1. Wearing Raybans automatically makes you cool. Or at least a lot closer to cool.

2. You must have a banjo or an electric violin in your band. Preferably both.

(sorry about the blurry pic of Noah and The Whale.)

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3. Jeans: the tighter the better—but we all already knew that, didn’t we?

4. The Ice Cream Man RULES!!!!

5. Never leave home without your earplugs. Ever.

6. If you are hungry, you can always find a soft taco.

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7.
Lots of wristbands makes you cool.

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8. Japan Nite kicks ass—but it’s full of Asia-philes.

9. Get there early if you want the free stuff. (Side note: the Aussie BBQ had the best veggie burgers ever.)

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10. Live music is awesome!!!
My favorite new bands from SXSW (not all of which I saw, but have since started listening to):
Deer Tick, Phosphorescent, Two Gallants, She & Him, Holy Conlan, Apache Beat,
Yeasayer, Bon Iver, Fanfarlo, Noah & The Whale, Sons & Daughters, A Weather,
Back Ted n Ted, Kaki King, Man Man, Laura marling, Georgie James, The Dodos

If you didn’t already know, I’m obsessed with music. Uhb-sessed. Maybe I’m kind of A.D.D. because when I’m at a party, or even at home, and the CD ends, I start twitching until a new album gets put on. So, that’s my intro. Here are some of the artists I’ve been fixating on lately:

Band of Horses . I resisted their new album for a long time, and I don’t even know why. But it’s really good twangy indie rock. I can’t stop listening to it!

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Born Ruffians. They’re a bit scruffy but adorable, and the songs are fun indie pop. Check out the Hummingbirds video, it’s really cute:

Ambulance Ltd. I’m not even sure how I came across them. Andy is always bringing home new music that we’ve never heard of. They’re sort of indie/shoegaze and very laid back. Ophelia is my favorite track off LP, if you want to check it out!

I also like that Lupe Fiasco song, Superstar:

It’s stuck in my head all the time lately. Think I’ll have to break down and download it off Amazon!

Justice. French electronica. Just try listening to this without wanting to bust out dancing. It’s impossible. They’re like the new Daft Punk.

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Kate Nash. AKA Lily Allen 2. Do you love that Merry Happy song? I’m sure I’ll get sick of it, but I haven’t yet.

Animal Collective. How do you describe their music? It’s indie/electronic/psychedelic/experimental rock. It’s fantastic. I love the whole album, but check out Fireworks, especially. Here’s the video:

Charlotte Gainsbourg. Daughter of famous French singer Serge Gainsbourg. If you like Air, you’ll probably like Charlotte Gainsbourg. I didn’t like it the first time I heard it, but then it really started to grow on me. There’s a nicely shot video for her song 5:55 on YouTube. Maybe a little self-absorbed, but I guess it’s her video and she can do what she wants!

Vampire Weekend. They’re going to be on SNL this weekend, which I don’t see as a good thing. I’m one of those people who sometimes likes to keep bands all to myself without them becoming superstars… but VW will no doubt be huge, as predicted by this StereoGum.com quote:
“This is, in fact, what the not-so-distant future possibly maybe holds:
In late 2008, after Vampire Weekend has guested on Saturday Night Live, sold out the Theater at Madison Square Garden for nine consecutive nights, and licensed songs for commercials for every product in Apple’s lineup, Zach Braff discovers a hip, new underground band called “Vampire Weekend.” He adds them to the soundtrack for his new movie, a coming-of-age story about Zach Braff sleeping with whichever currently popular 22-year-old actress is the hottest. He explains in the CD’s liner notes: ‘Their songs sound like Graceland by Paul Simon, another artist with which I am newly familiar.’”

Evangelicals. They are fantastic. Their album is amazing, weird, funky, indie rock. Check out their new video on StereoGum. It’s very reminiscent of a Potato Riot film. Right up my alley!

Honorable mentions:
Rogue Wave (especially the song Chicago x12), Au Revoire Simone, the new Breeders album (not out yet, but the single is good), St. Vincent.

I’m going to SXSW at the end of next week with a friend, so if anyone has any advice on “must see” bands, please let me know!!!

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ps-last night I saw the worst show ever called Quarterlife.
It’s like a bad TV version of Reality Bites (which I looooove), complete with whiny Winona Ryder character and brooding Ethan Hawke character. They even use some of the exact same lines from Reality Bites, and the rest of their conversations are trite. Oh, but it’s really “hip” and “now” because it’s all about blogging—they even have webisodes online. Bleh. Sorry, I probably sound really mad and agro. I had high hopes since it’s by the people who made My So Called Life, but this was just baaaad!

My Best Dressed vote goes to Keri Russell. She is completely gorgeous so I think she’d probably look good no matter what, but that dress was stunning. Not a lot of people can pull off such a plain color, but she did it. And that necklace: Oh. My. God. Frigging beautiful.

One comment my bff made was that everyone had gym-hair. And it’s kind of true. Very few people had fancy hair, and everyone else had wispy ponytails/buns. I guess that’s not a bad thing—Cameron Diaz always goes for gym-hair, and she looked fabulous. I loved her dress.

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A lot of people were wearing red, but Catherine Heigl’s dress was very unique and the shoulder-thing was pretty. Oh, and she was so nervous when she was presenting! It’s funny that actors can create these entirely different characters and yet still be terrified to get up and talk in front of a million people. Kinda makes me feel better, because I have such bad stage fright.

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There weren’t too many surprises this year. Biggest surprise, I guess, were the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories. I just watched Michael Clayton yesterday and Tilda Swinton was amazing, but I’m still surprised she won. I would’ve thought Julie Christie or Cate Blanchet would win. And I hate to say it, but Tilda was wearing a shiny garbage bag. She’s a great actress, and she gave a really funny speech, but the woman does not have much of a fashion sense.

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As usual, the Oscars were really fun. One of my favorite parts of the show was the Harlem IMPACT Rep performing one of the songs from August Rush. It was incredible, and I can’t believe they didn’t win!

And as usual, my sister won the pool—a whopping FOUR DOLLARS. Yeah, she’s really lucky.
What amazing Oscar moments am I missing?
**All pics courtesy of TeamSugar**

SPOILERS!!!

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Just watched the premiere of ANTM:10. I’m not enough of a connoisseur to know if this will be a great season, but they chose a bunch of girl’s who’d been passed up before, so it seems like they’ll all try extra hard to win, and the level of motivation should be exciting!

My faves, so far (thanks to pix from cwtv.com):

Whitney. She’s this season’s +size model, so I have to root for her. She’s really pretty, and she wants to get the “plus size” word out there, (not like she’ll win or anything, they never do!) but go get ‘em Whitney!

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Claire. She’s stunning with unique style. She reminds me of a bird, but not in a bad way. She has a pretty good strut and the clothes should look good on her. And apparently her “thing” is raising awareness for the environment. Yay ozone layer!

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Fatima is the beautiful Somalian model. Personally, I can’t stand her hair, but I’m hoping that’ll be fixed in an upcoming makeover epi. And if she ate some food, that wouldn’t hurt either. Well it might hurt, but nutrition is good for you–promise! Her platform is really intense: she was circumcised at age 7 (it’s common in many African cultures), and she wants to raise awareness and fight against female genital mutilation. No arguments there!

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There are some other good contenders, and some bad ones, too. They all seem to have “been through something tragic” which is both sad and annoying. Can’t we just watch happy people wear pretty clothes anymore? And most of them seem to have a hard time runway-walking. I mean, I’m no expert supermodel strutter, but then again, I’m not trying to be! Haha.

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And on another TV note, I was watching the new Terminator show on Fox the other night. The show’s not very good, but guess who’s on it: Brian Austin Green (my beloved David Silver from 90210)! He’s engaged to the girl from Transformers, right? I guess they both have a Man vs Machine thing going on. Anyway, it’s nice to see that hottie back on the small screen because he’s freaking hottt!

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PS-A big thank you to Kiki for the Thinking Blogger nomination. I feel like a rock star!

Last week was a busy one here in AlexLand. Well, not really, but I don’t get out much.

I started physical therapy for a ridiculous back pain I’ve had for a month, so wish me luck for a speedy recovery. So far so good, and I get to window shop on the way home! Speaking of which, I saw the coolest shorts at Hugo Boss. I can’t find a picture of them anywhere online, but they’re super-high-waisted, gold shorts, and they unzip around the waist/hip area so you can wear the high-waisted bit as a corset/belt over a shirt w/ jeans. It’s awesome, but I don’t really look good in shorts, so I don’t think I’ll be purchasing said item.

On Wednesday a friend and I went to Bowery Ballroom to see MGMT and Yeasayer. What an awesome show! MGMT were good but they’re not the greatest live performers. And they’re so young and cute! They look like they’re about 16, but I guess they’re in their early 20’s. It’s questionable as to whether or not the lead singer has gone through puberty yet.
And Yeasayer was incredible. They were fun to watch and their music is funky & ecclectic. It was totally worth the $13 I paid.

Over the weekend we went to a fab new sushi place on the UWS called Momoya where I had a delish seaweed/cucumber salad. Then we saw No Country For Old Men. I highly recommend this flick. It’s adapted from a Cormack McCarthy book, and directed by the Coen brothers (I love those guys). Javier Bardem is scary good, as are Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin (who I’ll always remember from one of my fave 80’s movies: Thrashin’)

I was going to avoid posting about the big HEART DAY, but there is so much kitschy, fabulous schlock all over the internet and stores!!! Every time I pass American Apparel they’ve changed their window display. There are hearts dangling from every restaurant in my ‘hood. And Duane Reade’s been cashing in since December 29th. So now it’s my turn…

Almost everything at FredFlare.com is Valen-tastic, but here are my faves:

$10 Rainbow Heart necklace. It’s got a cute little diamond (I wish—it’s probably just a dot of metal) on the side. Yes, it is un poco tacky, but this little rainbow/heart makes me smile.

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$14 Heart Shaped Measuring Cups. Too cute to actually cook with, but I bet they’d look pretty dangling from my wall.

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Hot Cocoa with heart shaped marshmallows … I’m not sure about this one. I bet the cocoa doesn’t actually taste all that great, and the marshmallows—to me they look mangled. And what did they do with the marshmallow holes?

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$9 Rose Rings. Aren’t these pretty? Unfortunately, they only come in a size 7, and I have abnormally small fingers, so I will not be sporting a Rose Ring this V-day.

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I totally love these $14 Photobooth Frame Necklaces. Andy and I have a bunch of photobooth pictures from over the years, and I think it would kick ass to put one of them in a framed necklace. I guess it’s like a modern day locket… except it’s not quite as personal because it’s dangling around your neck for all to see. Hmmm…

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Thanks Fred Flare for the countless random, useless products that I now desperately want to buy!
Up next….

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WARNING: This next item does not fall under the catagory of schlock. It’s just plain fabulous.
How much do you love this fun pendant by LaCoque? I loved it so much that I bought it—and now it’s sold out, sorry folks. But there’s a lot more fabulousness to be had at their Etsy shop, so swing on by!

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I think my favorite ridiculous Valentines Day item is this:

“Perfect Fit” Denim Chocolates. I saw this at the drugstore and had to take a picture. I mean, have you ever seen anything so cheesy? It makes me happy inside, just knowing that old Mom Jeans are being recycled, and turned into Valentines Day chocolates. Fantastic. Oh, and did I mention that the box is padded? Yeah, it almost feels like you’re actually touching someone’s butt.

Happy Valentines Day (week), lovelies!!!

1.

FASHION WEEK! If you’re not already tracking it, go to Style.com for a look at the runway shows. There are some amazing collections. My favorites so far are Proenza Schouler and Rodarte. The Proenza Schouler collection is dark and dramatic but uses lots of contrasting fabrics to lighten it up (at least, that’s what it looked like to me!!). And the sisters behind Rodarte made some of the most gorgeous dresses I’ve ever seen. I want one!

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2.She and Him.

I was looking at StereoGum and heard Zooey Deshanel’s new single with M. Ward. Their band is called She and Him. The album’s not out yet, but you can listen to the Mp3 here at Merge Records. It’s a cute, fun song and Zooey has such a great voice. Fans of Jenny Lewis will really like this. I think they’re playing at SXSW, which I would kill to go to and see tons of great bands!!! Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s gonna happen.

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3.

I may sound like an old lady for bigging up a heart monitor watch, but this one from the Bliss catalog sounds really cool.
Haven’t you ever wanted to know how many calories you burned after walking fifty blocks, or climbing a flight of stairs? You can also program the amount of calories you want to eat per day, and if you exceed that amount the watch tells you! Okay, that part might get really annoying.
Sorry, I totally sound like an infomercial, don’t I? Ooops!

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4.

Doctor Fish. Apparently in Southern China people use tiny fish (nicknamed “Doctor Fish”) to eat dead skin cells of their bodies. Gross!!! I’m all for beauty rituals but I think I would vomit if fish were sucking away at my flesh. Call me crazy.

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5.You don’t have to watch the whole thing, but this video is really funny. Japanese game shows are so insane.
Thanks for playing!!!

Yes, I know I am like, the last person to get around to doing this post. I have been busy.
… But I know you’re all dying to see what’s in my bag, so here it is!

First of all, the bag I’m carrying these days is an awesome leather Marc Jacobs bag with these little buckle-things that are really hard to get open, but I make that sacrifice for fashion.

Kleenex. I always have kleenex, especially in the winter. As you can see from the bride & groom pattern, this pack is left over from my bridal shower or something.

My cell phone. The obligatory purse item. My Nokia has this cute little charm on it that Andy brought back from his trip to China. It’s merch for the Olympics, which are this year, right?

Gum. Always.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. What an incredible book—I highly recommend it. I wanted to read it before I go see the movie, which also looks incredible. It’s also great because it’s so small, and fits perfectly in my bag without weighing it down like The Other Boleyn Girl did.

My gorgeous Kenneth Jay Lane square hoop earrings. Maybe it’s weird that I keep them in my bag, but there’s a little pocket for them, so they don’t get banged up. It’s nice to have a pair of hot earrings in my bag, just in case I randomly wind up at a party or event. True, it’s not very often that I’m randomly whisked away to a fabulous soirée, but a girl should always be prepared.

L’Oreal H-I-P lip shine in “Sweet”. I love that stuff. And although I love drooling over the goodies at Sephora, this stuff is good and inexpensive.

Oral Sex Mints. How funny are these? They were a gag gift at my bachelorette party. They’re kind of gross, but they make me laugh.

Back Talk postcards!!! I ordered hundreds of these to pass out on the street and mail to people, but of course I’m too shy to stand on the street and shove postcards in peoples faces! Therefore I am stuck with tons and tons of them. I always carry them in my bag, just in case I get the balls to pass them out somewhere. And if all else fails, I’m thinking of making them into a dress. What do you think?!

Tada! So, that’s my bag, as displayed on my horrible Formica counter top. I also carry my camera in my bag, but I couldn’t exactly take a picture of it.

We all have weird dreams, so here’s another one to add to the list:

My mom, sister and I decided to go to the movie theater to see ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ (which is weird because that movie came out like 3 years ago, right?), but first we went to get a smoothie.
So we went to the shop, placed our orders, and I happily drank my raspberry/pineapple smoothie (my favorite combo). It tasted so freaking good that halfway to the movie theater, I decided I’d rather go back and get another smoothie than see ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’.
Unfortunately, when we got back to the smoothie shop, it had changed ownership, and the guy wouldn’t make me the same kind of smoothie!!!! After a lot of arguing, I got them to make me a orange/banana/peach smoothie.

While we waited, I accidentally sneezed in my sister’s face. I said “Sorry,” but she was really mad. (Sister’s can be meeeean in dreams!!). She was like “That’s not good enough!” and just started to yell. So I took my smoothie and went to a paper clip exhibit at a local gallery. Tons and tons of paper clips cascaded from the ceiling, made of metal, plastic, yarn, styrofoam… it didn’t even look that good—but at least I had my smoothie.

Needless to say, as soon as I woke up, I insisted that Andy and I walk down to Juice Generation for yummy fresh smoothies! We split a Pomegranate Berry Blast & a Juice Junky. Even though it was absolutely freezing outside, they completely hit the spot. I kind of wanted to get a third smoothie for later, but Andy told me I was crazy.

I know this was a lame post. If you read the whole thing: Thank You!!
What’s your favorite kind of smoothie?