Hu Hu Hu

Natalia Lafourcade is all sorts of adorable. Even in all these ridiculous outfits for her new album, it's still true. Hu Hu Hu, is an album I've been waiting forever for. I first heard "Azul" sometime in January. When I realized it was Natalia, I immediately searched the internet for an album release date. When I noticed that it wasn't supposed to be out until May, I decided the next best thing was to listen to that one song 500 times every day. I'm pretty positive the girl who lived next door to me thought I was crazy.

Last week, I suddenly decided it was time to finally listen to the whole album. So that's what I've been doing for the past week and a half, listening to Natalia Lafourcade. I am in love again! I really really really love this new album. Hu Hu Hu is full of all these different bits that make it really great. To me, Natalia's voice has always sounded really tiny, in this really great way. It makes the really big music that comes with her songs fit just right.

I really do like all the songs on this album. That doesn't happen all the time. The first song "Cursis Melodías" is a great opener. It made me excited to keep listening. "Ella es Bonita" (the second single) is a song I can't help loving and singing along to. Plus, the video is really cute. "No Viniste" is really one of the saddest songs on the album but still one of my favorites. There are also 3 songs in English, of which I think "Let's Get Out" is my favorite. Natalia's accent really does make those 3 songs a million times cuter/better. "Hu Hu Hu" has Julieta Venegas also singing on the track; two adorable Mexican girl voices are better than one.

I recently read a really long review of this album and so I think it's time for me to stop gushing.

Love, María

Architecture In Helsinki

Lately I've been going through my iTunes and listening to bands that I haven't really listened to since high school or middle school, and then remembering why I loved them in the first place. Architecture In Helsinki is definitely one of those bands. They are from Australia, and they are adorable!


My friend Alex gave me a copy of In Case We Die in high school, and I immediately loved a lot of the super-cute songs on it, like "Do the Whirlwind" and "The Cemetery." I listened to them for a little while, and then kind of forgot about them until last summer, when I got their other two albums before leaving for Milan. It turns out, all of their albums are filled with adorableness!


Every time they release an album, the songs get more and more upbeat, but they still manage to stay adorable. Which means that Fingers Crossed is a really good album to listen to while cuddling or napping, In Case We Die is good for driving or frolicking or dancing around your room by yourself, and Places Like This is good music for really intense dance-parties. All adorable albums, all adorable activities! Their newest album, Vision Revision, is supposed to come out this year and, of course, I am excited!

Love, Jillian

Naked Juice

I am in love with Naked Juice. I know that a lot of people won't see why a juice is adorable, but I think that it is adorable because they don't add any sugar (unlike Odwalla) or flavoring or coloring, and so the fruit in the juice gets to be delicious all on it's own! That's adorable because I've noticed that when I actually make an effort to eat healthy things and exercise and stuff, I end up feeling a million times better than before, and obviously when you are extra-happy and extra-energetic, you are probably way more adorable and have way more energy to do adorable things!


My favorite part about Naked Juice is how they have a label on the bottle that tells you exactly what you are drinking. For example, when I drank a Green Machine this morning, I drank like a bazillion apples (2 and 3/4 apples!) and some banana and mango and kiwi and pineapple. I also drank spirulina, chlorella, parsley, blue green algae, and other things that make me feel hardcore. Plus, it is nice to be able to drink wheat grass (it's super-good for you!) without wanting to die. When they give it to you as a shot at smoothie places, you'd better make sure that you have some of your smoothie left as a chaser.

When we used to carry Naked Juice at the cafe, I drank one pretty much every day. It was better than caffeine! Green Machine and yoga in the morning is basically the best thing ever, and it makes me want to dance around my room while listening to MGMT's "Boogie Down." And, I've just discovered that they sell giant jugs of it at Jimbo's! Now I can have delicious, happy juice every day!

Love, Jillian

Summer Cats

It's summer! Now is the perfect time to write about a band I really love, Summer Cats! They're a five piece band with an adorable name. At first, I thought they were a little annoying, I was ready to hate them. And then 20 seconds later I realized they weren't annoying, they were just cute and cuddly and upbeat and they made me want to go outside and dance.

Summer Cats make me think of that Smittens song "Good Migrations" which is a song I really love. In it, they sing about moving to all sorts of places in the Southern Hemisphere because then it will be warm and pretty during Hannukkah. I think of Summer Cats because they are from Melbourne and their music feels like it's all about fun things like nice weather and holidays.

This band is full of a bunch of things I love, including boy/girl vocals and tambourines. I love those! I also love kittens and summer and catchy songs. Perfect! My favorite song changes all the time. I woke up to "Lonely Planet" for two whole months. Right now, it's definitely "Burnt Toast" but that could change any second! I've been living off of a bunch of EPs and random songs but they've finally signed to Slumberland. Their full-length album, Songs For Tuesdays, will be released July 14th and I am positive I'll write another post so I can talk/gush about it.

Love, María

Fireflies

Of all the things I am super-excited for when I move into our house in a month-ish, the thing I am the most insanely ridiculously excited about is seeing fireflies! They are probably the most adorable and magical bugs to ever exist because they basically float around all summer and light up and make things like forests and fields that are already pretty even prettier!


Obviously, the first thing that I am going to do when I move in is go and catch fireflies in a jar in our backyard (our backyard!!). Yes, I know that I am twenty-one, but I haven't seen fireflies since I was twelve. That was the last time I lived on the East Coast during the summer, and that is the only time fireflies are around! Hopefully the fireflies are still there in August.

Love, Jillian

I Was Told There'd Be Cake

One of the books that I got for my birthday from my incredibly long Amazon wish list was I Was Told There'd Be Cake, a book of essays by Sloane Crosley. I am already done with it! I basically read it in one day, but it was really less than one day because I was unconscious for a lot of yesterday. I had picked it out based on the cute cover and a tiny little review that I had skimmed, but it turned out to be super-cute!


Each essay is pretty much autobiographical, and all about pretty mundane but also weird things in Crosley's life. The essays kind of remind me of David Sedaris, but less exaggerated and less obviously trying to be funny. Plus, I could tell from the very first essay, "The Pony Problem," that Sloane Crosley and I basically have the same brain: "'I have something for you,' a guy will say on our first date. 'Is it a pony?' No. It's usually a movie ticket or his cell phone number or a slobbery tongue kiss. But on our second date, if I ask again, I'm pretty sure I'm getting a pony. ... I don't mean to hint. It's not a hint, it's a flat-out demand: I. Want. A. Pony."

Everyone knows how much María and I love ponies, so, enough said. The other essays are about things like summer camp, baking cookies shaped like your boss' head, and butterflies! Cute subjects, weird coincidences, and dry humor are the perfect ingredients for a fun and adorable book! Now I just need to find something else to read, because I am almost done with all of my new books already.

Love, Jillian

Summer

A month or so ago, I had an adorable idea! I thought that it would be cute to make a post on the solstice or equinox of each season with a list of things that I associate with that season that make it adorable. Sunday was the summer solstice, but since I was busy with birthday activities on the solstice and I was basically in a coma all day today, this is a little late. But still cute!


So, here goes! Summer is adorable because of tan lines, Beacon's Beach, beach hair, road trips, outdoor naps, outdoor yoga, outdoor concerts, fireflies, birthdays, birthday cake, watermelons, strawberries, nectarines, sundresses, the Del Mar Fair, camping, frolicking, brunches, picnics, fireworks, barbecues, sitting on porches, lemonade, sunglasses, tree-climbing, sandals, smoothies, shorts, bonfires, hiking, baseball games, In-N-Out, ice cream trucks, s'mores, spontaneous adventures, movie marathons, sunshine, backyards, Italian sodas, no homework, sleepovers, fruit stands, and sleeping in.

Love, Jillian

My Apron!

I finally opened my birthday present from María, and it is super-adorable! I knew it would be, but it is more adorable than I expected! Of course, it is from Anthropologie and came with an adorable card in adorable colors. My initial reaction was "Yay! An adorable apron for when I cook delicious and adorable things in my adorable kitchen in my adorable house next year!" Then, as I was looking at it, I noticed that there was something blue embroidered on one of the pockets:


IT IS MY NAME EMBROIDERED ON MY APRON! How cute is that?!! That is why María and I are basically in love. It is perfect and I love it, and since it's kind of late here and probably really late there, I am making this blog post instead of calling María. So, thank you, María!! Plus, I got really adorable sunflowers from Morgan (thanks, Morgan!), but I am too tired to go back downstairs and take a picture. And lots of birthday wishes and phone calls and voicemails from people that I love! So, thanks, everybody! Twenty-first birthday, you are probably one of the most adorable birthdays ever.

And, today was also Father's Day, so here is an adorable picture of my dad and me!


Love, Jillian

First Aid Kit

I've spent most of today cleaning my room and watching my dog be really cute. And now that I really have no plans and the power went out since it's raining and it looks like the end of the world outside my window, I figure it's a good time to update.


First Aid Kit are sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg. They are an adorable Swedish duo that make songs with melodies that are full of almost peppy sadness. Their voices work just right with their lyrics which are touching and heartbreaking but never really joyless. They released their Drunken Trees EP in February. Seven songs may not seem like much, but it's the kind of EP you can listen to all day without even realizing it.



Most people first heard the sisters after they made this cover of the Fleet Foxes song "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song." The first song I heard by them was "You're Not Coming Home Tonight" and even though I thought I might cry, I wasn't sure that was a bad thing. "Jagadamba, You Might" is probably my favorite song of theirs right now. All their songs feel like itsy bitsy mysteries that you can't seem to figure out but somehow that just doesn't matter. In some ways they sound too sad to be Flower-Farm material, but they do all this sadness with such charm that I can't help but adore them.



It's fitting that most of the videos you can find of the two are of them singing in forests. Their songs are little storytelling adventures that are probably best sung in the woods. And yet they're also the kind of songs that you want to hear while tucked away in your house. They're pretty perfect for the kind of weather today except that the rain finally stopped and now I have to go face the humidity. Nothing is perfect for that.

Love, María

Bron-Y-Aur Stomp and Clapping

One of my favorite songs ever that people make fun of me for listening to because it is slightly country-sounding is Led Zeppelin's "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp." It is super cute! Robert Plant wrote it about his dog, and the lyrics are all basically about running around in the countryside with man's best friend. It's the perfect summer activity! I'd try it with Chelsea, except she'd see a rabbit or lizard or something and start chasing it and then I would never see her again.

This song is also adorable because they wrote it in Bron-Yr-Aur, a cottage in Wales where they wrote most of Led Zeppelin III. Fun fact: the song was supposed to be called "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp" after the cottage, but it was misspelled on the album cover. Anyway, cottages are cute in general, and this one is no exception!

Bron-Yr-Aur in Gwynedd, Wales

Another reason why this song is cute is because of the reason that I first heard it: clapping! About halfway through high school, my friend Hannah and I got our driver's licenses and since each of our moms has a Prius, we would take one and go on these really long drives to all these cool woodsy places (during the day) and creepy places (at night) that we didn't know existed before. Of course, we needed a soundtrack, and so we decided to make a CD. The rule was that every song had to have clapping in it, because clapping instantly adds adorableness to any song (we called the CD The Clap, which was my mom's idea). Hannah had "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" and put it on the CD, and I have loved it ever since!

But mostly I am writing because I need to avoid my birthday present that María sent me. The UPS man brought it to me yesterday, but I can't open it for two more days and it is basically staring at me and saying "Open me! I am probably adorable!"

Love, Jillian

Watermelon-Basil Margaritas

If I were to have a summer garden party (I totally can in a month or so at my new house!), I would probably serve exclusively things that I've found on Martha Stewart's website. That is because she always has the perfect snacks and drinks and decorations for every season! Like this one:


It's a Watermelon-Basil Margarita! I think that's adorable. Watermelon is perfect for summer and it tastes like sunshine and happiness, and basil is just about the best thing ever. I put basil in everything I cook, so why not? I know a lot of people will think that it sounds gross because basil is in a lot of savory dishes, but I think that the licorice-y or chocolate-y flavor of different kinds of basil is probably amazing in this drink. Martha wouldn't put it there, otherwise.

The most adorable part is that she cuts watermelon into cubes, puts them in the freezer, and uses them as the ice cubes for this drink! That is so cute and I would have never thought of it! Plus, you can use frozen cubes of most fruits as ice cubes, so your ice cubes can always match whatever fruity flavor your drink is!

Love, Jillian

Wallace & Gromit

For some reason, I was really hyper yesterday. And I had absolutely nothing to do and no one to hang out with because Anisha isn't here yet! But after dancing around my room and swimming laps and two hours of yoga, I finally calmed down enough to watch a movie. And that is when I remembered that I love Wallace & Gromit!


Wallace is an inventor, and he lives with his dog Gromit at 62 West Wallaby Street. They are super-adorable because Wallace is kind of clueless and loves Wensleydale cheese, and Gromit is really smart and good with electronics and likes to knit and cook and read really intense books like The Republic and Crime and Punishment. There are four Wallace & Gromit short films, and they are all adorable. The most recent one was A Matter of Loaf and Death, and it was so adorable!

The first one I ever saw was The Wrong Trousers, which I think is one of the best ones. It came out in 1993, and my dad took (five-year-old) me to a film festival and that's where we discovered Wallace & Gromit for the first time! I have loved them ever since. Nick Park, the creator, also made a series of two-minute little movies about a bunch of Wallace's different inventions, called Cracking Contraptions. I think that my favorite is "The Snoozatron" because it reminds me of mine and María's relationship, except that I make her pat my back instead of dressing up in a sheep costume.

Love, Jillian

Yeah So

Slow Club, one of the most adorable bands ever, is finally coming out with an album on 7 July, and it leaked! These things happen; albums leak, I happen to be on the internet, and somehow they magically end up in my iTunes! Their album is called Yeah So and it is one of the cutest, saddest, most insanely precious albums ever. Every now and then, an album comes along that warms my shriveled little emotionally-challenged heart, and this is it.


I already had some of the songs on the album from their singles and their EP, and those are amazing. The songs I hadn't heard are even more amazing, which I didn't think was possible. Two of the songs are actually kind of a departure from their usual pretty harmonies and generally calm music: "Giving Up On Love" has much more of a rock feel and "There's No Good Way To Say I'm Leaving You" is more ballad-y. "I Was Unconscious, It Was A Dream," "Dance 'Till The Morning Light," and "Sorry About The Doom" all make me want to sob hysterically, and I'm pretty sure that I listened to the live version of "It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful" on repeat for at least three hours straight when I first found it online in March. Finally, "Our Most Brilliant Friends" is the perfect ending to the perfect album, with a hidden track (Boys On Their Birthdays) that also makes me want to cry!

However, the best song on the album by far is the first track, "When I Go." It is possibly one of the best songs ever. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and want to cuddle someone and be insanely happy and incredibly sad at the same time. The opening lyrics kind of explain: If we're both not married by twenty-two/ could I be so bold and ask you?/ If we're both not married by twenty-three/ will you make my year, and ask me?/ If we're both not married by twenty-four/ will you pass me those knee pads and I'll get on the floor/ If we're both not married by twenty-five/ I hope that there's some childish spark still alive/ 'Cause there are so many lessons that I just never cared to learn/ and there are so many questions that still burn/ like will you hold my hand when I go?


I really am at a loss for words to explain just how perfect and poignant and wonderful and adorable this album is. I love them so much (I've logged almost a thousand plays since I started listening to them in March), and this album makes me love them even more. I wasn't even planning on posting about it because María had already written about Slow Club, but I couldn't imagine not telling everyone I know about it. It's perfect.

Love, Jillian

P.S. I promise that my next post won't be about a band!

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

I love fuzzy pop music. I really can't help it. Of course I don't like it when it's done badly. It's too noisy or not poppy enough or just bad. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart do it so right though. And there's really no one I know who loves their charming-melancholy-fuzzy-poppy-!!! songs more than Christopher. That's why there really is no better time to write this post since today is his birthday. Happy Birthday!

Why did I first love this band? Well, it's probably sort of obvious to some of you. They've got a pretty great name for an indie-pop band. It's too dramatic, too fitting, and yet so long that people can start calling them just "the pains" or POBPAH and some people get a real kick out of that. I get a real kick out of the fact that people like that exist.

After hearing their name or more likely reading their name in one of the 3000 blogs that I read, I had to actually hear what they sounded like. That's when I got really nervous. What if they sounded like AGSFB (lolz) mixed with SLGTM and AHK plus that last B&S album topped off with 14 Iced Bears?! Okay, I didn't actually think that. I just thought that maybe they were going to be really horrible just to prove me wrong. But when I finally heard "Orchard of My Eye" there was absolutely nothing wrong about it. Here's the part where I really want to say it was "fucking right!" but I think that would be too much. I was just so happy that I was completely right, they were really good.

I was ready to hear more. Everyone was. I listened to the maybe 4/5 songs that I had over and over and daydreamed about how I was going to move to anywhere but here and really start my own perfectly sweet and noisy band. And by the time they finally released their album on Slumberland, I was completely in love with them. Even if I hadn't been, Christopher and everyone else was so in love with them that it was bound to rub off on me.


I've missed this band live probably 3 or 4 times. The truth is that I don't really care about seeing anyone live anymore unless I really love them. And so I even considered going to Pitchfork this year just to hear them and lately I've thought of convincing someone to go with me to Vancouver to see them on my birthday. Surprisingly, the latter is way more probable. But I think it would be really worth it.

Everyone on the internet loves this band already so I really wasn't sure I was ever going to really write this. And since everyone always tries to sum up why this band is so perfect, I figured I'd explain why they are so perfect to me. They are sugary and heartbreaking and completely fuzzed-out on top of it all and that makes ME happy. So if you're into that, start listening.

(This video is a lot like the story of my life with Jillian)

Love, María

She & Him

Everyone already knows how María and I feel about Zooey Deschanel--we love her! She is super-adorable in every way. And not only is she an adorable actress, she is an adorable singer! Zooey is the singer for the two-person band She & Him (the other person is musician M. Ward), and their album Volume One is really cute!

They only have one album out right now, but it is full of adorable songs like "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?," "Sweet Darlin'," "I Was Made for You," and a cover of the Beatles' song "You Really Got a Hold on Me." They are currently working on a second album, Volume Two, but there's no release date yet. I am definitely buying it when it's done, though!


Love, Jillian

This Dress

Yesterday I spent a lot of time watching crappy TV shows because I wasn't feeling well, and I ended up watching a bunch of shows about weddings. So, of course, when I went to J.Crew's website later, I felt compelled to look at their "Weddings & Parties" section to reassure myself that everyone in my wedding party will be way more adorably dressed than the scary weddings on TV.

Traditionally, bridesmaid dresses are really hideous, and everyone has to wear the exact same dress in the exact same color. Obviously, putting multiple women in one dress means that that one dress will probably look good on none of them. This is so that everyone looks ugly and the bride looks pretty. Well, I wouldn't want anyone looking bad in my wedding party, and J.Crew understands! They make a bunch of different dresses in the same fabrics but different cuts, so all of your bridesmaids can have dresses that look good on them! Just look how adorable this dress is:


It's from their Fall '09 preview and I am in love! I almost had a heart attack when I saw it because 1) it is insanely adorable for a bridesmaid's dress, and 2) it is insanely adorable for any dress! I want to buy it and wear it every day of my life! It is so light and fluffy and pretty and kind of reminds me of a ballerina (ADORABLE!!!).

Love, Jillian

Julie Andrews

If adorableness was a person, it would be Julie Andrews. Mary Poppins was the perfect character for her to play, because Julie Andrews really is practically perfect in every way! Even the Academy immediately recognized how adorable and perfect she is when they saw her in Mary Poppins, because they gave her an Oscar for it, and it was her first movie ever! I mean, how could they resist? She makes toys put themselves away and birds sing with her and she sings that adorable song about sugar and takes the little kids into a chalk drawing to go play!


Julie Andrews is also in The Sound of Music, which is basically the best movie of all time. She is super-cute, has adorable hair, makes her own clothes, and sings adorable songs! How could you possibly get any more adorable?! You can't! I have been obsessed with The Sound of Music since forever, and I'm pretty sure that most little kids love it. When my friend Morgan and I went to Vermont for a wedding, we stayed one night in the Trapp Family Lodge and it was perfect and wonderful! The only way it could have been more perfect was if Julie Andrews had been there with us.

Love, Jillian

Au Revoir Simone

I've wanted to write this post for a really long time now. Unfortunately, a million other things have gotten in the way. I finally decided to take a break from figuring out my life to actually write this.

Au Revoir Simone is Erika Forster, Annie Hart, and Heather D'Angelo. There's a story about how they got together that involves trains and all sorts of cuteness. Unfortunately, that story isn't true. Their name comes from this scene in Pee Wee's Big Adventure. And basically they're 3 adorable girls that make music with a bunch of keyboards. They're so cute that they were in the latest Anthropologie catalog!

I've loved Au Revoir Simone for a really long time. Maybe it's because I wish I had their hair/clothes/voices, maybe not. I think one of the very first things I heard by them was their cover of "Oh! You Pretty Things" and it's still one of my very favorite covers. Yeah, I sort of hated Reverse Migration and only kept one of the remixes on my computer, but I still wanted to hear more from them! The Bird of Music is still on my computer. And even though it's full of dreamy-almost-sleepy songs and then dancey-almost-whiney ones, I listened to it over and over for months. I also really loved the video they made for "Sad Song"

Au Revoir Simone - Sad Song
Uploaded by Cooperative-Music. - See the latest featured music videos.

Their new album leaked a while ago but it took me forever to get around to listening to it. It's full of the same dreamy pop that they like to do. I think Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation will just always be my favorite album, but this is definitely better than their last album. "Organized Scenery" is definitely my personal favorite, but there are other really good songs. "Only You Can Make You Happy" and "Another Likely Story" are those in between songs that I think Au Revoir Simone do so well. They aren't as upbeat as "Anywhere You Looked" but they're almost there. Overall, I really like Still Night, Still Light. I listened to it nonstop for a couple of days and I'm sure I'll be doing that again soon.

Love, María

Llamas

More than a pony, I really want a llama! They are so cute and fluffy and have funny, long necks! I can't really explain why, I just think that they are super adorable. Also, apparently if you are small enough or they are big enough, you can RIDE them. Therefore, they are just as cute and adorable as ponies, if not more so. Plus, how cute would it be to ride around on a llama all the time?! That is why I basically want to be this little girl.


Love, Jillian

Freckles

I have always thought that freckles are insanely adorable. I know that a lot of people who have them don't like them, but I have always wanted freckles. I always get really jealous when people have perfect freckles across their nose and cheekbones, because my friend and I used to draw freckles just like that on ourselves when we were in the third and fourth grades. This American Apparel model has exactly the kind of freckles I am talking about:


So cute! I want to buy the dress just because she is so adorable. I guess I could have freckles if I wanted, but I only get freckles if I let my face get a really horrible sunburn, which will usually peel and leave adorable freckles behind. But even though freckles are adorable, it's not worth the pain and skin damage. If it weren't for those things, I would totally do it!

Love, Jillian

Camping and Big Sur

I feel like Big Sur and camping go together, because camping is super-fun and everything in Big Sur is super-adorable! I know that a lot of people don't like camping, but I think that's just because they don't know how much fun it is to pitch a tent and frolic in the woods or a creek (or both!) and build a bonfire. Plus, a lot of campgrounds have showers and plumbing, so you don't even have to be dirty!


I admit, I used to be one of those people, but only because the one time my dad took me camping, it poured the whole weekend and we left early because he hates camping even if it's not raining. But then I went on a road trip to San Francisco with three friends the summer before my senior year of high school, and we camped one night in Big Sur (all of these pictures are of Big Sur), and it was adorable!

Big Sur is the part of the central California coast where the San Lucia Mountains basically come straight up out of the ocean. When we drove up to San Francisco, we took Highway 1 just so that we could drive through Big Sur, because the highway winds back and forth along the coast right above the ocean. It's scary, because if you go off the road, you'll pretty much die, but it's adorable because it is probably the most beautiful drive ever! Plus, Big Sur is full of adorable campgrounds and even has some expensive hotels with amazing views!


Whenever I think of camping, I think of Big Sur, and I start making mental lists of different people that I could possibly convince to drive up to Big Sur and stock up on fruit at Casa de Fruta (super-adorable, giant fruit stand in Hollister, CA) and sing along with adorable music and frolic in the woods with me! Hopefully I'll get to do it again soon.

Love, Jillian

Marissa Nadler Video

So I don't know how much I actually like Marissa Nadler. But this video is so pretty! Even though Marissa Nadler is pretty cute she tends to put other girls in her videos. Ana Moreira is the adorable girl in this one. Basically this video makes me wish I had a pony, an adorable boyfriend, and really pretty belongings.



Love, María

Oliver Peoples

After reading Jillian's post about Mirah, I decided I needed to take a little break from writing about crying music. It's not that I don't sometimes like Mirah, not at all. In fact, I used to really love her. But she is what Christopher and I have come to refer to as "crying music". Of course she has cute songs, but there are also the I'm-so-sorry-I'm leaving-Hey-come-back! songs. And even though some of those are adorable, well they're also good for crying. Anyway, because of that I decided against my planned Hello Saferide/Säkert! post because let's face it, Annika Norlin makes adorable crying music.


So instead, I bring you this post about glasses. Oliver Peoples is an eyewear brand that started in the 80s became popular in the 90s and they've been using Zooey Deschanel in their advertisements for the 2009 season. They must be cute, right? RIGHT!

I've been wearing glasses since I was six. I still have all the pairs of glasses I've ever owned. Including the many I have broken. My Oliver Peoples pair is one of those. I had adorable Oliver People's glasses, they were perfect, I wanted to clone them so I could have 300 pairs without having to pay for them. Unfortunately, that's not really possible and I am the clumsiest person ever. And eventually I had to say goodbye to them and I was very sad. Luckily, Oliver Peoples cheered me right up with this cute video:



And now I just want another pair plus Zooey's hair and all the clothes she wears. So I've decided that this year I'm buying myself a pair as a Christmas present to myself. Even if my mother's reaction will once again be what it was with my first pair: "Oh, Oliver Peoples? Like the guy from American Psycho?" I guess even Patrick Bateman likes cute things.

Love, María

Tamales for Breakfast, with Mirah!

Since I've been home, I've eaten tamales almost every day. My mom's friend, María, made us a bunch of tamales (three dozen!) that we've had in our freezer, and I have obviously been super-happy because of them!


Tamales are basically adorable little bundles of deliciousness. They are usually chicken, pork, or cheese with chiles, wrapped up in masa (corn meal dough), wrapped up in corn husk or plantain leaves, and they are probably the best food of all time. Sometimes they don't have anything in them but the masa, and tamales can be really different depending on which part of Mexico or Central America they are from. In Guatemala, tamales are a Christmas food! I would definitely be thrilled to get tamales for Christmas!

Because you're supposed to steam tamales, and because the ones we have start out frozen, I usually have about an hour in which to do adorable things while I wait for my tamale breakfast to be ready. So, I listen to Mirah, because she is adorable!


Pretty much every single one of her songs is incredibly adorable. She has this super-cute voice, so anything she sings sounds adorable anyway, and on top of that she has adorable lyrics! I keep listening to "Sweepstakes Prize" over and over because it is so cute! The opening lyrics are: You remind me of a firework, boy/ You touch the ceiling, you touch the floor/ You sparkle and burn, but you take your time/ and I bet I could carry you across state lines. "Person Person" and "Gone Sugaring" are also super-adorable, and they are all on her You Think It's Like This but Really It's Like This album, which is probably my favorite.

And now my tamales are ready!

Love, Jillian

Sunrise

A lot of times, if I go to bed before I'm really exhausted, I'll wake up after six or seven hours and I can't go back to sleep. Last night was one of those nights. It sounds frustrating, and sometimes it is, but usually after about an hour or so of infomercials (boring and not cute) and a few trips to the kitchen for water, the sun starts to come up. Maybe it's because I don't see it that often, but I always love to see the sun rise! I like sunrise better than sunset, because we really don't get very spectacular sunsets here unless we have the Santa Ana winds. Usually the fog rolls in off the ocean a little before sunset, so it's pretty hard to see.

Sunrise is different! There are usually pretty clouds instead of fog, you can see all of the pretty colors in the sky, and there are tons of chirping birds everywhere. Adorable! Lying in my bed and snuggling my comforter and watching the sunrise is one of my favorite things to do, which is why I always arrange my furniture in my room so that I can see out of the window from my bed. Everything looks a million times more adorable at sunrise, and then I can usually fall back asleep ten minutes after it's over!


Love, Jillian

Birthday Post!

I hated my last post, so it's gone. But then Christopher told me that I can't delete a "birthday post." Fine. I guess I can at least make it a better one. Here's a song I know Allegra loves that is absolutely adorable. Happy birthday, Legs!

Love, María

Demeter Perfumes

Honestly, I've never been a huge fan of perfume. I think there's some scent or ingredient that is in most perfumes that doesn't agree with me, because most perfumes give me an instantaneous, horrible headache. Demeter perfumes don't! And, instead of being stuffy and overly flowery and generally gross-smelling like most perfumes, their perfumes actually smell like real things. One of my absolute favorites is "Honeysuckle."


The main reason that I love Demeter perfumes is because the scents are so accurate and realistic that they bring back adorable memories that you have associated with that scent. I think that's why I love "Honeysuckle" so much--it reminds me of the first elementary school I went to in Delaware that had this row of huge honeysuckle bushes along the edge of the football field to separate the playground from the forest. We used to go over to the bushes almost every recess when the bushes bloomed and pick the flowers and pull out the middle part to get the tiny little drop of nectar at the bottom, and we had to be sneaky about it because the teachers who would watch us during recess always tried to convince us that the flowers were poisonous. Obviously we knew that they weren't, but because of that we had to be sneaky, which only made the honeysuckle that much better.

Demeter's "Honeysuckle" smells so much like the real thing that I sometimes want to spray some on my tongue, but then I remember that it's a perfume, so it probably won't taste nearly as good as it smells. But I wear it every day in the summer, and think about how cute it would be to have a honeysuckle bush in my yard someday.

In the fall and winter, I wear the "Pumpkin Pie" scent every day. Something about cooler, crisp weather and changing leaves and Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up makes "Pumpkin Pie" smell a million times better than any other time of the year. "Dirt," which I like to wear in the spring, reminds me of being a little kid in Delaware, too.

Basically, Demeter's Fragrance Library is filled with amazing and unusual scents that bring back all sorts of adorable, happy memories! Some of the other scents that I really want to try are things like "Earl Grey Tea," "Christmas Tree," "Bonfire," and "Firefly." They all sound so adorable!

Love, Jillian