Loving...

These brass bowls by DwellStudio...so insanely, awesomely lovely that they are slowing creeping into "obsession" territory.


Working Girl Designs ethereal Anouk scarf. I'd happily wear this all summer long, but I'd just as happily spread it across the top of the console in our bedroom for a optimal gazing upon.


And speaking of consoles (or benches or whatever), check out this crazy marble goodness. Holy hell.


Morgan Parish's Moors pouches -- the colors, the little horsehair tassels. Oh my...



Every. Single. Page of the latest Madewell catalog, but especially that spread by the Selby of Caroline de Maigret. Just pure, unadulterated awesomeness.


And speaking of Madewell, its big sister J.Crew's Mezzaluna Satchel. I want this bag friends. I do.


The bright spring party from the latest issue of Styled. Love that ombre macrame plant holder on so many levels...

Some Scenes From The Weekend

Most weeks, through some combination of the grace of God, good karma, and sheer luck, Bryan and I manage to pull-off the "two working parent" gig with something that at least passes for success.

Not so last week.

It was bad...like, say, if I had to give myself a parenting "grade" for last week, it would be a big, fat fail. A goose egg. Zip, zero, nada. I won't go into too much (boring) detail, but let's just say there were missed school performances and forgotten school projects and just general suckage.

In fairness it was a particularly frenetic week (at least by first world standards), as I had two consecutive evening work events, Bryan had a training course that had him locked in a conference room from 8-5 each day, and (between both girls) there were three school projects, one Spanish club performance, one pre-k St. Patrick's Day performance, one St. Patrick's day party, one commitment to volunteer on a four-hour field trip to the aquarium and one commitment to read to the class. Wait, that's a lot of boring details, and I said there wouldn't be boring details... Sorry.

I know we all have to contend with this issue of balance, and I definitely know there are so many folks out there that have much, much crazier lives than mine, but I still feel like a massive fail when a week like that happens... So I spent the weekend trying to re-group. The four of us hunkered down and painted rocks and ate ice cream and huddled on the couch watching movies and played in the yard and made occasional forays out into the world together for quick peeks into a shop or two before retreating to our couch fort for more lazy goodness.

By last night (when we were all piled on the couch again yep, watching a movie and eating ice cream) I felt like I was at a B+ again. Doing the best I possibly could and hanging on for dear life.

Blogger's Favorites -- Jennifer of Odette New York + A Winner

I am a big, big fan of Jennifer Sarkilahti...huge even.

Her gorgeous jewelry is consistently interesting and unique. (Her arrow ring literally never leaves my right ring finger...it is among my most favorite possessions.) But what I really love is the fact that she works alongside other creative women.

I think powerful things happen when artists and designers work alongside each other to make beautiful things, sharing inspirations and ideas. I tend to think all the collaborative, supportive energy happening as they create sort of imbues their end products with a bit of magic... But that's just me ;-)

Along with that arrow ring, Jennifer's blog is also a part of my daily routine. It's a dreamy peek into her world that makes wearing her jewelry even more compelling. So I'm thrilled to have Jennifer sharing her favorites with us here this week.

But first, the winner of last week's We Never Sleep Shriner's Fez necklace giveaway. Congrats Chelsea!

Ok now, without further ado, herewith Jennifer's favorites. Enjoy and have a splendid weekend friends.


My Studio -- I work out of a beautiful studio space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The structure was originally a horse stable built in the 1880s and surrounds a garden courtyard with a fig tree. I share the studio with a perfumer, Anne of MCMC Fragrances and two jewelers, Emily of Talon NYC and Addie of Honey & White. Our neighbors are also artists and designers including a photographer, a jeweler, a textile designer and a floral designer. The environment is creative and lively and such a cool place to work in everyday.


My Dealtry Scarf -- I live in my Dealtry Jenny scarf. The designer, Helen Dealtry works across the hall from our studio and designs beautiful textiles; sometimes digitally and sometimes by painting on silk by hand.


Istanbul -- Our last big trip was to Greece and Turkey. It was a visual feast, from the unusual architecture and the colorful textiles at the markets to the rough Mediterranean terrain. Here I am on the rooftop of our hotel in Istanbul, watching the sun set over the Hagia Sophia.


Henna -- I just came back from a mehndi to celebrate the wedding of a dear friend where henna was applied to all of the guests hands. I’ll be sad when mine finally fades away.


Traveling -- As much as I love New York, it’s so nice to get away from it for awhile to get some perspective and inspiration. This old map was on the wall of a lodge where we stayed in New Zealand. Each visitor placed a tiny map pin on the place where they were visiting from.


New Jewels -- Making new jewelry is an absolute favorite thing of mine. Here are a few pieces from the new collection Eye of Ra, inspired by my recent trip to Greece and Turkey. From left, the Ojos Cuff, the Kronos Bracelet, and the Slim Hera Cuff.

I make my jewelry by carving the original piece in wax. It’s a little more complex than it sounds but basically molds are made from the wax and metal is cast from the molds. I am completely in love with the carving process and enjoy considering how every mark I make in the wax will look in the final piece.


Textiles -- A favorite textile that I brought back from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul was this antique suzani. If you turn it around, you can see that the entire thing is made of hundreds of tiny hand stitches.


Making Things -- I make my jewelry by carving the original piece in wax. It’s a little more complex than it sounds but basically molds are made from the wax and metal is cast from the molds. I am completely in love with the carving process and enjoy considering how every mark I make in the wax will look in the final piece.


Black sand beaches -- This one was in Lombok, Indonesia and the sand contains tiny fragments of lava from a nearby volcano. It sparkles!

BOOK / SHOP

Every once in a while something comes along that is so compelling and interesting and cool that it merits more than mere mention in a "loving list" or a tack-on to a "random bits", rather its sheer awesomeness deserves a full-blown love fest (a.k.a. it's very own post).

BOOK / SHOP is one such thing.

The thoughtfully curated online shop sprung from creator Erik Heywood's books-related blogs where he features a mix of "books & the things that go with them". I'm enthralled by the careful mix of "quality over quantity, usefulness meets beauty, art plus function", including curated book collections, exclusive furniture, art and broadsides.

But I'm especially enthralled by BOOK / SHOP's "manifesto" below:


We're committed to the reading experience. The surprise of one page turning to the other. The little luxury of sitting in a great reading chair, inhaling the scent of a beautifully made book. The luscious heft of three or four good reads in a sturdy bookbag as you head out into the world. The hundred discoveries waiting at a used bookstore; the refuge of a library.

We believe that gadgets are exciting, but that experiences with real books run deep, and give more to our lives. We believe that books made with care, that were the best of their kind upon publication, will only beautify with time and never become obsolete.

We believe that a well-made reading environment encourages us to take our time, to have those experiences with books that modern life tries to replace with a rush of empty conveniences.

A Girl Crush Times Three

I was flipping through the (excellent) No. 6 Spring lookbook and found myself instantly scheming ways to be friends Adrienne, Jaclyn and Teddy (above). They just look so confident and interesting and fun... total girl crush material.

Their photos also made me think about something I read recently on The Littlest about raising girls, as encountering poignant images of compelling woman inevitably gets me thinking about my own girlies and the adults that they'll one day become. I loved Elizabeth's thoughts on the attributes she hopes her daughter possess when she's older:

confident, playful, kind, creative, adventurous, unafraid, compassionate, intelligent, nonjudgmental...

Ditto Elizabeth. Ditto.

Loving...

This corner from the latest issue of Rue...The art against that sort of grasscloth wallpaper, the little sculptures next to the vase of greenery, and the leather and chrome chairs. It's just a perfect little moment.


Everything about this "street style" photo via vogue.com. Sure it's not all the eye-soothing minimalism I'm so smitten with of late, but the color is so amazing and the girl so lovely that I can't get it out of my head...


Jamie's lovely wall and window hangings...but I love pretty much everything that Jamie creates.


My friend Janet's awesome blue market tote bag from Duluth Pack. It's massive and indestructible and exactly what I've been searching for to schlep around all of my work action...and friends, with this new job, I'm schlepping around a lot of action. (I love this bag so much, in fact, that I wrote about it here too...)


The light (and plant and painting and stack of records) in Hong-An Tran's dreamy, lovely photo.


Heather in Marni for H&M. Full stop.


These dresses in those boxes in that room. Gorgeous. And I can't for the life of me find the photo source. Anyone, anyone??

(*update: image of Madame Grès dresses on display at the Musée Bourdelle in Paris via the NYT. Thanks Lucia!)

Some Scenes From The Weekend

By all accounts, it was quite the weekend-o-goodness...

On Friday, Bryan and I were lucky enough to have a date night extraordinaire, which included a leisurely dinner at Neighborhood Services followed by a Lyle Lovett concert and a pretty spectacular fireworks display at the "party on the bridge" celebrating the (almost) opening of our Calatrava. We capped off the night with a sleepover at a hotel. (Thanks mom and dad for hanging with the girlies so we could partake in our little staycation.) It was a rare but needed treat!

But wait, there's more...on Saturday my sister and sweet baby Josie flew in from California for a visit (the girlies are in love with Josie, beyond smitten...it's really pretty sweet), and we went to see my dad play at The Pearl with his new band (two consecutive nights of live music was making us feel far cooler than we actually are).

Sunday we took things down a notch with a leisurely visit to the museum where I spent a significant amount of time ogling that duo of Josef Albers paintings above. (And this is the part where I lose any shred of coolness I may have previously possessed) I think I had just as much fun staring at those Albers paintings as I did staying out late drinking gin and tonics and listening to live music.

I might be getting old. Just saying'...