Unapologetically Mundane » stuff i like

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media

katie ett — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:30:05 +0000

I was reading an article in New York magazine this morning about the biggest scandals in New York history and a particular crime called “The Preppie Murder”. In 1986, they said, “handsome, blue-eyed, and six-foot-four” Robert Chambers strangled a woman in Central Park and while out on bail, “had the bad judgment” to be videotaped “twisting the head of a Barbie doll and saying, in a falsetto voice, ‘Oops! I think I killed it,’ while looking into the camera with leering, satanic delight.”

Awesome, right?! Well, I couldn’t find the video online, but I did find this super-awesome, super-creepy Barbie art by Etsy seller G. Jarvis Jewelry, etc..

Here are some of my favourite pieces from the shop:

1) Ken and Ken Knuckle Ring
2) Barbie and Ken Embrace
3) Leg Man
4) Barbie Face Necklace
5) You Can Have It All (I noticed that this link is no longer working, so I instead offer you these babies in a bottlecap.)
6) Barbie Arm Earrings

I feel like it’s pretty ridiculous that I don’t already own that Ken-on-Ken ring, right?

So. Weird. -Ly awesome!

Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Defining My Personal Style (11)
Stuff I Like (6)
It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs (8)
Stuff I Like (6)
Stuff I Like (18)

Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment

katie ett — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:00:47 +0000

I’ve been switching between Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Shampoo & Wash and my regular non-natural shampoos for a while now, but I read recently that the sulfates in most shampoos are really bad for letting curly hair be curly. So I’m going all Burt’s Bees now. It’s sulfate-, paraben-, phthalate-, and petrochemical-free, and it leaves my hair soft and shiny.

It’s thinner than other shampoos, so I usually start out with a tiny amount so I make sure not to lose any, rinse that, and then wash again with another tiny amount. I tried Johnson’s Kids Natural 3-in-1 Shampoo, Conditioner and Body Wash because it’s a little cheaper and found that while I also like the way it leaves my hair, the fact that it’s naturally non-foaming just doesn’t work for me; I like to be able to feel my shampoo doing its job. Plus, I think “Baby Bee” is about the cutest name ever for a product.

• Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Shampoo at Amazon.com

• Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Shampoo at drugstore.com

I already sang the praises of the super-soft EcoTools kabuki brush with its own lid, so when I started feeling like my BareMinerals brushes were a little too scratchy, I immediately looked for a suitable EcoTools alternative.

This brushes are so soft you’ll wanna wipe your butt with them. The kabuki is dense enough for full-coverage, the foundation brush will take care of your everyday powder needs, and the eye shading brush is perfect for undereye makeup. The concealer brush is just like the BareMinerals concealer brush if the BareMinerals one was made with hair plucked from a kitten’s head, and the pouch (mine is zippered) makes it so I can leave a set of these in my desk drawer at work without the brushes coming out caked in pencil shavings and tequila.

I’ve read reviews where people actually said the EcoTools brushes are too soft for them, but I guess not everyone has the skin of a newborn baby seal. (Is that a good metaphor? I have no idea what baby seal skin is like.) The point is that these brushes are perfect, and I continue to LOVE EcoTools.

• EcoTools 5-piece brush set at Amazon.com

• EcoTools 5-piece brush set at drugstore.com

(The brush set is ridiculously cheap at Amazon right now, but shipping is faster through drugstore.com, and Ebates will give you 6% cash back through drugstore.com, so take your pick.)

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Defining My Personal Style (11)
Stuff I Like (6)
It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs (8)
Stuff I Like (6)
Stuff I Like (18)

Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC

katie ett — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:00:20 +0000

On one of our weekend walks around the city, Kamran and I ran into an installation called “Bear Forest” by Spanish artist dEmo in the THE LAB gallery in the Roger Smith hotel. Imagine the wonder of rounding a corner and coming face to face with a roomful of these:

Gummy bears! With pectoral muscles! And questionable intentions! (Am I right in thinking that these things could be straight out of a cute-things-turned-deadly horror movie, a la Gremlins?)

Overnight New York, where I got all the information about the exhibit–because of course I was too busy daydreaming about gnawing on some bear bellies to actual take note of what this was–says the exhibit goes away on March 30th, so see it while you can!

A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder

katie ett — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:00:56 +0000

I read an article about the ubiquitous Tory Burch a couple of weeks ago that basically claimed her husband rescued her from being a no-name PR girl, gave her her company, and then decided he wanted an exact replica of that company for himself. Only instead of selling things “two-yacht housewife” can afford like Tory does, he wants to sell to every woman.

I am that every woman, and I love his store, C. Wonder. Here’s a sampling of what you can buy at the NYC location (which looks like it was designed by Willy Wonka) and online:

The thing that really knocked my socks off was that when you order something from C. Wonder (like the slow-cooker, which I got on sale for, like, $11), your receipt comes in this packaging:

Love x 1000.

See my friend Ash’s review for more on the store!

In other news, random.org chose a number for me, and it was:

Which means the winner of my embroidered pillow from Too Crewel is:

Mrs. Bachelor Girl is one of the first and best supporters of this blog, and the random number generator has rewarded her for her time. I’ll be e-mailing you, lady!

Just Dance

katie ett — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:00:20 +0000

I’m not the sort of person you’d look at and think, “Now there’s someone who can probably cut a rug.” I’m fairly awkward, certainly clumsy, and not exactly, um, built like someone with a lot of rhythm and grace. (Although I want to cut the judges on “So You Think You Can Dance” when they scoff at a good dancer just because she doesn’t look good in a belly shirt and cameltoe shorts.) But I really love to dance. I don’t need to pound four amaretto sours to feel comfortable doing it, and I don’t care if other people are gawking at me.

So I was overjoyed when my best friend, Tracey, bought me Just Dance 3 for the Wii for Christmas. Having basically no experience with pop music, I was worried that not knowing LMO from LMFAO would make it less fun for me, but the makers of this game somehow managed to find only tracks that would wedge wildly into my brain for days at a time.

My immediate favourite was Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous”, because I’d actually heard it before and also used to love Nelly back when she wasn’t a slutty sell-out (nothing against slutty sell-outs):

My next earworm came from Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite”. I had no idea who Taio Cruz is, but I was so pleased that his song talked about Galileo:

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying ayo
Galileo

“Now there’s a man who doesn’t care about alienating his uneducated fans,” I thought. And then I learned that he actually says, “Gotta let go.” But it was close enough for me.

My other favourite song is now “Boom” by Reggaeton Storm, which is literally the last genre I would ever expect to get stuck in my head. And since it’s in Spanish, I sing ridiculous nonsensical lyrics to myself all day. Like:

Boom
Bop bop
Can I get a b’rito?

That’s right. I leave letters out of burrito in my head to make it fit.

Kamran’s leaving for California at the end of this week to take the bar exam out there, so he’s been waking up with me in the mornings and studying while I play the game. And since he has a one-room apartment, it’s meant a lot of him sitting around and critiquing/mocking my performances as he lounges on his bed mere steps from me. But he gets the songs stuck in his head just as hard as I do, and I feel like that’s revenge enough.

The funny thing is that the earworms only make me want to play the game more. I play in the mornings before work and then spend all day thinking about how I can’t wait to get home and play again. I can’t motivate myself to go to the gym unless Kamran’s threatening to put me in one of those 1950s-style vibrating belt machines that jiggles your fat off, but this game is so fun I actually look forward to it and want to keep playing long after my knickers are soaked with sweat and I need to go shower for work.

I was concerned it was going to be too easy after playing the Xbox Kinect version, Dance Central, where the creepy Kinect camera watches your full body with its beady robot eyes. I figured I’d just move the one arm with the Wiimote in it and let the rest of my body hang limply if the Wiimote couldn’t sense it and judge me accordingly; I thought about playing the game sitting down. But it turns out that Just Dance is harder than Dance Central. Where Dance Central is repetitious, Just Dance throws an intricate move at you once and then goes right on to something else. Just Dance doesn’t have any differing difficulty levels, but you’ll find yourself making your own as you start dancing first with just the arm holding the Wiimote, then with both arms after you’ve played a song 150 times, then finally with your legs. All while looking like an octopus with epilepsy.

Now I’m dying to try Just Dance 1 and 2 and am envisioning a future version where I get to choose my own songs from a list of a hundred and then receive my personalized game in eight to ten business days. The only thing I’m wishing for is a glove that I can strap the Wiimote into so I don’t have to hold onto it while I’m dancing; I’ve actually thought about buying Wii boxing gloves but wonder if that’s even weirder than holding on to the thing myself.

But hey, if my biggest complaint about the game is that I want to get more into it, they’re doing something right. If this is the thing that gets me fit, it’s going to be sooooo hilarious.

An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me!

katie ett — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:00:56 +0000

Liesi over at Too Crewel held a contest for a custom embroidery piece recently, and I was the lucky winner! I’d been slobbering over her Etsy shop nonstop, especially the United States pillow and the paper airplane hoop, so I asked her to combine the two ideas for me to make this:

It’s the U.S., with a heart where Ohio is and a star where New York is and an airplane trail connecting the two. <3 <3 <3!

She also did a piece for my friend Dishy that involves the entire family, the pet bird, the chickens, the rats, and the dog. If I never wanted to cram a chicken coop into the corner of my 900-square-foot apartment before (yeah, right), I sure do now.

Talk to Liesi to get a piece of your own!

Ohio in License Plates (9)
The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
Moonrises and Rainbows (7)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
Noel. No-EL. Knoll. NO-uhl. (8)
Happy Bigtime Birthday, Tracey! (13)
Merry Christmas + Happy New Year (8)

Defining My Personal Style

katie ett — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:00:05 +0000

I think I have split personalities. At least when it comes to my personal style.

See, most of me likes kid stuff. I’m super-nostalgic and get a lot of joy from surrounding myself with toys and games that remind me of my childhood. I grew up wearing clothes other people described as “funky”: tacky plastic rings as big as my fist, polyester bowling shirts, patent leather sneakers, corduroy pants when tight-rolled jeans were cool. I’ve grown up a little since then, but I still like weird t-shirts, earrings made out of Barbie shoes, my bedspread covered in giant jewel-toned polka-dots, and my record player that looks like the hood of a 1950s car.

But a little part of me likes beautiful things, too. The brown brocade curtains my roommate and I picked out for our apartment, the vintage mink stole Kamran bought me two Christmases ago, lace dresses worn with crinolines, pearls and pearls and pearls. Part of me yearns to be someone people would describe as “put together”. But I’m too scared of being generic to shop for sweater sets and riding boots.

I reconcile these two sides of myself by buying frilly party dresses from little girl stores like Forever 21 and ModCloth, but I remain torn. When I go to all of these nice restaurants with Kamran, I feel underdressed in even my poufiest taffeta number. But when I’m out on a Friday night in Williamsburg or the Lower East Side, I feel overdressed in my satin-trimmed “Real Housewives of Orange County”-looking shirts. When I see older women on the bus trying to look like Betsey Johnson, though, it just seems so pathetic. I don’t want to still be wearing teenager jeans when I’m 50.

I want to look like the kind of girl who lives in NYC, dates a lawyer with a Ph.D., and goes to all of the best restaurants but can still hang out at a $10 rock show in the back of some ugly bar. Does that have to involve leather pants and six-inch stiletos? If so, I’m clearly a failure, because I tried to buy expensive-looking jewelry from Etsy for myself yesterday and ended up adding this to my cart:

Can my “personal style” be a mix of polar opposite things?

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Stuff I Like (6)
It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs (8)
Stuff I Like (6)
Stuff I Like (18)

Stuff I Like

katie ett — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:00:02 +0000

Recently, Kamran and I were watching a nerdy “NOVA” special about the monarch butterfly’s migration from Canada to Mexico. Apparently they travel through the U.S. from different parts of Canada, avoiding death at every turn, and then converge in Texas, where they form a giant swarm and fly to Mexico to spend the cold months cuddling together on trees like this:

Growing up in Ohio, we saw bazillions of monarchs every summer, and I remember my mom always telling me not to touch their wings or they wouldn’t be able to fly anymore. I guess it’s because of her that I didn’t grow up to strangle kittens and set them on fire on the high school football field like everyone else in my town. Thanks, Mom.

Inspired by this, here’s a collection of monarch-related finds from Etsy:

• edible monarch cutouts

• wooden monarch necklace

• monarch cameo

• monarch ornament and pendant

• monarch steampunk ring (only minorly monarch-related, but awesome)

• real monarch wing earrings

• bronze monarch locket

• reversible monarch necklace

• glass tile monarch necklace

And of course:

• Confederate flag monarch barrette (Oh, crap, the seller removed this! But I want the record to reflect that a Confederate flag butterfly barrette totally existed on Etsy and was horrendous.)

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Defining My Personal Style (11)
It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs (8)
Stuff I Like (6)
Stuff I Like (18)

It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs

katie ett — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:00:45 +0000

I recently decided that I like pretty things and went on a mission to find new craft/style/design blogs by women who suit my not-lame sensibilities. I like cutesy, and I like pink and sparkly, but I like them to be presented ironically, and I can’t handle middle-aged women calling themselves hipsters while living on the Upper West Side and wearing J. Crew.

So Liesi of the blog Too Crewel caught my eye, with her asymetrical haircut and her bearded boyfriend (or formerly bearded, at least) and her clever typography. Oh, yeah, and her crafting skills ranging from embroidery to crocheting to cooking, which somehow manage to interest me even though the closest I get to crafting is filling the refrigerator full of magnets to annoy my roommate.

This month, she gave sponsorship spots to Cassie and me and introduced us to her readers in this post, so I thought I’d return the favor.

Click on the button to check out Too Crewel!

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Defining My Personal Style (11)
Stuff I Like (6)
Stuff I Like (6)
Stuff I Like (18)

Stuff I Like

katie ett — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:00:03 +0000

My best friend, Tracey, linked to some Pantone Christmas ornaments on Google Buzz before the announcement that it was being discontinued, and I just thought they were so simple and beautiful. To honor the memory of Buzz (even though Google+ is way better), here’s a collection of Pantone-inspired goodies:

1) Pantone wallet

2) Pantone bracelet and pendant

3) Pantone iPhone case

4) Pantone contact lens case

5) Pantone Chips Journal

6) Pantone earrings (6 that you can mix and match to suit your outfit!)

7) wooden Pantone bracelet

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Defining My Personal Style (11)
Stuff I Like (6)
It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs (8)
Stuff I Like (18)

Stuff I Like

katie ett — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:00:12 +0000

Entirely random cool stuff from around the Innanet, found mostly via Pinterest:

1) Recreate Suitcase Chair: a chair made out of a suitcase!

2) j-me Cassette Tape Dispenser: a tape dispenser made to look like a tape!

3) Fred and Friends Unzipped-Bag-Shaped Hand-Blown Glass Bowl: a candy bowl shaped like a plastic baggie!

4) Vapur Flexible Water Anti-Bottle: water “bottles” that you fold up and tuck away when the liquid’s gone!

5) Cuisipro Cupcake Corer: a tool for removing the center of a cupcake, because cupcakes not filled with icing are for dummies!

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Defining My Personal Style (11)
Stuff I Like (6)
It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs (8)
Stuff I Like (6)

Stuff I Like: Lip Balms

katie ett — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:00:18 +0000

I’m into lip balms. My dad was using Chapstick from the time I was born (the orange kind, of course, which they apparently don’t make anymore), so I grew up using his in an attempt to be him. And then of course I got hooked. Since about junior high, I haven’t gone a day without slathering something on my pucker, and some of the most terrifying times of my life have involved getting somewhere and realizing I don’t have any gloss with me. It’s an addiction, and it’s not one I totally hate.

Here are some of the wildest I’ve found. And, um, I’m not sure I’d actually use all of them. Although I do like the wasabi KitKat, so who knows.

• Donut Lip Gloss

• Peeps Lip Balm

• Mountain Dew Lip Balm

• Pickle Lip Balm

• Corn Dog Lip Balm

• Wasabi Lip Balm

• French Fry Lip Balm

• Ghostbusters Lip Balm

• Bacon Lip Balm

And of course, who can forget:

• Look And Feel Canadian Breath Spray

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Defining My Personal Style (11)
Stuff I Like (6)
It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs (8)
Stuff I Like (6)

Stuff I Like: My Five Best Beauty Products

katie ett — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:00:01 +0000

I’m probably the last person you’d ask about makeup and periods and styling your hair. I’ve literally never worn liquid foundation a day in my life, and the one time I wore liquid eyeliner, a co-worker said, “Oh, my gosh, Katie, something’s wrong with your eyes! Go look in the mirror!”

BUT PAY ATTENTION TO ME, ANYWAY. Here are my five very best “beauty” products of the moment:

1) Ecotools Recycled Retractable Kabuki Brush: I’ve tried other brushes in the past, and this is the first one that I’ve actually thought was soft enough for my delicate ladyskin. It’s big enough to take out an entire cheek in one pass, and I absolutely love that it has a cap so I can throw it in a makeup bag instead of having to keep it sitting out in my way-too-small-to-have-a-bunch-of-brushes-sitting-out apartment.

2) CoverGirl Fresh Complexion Pocket Powder Foundation: I have nightmares about this stuff being discontinued. It makes my skin so soft and smooth I can’t understand why anyone would ever wear liquid foundation. Other powders let too much oil shine through by the end of the day, but I can go out after work wearing this and not feel like it’s trying to slide off my skin.

3) Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curls and Waves Shampoo: I have really fine hair, and this stuff weighs it down like crazy. BUT, I guess because it’s full of moisturizers, it makes the perfect body wash. It seriously keeps my skin from ever feeling dry from one shower to the next in a way that actual body washes never did.

4) Elf Studio Blush Brush: my other super-soft brush. I use this one for powdering around my nose and eyes, where the Ecotools brush won’t reach.

5) 24.7 Minerals Anti-Aging Foundation Primer: I only learned about this stuff a couple of months ago from Gallimaufry & Minutiae, and it has changed my life. Not only does it keep my face nice and oil-free during my wild and crazy nights in New York City, but it makes my skin so smooth and soft that I sometimes go without any makeup at all.

What do you recommend?

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Defining My Personal Style (11)
Stuff I Like (6)
It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs (8)
Stuff I Like (6)

Steve Jobs Makes My Ears Hurt

katie ett — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:00:19 +0000

The only sad part about Steve Jobs being dead is that now I’ll never get to tell him personally how awful the iPod earbuds are.

Seriously, is there anyone out there who regularly uses his or her iPod or iPhone and hasn’t bought separate in-ear earbuds for it? And if you haven’t, is it only because you’re cheap and don’t believe that you should have to purchase new ones when you already paid for the sucky ones that come with every Apple purchase?

Kamran bought me some of the in-ear ones a couple of years ago, and the moment I put them in, I was like, “HOW HAVE I SPENT THE LAST THREE YEARS IN MISERY WHEN THESE EXIST?” Because the Apple earbuds are miserable. When my earbuds from Kamran started only half-functioning last week, I pulled the crappy Apple ones out of my old Nano box–I had clearly hung onto them because I anticipated wanting to punish myself for something later in life (maybe this post?)–and was immediately reminded that they almost seem engineered to suck.

Not only are they way too huge for my delicate, feminine ears, but because they don’t actually fill my ear canal, I now have to actually, like, hear children talking about the nonsense they always do to their parents on the bus. I had to listen to a kid complaining about wanting her hair brushed for TEN ENTIRE MINUTES the other day. Why are you not brushing your kid’s hair, mothers? And why are you letting them audibly complain about it during my morning rush hour commute? AND WHY DID YOU THINK THE WORLD NEEDED YOUR SPAWN IN IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Anyway.

Apple earbuds are the very worst, and here are ten much better alternatives I found in five minutes of Googling:

bullets

Jelly Bellys

rubber ducks, which Tracey bought for me, because rubber ducks are of course my favourite animal

I win this one, Jobs.

What Will You Pay for Art?

katie ett — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:35:36 +0000

The price of art is a funny, funny thing. I remember seeing a macro photograph of some water for $900 at a museum in Southern California when we were there last month and thinking, “Kamran’s 3-year-old niece could’ve accidentally shot that if we handed her a camera.” I think the venerable OOF painting is wonderful . . . but wouldn’t pay more than the cost of materials for it. I appreciate that our society values art, but I just don’t know how you determine what any of it’s worth.

I guess it’s worth whatever someone will pay for it, right? Well, so, my friend Anthony has been making these decorative picture frames lately. I know that decorative picture frames are going to put you in the mind of, like, wood painted magenta and covered in plastic fairy princess hats and the words Daddy’s Little Future Golddigger or something, so let me just show you some examples:

Not lame, right? The project kind of started as an accident, but now he’s really enjoying it, and I’m really encouraging him to make some money off of it. Neither of us has any idea what you charge for something like that, though.

These window frames were free, but it’s unlikely that future ones always will be. He has about $50 worth of copper in the background of the third frame, and the others all have fabric and matting costs. There’s the time spent burning the edges of the frame or weathering the paint. And if he uses his own pictures, there’s the effort it takes to edit and print each photo. Plus, there’s also the “am I willing to make this myself?” factor, and no, I’m not willing to make this myself.

So, how much would you pay for it? If you saw it on Etsy or eBay, what price would get you interested? Is there a price that would turn you away?

I told Anthony not to read this post so you’ll feel free to be more honest, but you can also comment anonymously, if you like. (Just use katie @ unapologeticallymundane.com for the e-mail address, since my comment system requires one.)

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Defining My Personal Style (11)
Stuff I Like (6)
It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs (8)
Stuff I Like (6)

Boys Don’t Make Passes at Girls in Grandma Glasses

katie ett — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:00:26 +0000

I’ve been wearing the same pair of glasses since, like, forever. I still like them, the prescription still works for me, and I don’t wear glasses that often, anyway. Also I am cheap. So when my vision insurance offers to pay for either my contacts or my glasses, I always go with the contacts.

And then I found out that you can buy glasses online for ridiculously cheap. Like, ridiculously. I’d been thinking about clear glasses for a while and how they would look so freaking good on me, so I called my Ohio eye doctor for my prescription tout de suite. (I felt a little bad not buying my glasses straight from him, but then I remembered that clear glasses don’t exist in Ohio.) I picked out a pair and showed them to Kamran, who promptly told me that only grandmas wear clear glasses.

Well, if that’s true, then I’m one foxy grandma, right?

j/k. One of my friends actually called them “BCs” in the Hamptons this weekend. When I asked her what that means, she said, “Birth control glasses. Nobody’s gonna get you pregnant in those.”

I was like, “If I went to Williamsburg in these, I’d get raped in a second.” Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Not Colonial Williamsburg. You know what I mean. But yeah, I really do look like a grandma here, right?

But a really sweet grandma who makes cookies and crochets and doesn’t call anybody a whore, though.

If you want some (non-grandma) glasses of your own, I recommended EyeBuyDirect.com, and if you use code IF5Q63MJE6, you get 15% off your first order, and I get some dollars to help me buy another pair that will actually make boys like me!

Pass Me the Black Eyeliner

katie ett — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:00:20 +0000

When I wore my insanely rad FableAndFury two-headed deer necklace the other day, multiple people commented that they’re pretty sure it’s just two deer standing beside each other:

It’s not two deer, people! It’s not cutesy! It’s dark! DON’T YOU KNOW HOW INCREDIBLY EMO I AM?!

Maybe I need to upgrade to the REDRUM necklace so people will take me seriously.

Favourite Finds from The Old Barn Antique Mall

plumpdumpling — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:00:48 +0000

While visiting Kamran’s parents this year and last, we visited The Old Barn Antique Mall in nearby San Juan Capistrano, a nearly block-long building split into themed rooms and stuffed with oddities and antiques from flapper dresses to cowboys’ cast iron cookpots to, well, whatever these things are:

Groin!

Really? You thought Penetrene was much better than Penorub?

Everything’s fairly overpriced for anyone used to “antiquing” at the thrift store, but really, where else are you going to find your holographic posters that morph from babies into skeletons depending on how you look at them?

Ohio in License Plates

plumpdumpling — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:00:19 +0000

Spotted in the Ohio Union at THE Ohio State University during my cousin’s swanky vet school graduation party.

by Jeff Hersey and Robert Swanson

Needed for my apartment. Immediately.

A Pathetic Attempt to Regain Your Love After a Week of Absence

plumpdumpling — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:00:28 +0000

Between recovering from the Hamptons and getting ready to leave for Ohio tomorrow night, I don’t know if I’m going to have time to blog. Ever again.

Or at least this week.

Instead, here’s a set of wildly off-kilter skits and songs by the I’m-not-sure-if-he’s-actually-retarded-or-not YouTube sensation Julian Smith, whom my friend Chantee introduced us to one night in the Hamptons while we were busy holing up indoors, trying not to get Long-Island-serial-killed:

These are listed in order of awesomeness. So don’t skip around, ya jerk.

The Best of Barbie Jewelry and Mixed Media (8)
Stuff I Like: Favourites of the Moment (20)
Giant Gummy Bears on the Streets of NYC (11)
A World of Affordable Wonder at C. Wonder (20)
Just Dance (17)
An Embroidery Piece Personalized for Me! (10)
Defining My Personal Style (11)
Stuff I Like (6)
It’s Not All Latch Hook Kitten Rugs (8)
Stuff I Like (6)

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