Loving...On A Thursday

top two photos: Garance Dore

The beautiful Ana Kras and her exhibit of works on paper at Ed. Varie. Also loving her lamps. Perfection.

Ben Medansky's pottery perfection. Officially my new ceramics obsession.

Paige Jone's photos of Amanda Chantal Bacon's (extremely) rockin' house for Mother mag...

Emerson Fry's Mick jeans and waxed tactical bag. Obsessed. Now if only I didn't spend my entire fall clothing budget on the girlies leotards/tights/ballet shoes/tennis shoes/jeans/cardigans/skorts/t-shirts/volleyball pads/backpacks/lunch boxes/water bottles. Oy vey. Full stop.

photo: Flora Hanitijo T Magazine

The completely crush-worthy new Tiffany design director (the first female design director in the house's history in fact), Francesca Amfitheatrof and her equally crush-worthy rose-gold Tiffany T wire bracelet. Suffice to say, if jeans aren't making the cut this fall, a rose-gold and diamond bracelet definitely isn't making the cut.

A girl can dream...

Some Scenes... From The Past Two Weeks (i.e. A Long Post From A Major Blogging Slacker)

This might be my most motley mash-up of photos in a "scenes" post since I started this blog seven (!!) years ago, but, I suppose that's what happens when a major slacker (a.k.a. me) is writing said blog. I just can't seem to catch my breath between vacation re-entry, studio business, and the whole back-to-school craziness. (The girlies go back today, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm ready for a little structure again.)

So here's an attempt to describe what's going down in those snaps above...

A DIY-heavy kiddo room install. / Wine, dogs, babies, and clients at the studio (a typical meeting.) / A week-end trip to (the seriously) amazing Ouachita National Forest with Christine, Steven and fam. / Shopping for books, pretty accessories, and the like. / Planning sessions at The Joule. / Amazing custom art by Sam for another client install (two in one week, oy vey).

Order of descriptions does not correspond with order of snaps. I'll let you guys try and figure it out. Happy Monday. ;-)

Oh Elsa...

Duane Michals portrait of Peretti at her worktable, in Halston, 1974. From the Condé Nast archive via Vanity Fair .

I didn't just listen to the TED Radio Hour during our epic roadtrip to Florida. I also read. A lot. Vanity Fair, Vogue, Porter, back issues of The Gentlewoman, Bon Appétit, The New Yorker, The World of Interiors... You name it; I read it.

And from those hundreds of pages consumed during read-fest 2014, I think my favorite image was the above one of Elsa Peretti from this (excellent) Vanity Fair piece.

Umm.. Giant cactus, terra-cotta pot, sleek wood desk, sculptural accessories and vessels, chic cream silk blouse? Yes, please.

The shot was taken in 1974, yet it could be your coolest artist friend at home today. Totally timeless. Totally perfect. I am smitten.

And speaking of Madame Peretti, these three pretties conjured up by the brilliant designer have been on my wish list for eons...

Thumbprint dish

Black bone cuff

Round pendant

Oh Elsa...

Some Scenes...From Paradise

That we arrived home on Sunday and I'm just now getting scenes from our beach adventure posted pretty much says exactly how long my vacation afterglow lasted...

After a week of swimming in the waves; plowing threw a massive stack of reading material; sea kayaking; walking along shore lines teaming with shells; seeing dolphins, geckos, turtles, a bald eagle, and a baby octopus; cooking and eating and gazing at sunsets and double rainbows with dear friends; and just generally staring out at the ocean on a remote, sparsely-populated south Florida island, we came home to busy town USA.

I jumped into a kid's room install, Bryan jumped into heads down writing for work, the girlies jumped into back to school prep, and we all tried to make sense of how to get everything done that we didn't manage to finish before we left. By Monday afternoon I was even missing the 44 hours of driving (there and back) that we endured to enjoy said vacation. (I listened to so much TED Radio Hour that Guy Raz's voice is permanently burned into my brain.)

But there is a post-vacation silver lining here friends. While that general blissed-out, mellow, sort of dreamy feeling that materializes when you have the opportunity to get away from it all vanished immediately upon re-entry, our familial interaction seems to have fundamentally changed. The four of us feel like a true team -- as only people who have endured joy and hardship (see: 44 hours in a car) can. We have each other's backs. We're kinder, gentler, more forgiving. It's as if we know that life and all its attendant commitments goes on, but the stress/frustration/blame/general pissiness doesn't (always) have to. We are riding the roller coaster together, hugging each other tighter when we scream.

And, maybe it's just me, but that's the best kind of afterglow.