5/30/2015

London baby shower part 1

Here are some of the pictures from my London baby shower which was 6 weeks ago and I'm finally posting them! These are ones that I took, I'll be posting the rest in a day or so. Special thanks to my girls Britt, Madi, and Alayna for putting this together for baby and me. We love you so much!!!


Cutie banner made by my girls


Amazing bath salts giveaways for the guests made by my girls


Baillie, Carolyn, and silly face Conway


Carolyn


Me and Peanut


Baillie and Conway + me and Audrey failing to get a nice pic together


Barbara and Audrey


Conway in his new hoodie


Buncha girls fussing over babies


Audrey and Conway Take 1


Audrey and Conway Take 2


Audrey and Conway Take 3


Audrey and Conway Take 4


Audrey and Conway Take 5


Audrey and Conway Take 6


Sam and Audrey snuggling


Alayna and Conway


Sam, Audrey and Alayna


Sam, Audrey and Alayna


Linnea and Audrey


Sam, Linnea and Audrey


Sam, Linnea and Audrey

FYI ladies, if I posted a picture of you, it is because (duh) I genuinely thought you looked nice! But I know we can sometimes be hard on ourselves, so if I post a pic of you but you want it taken down, just let me know. Xoxo

5/28/2015

no more skipping rope, skipping heart beats with the boys downtown

Olympia Le Tan is a French designer who takes inspiration from books, movies, records et al to create unique clutches that are intricately hand-embroidered, and absolutely gorgeous. OLT's signature accessories are clutches that resemble classic books. For example; The Catcher in the Rye, Dr. Zhivago, Heidi, Jane Eyre, Lord of the Flies, Moby Dick, the list goes on. Basically, there's a wide variety of novels to please any book-lover (that is also a fashion-lover.)




Source




This shot of the Charlotte's Web clutch really shows the detail that goes into these bags. Source


Hey, Lolita, hey. This is the original cover from 1955. Source


A better view of what the inside looks like. Source

Why do I love Olympia Le Tan? Well, let's see... I love books, movies, and records. I love a well-designed cover, I love classic artwork, I love old typography, I love embroidery, I love good use of colour, I love attention to detail. There is something sort of Pop Art about the OLT accessories; the simplicity of the idea of it all, technically unoriginal because it's just a replication of a product that has been in existence for some time - but yet it's been re-imagined and transformed into something new, so it's like a replica but better. That's art (and fashion) for you, everything is just recycled and re-interpreted. It may look like a book, but it's actually a fully functioning purse. So feel free to judge these purses by their covers, if you're thinking about getting one of your own.


My pick would be (duh) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I love this cover, again it is the original cover designed by Shirley Tucker in 1966. Source

Aside from books, OLT has done bags inspired by other things, such as milk cartons!




Source

The latest Olympia Le Tan collab is with Disney, and it is in stores now. For someone like me, who adores classic Disney, these clutches are a dream. The original artwork itself is beautiful, and then when it's hand-embroidered with such precision, and turned into a bag, the result is truly magical.


Cinderella "The Great Love Story" Available for pre-order $2543 CAD Source


Cinderella "It's Fun! It's Magic!" $2543 CAD Source


"Cinderella 2" Available for pre-order $2543 CAD Source


"Cinderella" $2543 CAD Source


"Alice in Wonderland" $2543 CADSource


"Alice in Wonderland" SOLD OUT Source


"Peter Pan" $2543 CADSource


"Sleeping Beauty" $2543 CADSource


"Snow White" SOLD OUT Source

Olympia Le Tan's website

5/19/2015

18 amazing Simpsons tattoos (all by the same artist)

There are people who like The Simpsons, and then there are people (like me and my boyfriend) who really like The Simpsons. Maybe too much?

The show itself is widely popular, but people are becoming less and less interested in these later seasons. The show has lost whatever it had for the first while that made us love it so much. I don't know if it was better writers; or perhaps after 20 seasons they're just running out of ideas. But there is nothing like the first ten seasons of The Simpsons, and there never will be again. All of those seasons are pure gold.

Thus, The Simpsons that we all knew and loved as kids, has stayed with some of us and developed a sort of cult-following. People from the era I grew up in (the 90's) have a this certain nostalgia for the show, and for some people it is literally still a part of our every day life. These are the people I can truly connect with.

The other day, I came across a tattoo artist who specializes in Simpsons tattoos. I fell in love with her work; but too bad for me, she lives in Australia.

Melanie Milne, who I discovered via Instagram, is basically my dream tattoo artist. I scrolled through her pictures and said, "I want that, and that, and that, and that, and that..." Her work is cute, classic, simple and colourful.



But it was The Simpsons pieces that really got me. Melanie seems to favor the classic seasons (1-10). She adds her own special touch to each tattoo.
These are the best ones, in chronological order of which episode they are from.

All images taken from Melanie Milne's Instagram all images credited to her


Homer Simpson from Season 2 Episode 12 "The Way We Was"
Marge and Homer reminisce about how they met and fell in love in high school. In their yearbook under Homer's picture is the quote "I can't believe I ate the whole thing."


Moe Syzslak from Season 3 Episode 10 "Flaming Moe's"
Homer and Moe have an argument. Homer becomes angry with Moe and vows never to return to the tavern. He subsequently becomes obsessed with Moe and his betrayal, even having a hallucination where he sees Moe's face everywhere.


(baby) Homer Simpson from Season 4 Episode 11 "Homer's Triple Bypass"
Homer suffers from a heart attack. There is a flashback scene where Grandpa Simpson watches Homer as an infant, chewing on a slice of pizza in the hospital.


Lisa Simpson from Season 4 Episode 13 "Selma's Choice"
Selma decides to have a baby, inspired by her late aunt's wish that she would not spend her life alone. She experiences what life with children is like by taking Bart and Lisa to the Duff Gardens amusement park. They go on the Little Land of Duff ride and Bart dares Lisa to drink the toxic "water". Lisa is confused, but Bart mocks her until Selma intervenes, shouting at Bart to shut up and ordering Lisa to drink the water. When Lisa takes a sip, she hallucinates, grows violent and paranoid, and wanders away from the ride, tripping out to the parade music. Lisa is soon found swimming nude in the Fermentarium, returned to Selma and given pills by an unlicensed doctor, after proclaiming "I am the lizard queen!" (A reference to Jim Morrison of The Doors).


Otto Mann from Season 4 Episode 16 "Duffless"
Homer gets arrested for drunk driving and has to go to AA. Otto is seen there, and says "My name is Otto, and I love to get blotto."


Lionel Hutz from Season 5 Episode 6 "Marge on the Lam"
Marge makes a friend and starts going out with her a lot. Homer gets jealous so he tries to go out and have a good time too. Homer hires Lionel Hutz to watch the kids, after he shows up at their front door. He says "Mr. Simpson, I was just going through your garbage, and I couldn't help overhearing that you need a babysitter. Of course, being a highly-skilled attorney, my fee is $175 an hour." Homer replies "We pay eight dollars for the night, and you can take two popsicles out of the freezer." Lionel haggles "Three." Homer says "Two." Lionel gives in "OK, two. And I get to keep this old bird cage."


Lisa Simpson from Season 5 Episode 10 "$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)"
Marge becomes addicted to gambling and spends every waking moment at the casino, neglecting her family. For instance, she forgets to help Lisa make a costume for her geography pageant. Homer does it instead, and Lisa does win a special prize. Homer's poor costume design gives Lisa the appearance that she did the work all by herself (he did not even spell Florida right, spelling it as "Floreda").


Ralph Wiggum from Season 6 Episode 2 "Lisa's Rival"
A new student named Allison comes to the school. At the end of the episode she is seen walking down the street with Lisa, and Ralph is in the middle. Lisa and Allison, both extraordinarily smart, discuss how to play a word game while Ralph says "My cat's breath smells like cat food."


Barney Gumble from Season 6 Episode 18 "A Star is Burns"
Springfield holds a film festival, and Barney submits a black-and-white short film he made called "Pukahontas". Pukahontas opens with a shot of a Duff Beer bottle sitting on a windowsill with curtains billowing around it in the breeze. A hand reaches up, turns the bottle upside down, and the shot zooms out to reveal that Barney is drinking the beer. The shot changes to a view from above, now showing that Barney is lying on a couch. Barney, narrating in voice-over, says, "My name is Barney Gumble. I'm forty, I'm single, and I drink."

The scene shifts to Barney lying in a gutter drinking another Duff. He collapses and lays the bottle down with some beer still in it, and beer spills out and pours into a sewer grating. The narration continues: "There's a line in Othello about a drinker: 'Now a sensible man, by and by a fool, and presently a beast.' That pretty well covers it." Next, in a time-lapse sequence, clouds in the sky pass by as the day changes to night and back to day again. The shot changes back to Barney, who is now old, bald, and toothless, lying in the same gutter. A tear leaks from his eye and rolls down his cheek.

In the next scene, Barney, seated in a chair, apparently for an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, says, "My name is Barney Gumble and I'm an alcoholic." The camera zooms out to show that Barney is sitting in a circle with several girls wearing Scout uniforms. Lisa Simpson says, "Mr. Gumble, this is a Girl Scout meeting." Barney replies, "Is it? Or is it that you girls can't admit you have a problem?"

The scene changes to a record player, then back to Barney on his couch, holding a rose to his nose. Barney says, in voice-over, "Don't cry for me, I'm already dead." He puts the rose in the Duff bottle on the windowsill, and the petals slowly fall off, scattering in the breeze. In the closing shot, the curtains billow as "Fin" appears on the screen.


Jasper Beardly from Season 6 Episode 21 "The PTA Disbands"
Bart pushes the teachers to strike. Local Springfieldians take over the various teaching positions. Jasper was teaching Lisa's class. He threatened kids with a "paddlin'" if they did anything wrong, including simple stuff like looking out of the window. "Talking out of turn? That's a paddlin'. Lookin' out the window? That's a paddlin'. Staring at my sandals? That's a paddlin'. Paddlin' the school canoe? Oh, you better believe that's a paddlin'."


Homer Simpson from Season 6 Episode 23 "The Springfield Connection"
Marge becomes a cop and at breakfast, Homer is seen using her pepper spray as seasoning for his food. Marge says "Homer! Give me my pepper spray!" to which he replies "Oh Marge! One spray and you're south of the border! Mmmm.. incapacitating..." and his eyes water.


Rainier Wolfecastle from Season 7 Episode 2 "Radioactive Man"
Rainier was portraying “Radioactive Man” on a set of the Radioactive Man movie. In the scene, Milhouse (who was earlier chosen to be Radioactive Man’s sidekick) was supposed to save Radioactive Man from a large wave of nuclear waste. Due to the directors unceasing demands for “realism,” the radioactive waste was just that; real. Milhouse, however, was not present for the filming of the scene, and the waste crashed over Wolfecastle. The protective goggles that he was wearing began to melt as he said, “My eyes! The goggles do nothing!”


Superintendent Chalmers in Season 7 Episode 21 "22 Short Films about Springfield"
Principal Skinner has Superintendant Chalmers over for dinner and the kitchen catches fire. Through the crack of the door, Superintendent Chalmers sees the flames and exclaims "Good Lord, what is happening in there?" Principal Skinner replies "The Aurora Borealis?" and Superintendant Chalmers says "The Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?"


John (Waters) from Season 8 Episode 15 "Homer's Phobia"
The Simpsons family befriends a man named John who works at an offbeat collectibles shop called Cockamamies. However, when Homer finds out that John is gay, he freaks out and turns against him. Marge and John are seen sitting at the kitchen table and Marge says "Homer, John brought us cactus candy." Homer says "Look, John, you seem like a perfectly nice guy and all. Just stay the hell away from my family!" to which John replies "Well, now you don't get any candy. No that's cruel. Just take a teensy piece."


Mr. Sparkle/Homer Simpson from Season 8 Episode 22 "In Marge We Trust"
Homer takes Bart and Lisa to the Springfield dump to dispose of their old Christmas tree, where they find a box of Japanese dishwasher detergent known as Mr. Sparkle. The face of the character on the box of the detergent strongly resembles Homer. Homer, disturbed by the box of Mr. Sparkle, contacts the manufacturer in Hokkaidō, Japan for information. He is sent a promotional video for Mr. Sparkle, which consists of a TV commercial. At the end of the video, the mascot is shown to be a result of a joint venture between two large Japanese conglomerates, Matsumura Fishworks and Tamaribuchi Heavy Manufacturing Concern. Their mascots, a smiling anime fish and light bulb, merge to form Mr. Sparkle. Thus, Homer discovers the similarity was a mere coincidence.


Homer Simpson from Season 10 Episode 6 "D'oh-in' in the Wind"
Homer realizes he does not know what his middle name is, so he and Grandpa drive to a farm run by two middle-aged hippies, Seth and Munchie, who were friends of Homer's mother back when she had been a hippie, for answers. They point out a mural she painted (based on an incident at Woodstock where a very young Homer ran around naked in the mud), which reveals Homer's middle name: "Jay," and says "Let your spirit soar."

Milhouse VanHouten from Season 10 Episode 19 "Mom and Pop Art"
Homer and Bart flood Springfield by opening all the fire hydrants; when the flood reaches Milhouse, he happens to be wearing flood pants which cause him to exclaim "Everything's coming up Milhouse!"


Ned Flanders from Season 11 Episode 10 "Little Big Mom"
The Simpsons go on a skiing trip. As Homer is out skiing he thinks to himself "Okay, don't panic. Remember what the instructor said..." (A thought bubble appears) Ski Instructor: "If you get into any trouble, all you have to do is..." Homer then remembers Flanders from earlier, in his skin tight ski suit saying "Feels like I'm wearing nothing at all... nothing at all... nothing at all!..." and he exclaims "AH! Stupid sexy Flanders."