Fashion for Paws Pawtini Halloween Happy Hour!

When: Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Where: 

J&G Patio at the W 

515 15th Street NW

Please join us for a Fashion for Paws (F4P) Halloween themed Pawtini Happy Hour Event benefiting the Washington Humane Society (WHS) at the W Washington, DC Hotel on the new J&G Patio (patio will have heaters) from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. WHS will receive 20% of the proceeds from the bar revenue from the happy hour. 

To RSVP (Required) and for more information click HERE.

Weekend Road Trip

Fallingwater.
Frank Lloyd Wright, 1935.
Mill Run, Pennsylvania.
Organic Architecture.
Four Hours from Washington, DC.
U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
U.S. National Historic Landmark.

Hailed by Time shortly after its completion as Wright's "most beautiful job", it is also listed among Smithsonian's Life List of 28 places "to visit before you die."  It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.  In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named the house the "best all-time work of American architecture" and in 2007, it was ranked twenty-ninth on the list of America's Favorite Architecture according to the AIA. Wikipedia.

More Information Here.  Actually, a fantastic website.  One of the best I've seen. 

High Heels Drag Race

One of the best parts of Halloween in DC. 

Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Location: 17th Street, between P and S Streets NW near Dupont Circle

Race Time: Begins at 9 p.m. Participants gather as early as 6 p.m.

The Bookshelf

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

This collection of essays is absolutely essential for anyone California dreaming or wishing that Vanity Fair had more female essayists.  Once I took the Proust Questionnaire and I scored closest (97%) to Joan Didion.  I was floored, I’ve considered this woman a role model since I found out who she was, to be told that her and I think alike was the truest of compliments.

Published in 1968, this collection is taken primarily from The Saturday Evening Post,  American Scholar and The New York Times Magazine.  It chronicles much of her life in California in the 1960’s with some of the best prose written at the time, in my opinion  I’ve never been to California, but I don’t want to go until I can experience her California. She has a love from where she is from, and an entire book about it as well.  Her passion and, ironically, her ambivalence about Sacramento is stunning.  She narrates a world that, in modern times, has become iconic; California in the 1960’s means something to those of us that study history or watch Mad Men.  Reading these essays without the glare of a reminiscing eye makes them all the more interesting, and in terms of the Counter Culture, much more troubling.   

My Playlist Sounds Like Fall

F*** You by Cee Lo

Ta Douleur by Camille

Power by Kanye West

Take It Off by Ke$ha

Mi Amigo by Kings of Leon

Mine by Taylor Swift

Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine

Queen Bitch by David Bowie

The Dummy Song by Louis Armstrong

The Passengerby Iggy Pop

King of Anything by Sara Barellis

Here Comes the Flood by Peter Gabriel

It’ll All Work Out by Tom Petty

Lazy Eye by Hem

Appalachia Waltz by Yo Yo Ma

I Think Ur a Contra by Vampire Weekend

Anthro

Well, there goes the neighborhood!

Did I say neighborhood? I meant paycheck.  According to the Washington Business Journal, Anthropologie is moving on in to Penn Quarter, a short walking distance from my apt.

Report: Anthropologie Coming To Penn Quarter, DCist

Dear John

"It's understandable, but ... I've never kept quiet the fact that I write songs about people. It's like, this is album number three. You guys have had fair warning!" —Taylor Swift on former lovers being upset about their exposure in her album

Taylor Swift, the best role model in the world.  

Secretly Offended

I received a survey from Victoria's Secret today.  I was told it would take 10 Minutes and it would better tailor the coupons they send to me.  I clicked the link, because, sure.

The first questions was my marital status. 

Butterflies on the Metro

Today I saw a butterfly on the Metro. It got on at Union Station and off at Rhode Island, where I assume it was going to Home Depot to buy some paint that will turn out to be a mistake. As almost all paint jobs are.

Of course it isn't as romantic as when Kathleen Kelly saw a butterfly on the Subway and assumed it went to Bloomingdales to buy a hat.  I also shared my experience with hundreds of people on Facebook instead of the absolutely adorable Tom Hanks in You've Got Mail.  If anything, it reminds me to put more Jimmy Durante on my iPod.

I'll just take it as a little wink from the universe that my life is heading in the direction of a Nora Ephron movie, just not Julie & Julia. 

Missing Blogger. If Found, Ask Her to Write

I feel like I get the urge to write with the changing of the seasons.  Yes, it's still humid here in DC and it's still breaking 80 degrees everyday. However, the nights are cooler and the mornings are pleasant. I've had a busy summer with lots of life changes but as Fall comes to the District, I hope to be able to share more with you.

I had my first taste of Autumn via a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte (at the original Starbucks) when I was in Seattle at the beginning of this month.  Two very wonderful and lovely people got married and I couldn't be happier for the couple.  In Seattle the weather was exactly what fall should feel like.  Unfortunately, I was still in mid-Atlantic dress and didn't completely fit in, both with the temperature and with the crowd.  Four girls roaming Seattle on a Friday in bright pink and lots of Lilly definitely guaranteed several confused or disapproving glances our way. 

 This 1960s-era photo of Lilly Pulitzer, in a peppermint-striped sheath dress, conveys the leisurely, luxe lifestyle her brand became known for.