Into Lately #5.

1. the Anthropologist

What a cool site. The Anthropologist is a project from Anthropologie, the chic, upscale urban outfitter and furnishing store (whose beautiful products are utterly beyond the means of a modest paycheck, or even a respectable one, but fun eye-candy nonetheless). This site features the work of interesting artists, creatives, and makers. "We illuminate those who move us in order to move you. We champion the idea that sharing the sources of creativity in turn kindles us." The work they feature is gorgeous, but how they present the work is gorgeous, too--against a plain, clean white background, with seamless transitions and easy navigation. It's beautiful, and I love it.

My favorite featured works are Urnatur, a Swedish nature resort that focuses on living simply and at peace with nature....



and the photo project of David Eustace, who got to document a road trip with his teenage daughter the summer before she left home for college.



Check them out!

2. Eat Pray Love

Okay, okay, I've heard arguments both for and against the major premise of this book by Elizabeth Gilbert, and even though I mostly feel it IS a bit ridiculous, the writing is so thoroughly entertaining and relatable, I am completely enjoying every page of this book. But we'll see how I feel at the end of it.



(Plus, the cover art is pretty neat.)

3. Independent Bookstores

There's nothing better than spending time meandering around a bookstore. And I'm not talking about mall-like beasts like Borders or Barnes & Noble. I'm talking about the cute, whole-in-the-wall, tiny bookstores lined wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling with books and books and books to explore for hours. I recently went into Subterranean Books, one such bookstore in the Loop. I love walking around this store because I always find something interesting amongst the books they display and feature. And buying local is ALWAYS a plus.

4. snow/cold weather

I may be the only one who feels this way, but the warm weather around here lasted WAY too long! I swear, it was mild weather until late November! I am glad that it is finally cold, and it's here to stay. We even have a nice blanket of snow here in mid-Missouri. PRETTY.



My favorite musical foursome singin' "Snow" from my all-time favorite Christmas classic (sorry, It's a Wonderful Life), White Christmas.

5. Mel Stringer



Super awesome illustrations coming from this Australian artist I saw featured on Modcloth's blog. So cool! Check out her Etsy shop. Oh, or her other one.

This is beautiful.

Printzzz

"The road is life." My first ever broadside! I loved doing this. It's a quote from Jack Kerouac's On The Road.


"Shipwrecked." Polyester plate lithograph.

OU Site Re-Design: Not a Fan.

Ouch. It physically hurts me. It looked like Microsoft Paint threw up all over UO's homepage. Urban Outfitters, usually a haven for fun, hip, funky design, is using stretched and skewed type. Weird placements, awkward arches of type, questionable typeface choices--it's just awful. However, I recently came across an article that at least made the ugly explainable. Brand New had this little blurb that said that "UO’s new look feels purposely ugly. It’s hip-ugly without a wink."

Wha??? I don't get it.

It also gave a link to this excellent Michael Beirut article that further explained it. Apparently, Ugly is Back. But I agree with Beirut: "Dear God in heaven: at long last, is nothing sacred?"

Hopefully UO's site re-vamp comes sooner rather than later.

Into Lately #4.

1. This photostream.


2. Scott Avett's art, especially his woodcuts.


3. Lizzy Janssen.


4. J.Crew's website design. Simple, classy, and fun.


5. The Apache Relay.

Into Lately #3.

1. Billy Elliot.
An old favorite of mine, everything about this film is gorgeous. I'm in a film class right now, so I was way more aware of the quality of this movie than I have been in the past. It's perfect. Plus, I can't get over the accents, and the set. I want all the wallpaper from his house in mine!



2. Kid CuDi.

Okay, okay, I'm quite late to the game on this one, but he's fantastic. Plus, look at that album art. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet.

3. Dolan Geiman A mixed media artist I came across about, oh 10 minutes ago in my daily blog rifflings. "Contemporary art with a southern accent," gotta love it. His stuff is rad.

4. Modcloth I can't get over how much I love this company. Their clothes are pretty and I love their site. Every piece of cloth (EVERY PIECE) has a funny, clever title and a cute description next to it. Plus, they feature indie designers, so you're getting really unique pieces. Who doesn't love a little vintage flair?

5. This song by Neil Young. I wish the video was in sync, but at least the audio is pretty high quality. I love the lyrics!

I want to work here: Modcloth.




Yeah.