small selection of their designs, too. They have a short list of stores that sell their cards on their website, but I found mine at an Indianapolis Borders and it's not listed on their store list so perhaps it hasn't been updated in awhile? Test your luck if you have a Borders in your city and check out their card section; and then be prepared to buy one of each. I'm going to have to figure out a way to get some of their Christmas cards because they are too cute not to have!

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

...how shall I hang you?

Almost a year ago two of my closest friends bought their very first home and it has been so exciting to visit their house every so often and see what they've changed; paint colors, new furniture and artwork place thoughtfully on the walls. On my last visit I walked into their bathroom and behind the sink there was a small decorative mirror propped up against the larger "standard-in-every-bathroom mirror" and thought that idea was pretty cool and differnt. I later asked if thats how she was keeping it and she blew my mind by telling me her even better idea of haning the small mirror on top of the bigger mirror!

I thought this was just the coolest idea and am definitely stealing it when I get around to owning a house. I of course had to share the idea with all of you and went out to google some images and it didn't pull up as many hits as I thought it would, so you have to use your imagination a little.









And as I kept scrolling through picture after picture of mirrors and grouping of mirrors the wheels in this creative brain of mine started turning. Like if you hung a mirror over a piece of art, over a window, or something like this trophy head over a mirror.





So start getting creative with flea market and Ikea mirror finds and hopefully I can share my friends mirror on mirror project results with you soon.