Things I'm loving lately

I think it's fair to officially say it's summer: it's June, people (like KATI!) are graduating, and my office thermostat is somewhere in the range of 80-something degrees.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, here are some of the things I've been obsessing over for summer when I finally get to go outside.

- Bright accessories and cosmetics. Like Gala Darling's Delight for June, I'm craving and buying up all sorts of things in primary and candy colors. My favorite so far is yellow, but I'm also partial to turquoise and hot hot pink, like Essie's Mod Squad polish. MAC Cosmetics just released their summer collection, C-Shock, yesterday, but I'm going to wait until the event (you know me and my MAC events!) next weekend to see if I really can pull off such vivid eyeshadows.


- Gold jewelry. I have been a fan of silver ever since I was in elementary school and wearing little silver rings, like the kind you can get at any faire or concert booth, was the coolest thing ever. I've got silver toe rings, silver anklets that I've been wearing since Memorial Day last year, and anything else I can get my hands on. But for this summer, I don't know why, but I suddenly want the big gold hoop earrings and bangles. Maybe it's from reading too many fashion magazines lately, or maybe from listening to too much female pop lately, but I'm digging the gold bamboo jewelry this summer. I'm waiting for my pair of 1.25" bamboo hoops to come from GirlProps.com and the matching bangles (from Urban Outfitters) any day now. Soon I too will be super Fergalicious.

- Hand-dyed/screenprinted t-shirts. I confess, I love American Apparel a bit too much, and was overjoyed to find out they were opening one a few blocks away from me -- no more journeying up to the Haight for me! While I do love the simplicity of the unaltered pieces, I also like having awesome designs on my shirts and supporting independent artists. Who doesn't? So, with the help of Modish, I've found a couple of t-shirt artists whose work is really amazing. I have the "flock" t-shirt from wenifnotnow, which is absolutely gorgeous and super-comfortable, as well as two t-shirts from SuperMaggie.com -- the double goldfish and the marigold sweetpea (there's that yellow again!). I love them all, and, once I finish cleaning out my closet, will definitely buy from both of them again.

- So You Think You Can Dance. I freaking love this show. Seriously. I've been dancing on and off for years, mostly in the classroom, both partner-dancing (ballroom, swing) and solo (ballet, musical theatre, and in lieu of gym class), but these dancers are amazing -- one week they'll be dancing hip-hop, the next they'll be waltzing, then tangoing, then doing contemporary/lyrical, and then perhaps a disco. Whatever they get assigned, they do and they do dang well, for the most part. I started watching last year, and this year's group looks just as talented if not more so than the last bunch. My early favorite? Sara, the b-girl from Colorado. She's really something. Keep your eye on that one!

Clearly, with my obsession with bright colors, chunky gold jewelry, sweet t-shirts, and an awesome breakdancing chick on TV, I appear to be prepared for a fun summer... once I get out of this roasting office.

images from beauty.com and girlprops.com