spring awakening

spring is here! there is much to be thankful for. despite the fact that I have a love/hate relationship with spring (love the flowers, hate the pollen), i'm going to try and keep a positive attitude about spring.

the weekend was spent cooking, eating, reading, churching, and scheming -- i realized that i demand a lot from chris and don't do much in return. so on sunday afternoon, i planned a little outing for us to pack a picnic and see the cherry blossoms that are blooming so beautifully in dc!

then chris in turn surprised me with a paddle boat ride, which is just about my most favorite thing to do ever. what is it about venturing forth on a water vessel that makes me so happy? I'm not sure, but chris put it well: "just a second ago we were walking, and now we are floating on water!" indeed, sir. indeed.

ahoy!

matey!

obligatory couple, river, blossom shot

dorkus humongonicus

picnic of veggies, grapes, potato salad, bread, cheese, and ...

chris' contribution: astronaut ice cream

a word about the astronaut ice cream. I told chris a while ago that i had always wanted to try astronaut ice cream because when i would go on school trips to the air and space museum in elementary school, the cool kids would get money from their chaperone parents to go to the gift shop and buy astronaut ice cream afterwards. so finally, after all these years, i got to try it.

it was gross.

but i appreciate the fulfillment of a childhood dream!

spring pins

while heading down to dupont circle for a dinner meeting i stopped in at a little accessories store and found the cutest hair pins -- perfect for spring!

(jane tran)

it was a nice little pick me up :)

the sixth floor

in the continued theme of promoting people I admire, I present to you Christopher's blog, the sixth floor.

he doesn't write often enough and that is a shame because each of his posts are thoughtful, interesting, and smart. If you ever get a chance, I encourage you to peruse the blog, and perhaps we can create a groundswell of demand for more posts!

some notes for reading between the lines: You should know that Chris loves tennis (he was an editor at tennis magazine); has one baby niece named Caralyn; is sort of a tech geek; and follows politics.

my favorite post of his so far is entitled "and I couldn't eat it," about chance meeting with a happy-go-lucky chocolate covered peanut :)

so proud

of this girl.

i love you uno! see you soon :)
(this is my sister, btw)

ray kind of day

hat tip mel

we all get dressed for bill

about a week ago, chris and I got a chance to attend a free screening at the Hirshhorn Musem of Bill Cunninghman, New York, a new documentary about the NYTimes street fashion photographer. I posted the trailer here.

it was a beautiful, sad, heartwarming, and funny film. Cunningham has given himself -- mind, body, and soul -- to documenting the history of fashion from the early '60s until today. He is still out there every day riding his beat up old schwinn taking photos of interesting outfits and putting them together in a weekly column. He is 81 years old.

I still find myself thinking about Bill every once in a while -- is he eating OK? is he so very lonely? is he safe on that bicycle? Can I send him something? This is precisely what he would NOT want though. He wants to be invisible, he says.

In any case, you should watch the movie just to witness what it looks like when someone burns themself up completely for a singular passion. It's a beautiful, maaahvelous thing!

souvenirs from the screening :)

back in black

due to a series of unfortunate technical issues, my blog was down for a while. but all is well thanks to some help from Christopher.

it's sort of shocking to me how much of a void i felt while the blog was down. i guess i didn't really think this site was that valuable to me, but not being able to post things or see my posts really started bugging me.  i guess in a lot of ways this is my little creative outlet. it was also nice to have friends and readers ask me what was up with the blog and why was it not working? makes me appreciate each of you for reading these silly online trifles.

regular posting will resume shortly. thanks for your patience.
-vintagejeannie

real beautiful

my main issue with advertising/marketing is that too often it remains beholden to a very faulty and destructive singular idea of beauty: beautiful equals white and thin. it's a problem for obvious reasons that i don't need to get into.

 i was enthralled to find this video ad (commercial?) for target. sure it's still an ad, but ads impact mainstream culture whether we like it or not ... so I say, well done! these girls are awesome.


Step, Clap, Go! from Opening Ceremony on Vimeo.

billy

today, in the gchat chronicles:

Christopher: d'yah fancy me, miss?
me: ah-dooo
very mooch

billy elliott, anyone? anyone?

lisa ling gets it right

there are some elements of your past that you can't really leave behind, whether you want to or not. this weekend i was confronted by a part of my past that i hadn't thought much about until now: growing up in a charismatic church.

for me, faith healing was a huge part of church and a foundational aspect of the way i perceived God. over the years i shed those practices, not necessarily because i rejected them, but simply because i learned other ways  to experience my faith. i am definitely conflicted about some of the things i experienced growing up so it was a welcome surprise when i found this video via a friend on facebook.

lisa ling attends a faith healing church conference for three days and interviews the leaders, students, and participants. journalists doing stories on faith healers/charismatics is nothing new, but ling's treatment of the subject (with respect, unbaised openness, and a healthy dose of skepticism) is the best I've seen thus far. 

I encourage you to spend 45 minutes to watch the episode.

the art of simple food

my alice waters books finally arrived! i attempted three recipes for dinner last night: pesto with fettucine; a tomato basil salad; and portobello mushrooms sauteed in a cream sauce.

it was crazy delicious! and really easy. while the recipes are pretty standard fare, waters' commitment to fresh ingredients without any processed elements comes through in her book. she's also chock full of very practical and memorable advice. for example, did you know that basil leaves blacken when crushed? you should handle the leaves very carefully and when using fresh basil on food, try to keep them as whole leaves. if you must use smaller pieces, do not chop -- chiffonade [fun word to say :)]

I literally sat at my desk reading and flipping through various pages of her books. it was too much fun. more photos and recipes to come.

fresh pasta, homemade pesto, parmesan grated minutes before serving

a tomato basil salad will taste better come summertime!

chris made this portobella mushroom in cream dish. it doesn't photograph well, but it was so good.

three cheers for real, simple food.

mornin'

who's ready for summer?



 i am now! :)

ghost of a saber tooth tiger

 it is sort of difficult to not hate charlotte kemp muhl.

***
one more:

real genteel

Charlotte, North Carolina is a lovely city and we had a great time checking it out, if only for a few days. We visited a famous fish taco place, tried some Bojangles fried chicken, and visited the Billy Graham Library.

Actually, the Graham library was a dud, in my opinion. If anything, it proved to me that old ideas of evangelism simply won't cut it today. Everything seemed earnest, but superficial, out of touch, and worthy of parody ... which is disappointing since I think Billy Graham is a remarkable person. (Watch his TED talk on technology, faith, and suffering; it brought me to tears.)

OK, enough rambling. i know you're thinking, get to the photos already!

(cabo fish tacos, as seen on the food network with that annoying guy)

(they were a little too saucy, but good!)

(billy graham museum. yes folks, that's a giant barn with a cross)

(the graham family homeplace in nearly perfect condition)

(chris adjusts his glasses asking, am I really seeing this?)

(the exhibit opens with Bessie, the talking animatronic cow. video footage of this to come.
can you read my smile here? it's half saying, this is funny, half asking, seriously? seriously?)

(my favorite part of the exhibit: ruth bell graham's bible from
when she was a teenager growing up as an MK in China.
I encourage you to click the photo to see the details!)

(bojangles! it was truly delicious)

(off we go to the wedding! see the box of nutter butters? nutter butters rock)

(the gorgeous couple)

(a carnegie mellon reunion! we all lived/worked in the same dorm)

(and we danced the night away!)

the winner, in my opinion

(via huffington)