Slice of Pink

Bicycle Roundup III

The DC Tweed Ride: Bringing Dapper Back to the Bike Lane

More fabulous photos of the Tweed Ride here, here, and here!

A roundup of bicycle wedding ideas

Judge O.K.’s Some Parts of S.F. Bike Plan

Bicycle Mustache {via Swiss Miss}

Too much turkey? Time for a ride!

Camera Collection

Loving this collection of camera photos at Milk {and this collection of bicycle photos, too!}

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Just a Doggone Minute

I met a football player in the elevator of my Chicago hotel on Sunday. He was staying on the 24th floor; I was on the 23rd. It was near check-out time, so the elevator was stopping at nearly every floor for people to squeeze on, and the football player and I chatted on the ride down to the lobby. I learned that he played for the Philadelphia Eagles and that his name was Mike. He was wearing warm-ups and gigantic diamond earrings. He was on his way to a game soon.

I forgot all about my elevator chat about two seconds after I exited the elevator--I was on my way to brunch at Bloomingdales, after all--but I remembered when Will picked me up from the airport. I reported on the conversation and briefly described the player, at which time Will basically lost his mind because the person I met sounded precisely like Michael Vick.

Who? Yeah, my reaction, too.

Michael Vick, as it turns out, would be the guy who spent 23 months in prison on federal felony charges for the extensive and illegal interstate dog fighting ring he operated in rural Virginia.

Oh, yeah. That guy.

So, I googled Michael Vick and, sure enough, he was totally the guy I chatted with in the elevator for a 23-floor ride. Certainly not my most exciting celebrity sighting (especially since I had no idea who he was until, like, 12 hours after the fact), but he did have a 34-yard dash against the Bears on Sunday night (whatever that means) and I'm pretty sure he's the only celebrity felon I've had the pleasure of meeting.

On recounting the story, one of my classmates asked whether, had I known it was Vick, I would have done anything differently. I think he expected me to admit that I would have snubbed Vick for his appalling treatment of animals but, in true blogger fashion, I replied that "yes, I totally would have done something differently--I would have gotten a photo of Vick and me for Slice of Pink." Say Cheese!

Hello Chicago

I'm back from a fabulous weekend to the Windy City (not so windy, by the way, at least not on my crisp but lovely weekend trip).

I met up with some of my favorite gals for a girls-only weekend of conferencing, site-seeing, wine-drinking, and pizza-eating.

We brunched at Bloomingdales and walked the Magnificent Mile to Millennium Park in order to look at a giant, reflective bean.

Lovely friends, lovely Chicago.

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}

Falling Leaf Fizz

Ingredients:

1 part Grey Goose La Poire Vodka
4 parts of sparkling wine
Dash of simple syrup
1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin butter
Pinch of pumpkin pie spice
dried apple chip for garnish

Preparation:

Place Grey Goose La Poire, pumpkin butter, spice and syrup in the bottom of a champagne glass. Stir well. Top with sparkling wine and garnish.

Let's have a fall cocktail party!

Bicycle Round Up II

+ Bicycle notecards {via Cup of Jo}

+ London Cycle Chic shop

+ Fashionable helmets

+ Kendra and Stella on a darling bike ride

+ Carved bicycle seats {via Design Sponge}

+ A lovely Milano bicyclist {Sartorialist}

+ Sarah goes to the ballet via bicycle {in pewter satin bow shoes!}

+ Riding Bikes (And Looking Tres Belle) in New York City

This Is It

Will and I were standing in the archaeological site Chichén Itzá, when a young Mayan boy passed by. He was maybe 8 or 10, presumably the child of one of the peddlers lined up to sell crafts along the dirt road. He was carrying a boombox on his shoulder, rocking out to Michael Jackson's 1982 album Beat It.

An 8 year old child in a mostly rural area of the Yucatán rocking out to MJ. The awesomeness of this was not lost on us.

Last night we saw This Is It, the mesmerizing behind-the-scenes look at the rehearsals for the planned summer tour, concerts that no doubt would have been phenomenal. The world definitely missed out on a great show. At least we got this, even if this is it.

Super Sonic

Based on Holly's rave review, I am absolutely convinced that I need a Clarisonic Skin Cleansing Brush. So convinced, in fact, that I was still browsing the website when Will arrived home from work an hour later.

I explained to Will everything that Holly had said about this amazing skin cleaning system, plus additional information that I gathered from the site, in an attempt to convince him that spending a bunch of money on a sonic face washer was a fabulous idea.

I then pointed out that we could even get a Skin Care Pair--a Mr. and Mrs. set of Clarisonic brushes. I was sure Will would fall for this, seeing as he is in love with his Sonicare Toothbrush, and the two devices were created by the same sonic-loving individual.

"Are you crazy? I wouldn't want anybody to know I was using that thing!" Will responded.

"But we will be glowy and radiant! We will have smaller pores! Dewier skin! And look! We can even have them engraved with something!"

Will's response? "Fine. Whatever. But engrave mine with NOT WILL'S."

Things I was on the Verge of Buying from Sky Mall when we Landed in Sacramento

Item #1: The Voice Recognition Grocery List Organizer.

You speak your grocery store needs into the device and a little ticket prints out listing the items. Awesome, right? Practically straight out of Jetson show, it's the grocery list of the future! Now if I could only find the page selling a robot maid.

Paper and pen is so 2007.

Item #2: Relaxing MagicShowerhead

Turn your shower into a fountain of brilliant fun! And, also, RunWordsTogether! Don't things sound so much more exciting when the words are squeezed together? MagicShowerhead! FountainOfBrilliantFun!

Item #3: SkyRest Travel Pillow

This guy is able to sleep comfortably on a plane. Can you say the same? I mean, you're totally that guy, but at least you're knocked out and drooling while the rest of the cabin is developing a neck cramp.

Item #4: American Pie Bundle

I mean, right?

Lighten Up

Some people don't get my humor and, in fact, so don't get my humor that they post four or five paragraph comments explaining to me why the things I say make no sense and I am therefore going to be in dire straits when "the flu pandemic, union strikes, inflationary gas prices, or natural disaster" hit(s).

Watch out Slice of Pink! You're screwed because of that irreverent humor of yours!

This is all just a warning, because I have been following the unseen prequels trend on Twitter and I think some of the people are pretty clever. I thought I might list a few here.

But your humor and my humor? Might be a little different. Might be a lot different. You might not like the idea of unseen prequels. Most of you are probably wondering who would give a hoot about unseen prequels. Me, too. But hey! People have strong feelings about things and could take offense. Take dried fruit, for example. Dried fruit could save the world from a nuclear holocaust! Save the world! And, if you have some frozen yogurt, it makes a pretty good smoothie, too. How could I joke about such a thing?

Satire is so obnoxious!

Anyway. If you have strong feelings about pretend unseen prequels, you should probably go someplace else for the moment. Maybe to the grocery store to stock up on canned goods for the impending doom! Coming soon to real life near you!

(Oh great. Now I've gone and built up this post like it is going to be something hilarious. Which it is not. The upcoming crap is only moderately funny and really not irreverent at all.)

(But, I've spent the past 10 minutes composing the above diatribe. In law school and life, TIME IS MONEY! Especially one month from finals. So you get this or nothing (some of you vote for nothing (me, too))).

(This is exactly what a law school final is like, by the way. You type and type and type and then, halfway through, you realize that what you are saying makes no sense, that it is going nowhere, that everything you have said thus far is bungled fluff. But you keep on typing, keep on trying to pull it all together in a way that might earn you some points. No looking back! No backspacing!)

(You keep right on digging yourself into a hole, is what I mean.)

Without further ado (or parentheses): Unseen Prequels.

The idea: People are making up names for unseen movie prequels.

Some I think are funny:

15 Candles
Ocean's 10
The Undergraduate
Dallas Takes Debbie to Dinner
Thursday
Kane Applies for Citizenship
Schindler Buys A Pen And Some Paper
Snakes in the Baggage Check Line
The Pelican Rough Draft
12 Reasonable Men Waiting in a Queue at the Post Office
500 Days of Spring
Thursday the 12th
Meg Ryan Chooses AOL As Her Internet Provider

You can find more here. Or disapprove of my humor in the comments. But trust me, I already know.

The Land of Phantoms (also, sailors, peacocks, and chickens)

We spent Halloween night watching the spooky 1922 silent film, Nosferatu, with live accompaniment, at the San Francisco Symphony.

We dressed in the usual symphony-going cocktail attire, as did a majority of folks, but there was a fair share of costumed symphony-goers as well, including two sailor girls, sitting directly behind us, and a man in a full-on chicken costume. As might be expected, there were plenty of people dressed in nearly nothing running around the city and a few of them even made it to the symphony.

The best costume, perhaps, was a girl dressed as a peacock. She had arranged 10 or 12 real peacock feathers in her ponytail, so that they fanned out a foot above her head. I appreciated her costume, although I suspect the symphony-goers in the five rows directly behind her did not.

My exquisite headband, by the way, was a gift from a dear Slice of Pink friend who now has an Etsy shop full of pretty headbands and other goodies. Isn't it lovely? It arrived in the mail on Friday and I was suddenly all about purple, even convincing Will to wear a lilac shirt so that he would complement my eggplant headband and tights.

A handsome man and a hand-crafted headband: life's two best accessories.