Weekend Reads: Links to the Strange and the Beautiful

What are you up to this weekend? It is my friend Melanie's birthday [Happy B-Day Mel!], and we're heading to the lake to celebrate. I'm excited to lounge in the water and enjoy the outdoors with friends...

* I am going to: relax and try to stop being so negative [long story, I've been quite emotional this week...]

* I need to: list more items in my Etsy shop -- I'm so behind!

* I hope: to finally go see "Public Enemies." Two words: Johnny Depp.

I wish: I could hang out with my sister Lindsay and my brother Jared -- they both live so far away, and I miss them like crazy.

* I will probably forget to: make phone calls. I can be very phone-phobic sometimes.

Here are some links for those spare moments you might have this weekend. Pour a glass of wine, sit back, and browse:

♥ The Butterfly Effect blog is cool and quirky, but the links to image archives [on the right side] hold a treasure-trove of vintage images that will keep you busy for hours at a time!

♥ Need a new summer read? Here's a really fun tool -- get interesting, new book recommendations at The Book Seer.

♥ My boyfriend loves Buster Keaton, so I couldn't resist the cuteness of Buster Keaton-inspired style at Refinery 29.

♥ It's less of a "read" and more of a shopping experience at Shoes and your mom.

♥ I'm a sucker for creepy old ruined buildings, and the abandoned man-made ruins at Artificial Owl are mesmerizing...I just want to sneak around in them looking for ghosts!

♥ Forget Youtube! Check out amazing vintage news, images, and film shorts at British Pathe.

♥ Check out news and reviews on fragrances from around the world at the perfume blog 1000 Fragrances.

♥ Well-written, academic Fashion articles on Fashion+Film tackle historical and cultural topics relating to clothing and costume.

♥ One of my childhood favorites --Drawings from the the "Wind in the Willows" series on BibliOdyssey.

♥ Fascinating photo collages of favorite collectibles by Dragonfly on Flickr -- you'll want to copy this idea!