paper crown...

I'm loving these images of Paper Crown, Lauren Conrad's latest fashion endeavor.

an evening with jessica hische...

If you're a big fan of Jessica Hische, such as I am, then perhaps you'll enjoy this video. Happy Monday!

{snowed in} links and inspiration...

{Top row}
1. Found this aspiring illustrator's blog and am completely smitten!
2. An illustrated view into someone's weekend (living in Chicago!), love, love, love!
3. Portraits. Triangles. Yes, please.

{Middle row}
1. Poppy and Butterfly Cloche.
2. Loving Refinery29 Chicago and the shopping suggestions!
3. Beautiful homemade pennant.

{Bottom row}
I've got wedding dessert on the brain:
1. exhibit a: cake stand tutorial!
2. exhibit b: yellow!
3. Love this photo shoot, especially the model's lipstick.

Alix Klingenberg Photography...

{The beautiful and inspiring photography of Alix Klingenberg}

Wedding inspiration {my first one!}....

{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

Just snagged one of these....

{Calendar designed by one of my favorite artists, get yours here! Thanks Joanna, for the heads up.}

Music minute...

{Been listening to this band nonstop recently}

More ballet inspiration...

{Ballerina Project via Rockstar Diaries}

Perfect trousers...

This gal is rocking some awesome pants. Her entire look is making me itch for spring.

Crazy Heart

I was listening to a segment on NPR about the singing in the movie Crazy Heart starring Jeff Bridges. They played a duet that Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell sing in the movie and I was so delighted, I had to go find it again. I'm not surprised that Mr. Bridges is musically-inclined, he is extremely talented at everything it seems but Colin, you go Irish boy! Listen to 'em pipes!

Speaking of pom pom's...

I'm so making this wreath! Thanks James, I'm so obsessed with your blog! xo

An evening with Garrison Keillor...

Monday evening was simply an amazing one. The bf and I headed to the Auditorium Theater dressed to the nines (well, not really but I was wearing a dress and he put on cologne and product in his hair) to see Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion fame and oh so much more. The man is amazing to say the least. For a glorious hour and a half, the man sang, recited poetry and had the entire audience in stitches with stories of his Minnesota hometown of his family and he even spoke of his recent stroke and somehow made it sound like a comical situation (I'm sure it was not).
{This is Keillor at a college campus somewhere--he also wore those red socks and sneakers on Monday night}

{A picture of the Auditorium Theater in Chicago--taken with my phone}

After seeing this, I've decided to make the journey over to Minnesota to see A Prairie Home Companion live. If you don't already, tune into NPR to listen to him, it's worth your while, I guarantee it. xo

Feeling grouchy...

Oh dear me! This is too cute for words.

{Image via this is me via freshly picked}

The Fall...

I've been meaning to post about this for awhile now. Forgive me for being an awful blogger but school was getting the best of me.

Recently, I saw the most beautiful movie called The Fall. It stars one of my favorite actors, Lee Pace of Pushing Daisies fame (R.I.P). The film is set in 1920's Los Angeles and Pace plays Roy Walker, a Hollywood stuntman who got seriously hurt while on the job. To make matters worse, the woman he loves, an actress, leaves him for the leading actor in the movie that caused Walker's accident. Basically, the man has no will to live. I won't give away anymore of the plot because I want you all to see this amazing piece of work. Pace is amazing in this movie, truly at his finest but the best part of the movie.....

newcomer child actress, Catinca Untaru. I dare you to watch this movie and not fall in love with her. I'm telling you, if I was guaranteed a child as adorable as her I'd go out and get myself knocked up right this second! This is gonna sound cruel but I usually detest child actors. They always seem to "overact" and can be downright annoying. Untaru is nothing like that, she doesn't even seem to be acting and she has the most adorable Eastern European accent that plays a big role in her character's development. The chemistry between Untaru and Pace is amazing. I read somewhere that the director, Tarsem Singh, encouraged Pace to call Untaru by her real name in some of the scenes so they could get natural reactions out of her and boy did it work.

Isn't she just a doll! Look at her in her little outfit. You MUST watch this movie. Rent it or Netflix it today!

I can't get that song out of my head...

You probably thought I had forgotten about this feature of my blog....but songs get stuck in my head all the time and this is where I share that random tune for anyone who can relate or even cares.

The tune this week is Say you love me by Fleetwood Mac. What can I say about good ole' Fleetwood Mac that we don't already know. I'm a huge fan of Lindsey Buckingham's and Christy McVie's songs. This is probably my favorite Christy tune which is probably why it is always stuck in my head. This song reminds me of the feeling you get when you start dating someone new and every little thing seems so amazing especially after you...ahem..."seal the deal" if you catch my drift.



Enjoy the montage video as well.

There goes my breath...

Anthropologie,

You always take my breath away!

(Image via anthropologie)

I can't get that song out of my head...

I'd like to introduce a very gratuitous new feature here at Tenacious Dee. Once a week, I will share with you a song that has been stuck in my head and give you as much background on it as I know, as much as Wikipedia provides or as much as I think anyone would care about. First up:


Helpless- Kim Weston. Let me warn you right now, most of the songs I feature will most likely be Motown songs. I'm a diehard Motown fan-it's the Chicago influence.

You may recognize Miss Weston's voice as the one that duets with Marvin Gaye in "It Takes Two." They actually recorded an entire album together, "Take Two."

Listen to this song and I guarantee the delightful and catchy hook will be going through your head for days.

Mini-me...

Did you like the image I included in my last post of the lovesick tomatoes? Well, there are more adorable images from whence that one came. Flickr user JooJoo has an entire set of "Mini sculptures" and they are adorable! It includes three of my favorite things, photography+anything miniature+animals/food. Check out the entire set!

{Images via JooJoo via flickr}

R.I.P. Lux Interior...

Lux Interior died Wednesday from a pre-existing heart condition. He was 60 years old. I'm so saddened by these news, he and Poison Ivy are two of my most favorite musicians. I can't recall how many times I've popped in a Cramps cd to get ready to go out on a weekend night, they are the one band that can get me pumped enough to go out even when I've resigned myself to a night of take-out and a movie. The Cramps are also the perfect soundtrack to an extra long road trip or even just a commute downtown.

My ex and I had planned a trip to Vegas to see The Cramps a couple of years ago but the trip never came to fruition. My ex had seen them live once but I never had the chance. Damn him, now not only can he dangle my broken heart in front of me, he can now rub in my face the fact that he saw Lux Interior live and I'll never get a chance.

Do any of you have any stories that involve listening to The Cramps? Let's reminisce and agree that America has just lost a great, great man.

Laura Letinsky

I love all of Laura Letinsky's photography encompassing food. It makes me yearn to live in a house overlooking a lake-any lake. I don't know why, maybe the colors?