Whatcha Readin'?

Right now, in the small amount of free time I have between required grad school readings, I am reading this:

I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny by Vivian Cash (2007) 

I decided to check out this book because my friend Kate and I got together last weekend and watched this:

Normally when I'm watching movies, I'll check out IMDB to read trivia, goofs, etc. on the movies and with movies like this, try to differentiate the facts from the Hollywood storyline.  This time I learned "I Walk the Line" wasn't even about June Carter Cash, it was about Johnny's first wife, Vivian.  Every time I watched the movie, I was always curious about the character played by Ginnifer Goodwin (love her!)

Ginnifer Goodwin as Vivian Cash

I am enjoying the book so far.  It is introduced by Vivian then is mostly reproductions of letters Johnny Cash wrote her.  While interesting, the emotion and pain I felt from Vivian's own words brought me to tears by page 8.  Read the NY Times review of the book here.

And to sign off, here's a bit from "The Man in Black" himself.  

What are you reading? Anything good? 

Always crying, Kristen Bell

Apparently I am not the only one who cries all the time.  Kristen Bell does too.  Watch her on one of my favorites, Ellen.

"If I'm not between a 3 and a 7 on the emotional scale. I'm crying."

I cry when I'm happy, sad, laughing too hard, you get the picture.  Check out my friend Cat at Perpetual Perfection who featured Kristen today too.  

"Not Guilty" Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was in the mood for some chocolate chip cookies the other night and began looking up recipes.  One by a very well-known lady who made some bad decisions about stock trades required two sticks of butter.  So I did a search of Chocolate Covered Katie's blog for a more low-cal option and this is what I found: 

"Not Guilty" Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've made them 3 times since I discovered the recipe not too long ago. 

• 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup flour (Katie used 70g oat flour. I used all-purpose.)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda (not baking powder)
• 2T to 1/3 cup chocolate chips (I love chocolate, so I went 1/3 cup)
• 2T brown sugar 
• 2T white sugar (I used Splenda) 
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1T vegetable oil 
• 1-3T nondairy milk, as needed (I used skim milk and they turned out great!) 

Bake at 375 for 7 minutes. The batch is the perfect size. Check out the original post for more baking details.  And check Katie's blog for all sorts of healthy sweet treats! 

Maxi and Long Dresses

I LOVE a maxi/long dress. Ask my friends, in the spring/summer, it is basically all I wear.  Below are some of my recent favorites.  

Carolina Herrera Resort 2012 via Wedding Inspirasi

Derek Lam Pre-Fall 2012 via sheisimpeccable

via Never Fully Dressed

Bottega Veneta S/S 2012 via sheisimpeccable

Christian Dior S/S 2012 via sheisimpeccable

Haider Ackermann S/S 2012 via sheisimpeccable

Monique Lhullier Resort 2012 via The Wedding Chicks

And a DIY...

via A Small Snippet

SOPA (90s Style)

For everyone that was in a tizzy over the websites blacked out (Wikipedia, etc.) in protest of SOPA yesterday, please always remember your local library holds all the information Wikipedia holds, and maybe more.  And there are friendly librarians always willing to help answer your questions.  So follow Arthur and friends' advice and go get a library card.

And no, not all librarians look like this: 

Miss Muriel P. Finster, Recess

Did any of you watch Arthur or Recess as kids? Any other '90s kids out there? What were your favorite cartoons growing up?

S-ART-urday (Jean-Michel Basquiat)

I love Basquiat. Read more about him here. He died too soon at the age of 27.  He worked with another of my favorite artists, Andy Warhol. More on him later.

View previous S-ART-urday posts: DIY Paint Chips, Tom Slaughter, Eric Carle

You say tomato...

Roll Tide!

Here's hoping the Alabama boys pull out a win today in the Superdome, and the crystal ball returns to Tuscaloosa. 

Roll Tide, y'all! 

S-ART-urday (Eric Carle)

1. I am now in library school with many people aspiring to be children's librarians. (Roll Tide.)

2. My little sister is an elementary education major at LSU. (Boo Tigers).  

1+2 = my renewed interest in children's books.  

I have started keeping my eye out for children's books I can buy my sister for her future classroom.  I got quite a few at an end of semester book sale for great prices and picked up a few more while shopping at Kohl's after Christmas through the Kohl's Cares program, which sells kid-friendly merchandise and uses 100 percent of the net profit donated to support kids' health and education initiatives in communities worldwide.  Eric Carle books were for sale, and I picked up two.  I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the collage illustrations of Eric Carle as a child.  If you've forgotten too, allow me to remind you.  

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

The Very Busy Spider

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 

View previous S-ART-urday posts: DIY Paint Chips, Tom Slaughter

I am not affiliated with Kohl's in any way and they did not endorse this post.  All opinions are my own.  

January

Hope you are starting off the month (and the year) off right! 

via we're all mad here

Jonathan Adler pillows

This post at Vmac+Cheese got me looking at flame stick throw pillows which led to more pillows.

Some favorites from Jonathan Adler.  

New year, new home accents? 

bargello waves pillow

bargello chevron pillow

bargello jamiaca lane pillow

bargello worth avenue pillow

Simple Resolution for 2012

via we're all mad here

Besides running this half marathon in March, I think I have a good resolution for 2012, or maybe just something I should always try to accomplish, no matter what the year. See above.

Same Song, Different Verse

And they have done it again...Ryan Gosling stars, once again, in the newest Hey Girl addition, Hey Girl. I love museums.

Happy 2012!

I've been on hiatus from posting due to Christmas, a New Year's trip to Houston, Texas and enjoying my free time before the spring semester. How did everyone ring in the new year?

Also on my To-Do List in the past few days: