Paul Newman has died.

At the age of 83, Paul Newman has passed away. He leaves behind a storied film career, a strong philanthropic legacy, five children and his wife of more than 50 years, Joanne Woodward. Through his Newman's Own food company, more than $220 million has been raised for charity. (He donated each penny of profits.)

When asked once about infidelity, Newman quipped, "Why go out for hamburger when you have steak at home?" What an example for celebrities - and average folks - today. He'll be remembered fondly.

Princesses wear crowns, not Keds.

I love Anne Hathaway.

I adored her adorable Princess Diaries appearances and admire her now flourishing career. Most recently, I've applauded the tremendous grace she's shown during the very public legal troubles surrounding her ex-boyfriend. More than anything, I appreciate Anne's pristine record of remaining clothed in public and her old Hollywood sense of red carpet style.

This look, though, is something I cannot get behind - are those Keds?

Is this 5th grade? If Anne Hathaway wears it, you know it's going to be imitated. I'm not sporting those again. Too many years of my life were spent with the tiny blue Keds tag at my heel and we're not going back there. (Are we?)

Perhaps I should just thank her for leaving the Hypercolor shirts and pegged jeans at home on this jaunt outdoors.

I heart Suze.

Suze Orman is fabulous. Sometimes she scares the tar out of me, but she always speaks the truth. Did anyone see her appearance on Oprah yesterday? Holy righteous anger, y'all. That woman was on fire! And with good reason.

No time to discuss at the moment, but I wanted to share a few recent Suze-related articles to get your thoughts and tangle your brain waves for a bit.


Suze Orman answers your money questions (Freakonomics blog, Sept. '08)

Lay off, Suze Orman! (Time, April '07)

The Dollars and Sense of Suze Orman (backgrounder from '03)

Lots of words, but what am I saying?

See my profile section on the bar to your right? Am I still considered a "newlywed" 14 months into things?

Should I be rewriting these little bits of my blog? How does a person really go about giving the world a Cliffs Notes version of her personality in these tiny online paragraphs? I guess we could get into a lot of detail about perception versus reality, the "masks" we show to the world, the images we hope to portray versus the people we really are and many delicious layers of psychological excitement.

I, however, would prefer to discuss the last episode of Mad Men or Monday's Gossip Girl. Holy heart attack, people. No, I'm not shallow. I just devote enough brain power to serious things in my work life that I'm trying to keep it frothy here...

In typical Anne fashion, I have digressed. Bottom line - suggestions are welcome to revamp the blog and blogger (bloggess?!) descriptions. :)

And also, I miss you, far-away friends!

Hey, y'all!

What a crazy weekend - and such a gorgeous one at that!

I hope y'all did something fun and fabulous. I promise to catch up very very soon. Things on my to-do list to chat about with y'all are below; let me know if I'm missing anything we need to discuss!

1. Jessica Simpson's uber-classy beer ad (very late on this one, I know, KW)
2. Our countless favorite things about fall - football included, bien sur.
3. My incredible self-restraint when the fall J. Crew catalog arrived
4. Does going green mean canceling one's ten million magazine subscriptions?
5. So the Emmys were awful, hmm?
6. Fall shows are starting. What shows are you dying to see again? (And do we think Jim and Pam are engaged??)
7. Your must-DVR shows without fail...and mine. Poor Bradley may never get to TiVo anything before midnight again.
8. Speaking of #2, your favorite foreign phrases to toss casually about in daily conversations.
9. The top ten most annoying abbreviations used in said daily conversations. I am totes serious about this, y'all. A girl can only handle so much, so cut down on the 'breevs. Preesh.
10. Moisturizer, falling asleep with your make-up on, and magazines making 30 sound like the end of life.

Happy first day of fall, all!
xoxo,
A.

Facts

1. Taylor Swift is precious. There's no room for debate here; it's science.

2. She performs songs she has written (or co-written) while remaining fully clothed.

3. I've always wanted curly hair. (I guess that's more of a sidebar.)

4. At 18, her lyrics are age-appropriate, contain the word "Daddy" and reference relatively high-school love stories. No 14-year-old Leann Rimes "How Do I Live Without You" here.

5. She's dating a Jonas Brother who wears a purity ring and publicly models some pretty unpopular (but v. admirable and timeless) values.

6. Did you read #5, Britney Spears? Justin and Britney of the '00s they are not.

6. This particular song has been in my head non-stop for five days.

7. The video is even better.

8. Almost two years after my own engagement, the proposal verse gives me goosebumps. Feel free to mock me as you feel led.

9. Is there an age limit on the wanting to be a princess thing? I guess Sarah Crewe from The Little Princess would argue no, but I'm not sure... Maybe it's in my DNA?

8. Feel free to discuss Taylor's all-around fabulousness or disagree. But first, watch the Love Story video!!

Random

1. Went to Savannah to see our beautiful bride Bayne tie the knot. Their excitement must have chased off the giant hurricane that we were all expecting; Hanna shimmied up the coast and Savannah stayed sunny all weekend.

2. I'm trying to shake a very unusual migraine - I get them very rarely and this particular headache feels like staying around for a while. Much to my disappointment.

3. Our house is officially on the market! And cleaner than it's ever been. Even when family comes to visit! (That's saying something.) Now if Blue and I could just stop shedding - or turn blonde. It's a lot easier to notice dark hairs on light tiles! Please pray that the right buyer comes our way and that there's a cute house in downtown G'ville with our names written all over it.

4. Is it the weekend yet? I can't wait to go to Tigertown Saturday, sport some orange and purple, and experience the most exciting 25 seconds (and hopefully four quarters) in college football. At this point, though, a nap and a migraine pill would be equally thrilling.

5. Sorry for the sporadic silence and boring list of facts today - hope y'all are doing fabulously and missing me as much as I miss you. :)

xoxo,
A.

Things I love

My sweet chocolate lab and his new best friend Harper

Harper's mom, my best friend Erin

Bradley's sense of humor even in awful Atlanta traffic

Clemson's campus this time of year

Clemson's campus any time of year

A clean, sparkly house

The smell of fresh laundry

Having folded said laundry already

Being greeted by this face in the morning

Giant give-away boxes for Goodwill

Pared down closets as a result

Fall shopping to (inevitably) restock

New cookbooks I will (surely) use. Right?

Fabulous eBay finds

The idea of fall but the sunshine of summer

Grits and eggs for dinner

A melt-in-your-mouth biscuit

Showing up a hurricane with a bright umbrella

The promise of a good night's sleep

A weekend on its way

My cute fall trench to comfort me when sundresses are packed away

Happy Thursday!

Venice Film Festival

Could Diane Kruger and Pacey be any more Mattel-like? Gorgeous and Mad Men-esque, non?

A few others displayed their fashion savvy at the Venice Film Festival. Surely some non-models made good fashion choices, but all I've been able to find is the creme de la creme of gorgeous attendees.

Everyone loves J. Crew!

I left out a must-visit blog in my recap of daily reading the other week. My newest addiction is the (updated multiple times daily!) J. Crew Aficionada site. If you're as obsessed as I am, or just desire a good coupon code and feedback from J. Crew's CEO Mickey Drexler, this is the place to be.

Jezebel is loving J. Crew's fall catalog, as am I... If only my wallet agreed!