Throwback Thursday x Song of the Day: Thievin'

"hiding like thieves in the night, illusions of oasis making you look twice"

If I could ever make a "Top 10 Song of All Time" list -- which will probably never happen because I have a phobia towards meaningless commitments -- I'm almost positive (see?) that this song would be on there. On probably one of the most classic hip-hop albums of all time, Blackstar's "Thieves in the Night" has some of the most innovative, creative, and intellectual lyrics in hip-hop, if not music in general. Their album Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Blackstar is actually full of songs with mind provoking lyrics, such as "Astronomy (8th Light)" that makes reference to the Fibonacci series of numbers or "Respiration" which actually has so many metaphors and allusions that I can't seem to pick out the best one. Brian and I were fortunate enough to see these two perform at Rock the Bells a couple of years ago and perform this iconic album in full, so needless to say that was one of the greatest moments of my entire life. For now, I'll reminisce about the time I saw greatness perform right in front of me by listening to this song.
On Repeat.
All day.

Enjoy!

Artist Spotlight: Alexander Raymond Photography

Meet the man behind the photos, Alexander Raymond.
More commonly referred to as Alex.

Alex and I have been friends since we were like 3 years old; we went to Montessori school together, and middle school...and high school. Over the years, especially since senior year of high school, Alex has really come into his own when it comes to photography and I am proud to call him one of my best friends. His visits to Columbia "to see me" really consist of him getting lost in the streets of Manhattan for hours at a time while I'm either at practice or class. It really works out for me though, considering I don't need to show him around like a tourist anymore; he practically knows this place better than I do.

 His love for New York City always seems to translate into his photography, with photos capturing both cityscapes and strangers on the streets. Personally, I love the photos shoots he has with friends, especially those with Jacinta, as shown in the second and fourth pictures in this post. She's incredibly photogenic and it seems like she makes Alex's job easy, giving him a handful of great pictures to choose from each time they work together. Alex is an extremely versatile and artistic photographer, and not what you would consider a single-style kind of photographer, who only shoots in NYC, or only does artistic photo shoots, or only does portraits. With every portrait, photo shoot, and any visit away from home, there is always a different goal or different inspiration.

Alex's favorite picture taken in New York City

 After asking Alex what that inspiration is when shooting, he explained the constant changing nature of it all. "Well it depends. Everything I shoot in NYC is spontaneous. Nothing planned, nothing wanted. If I see a person or a group of people I find interesting I'll take the shot. I guess it just comes from my state of mind at the time." During his freshman year on, his second visit to New York while I was in college, he describes himself as being introverted and self conscious, with everything and everyone he shot on that visit as a self reflection in a very public setting and "showing signs of revealing the public facade". As his emotions and thoughts about what is going on in his life change, so do his motives and inspirations for shooting in NYC. "The next year I came to visit, I was much more understanding of myself and became more focused on my relationships with other people. I was intrigued by how all of these seemingly confident people were able to have public displays of intimacy with themselves but never with others."

I think the best way to describe Alex's love of photography is that it is a true representation of a very personal side of him that can only be revealed through pictures. 

"I hope you enjoy my work because everything from the subjects to the aesthetics of each piece is 150% me."

 From shooting family head shots, to international landscapes to powerfully artistic photo shoots, Mr. Alexander Raymond really has a way with his camera and I always look forward to his future projects both here in NYC and anywhere else he feels inspired to pick up his Canon.

For more of Alex's pictures or for booking, click here! 

Fashion Feature: rag & bone

Oh it feels good to be back. I have to admit, my laziness really gets the best of me sometimes, especially when I finally get a break from the massive amounts of schoolwork Columbia professors love handing out. Update on what's happened in my life since my last post: my team is in the middle of Ivy season and I'm proud to say it's going well (I don't want to say too much and jinx it so we can just leave it at that), AND...I'm interning at rag & bone this summer!!! I'm ridiculously excited to start next month; I can barely believe that I landed this internship. While I (understandably) don't own anything from rag & bone just yet, I love the aesthetic and the laid back feel to their collections. From workwear to casual wear, rag & bone's style really matches my personality and my own fashion style, so needless to say this internship will (hopefully!) be a perfect fit. I figured I would take the opportunity to do a Fashion Feature post on rag & bone instead of just going on about how excited I am to have landed this internship, even though I could go on about it forever.

Here are some of my favorite pieces from the most recent rag & bone collecton!

Fall/Winter Collection at New York Fashion Week

Aviation, American cool, English Tailoring, Party-girl, Classic. 

Only a few of the descriptions reviews have attached to the collection and you can clearly see why. I'm all about dark neutral colors with a bit of color pop and that's exactly what Marcus Wainwright an David Neville were going for. 

Classic rag & bone with a bit of flair.

And here are a couple of rag & bone inspired outfits!

                                         

My rag & bone Casual Look

                        

rag & bone Oversized Tee - $210 / rag & bone Leather Leggings - $395 / rag & bone Booties - $475 / rag & bone Nordic Beanie - $125 / Gorjana Chloe Asymmetrical Stud Earrings - $40 / Mixed Bangle Stack - $12 / FOREVER 21 Long Owl Pendant Necklace - $6.80

My rag & bone Date Night Look

rag & bone Rowan Drape Dress- $595 / rag & bone Bowery Leather Jacket - $1,595 / rag & bone Ario Sandal - $495 / rag & bone Pilot Clutch - $595 / MCQ Alexander McQueen Double Wrap Razor Cuff - $110 / Gold Leaf Earrings - $50 / Astley Clarke Muse Eternal Ring - $1,000

Song of the Day: Numbers on the Boards

Hundreds of sighs of relief were heard simultaneously when this song came out was played. Kanye may be losing his damn mind in some of his new music and overall life choices, but no one can deny his producing skills. Meanwhile, Pusha fails to disappoint on this one; he really goes in the whole way 

through.

This song is fantastic and on repeat now and for the rest of the week. Enjoy.

Fashion (and Life) Inspiration: Julia Sarr Jamois

Julia, please wrap up and send that jacket to me ASAP. Thanks girl.

But that hair though.

We're secretly twins because we both love oversized sweaters.

Go ahead, be more perfect.

Fashion Editor of Wonderland Magazine, creative and stylish 23 year old with a love for vintage fashion, and Winner of the TFC "Best Hair in Fashion" Award.

 Ladies and Gentlemen, Julia Sarr Jamois, aka the future me.

 I've been growing my hair naturally for almost a year now, and once I get off the struggle bus and my hair looks like this, this blog will be covered in pictures of me and my awesome hair. Just wait. 

Excursions: The Village Quarter

I mean, come on. You know you want to know more about this place.

Hit the jump for Smoked Tomato Bisque, Bacon-wrapped Mushrooms and more...

Pictures of those, that is.

Raw, Vegan, Gluten (and Guilt) - Free Lemon Squares!

The origin of these dormmade deserts actually comes from a relatively unhealthy obsession with Hail Merry Miracle Tarts, particularly the Coconut Vanilla Creme tarts. These tarts are completely raw (no baking required!), vegan, gluten free, and most importantly, PN compliant and an "Anytime" desert. I refuse to attempt to talk about their greatness to avoid any sort of disrespect by not speaking nearly highly enough of them. After scouring the Internet of any kind of recipe for Coconut Vanilla Creme knockoffs, I came across Domestic Diva's version of the Lemon tart knockoffs.

Close enough.

Calling for ingredients that can be found at any Whole Foods or Trader Joe's and no baking necessary, this recipe is practically handmade for college students looking for a way to stress eat and avoid its horrific consequences (Freshman 15, Sophomore Slump...you get it). Hit the jump for pictures of my makeshift kitchen counter top and the recipe!

Happy Birthday Ms. Badu

Keep doing what you do.

Posted on iPad

A Night at the Oscars '13

Seth McFarlane opens the ceremony with several performances, such as "Be Our Guest". 

Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron auditioning for Dancing with the Stars. 

JGL, Seth and Harry casually dancing together at the Oscars.  

Christoph Waltz wins Best Supporting Actor for Django Unchained. As he should have.

Catherine Zeta-Jones performing "All That Jazz" from Chicago.

Jennifer Hudson being a boss. You're gonna loooooove...maaaay. 

The Greatest Performance at the Oscars. Vive la France.

Anne Hathaway winning for Les Mis. My heart melted during her entire speech. 

Adele performing her Academy Award-winning song, Skyfall. 

Chasing Ice up for an Oscar in Best Original Song. Watch the documentary!

Pre-tears and always winning hearts: Adele for Best Original Song.

Ang Lee for Best Director in Life of Pi. 

Only Jennifer Lawrence can make winning Best Actress look so graceful. 

Daniel Day Lewis/Abraham Lincoln for Best Actor in Lincoln.

MObama herself announcing the award for Best Picture.

And Argo wins Best Picture! Too bad I didn't see it...

As we all already know, last night was the 85th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. In retrospect, I really wish I saw more of the movies that were up for an Oscar, such as Lincoln, Argo, or Beasts of the Southern Wild. I did, however, get the chance to see amazing movies like Les Miserables and Django Unchained, and I was so excited to see them take home some awards. Speaking of Django...poor Leo. *pours out some champagne on the floor*. To me, this was the funniest and one of my favorite Oscar ceremonies I've seen; Seth McFarlane was hysterical and completely
crude/inappropriate -- obviously I loved every second of it. These pictures are some of my favorite award winners/moments from last night's ceremony. While I'm beyond thrilled that Adele both performed and won best original song for Skyfall, I was so happy to hear that Chasing Ice was in the same category. I watched it at the Lincoln Center movie theater with Brian last semester and it was the best documentary I've ever seen (ignoring the fact that my "Last Seen Documentary" list is rather small). My favorite part of the show: the Les Miserables performance. How do I know it was my favorite? I couldn't help but scream "Vive la France!" at my TV and weirdly want to pick up a history book on the French Revolution. And I couldn't care less about the French Revolution.


...Vive la France!