Click It. BEAT picks of the week.

Etsy's March Meet & Make in California is taking place tonight in Los Angeles and San Francisco. More details here.

How cool is Stella McCartney?

If you have some awards-season catching up to do, Hugo and J. Edgar are out on DVD this week.

Have you tried Starbucks' Blonde Roast? It was the hot item during my morning stop today.

I've been loving slathering on Aveeno's Positively Ageless Reconditioning Night Cream. It smells fresh and is a great creamy but not too heavy consistency.

This Pomelo Blossom candle from Catbird in Williamsburg, Brooklyn smells SO good. They also make great tin travel candles.

Extremely simple Thai curry to make at home.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: dropcloth / Etsy shop

Advance Notice. Andre Dubus III to present Townie at Book Soup.

"“Townie” is a better, harder book than anything the younger Mr. Dubus has yet written; it pays off on every bet that’s been placed on him. It’s a sleek muscle car of a memoir that — until it loses traction in clichés about redemption at its very end — growls like an amalgam of the best work by Richard Price, Stephen King, Ron Kovic, Breece D’J Pancake and Dennis Lehane, set to the desolate thumping of Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town.” It could become, and I mean this fondly, one hell of a Ben Affleck movie." How's that for an endorsement? Dwight Garner's words from the New York Times.

Between my Irish heritage, my college visits to BU to see my best friend, and my two trips to Lowell, Mass. in the summer of 2009 to see my boyfriend when he was working on The Fighter, I have a major soft spot for Beantown (and its surroundings). I also love a good memoir.

Author Andre Dubus III will be at Book Soup next week to present and sign Townie. I'd order it on Amazon right now if I wasn't so interested in what he'll have to say (and I really want a signed copy).

March 14 at 7:00 p.m. event free. book is $25.95.

Book Soup is located at 8818 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Info: booksoup.com, (310) 659-3110.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: Jake Guevara / The New York Times

Check It. A rare look inside Pixar Studios [The Monday Download].

The Oscars are coming up in a few short weeks, and so it is time to consider all the great films of the past year. If you need some help, the New York Times (as per usual) has got your back. The Carpetbagger's turned her camera on and featuring some great Oscar-themed videos.

My favorite one so far is this rare behind-the-scenes look at Pixar Studios. This looks like such an amazing place to work! And it's great to see how much it seems that everyone is in love with their work.

Be sure to check out other Carpetbagger videos here.

The Oscars air on Sunday, February 27 at 5pm on ABC.

-- Chau Tu

Check It. 'The Minimalist' signs off.

After 13 years of weekly food columns, The New York Times' Minimalist is signing off today for his last column.

Appearing weekly, "The Minimalist" chronicled the culinary feats of writer Mark Bittman in the New York Times.

In this column, Bittman has summarized some of his best ideas in cooking in this article for those who love to do their own cooking at home.

For all the foodies out there, check out his column today writing about his culinary triumphs and failures over the past decade and a half or so.

-- Lauren Williams

Check It. 'The Possessed.'

Among the things I found under the Christmas tree this year, was this book "The Possessed" by Elif Batuman.

I'm always looking for new and interesting books, scouring the (online) pages of the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times for new reads outside my usual repertoire.

This was something that totally slipped under my radar, but was hailed by the L.A. Times' David L. Ulin as one of his favorite reads of 2010. From Ulin: "Part memoir of the academic life, part engaging inquiry into the pleasures of Russian literature, Batuman's debut is a bravura performance, a collection of essays about books and reading unlike any I've encountered before."

I'm definitely excited to start this! "The Possessed" can be found in paperback and can be found on Amazon.com for as low as $10.20.

-- Lauren Williams