Lily ring

This is random, but I just stumbled upon the Lily Royale Ring at catbird and had to post it. I think it would make such a delicate and unusual engagement ring! (Conflict-free stone, too.)

White winter

Thank you, thank you, NYC, for the white winter. Usually, winters here are so dreary. One or two wimpy inches of snow quickly turn into the most menacing variety of sludge imaginable, forming dirty pools on every street corner that make it impossible to walk and cause pedestrians to live in perpetual fear of a taxi splashing.

But not this winter. This winter has been white and fluffy as far as the eye can see. And this girl is happy. (Dogs are happy, too. Can you spot the dog above? Close up, it's about the size of a bear.)

Hee hee!

I just recently went high-tech and got a smart phone. How much do I want to carry it around in this cheeky little case??

(A lot.)

I love carnations

I have been enjoying beautiful carnations in the kitchen for a couple of weeks now. On the weekends, I walk down to our corner store and buy a bunch in a single color. One bunch came with baby's breath, which looks corny in the bouquet, but terrific in my bud vase:

Anyway, carnations get a bad rap. They smell amazing, don't cost much, last forever, and are virtually indestructible. I just love them. When I was little, my dad used to get my mom a bouquet of red roses for Valentine's Day, and he'd bring me a bouquet of pink carnations.

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Venki

Ever since I saw this photo of a girl wearing a venki, a Russian wildflower crown, I've been meaning to post it. Wish I were donning one of these today! 

Signature scents

"It was there [inside Chanel's home] that it became clear to me what Beaux managed to bottle when he stoppered that first flacon [of Chanel No. 5] in 1921: an attitude. Chanel was the ultimate self-made woman, someone whose confidence and sense of purpose rendered her indelible."

I became really interested in perfume in late '08. I started to think that having a "signature" scent would be incredibly glamorous and sexy. I was further encouraged after reading this piece about the magic of Chanel No. 5 in Elle a while back. This scent was pretty much genius; no one has been able to come close to formulating something so classic. For me, the scent of Chanel No. 5 is gorgeous, but also reminds me of many random things (my aunt, clubs in Ireland). When I started to look for a "signature" scent, I wanted to look for something else, something that didn't trigger those associations. (Tough, 'cause how could you not want to smell like "the ultimate self-made woman"?)

I'm really sensitive to smells and didn't want something too fancy, so I looked for a clean, simple, soapy or laundry smell. I tried Philosophy's Pure Grace, but I randomly started to get headaches after smelling it too much.

Once, I popped into L'Artisan Parfumer on the Upper West Side. The very Frenchness of it all lured me inside the tiny shop. I smelled many of their perfumes, but couldn't bring myself to spend a lot of money on perfume, of all things. I started to think the whole perfume thing was a silly idea...that cash could go toward MetroCards and meals. The nice shopgirl sent me home with a sampler tube of one of my faves, Mimosa Pour Moi. A snippet from the description:

"A reminder of weekends spent at the Riviera, the perfume carries you away to the elegant shores of the Cote d'Azure..."

When I visited Bali, I brought the sampler tube with me. I wore it every day. I grew to love its light scent and formed my own associations with it. I was giddy when I opened my Christmas gift from Chris last year and found a whole bottle of this for my very own. I wear it all the time now. Even though it's a summery scent, I even wear it in winter sometimes to perk me up.

Now I'm a perfume addict. While Mimosa will remain my "signature" for now, I would love to see the top of my dresser covered in pretty glass bottles. (Damn those bottles! So hard not to buy!) This stuff's been on my list to check out (frangipani flowers are everywhere in Bali), and this Carolina Herrera perfume is tempting me, too.

Do you have a signature scent?

 

Love

I am speechless. Love this necklace. Via Peonies and Polaroids via White Owl on etsy.

Weekend wanderings

This weekend felt like summer, despite all the rain. On Friday night, Chris and I moseyed on down to the new Dutch Kills speakeasy in Long Island City. Dark wood, old-timey details, themed drink names (I ordered a Gershwin), and live jazz made for good times.

Our neighborhood's new farmer's market made my Saturday morning—and my Sunday morning, too, when I got to eat the delicious eggs we bought. And then...off to the Strawberry Fair!

Unfortunately, there were not many strawberries involved in the Strawberry Fair. But there was an international potluck lunch...and this Bugs Bunny popcorn truck:

Plus, I scored this neato blue decanter at the flea market. I'm using it as a vase right now:

AND we scored 2 chairs to use outdoors for 9 bucks. How could you not love Sunnyside?
We hit the World Science Festival in Washington Square Park on Sunday. This might be one of the coolest New York things I'll get to do all summer. We saw magic shows, giant bubbles, jugglers, dog trainers, medical animations, Brian Greene (got a lucky visit to the VIP area through our awesome science writer friend!), and learned about analyzing crime scenes, too. The best thing I learned was that Diet Coke and Mentos create a giant geyser eruption. For some reason, everyone seems to know this but me, but in case you didn't, enjoy:

What did you get yourselves up to this weekend?

The Brothers Bloom

Last night, the boy and I had a movie and Indonesian food date. We saw The Brothers Bloom, which I thought it was out-and-out terrific. 

Also, I have a newfound love for Rachel Wiesz. She pulls off approximately 2 capes, 2 adorable black hats (see above, and the smaller one in the movie trailer), lace-up boots, and a leopard-print coat.

There's been a little green hat at Stray, our local vintage shop, that I've been eyeing. I have to say, I've been sorta against the hipster-hat trend, but I think that's because I haven't seen anyone pull a hat off adorably instead of goofily. Rachel Weisz makes me wanna go snag it.

Anyway, this movie was fun and stylish and clever. I think you'll like it, folks. As for dinner...

Having grown up in Jakarta, Indonesian food is Chris's version of mashed potatoes (homey comfort food), so thankfully Bali Nusa Indah on 45th gets the down-home taste just right to satisfy his cravings. Glad we live in a city where we can track this down!

Hope you're having lovely weekends, dearies. Whatcha up to?

Love my lil' bag

I recently got one of these little Flip and Tumble bags as a gift. I am in love. It is so, so handy, and I love to marvel at the practical and innovative design. I stash the little balled-up bag in my regular purse and carry it at all times. Bring on a surprise trip to the market or last-minute stop at the drug store—my trusty little bag can do it all. 

The bag holds up to 25 pounds. Major props also for the shoulder strap (so when you carry 25 pounds, you don't rip holes in your hands, like you'd end up doing with a plastic bag). Best of all, they work exactly like Popples:

Now that you get the nostalgia factor, what are you waiting for? As with Popples, there are lots of colors available, so go get one!

What the what?!

I came home to a six-foot assemblage of metal pipes in our study last night. "What the what?" I asked. 

"I am building a letterpress!" said the boy. Apparently he got inspired when saw me drooling over some letterpressed cards on our last visit to the paper store.

No idea yet as to whether it will actually be used for wedding-type projects...but who doesn't love a boy building a letterpress? 

Project!

Mother's Day is nearly here, so I undertook a little project that I found online. I played chemist in the kitchen with essential oils and citric acid and had a blast. Hopefully these pink and purple bath fizzies will bring the mothers in my life a relaxing day!

I am back, and Elisabeth

Hey, lovely readers! I know I've been absent, but I have not abandoned you. I was just off gallivanting around sunny Florida, acting like a 5-year-old, eating cotton candy and watching fireworks. I shall regale you with photos and tales of time-share presentations and Mickey Mouse's house soon enough, but until then, please enjoy this beautiful illustration by my talented friend Elisabeth Timpone.

Whenever I'm feeling low on creative energy, I listen to my playlist of music by friends and family. I draw a lot of inspiration from those I know, but this morning I realized one flaw in the playlist: No visuals. So I had to cure that by browsing Lis's site. She shows from time to time at Giant Robot here in NYC and has designed e-mailable valentines for Kate Spade for 2 years running. The intricate lines in her illustrations always hypnotize me; they're so full of movement and life.

Linens 'n things

Man, I saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona a good two weeks ago, and I haven't shaken the burning desire to run around forever in soft, flowy white or ivory fabrics. And when winter comes, I shall...well, I've blocked out winter now. Let's not worry about that. Cue the obsession reel!

(Find them, from top to bottom: Free People, Anthropologie, Alloy, Anthropologie, Alloy)

Sunny weekend

Something bright from a sunny weekend! Photo by my Bronx Symphony standmate, Craig. 

It was so amazing to finally get out and about. I started breaking in my new cowboy boots! 

Saturday involved a suicide mission to SoHo, but we escaped alive and learned 3 important lessons: 

1) I love Dean and Deluca, and wish I were crazy rich so I could go there all the time; 

2) TopShop was better in Europe, circa 2004; and

3) even semi-celebrity Tori Spelling can stop half a block of pedestrian traffic.

About lesson number 1, I had never been IN Dean and Deluca, as far as I can recall. I'd just walked by it, knowing it was one of those "unaffordable" places. Now I feel the sudden need to own a French/Moroccan tea set. And I know we'll be back—they're the only place stateside from which Chris has been able to purchase Vegemite, crazy Aussie boy.

Anyway, to come down from the city high, we sat outside at our new little table (photos soon) and sipped some yummy margaritas til dark. We finally made good use of our Caliente Cab hurricane glasses.

Sunday brought brunch at Quaint (geez, I feel like I write about this place a lot), purchasing new flowers for the windowsill, Mexican dinner, and yet more margaritas. Back to work tomorrow...glad I got some quality sun time in and a whole weekend with the boy.

Paper porn

Yesterday, Chris and I braved the rain and wind to explore paper shops in Manhattan. We are making our own wedding invitations, because this seems like one of the most creative parts of planning and we can't imagine paying someone else to take the fun away. We hit a sort of holy trinity of paper places:

1) Kate's Paperie 

We dropped by the Spring Street store and were overwhelmed by the beautiful, though expensive, selection. While I saw about three thousand stationery sets I'd love to call my own, nothing quite hit the note we were looking for with the wedding invites. Also, this is the type of store where you are greeted in rapid succession by several chipper shopkeeps, dying to sell you something you don't need. Being trailed by fourteen employees while I feel up the paper makes me feel like a creep. But if you find yourself in there, these Italian envelopes feel fantastic:

2) Jam Paper

The complete opposite of Kate's. This is a paper warehouse of sorts, where you can dig in to gigantic boxes of "closeout" envelopes of every shape, size, and color. We found a few cool envelope options at this place, but finding accompanying cards and other matchy pieces proved rather difficult. I would go here in a heartbeat for any more casual type of mailing needs. They also carry boxes, bags, recycled papers, handmade wrapping papers, and this nifty map paper (and envelopes!): 

3) Paper Presentation

Our final and most successful stop. Gorgeous coordinates in just about every type of texture, color, and fold imaginable. Like Kate's, they also carry tons of other embellishments—rubber stamps, inks, embossing tools, ribbons, adhesive thingies of all kinds. The creative wheels started spinning out of control and we had to keep reminding ourselves to keep it simple. We have a LOT of these invites to make. Unfortunately, we made it to this shop near closing time, so we didn't get as much time to look around as we would've liked. Instead of deciding on anything final, we picked out individual sheets of a couple paper stocks we liked, so we can try them with the typewriter and see if the ink will even work well with them. So another trip to this place is in our future. Oh, darn!

Wedding band

In addition to a lovely anniversary dinner at Quaint, a surefire cure for wedding blackout is reminding myself about the things that are already DONE. Like Chris's ring. We loved it so much, we ordered it 2 months ago and now have it in hand.Done by metalsmith Jerry Spaulding, through the ever-fabulous The Clay Pot in Brooklyn.

Typewriter magic

In keeping with the "stories/writing" vibe Chris and I have going with our wedding, we will be typing our invitations on my grandfather's 1935 Underwood Portable, purportedly the same model Faulkner preferred. This is on generous loan to us from my grandmother. My grandfather obtained this beauty in a swap with his brother Tom. Gram cannot remember what he traded for it, but she remembers him boasting that he got the better part of the deal. Hard to imagine that he didn't: