She Sells Sea Sew By the Sea Shore

Posted on March 24, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat has a new girlie crush!

A’ight, haters. I’m gettin’ ready to drop some truth…or maybe truthiness? I love me some Stephen Colbert. Say what you will about me falling in to the hipster pothole that is Daily Show/Colbert Report (now you know what I’ve been doing when I’m not writing blogs), label me “main stream” and “so 2005″ but I can’t help it. The man makes me chortle. Did you see the episode after Christian Bale’s hilarious T4 tirade hit the airwaves last month? Colbert did a parody of it with his guest star/ my other love, Steve Martin, and holy donkey turd on a Triscuit it was hilarious! No, it was so hilarious it deserves two exclamation points. Hilarious!!

But, this blog isn’t about Colbert. But rather, it’s about what Colbert has brought me. Stephen (I feel like we’re on a first name basis, since he comes into my living room every night) has a surprising soft spot for the handmade goods (please reference an episode back in December or January where he did a whole “investigative report” on a controversial knitter) and I often find myself intrigued by the cultural gems he has on display during the interview portion of his show. And that has led to girlie crush of the month, Lisa Hannigan. Featured on the March 9th episode, Lisa Hannigan is a pixie-esque Irish singer. She already had me with her breathy, ethereal tunes from her new album, Sea Sew, but then just look at her album cover. Boo-yah, that’s right! Home girl’s ma, Frances, knit the cover (and wallpaper for the site) while Lisa stitched the linear notes and such onto rough cotton–please. As if she needed any more indie street cred. And, check this action out, turns out her craftiness? It’s not just for show. Digging around on her website, I found that this genius girl has a recipe combining two of my favorite things: chocolate and cookies. Sold! Totally sold. Buying an album now. Maybe fourteen. Who can say? I start making serious impulse purchases when I’m all hopped up on chocolate and cookies.

Lisa Hannigan - Sea Sew

Item Du Jour #32

Posted on March 4, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat singing in the dead of night; take these broken wings and learn to fly

You know what I’m about? I’m about two things: affordable fashion and one of a kind looks. And that, people, is why Etsy is the shiznit (well that and about a million other reasons). As I’m peeping the NYC boutique scene, I’m not surprised to find that most Manhattan shops are out of my price range, but even the cute little Brooklyn stores are full of gear that costs at least twenty dollars more than I’m willing to spend. (where I come from, an expensive tank top costs $30, and I can maybe talk myself into it. When it costs $50? You can fuggetaboutit.) Etsy, on the other hand, brings me one of a kind pieces from up and coming designers all over the world at price points I can afford. Case in point: poppyswickedgarden. LOVES it!

There are plenty of things to oogle in this delicious shop, but today I’ve picked this Jesus’s Last Supper Convertible Skirt Dress ($30) . First of all, I am a big fan of anything that can do double duty, and being able to wear this either as a dress or a skirt is not only fun, but functional; it’s like you’re buying two pieces for the price of one. Also, I love the idea of wearing a reproduction of the famous Da Vinci painting, it turns you into a walking piece of art. This is not for the wall flowers out there; you are definitely going to be stopped in this little number as people take a closer look. I realize that maybe the religious imagery is a bit too much for some people, so I’ll also offer up the sexy Mod Dots Elegant Top ($23) as an alternative. Or get them both! Life’s too short to have a boring wardrobe.

davincidress il_430xn59102601

photos copywrighted by poppyswickedgarden

Explain This Blog

Posted on March 2, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat does a binary solo: 00000100000111. Robo boogie!

Today I bring you a link to some free laughs. There is nothing funnier than a really good non-sequitur. And I mean nothing. Have you any doubts? Well then you, my friend, should immediately get thee to explainthisimage.com. Explain This Image is my favorite kind of site, the kind where the name says it all. Essentially, this is a gallery of the weird, the mysterious, and–some times–the frightening. The peeps at Explain This troll the Internet in search of the most bizarre images out there, pictures that without a caption and without a context seem completely foreign to the everyday life most of us lead. These little vignettes are either a creative writer’s dream come true, or nightmare as some of the pictures are so outlandish that it seems nearly impossible to ground them in reality. But even if you’re not a day-dreamer prone to trying to figure out the story behind the image, everyone can enjoy this finely curated collection of the ridiculous. Here’s a pair of my favs.

unxplained-photo-1 unxplained-photo-2