Happy Halloween!

From Lady Gaga and her favorite little monster.

Have a wonderful night!

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

I Love....

J.Crew's emerald cuff.

Available at J.Crew.

A Hitchcock Primer

A friend of mine, who is considered something of a film buff, recently confided to a shocking secret. He had never seen North by Northwest. I know. Gasp! Then I realized there aren't many twenty-somethings who have seen most of Hitchcock's movies. Even if you were born after Hitchcock died (1980) there is no reason to remain in the dark. Just in time for Halloween, herewith is a Hitchcock primer. Put these in your queue now.

Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier in Rebecca

Rebecca (1940) A classic ghost story...if said ghost lives in a ridiculously amazing manse in England. Laurence Olivier stars as the troubled husband and Joan Fontaine as his sheltered second wife who slowly realizes Rebecca, his first wife, may still be around. Judith Anderson is amazing as Mrs. Danvers. A plus, everything in the house is monogrammed.

North by Northwest (1959) Cary Grant stars as a Mad Men style ad man who is mistaken for a killer. Mistaken identity is a big theme throughout Hitchcock's films and this example is just perfection. He is chased all over the U.S., which makes it even more of a must see. Eva Marie Saint epitomizes the icy Hitchcock blonde as a double agent.

Grace Kelly and James Stewart in Rear Window

Rear Window (1954) The incomparable Grace Kelly makes this the best movie on the list in my book. James Stewart is a photographer recuperating from a recent accident that has him wheelchair bound. Kelly is his girlfriend Lisa Fremont who works at Bazaar (of course!) and delivers him meals from 21 while dreaming of an engagement. While under house arrest, Stewart entertains himself by surveying the view outside his window and peeking into the lives of his neighbors. One such neighbor he finds may have killed his wife. And so the whodunit begins.

To Catch a Thief (1955) Cary Grant is the "cat burglar" accused of a string of robberies in Monte Carlo. Grace Kelly is an American vacationing with a yen for adventure. This movie is amazing for so many reasons, the acting, the double entendres, but most of all Kelly's wardrobe and jewelry. I'm still trying to find gloves similar to the ones she wears on the drive up the cliffs.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) Another James Stewart film. This one co-stars Doris Day and involves an amazing chase scene through Morocco. Definitely worth a viewing.

Vertigo (1958) Yet another with James Stewart. In my opinion, the best one with him in it. A detective is investigating his friend's suicidal wife. After she kills herself Stewart becomes obsessed with a woman who looks just like her. An amazing movie and the shopping scene is so beyond.

Psycho (1960) I hope I don't need to explain this one. Scariest shower scene ever.

Tippi Hedren in The Birds

The Birds (1963) Hitchcock had something of a thing for blondes as you may know. His obsession was probably the creepiest during this movie with Tippi Hedren (Melanie Griffith's mom). She scorned his advances and he threw live birds at her. So there you go. This movie is so amazingly stylish despite the fact that Hedren wears the same outfit throughout the entire thing. Her manicure and cigarette case to me epitomize '60s chic.

I hope you'll see at least one Hitchcock movie, if not the whole bunch. There are so many more great ones.

Happy Halloween!

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Benji Wednesday: Happy Halloween Week!

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween around our house. Candy corn, black and orange and spooky decor abound. Benji has two costumes this year. The first, is this charming little banana number. Benji's getting a jump his spring wardrobe by incorporating the new stylish objet for spring (as seen on Prada's S/S 2011 show) into his wardrobe. The second, will have to wait until Halloween.

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Style Muse: Olivia Palermo

She may not be a candidate for "friend of the year" on The City (did you hear MTV cancelled it?!) but you have to give Olivia Palermo some serious style snaps. What I love most about her is her ability to consistently look like herself and keep it interesting. She's on trend without ever looking trendy. No simple task. 

WWWD loves her too! Other photos are from here and there. If you know whom should receive the credit let me know.



xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Hipster Puppies

Have you seen Hipster Puppies yet? So funny. I am thinking about getting Benji a knit tie and these and submitting him.

Mad Men Recap: Episode Thirteen

Photo via AMC

Sacrebleu! A proposal! Who saw that coming? Not I, my friends, not I. Mad Men's Season Four ending took me entirely by surprise. Well, not entirely, I did correctly predict Joan's impending visit from the stork (congrats?), but that's about it. This one was a doozy!

First, to the office, which I must say was vastly overlooked. I found that interesting considering we are led to believe SCDP is in the midst of a breakdown. C'mon writers, are you just going to set us up like that and leave it? Apparently so. Ken doesn't sell out his connections for the American Cancer Society account for fear of jeopardizing his marriage. Meanwhile, Peggy (with the help of Joyce) secures the Topaz nylon account. But it is small. Will it buoy SCDP until 1966?

In Ossining, we see one last glimpse of Glen. Sure, Betty was a little hasty in firing Carla just for letting him in, but I would have been freaked out if Glen made a solo bedroom visit to my daughter. Betty, as usual, took it a mite too far, severing all ties with the beloved housekeeper. I liked Henry's comment about the termination. When Betty says she wants a fresh start, he retorts: "there is no fresh start, lives carry on." Mad Men so often seems to be about fresh starts, tearing out the old sheets and starting from scratch. But can you ever really do so? I found Henry's words to be very interesting with regard to Don. He's always looking for that fresh start, but while searching, he tends to leave burned bridges and emotional carnage in his wake. This episode was no exception.

With Carla out of the picture, Megan steps in to herd the little Drapers around the Magic Kingdom. She is, of course, excellent at this. "You're Maria von Trapp." says Don. Of course she is! Throughout the season we have seen this girl be nothing but sweetness and light. You find yourself, as a viewer, liking her in spite of not knowing who she is at all. Is she an ambitious copywriter as she once said? Or does she just want a husband? Or is she just a nice person? Or is she a little bit of all those things? It seems Don doesn't care to find out. To him, she is at once the caring mother Don never had and the beguiling new woman he is more and more curious to know. And, is Don Draper a bit superstitious? He mentions that so many things had to happen for her to be on the trip. And it's true. Glen's visit=Carla's firing=Megan's hiring=Proposal? Or was it the mere appearance of the "family" ring that sparked feelings of the romantic sort? Whatever the reason, they both have a lot to learn about each other.

I found it interesting that before Don leaves New York, Faye tells him to be more open about his past. I have speculated before that Don doesn't think of Faye as a real romantic interest, but just a shrink he sometimes squires about town. This episode to me, more than anything prior, proves that point. Faye tells him what to do and then he does it. Case in point, when they visit Anna's house and see "Dick + Anna '64" painted on the wall. In a feeble attempt at truth telling, Don tells the kiddos it is his nickname. Faye's correction from earlier in the season is also true, Don will be married again. And if I know DD like I think I do, he won't waste time with the planning process and it will indeed be within the year. Is this an example of influence or is she just a really good psychiatrist and maybe not so good at picking boyfriends?

And lastly, Joan. Papa don't preach, she's keeping her baby. I'm no doctor, but wouldn't a well-educated fellow such as Greg do the math and realize it's not his little bundle of joy? Or, will the baby's silver hair and quick wit give him away?

Until next season....

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Benji Wednesday

Year three saw us return to the family costume Halloween theme. I was Little Bo Peep and Benji was my faithful flock of one. I bought a baby onesie (made of organic cotton) and cotton balls and got crazy with the hot glue gun. The result was my favorite costume to date.

We had the party in my teensy apartment one last time that year. He hid under the dessert table all night.

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Would You Wear This?

Adia Kibur's jumbo hair clip. Available at Shopbop if you are so inclined.

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Benji Wednesday

Halloween II with Benji we did not follow the family costume theme. I found this really darling (and very soft) dinosaur costume at Target and thought he might like it better than the hard cowboy hat and constricting fringe vest of the past year. Plus, I had already found a Tinkerbell-esque dress at a vintage store and a teeny tiny Peter Pan and enormous Tinkerbell sidekick just seemed creepy.

He sat as still as a statue and would not move when he had the dinosaur costume on, but at least he was off the hook for the actual party. We went to a restaurant that year.

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Street Stalker

Dear Girl in Cat Eye Shades,

You are awesome. May I please borrow your green necklace sometime?

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Photos via Refinery29

Weekend Snaps

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Mad Men Recap: Episode Twelve

Photo via AMC.

With only two episodes to go in the fourth season, last night's episode took us back to Ossining as predicted. I was comforted that there was no vandalism, lanyard making or knife welding from Glen. He's still creepy (even drinking a Coke in a football uniform, which is hard to pull off) but I don't think he means our little Sally harm. Unless you consider the sharing of mouth germs to be harmful. I can't say I was thrilled with the Glen relationship, but it is nice to see Sally able to talk to someone besides her therapist--a parallel to Betty's brief relationship with Glen back in season two. And, I never noticed what the lady on the Land O Lakes butter box was doing. That is trippy!

Betty, on the other hand, was perhaps at her most stagnate and childish this episode. Refusing to seek further therapy even as she tries to maintain her weekly sessions with Sally's psychiatrist. You know what would be really interesting? Seeing Betty change, like, at all. Writers, help me out here.

Back at the office, SCDP is circling the drain. They can't get new clients to sign. Even Heinz! The partners are made to pony up funds to keep the firm afloat. So Don concocts a plan to save SCDP. In true Don style though, he doesn't ask anyone else's opinion and instead submits his own for The New York Times, railing against big tobacco. Sure, it's a good idea to a modern audience, but in 1965 I would have taken the stance of the other partners. What about you all, do you think this will work?

Meanwhile, Midge is back. And she's addicted to heroin. Major yuck. I felt bad for her, but what are you going to do? Don doesn't seem like the drag-you-to-rehab type. His idea of getting over something involves an excessive amount of swimming not a 28-day process.

And, it seems Dr. Miller knows about Megan. Or at least suspects that Don's pouty secretary has more on her mind than memos. Who knows what she has on her mind though, really? Every time I think Megan is deep, she says something like, "By the way, I loved the letter. I love that you stand for something."

Then there was the "Bobby Kennedy" phone call courtesy of Ted Chaough. I definitely fell for it although I couldn't stop thinking "This is the worst Boston accent I've ever heard" as he rattled on.

So, what is coming? Will SCDP really go under? Will Joan reveal she is still in a family way? Will Trudy say more amazing lines such as "You'll lose your state room on the Titanic?!"

Until next week....

To Crop or Not to Crop

So, the cropped top is back? Who knew. Maybe, maybe this would look okay worn with jeans and in combination with an inordinate amount of pilates, but even then I'm not sure.

Photo of Rachel Comey's design via Style.com.

Who Wore It Better: Dilemma Edition

If you've ever read this blog, you know I am a freaky scary fan of Alexa Chung. So when I saw this photo of her at the Chanel RTW show in Paris this week on Styleite I was super excited. But what's this, Blake Lively also wore the same dress later that day? Apparently it is vintage Chanel (le sigh). A couple of questions for PR or Karl Lagerfeld or both:

1) Was it drycleaned?

2) Was there nothing else in the entire Chanel arsenal to loan out?

And to you, dear readers, who wore it better?

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Benji Wednesday

This month, Benji Wednesday will be devoted to Benji's Halloween costumes through the years.

The first year I had him, Benji dressed as a cowboy for Halloween. Being a new dog mom I went to a ritzy dog store and picked out an entire ensemble complete with the fringe vest. I was, obviously, a Native American. And thus, our family costume idea was born.

Naively I thought "Benji's going to love this." As you can see from this photo, I was mistaken. He also didn't love the "bring your dogs" wording on our first invitation and spent the night hiding or barking at our two canine guests. Oh well, at least he looked really, really cute.

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

I Love...

Top to bottom: thrifted bangles that remind me of Versace circa 1992, matchboxes my mom got me in NYC--one says "Good Dog" the other says "Bad Dog" and the fabulous kitty cup I got at Benihana. It is now sitting on my bathroom counter.

xoxo

The Canary Diaries

Mad Men Recap: Episodes Ten and Eleven

Photo via AMC.

In true MM style, Episode Ten brought some major bombshells: Pregnancy! Scandal! Lies! A caning! Of course it was all done with a subtle touch so nothing felt too soapy. How do you follow it up? Make the roof cave in on our dear SCDP in Episode Eleven.

We viewers knew it was coming, but we learned on Sunday night that American Tobacco has found greener pastures at BBDO. Did anyone else notice Alex Mack (Larisa Oleynik) as Cynthia Baxter, Ken Cosgrove's fiancee? Did I just dork out a little? Anyway, Ken learns that SCDP's biggest client is moving on. Of course, our resident silver fox already knew this weeks ago and didn't tell anyone. I'm a big Roger fan, but he's really getting on my nerves lately. Aside from the faux call to Lee Garner, Jr. and the faux trip to Raleigh, NC, the Joan brush off last week was just too much for me to bear. I heart Joanie and was really hoping for a serious reunion, not a hasty trip to the OB/Gyn. I still think she's with child, but I expect we will have to wait until next season to know for sure.

But back to the crisis at hand. It was paralleled with the birth of Baby Girl Campbell and Pete figured prominently in this issue when the detestable Ted comes bearing a Tiffany blue box containing a baby rattle. Pete accepts the gift, but not the position Ted dangles at him. Why? I honestly think the one moral bone these people have in their bodies contains their loyalty to SCDP if nothing else. Even Pete, the most morally ambiguous character on the show, isn't swayed by a cushier job...yet.

As for Peggy, let's hope the higher ups at Playtex thought her lipstick on the teeth was charming and not gross. I really liked that she was a bit more laid back then she has been in prior episodes and laughed off the joke. Maybe taking a cue from Joan? I also think we've really seen Peggy really come into her own throughout this season. As she said to Don before the Playtex pitch: "I'm not worried." I'm not either. I think she is able to be calm during the SCDP potential breakdown because she has nothing to lose. The old boys club does. And what of her budding relationship with beatnik? I still don't like him and all of his mock turtlenecks. Sorry, dude.

Then, of course, how could we ignore the Megan and Don hookup. So bizarre, in my opinion. My thought is this is another example of this new "willing-one-night-stand girl" that Don has previously not encountered in polite society. The only problem is, she's not just going to disappear after the night is done. Oh, Megan, if only your mother had spent less time splashing her face with water and more time explaining men like Don to you. Or, a scarier thought, maybe her motherly advice was to seduce her boss. Ew. I kind of doubt Faye will just brush this daliance under the rug like she did with Korea. The interesting thing with both Faye and Megan is that these women are something like mavericks, the very first to tread the changing waters of corporate America and its newly formed (or forming) gender roles. I think more than anything these two characters are just an honest portrayal of how people who are first at something tend to make mistakes in hindsight  (i.e. Telling Heinz about a great ad guy).

Some random thoughts/lingering questions:

-What's in a name? "Chinese Wall" was the title of Episode Eleven, any insight on that?

-Anyone else notice the Skotch cooler in the back of Joyce's car? Seems a little to preppy for this brood. Maybe it was mom and dad's?

-Jane Sterling, how I've missed your wardrobe and immaculately groomed eyebrows. Come back!

-Are we off to Ossining next week for some creepy time with Glen? I feel our time may be up on that one.

Until next week...

Weekend Snaps: M + T = Love

I was lucky enought to attend the beautiful wedding of my dear friends M and T this weekend. The bride was just stunning as you can see from the photo above and the wedding was so much fun--I don't think we left the dance floor all night. Best wishes to the new couple!

xoxo

The Canary Diaries