Phoenix & Passion Pit (09.25.09)

Friday night, Ana and I went to the Phoenix and Passion Pit concert in Central Park. I was afraid that it might rain, but it was actually a beautifully clear night, and once the crowd properly formed it wasn't too cold. I was impressed by both sets, including Passion Pit's enthusiasm which managed to break one microphone -- oops! Phoenix opened with "Lisztomania" and just as I was surmising what non-Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix tracks they might play, they busted out "Long Distance Call." Clearly, "1901" closed the show, but right before then in their encore they also played "Too Young." <3

On top of being wonderful, and French, and full of life - their vocalist Thomas Mars came out into the crowd during the encore. He walked straight out towards us, and then bent down to ask something of the guy standing in front of me. The boy then proceeds to lift Thomas Mars up onto his shoulders, and I reached up to support him from behind - mostly in the hopes that no one would fall into me as everyone crowded our space. Then again, being fallen upon by the lead singer of Phoenix is probably not the worst thing in the world - and he looked pretty light.

Here are some photos, and a video I took of Passion Pit playing "The Reeling" - one of my summer 2009 staples!

Passion Pit

Phoenix

A sample of their awesome lighting

Rather than zooming in, this is me leaning backwards in an attempt to photograph Thomas Mars

Album Review: Freelance Whales - Weathervanes

My favorite subway platform discovery of the summer, Freelance Whales, finally debuted their album this month. It's full of all of the same genuine enthusiasm that initially drew me to their performance, but there are also really beautifully layered sounds and a hint of innocent desperation to their voices. "Broken Horse" sounds so much like it could be a Sufjan Stevens song, that I zoned out and actually thought that it *was* for a while. And it's true, their sound often has that dreamy layered (gazillion instrument-created) effect of acts like Sufjan Stevens and occasionally the Arcade Fire. My favorites are (still) "Generator ^ 2nd Floor", which was the song I first heard while waiting for an L train, and "Location". Perhaps not groundbreaking, but definitely delightful music to bring us into fall.

Their album is available on iTunes. Also, a few tracks are available for free through RCRD LBL

Also, can we discuss the cute, crafty quality of their cover art? Nice choice!

officially Fall

Happy first day of Fall! This really is my favorite season.

The whole time I was in Chicago, it was so nice and warm still - a welcome change from some of the coldness that NY had been experiencing. But now that I'm back in Brooklyn and it's "officially" fall, suddenly we're in a little spurt of warm weather. My wardrobe is super confused.

Also while I was just at home in Chicago, I gave out these latest projects of mine to some of my favorite summer birthday girls:

^ for Ali (I made myself almost exactly the same one, too)

^ for Eve, perfect for her "law school wardrobe" color scheme

These have been a great way to go through some of my old fabric, which continues to pile up in every apartment I have. It's all bits and pieces (on rare occasion do I actually have leftover yardage, such as the print on this dress), but clearly they can be re-used so I'll never actually throw anything out! Such is the life of a pack rat.

I'm still going through the pains of finding a new job, and working on finalizing what styles I want to offer on Etsy.

Before blogs...

...there were diaries.

And while I was at home this weekend, I found the last one I ever had. The one just barely preceding my (really whiny) LiveJournal. It only spans just over one month of my life of being 16, but it is so classically teen angst-ridden that I could hardly believe that the person who wrote it was ever me. What's even less believable is that almost every day I had the exact same (non)issues, but thought that they were new and different (or, you know, the end of the world). It's hysterical.

Summary of myself at 16:

- omg, my mom is totally overreacting

- I have a test/quiz/paper for this class and I need a __% on it or else I'm going to get a B! Oh no! (Generally followed 2 days later by, "oh, that was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be")

- why is ___ mad, this is so ridiculous! Alternatively: holy crap, I can't believe ___ said that, I'm so angry!

- She found out he didn't like her, it was so sad!

- omg highschool relationship = tunnel vision (someone should have told me to shut up)

It's nice to know that we've all grown up. But also scary that in some ways...not so much.

if it's not love, then it's the ____ that will bring us together

I made this mix a while back, but I've been listening to it more frequently lately - I think a lot of the songs feel very "fall-ish" to me.

Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the _____

Shyness is nice, and

Shyness can stop you

From doing all the things in life

You'd like to

So, if there's something you'd like to try

If there's something you'd like to try

Ask me- I won't say "no" - how could I?

Anyway, I'm off to Chicago tomorrow! Time has come to see my friends and eat some apples + honey. I'm very excited - stay tuned.

hip to be square

The rain held off for Fashion's Night Out last night, but not the case for today! I braved the precipitation and subwayed over to pick up these photos - the last round of pics from Holland. I am still not a terribly skilled Diana+ user, so only 11 of the 12 came out, and only 7 of those are anything like I had hoped they'd be.

flowers at the Grote Markt in Haarlem

View from the center of the square in Grote Markt

Misc. bicycles on the brick lanes of Haarlem

Carnival in Grote Markt on our last day there!

Outside of the Van Gogh museum

Tasty treats: chicken spring rolls & bitter lemon to drink (at Stempels, in Haarlem)

Rachel and Guy, lunch the day after the wedding

As for FNO, it was a lot of fun! I checked out the Anna Sui for Target pop-up shop, which had amazing decor -- though, the floor lights kept going out while I was there. I picked up a black silk "Serena" jumper, which I think will go nicely into fall layered over some skinny jeans or tights! I spent a long time at the Vogue Alumni House, catching up with the Thread Social and sneaking glances at Brad Goreski, my favorite Rachel Zoe Project star + the host of the event. En route to Opening Ceremony, I made a stop into Madewell and Topshop, neither of which I had really explored in much depth before last night (I don't get over to SoHo that much). I got some great sale pieces at Madewell, including some brown jeans for fall. The night was filled with loads of highly stylized shoppers, free drinks, and little snacks. I'm so glad it didn't rain!

instant Amsterdam

I'm not quite on Holland time anymore, but still not back to NY time. So this morning I woke up and made pancakes, and hoped that if I put butter and powdered sugar on them, they'd taste like poffertjes -- they didn't (but they were still delicious). I went to drop off some 120mm film I shot, and will go back to Park Slope to get it tomorrow. In the meantime, these are some photos from my Polaroid - I felt that it was necessary to travel with 3 different cameras!

bike parking in Amsterdam

exterior of the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam

Rachel & Guy's wedding ceremony

Dad, holding Rachel's wedding bouquet - they were heavy!

Guy and Rachel exiting the synagogue - beautiful!

Tonight is Fashion's Night Out here in NY (and, well, everywhere there is a Vogue office). Luiz and I are going to the SPURR presentation in a few hours! I hope it isn't raining too badly later - I want to run around to a few of the stores' events tonight, but after my first rain-filled day in Amsterdam, I've had my fill of being cold and wet.

Dutch design, new and old

Holland was a really beautiful place to visit. The architecture is almost overwhelming as you walk along the canals, passing all of the homes that the old Dutch elite had built. The details on many of the houses are elaborate and sometimes quite over-the-top. Here are a few of the elements that I liked along the way:

As an example of over-the-top design, how about some Greek gods statues to adorn the roof of your house?

This is the interior of the synagogue where my cousin was married - I love the tiled pillars

This was also inside of the synagogue - it's just a floor grate, but I loved the serpentine folded metal in the center and the radiating pattern

The bridges over the canals are all quite old, but this one stood out with its modern 3-D fence shapes

A pair of buildings, 383 and 385, had this great font for their housenumbers. I especially love the 8 and how it looks like a diamond ring.

Outside of a storefront were a series of these coverings - I like the scissors, and I actually saw more scissors elsewhere in the city, as part of the sidewalk. I wonder if they were related.

mm, lekker

Here's a random sampling of what I've been up to here in Holland - in less than 24 hours I'll be heading back to America :'( It's been an unbelievable trip full of fun people and sights...I love it! More about the trip and the wedding (of course) later.

A cone of frites...I am so full of frites and frite sauce, it will be ages until I decide to want to stand in line at Pommes Frites again

Wooden tulips at the memorial for deported Jews during the Holocaust

There is a strangely large amount of Argentine restaurants here - this is the best one I saw

I'd bet this bike doesn't get lost very much

Adoptable puppies are cute in all languages

feeling fall

When I woke up this morning, it was colder in my apartment than it was outside (and the A/C wasn't even on)-- fall must be coming! I'm excitedly preparing myself for my favorite season :)

This past weekend we went to Lederhosen, a German restaurant/beer hall - an idea that seems very fall-ish already. While there, we were surrounded (surprisingly) by a lot of very "bro"-types, but there was this gem of a guy at the table over from us:

very blurry, but it's hard to photograph someone discreetly...

the bottom of my Berliner Weisse glass

Sunday, Eve and I went to the Antiques Garage in Chelsea, as well as a few places around Union Square. I bought myself this fall hat at Urban Outfitters:
I'm not usually a hat person, but I do like cloches, and this colorway/trim was right up my alley. We'll see if I actually decide to keep it...

I've been looking for a good pair of oxfords for fall, that weren't too expensive, but weren't cheesy. I think I struck gold at DSW, with this pair of Steve Madden cognac brown leather oxfords--they were in the clearance section for under $50. Win!

Tomorrow I'm off to Amsterdam for a week! I am incredibly excited, and I just finished making the dress that I plan on wearing to my cousin's wedding. I'll post pictures of it when I'm back!