I can’t believe tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. I figured out how I’m celebrating! My best friend and I are going to go see the Muppets movie tomorrow afternoon (Aidan: get your Rainbow Connection nail glitter ready!!). Tonight I’m going to see “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” so this will make 2 movies in 12 hours that I have been dying to finally see. I’m hoping to break out the sweatpants early tomorrow night and see how long I can stay awake. I’m definitely coming down with something (the flu? the plague? the black lung?) and last night I crashed at 8:30. You guys, that was so early even for me. I was pretty impressed with that, to be honest. I thought only toddlers and the elderly had that in them.
So since it is Friday, I’m bringing you one last Friday Five of 2011. This one is less of a list of things that interested me from the week, and more of my favorite things from the year. Narrowing this down was surprisingly easy, and I think if you’ve been following for a bit you could even figure these out. I’m not that complex, honestly. Maybe my New Year’s resolution should be to be more interesting. How does one accomplish this? Any pointers?
1. Midnight in Paris / 2. My favorite all-white bedroom / 3. Fitz! / 4. Macarons / 5. YOU
I don’t make a secret of my insane, all-consuming love of Paris. I have dreams of picking up and moving there and living like a total starving artist in a minuscule apartment with more light streaming in than I’d know what to do with. And I love literature and art, so the entire crossover with the most beautiful city in the world chronicled in “Midnight in Paris” automatically makes it the best movie of the year. Maybe the best of the last several years. It is definitely one of my favorite movies of all time, and I’ve only seen it twice. I ended up buying myself a copy on Blu Ray after Christmas and watched it the day it arrived. All I want to do is watch it again and again. It’s quirky and sweet and the incredible of shots of Paris make my heart swell. If you haven’t seen this yet, go watch it immediately!
Of course, along with my “move-to-Paris” fantasy comes the fact that I would spend all of my money on macarons. This year was definitely the year of macarons for me, and I didn’t even have that many! Maybe somewhere around 30? Definitely not enough, but at what they cost (including getting to New York to buy them) perhaps I shouldn’t go overboard. Macarons are definitely my favorite food of 2011, and yes I said food not dessert because if given the opportunity, I would eat these for all 3 meals a day and find some way to puree them over ice and drink it as a smoothie. I got a rose scented hand lotion as a stocking stuffer for Christmas and the first thing I thought of was that it smells exactly like a rose macaron from Ladurée. I then proceeded to lick my hand. Can you imagine how obese I would be if I had the luxury of living in Paris and being near any one of the 3 Ladurée stores? My love (and slow descent into addiction) of macarons can be read here, here, and here.
And I wouldn’t want just any apartment in Paris. It must of course be entirely decked out in white. The more white, the better. If I feel like I’ve gone color blind, I’m on the right track. My love of all-white interiors made quite the appearance on this here blog over the course of 2011 (a few samples include here, here, here, here, here, and here. Oh my god). And in all of the scouring of the internet I’ve done for these amazing, bleached interiors, I think my favorite room of 2011 is that bedroom. I love literally everything about it. The multiple fluffy comforters, the gold frames on the dresser, the white orchid and lamp above the bed. This is what heaven looks like to me. A white apartment in Paris with a sheepskin throw on the floor. I can safely say there will be many, many more pictures of all-white rooms in 2012. Get excited!
Perhaps my most exciting purchase of 2011 wasn’t a macaron or a new laptop or new camera (or, ahem, two), but the adoption fee I paid to bring this insane puppy into my life. I have never met another living being in my entire life, animal or human, with as much energy as this little guy. Fitz has two speeds: asleep and running. And usually his “running” mode involves chewing something, which, if you get in his way, is usually a part of your body. But still, I’m totally supportive of shelter adoptions and think dogs are the greatest thing in the world. Fitz has been a hilarious and happy dog so far and will turn a year old on January 6th. 2012 will be a big year for him. I’m excited to fall more in love with him, my main man.
And of course, I couldn’t do a “Best of 2011” round-up without including the biggest contributor to this whole blog thing: you guys. All of you amazing readers and fellow bloggers, from all over the world (I think I have Sweden, the UK, and various parts of the US represented!), who stop by and read my drivel and pad my ego and make me genuinely excited to post new things everyday and read all the fabulous things you have to say. I love waking up to email notifications on my phone that say “A New Comment from…” and you all inspire me to be a better, more consistent blogger. I couldn’t do any of this without you, my wonderful little audience. You were one of the best things about my year. I hope I get to keep all of your for a lot longer.
So I’d like to try something for 2012 (aside from learning to be more interesting and staying up past 9pm). I’ve always wanted to do the 365 Project, when you take a picture everyday and post it. There seems to be no better time to start than January 1st. I’m not sure if I have the stamina to keep it up past, say, January 8th, but I think it would be fun to try nonetheless! That way, even if I have a post about silly materialistic things, I’ll have some original creative content to contribute. Plus it gives me the opportunity to use the new 50mm lens I got for Christmas! Win-win.
What are your resolutions for 2012? What do you want out of the new year? Any fun undertakings? I can’t believe I have to say this, but I’ll see you all next year. Thank you so, so much for an incredible year. Here’s to 2012.