Things I'm loving this summer

It's crazy-crunch time for me here, and while I'm fielding a bazillion emails and preparing to meet Tim Gunn (omg), here are some of the things that are making my life easier and prettier while I'm trying not to a. melt into a puddle or b. breathe fire.

- Band-Aid Friction Block stick. It's summer, it's hot, I'm walking three miles a day in sandals and my feet are tender. The Friction Block stick is definitely helping me out here.

- Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in "Bourbon". This came with the Get Baked set, and I love it. Normally you wouldn't think that I'd get excited over a brown eyeliner pencil, but it's really flipping pretty and lasts all day.

- Keeping a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge at home. I know I should have been doing this all along, but I finally got myself a cheap plastic pitcher and have been drinking it like crazy. Amazing! (I make unsweetened mugicha, but any iced tea would be delicious.)

- A nude American Apparel bra. I don't know why I didn't have one sooner, but it's great. I'm finally wearing summer shirts I'd previously banned for being too, shall we say, showy without a camisole underneath.

- Butter London nail polish in HRH. Really, I'm waiting for Mismas, but I'm still excited by the lovely purple HRH. (I think Karen will love it too!)

- Gel lip stains. You all know I love my Benetint, but lately I'm more interested in the gel lip stains like Stila's Cherry Crush Lip and Cheek Stain (I have Cherry and am waiting for Mango) or the MAC See Thru lip colors (I have the Ungaro one swatched there). Yes, they still get eaten off mid-day, because I do eat all day, but they're very pretty and, paired with a clear SPF balm like Softlips, boom -- tinted lips with SPF. Hooray!

- Speaking of tinted lips with SPF, I'm loving the Fresh Rose lip treatment balm. Like the classic Fresh Sugar balm, but with a rosy red tint. Fantastic, holy grail-worthy for someone like me who wants color and protection. The only problem is that it's so rich and so lovely that I'm terrified it's going to melt in my purse, so I've been leaving it at home on the scorcher days.

- The Flip Video! Yes, I've added a new gadget to my repertoire. I'm super-excited to have this tiny little video camera in my purse so that I can record my adventures (or misadventures) and share them with everyone. Yay!

- And now, anticipation for the Treasure Island Music Festival! Karen and I are both in, and I'd love to get Ms. Kati to come with us as well. It seriously looks like two days of awesome music. I've also never spent any time on Treasure Island, so it will be exciting!

What's rocking your summer?

Science Fair for July 5th-11th

Summer has finally come to Silicon Valley! We had a little scare yesterday with freak rainshowers, but I have been pushing myself to hit up the gym pool as often as possible. As such, I've already managed to wear out a couple of bathing suits. I am not a bikini wearer, and after a long struggle with tankinis trying to find two matching pieces, I've finally come back to wearing one-piece bathing suits made for actual swimming. The suit by Longitudes (I have two of the same, shhh it's a secret) I've gotten bucketloads of comments on, but now it's time to change it again:

-I was looking at Unique Vintage's selection of retro bathing suits, including the ESTHER WILLIAMS collection (awesome!!) and came across this TOTAL GEM. For some retro, extravagant synchro inspiration, check out the Darling Mermaid Darlings from Pushing Daisies!

-Jeanne and I have agreed that despite our deep, undying love of shopping in Japan, it just isn't going to be feasible unless the yen-US dollar exchange rate returns to the 1960s rates of 360 yen to the dollar. Not joking, can you imagine the absolutely hedonistic partying and gluttony that would happen at those prices? The highest I've ever seen in my lifetime was 121 yen/dollar, so fingers crossed... The San Francisco Chronicle has a quick'n'dirty guide to traveling in Japan on the cheap. I would agree with all of Armstrong's points, and suggest being as adventurous as possible for your eating options to find cheap, fabulous eats. It's amazing what a 500-yen coin can get you at lunchtime in Tokyo. Ah, great bento and lunch special memories...

-The lovely Mademoiselle Robot needs to stop reading my mind, seriously, because I am way jealous that she was just in Stockholm recently. She's got a whole Google map shopping guide (LET'S ALL GO TO SODERMALM NOW!), love it love it love it! I just told my boss recently that I'd love to live and work in Europe someday, for the adventure of it, and she said, "Switzerland?" NO, SCANDINAVIA ALL THE WAY.

-Here at Periodic Style, we love cooking and eating and making a total mess, so we're shamelessly excited about seeing Julie and Julia this summer. I am still flabbergasted by the thought that a humble blog could turn into a book deal, much less a major motion picture seen by millions--certainly, it IS a unique story, but hot-damn! Crazy. Using that as inspiration, the amazing Whisk blog has compiled a massive online compendium of Julia Child recipes made by food bloggers. I'm half-tempted to do a "year of cooking dangerously", only using Amy Sedaris' I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence!

-I'm compiling a list of songs for summer here at Periodic HQ, and here's one I love, if you are into watching a couple of effing hipsters make out in France: "French Navy," by Camera Obscura off of their newest album, My Maudlin Career:


Enjoy, and have a great week, everyone!

Science Fair for June 28th to July 4th

Happy (belated) 4th of July! Today's Science Fair will probably be a little sparse, but hopefully you'll enjoy it!

- First off, don't forget that we have a lovely Tumblr -- it's got a lot of cool links to go check out if your Science Fair craving isn't satisfied. Karen updates it a couple of times a week (I know, I should be updating it too). I just added the little bookmarklet dealiebopper, so maybe things will improve there.

- Every Thursday, I'm writing up my recaps of So You Think You Can Dance at BlogHer. There you will see me fuss about producer shenanigans and dance styles and my predictions.

- This is possibly the most amazing house in the world. It comes fully furnished as is, and I would possibly like to live there, except for the fact that it is in Palm Springs, a place I do not care for.

- Speaking of the phrase "I do not care for", I *do* care for Arrested Development, and it *is* fully available on Hulu.com. (I just realized that I can't have The Final Countdown as a ringtone on my phone, and now I am sad. Curse you, iTunes protections!)

- Since everything is a tangent of everything else, Mad Men returns on August 16th. If you haven't yet caught up or even started, you can catch Season One of Mad Men on Comcast On Demand now, then Season Two after July 20th. Do iiit. And while you're waiting, check out Beauty Blogging Junkie's interview with Lana Horochowski, the head make-up artist for Mad Men. Product recs ahoy!

- I usually don't bring my baseball stuff into here, but I need you to go vote for San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval for the All-Star Game. Seriously. Do it. Voting ends July 9th.

Have a great week!

Let's kick off July right!

Man, I don't know about everyone else, but this June was a supremely weird month. Not one of the worst months of my life, but a very weird one.

And now that it's just about July, which is a super-busy time for me (holla, Chicago), I'm ready for something fresh, something new, something cool. I'm ready to bring more good things back into my life.

So tell me something good, folks. Share what's rocking your world, what's new and exciting, what you're looking forward to this summer. What do you recommend, what's awesome, that sort of thing. I'm always curious to find out what people love, and that's why I'm here in this scene, you know? Everyone always has something to talk about. I don't today, so it's your turn to show me!

While you're letting me know, here's one of my favorite summer songs so far:



Share away!

Need a little more of your help!

So I've taken your advice and your votes, and I've decided on my outfit for this Saturday. (Thank you muchly!) I believe Karen would still like your votes, so please do chip in!

Now comes another fun part: picking out the make-up and the nail polish! The make-up is all set and clear; I'd determined out the "looks" in my head paired with each outfit before I came to my final conclusion. The turquoise dress would have a brown-and-gold eye (using the UD "Get Baked" palette), the red top and jeans would be a pewter grey cream shadow (my beloved Benefit "Skinny Jeans"), and the Stormy Weather dress would pair with a indigo-blue-lined eye (the shiny and new NARS "Demon Lover" duo).

That said, I picked out my outfit, and now I need your help picking out the nail polish! I've written up my ten (!!) options at BeautyHacks... and that's where the outfit reveal is, too!

Let me know what you think, either here or at BeautyHacks -- I might be painting my toes tonight! Thanks!