Trend of the Month Challenge: Boots & Booties

Top: F21 | Sweater: F21 | Jeans: Simply Vera, Kohl's | Booties: Betsey Johnson Ziah | Monogram necklace: eBay | Necklace: BaubleBar x Atlantic Pacific | Watch: Fossil | Bracelet: Kohl's | Earrings: Target | Rings: F21/H&M

At the risk of sounding like a surfer dude, or, you know, the turtle from Finding Nemo, since he's the only surfer dude I have any experience with, I was totally stoked when Marion announced that this month's challenge is booties. (Gnarly dude!) Since I've been obsessed with these Betsey Johnson beauties lately (here and here and here), I was looking forward to an excuse to bust them out again.

I jumped on the chance to take my BaubleBar x Atlantic-Pacific necklace out for its inaugural spin, but I was equally excited to snuggle up with my favorite white sweater and skinnies FOR THE LAST TIME EVER. Okay okay the last time for a month... because tomorrow I start my 30x30 and there are no plain skinnies in sight. I'm looking forward to pushing myself out of my comfort zone, but the prospect of a month without blue jeans is giving me hives.

Check back tomorrow (and, you know, every day in November) to see me wearing the same thing over and over again!

Just kidding. But seriously.

Linking up with Marionberry Style's Trend of the Month Challenge.

Under the Weather

Jacket: H&M | Top: F21 | Pants: Princess Vera, Kohl's | Shoes: Target | Necklace: F21 | Watch: Kohl's | Bracelet: ASOS | Ring: F21

Two love-hate things about blogging:

1. I always know when I need to get back on the self-tanning wagon. Oh hai that's right meow.

2. Even when I'm not feeling so hot, I don't go for my sweats anymore, because sweatpants and this blog are mortal enemies, and I don't want blood on my hands. And also those would be super crappy pictures. Seriously, we'll have pajama day sometime. You'll see.

But you know what? Looking better really does make me feel better. It's not superficial, it's medicinal.

Also, I know I'm "under the weather," but some folks are literally under the weather. Thoughts and prayers with everyone on the east coast.

All Hallow's Eve

Admiral General Aladeen and a unicorn horse and bayonet.
(Picture thanks to our Student Bar Association)

As promised, my first ever store-bought costumes, one unicorn/horse and bayonet, one infant-sized Yoda. My Yoda lightsaber fared better than last year's Ewok club, thanks to a barwide effort to repair it when it got jammed halfway through the night. It's either a shining example of humanitarianism on the part of total strangers or a great one liner: "how many lawyers does it take to fix a lightsaber..."

Though I'll warn you that infant costumes 1) make for super unattractive head-squishing pictures and 2) require a little creativity in the "no wardrobe malfunctons" department, they're cheaper and it gives you some hilarious options. Also, no one else was wearing my costume, which probably had more to do with the fact that you just can't make Yoda slutty.

Best Costumes of the Night
(Awards which are completely made up and the points don't matter)
- Darkwing Duck. Not gonna lie, next time I'm in a costume crunch, this is happening.
- Dexter and a victim. And by victim, I mean a girl wearing Spanx and saran wrap and nothing else. That's called taking one for the team. And taking forever in the bathroom.
- Fairytales Anonymous (a.k.a. classic characters with serious daddy issues, a.k.a. my friends): Robin Hoodrat, Puddles the rabid dalmatian, Snow White with a drinking problem, Alice in Wonderland with a gambling problem, Tinkerbell with a... glitter... problem, and my personal favorite, Pimpkey Mouse.

Horses and bayonets, a binder full of women, and a beer girl to top it off.
(Thanks again, SBA!)

Two great warriors (Hercules and Yoda). Also a lobster.

Linking up with IFB today for the Halloween Costume Challenge!

#Puppybomb

Trick or treat! While not my dog, strictly speaking, what you see above is the world's most precious chihuahua, brought to you by one of my BFFs (IDK, Jill? jk.) and her fiancé. He's a good sport (the chihuahua, and the fiancé). Here he is as a shark (during Shark Week, of course) and as Prince Charming. What a stud.

Big dogs don't get to have quite as much fun with the costume thing, but Nugget did wear a sombrero once and is still sometimes known as Juan Pablo. This pretty much just consisted of her running around the apartment and us yelling ay ay ay ay ay!

I have yet to find a costume that will fit Indy and doesn't cost a million trillion fofillion dollars, but here he is doing his best billygoat impression. One night during finals last year I looked up from the couch and saw him climbing up on the table. What I wouldn't give to know what goes through that dog's mind...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love Halloween - buuut I don't do the slutty nurse/cat/pumpkin (How I Met Your Mother!!) thing. Much to Boyfriend's (eternal, everpresent, perpetual) chagrin, I go for weird-borderline-nerdy.

At our law school, Halloween is a two night event. 1L year, I was Ke$ha, which was my absolute 200% most favorite costume ever. In the history of time. No one else quite felt the same, thanks to the bag of glitter that I blew in peoples faces, and their drinks, and all over the bar. We were finding glitter in the gutters around campus for weeks after that. I was an Ewok the next night, which ultimately led to the confiscation of the club you see in that picture by a bouncer and the subsequent verbal assault of that bouncer because drunk Ewok me was puzzled as to how I was supposed to protect us all from the Empire with naught but my bare hands.

It was an epic weekend.

Last year, a giant group of us went as superheroes. Naturally the first thing that came to my mind was Pikachu. (As you may be able to surmise, we weren't your Avengers-style superhero clan.) I wanted to get some fishing bobber-ball things to use as Pokeballs to throw at people I-choose-you-Pikachu-style, but after the Ke$ha glitter debacle, I was all but banned from using props. Two of my friends were Bananas in Pajamas. Not superheroes. Still awesome.
In our first ever couples' costume, Boyfriend and I were God's Gift to Women and a delivery elf the next night. Not sure how we're ever gonna top that one.

As you read this, I'm recovering from night one of Halloweekend 2012 and pumping up for night two. Three fun facts about this year's costumes, to be revealed in all their glory on Monday:
1. They're my first ever store-bought costumes. Half bummed about this, half excited.
2. One of them is infant-sized, which is either a new high or a new low. In my defense, it's designed for the world's fattest infant.
3. They involve mythical creatures, the Empire, and political jabs.

Links à la Mode : The IFB Weekly Round Up

So, my Suitcase Remix post is included in this week's Links à la Mode.

Totally casual.
Not squealing and bouncing up and down or anything.
(You guys I'm so lying. Sosososo lying.)

Be sure to check out the other blogs featured this week! I'm dying over this insanely cool feathery-furry top, these crazymazing pumpkins (and her header image! So flipping cool), and these tips on how to wear your pjs in public - where have you been all my life?!

Puttin’ in Work

Edited by: Jess of Fresh Jess

The bloggers are hard at work this season! This week’s roundup goes well beyond your usual outfit posts. What have IFB’s independent designers and stylists been cooking up in their studios lately? What off-the-beaten-path trends have you been exploring lately? Who is inspiring fashionable Halloween costumes this season? Which bloggers and designers are other bloggers fancying in recent weeks? All of these answers and more await you in this week’s Links a la Mode roundup. There are some truly unique and interesting voices being heard this week. Keep it up IFB!

• Camo Meets Couture: Wardrobe Diaries: Fine Feathered Threads
• Coolsario: Backstage of a Fashion Show
• Delphina Luxe: Le Mercredi des Bijoux: BeadFeast Love
• DNA Stylix: Honeycomb Influence
• Fashion is Evolution: What I Wore Today (Pajama Game)
• Kelly Dillon: All Black
• La Chic Couture: 4 Ways to Style A Faux-Leather Pleated Skirt
• Lifestyle Flash: Investment Piece Wishlist
• Mairead Lee: Peroni Moda Awards (Part 1)
• Morbid Glamour: Diastema, The Famous “Gap Teeth”
• On a Brick Lane: Hippie Love
• Purushu: Celeb-Inspired Styling Shoot
• Rock My Heels: Outfit Ideas: Green Skinny Jeans & Chanel-Inspired Jacket
• Sam Ipsa Loquitur: Suitcase Remix
• Style Tab: DIY Pretty Painted Pumpkins
• Sugar & Spice: 5 Pieces to Update Your Work Wardrobe for AW12
• Tha Darlinh: 10 Great Blogs on the Rise
• The Closet Coach: How to Dress for Casual Fridays
• Travelling Fashion: Fisherman’s Sweater 4 Ways
• Wish Upon a Smile: My Bo-Peeps: Cruella de Vil, Jafar & The Mad Hatter Halloween Outfit Ideas

 

SPONSOR: Shopbop Bags: Malene Birger, orYANY, Milly Bags, Chloe, Tory Burch, McQ, Hindmarch, Botkier, Lim & Alexander Wang Handbags

If you would like to submit your link for next week’s Links à la Mode, please register first, then post your links HERE where you see “Links a la mode next week’s date (official)”. The HTML code for this week will be found in the Links a la Mode widget on the right side of the blog, and will be published later today. ~ Jennine

Kitten Heels

Top: H&M | Skirt: F21 | Booties: Betsey Johnson Ziah | Bag: Melie Bianco | Necklace: American Eagle | Bracelet: Kohl's

Have I ever actually taken an intellectual property class? No. Does that stop me from worrying that the IP police (which in my law-school-addled mind are a radical splinter group from the fashion police) are going to pull me over for stealing my outfit from this pin? Also no. Mother Nature was having hot flashes this week, so the trench wasn't happening, but the bigger issue is that she's cut off mid-thigh and so I had absolutely no idea what shoes to wear. Cue the fringe booties. Thanks, inner flower child!

My friend Collin likes to piss me off make friendly inquiries as to whether or not every. single. pair. of shoes I wear are kitten heels, because sometime in the first six months after I met him I told him how much I hate kitten heels, but the one pair I own are actually in my top ten favorite shoes and that confuses me emotionally, and he gets some kind of sick joy out of poking fun at these types of moral dilemmas.

Guess who the booties and I had class with. NO COLLIN, WEDGE BOOTIES ARE NOT KITTEN HEELS.

Addicted: The First Step is Admitting It

Blazer: Target | Top: F21 | Skirt: Limited via MJR Sales | Shoes: Sam Edelman Portney | Monogram necklace: eBay | Cuff: F21 | Earrings: Target

I have a serious addiction to leopard print. Except I don't want help, I don't want to be cured, I want more. I want to wear something leopard every day. Some day, I'm going to wear head to toe leopard. Probably when I'm 87 and 1) don't give a shit, because I'm 87 and 2) because I'll have stopped posting everything I wear on the interwebs. Maybe.

Believe me - I know indoor pictures aren't sexy. I get it. But I don't have to make it worse by leaving all my crap out on the floor and forgetting to wash the dog slobber off the mirror. I solemnly swear that this is the last time you'll ever see my unmade bed :) Thanks for stopping by!

It's UPS's Fault

Sweater: F21 | Jeans: J.Crew | Shoes: BCBG Cielo | Bag: Target | Earrings: F21 | Necklace: F21 | Rings: F21/H&M

There is absolutely no way I could possibly sneak up on anyone (or rob a bank, or play hide and seek) in this outfit. The necklace is like wearing cat bells and a microphone at the same time and the pants... well... you have eyes. You see my pants.

Casual aside: an ex told me he was going to buy me cat bells to wear once. He was a douche.

If patience were my virtue, I'd have waited to wear this outfit until the ivory polka strand necklace I ordered from the BaubleBar x Atlantic-Pacific collaboration gets here... but I'm not patient, and I didn't wait, and it looks like I'm just going to have to wear the whole thing over again. Such are the trials and tribulations and crippling hardships of my life.

Eighth Grade Style

Sweater: Jones New York | Skirt: Talbots | Shoes: ASOS | Earrings: Target | Watch: Fossil | Ring: F21 | Bracelet: F21

I bought a pair of gold t-strap heels almost exactly like this from Burlington Coat Factory when I was in eighth grade for a dance, and they were my very favorite shoes until my dog chewed the hell out of one heel sometime in undergrad. I kept them for an embarrassingly long time after that (as in, I only threw them away this year). The shopping gods rewarded me for my incredible non-hoarder moment of strength, and this pair showed up on ASOS a few weeks later. They're a little more bronze than my original beauties and a whole lot less comfortable, but they still make me all fuzzy and giddy inside whenever I wear them, and that's all I really ask of my shoes.

Also, first (of many, I'm sure) blog makeover is here :) the HTML/CSS nerd in me is sooo geeking out right now.

Suitcase Remix

Cargo jacket: Rubbish | Leather jacket: HauteLook | Suede jacket: TJMaxx | Scarf: Apt. 9 | Sweater: F21 | Black tee: H&M | Gray skirt: F21 | Black skirt: Target | Nude pumps: BCBG Cielo | Booties: Betsey Johnson Ziah | Black pumps: Steven by Steve Madden Delicatt | T-strap heels: ASOS

Alternate title: "The Nine Outfits Hiding In My Vegas Suitcase That I Actually Would Have Worn Had I Realized That They Existed At That Time"

I had several "I have nothing to wear" moments while I was in Vegas, and though they all solved themselves, once I got home I decided to prove to myself that I actually had more outfits than I could possibly have worn. (I also decided to prove that I could do absolutely nothing for an entire week besides wear pjs and catch up on TV shows, hence the messy bun and glaringly obvious lack of makeup/shower - I realize that once I'm a big kid this will be called "being a hobo" instead of "being on fall break".)

This is a lightbulb moment for me - I could go literally on vacation three times over on the same suitcase. I don't have any vacations planned, but there is a month with 30 days right around the corner that would be ohsoperfect for a certain 30x30 challenge. Wink wink nudge nudge.

Also, this picture is so much more epic in the wake of our boy Flav getting arrested Wednesday morning - epic in the sense that we were among the last to see him before he gave the world the greatest mugshot in the history of time, absolutely not epic in the sense that his arrest involved assault with a deadly weapon and his girlfriend.

B{CBG} Still My Beating Heart

Avery | Lucea

Just about every dress I've come across lately that I've been uuuhhhbbb-sessed with has been BCBGMAXAZRIA. Coincidence? Not exactly. I wouldn't call being stupid fabulous a coincidence.

My Marta dress from Vegas is the first one I've taken the plunge on, but it's definitely not the last. Check out my very favorite frocks of the moment, and feel free to buy them so I can live vicariously through you. Or buy them and mail them to be. Either is acceptable.

Giada | Mara 

Rochelle | Rainer

Yeeeah Boiiiii : Vegas Recap

I'm alive!! I'm alive!! I feel like I deserve to have my name engraved on a trophy.

Before we get to clothes, first things first:

If I could have been on any reality show, it would have been Flavor of Love. This is the definition of serendipitous.

Yes that is Flava Flav. (FLAAAY-VER FLAV!!!)

Yes he is wearing a clock.

Yes he gave my friend his number.

No she will not be taking him up on the Joe's Crab Shack date.

Jacket: Nordie's | Tee: Gap | Jeans: Simply Vera | Scarf: Apt. 9 | Booties: Betsey Johnson | Bag: Melie Bianco | Watch: Fossil | Ring: F21

Here's my Thursday morning travel outfit. Highly recommend these booties for running around trying to find your gate, opposite-of-highly-recommend wearing them with dark wash jeans that haven't finished rubbing off on everything you own. Anyone know how to get dye off suede?

Jacket: HauteLook | Dress: Lush via Nordie's | Clutch: Steve Madden | Earrings: F21 | Ring: Kohl's | Shoes you can't see: ASOS

Dear other Vegas virgins: soak your feet in Orajel. You's about to be in pain. Buy these fold up flats and thank me later.

Dress: BCBGMAXAZRIA | Glow sticks: Vegas | Shoes you can't see: BCBG Cielo pumps

I saw this dress over at Suburban Faux Pas last week and had to have it. Perfect Vegas dress, and surprisingly stretchy-comfy.

Tee: Rock & Republic | Jeans: Simply Vera | Clutch: Steve Madden | Earrings: F21 | Chains: F21 | Rings: H&M | Shoes that you can't see: Steven by Steve Madden Delicatt

Literally the most complete outfit pic I have of the entire night, if that tells you anything. P.S. this is the world's most awesome bathroom attendant at Lavo. We loved her.

Saturday night shoes/my Vegas souvenir :)

And no, your eyes aren't deceiving you - I looove me some clip in hair extensions. I bought them from Luxy, and they are phenom and worth every penny. If your hair won't go past your shoulders no matter how much you beg and plead and threaten it, stop putting weird crap on it to try to make it grow (I see you) and go nab some clippies.

Perfection

Blazer: The Limited | Dress: Calvin Klein | Shoes: Nine West | Bag: Handbag Heaven | Earrings: F21 | Ring: F21

There is literally not one single thing I would change about this dress.

I feel like I'm getting away with something whenever I let a dress like this do all the work. Okay, I showered this morning, but that was the extent of the effort. Full disclosure, I needed help with the zipper... which means I didn't even dress myself independently. Seriously. Less effort than this is naked. And if you walk in to a courthouse naked, you will assuredly not be leaving naked. Or on your own recognizance.

(As you're reading this, I'm leaving on a jet plane to a magical land of puppies and rainbows and penis straws. Hey hey hey!)

T-2 Days

Cardi: Gap | Top: no idea | Skirt: ASOS | Flats: Me Too | Belt: Target | Earrings: Target | Necklaces: F21 | Ring: F21

Say hi to my dresser and my TJMaxx bag and stupid lumpy hair. Such things happen when you're running around like a certified crazy trying to get ready for your best friend's bachelorette party in VEGAS in two days!!!

I have a thousand errands to run (if one can refer to searching adult stores for... "paraphernalia"... as an errand) and papers to write and oh yeah, maybe some trials. NBD.

Not to mention, a suitcase to pack! What the hell do you wear?! I'm a Vegas virgin, and I'm totally stumped. Three nights of fabulous in a carry on... luckily, I am my mother's daughter, and that woman could fit an elephant in a Prius. Want to see how that turns out (the carry on, not the elephant)? Check back later this week :)

Baby Make Your Booties Go

Sweater: Old Navy | Tank: Target | Skirt: Target | Booties: Betsey Johnson | Tights: Vera Wang for Kohl's | Earrings: Target | Ring: F21 | Monogram necklace: eBay

These are my first legitimate pair of honest-to-God, no peep-toe in sight, cut-you-off-at-the-cankle booties, and I am so smitten it's a little gross. I cradled them like babies when they showed up in the mail and they haven't even darkened the doorway of the closet because I refuse to put them where I can't see them.

You may have started to deduce that I am the opposite of boho. I don't do a lot of flowy, I routinely mock my old roommate who wears her headbands around her forehead like a hippie (and somehow still looks amazing, both because she is lucky little bitch and because the world is a cold and uncaring place devoid of natural justice), and I hate fringe. That could either be the anti-boho thing or a natural side effect of growing up at 4-H rodeos.

I found these boots on Pinterest back when Pinterest was still a "what's that" (you know, back when we were walking to class uphill both ways in the snow, without iPhones) and I couldn't get them out of my head. Ever since, the little free spirit flower child I keep chained up in the Rapunzel tower in my brain has been quietly searching for fringe boots, and I swear to you the moment I saw these on megasale at Piperlime I had Kendi-style shopping amnesia. I woke up to a credit card in my hand and an order confirmation email. It's a medical condition, people.

P.S. How much fun is it to come up with a post title when you're wearing booties? I flirted with pirate jokes and a shoutout to Limp Bizkit (I Did It All For the Booties... couldn't bring myself to use it, couldn't let it go. It is what it is). In the end, Sisqo won, because when the Thong Song came out I sincerely believed it was about shoes/thong sandals and that's too full circle to pass up.


Linking up on IFB today! :)

Heaven, I'm in {Handbag} Heaven

I have a habit of forgetting to shop for basics. A black tote has been on my list pretty much since I popped out of the womb and last week I finally found my match - the Bennett satchel from Handbag Heaven.

I read about Handbag Heaven sometime last year in People Stylewatch - it's an amazing site with tons of gorgeous bags for insane prices. I mean like less mostly than fifty bucks insane. Mind blown. I've been stalking the site ever since, but I hadn't actually pulled the trigger on anything yet. Full disclosure, the prices were so low I figured everything would be total crap. Wrongwrongwrong.

The Bennett is absolutely perfect for me. I'd call it mid-sized, but it can still fit my 15" Macbook and my seminar book (which shocked the hell out of me). The hardware feels really substantial and the exterior is pebbly and so, so soft. I have the biggest crush on this bag. I don't love bags that are exact knock-offs, so I was nervous about the vaguely Celine-y shape, but overall it really has it's own style. 

If all that's not enough to convince you, free shipping over $50 and 15% off sitewide. Seriously, go.

Not sponsored, not affiliated, just obsessed. :)

Little Miss Muffitt

Blazer: TJMaxx | Tee: Gap | Jeans: American Eagle | Shoes: Sam Edelman | Belt: Target | Necklace: F21 | Bracelet: Kohl's

I was thatgirl yesterday.

Sitting innocently in my seminar, minding my own damn business, when what to my wandering eyes should appear but a FREAKING SPIDER THE SIZE OF A QUARTER CRAWLING UP MY SLEEVE. So I did what any grown ass woman would do and I screamed like a baby and did the getitoffmeNOW dance and brought a very serious and involved class discussion about religion in schools to a complete and utter halt. I singlehandedly threw the feminist movement into a backslide that will probably set us back 20 years. Just another Thursday, folks. Nothin' to see here.

In other news, I'm busting out all of my open-toed shoes before Mother Nature turns into a frigid you know what. I'm also busting out some plain white tee combos over the next few weeks - above, with a blazer that's as soft as another tee shirt and a necklace that's so ostentatiously cheap looking it's actually cute.

The Masters

Blazer: H&M | Tank: F21 | Skirt: J.Crew | Shoes: Pour la Victoire | Monogram necklace: eBay | Watch: Fossil | Cuff: Anthropologie | Earrings: Target

"Did you win the Masters this year?"
Note to self: don't wear green blazers around Boyfriend. He'll try to steal it and then present it to you like a winner's ceremony.

Since yesterday was the first day all week without rain in the forecast, I busted out my PLV pumps again. I scoured my Pinterest boards for non-Richard Simmons inspiration and found this Christian Siriano runway look and this one from J (the woman, the myth, the legend) at J's Everyday Fashion. Richie, you've been replaced.

A Badass in Mourning

Jacket: H&M (if you're listening, please bring it back in olive) | Tee: J.Crew | Pants: F21 | Flats: Tory Burch | Necklace: F21 | Bracelet: F21 | Watch: Fossil

The cure for a few days of blah? Getting your hurr did and some fake ass leather.

Seriously it's been proven. Don't take it up with me, take it up with science.

 

Even though all black kind of makes me feel like I'm en route to a funeral, I read an interview with Lauren Conrad that stuck with me: the easiest way to look put together is to go all black. Having just missed an Emmy nod for my scintillating portrayal of Sandy in my sorority's recruitment skit and at my grandparents' 50th anniversary party, I consider myself the foremost expert on this subject and I'm here to tell you that wearing black leather and lipstick will make you feel like a badass.

 

So will red highlights.

So will only having one class.

(It was a good day. And nobody died.)

7:47

Sweater: F21 | Skirt: Limited via MJR Sales | Shoes: Ivanka Trump | Belt: F21 | Tote: Target | Earrings: F21

As if it weren't enough that I woke up at 7:47 and needed to be at work by 8:30, it was raining. And a Monday. When you're getting dressed in the dark with a brain that's functioning at 12% max, bad things are bound to happen. Specifically bad outfits and fuzzy hair and forgotten mascara. In the spirit of self-flagellation posting everything I actually wear... here it is. On the internet. Forever.

Two in a row, man. Three more and I'll be the Tony Romo of blogging.

I picked this sweater up at F21 this weekend because it's ridiculously soft and obscenely cheap at $14. You know how sometimes the stars align and the angels come down from on high and you end up with something from Forever that lasts... forever? This is not one of those times. My left sleeve cuff started unravelling before lunchtime and I'm actually shocked the whole damn thing didn't come off before I got home. At least then it would have looked like I got in a fight or something awesome.

"Yeah, I lost my sleeve. You should see the other guy."

Brownie

Cardi: Target | Tank: Loft | Jeans: Target | Flats: Me Too 'Patty' | Bag: Melie Bianco | Monogram necklace: eBay | Earrings: Target | Cuff: Anthropologie

This outfit is the product of my pure unadulterated obsession with this bag (current season, $40 down from $150 at TJMaxx... yahtzee!) except the bag is cute and my mousy brown cardigan is not. No, I'm not colorblind - at one point, I was the proud owner of this mousy masterpiece and its delicious chocolately brown (fraternal) twin, and then when I was cleaning out my closet during a Goodwill haul I stuffed the wrong one in the bag and the rest is history. Win some, lose some. Carpe diem. YOLO. I'm not even making sense anymore. And I YOLO'd. Punch me.

Talking about brownies always makes me think of Without a Paddle ("Were you a boy scout? No, but I ate a brownie once"), which always makes me want to watch Without a Paddle, which reminds me that I have the world's most sophisticated taste when it comes to entertainment.