Ears, Elves, & Illustrated Etiquette.

Three things to share before the weekend: hats with ears (I'd like to find something like the gray hat below and center my entire wardrobe around it for the remainder of winter),

slices of cake the size of thumbprints and doughnuts meant for elves (brilliant creations by the Unconfidential Cook - the doughnuts are actually decorated Cheerios),

                      

and a guide to kissing, written by a seventeen-year-old in 1976, and illustrated nearly forty years later by her daughter, artist Hallie Bateman.

Hope you all enjoy the weekend! What are your plans? I'm going to a friend's apartment tonight for cocktails, catching up with my pal Bekka over pie, and attending a love-themed film festival in Bushwick - why not extend Valentine's Day a few extra days?

Have a wonderful long weekend, and I'll see you Tuesday!

Top images via Arletta Queen and the always-inspiring Le Blog de Betty.

In Your Pocket, In My Locket.

In honor of this special day: beautiful prints from The Wild Unknown, which pay homage in watercolor to some of music's great love-inspired lyrics. At $40 each, they're a steal - and for an extra thirty-five, they'll send your print in a vintage frame. 

See more at The Wild Unknown, here. (I'm also a big fan of this one.)

Wishing you all a happy Valentine's Day! I'm going to spend mine eating leftovers from a cheese party I helped host last night for my friend Lily's birthday (here she is, preparing to blow out the candle on her birthday gouda). How will you spend yours? Whatever your plans, have a great one!

Movement.

This week on the Equals Record: learning to dance, learning to let go.

A snippet from the new post: "We sat in a circle on the first day of ballet class, thirty-or-so adults on the floor. Our teacher was a lovely woman with the sort of soothing presence you’d hope for in an introductory-level dance class meant for grown-ups, and she’d asked each of us to share three things with the group: our name, our level of dance experience, and whether we had any injuries to report. ‘My name is Shoko,’ I said when it was my turn. ‘I was probably in kindergarten the last time I took a dance class. And my body feels fine.’ Next to me sat a man who must have been in his mid-sixties. He had an angular face, a friendly smile, hair that glinted silver. He introduced himself, telling us he was the proud father of two dancers, now grown. ‘Any aches and pains?’ the teacher asked. The man smiled. ‘I’ve lived a colorful life.’"

Find rest of the post on the Equals Record, here. You can also check out the archive for my weekly column, Looking Forward (about the ups and downs of "growing up" in my twenties), here. Thank you so much for your support and kind words each week - I appreciate it more than you know!

Top photo via New York Public Library. Bottom image by Stoic Mike. (Thank you so much, Maya!)

Smoke & Oak.

There may be snow on the ground and slush in the streets, but thanks to this gorgeous - and very intriguing - recipe by Beth Kirby of the blog Local Milk, I'm suddenly dreaming of ice cream. Ice cream flavored with toasted oak chips, smoked sea salt, and a drizzle of black tea caramel, that is.  

Beth originally posted the recipe to Local Milk in late September, writing, "This is a spectral time of year, romantic and eerie and crisp...This ice cream tastes like it." I have a hunch it'd be the perfect treat for the moody-gray days of winter, too. (I'd eat it inside, by the radiator, of course.)

Find the full post at Beth's blog, Local Milk, here. (And be sure to click around while you're there - everything is stunningly beautiful.) See more photos by Beth in her portfolio, here. 

Shots In the Dark.

Thank you to the wonderful Kathy for introducing me to "The Sleep of the Beloved," a series of long-exposure snapshots of slumbering couples, taken by photographer Paul Schneggenburger.  

Schneggenburger, who captured each image over a six-hour period, wonders, "What happens to lovers while they are sleeping?...Is it a nocturnal lovers' dance, maybe a kind of unaware performed tenderness, or does one turn their back on each other?" 

Makes you wonder what your own sleep patterns might look like, partner or no.

See more at Paul Schneggenburger's website, here. Photos via The Atlantic.