sleeveface

sleeveface. {because it's funny}

peace out

Westchester, NY, originally uploaded by Christopher McLallen.

summer love

{this is how we roll...yo}

seriously. this: really is how we roll, living at the beach. most evenings i do a quick pre dinner run to the market with my big red beach cruiser. and then there's always the, half lidded, leisurely ride down the beach to the next town for dinner. riding my bike in the summer always reminds me of being a kid. so simple and happy.

{tan feet} i know, feet really skig people out. and actually, i used to feel the same way. but now i realize that they're the old sages of our bodies~they're your understanding, after all. to use a {really stupid} phrase from a bad t-shirt, they've been there and done that. mine are as beat up and well ridden as anyone's {proudly} but they always look better with a summer patina.

{canvas cabins} what's not to love about this concept? heated, blankets, well appointed digs. uh... ya. stir me up some grub and pour me a cold glass of trefethen.

{front porch lemonade} i know this sounds so martha {our lord and savior} but i'm not kidding you, have you made real lemonade? oh. man, it's so the best. here's the recipe:

the juice of 1 lb of lemons

2 cups simple syrup {1 cup sugar, 1 cup water-dissolved on the stove top}

add some ice and a sprig of mint

{summer kicks}

tretorns. every summer, it was our requisite uniform: tank suit {for swim team} and tretorns {for tennis} i feel a fashion trend a comin' on.

{eau d'ete} for me? if there were such a thing? it would be a combo of: johnson's baby shampoo, coppertone lotion and chlorine....oh and maybe a bit of smoke from the bar-b-chew

{white sheets}i have a very good friend who once spent an entire pay check on fabulous white sheets, of a very high thread count. so excited was she to feel exotic and chic, that before retiring she slathered herself in self tanner {because really, you want a fantastic tan against white sheets} the rest is history. or her~story.

summer craft project~fusing plastic bags

today, i spent the better part of my day, in my sweltering loftice*~ putting the finishing touches on an article for an on-line magazine in the uk (i can't seem to leave well enough alone and now i'm thinking it needs a few illustrations) my eyes feel like small burning raisins, rattling in their sockets. i think i need air conditioning.

zapped of blogging energy, i leave you with this, reduce~reuse~recycle, idea from the very lovely erin loechner/design for mankind (who happens to be my home girl, she lives a mile from me) :

learn all about how to use your plastic shopping bags, an iron, a sewing machine and a few simple tools to create this:

for the full tutorial click {here}

*for those of you familiar with the garaffice**, i have upgraded to the loftice. a lovely loft area above what was the garaffice. the loftice is awaiting final touches and is wonderful save for the fact that it easily reaches 90 degrees on summer days.

**garaffice-a garage turned interim office, inhabited by 'me' last winter. and blogged most courageously by 'me' here.

do your drapes match the carpet?

a room without window treatment, is like a face without eyebrows.

it not only frames the 'eyes' of the room, it also finishes and brings continuity to the entire look.

but it rarely comes cheap. i love it when a great textile design line, like 'dwellstudio' teams up with a ready made service like the shade store. check it: i swear, this should be target's next project~ bringing designer fabrics to the masses in a few, basic choices. can you imagine, scalamandre for target?

peace out

pink chair, originally uploaded by KatinkaPinka.

wait, what?

this is not paper. nor is this wood miami artist, frances twombly's meticulously embroidered fabric and crochet work takes the everyday, and creates art.

"Trombly uses trompe-l’oeil effects in her work to recreate mundane objects, making labor-intensive pieces through weaving, embroidery, cross stitch, and crochet." originally found on this is glamour

still....no.

and summing up my sentiments, a quote from hadley freeman: "Many a poem, many a song, many an ode has been written about the human face, but I have yet to read one that suggests it might be improved by the addition of a pair of wonkily shaped plastic glasses in some kind of neon colour"

please, come to the locker room

loving the look of wire baskets to hold treasures or even a few extra rolls of the t.p. my favorite are the ones with the numbers (reminds me of summers at the club) thanks, allison, for letting me come in and crawl around your little bungalow, snapping shots. {girlfriend knows how to shop the flea markets} so good with the flea finds, she is. a self proclaimed, 'wire basket junkie' she uses them everywhere. and i likey.

great surf poster

i don't care if you live in elgin, illinois or hermosa beach, california....this would make any home feel a bit closer to the sea. found *here*

take a seat

the other day my friend allison, stumbled upon a great find at a local, L.A. flea market, (wertz brothers): vintage drafting stools.

and because i'm that sort of friend... i went out and copied (come on, it was a great find). lucky for me there were a few more left. i think they're very happy in their new found homes.

allison's: and my own: *the bonus for kids, is that they're great for pushing at a high rate of speed down the hallway. which is not so much of a bonus for the aging blind dog sitting ahead.

luxe loft

i think if i had a fantasy girly bach-pad, one that was all my own. the space i would have, had i taken "that" road instead of "this"~would be a fabulous, old warehouse, re purposed as a living space/artist's loft. i would fill it with non sequitur items that still made sense against the vestiges of the utilitarian space it once was. i would fill it with things like a gorgeous vintage couture gown (found while carrying on! with my 'uncle tim') hung as art, beautiful hand loomed rugs from far flung places, even a shot of toile (just to keep things interesting) lots of low seating for all of my dinner parties. you know, the kind that would, really be, more like the 'salons' of the past. i would definitely, have an old school rotary phone (i'm all about bringing back the cord) and probably in pink. in fact, i think i'd be using a lot of saturated peony pink all over the place. incredible art would be casually hung around the space, some leaning languidly against the wall, an always shifting curation of friend's art mixed in with motherwells, rothkos and frankenthalers. i would teeter around, exclusively, in beautiful shoes (you know the ones with the red soles~uh, ya, you shoe lovers know what i'm talkin' 'bout) even if i was just in a t-shirt and jeans. for years i've lurked every photo i could find, of painter/actor/model anh duong's west village apartment. i rip them out and study them, then store them in their own little place in my file of favorites. in the mean time, i'm quite happy with the sun filled, sand covered, sparkly water of 'this' road i chose. photos from elle decor ~feb/mar. 2004

peace out

, originally uploaded by lenacorwin.

on a roll

i don't know, maybe it was that i just wanted to join the 'imperial trellis out the ass society' maybe i felt like, the world domination of kelly wearstler , needed my support. or maybe i was just bored one day and decided to pay -what amounts to putting 2 kids through college...on a couple of rolls of wallpaper. whatever the case. it arrived, tuesday and yesterday i spent the afternoon cutting and pasting, like an insane wallpapering woman.

crazed, i worked. i was on a mission. unaware of the world around me. up and down the step ladder, cutting. measuring. panting, blowing the hair out of my eyes.

and then.... 'mom, we're hungry' i spun around on my stepladder, looking up, down wildly saucer eyed, (what? who are these people staring up at me? what could they possibly want. i'm PAPERING with imperial trellis, for god's sake!) again, 'MOM. we're hungry' oh. jeeze. ok, right, right. um, dinner, uh....here eat this hotdog bun. and then i was back. positioning, pasting, measuring, cutting....on and on (took me, freaking, forever)

and then, at 9:30 p.m. i was done. my god. i was done. i think i may have gone blind in the process. but you know what? i love it. and i did it myself.

good touch, bad touch?

papered ceilings this one done using, cole & son, 'malabar'

(not to sway you, but i love this. bueno touch)

not so, ordinary peepwool

there's not a lot that can be said to be both, beautiful & creepy. peepwool may be one of those rare exceptions. designed by artist, amy arnold in her rural wisconsin home, using 100% recycled wool knits. ha HA! take that mattel.