water for elephants.

one of my favorite reads as an adult, if not my VERY favorite book, is water for elephants by sara gruen. it's hard to describe a story that i love so much without sounding like a literary crackhead, but here goes. set in the great depression, water for elephants is a historical novel about an educated fella who, in the midst of some serious personal turmoil, joins a traveling circus. he finds himself, finds love, gets his life on track, et all while being witness to some pretty freaky circus stuff. easily the most descriptive, detailed book i've ever read, i felt as if i were there, in the sun and on the train, and i simply hated for the story to end. did i already mention that IT. IS. AMAZING. i love historical fiction, especially a book researched as well as this one, and i love stories about love overcoming impossible odds, and i have never read ANYTHING about the circus, which was fascinating. also, i learned a lot about prohibition and the terrible things that alcoholics resorted to doing. there is simply nothing else like this book, so seriously, quit fucking around and go read this book already (and thus concludes my literary crackhead review). as if that weren't enough, i have known for awhile (because i am a crazy water for elephants stalker)(not a rob pattinson stalker) that the book is currently being made into a movie, starring reese witherspoon, rob pattinson and christoph waltz, who just won an oscar. the movie comes out sometime next year, and i couldn't be more excited. OBVIOUSLY. making matters worse, filming just began a few days ago and us weekly ran images of the new and improved rpattz hairstyle... so i am officially a huge nerd and will probably wear a water for elephants t-shirt if i can find one.

despite my inability to reel it in a tad, i hope you will read the book. you can buy it here but please let me know if you'd like to borrow my copy. additionally, please look forward to some complete WFE nerding out on this here blog. xo-kw

blast from the past: the treehouse.

this is kind of a hybrid blast from the past, and it isn't friday, but before i launch into bruce weber's new ad campaign, you should see where he got the idea:this is the only photo i have of our treehouse, which must have been taken mid-construction, as there are three hammers in this photo (yours truly on the left). you can also see brandie's underpants, a common occurrence in early wilson photos. anyway, if we had any 'after' photos, they would look a whole lot like bruce weber's TREEHOUSE ad campaign for janus et cie's dedon, aptly named 'coming home'. i've been seeing the ads everywhere, and they never fail to remind me of being behind the barn in our treehouse on a warm summer day, reading a book and hiding from my mom. i don't recall any ballerinas being in attendance, but there were mulberries to pick from nearby trees, and the occasional sheep (in lieu of donkeys-a shame, seeing how donkeys make everything more hilarious). other than that (and the fact that there were no sexy, half-naked grown-ups running around), bruce weber is pretty much ripping off my childhood, in a fantastic, magical way. i have not shown the picture that has the two grandparents making out on the sofa, but you can look into that for yourself here. if you have time, watch the video. that treehouse that bruce built is dreamy.

never been kissed.

never? yup, never. thanks, Creepiest Dad On Earth.

coconut records: west coast.

i've been meaning to post something about this forever, but 1) i may or may not be a bit of a procrastinator and 2) i still haven't been given the Dummies Guide To Embedding Music On Your Blog so i let the ball drop (uh, hi, tech support? maybe get on that, so i don't have to keep posting the youtube version, like a douche.). it would have been a lot cooler if i'd had this on here either 6 months ago when i first heard it or at least prior to my recent trip to LA, but here it is anyway, a day late and a dollar short and still pretty fantastic.

put a ring on it: single fellas edition.

as i'm sure you're all aware (due to the alert that you got on your palm pilot this morning), it's been a year since b-rad and i rode our bicycles into the sunset and decided to get hitched. certain people might feel we are dragging this out a bit much, but i prefer to think we are marinating in the magic of common law marriage. SAVOR IT. as today is our engagement anniversary, i thought i would share the other (slightly less exciting but equally important) half of this couple's jewelry: the wedding band for b-rad.

at first i kicked around the idea of a big fat rose gold band, since my bands (top and bottom) are going to be rose gold, but sugarbear was all OH HELLS NO to that idea, so i found this sweet option from bario-neal that manages to sneak in some rose gold. (ring on the right was more like my original plan, btw, except times four on the width) and then we took a trip to las vegas (BARF), which resulted in some serious time at the david yurman counter. did you guys know that david yurman's son evan (professionally trained as a blacksmith, of all things. oh, the lives of rich people...) recently started a kick-ass line of men's jewelry? it's tough to find-slash-purchase anywhere, which, had i known while we were in vegas, would have swayed me to buy something, probably for m'self AND for b-rad, because it. is. awesome. anyway, brad and i seriously considered a few non-traditional evan yurman options. i mean, a frickin' stallion ring? MANLY. rhino skin texture? RUGGED. and the scarab, which is amazing, was also available in BLACK ONYX, but i can't find a photo of it anywhere. ultimately, after hopping off the yurman crazy train, i decided on a custom band from etsy vendor, TITANIUM KNIGHTS, because a) i like to support the online craft community and b) i happen to love most of the TK rings. PS, ladies, titanium bands are like, 50 cents. meaning $80-$200 each, which is insane. fancy shoes that you buy on the SNEAK are more than that. it's almost as if the guy is supposed to lose his ring a few times. anyway, here are some of the titanium knights rings i considered before settling on a custom, 9mm wide version of the last photo. plus i got it engraved, but that will remain a wedding secret.

music to hop on.

i have been trying desperately to figure out a way to embed music in my blog (AHEM, B-RAD) but for now, here are youtube versions of some things i think you should hear immediately. ps-these songs are not new, and i'm aware.

miike snow:: animal. he'll be at acl, kids, and i think it's high time we all started getting more familiar with the delightful line-up. besides, this is the best use i've seen yet of the anthropologie savannah giraffe.

peter, bjorn and john:: amsterdam. bonus points for reminding me of something i saw as a child on pbs.

ra ra riot: can you tell. ICYDK, ra ra riot's wes miles is also in a band called discovery, the other half of which is made of my favorite vampire weekend member, rostam batmanglij.

my teenage stride:: to live and die in the airport lounge. every time it comes up on pandora, guess who gets really happy? ME.

the get up kids: close to me. it's a cure cover, so feel free to cut yourself.

teen wolf: wolfie blackheart.

what? i mean, what? are the parents on crack? i am mystified and mesmerized. i mean, i was weird in high school, but nothing like this.

superpoke birthday.

one of the wonders' most loyal readers will be celebrating another year of awesome today (that is, if you find spot-on winehouse impersonations and curing cancer via flotation devices awesome). happy beefs, cally! b-rad is planning to whip up some lemon bars and beatles rock band in your honor.

dragons and chenonceau.

if you love (and can't afford) schumacher fabrics, you'll probably also love schumacher's stationery collaboration with dempsey and caroll. although these cards are slightly less bones than say, one yard of fabric, you'll still need to save your bacon for such fine paper goods. but as we all know, fancy writing papers are the mark of a lady, so get out your (common law husband's) AMEX and snap some of these boxed sets up STAT. why? because when, ever in your life, have you ever thought "man, i sure hate going to the mailbox because it's always crammed full of those annoying, hand-written notes." seriously. the last time i thought that was like, the seventh of NEVER. ps-please excuse my recent blog hiatus. i'm sure this stuff has been around for A. WHILE. but i've been heavily involved in a personal project called 'working myself into an early grave' which is hopefully going to be wrapping up circa THIS AFTERNOON.
{purchase online here and here}

hipster puppies book deadline.

last day for hipster puppies book submissions is TODAY. cally, i feel like rudy as the smoke monster is a winner. submit entries at hipsterpupbook@gmail.com or read more about the book here. you know what else is a winner? hipster puppies. seriously, it. is. hilarious.

heart it races.

i love this song, which i did not know was originally by architecture in helsinki until i went to purchase the dr. dog version. in case you had not yet heard that i enjoy the musical stylings of one dr. dog, catch up here. anyhow, i bet you'll like it too, so hear (typo and it stays) it is for your listening pleasure. i will, however, take the opportunity to point out once more how they are trying to conceal a) how tiny those lead singers are and b) how giant that other dude is in the photo below. NICE TRY, DR. DOG.also feel free to do a personal comparison of the dr. dog and architecture in helsinki version here. full warning, though: if you were ever involved in SING SONG at my alma mater, the AIH video will make you really kick yourself at missing out on a golden idea.

mulberry, alexa, things i can't afford.

dammit. i just found out that the bag that i've torn out of no less than four magazines costs approximately $1,150. so i guess i'm not getting it after all, even in the sweet 'natural summer tweed' option that is slightly less at $950, because i'm pretty sure purchasing a handbag of that dollar amount is not as morally sound as say, donating the money to a starving nation or an act-of-god weather tragedy or the humane society. which leads me to suggest that the makers, or rather, the PRICERS of mulberry bags go hang out with the likes of kate spade (stingy hoe-bag hoe) and wes anderson (who fricking de-followed me on twitter), so that you can all be jerks together. however, i would be willing to recant my comments and forgive you if one of these gems shows up on my doorstep in the next few days. except maybe not you, wes. de-following me on twitter was pretty cold.

mulberry alexa bag available in about seventy five colors.

lifetime achievement award: my parents.

in case you were wondering why i've been such a negligent blogger of late, it's because i've been super busy galavanting about the countryside, doing things like hanging out with joan collins's's' stepson, immersing myself in projects involving catpaint and going to my youngest brother's college graduation, which was kind of a huge deal. we had quite a lot to celebrate, as my brother spencer is the youngest of the six kids in my family and the last to graduate (summa cum laude, incidently. way to go, nerd brother!). it is worth noting and worth repeating that my humble parents have financed six college educations, SIX, and by financed, i mean cash money. dollar dollar bills, y'all (not that there is anything wrong with student loans). it's also worth mentioning that all six of us graduated in four years, several of us graduated with honors, and most of the time, there were two of us in college at the same time. during my senior year of college, my younger sisters were a junior and a freshman, also in college (which equals three in college, for those of you who did not graduate with honors in math). does your wallet hurt just thinking about it? mine sure does. i'm still not sure how they paid for it, along with everything else you have to pay for when you have that many chilluns, but my dad has (had?) a running joke where he gave the baby calves names like january, february, march and april - named to represent the month of college that they would eventually pay for. aaaaaaanyway, i could go more and more into how remarkable my parents are to have done this on modest salaries, or to have done this at all, but i'll just post pictures instead. side note(s): i've done my best to post these chronologically, but my sister brandie graduated prior to digital cameras (PDC), i never received copies of her graduation photos, and she refuses to scan any for me. the first picture is my older sister angela's college graduation and brandie's high school graduation, both in 1999. lovely painting on the right (victorian lovers at sunset) by yours truly (NFS).

angela's ku graduation. i think this is was taken at the chancellor's house, prior to all of us getting the worst sunburns IN LIFE. thanks for the heads-up, baby jay.my acu graduation, where you get to select one person to walk with you and they wear a white robe and put your hood on you (this is that purple and brown scarf thing i'm wearing... i've never seen it at anyone else's graduation)(which doesn't mean it's cool). i picked my sweet angel mother. chelsea's harding graduation. brandie's graduation photo would go right above this one, but did i mention that she's not going to scan and send it to me? brad's ku graduation. this photo (brad and his now-wife, then girlfriend shannon) is an exact replica of a photo my parents took when my dad graduated from ku. spencer's harding graduation. there's another photo that showcases our AGE ORDER photo skills, but i'll save it for an AGE ORDER round-up post. is that a liberty of london for target one-shoulder number i'm wearing? yup. did it kind of make me look like a clown in these photos? yeah, kinda. spencer and his adorable bride, jessie. apparently, this guy had time to go to class, have friends, be on the cross country team, fall in love AND get married, all prior to graduating with honors. he's also very well-liked by professors and the elderly, and his hair is that color naturally.and this one is because it is hilarious. taken shortly after spencer was born, so my parents are approximately 30 EFFING YEARS OLD in this picture. for the ten-trillionth time, that's how old i am right now.

before and after: aka the huge fight dresser.

so (quite some time ago) i may or may not have purchased a fixer-upper dresser via everyone's favorite interior design source: CRAIGSLIST. i also may or may not have done this on the DOWN LOW (aka the low-down, aka the sneak, aka secretly) and it also may or may not have really steamed brad's peas. for the record, b-rad and i desperately need a new dresser in the master's quarters, and the things i have in mind are 'spensive. although the dresser i purchased is nowhere near what we need, i convinced myself that it was too good a bargain to pass up. i also convinced myself that purchase of said dresser would not really bother brad that much, you know, because it was Cheap Cheaperson and because i'm so crafty and because i see the potential in things that are super ugly. BOY WAS I WRONG ABOUT THAT BRAD PART. but to be fair, i think ol' b-rad totally overreacted and had to admit that, when it was all said and done, i'd really been right all along (just like all the other times) and that my junk dresser was really a gem. brad said that if he knew i was going to resort to tactics such as purchasing furniture from craigslist (aka other people's shit), he would have let me purchase the van dyke dresser i was drooling over earlier. b-rad also said this girly-ass dresser is going in the master bedroom over his dead body, so this lovely, somewhat rickety but extremely adorable dresser now resides in the craft room, aka sugarbear's former work out room. anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here are some before and after shots. i'm not sure you can fully comprehend how hideously ugly this thing was when i bought it, but i'm sure b-rad will be willing to tell you AAAAAAAAAAAALLL about it. i also may or may not have taken approximately six months to re-paint this bitch. in case you can't tell, steve and ginger LOVE the new old piece of shit dresser. they also love craigslist, antique stores, flea markets and garage sales.

mother lover.

i saw this today while reading some back entries on d*lish (specifically, the mother's day post). this one goes out to my mom, who doesn't have any use for the world wide web, at all, and who will not see this unless i print a paper copy and send it to her via the united states postal service. she's gone to great lengths and made huge sacrifices so that i could live the way that i do now, and i'm not sure she can ever comprehend the depths of my gratitude. thanks mom. you are awesome.

kristina

{via i can read}

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deer tick and dr. dog.

it's a good thing they're called dr. dog, folks... because the concert sunday night was SICK. as in, the evening was a fever and the only cure was DR. DOG (with special opening performance by deer tick). also, i have never in my houston life seen so many HIPSTERS out on the town. i'm thinking there must have been some sort of pre-show hipster rally (sponsored by ray-ban colorize and keds) that i missed. anyway, if you're a hipster, especially if you're a lonely hipster, get thee to a dr. dog and slash or deer tick concert, STAT. you'll find yourself swallowed whole by the sea of young coolness and you're sure to make at least one friend.

but i digress. dr. dog is a wonderful, jammy, indie pop band that has also been labeled as psychedelic(?). essentially, they are fantastic, but i have no idea how to go about describing them. hows about this: great music and lovely harmonies played by two of the TINIEST men i have ever seen in my life, plus one jolly giant in ladies sunglasses, plus about three other guys on stage that keep to the background. for more information and slash or proof of said tiny-ness, please refer to photo. the giant in the center stands on the left and those lilliputians on either side of him are the other two front men. weird, right? deer tick was also delightful.

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?

reason number seven million, eight hundred and ninety-seven why i will never have children:

{via ryan mcneill's tumblr}