Christmas in October

Heading to Boston tomorrow for what is quite possibly the greatest weekend of the year... the Head of the Charles.

The HOCR is the empitome of the pearls and a baseball hat lifestyle. A social gathering focused on athletic achievement. Pearls and baseball hats will be out in full force. The sun will be shing (hopefully), the banks of the winding Charles will be filled with preppy Bostonians, glorying in the awesomeness which is rowing and head racing.

Too filled with excitement to say anything meaningful. Boston, tomorrow!

also, Boston is the ulitmate PBH city. Followed by London and Madrid.

In Memoriam

Last night a pivotal member of the PBH team was lost. That is to say, I am no longer in possession of one of my pearl earrings. Distressed and distraught as I am, I have borrowed some silver hoops for the time being. A search party is on the look-out for the wayward pearl, and hopefully a replacement will be found soon, though you can never truly replace such a valuable and loyal friend.

Farewell pearl earing. You served us well. May you live on forever more in our hearts and memories. We know you have gone to that happier place in the sky where all lost earrings must someday go.

Rest in Peace, right pearl earring.
January 2002-October 10, 2007

ksw is not allowed to blog in class or post 5ks

unicorns, ksw? in the words of the show i no-longer watch because the office is three million times better than weepy hospital dramas gone to pot, "seriously?".

a brief post from the library... rather than repping unicorn colors in the midst of the fall. i have chosen to dress appropriately in fall tones: brown jeans, gold loafers, orange swingy blouse (my favorite), grey blazer, and saffron scarf.

In other important news, party planning has begun for the event of the fall. a certain unicorn-crazy's birthday extravaganza. Color theme has been chosen. The appropriately stylish: electric blue and black, with a few bronze accents

Things I am super pumped for:

• the office
• more planning for ksw's b-day
• 9 days till the HOCR
• researching papers
• chilling in the bow with a fellow blogger
  

rainbows, unicorns and rain

rainbows and unicorns really get a bad rap from today's disenchanted populace. what is more happy than a unicorn jumping/leaping/flying over a rainbow? Nothing i say. which is why, on this grey* day i choose to wear an orange sweater and a purple hat with a unicorn on it.

i would say today is the first truly grey day. at home this would be the limit for me. i would curl up in my down comforter with Tamora Pierce and not budge until it got back into the 70s. but that cannot be done here in new england; in new england this is just the beginning... it hasn't even started getting cold yet. this is the time we say goodbye to sunshine for five long months. it is therefore extra important to keep a girls spirits up today. we cannot be curling up quite yet-- not until there is at least some snow on the ground and tights must be worn under jeans when venturing outside. so i wear unicorns-- well unicorn, my hat isn't quite sweet enough to have multiple unicorns. every time i look in a mirror i smile. i also like to think that i brighten the day for people who see my hat. perhaps tomorrow i will wear tie-dye (it tends to have the same effect).

now i am sure that l is thinking that this girl from california is getting a bit too hippy for PBH, so i feel a need to state: i am indeed wearing my pearl earrings with my unicorn hat, and my umbrella is a jCrew.

ok back to tie-dye. it is another under-appreciated decoration. now i am not talking about rainbow-spiraled shirts you see guys with grosey dreds and bob marley bags wearing, but rather home-made tie-dye done on the stylish white tank top you were wearing while making shirts with your team but accidentally spilled some of the yellow dye on. that particular tank is now one of my favorites. the color has definitely added something.

SO! to review: to brighten a grey day

• bright colors are a must, on clothes but particularly on umbrellas-- nothing is more depressing than a sea of black, navy, and gray umbrellas
  
• hot drinks with friends
• long lunches
• unicorns
• don't be afraid to rainbow
• play with the dinning hall silverware that for some reason gets magnetized on rainy days
  
• blog while in class
  

*yes i spell it with an "e" -- it is onamonapiac** that way
**yes i also spelt that word wrong, i can't get it close enough for spell check to get it

another weekend

Can't believe the week is over. Once Monday and Tuesday are over the week just flies by, I feel like its because there is the possibility of being able to go out on wed. or thurs., even though I almost never do.
Any way, this weekend I am looking forward to dressing up. I don't care whats going on. I am dressing as though there is something amazing, this means a dress, maybe straightened hair, and defiantly the red lip stick. The red lip stick has something of a streak going. I won't mention what that streak is, though I am sure you can infer. Also, I will knock on wood so as not to jinx said lipstick. The knocking of wood also leads me to another topic close to this PBHers heart: superstitions.

As Michael Scott once said, " I'm not superstitious, I'm just stitious". This is true of me, as well. I am very apt to become attached to material objects as signs of good luck. The pearls and a baseball hat in question refer to the pearl earrings I wear every day. I've had them since I was 16 and started rowing, and they have become both a style staple and a charm. Sure, I have had bad results in these earrings, but I have had enough good fortune in them to believe in their power. Also, wearing them makes me feel better. The act of not wearing them conjures up too many concerns, ie. What if they are good luck and I loose because I am not wearing them? The mere act of asking this question is unsettling, and could potentially lead to a poor performance based solely on hyped up nerves. I also am highly attached to a worn yellow red sox hat, which I like to bring in the boat with me. It too has a history which dates back to my earliest rowing years. I am also generally superstitious, believing in karma, bad and good omens, and jinxes. This superstition stems from being a control freak, as long as I remember the good luck item I have control of my destiny.

Anyway, enough philosophizing. Now for my list:

Things I am excited for this weekend:

• racing
• trees changing color
• a nice dinner on sat. night
• dancing in a dress
• red lip stick
• being braver than last time.

Historical figures I admire:

• Otto Von Bismarck (uniting Germany, managing those tricky alliances)
  
• Livia (sick hair style)
• Michelangelo (Sistine Chapel, crazy architecture)...Bernini, too.
  
• all the Puritans (braving New England, believing in predestination)
• Eleanor of Aquitaine (went along on a crusade, married a younger man, Henry IV of England.
• Napoleon and Robert E. Lee (so sick, but for their mistakes in the North. Russia and Gettysburg, respectively).
• the Lost Generation
  
• the Dutch, rocked capitalism before anyone else. Plus, Vermeer and Rembrandt.
• Louis XIV, for Versailles. Henry (IV??) of Navarre because Paris was worth a mass.
• Peter the Great, because he made them all shave their beards and toured Europe "in cognito".
  
• Catherine the Great, because enlightened despotism is super clever.

more to follow, later I am sure.

"last year he had an original thought...

... it died of loneliness." -- Gossip Girl = Awesome

to ksw

Dear ksw,

• you aren't allowed to post in economics any more.
• ANTM and gossip girl are on tonight.
• next time I am going to do a history themed post. ie. why Otto Von Bismarck, the Puritans, and anyone in WWI is amazing. More amazing than econ. curves.
  

Love,
ljg

hump day

i have long considered the day to be a distribution curve that is skewed to the left with wednesday being centered over the mean.

• the week starts with monday: when you wake up everything is fine and dandy, and then you remember you have class. not only do you have class, you discover as the day progresses, but you have reading and problem sets, and papers that you somehow managed to blank on over your gloriously free free weekend. then you get out to the boathouse and you discover in addition to class and reading and problem sets and papers that your coach is super pissed about one thing or the other and practice is super hard
• steep upward trend
  

• then comes tuesday, oh crap-- here we are at the beginning, not a weekend in sight, and shit is getting real, really quick
• steeper upward trend
  

• then comes wednesday = hump day. once you get past wednesday the rest is down hill, but first you have to make it though wednesday AND wednesday night. everything is due thrusday, and even the stuff that isn't due thursday you have to do wednesday night because on thursday night you have antm and gossip girl which leaves very little time for work when you consider the early wakeup due to am lift. wednesday is like when you are running up a hill and you know you are almost at the crest, and you know any stride you will not be running uphill anymore, but be striding easily down-- but you aren't there yet, and somehow each successive stride is made harder because of the knowledge that you are almost at the top. sometimes it is even like you are on ski's trying to cross-country up-hill, going almost nowhere, and each stride you go foward, also takes you back a bit. (i could also throw in a rowing metaphore-- it's like rowing in a head wind, each time square your blade to catch the wind picks it up, forcing you back towards stern making you to miss water which has the added disadvantage of pissing off your bow, further slowing you down down down down)
  
• the hump, the crest, the peak, the max...whatever you want to call it
  

• but once you past wednesday, life is good. thrusday is the new friday--one doesn't have class on friday unless she has a burning desire to learn about negative space and sketch in a notebook, in which case she is presumed to be throughly enjoying the experience of sitting in lecture on the weekend (l? C?)
• sloping down
  

• friday is the weekend
• and down
  

• as is satuday
  
• and down
  

• as is sunday
• and down-- never actually reaching zero, but here we are getting pretty damn close
  

The evolution of awkwardness

Ok, so I wasn't always awkward. This is something I am pretty much certain about. I blame Facebook and boys for this ailment. Facebook is at fault because it makes it possible to know someone without actually knowing them in real life, making you have to pretend when you actually meet them that you a) don't know someone's name b) don't know their interests, fav. music, and cute/ironic "about me". I am bad at this pretending. Also, I always feel like people know I know who they are, and it becomes some sneaky and annoying circle of awkwardness where we both try not to reveal what we really know.

That is the true essence of awkwardness (awkwardity?), when something lingers in the air unsaid or an event remains unmentioned although you are clearly both aware of it. Essentially, awkwardness is that giant pink elephant in the room no one is talking about. Akwardness is most prevalent (in my case) post hookup. Having been on the receiving end of day after-makeout awkwardness far too many times, I have evolved into an awkwardness initiator. If I act uncomfortable first, I cannot be made more uneasy by their response. This is of course, horribly stupid and annoying. Bobo, one might say. When I talk about "being more brave", that's my awkward way of saying that I should be less awkward. Awesome.


Tomorrow is Wednesday. Best TV day of the week, and always has the potential for a dance party...

tuesday thoughts

Check out the New York times business section today, ksw would be so proud of you. Ignore all the stuff that the future investment bank people will want you to know about and look at the bottom of the page where they talk about yachts and yacht-accessories. This article made my morning, apparently it is no longer cool to just have a yacht with 5 bedrooms, 2 exorcise rooms, a sauna, and a wine cellar. No, you are not fly (hahaha) if you don't have a helicopter, or at least a minis-sub to go with it (no you understand the laughter, fly and helicopter= pun). There are some priceless quotes that I will not recreate here, suffice it to say I cannot wait until the day when the energy saving additions to my 34 million dollar boat will be a "laughable" increase in the price.

Wearing a dress I got on bluefly today. Its color-blocked which is pretty sick, but also a little sheer. Bummer. Using leggings to deal with the issue, must invest in some slips. Also, I must agree with cbg about the necessity of yoga pants. Only because this morning I awoke to go to lift only to find myself devoid of any comfy pants. Had to drag my exposed legs all the way to the gym, again bummer.

The use of the word bummer reminds me that some clarifications may be in order. In case the word appears in the coming posts, I will quickly define a commonly used PBH phrase: BOBO.
The term bobo comes from my cousins who used it to describe pretty much anything that was not normal, cool, or kosher. CBG and I use it to describe things we find unpleasant, lame, or awkward. Pretty much synonymous with "tool", or ocasionally for asshole. But it can also be a term of endearment, for a dumb but lovable friend (ie. CBG herself).

Examples: " I cannot believe she is wearing jeans with a jeans jacket. That is so bobo".
"That kid in section is a major bobo. He needs to shut up about Foucault."

On the radar this week:
racing season
fall temperatures
getting shit done (on the water, in the classroom)
being less awkward (one might say bobo)
needing a pedicure
planning a Halloween costume/someone's 21st

sample sale weekend

one of my favorite things at home is the summer side walk sales on main street.

at home, main street ends at the pier-- it is quite a cool effect, one that has (i'm sure judging by the metal posts now put up at the start of the pier) as fooled a person or two into thinking he (because clearly a she wouldn't be so dense) can drive right out on it to the ruby's diner at the end. So the main (pun intended) part of the street is at the beach. during the summer, a good day was one spent surfing/bodysurfing, reading a book on the sand, lunch at wahoo's, ice cream at cold stone, and shopping at the local stores. and when there was a sidewalk sale going on, that was particular fun-- what can be better than shopping while getting a tan?

now don't judge. sure, the clothes were on sale because they were last season-- but this is southern california we are talking about, not new england. in so cal you can wear jeans to dinner, running shorts to class, and sandals all year long. we a a little more laid back on the west than our east-coast counterparts. in addition, the shops along main are primarily surf-shops, and i hate to say it, but surfer-fashion, while fashionable, doesn't make sweeping changes season-to-season (after all, we really only have 2: summer and autumn) .

this brings me to the sample sale. the elusive thing that all crave to get a pass to. for quicksilver you have to actually have an invite-- something that can be acquired from employees of the company (my sister never used her qs hookup, and to this day it drives me batty). for rvca it's a little easier, you just have to figure out the date/location and you can show up. and if you are really lucky you know someone whose brother works for billabong/nixon who can get you into the warehouse-- that is when you have struck gold. warehouses are the best. this season's clothes at a 60% discount- you just have to be willing to pick through the jackets with bleach stains and shorts with broken zippers.

a&f had their sample sale this past weekend. employees only (lame), but seeing as it was in ohio--whatever. now you may be thinking-- what is "California surfer prep sophisticate" doing shopping at a&f? well, besides hollister blatantly and shamelessly trading off of the good-hb name, and their loud music and strong smells that drive me crazy when i enter one of their stores, they have very warm jackets (key for a CA girl transported to winter) and when one has a hookup who can get her 40% off of all merchandise, the store suddenly seems less noisy and the cologne that permeates everything smells much more like brad pitt. in addition ruhle, ruehl, ruhel(?) has the most gorgeous bags ever. at least that is what i thought until i saw the one brought to me by m this weekend. lets suffice to say it looked like a peacock and a rooster exploded onto it. it was one of those bags you love or hate. it wasn't for me.

• as a side note: what is the strong attraction to feathers? this is something i have not yet been able to figure out. they really don't feel that nice, sure they are soft but with a weird spine up the middle that gives me the hebie-jeibies. feather-boas as a child always freaked me out. in addition they shed everywhere and make people sneeze-- then you have snot on you expensive feathers that are impossible to clean. no, the only way feathers should ever be worn is on a masquerade mask.

at any rate... besides the bag, which f for some reason is able to rock, i ended up with a zip-hoodie, a mini-skirt, and these shorts i am unsure of how to term--tapered-leg flowery men's boardshorts? that is the thing about sample sales, you really don't know what you will end up with. but here is the thing-- i really like those shorts (even though i am going to have to jimmy-rig a new zipper b/c the original one broke off) and therein lies the reason why sample sales are amazing--> one can discover crazy new things that she never would have otherwise

this week

• excited to have clean clothes to wear having done laundry
  
• headbands
• new bangs
• all the work i have been procrastinating on catching up with me
• erging
  
• it is officially fall
  

Sporty-Boho-Prep Chic

Here at PBH we believe in embracing your inner style superstar ( Anna Wintour, Heidi Klum etc.) One important aspect of achieving your style potential is understanding your very own "niche" sense of fashion and style. What does this mean?

Perhaps a few examples to clarify the point:

Diana Kleiner= Uber stylish, Sophisticated Roman intellectual= tons of appropriately black European-ish togs, high waisted belts, bold accessories, killer boots, and scarves.

Angelina Jolie= Angsty, St.John, soccer mom earth goddess= her almost religious devotion to all black or all white ensembles.

ljg ( as titled by our bestest back in high school)= preppy eclectic/ slutty librarian= an amazingly pulled together mishmash of stayed preppy classics, boho chic accessories, vintage inspired pieces, pearls, a few nods to cutting edge fashion, and an added little European flair.

CBG= sporty-boho-preppy chic= like lgj an eclectic ( though less polished) mixture of styles- the main unifying theme being comfort=lots of jersey, plenty of prep, a little boho chic...simplicity reigns supreme- but there is always and element of surprise and fun.

ksw= California surfer prep sophisticate= a hodgepodge of totally so-cal pieces with a decidedly preppy twist ( um we do go to an Ivy afterall) and a taste for quirky fun pieces
(sometimes homemade)... always worn with a hat and sunglasses.

So what does this mean? Essentially-one must recognize , embrace and appropriately title her own unique style.... this allows one to shop and build a wardrobe that is cohesive and versatile. When shopping look at a piece and consider how it will fit into your greater style ( The Grand Strategy of Fashion so to speak)....

Thus I am craving some new cute yoga pants, cashmere sweaters, a yellow blazer, and a cute navy jumper....

but not lusting after booties or colored jeans.

I am really, really craving some new yoga pants...

weekend warrior

Finally its the weekend, that shining beacon which gets us through the week. The problem with looking forward to the weekend so much is that its hard not to get your hopes up. Friday night as you lay in bed and all the people who don't have to get up at 6:30 are out reveling, you console yourself by conjuring up images of how awesome Saturday night will be. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, discussing the weekend brings me to another topic and that is (surprise!) attire. The weekend requires a different dress code than the week. I personally believe in dressing down on the weekends, looking too quaffed signals that you have too much time on your hands, you care too much about how you look. The weekend is about being carefree, yet busy (a paradox, i know) and therefore the clothing one wears should reflect that. i only where tee-shirts and jeans on the weekend, in attempt to look more laid back (which i am not). On Sunday i wear my glasses which have two effects:
1) I look like I must have had a good time the night before because I was too tired to even put on my contacts in the morning. If everyone thinks I partied hard the night before it must be true, right? Even if I went to bed at 12:30( see: last Saturday), people assume I am cooler than I really am (or so I hope).
2) I look more studious. This is of course in direct opposition to number one. The glasses allow people to read into them what they wish. Am I a crazy partier or studious library dweller, no body knows.
(Also, imp. to add that the New York Times just featured glasses as the next big trendy accessory in their style section. Obviously, me and my Dolce and Gabana glasses fit right in).

My weekend to do list:

• laundry (ksw??)
• successfully draw some Gothic windows
• go for a run, and check out the leaves
• get an extra workout in on the dance floor
• read the NYtimes at a cafe for most of Sunday morning
• do something brave 9this is an ambiguous goal which resurfaces almost every weekend)
  

epicurious

... and seventies finger foods.

ok, so 20 points to the person who can tell me what epicurious means; blogspot-spellcheck doesn't even know its a word.

still have not done laundry-- i almost, no that's a lie, i thought about doing it today only to realize that i have one and a half more days to go until reinforcements come in, reinforcements who promised to help me with my laundry when they visit. get excited. until then my outfits will be getting creative, which i think is not a bad thing. it's good every now and then to be forced to think outside the box. perhaps i will take channel L tomorrow and rock a skirt.

did everyone catch the article about rowers/swimmers/runners in thursday style? We at PBH appreciated it. Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/health/nutrition/27Best.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=style&adxnnlx=1190945646-kmgQm2kCO2dtPn16iAwYLQ

Personally I grew up a swimmer and believe that all children should be put on a competitive swimming team at an early age: it cultivates a healthy lifestyle and competitive attitude, good time management, gives you great back and shoulder muscles, and it gives you a great base for whatever other sport you decide to do later in life.

ex-swimmers of note

• Lance Armstrong
• Johny Weismueller-- original Tarzan, also a multiple olympic gold medalist
  
• Buster Crabbe-- original Flash Gordon (kind of like an Indiana Jones for the Baby-Boomers), another olympic gold medalist
  
• Wesley Clark
  
• JFK
  

F made delicious pumpkin muffins tonight-- soooo good

Random thoughts on a thursday evening

skirt again today, after a brief relapse into madras yesterday.

spotted some cool things on Gossip Girl yesterday....

• the black girl and the asian girl wearing Prada turbans
• jenny wearing a cute dress with a thin belt and a knit sweater (definitely copying this look).
• electric blue dress of blairs, given to jenny this is definately my favorite color, esp. when paired with black.

ANTM:

• ok, i get product placement. but sending your models shopping at OLD NAVY? and saying thats how they can look like models?? half the girls put on tanks and gross ass skirts, not cool.
• also, i love when tyra gets "political". the aftermath of smoking was hilarious, i enjoyed the girl who got all burned up b/c of smoking, and the one with the traceotomy= awesome.

Speaking of awesome, I am also a huge fan of CBS's how i met your mother, and really wish that doogie howser wasn't gay.

Things that make me pumped on a Thursday:

• The return of the Office
• Friday, four square?
  
• looking forward to brunch on Sat.
• hopefully with oatmeal from the world's greatest brunch place
• Target run? Alice Temperly???
• sober dancing on saturday night. yessss...
  

Why do laundry?

I would like to preface this next post by saying Abercrombie and Fitch men's fleece (and probably woman's fleece too) are very soft and warm. If you are looking for a good, warm sweatshirt you should go to abercrombie.com and order one-- I am sending you to the website because I cannot in good conscience send you to the store to get your eardrums blown out. I guess I am at heart a middle-aged women.

Moving on

Why do laundry when there is a jCrew located between where you work and your room, and when that jCrew is offering an extra 25% off of all sale items on the very day when you ran out of clothes to wear? It was like some supreme power was speaking to me today as I walked back from work in my jeans, thinking how bummed I was that all my shorts and skirts were dirty and how hot and miserable I was going to be today in jeans. For some unknown reason I turned left at the corner instead of heading straight back to my room, and then I walked into jCrew when I was very aware that I have no money (hence I was at work). So I walk into jCrew and look around (they changed their stock, again) and I was drawn to the sale section, were (I swear angels started to sing and a light shown down on this woman) a helpful sales woman told me all sale items were an extra 25% off. Amazing.

one pair of shorts + three tank tops + cute pajama pants < $45

reasons to never do laundry

• invariably the washing machine and dryer will conspire to eat at least one article of clothing
• you will always forget to pull out your favorite [insert here: shirt, skirt, dress, pants] before drying thus [insert here: shrinking, fading, loosing] it
• takes way too much time
• the guy you have a crush on will definitely be using the machine next to you when you drop your oldest/most like a kite pair of granny-panties on the floor and being the nice guy he is will stoop to retrieve them for you
• lugging it down to the basement is way not fun
• forgetting about it only to remember hours later after someone has removed them sopping wet from the washer and placed them on the dustiest, dirtiest open flat space in the laundry room
• it just sucks
• jCrew (or A&F as I am sure they have great ones too-- just not in between where I work and live) sales
  

while on the subjet of listing favorites

TV Shows!!

The OC: season one, beginning of season two-- then Mischa Barton got way whiny and annoying, but we (or at least K) continued to watch it faithfully only to find that while stupid, she was critical to the show for after her death really stupid shit started to happen (Summer getting kicked out of college for freeing bunnies? wtf). Anyway point is that before those unfortunate events transgressed it was the best show ever.

Gossip Girl: the child of the OC, takes place in New York rather than Southern California so expectations were originally low, but it was amazing. Who would want anything more than teenage sex, drinking, smoking, near rape, and puppy love? ok put that way sounds super bad (heh heh-- pun perhaps intended... ps PBH believes in always intending the pun) but it was amazing

House: older Brit pretending to be American with mad sex appeal who is brutally honest and brilliant and therefore always right-- genius.

The Office: L or C will add at a later date

ANTM: Trya is crazy and loosing it. So great. This cycle is shaping up to be better than ever.

Project Runway: Heidi is the cutest person every. Even pregnant she was beautiful, and super cute. Plus we get the added bonus of Michael Kors (who is a clone of his mother) and fashion runways once a week

ok have to go do something
more later

Recommended PBH reading

Here is a selection of books recommended by the PBH editorial staff in order to truly expand your understanding of the PBH lifestyle:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Francie rocks, she's smart, likes to read, is self-aware, and gets the boy. Makes us wish we lived in the early 20th century. We like trees too. And we totally would have told them that our name was Mary in order to get a doll too.

Model Student: Another bold heroine, this one is a model and a student (duh) at Columbia (though the author went to Yale). Juicy fashion info a plus.

The Perfect Mile: Roger Bannister is a god (and L has a weird love of skinny men), and the story of how he trained to break the four minute mile is the sickest thing ever. You cannot read this and not be inspired. Makes you want to a) run and b) go to England and marry a mile-running medical student.
--for more hot runner guys in print, and a dash of inspiration see Running With the Buffaloes
-- Lance Armstrong is also skinny and inspirational, so is Its Not About the Bike
--Running ultra-marathons is pretty tight too, K will kill me if I don't give Ultra-Marathon Man a shout out

Gone With the Wind: The most amazing heroine ever. Scarlett O'Hara is the pearls and a baseball hat girl personified, with maybe a little less bitchiness (though only a little...if we were facing the collapse of a civilization we would have been a little snippy too. but we would have told Rhett we loved him after we fell down the stairs...we hope. Also, we would have known Ashley was a dope).

Pride and Prejudice: Ok, when we said Scarlett was the best we forgot Lizzy Bennett. We love her. Other than the fact that Keira Knightly effed her up forever because of her crazy pout and emaciated chest, we totally commiserate with Lizzie's penchant for judging people (and the wind-swept dirty hems look). We rock at that too. Plus, dancing is our favorite pastime after rowing, and blogging. And we'll take stare-downs and witty repartee with tall, brooding gentleman any day.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (and the The Masque of the Black Tulip): Another Eli author. These books combine romance and history. The modern-day heroine is a little lame and needs to jump the hot guy she is hanging with soon before we all get mad, but the Napoleonic era plots are right up our ally. The equation (if you hadn't gotten it already) includes
an outgoing if somewhat judgmental heroine+ hot gentleman
they won't get along at first and will fight until the fight turns into a make out session. love ensues.

OUR NUMBER ONE BOOK, IF YOU READ ONLY ONE BOOK OTHER THAN GONE WITH THE WIND OR P&P READ THIS.
TAMORA PIERCE'S ALANA: IN THE HAND OF THE GODESS: Ok, so maybe you are reading this and thinking...shit, these girls are too boy crazy. We will say a) you are right and b) it is only because we read these books in our impressionable tween years and are now historical/romance obsessed. Alana ranks up there with Scarlett and Lizzie, she rocks the whole cross-dressing deal with narry a near Lesbian encounter in sight. No, she gets to hook up with Jonathon, the fantasy world's hottest prince. The scene in the garden is our number one hook up scene ever. This book changed our lives, and probably set our expectations for romance wayyyyy tooo high. Also, we've always wanted to kick some ass (ask K about the self-defense classes).

Fashion II

Skirts are my new "thing". They are way more comfortable than pants, especially now that we've started lifting again and my thighs always grow and make my jeans just that much tighter. Plus, skirts add an element of surprise, and make people think that you put an effort inot your outfit, when in reality you might have thrown it on on your way out the door, in a hurry because your roomate was still asleep in the room and you had to get to class. Anyway, today I was inspired by both France and Spain (in a red floaty chiffony skirt from Anthropologie and a le petit bateu striped tee, zara cardigan and my insnane spanish flats...don't forget the tooled leather Spanish satchel as well). I was channeling a sort of French teacher. Last week, in a kilt and yellow sweater I was rocking a 1940s school girl look (pin a number on me and I could have been one of those evacuee children out of London).

Inspirations:
the 1940s
France, esp. French women who look effortless chic
Spain, esp. Madrid
teachers
anyone windswept
the British (who mismatch better than anyone)
Coco Rocha

"You Never Know When You Will Meet The Father of Your Children"

As a female rower- I know that I am not the most feminine of women- I'm taller, heavier, and more muscular than half the male population at this lovely Ivy Institution. Oh and my hands look like they were attacked by a cheese grater.

But, whatever I'm over it.

However, I take great pride, and for that matter I think all of us here at PBH do, in dressing well. Ok, I don't necessarily buy into my mother's nagging belief that " You will never know when you will meet the father of your children" ....however I do believe that I owe it ( at the very least) to myself to look (moderately) good and fashionable every day.

So even on days, when I have pulled myself out of bed at 5 in the morning, rowed a kick butt practice in the rain, and run to 9 am lecture, I make damn sure to put on my favorite skirt and top... my body may feel like it was run over by an elephant... but at least I know it doesn't look like it was splattered by a stampeding animal.

Yeah I love the school pride- and sweats sure are comfy...but why be average? I aspire to greatness on and off the water- why shouldn't that extend to fashion?

At the moment I know I am preaching to the choir (L and K I adore your fashion choices)- but whatever... embrace your inner fashion icon!

Enough with the ranting- now for my fave things at the moment:

• key lime gelato
• Greek ( the TV series- oh Cappie why can't you be real????)
• Kersh knit sweaters
  
• Gossip Girl
  
• Atonement- the book and the movie- not the act of....
  
• And for that matter James McAvoy
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Audrey Hepburn
• Project Runway
• omeletes
• Venice and Madrid
  

Fall on Campus

Fall in New England is always a pleasant time. A new school year has begun, and the weather is temperate (unusual for any place that is not Southern California). Everyone is undefeated at this time of year. Every rower believes she will stroke the JV or be the powerhouse of the varsity. The washing machine has not yet eaten half of your socks, and the bright colors of this season have not yet faded out of your favorite dress.

As juniors we finally have an idea about how life here works. We know who the best professors are and what classes they teach. (Roman Art anyone?) Stopping into J-Crew on your way to the gym is a must because they do an excellent job rotating their stock. That a race ensues even before leaving the locker room to be the first girl to change out of her jeans and into spandex-- all hoping her effort appears effortless. And that style.com is so much easier to navigate than nymag.

Things I'm super excited about
- new your times crossword
- going fast
- ralph lauren's eliza doolittle inspired collection (after rex harrison makes her over, of course)
- apple picking
- pumpkin muffins

Fashion I

Things I want this fall:

• booties
• colorful stove pipes
• black tights
• scarves

Things I am pumped about this fall:

• Flapper style
• menswear
• Head of the Charles
• running through leaves
• cider
  

The Pearls and Baseball Hat Lifestyle

The Pearls and Baseball Hat girl:

• Lives in the real world, juggling school and boys and friends and everything else.
• sometimes seemlessly, sometimes with a couple of rips and tears.
• Lives for
• Long runs (or rows, or bike rides)
• The Thursday and Sunday style section of the New York Times
• any meal
• especially one with friends
• Gossip magazines
• unabashedly: People and US
• secretly: Star and Life& Style
• TV shows
• ANTM
• the office
• A good book
  
• Saturday night
  
• Isn't afraid to talk about Roman history, heiroglyphics, Ictheology, Otto Von Bismarck, or furniture.
• Likes to judge, but admits she likes it maybe a little more than she should.
• Loves sports, from four square and football to triathalons competed on a Sunday morning after a long evening out.