A Tale Of Two City Girls

diana's ride

2012-06-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

for as many places as i've lugged my diana f+ camera, i really, unfortunately have very few pictures from her! I got a roll developed last weekend from my recent, caribbean vacation and realized i kind of exposed the film too much when i was unwinding it. woops! in spite of that, i was still in love with a few of the resulting photos.

parked on the beach with kerouac, vonnegut, fitzgerald, faulkner and a cocktail... heaven

some local flavors

sunsets are my very favorite things in the world. ever.

feel free to check out some of my other shots here or here.

hope everyone is doing well!

-katie

a happy saturday

2012-05-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"

-mr. kerouac

the wish tree

2012-05-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Not too recently, we went to dinner at a cool little restaurant in los angeles, daikokuya. walking through Little Tokyo, we stumbled upon a tree covered in little ribbons. in sort of the same vein as the Pont des Arts in Paris, the small tree had ribbons tied on almost every branch and each ribbon had a different wish written on it. we had to stop and read a few, because it was so interesting and charming. i don't know what i would write on mine though...

it would probably be some combination of the bottom two. flying and more books? sign me up!

what would you write on yours?

-katie

paris in the springtime.

2012-03-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

because i save absolutely everything, i have quite the collection of souvenirs from trips i've taken. i've made it a recent goal to start putting them to use. since Paris is my favorite city in the entire world, (so far!) i decided to start putting those souvenirs to use first.

I've made a huge shadow box for my living room that now houses some of my favorite memories of my time Paris. one of my favorite nights of my life took place in the art district, montmartre, and started with drinking wine from baby bottles at the refuge des fondues and ended with watching the sparkly eiffel tower and singing songs from moulin rouge outside the historic Le Chat Noir.

You can see because i'm kind of a hoarder, i was able to include my boarding pass from paris to london, subway tickets, tickets for the louvre and eiffel tower tour, a card from our hotel, even my notes with our travel itinerary and plane hangman games.

i'm glad my pack rat tendencies have come in useful, and made such a great showcase and reminder of my awesome april in paris.

-katie

wednesday inspiration

2012-02-29T19:11:00.001-08:00

i'm ready for spring break. lately i've found myself drooling over pictures on pinterest and daydreaming about my upcoming journey back to the caribbean. anyone else need a vacation? I figured we could all use a bit of random inspiration on this gratuitous leap day. as the saying goes, real life is for march.

-katie

"so give me your hand and let's jump out the window."

-the shins

{images via pinterest}

saint valentines day!

2012-02-13T23:44:00.000-08:00

i don't know if i could pick a favorite holiday but st. valentine's day is definitely top 3! i really enjoyed making and handing out valentines day cards when i was in elementary school and even though i'm 25 years old now i still enjoy the tradition. tonight, we celebrated "Gal-entines Day" (see Parks & Recreation) and i had an arts and crafts session to make my valentines for this year! hopefully my recipients enjoy them as much as i do! :)

-katie

a noisy but tasty valentine treat

kappa dessert

2012-01-20T08:24:00.000-08:00

one of my favorite christmas presents this year was my very own ice cream maker! perusing one of the best stores ever, Williams-Sonoma, i found a mint chocolate chip ice cream starter kit and decided i needed to make kappa dessert! it basically turned out to be the best things i've ever made. it's really simple and awesome and now kappa dessert is readily available without the inconvenience of having the kappa chef move into my apartment with me.

-katie

a pink ice cream maker!

Kappa Dessert

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Crumbled Oreos mixed in the ice cream and on top

to the sea

2012-01-08T10:51:00.000-08:00

"for whatever we lose [like a you or a me]

it's always ourselves we find in the sea"

-ee cummings, 95 poems

Heading to the beach today, and i thought this was a fitting line. i think this photo I took with Diana of Libby and Ashley accompanies it quite nicely. if you'd like, you can see some of my other shots here.

i hope you have a nice little sunday!

-katie

My 11 of 11

2011-12-25T15:58:00.000-08:00

So I like music, a lot (I'm guessing you knew this)... and wanted to share my favorite 11 albums of 2011. The order is a smidge subject to change at any given moment or mood. I did do my best though to be tough and really give my accurate list.

1. Bon Iver "Bon Iver"
2. St. Vincent "Strange Mercy"
3.Youth Lagoon "The Year Of Hibernation"
4.The Black Keys "El Camino"
5.tUnE-yArDs "whokill"
6. James Blake "James Blake"
7. M83 "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"
8. SBTRKT "SBTRKT"
9. Lykke Li "Wounded Rhymes"
10. Drake "Take Care"
11. James Vincent McMorrow "Early In The Morning"

*** Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)... Pepper Rabbit "Red Velvet Snow Ball", Girls "Father, Son, Holy Ghost", Mute Math "Odd Soul", Austra "Feel It Break", Portugal. The Man "In The Mountain In The Cloud", Neon Indian "Era Extrana", Fleet Foxes "Helplessness Blues", The Antlers "Burst Apart", Adele "21", & Bombay Bicycle Club "A Different Kind Of Fix"

Also, you know how there are just certain songs ingrained into your brain that remind you of a specific time and/or moment?? The below songs will FOREVER remind me of 2011. If you know me at all, you know once I love a song (I mean addicted to a song) I'll play it more than a lot the first 1-2 weeks after first hearing it. I SINCERELY apologize to all my past roommates and anyone (Ashley Twehues) who has taken extremely long road trips with me. These songs weren't all necessarily released this year but...

1. Walk The Moon "Anna Sun"
2. Nicki Minaj "Roman's Revenge"
3. Adele "Someone Like You"
4. M83 "Midnight City"
5. Bon Iver "Holocene"
6. Michael Trent "Bad Luck"
7. Childish Gambino "Heartbeat"
8. Dawes "Time Spent in Los Angeles"
9. Gotye "Somebody That I Used To Know"
10. Rihanna "What's My Name"
11. Lana Del Ray "Blue Jeans"
12. Lana Del Ray "Video Games"

Gimme your lists! I'd love to see/listen to them.

Can't wait for all the albums scheduled to come out in 2012!

x's and o's,

Libby

merry christmas

2011-12-23T18:52:00.000-08:00

we wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year! :)

we obviously had a blast in a photo booth last weekend at a holiday party, we hope you enjoy the photos as much as we did!

-libby & katie

Holiday Cheer

2011-12-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

This year my roommate and I both wanted to do something a little different for Christmas. She wanted to get a real tree, and I wanted to make gingerbread men. We'd never attempted either of these things so we thought we'd make a night of it and knock out both!

First up, getting and decorating the tree...

The guy at the tree lot was a little confused as to why I didn't want to tie the tree on top of my car like everyone else in America but hey, I wanted to test my trunk space and the capabilities of why I bought this vehicle in the first place. I have to say, I was impressed. Way to go Fit.

Colorful xmas socks got the party started.

Carolyn's beautiful (and real) Christmas tree!

Next up was making the gingerbread. We used Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men Recipe, which was recommended to me by a coworker. We used the icing recipe from here.

Katie and I getting the dough ready.

The turned out so delicious and it was super easy and fun.

Our apartment and our neighbors all lit up.

I can't wait to do more decorating and more baking when I head home to Indiana in a week!

Happy Holidays to all.

xx,

Libby

champagne and macarons

2011-12-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

the second installment of 'things currently making me happy'... {you can see the first here}

in love with california from the pretty woman hotel to the hotel cafe in hollywood where we can see harper blynn. anything in particular making you happy?

-katie

cheveux

2011-11-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

i know i talk about hair quite frequently but i can't help it! i tend to be overprotective because i had a hair-scare in early 2006 and i've been making every effort i can to repair my tresses since. (never try to color your own hair and then go to texas for spring break right afterward, you will never be the same) i know haircare in general is something a lot of girls tend to think about quite frequently.

i recently read a trick in a magazine, and i thought i'd pass it along. they suggested stocking your shower with multiple hair care products to help your hair stay healthier. if you get bored easily it allows you to change up your style too, so fun! I may have gone a bit too far because i now have about 20 bottles of shampoo in my shower. woopsie.

go crazy! mix it up!

-katie

baking time.

2011-11-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

for my recent birthday i got several cookbooks from my best friends in the world (i must be so transparent!). I finally found some time to spend in the kitchen recently so i decided to try out a recipe from the book that Libby and Carolyn got for me.

Magnolia Bakery in New York City is known for their cupcakes (which are delicious) and in my opinion their other baked goods don't get enough credit. I decided to make their poppy seed muffins which turned out so yummy. Be prepared they are pretty sweet!

Sorry it's a little wonky I'm not the best scanner.

happy monday!

-katie

Get Creative

2011-11-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

I think the below is pretty self explanatory.

image via Frederik Frede

-Libby

GIRL CRUSH(es)

2011-10-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a co-worker this week about female singers and came to the realization that this is the first time in my life when female artists have dominated the music I'm putting into my ears.
Last week I had the pleasure of seeing St.Vincent at The Music Box. This was my second time seeing her and she totally met the high expectations I had from the last show in Dallas. She's just this little porcelain creature who rocks out so hard on the guitar and sings with all her guts. It's wonderful to watch. She's currently touring to promote her new album "Strange Mercy" so skip on over to her website and see if she'll be in a city near you!

(photo via the world wide web)

Below are two of my favorite tracks off her new album! Check out the "Cruel" music vid where she's abducted by a family in need of a mother.

Another female artist who I've been enamored with lately is Lana Del Ray (real name: Lizzie Grant)

(photo also via www)

She's everywhere you look right now thanks to her song "Video Games". If you haven't heard of her yet get ready to because it will probably happen in the next week or so. ha. My personal favorite off the EP she released this month is "Blue Jeans". Supposedly a full length album will be released in January 2012. I can't wait...

Blue Jeans - Lana Del Rey by Radek Bash

Check out Bombay Bicycle Club's cover of "Video Games".

Bombay Bicycle Club - Video Games (Lana Del Rey cover) by the3penguins

Libby

Missing Midwest

2011-10-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

So it's been over 3 & 1/2 years since I left the good old Midwest after graduating from Butler. If you'd told me then that I'd miss it I would have laughed in your face (really, I would have). But alas, I'm here in California missing its splendors. Part of why I miss it is most of the people I love are scattered throughout, along with a laundry list of other reasons that I wont bore you with.

1. 2.

3.4.

1. Find HERE

2. Find HERE

3. Find HERE

4. Find HERE

Oh Midwest.

Until we meet again,

Libby

a mist makes things wonderful

2011-10-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

I recently read Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. I think I might be the only person in America that wasn't required to read this novel in high school (except for my fellow CHS alums!). As I think I've mentioned a few times (here, here and here), I love classic literature. This is definitely a must read.

-katie

"In the wild struggle for existence, we want to have something that endures, and so we fill our minds with rubbish and facts, in the silly hope of something keeping our place."

Listen UP

2011-10-11T00:21:00.000-07:00

Ok so I admit, I've been terrible at this since moving to LA. I've let myself feel a bit creatively stifled (and unworthy) since there is just SO MUCH creativity out here...but no more. Plus, I need the brain exercise that this outlet offers. It is also fun, whether you internet users read it or not.

Per the usual, there is so much amazing music being introduced to me every day, and some of my favorite artists have been coming out with some new stuff the last couple months. I've compiled a little list below of some of my new favorites. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

1. Breezeblocks (demo) by alt-j
2. Grouplove - Tongue Tied by PluggedIn
3. bloodbuzz ohio // oh land [the national cover] by sexmusic
4. Cookies' "Wilderness Tips" by clicky clicky music blog
5. MuteMath "Prytania" by LibbyCM
6. "Cruel" by St. Vincent by Kisses & Noise
7. bombay bicycle club-lights out words gone by laxmasmusica
8. Spank Rock - Car Song (feat. Santigold) by Arsène
9. Phantogram - Don't Move by vibetothis
10. Deconstruction - Fanfarlo by ATL REC

Yours Truly,
Libby

bendy straws

2011-09-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

hi friends!

i've recently become so very obsessed with the blog Little things. Anyone else? The blogger posts almost daily listing something small that we should appreciate. It might seem silly but it always brightens my day.

Might be worth the bookmark.

-katie

A few of my recent favorites...

dog days

2011-09-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

while the rest of the states seems to be buzzing about the cool autumn weather, we've had a few cool days but the heat doesn't seem to be going anywhere here in southern california. so much so that the thought actually crossed my mind the other day that maybe i could try an iced pumpkin spice latte.(because i just want one so badly!)

because hot beverages and meals are out, i've been loving a few jazzy salads that get me through these last few hot days. I thought i'd share because who doesn't love a good salad?

perhaps my favorite: The Kappa Salad

Formal dinners at KKG were always my favorite because we started with the Kappa salad.

spinach/strawberries/candied walnuts/poppy seed dressing

Casey's Orzo Salad

my good friend, Casey, introduced this one to me. she's a whiz-kid in the kitchen. :)

spinach/ al dente orzo/ feta cheese/ dried cranberries/ lemonjuice&olive oil

Pear Gorgonzola Walnut Salad

Megan, my biggest foodie friend, recently taught me how to candy walnuts, since then i've obviously been using them every chance i get.

romaine/candied walnuts/julienne bartlett pears/gorgonzola/balsamic vinegar

Hope you enjoy!

-katie

island in the sun

2011-08-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

i haven't been in front of my computer screen for a little over two weeks now and it's been quite glorious. i was lucky enough to spend an entire week in the Caribbean eating more lobster than ever before, sitting by the sea and reading Oscar Wilde. Pretty much the most perfect week ever. I miss it so. Here are some pretty pictures...

-katie

sharing our lunch with a macaw

Do you read?

2011-07-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

Trolling through the internet this morning I stumbled upon the below narrative in response to THIS one, written from a girls perspective. I love everything about it, and that a man actually thinks like that, somewhere in the universe. ENJOY!

You Should Date An Illiterate Girl By Charles Warnke

Date a girl who doesn’t read. Find her in the weary squalor of a Midwestern bar. Find her in the smoke, drunken sweat, and varicolored light of an upscale nightclub. Wherever you find her, find her smiling. Make sure that it lingers when the people that are talking to her look away. Engage her with unsentimental trivialities. Use pick-up lines and laugh inwardly. Take her outside when the night overstays its welcome. Ignore the palpable weight of fatigue. Kiss her in the rain under the weak glow of a streetlamp because you’ve seen it in film. Remark at its lack of significance. Take her to your apartment. Dispatch with making love. Fuck her.

Let the anxious contract you’ve unwittingly written evolve slowly and uncomfortably into a relationship. Find shared interests and common ground like sushi, and folk music. Build an impenetrable bastion upon that ground. Make it sacred. Retreat into it every time the air gets stale, or the evenings get long. Talk about nothing of significance. Do little thinking. Let the months pass unnoticed. Ask her to move in. Let her decorate. Get into fights about inconsequential things like how the fucking shower curtain needs to be closed so that it doesn’t fucking collect mold. Let a year pass unnoticed. Begin to notice.

Figure that you should probably get married because you will have wasted a lot of time otherwise. Take her to dinner on the forty-fifth floor at a restaurant far beyond your means. Make sure there is a beautiful view of the city. Sheepishly ask a waiter to bring her a glass of champagne with a modest ring in it. When she notices, propose to her with all of the enthusiasm and sincerity you can muster. Do not be overly concerned if you feel your heart leap through a pane of sheet glass. For that matter, do not be overly concerned if you cannot feel it at all. If there is applause, let it stagnate. If she cries, smile as if you’ve never been happier. If she doesn’t, smile all the same.

Let the years pass unnoticed. Get a career, not a job. Buy a house. Have two striking children. Try to raise them well. Fail, frequently. Lapse into a bored indifference. Lapse into an indifferent sadness. Have a mid-life crisis. Grow old. Wonder at your lack of achievement. Feel sometimes contented, but mostly vacant and ethereal. Feel, during walks, as if you might never return, or as if you might blow away on the wind. Contract a terminal illness. Die, but only after you observe that the girl who didn’t read never made your heart oscillate with any significant passion, that no one will write the story of your lives, and that she will die, too, with only a mild and tempered regret that nothing ever came of her capacity to love.

Do those things, god damnit, because nothing sucks worse than a girl who reads. Do it, I say, because a life in purgatory is better than a life in hell. Do it, because a girl who reads possesses a vocabulary that can describe that amorphous discontent as a life unfulfilled—a vocabulary that parses the innate beauty of the world and makes it an accessible necessity instead of an alien wonder. A girl who reads lays claim to a vocabulary that distinguishes between the specious and soulless rhetoric of someone who cannot love her, and the inarticulate desperation of someone who loves her too much. A vocabulary, god damnit, that makes my vacuous sophistry a cheap trick.

Do it, because a girl who reads understands syntax. Literature has taught her that moments of tenderness come in sporadic but knowable intervals. A girl who reads knows that life is not planar; she knows, and rightly demands, that the ebb comes along with the flow of disappointment. A girl who has read up on her syntax senses the irregular pauses—the hesitation of breath—endemic to a lie. A girl who reads perceives the difference between a parenthetical moment of anger and the entrenched habits of someone whose bitter cynicism will run on, run on well past any point of reason, or purpose, run on far after she has packed a suitcase and said a reluctant goodbye and she has decided that I am an ellipsis and not a period and run on and run on. Syntax that knows the rhythm and cadence of a life well lived.

Date a girl who doesn’t read because the girl who reads knows the importance of plot. She can trace out the demarcations of a prologue and the sharp ridges of a climax. She feels them in her skin. The girl who reads will be patient with an intermission and expedite a denouement. But of all things, the girl who reads knows most the ineluctable significance of an end. She is comfortable with them. She has bid farewell to a thousand heroes with only a twinge of sadness.

Don’t date a girl who reads because girls who read are the storytellers. You with the Joyce, you with the Nabokov, you with the Woolf. You there in the library, on the platform of the metro, you in the corner of the café, you in the window of your room. You, who make my life so god damned difficult. The girl who reads has spun out the account of her life and it is bursting with meaning. She insists that her narratives are rich, her supporting cast colorful, and her typeface bold. You, the girl who reads, make me want to be everything that I am not. But I am weak and I will fail you, because you have dreamed, properly, of someone who is better than I am. You will not accept the life that I told of at the beginning of this piece. You will accept nothing less than passion, and perfection, and a life worthy of being storied. So out with you, girl who reads. Take the next southbound train and take your Hemingway with you. I hate you. I really, really, really hate you.

Libby

you can chase right up and touch the sky

2011-07-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

i've been ready for summer hair styles for quite sometime now. actually i began growing out my bangs last winter in anticipation of wearing all the headbands i can get my hands on as soon as possible. I love cool braids and styles that are conducive to summer in southern california, where crazy beach hair reigns supreme.

I recently came across a few videos that give advice on easy, new ways to switch it up. Thought I'd share them... :) hooray summer!

-katie

How to: Waterfall Braid

How to: Curl your Hair with a Sock

{images via pinterest}

some kind of sunshine

2011-07-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

Been on a bit of a blogging hiatus recently thanks in part to some rather exciting travel. Also, have a few upcoming vacations for which i'm pretty psyched. Thought I'd share a few photos from recent trips to the wonderful cities of San Francisco and Scottsdale, Arizona. Scottsdale is absolutely gorgeous and San Francisco reminded me a lot of Lisbon, Portugal.
-katie

Financial district

Full House House!

Saguaro Cactus!

Arizona Sprinkles Cupcakes

Also, a tad delayed but May 19, Tale of Two City Girls celebrated its one year anniversary! What a year it's been! Thanks everyone for sharing our tales with us. :)