peace out

pink umbrellas, originally uploaded by sandcastles01.

the future perfect

All week I've been trying to stave off the grippe. Not happening, my drippy nosed head is telling me.

In my benedryl fogged haze I'm forcing myself to sit, quietly and do a little lap-top window shopping at, the aptly named: 'The future perfect' ~which carries, great tongue in cheek chic design.

'dusty table'~$1,950.00

this one's already making my nose itch. could they also make fur tumbleweeds for the corners of the room? that would be great. thanks.

'freck specs'~$600.00

face 'jury' {btw, I was told this is the real way to pronounce 'jewelry'} for all of us freckle-less faces who always wished for nature's sprinklin's.

'three sixty table' ~ $1795.00

good ollie, this is awesome.

'graffiti pillow'~$175.00

graffiti needle pointed pillow. wow. I do so love this. It's granny tagger street chic, mon dieu.

'new york delft'~ $100.00

is new york the new amsterdam? hmmm.

'london toile' wallpapers~$242.00 a roll

my sister can't live with toile~ as our dentist's office, growing up was plastered in it. I, on the other hand, will never tire of the detail patterny-pattern busy-ness of it. I also, love most timorous beasties wallpaper.

'frutti di mare etched crystal'~ $298.00/pair

I love a good frutti de mare themed table top piece {beats that tired old coral motif}

'franky tattoo cutlery'~$960.00 six person set sleeve your flatware, kid.

it's like kirk repose´ for the inked crowd. beautiful and modern

happy friday, I need to go take another benedryl and dream of my future perfect.

::larry sultan::

Thanks for the correction, reader 'K' made re: today's post on Tina Barney. Naively, I attributed a shot by Larry Sultan to Tina Barney {above}

The photograph, of his parents, is part of a decade long series, Sultan worked on during the 70s and 80s. His father, Irvin, had recently been forced into retirement from his position as VP of Schick razor company. As initially conceived, the project was to be about “what happens when – as I interpreted my father’s fate – corporations discard their no-longer-young employees, and how the resulting frustrations and feelings of powerlessness find their way into family relations,” explains Sultan.

The similarities between Barney and Sultan's work are obvious. However Sultan's work invites you into a little grittier, suburban -less patrician- world {one series includes shots taken on porn sets}

While I love the patrician elegance of Barney's work, Sultan's work is equally as beautiful and 'textured'.

"The daily practice of a photographer is to be distanced, to have a little bit of room between what you're doing and how you see, what you look at. For me the biggest surprise was that the distance I thought I needed as a photographer slipped. It wasn't about 'these' people it was about 'us'."

sorry Tina, sorry Larry......Thank you, K, for the clue in.

:: tina barney ::

the young lady

jill and polly in the bathroom, 1987

the red sheath, 2001

the two friends

Allison Sarofim

the orange room, 2001

the daughters, 2002

the ancestor, 2001

Tina Barney began photographing what she knew; friends and family going about their daily lives in affluent areas of New England.

Working with a large-format, 8-by-10-view camera Barney is able to capture details and nuances of her sitters banal day-to-day goings on while never losing the richness and complexities of their surroundings.

The final product is produced on enormous, 4 by 5 foot prints.

Her work is almost like a 20th century, John Singer Sargent. When you see one of her pieces, it's as if you could climb up into the photograph and be in the room with the subjects. The colors are so rich and the details so precise.

There's a great, Tina Barney documentary on Sundance called, 'Social Studies'.

I highly recommend.

right now...

i'm jonzing for a warm summer's night and one of those impromptu dinner parties,

the kind where your guests show up on bikes, wearing flip flops, sandy legs and expectations off.

"liberty london" for daisy hill sue fisher king

you know, a casual, 'we were out riding bikes on this glorious warm evening, and thought we'd pop by. See what's shakin' scenic dinnerware

$16.00 a pop

anthropologie

you take a quick spin to the market, grab a few things for the grill, bread, a couple bottles of wine...

rattan charger, sur la table

4 for $40

pull together a table and grab a few extra chairs... william yeoward ,'fern' goblet a bit more than $40 *here*

alain st joanis flatware

sue fisher king

sit late into the evening with easy conversation....

yes, I'm jonzing for sure.

The most perfect pre-dinner, summer cocktail:

I'm not much of a mixed cocktail gal, but this drink was introduced to me by my friend holly, and it's delish. St germain, is a liqueur made from elderflower blossoms {how can anything that tastes like a flower be bad?}

altered states

"california"

"colorado"

"The States is an ongoing personal project meant to be an exploration of form. The rules are simple: take the silhouette of a US state, and fit something inside of it."

~illustrator Frank Chimero.

"wyoming"

while the images used don't always reflect the culture of each state, Chimero likes to throw in a little visual reference here and there.

"kansas"

"idaho"

he also makes really cool gig and inspirational posters among other great prints, like this one:

to see if your state made the cut or to buy a print *go here*

*

gone to the snow for a few days.

be right back.

barefoot sneaker

I want somebody to make these. Right about now, doesn't every one have really ugly, winter feet? What a genie of an idea. Paint your own, ideal 'summer feet'. nothing looks better than summer feet sticking out of a pair of jeans, after all.

And if you have kids? OH. the ideas I have for you. Dinosaur feet? Furry paws? Bejeweled toes with crazy painted nails? This idea is ripe for interpretation.

barefoot feet. the works of okat

impress me

designed by Jungyun Yoon {can we all stop, and collectively, say this name out loud?} was inspired by a Korean love song about a guy who discovers a sunburn mark where the ring of his ex girlfriend's once sat. They come with two sayings, 'will you marry me' and 'always'.

I love any thing secrety like this.

right on, target

Target you so crazy. First you invite Michael Graves to design for you, followed by Isaac followed by every other Tom, Dick and Harry of the design world. Now you're making, dirt cheap, great looking, upholstered chairs? Good work by you.

I stumbled across these the other day looking for something completely unrelated and was really surprised.

These are all around $300.00. And honestly, my guess, they're probably the same quality as Pottery Barn. check this {above} pattern out. Thomas Paul. right? I'm not sure what's going on there, but compare it to the Thomas Paul pillow below and be the judge:

oh and god forbid, it's ikat. Some loftier types say it's no longer 'happening'. I say it's been around forever and will continue to be a great graphic and organic 'kick' to any space. And at this price, what's to lose. personally, I'm still waiting for the, Rose Cummings wallpaper line for Target. But I have hope.

peace out

cameliabouquet, originally uploaded by danske.

from my, ever favorite, danske

valentines from the heart

The other day, while standing in line at Von's my daughter grabbed a box of Valentine's. Dogs with computer manipulated over sized Keane-like heads and eyes, that if you moved the right way, would get even bigger.

More creepy than cute.

Never one to take the road of least resistance, I insisted we make our own {oh I saw the best idea on-line, trust me it will be great}

*felt fortune cookies. I know, I haven't any idea what, cookies that have been falsely attributed to the Chinese culture, have to do with a Hallmark invented holiday. But, they sure look darn cute.

and when your mom is that excited about your valentines, you sort of have to stand back and let her wind up. The whole process was easy-peasy, and this year, the two girls were able and willing to partake.

I saw this idea on petit elefant blog~thank you!

My older daughter at one point asked, 'do you think people are just going to throw these away?' um. probably, but it's all about the creating process

the directions are here at martha's website I chose to use pipe cleaners and a glue gun {we like instant satisfaction around here}

If all of that sounds like too much, the above idea was posted on black*eiffel really cute and customizable to your hears content. happy valentine's day

*You can't really put candy in these. I ended up buying glassine bags to hold the fortune cookie plus a few chocolate candies, tying it off with a black and white polka dot ribbon.

i like your wheels

vintage skateboards: surfing cowboys