WEEKEND LINKS

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Lots of fun links that I'm loving this week, from party ideas to pick up lines to debates on education and women in the workforce. Read & enjoy & bake some yummy cookies - it's the weekend!

01. The Awkward Years Project: A submission-based tumblr that shows people now versus what they looked like in their "awkward years".  I have flashbacks to my own middle school days - braces, no makeup, and the inability to properly smile in school picutres....yikes!

02. Why Oh Why is the Birkenstock Back?: Jess Graves of the Love List says what a lot of us are thinking - Birkenstocks? WTF? I don't care if Vogue and Leandra have ok'd it, Birkenstocks are not a good look.

03. DIY Big Fringe Garland: I stumbled across this tutorial on Oh Happy Day, and think I might have to try it out for my friend's upcoming birthday. We've having people over to our new house at school the first weekend back, so I know it won't be decorated at all. I'm thinking that this easy-to-make, colorful space-filler-upper will make the room look more festive!

04. Best Apps for Design and Living: Alright, so considering I don't actually own my own home (not even an apartment, really), most of these are pretty useless to me now. But Domaine's round-up is great, and if you're doing anything with your home, from picking out paint colors to measuring windows, there's probably an app on this list to make your life easier.

05. 7 Best F. Scott Fitzgerlad Pick-Up Lines You Should Be Aware Of: Gents, for the next time you find yourself at the bar with the pretty lady  - learn from the master.

06. Six College Courses that Help Grads Land Jobs: My Dad actually sent me this one. All I can say is thank goodness I'm an Econ major. Though I'm definitely considering adding a writing class or a leadership-based course to my schedule this coming year...

07. SMP Sprinkles Shower: The cutest sprinkles-themed shower over on Style Me Pretty - pun intended! There's umbrellas, silver "rain" streamers, and blue drinks, and also donuts, marshmallows, and rice krispie treats all getting the rainbow treatment with a different kind of sprinkle. Too cute!

08. Are We Really Screwed If We Leave Work to Have Babies?: An interesting article on Refinery 29 in response to the NY Times article "The Opt-Out Generation Wants Back In", discussing whether or not women who "opted out" of work to raise their children are now regretting that decision or not.  I'm loving all the debate about this topic right now, as a soon-to-be young working women, though I can't help but feel that one of the women they interviewed summed it up best:

"The conclusion that I’m coming to with the whole Sheryl Sandberg/ Anne Marie Slaughter / "Can Women Really Have It All’ debate really comes down, once again, to the wise words of Cher Horowitz: It’s a personal choice that every woman has got to make for herself."

Any article that quotes Clueless is a must read in my book!

A LITTLE BYRDIE TOLD ME

I'm assuming y'all have heard of a little site called Who, What, Wear. Anyway, after having a beauty spin-off with its own dedicated email for awhile now, just today they launched a whole new beauty-focused site called BYRDIE.  The site - and the daily email - has everything you ever wanted to know and more about the latest in hair, makeup, skin, etc. products and styles and things I don't even know about yet.  I highly recommend signing up for it, even if you're like me and don't even know how to work your curling iron, much less create perfect mermaid waves in less than ten minutes.

And even better, as I clicked though to the site today I saw their post on Carven's new perfume.  Remember this post about the weekend my parents and I visited Paris while I was abroad? And how I stopped into Colette and they had this lovely little perfume on display, in such a chic bottle and with such a florally, decidedly French scent that I picked it up as my Paris souvenir of choice?

Well, lo and behold, it was this same Carven perfume. So imagine my surprise when I was reading on Byrdie that it was going to be available this month. But wait! I thought. I bought this months ago.  Yes, I did - in Paris, where it was apparently launched before it was in the U.S.  

Sometimes I'm so cool it hurts.

Anyway, besides me being all Parisian and ahead of the times, this perfume is lovely and floral and light and girly and French, and I highly second Byrdie's recommendation. And even if you don't snatch it up now, definitely sign up for Byrdie's emails - how else will you discover you've been wearing a cool new French perfume before anyone else?

both images via byrdie.

WEEKEND LINKS

So much to read, so little time! Here are some goodies that caught my eye on the web this week.

01. SHORT STACK: a kickstarter project to create handmade cookbooklets - small-format cookbooks that focus on a single, inspiring ingredient, with recipes culled by an awesome tastemasters and food writers.

02. HIGHBROW SUMMER READS: a list complied by flavorwire of some good summer reads, both in quality and plot. can't wait to add some to my summer reading list!

03. LOEFFLER RANDALL'S PRE-FALL ACCESSORIES: beautifully crafted shoes and bags for all the cool cats out there. my favs are the lock clutch and the damaris platform sandal.

04. ONLINE TOOLS FOR AN ORGANIZED LIFE: laicie of one thousand threads' tips for online sites and apps to help keep your life O.T.O.T. (on time, on target). i'll be downloading some of these for sure!

05. WHAT, WHY, AND HOW TO STYLE HAIR: into the gloss kills it with this feature that demystfies the hair product aisle in sephora.  what's the difference between wax and pomade? which should you use? when should you use it? all that and some quirky illustrations to boot - a must bookmark.

image via the coveteur.

THAT LAST BRO I DATED

Jess Grave's THE LOVE LIST is one of my all time fav blogs, and her latest spin-off doesn't disappoint.  Her tumblr " THAT LAST BRO I DATED " chronicles her love of all things menswear.  It's a go-to page for inspiration for tomboy chic or for the man in your life.  If all of the site's pictures and quotes and songs somehow manifested themselves in a real live boy, he would never be "that last bro I dated", because let's be real, who would break up with such a cool dude?