Slice of Pink

VF: A Decade in Covers

Have you been voting for the Vanity Fair covers of the decade?

Not to taint your ballot, but I've voted as follows:

2000: Gwyneth Paltwow
2001: Brad Pitt

2002: Kirsten Dunst
2003: George Clooney

2004: Jackie Kennedy
2005: Nicole Kidman

2006: Geroge Clooney, again! I had no idea that I was such a Clooney kind of gal.

2007: The Africa Issue

2008: The Hollywood Issue

2009: Tina Fey (I usually toss the magazine after I read it or drop a stack off at the local coffee shop, but I still have this issue floating around. What a great cover!)

Go vote!

Five {Interesting} Things About Art History

In June, I listed some things I can teach you, including the fact that I can teach you "some interesting things about art history." Although I have talked a great deal about being drunk in college, I haven't talked much about actually attending class in college. But I did occasionally attend class, even earning myself a degree in the History of Art and Architecture.

Facts about the history of art and architecture are useful in two instances: visiting museums and sounding semi-intelligent at gallery openings when you are really there to drink the free wine.

Presenting: Five {Interesting} Things About Art History!

Are you excited or WHAT?

These are quality cocktail conversation starters, people. Get ready.

1. Pablo Picasso's full name: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso. You can memorize that or simply say "did you know that Pablo Picasso had 23 words in his name?"

(Bonus fact: his first word was "lapiz," the Spanish word for "pencil.")

2. In 1911, when the Mona Lisa disappeared off a wall in the Louvre, Picasso was a key suspect. He didn't have the Mona Lisa, but he did have two stolen Louvre sculptures in his possession.

3. Salvador Dali arrived to give a lecture at London exhibition wearing a diving suit and diving helmet. Nobody could hear him. Eventually he began to asphyxiate in the suit, which had an airtight seal. The audience, thinking it was just a performance, applauded wildly until somebody finally popped open the helmet.

4. Vincent Van Gogh wrote over 800 letters in his lifetime.

5. When the sculpture, Bird in Space, was brought to the United States, the customs inspector refused to grant the duty exemption to the sculpture, insisting that it was not art (because, clearly, it looks nothing like a bird) and would therefore have to be taxed as a hunk of raw material.

Who is your favorite artist?

A.K. Damn

How marvelous are these advertisements for French beer by Natasha Lawes? {via Sweet Station}

Proust Questionnaire, Your Answers

Here's a roundup of readers who answered the Proust Questionnaire (with a teeny preview of what you'll find if you click over to read their full post)!

Jennifer:

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Love all around. All you need is love.

Kori:

What are your favorite names?
laila, riley, lucca

Heather:

When and where were you happiest?
I am happiest now!

Kaleigh:

On what occasion do you lie?
When it makes for a better story.

Ally:

Where would you most like to live?
Anywhere where the weather's warm and there's a beach nearby.

Jen:

What is your motto?
Whatever you are, be a good one.

Rae:

When and where were you happiest?
My first year in New York. Everything was just so good.

My answers, if you missed them, are here!

My method of collecting the links was entirely unorderly, so if I missed you, please let me know in the comments or by email and I'll make sure to update the list right away!

NYC 2010

People, in what might be the only instance of me ever doing something in advance, I bought my ticket for BlogHer 2010. Which is, like, next August. So, not just in advance, but waaaaaay in advance. Almost a year in advance.

I planned my wedding in less time.

I haven't made any progress toward next summer's bar exam--i.e. the most important test I'll probably ever take--but, by golly, I've got myself a ticket to a blog conference. Priorities.

Who's in?

Beer and Cheese

I picked up a recipe card for a Beer and Cheddar Fondue at the Nugget Market yesterday and made it for dinner tonight. Beer and cheese? Yes, please.

The tasty recipe, which would make a fun appetizer, is after the jump.

Checkout

I don't do grocery shopping.

Sometimes I tag along with Will when he does the shopping, but I rarely shop alone.

The reason is clear:

Things Will puts in the cart: spinach, salad greens, squash, bell peppers, onions, cucumbers, apples, bananas, beans, tortillas, whole wheat bread, long grain rice, soy milk, orange juice.

Things I put in the cart: chocolate bars, raspberries, scones, sparkling water, brownie mix, wine, fancy cheese, Lucky Charms, frozen cherries.

(I've always been this way--check out lines 13 and 14 from a poem I wrote some eight years ago in an undergrad poetry class. Please note that the poem is not very good, but that it is a villanelle, which is one of the most difficult types of poems to write.)

Tonight, I went grocery shopping all on my own. I resolved to shop like Will, buying only healthy options--lots of green and whole grain things. A girl can't shop on resolve alone, though, so I first stopped at the little coffee bar in my local Nugget Market. Doesn't a hot cup of coffee in the cart drink holder make shopping a little bit lovelier? And, how lovely is my grocery store, by the way?

So, I picked out grains. I picked out greens. I picked out a butternut squash. I picked out cans of black beans. I filled up the cart with only the most nutritious items.

And then I got to the checkout and looked in the cart and thought, "well, hell, that doesn't look like much fun." So, I grabbed TWO different types of chocolate peppermint candies and tossed them in as well.

Old habits are hard to break.

Sugary Sweet

The fabulous Appetite for Conversation and I traveled to San Francisco to celebrate viv&ingrid's 10th birthday in style at Miette.

Happiness is sparkling champagne + sugary candies + handmade cracker jack + lavender cotton candy + chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow icing! Delicious!

We had the loveliest of times, sipping sparkling sodas through striped paper straws, admiring all the ladies' chic dresses, and chatting with charming new friends.

Simply marvelous!

Thanks to the lovely Melissa at Ruby Press for the invitation and Appetite for Conversation for snapping these fabulous photographs.

Turning Ten

I'm so excited to be celebrating viv&ingrid's 10th anniversary in San Francisco tonight! You can celebrate, too, by attending the virtual party and entering the twitter raffle and goodie bag giveaway!

Learning Something New

Being a student, I learn something new everyday (and many new things, in fact) but none of it is nearly this fun and colorful!

{via Gen Pink}