Sunday, May 30, 2010

"I don like no cheap cuhstahmahs"

One of the best shopping days of my life! Lauren and I exercised a great deal of restraint, but cute things and fantastic deals just kept coming...

I got my first dose of New Yorker attitude (people have otherwise been so sweet, counter to the stereotype) this morning at this giant antiques/flea market somewhere Downtown. When I tried my hand at bartering, I got pummeled with "I don like no cheap cuhstahmahs" and a list of designers (some of whom have been long dead) who supposedly hail her as The Vintage Source. Lady, I don't think they would appreciate your selling fakes of their bags.
There was this gorgeous boxy Anne Klein purse in burnt orange. It resembled a camera case, actually. But alas! - overpriced.

Anyways, don't you love this book cover? My little brother used to watch Dumbo every day as a toddler. That drunk scene is so awesome. Come to think of it, Ratatouille must have gotten their fireworks tidbit from that, hm?

Alcoholism, Kessel and Walton

And on wishlist!:
 

Penguin by Design, Phil Baines, £25.00

"Ever since the creation of the first Penguin paperbacks in 1935, their jackets have become a constantly evolving part of Britain's culture and design history. Rich with stunning illustrations and filled with detail of individual titles, designers and even the changing size and shape of the Penguin logo itself, this book shows how covers become design classics. 
By looking back at seventy years of Penguin paperbacks, Phil Baines charts the development of British publishing, book-cover design and the role of artists and designers in creating and defining the Penguin look...
Filled with inspiring images, Penguin by Design demonstrates just how difficult it is not to judge a book by its cover." Penguin synopsis
True dat!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

you are the wind beneath my armpits

I just realized that for the last few days, I've been dressing according to the 10-day weather forecast of New York Mills, MINNESOTA rather than New York, New York.
You can surf the Interwebs efficiently with bookmarks, but you can't exactly breeze through a ninety-degree day in black pants.
(But to tell the truth, I'm really enjoying the warm weather.)

Sunday, May 16, 2010

out door wall mount lighting

Portfolio 1-Light Rustic Brown Wall Light, Lowe's, 20

Cute, hm?

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Floor Depot + Flora Grubb

Best Saturday ever following my parents around. We hit up all the kitchen/bath/floor warehouses in the industrial area around Bayshore, searched through Building REsources (if my dad had a storefront for all his stuff, it would be BR), stared at the vertical succulent gardens at Flora Grubb, and checked out my dad's friend's workshop LatticeStix across from FG.



A very Mock day. Too bad somebody else had to stay at home because little Jolly Jowls fell asleep ;)

I've really been liking corrugated iron lately, particularly when colored, as above at Flora Grubb.


Images: Building REsources, Caitlin Atkinson/Flora Grubb Gardens by Kevin Smith

Can I get an AMEN?

Tadao Ando (b. 1941), Church of the Light, Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan, 1987-89

I may have a favorite contemporary architect. More on this soon.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Last summer, I tried to make a headboard for the bed in my old room. Then a twin. But I wasted one upholstery nail for every successful one. Crooked rows. This is what it ought to have looked like but in gray:


And I'm not even going to take a picture of mine in its half-done state. (In fact, I have no idea where it is now. And good for me! - I refrained from any jokes about nailing.)

Image: CasaSugar

Mein Bett

I'm so excited to decorate my room next school year! I'll be in a west-facing room, so I'll get a lot of warm afternoon light.
I've been planning on doing this:


But with cream curtains and trimmed with 1.5" black grosgrain ribbon? Probably can't afford dupioni silk, but oh boy that would be nice.

This canopy headboard might also be a good idea:


I just had a crazy moment. S-i-l-k? Looks so strange.

Images: Stephen Stubel for House Beautiful, Xavier Béjot/L'Hôtel Récamier
"What have you been up to? What's new?"

How the hell is my life? I realized today that I have no idea how to answer those questions. I always have to think about my answer, deriding myself for a while before I blurt something out. Whatever I'm doing, I only ever feel a collision and a flurry of activity. I lack that degree of external perspective of self and I just don't have a prepared elevator speech. If you ask me what I AM doing, I can tell you: I am using the excuse of not having summer clothes to go shopping. I am dousing these two crickets in calcium and multi-vitamin powder and feeding it to the gecko. I will lie here on my belly for a long time until it eats all of them. I am reading Norwegian Wood and let's just say that HM has really developed his storytelling abilities since then.

But I notice that I always start out my conversations with those questions. Poor Ethan - I think it drives him crazy, too.

Perhaps I am just anxious because no one else is off yet?

Friday, May 7, 2010

If not for the mosquito bites!

I have rarely been this awake and prolific. It seems that I can only work when sidled up to a looming deadline (three, actually). I owe this to Mr. Earl Grey, Turkish wunderdrink and Susan Sontag.

And then: pass, pack, party, SAN FRANCISCO.

Sunday, May 2, 2010


Why I've just started to look into Shanghai's built environment after spending a month there... Maybe if I had spent less time buying garlic shoots and shoes. I wish it were a more walkable city. Taxis unfortunately barely more than public transit.

Need do-overs!

What an awesome cover photo. Dawn of the dusty skyscrapers! Doesn't it inspire the post-apocalyptic sci-fi-lit-obsessed you in fifth grade? Oh I miss the fifth grade! It was the year that my hair suddenly started to curl. My group of friends had a comic book enterprise. We were the characters. I was "Shenaynay." Yes.

Related: "In Shanghai, Preserving Buildings Takes Work" in the NYT (is that not the dumbest title you've ever read)