Blog

Dirty Projectors, and Coraline

Posted on by Anna

Just got the new Dirty Projectors album Bitte Orca.

bitteorcaIt’s pretty wonderful. I have a feeling that it’s way cooler than I am, though, as if I should find something better to wear just to listen to it. That is to say, the R&B-like vocals are gorgeous and everything else is one step ahead of what you’re expecting. This was my introduction to the Dirty Projectors, and it has me interested to listen to their older work.

Also music-related, I saw Coraline (the musical) on Saturday! The production as a whole was delightful, and the music was extremely Stephin Merritt—plenty of fun rhyming, unusual instrumentation (oodles of toy pianos!), and just-right melodies. I left wishing that there had been one or two more “wow” moments, but if anything, the story was my least favorite part. (I know I should read the book before saying that though, so consider it unsaid.)

Coraline is only playing through July 5th, so if you are a Stephin Merritt or Magnetic Fields fan in NY get a ticket before it closes!

Clearance Shoes

Posted on by Anna

Sometimes the coolest stuff in the store is in the clearance aisle. Especially at the Tulsa DSW, where fashion-forward shoes don’t seem to be the most desired.

I found shiny tie-dye-style Steve Maddens…
clearanceshoes1

..and all shoes of this style of CL by Laundry were regular price except for these mustard lovelies.
clearanceshoes2

I don’t usually get pumped about shoe shopping, but cheap plus cute equals yay!

Of course, I found the real shoe bargain earlier in my trip, but probably somebody has snatched those up by now.

Gospel with Your Acrylic Yarn?

Posted on by Anna

In the past I’ve had trouble finding the right Oklahoma souvenirs for my New York friends, but Hobby Lobby came through for me on my last trip with Testamints, sugar-free gum that is officially holier than whatever gum you’ve been chewing!

testamints

I had heard of these before, so probably they’re not unknown, but I thought it was extra great that they were available where I was shopping for polyester stuffing. And according to the Testamints website, they are currently ONLY available at Hobby Lobby (and online via Oriental Trading Co).

What makes this gum special is not, as you might think, a Christian message printed on each piece of gum, but instead it’s just a Bible verse printed on the back of the package. So the idea is that you have to give whole packages of gum away to spread the word, and not just a piece. Sweet Jesus that’s clever.

My Sister’s Invites

Posted on by Anna

I recently had the honor of designing my sister’s invitations for her upcoming wedding, and I just saw the results in print for the first time!

sisinvites

We had them printed by Pinball, an excellent company whom I’d previously seen do a beautiful printing job on projects for CWC-i. The envelopes are from Jam Paper and are made of recycled Kraft paper.

It’s so exciting to see my design printed so nicely! It’s also exciting that my sister is getting married.

Meatballs

Posted on by Anna

Update: I didn’t realize, but the the trailer is already out. I could probably watch computer animated food gloriously falling out of the sky for two hours, but it looks like most of it will be a not-so-interesting backstory.

This seems to be a big year for classic children’s books turned into movies. That is, I just heard about one more aside from Where the Wild Things Are, so I’m calling it a trend.

cloudymeatballs

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was another one of my favorite books as a kid, and Sony Pictures is apparently releasing the computer animated movie this September. Unlike Wild Things, It looks like there isn’t an attempt to capture the fun visual style that makes the picture book so special, so that makes it less exiting. But my favorite Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live is in the cast, it seems, and that’s a big plus.