I'd Marry this Movie: Defending Your Life

Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life: there's a fair to middling chance that I may be obsessed with this movie. It's your typical "boy gets hit by a bus, goes to limbo, meets a girl, eats all the food he wants" story and did I mention, it has Meryl Streep it in? Because it does. Meryl frickin' Streep is in this movie and she is funny and she is delightful, and she glows like a thespian-Botticelli. What can I say? It's an existential romance and every time I think about it I put my hand on my chin and sigh.

Here are the reasons you should watch/marry it:
1) Daniel Miller dies on his birthday when he is hit by bus while listening to Barbra Streisand's "Something's Coming"(I'm in love with this movie already)
2) He ends up in an afterlife where he learns that he will have to go on trial to "defend" his life (cue the obligatory referencing to the title)
3) In this afterlife, people can eat all the food they want and never get fat or feel stuffed and the food is the best food you've ever had (hello, every fantasy I've ever had)
4) All the people being judged wear tupas (essentially mumus but with flattering belts)
5) Shirley Maclaine makes a cameo and it is the best cameo in the history of cameos
6) Rip Torn, Rip Torn, Rip Torn
7) It gives meaning to my life
This movie is sweet, smart, and funny and did I mention it has Meryl Streep in it?

(via youtube)

Meryl Streep eats a corndog. Can it get any better?

Smorgasbord Monday

Hey, pals. It is unbelievable to me that it's pretty much Thanksgiving. Insane. Here are some internet morsels to complete your Turkey Day feast. 


I don't know about you, but I totally plan to see the The Muppets this weekend. My adoration for Kermit knows no bounds.

via pinterest

So, as you might already know, I have long been obsessed with this video called Marcel The Shell with Shoes On. Of everyone I've ever known, only one person has disliked it. That man was Hitler. Just kidding, but this Marcel-hater-man is a jerk with a mustache fetish. Well, the creators Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp recently released a new book and another Marcel video "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On." Watch this and your days will be filled with sunshine and sea shells. My forever quote will be, "Guess why I smile a lot? Cuz it's worth it."

Hyperbole and a Half is the funniest blog in the world (this is not a hyperbole). Allie's cartoons and point-of-view are just the thing for any sort of occasion, whether it be quirky, delightful, or even mischievous (as so many occasions are). My favorite story has to be "How a Fish Almost Destroyed my Childhood." Take a gander.

via Hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com




I've been doing a lot of driving lately and this one song (Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness) has seen me through quite a few stoplights and traffic jams. Whenever I'm belting it out at top volume, while driving down the highway of life, I can't help but think of this scene from Pretty in Pink. There is no doubt in my mind that John Hughes was a genius and I am team Duckie all the way!

I hope you all have a week full of friends, family, and copious amounts of turkey. Myself, I am thankful for the incredible people in my life, and the Marcel the Shells, the Fish Friends, the Duckies, the Muppets, and the ever present possibility of breaking into song.

An Ashland Addiction, Part I

On the road to Ashland...

In the past few months, frice have I been to Ashland, Oregon. 

Frice = Four times. 

I know. I really lucked out what with my skill for making up silly words and my love for travel. So, the next few posts you will see from me will be Ashland centered because I really love this place and it gives me the chance to use the word frice more than frice times. Oh, also, I did not go alone (because that would be sad). I got to go to Ashland with my wonderful friends the Callaghan/Rhoads family (trip #2). Plus, I got to go to Ashland with my equally delightful friends Jackie of Bread Butter & Jam(trip #1, 4) and Matt(trip #4).

Why you should love Ashland, Oregon:

It is beautiful, like fairyland beautiful, all year round. When you get to Ashland, which you will, take a hike through Lithia Park. You can't miss it, just follow the creek into the crotch of the hillside (my mother's description, not mine). The park was designed by the same man who designed Golden Gate Park. Lithia is not so much a park as a magical meeting place for trees and deer.

It is a cultural mecca. Each year, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival offers 8 and-a-half months of some of the best theatre you will ever see. There are three theaters total (including a huge outdoor Elizabethan stage). I got to see several shows that were amazing (and yes, one or two that I wasn't so pleased with...turns out, dream sequences really freak me out). But, honestly, at OSF, you will laugh, you will cry, you will leave a better person. GO.

It's a breakfast town. You know what I mean. Have you ever been to a place and thought to yourself, "It's nice, but where could a girl get her pancake on around here?" I totally judge towns based on their breakfast/brunch possibilities. Ashland has tons of great places to break your fast: Morning Glory's, The Breadboard, Brothers. They are all scrumptious.

A Bear Totally Ate This Pancake @ Morning Glory's

I tried to convince my sister Hayley that we should do one shot where we were staring with adoration at each other, but she said that would be creepy...typical

Morning Conversation: My mom had just told Jackie how as a child (my mother) had a friend who was allergic to green beens and so for entertainment, they used to pay this girl to eat green beans and then they would watch her face sweat.

Shopping. You know I love it and there are so many delightful shops in this town. The total winner though: Prize. Every time I take a friend up to Ashland, I tell them, "There is a shop. It is a place where you will forever be happy and you will fantasize about being locked here over night. In that night, you will eat candy, read wonderful books, and sleep on the softest of blankets. This place is called Prize and it is a gift from the shopping gods. Go there, my friend. Find your prize."

The Interior of the Magical Place known as "Prize"

Did I mention they sell vintage flashcards? Cuz they do.

They also have "the best gummi bears" and Prize don't lie!

There are other nice shops too. For example:

PAPAYA LIVING

Yes, I bought this dress because I love it and it makes me feel like a beautiful fruit salad. So there!

I did not buy this scarf, although it did remind me of the final scene in Auntie Mame...

How cute is Jackie during her shopping break? She's just a photo shoot waiting to happen!

There are so many fun activities. Time to segway (ahem) to activities in the surrounding areas. For example, you can go to the little town of Jacksonville and ride...wait for it...segways. How do I put this? It was the most fun ever. Segways will totally fulfill your lifelong hopes of riding on a broomstick (hey, some of us saw Hocus Pocus at a critical age). Oh, and you get to wear some very chic helmets. Thanks Segway of Jacksonville. We had a whirly-gig of a good time!

Dad & I with our matching helmets

Time to train in the art of segway. Loving the quiet determination on the faces of John, Dad, and Matt. 

Adorable Rhoads couple (Matt + Claire) all ready to get on the road! Make sure to check out openrhoads.com :)

Lean into Art

I frequently museum. I museum most frequently. I have been to the Children in War exhibit in London, the Italian Torture Museum, and even the Louvre (best 15 minutes of my life). Often, my friends ask me, “How do you do it? How do you museum with so much class and efficiency?” To museum successfully is quite simple. Just follow these suggested guidelines.

1. Walk casually through the space allowing the art to speak to you or even hit on you (those saucy Reubens). For example: this Goelet Schooner Prize designed by Tiffany & Co. (1884) screams tartar sauce and traumatized fish sticks. You can practically smell the terror.

These bottles look like hot air balloons and they evoke a hydrogen sunrise.

March to your own drummer, ballerina.

2. Dress like a museum guard or like a person who likes museums (taupe and pearls). Blend.

 3. Get background info by frequently asking museum workers questions like..."If I licked this painting what would you do?” “What would it taste like?” or “What color is this wall?” “Do you have any paint swatches?” ...Benjamin Moore Ecru is very popular.

4. Never be afraid to express how the art has moved you: with words, with gestures, with unfortunate songs you wrote about your breasts ("My Busby Berkeleys are Timeless") but shouldn't have sung in public because there was a tour group right behind you...Never be afraid to be expressive. 

5. Finally, always remember to lean into art, physically, lean into culture.

Introduction to Canary Yellow

Like almost everyone I know who has ever tried to start a blog, I come at this thing for a second time. I just couldn't seem to get my act together. Because in the past, I didn't (and still maybe don't) know who I am, let me first introduce myself by what I now know I believe in. 


I believe in laughter. I'm talking belly laughs and guffaws. I believe in laughing till you cry and crying till you laugh. I believe in eating, and conversation, and whenever possible combining the two without choking. I believe in winks, and nods, and hi-fives, and silly dances. I believe in baked goods. I believe in personification. I believe in kindness and friendship and generosity of spirit. I believe in dignified riots. I believe in postcards, and graffiti. I believe in punchlines and puns and silly-silly words. I believe in comedy and carbs. I believe in yellow, canary yellow.


What is canary yellow you ask? It's a philosophy that I am stealing from the wisest of lyricists, Mr. Oscar Hammerstein.  Simply sung, "When the sky is a bright canary yellow, I forget every cloud I've ever seen."  This blog is going to be filled with things that make me feel canary yellow and I hope that they make you feel canary yellow too :)