[Girl Crush] Florence Welch

1. She has style all her own:

"For the stage, it’s Lady of Shalott meets Ophelia…mixed with scary gothic bat lady."

2. She is a versatile musician and is working with Drake on his upcoming album.

3. She used to get in trouble in school for impromptu singing and did well academically, although she suffers from dyslexia.

4. She takes her time. Unlike other artists, she isn't pushing out mediocre music to retain her popularity. Her current album is a work in progress and is "ages away from being done."

5. Her music videos are whimsical and fun with attitude.





6. She is only 24. Wow, makes me feel inadequate, lol.

7. She has gorgeous hair and owns her height (5'11"!)

[Travel Saturdays] Budapest

I've been hearing such amazing things about Budapest lately, and now I desperately want to go. These photos from Mr and Mrs Globe Trot aren't helping.

[Friday Link Round Up]

1. Browse the gorgeous lit-inspired tattoos of The Word Made Flesh

2. Get in the mood for Valentine's Day with kissssing: a love blog

3. Evaluate the new Lady Gaga photos in Vogue - I'm not super-impressed - thoughts?

4. LIsten to First Aid Kit.
First Aid Kit - Tangerine by wereofftherails

[Green Thursdays] Download ecofont for free

Ecofont has been out for a few years, but I've been waiting to download it, mostly out of laziness. But basically it's just a font with holes in it (that you can hardly see) that effectively saves about 20% of your ink on printed documents. It's totally free to download from the website, and it's an easy way to save money and be kinder to the world.

I personally think businesses should all be using this (especially publishing companies who print out tons of manuscripts *COUGH*) to save on ink cost. If people start using this, then maybe I won't have to wait all day for the ink to be replaced in the main copy machine...

[News] Beauty Pageant Queen Loses Title Over Weight Gain

via the Huffington Post

Domonique Ramirez, Miss San Antonio, Loses Crown For Gaining Weight

17-year-old Domonique Ramirez is suing the Miss Bexar County Organization for stripping her of the Miss San Antonio title, ABCNews.com reports. And among the reasons that the board took away her crown? Ramirez gained weight.

Linda Woods, the pageant board's spokeswoman, told the news site, "As a Miss San Antonio reigning queen, [Ramirez] has to live up to our rules and regulations and the standards of our contract," explaining that Ramirez skipped events or showed up with her boyfriend, and was generally unreliable. Woods added, "She was doing a photo shoot and asked to wear her wardrobe from the competition, but it did not fit her. I told her we need to get you on an exercise program. We need to get ready to compete for Miss Texas, just like any elite athlete."

In a local news report, Ramirez said, "I shouldn't have to be slandered like this and my future shouldn't have to be ruined over this."

Both parties will be back in court on February 16.

[Fashion Attack] Red Velvet Vintage Online Shop Opened Yesterday

...and I'm so in love with it, it's not even funny. I've been thinking about buying this dress, called "The Navy Librarian" (and a cute necklace to match, but not wear at the same time, of course). The dress is just so tailored and cute, and yet it's totally work-appropriate without being stuffy. I hate stuffiness, but I love the stuffiness of libraries. Aaanyway, check out all the rest of the adorable vintage clothes, accessories, and decor here.

I also just learned they offer cool e-courses in crafting and blogging and they're working on their own dress line. I adore these women. They're all up on the latest technology and yet they wear clothes from the 1970's. Those are the kind of contradictions I love to embrace.

Or check out Elsie's beautiful blog, A Beautiful Mess.

[Food + Drink Wednesdays] Comfort Food: Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies

I've been kind of down lately, and nothing picks me up better than peanut butter. Add some butter to that, sugar to the butter and peanut butter, and then throw some flour into the mix, and you've got yourself a recipe for self-indulgent everything-will-be-okay-because-you-have-these-cookies Peanut Butter Goodness. They're easy to make too, so you can get back to wallowing in self-pity as soon as the timer on your oven goes off.

Ingredients

1 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Directions
1. Mix together the butter and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl. Then add the sugars and the eggs until everything is combined.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then add this mixture to the flour mixture.
3. Add in the vanilla. Cool the cookies for at least 1 hour (more is better though).
4. Preheat the oven to 375F. Shape the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls and squish down onto a non-stick baking pan. Dip a fork in sugar and press the fork down on the cookies to make a cute, criss-cross pattern.
5. Cook for 7-8 minutes and allow to cool on a wire rack.
6. Eat. Feel guilty after the first three. Eat a few more. Smile.

Pressing the cookies with a fork

[Get Involved Tuesdays] Princess Project

Photo via Princess Project Gallery

One of my co-workers was just telling me that they heard about this organization on NPR a few days ago. The Princess Project allows Bay Area women to donate their old prom and formal dresses to girls who can love them all over again but who maybe couldn't afford a brand-new dress to wear once. That means it's a win-win: you get that black and white Jessica McClintock dress out of your closet to make room for some new stuff (and you don't have to worry about how the zipper doesn't seem to zip up quite the same) and a girl gets to feel beautiful for her prom night. You loved that dress once, but get real, you'll never wear it again. Let someone else make it their own.

Read more about how it works here.

Or give your time instead of your dresses year-round by volunteering.

[Music Monday] Phantogram

So excited to see them at Coachella.

Phantogram - Mouthful Of Diamonds by ana_satana

[Things We Adore Sunday] Adorable Bike Bags, Camera Bags, Cupcakes, and Garden Blogs

1. 72 Degrees in San Francisco in February. Let me just say I adore that more than anything else on earth.

2. With the beautiful weather comes the need for beautiful bike bags from Collina Strada (I love that this is a one-woman show as well). I don't want. I need. But first, I need a new bike.

3. Adorable camera bags from Jo Totes. Again, NEED.

4. Anti-Valentines Day Cupcakes from Cupcakes Take the Cake (a blog co-written by one of my favorite erotic fiction writers, Rachel Kramer Bussell). 

5. A Way to Garden, this year's choice for Best Green Home Blog from (one of my top green living blogs) Apartment Therapy Re-Nest