I own’t lie: I am anchored to my cell phone. It’s my life-line to my girls studying out of state, and I would probably go crazy without access to it.

That being said, lately I cannot get enough of cool old-fashioned telephones. I have resolved that when I finally get a place of my own to do without the now common-place cordless, and invest in a cool retro telephone.

So here’s the vintage telephone post.

1. Crosley 302 Desk Phone $95
How awesome is this? I love red telephones, probably because I was raised on old-timey detective shows. I would totally pretend to call the Commissioner on this all the time.

2. Crosley Blue Princess Phone Urban Outfitters: $50
I would totally feel like a Princess using this telephone. For some reason this phone reminds me of Clarissa Explains it All. Anyone else remember this show? I loved the entire thing, down to her jewel encrusted telephone. That’s actually the reason I begged and pleaded with my parents for a telephone when I was eight. Sadly, we didn’t have a telephone jack in my bedroom, and there was no way they were giving The Talker her Very Own Telephone, but still, wouldn’t this have been cool?

3. Classic Brittany Phone Phoneco: $49.95.
Had to include this phone because it has my name all over it. Well, technically not, since my parents went against the grain and spelled my name the logical way, and not the way of the world. Way to go, parents! Regardless, I would totally talk on this phone while putting my hair up in pincurls and applying lipstick in 1940s-style underwear. Note to self: Get some 1940s style underwear.

4. Panel Phone Phoneco: $109.
This phone is so rad. For some reason it seems very industrial to me, but I love the baby blue touches. This seems so different than the ugly utilitarian phones being released now–the fact that it’s an unusual panel shape and that the rotary is to the right of the earpiece really appeals to me. Also it would totally match my dream kitchen, no joke.

5. Belgian bell phone Phoneco: $224.
Yes, yes, another red telephone. Who knew? I’m kind of confused as to the make of this telephone, since it seems to be Belgian, French and Dutch? The website is kind of confusing. Regardless, this I love how it is two-toned red and black (Just like my bedroom! Telephone, you are perfect for me!) and also shiny. Shininess goes a long way here at Headquarters. Shininess and sparklies.

6. Porcelain Classic telephone Phoneco: $45.95.
I know, this is kind of like a game of “One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other”, but I found this on my websearch and totally fell in love with it. It would never match my desired mismatch of retro and modern, but I love it all the same. It reminds me of something my Grandma would have in her powder room, and really, we all need a little more of Grandma in our lives. Besides, blue and gold is always chic.

Yes, yes, most of the phones are from a specific website. That wasn’t done intentionally! I was sad to discover that a great many telephone bookmarks I’ve been saving are now defunct. (This is completely true. UO had an orange telephone–it matched the coatrack! Cooooatrack–that I simply cannot find anymore, so you’re not getting a blog about it. I bet you’re disappointed.)

When I was about seven years old, I remember going into my neighbor’s house, being amazed at how many spider plants she had, and seeing this telephone enshrined next to her kitchen table.

Animated Talking Mickey Mouse phone Amazon: Used $64.99.

I’m not going to lie. I was completely jealous. And I still am, to this day.

Happily, that didn’t come to pass! Mom dragged me out of the house (Noooo sunlight, I shall melt!) and we ran errands. I managed to find this at the store I work at this morning, and am exceptionally pleased with myself.

Metallic gold Lodis wallet: $14.99

How awesome is that? It’s pretty much the most exciting thing I own now, and I fully intend on smoothy pulling out my wallet as much as possible.

This is probably the reason why I consider this store to be, for all intents and purposes, My Boyfriend. I mean, what else could I need?!

Not a lot of people understand my need and love for lettering. Some could say it’s inherited, or an addiction, but I find nothing more soothing than watching ink slide off of the base of a metal nib and soak into the paper.

Man, I am really starting to wonder if I have enough time to update this. I will work on being consistent, I promise!

Quite a few things have happened in the last week, apparently! I now have a new president-elect (!!!) and also will be getting a brand-spanking-new camera in the mail soon, so there is much rejoicing, even though that means I no longer have money to burn. This is apparently sad because this week I have literally spent 100% of my time online looking at painted furniture.

Painted furniture.

I am so turning into my Mother.

Which really is a good thing! My Mom is awesome, we tease her about how she is perfect with a capital P. She is always prepared for every social occasion and takes the time to appreciate and take care of everyone around her. My mother is amazing, and has an extremely well-developed sense of style that I’ve absorbed my entire life, even though my taste tends to run towards what she would describe as, “Um, I think your cat barfed on that.”

You know, now that I think of it, she hates painted furniture. So maybe I’m turning into one of my grandmothers, I really have no idea. In conclusion: My Mom is awesome.

Right now I am totally in love with this:

(eBay, $100 starting bid)

Isn’t it gorgeous? It is antique and modern at the same time. I adore multitasking, and I love anything that can multitask as well as I can! (…Or try, since, well, there was this one time, when I was making cookies and dinner at the same time, and let’s just say the cookies ended up tasting kind of garlicy while the pasta had a distinct cocoa flavour… yeah, not one of my finer moments.)

Anyway, this dresser is antique, and also an atrocious colour that somehow manages to be beautiful (seriously! I’ve never been that fond of turquoise but here I would probably lick the dresser) and also looks like it can withstand whatever you’ll throw at it. It is also for sale on eBay right now with a starting bid of $100, which seems pretty reasonable. I’d totally go for it only I have no space for a new dresser and, oh right, I’m kind of broke? Right.

I am also completely in love with this coat rack.

(urban outfitters: $68)

Coat rack! Have I ever told y’all about how much I love coat racks? Coat racks: I love them. Really, it’s intensely ridiculous. I don’t even understand my love for coat racks. This one is orange and really pops and I would pretty much design my entire life around using that coat rack as much as possible. (”It’s 100 degrees, and July! Why are you wearing a scarf?” “I… I need something to put on the coat rack.”) For some reason I think I could only be more enthusiastic about this coat rack if it were like, fuschia or something, but orange is pretty sweet, don’t you think?
How much do I like coat racks? I find this adorable, and would probably spend good money on something like this… oh my goodness, there are a lot of cool coat racks out there.

You guys, I just spent an hour looking at coat racks on the internet. This is ridiculous. This is… this is like coat rack porn.

Ah well, I must go, but I’m sure I will post soon with another edition of coat rack porn my personal tastes!

In the meantime, what are you into? Do you dig coat racks? (Don’t worry, I won’t tell your friends! It will be our secret.)

I had this weekend off because my friend Sav came into town. We talked politics, halloween, and sexy shoes. What more do you need?

Meanwhile, enjoy an image of me and my new earrings. I love going to Forever 21 to buy accessories. Yes, they might not be the highest quality, but they’re fun and their low price helps me to satisfy my jewelry addiction without breaking my pocketbook.

This pair is a new find–it’s not the normal style I tend to go for (plain hoops or interesting pendants). I guess it fills both of those categories, but they’re a bit of a stretch for me. I like them more every time I put them on, even though it’s kind of like assembling a rubix cube behind my ear.

I also love walking through stores like Forever 21 (or here, where it is “XXI”, because that is apparently cooler) and checking out how the store and how they dress their mannequins. I get more style inspiration from simply walking around and looking at their selection than I do from shopping around the internet. Last night I found an orange pea coat there that I absolutely fell in love with. Of course they don’t carry my size (in stores like XXI, I tend to be an XXL), but maybe I can find another one that is just as cool elsewhere…

No pets for us. It’s just one of those realities I’ve had difficulty facing my entire life. I’ve learned to live vicariously through everyone else’s pets though, often being accused of liking thier dog/cat more than them. (This may or may not be true.)

Well, our neighbors just got a new outdoor kitten.

His name is Beeny. He is sweet and cuddly and still has that adorable curiousness that makes him fun to watch as he trots about our neighborhood. On more than one occasion we’ve discovered him miaowing outside our door, or checking out our cars, or trying to fit in the mailbox.

Last week? He discovered an open back door.

Now, yeah, we’re not supposed to let him in, but he came in all by himself! We didn’t help at all! He played around for an hour or so, and then we put him back outside.

I didn’t realize that I had left my window open.

Whoops!

I’ve been pretty overwhelmed the last two weeks with school and work, not to mention the sudden onslaught of midterms. Am I the only student who always forgets about midterms? Once I get into the daily routine of doing homework, I get completely surprised and thrown off-balance by midterms.

That doesn’t mean I’ve done them yet, though. I’m still putting off one of my papers.

This morning I woke up with the worst migraine I’ve had in about three years, and decided to skip class for the day. It’s helped a lot–I haven’t had a day where I’ve stayed home all day in about four weeks now.

I haven’t forgotten about this blog, either. I have about 2 1/2 more posts composed in my head, I just need to sit and type them out. I’m kind of thinking about posting bits of style and things I’d like to buy more often in this blog, along with my daily musings and what-have-you.

Specifically, how much of a jerk-student I am.

I hated the class, hated the teacher (who probably hated me too, and with great reason) and as a result of my double-enrollment, completely swore off english and began studying art instead.

It’s been two years, and I’m finally returning to the realms of literature. It’s funny how I fight constantly with the subject I find I love the most. I go from, “Oh my gosh! I love Mark Twain! He is so awesome!” to “AUGGHGHH KATE CHOPIN SOMEONE PLEASE KILL ME NOWWWWW” and it’s pretty funny because I am a staunch defender of Shakespeare and Percy Bysshe Shelley, even though I tend to resent being forced to read them.

Does that make sense? Anyway. I just read A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett and am completely in love with it. I told someone earlier today that I wanted to spread it on bread and lick the words off and physically devour this story. It’s short (only a few pages) and beautiful. I would suggest that you read it. It’s not one of those classic stories where you can’t understand what’s going on, oh no, it’s one where you see everything in exquisite detail.

I think my favourite part about returning to literature (besides discovering wonderful short stories and worthwhile quotations) is remembering how good I am at coughing up answers to discussion questions.

“Editha contrasts a girlish idealism with the harsh realities of war. …[In it] Howells starkly presents the outcome of so many such heroic deeds—soldiers return home sans limbs, or sans breath.
The two stories represent the downfalls of idealism, and the benefits of realism.”

I… I haven’t talked like that in two years. Seriously, y’all. I am amazed. Also amazed that I placed #1 in my professor’s weekly “greatest hits” in our class. Way to go me, right! (woooo!)

Not to mention the fact that at this point I don’t even remember doing that assignment, much less saying those words…

To say that humanist is my favourite script would be a complete lie. I am just as in love with it as I am with bone, versals and the ever-faithful neuland, but humanist is fresh and clean and everyday, and it reminds me of school, and apples, and the warm steam that emerges from your throat in the cold.

Calligraphy is a luxury I’ve missed for a year, I am so pleased and excited to again immerse myself in the joy of lettering.

I started school this week, and my entire life can be summarized with a speeding car chase, complete with honking horns, shrieks of terror, and that camera effect where everything blurs and you can’t quite tell what you’re looking at.

Or so it feels like to me.

I’m trying to hold down both of my jobs as well as take three classes. It’s really not that bad, but two days a week are a claustrophobic mess, where I have no time and even less rest. I’m more stressed out about the potential of being in school and then working until 10pm than the actual crazy days I have to endure.

I guess once you literally crash and burn, it’s easier to fear the metaphorical crashing and burning.

Ah, well. I’m taking Spanish, a Film appreciation class, and Survey of American Literature this term, and so far I am excited about all of the subject matter. Since this is week one, I’m still in love with Spanish, and working on turning the switch to español completely over in my mind. Film appreciation looks like it will be very fun, we’re watching Rear Window next week and reading about different kinds of shots and the like, which I find fascinating. I’ve always wanted to shoot and edit film, and something tells me that this class is only going to make that desire worse!

My American Literature class is going to be my hardest, I can say that easily. We just read a bunch of works by Mark Twain and I’m ridiculously excited to read The Yellow Wallpaper again, as it is one of my favourite short stories. (I know, I like strange things, watch me put ketchup on my chocolate!)

I hope that I will be able to continue to draw and sketch over these next few months. I’ve been trying, but I think I’m too overloaded right now to really ‘zone out’ and draw. To be honest, that’s really when I draw the best, is when I relax and quit caring what the final product will look like. People (who see me sketch) always ask me how I learned to draw, or why they can’t draw ‘like this’ or something. It’s hard to communicate how hard it is for me to really draw things how I see them, and how everything turns out easier when you just go with the flow.