Chair lovin'

Lately I have had my eye on some really nice chairs, including the ones below:

Despite my best efforts to save $$ I couldn't resist. So, thanks to a great deal (thanks Craigs List!) I bought a chair with the upholstery in the first picture (blue and tan silk) and the antique finishing of the wood in the second. I love it and I am thoroughly pleased!

I have to say though, that half the fun was the drive to pick up the chair. We live in an upper-middle class area but there definitely some ritzy areas nearby. Even in our own town there are areas where houses go for upwards of $2 million easy. Still....I didn't realize how huge and elaborate some of these properties are. (If I can't afford it I try not to look... it hurts less that way.) Anyway, I googled the sellers address and got directions. Even with directions in hand I didn't realize that we were heading into the land of McMansions.

We drive about 10-15 minutes away and the homes grow larger and larger, each one more beautiful then the next. They are mansions. No lie, no exaggeration. In fact, on one piece of land there was an advertisement for a developer specifying that they specialize in mansions. Wowza! We find the road we're looking for without a problem. As we drive down the street I realize that these are not just houses, they are properties. They have full size tennis courts etc. I still can't get over it. So much opulence! It was a perfect the day for such a drive... the sun was shining, a warm breeze was blowing and we rode with the windows down. Perfection!

Well That Explains the Crowds

New Yorkers are known to be many things. A breed in and of themselves... For a verbal taste of home I like to visit Overheard in New York because there really is no place like home. With that I leave you with this piece of hilarity...

Lost tourist, complete with map and camera accessories: Hi, can you tell us which direction Chinatown is in?

New Yorker in a hurry: Fool, are you out of your mind? You're closer to the real China all the way up here!

Heard at 104th & Broadway

Sparkly Goodness

So today I was introduced to a chic little store in my neck of the woods. I have yet to visit their actual storefront but their website offered a nice little diversion on my Monday morning. However, what really captured by attention on their website wasn't their cute clothes...

enter Alex Woo jewelry... I swoon!! Absolutely divine. So chic, sparkly and absolutely wonderful. Some of my favorites below:

and the best for last...

All images from Alex Woo

Update

Image courtesy of Readers Digest

Here's an update on my life as of lately:

- I'm still tired and stressed
- My fiance just lost his job
- I realized that it's mid-March and I still haven't filed my taxes yet. I'm freaking out because I don't feel well, have the beginning of a migraine and reading all this legal jargon care of the IRS is making my head hurt.

When did I become a full fledged grown-up? Ugh. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be older than I was. For the first time in my life I want to be younger. I'll be turning 25 soon and I feel like life since college has been a waste of time. It hasn't, I know. I can't stand all the stress and responsibility and worry. I want to go back to being carefree. I loved school (I'm a book nerd) and everything that came along with it. The economy sucks and lately I've taken to pinching pennies wherever possible -- no yoga classes, eating ramen noodles for lunch etc. I didn't even do this when I was in college! But it's cheap and at this point I am nervous to buy healthy foods. It sucks. I love fresh veggies but they are $$$. Eeks!

Bright Lights, Big City

Lately I've been feeling a little out of sorts. Usually somewhere between sheer exhaustion (due to lack of sleep and over-working) and feeling like everything is a bit amiss I realize that I miss home. I used to think that I was a person without roots. I was happy to move, travel, settle down and move again. Now that I've finally given up that nomadic lifestyle I realize there is a place I had roots. Not to any people mind you but to a place. I miss my home. I miss New York. The city that never sleeps. The city that has creativity bursting at the seems. The city where it's not unusual to see four supermodels in a day.

Today while perusing the Internet I found a beautiful piece of jewelery that made my heart stop.


Ahh, this latest piece will run you $275 here. The apple, mini taxi-cab, old school NYC subway token, deli coffee cup etc. etc. it's all so perfect! Sigh.

Somehow I think that if I had this on my wrist I would spend a lot more time thinking about how much I miss NY. So there is an upside to not having it.

Domino R.I.P

We all knew this was coming... but today it became official on Women's Wear Daily: http://www.wwd.com/media-news/domino-to-close-1953603?justin=1953603

As the economy slumps more and more design magazines are stopping production. (I know, captain obvious right?) Aesthetics aren't as important when people are losing jobs, homes, life savings, 401K's, retirement accounts and many many other precious items. It looks like it is going to take a long time for everything/everyone to rebound. I guess all the decor freaks out there, myself included, will just have to live off old magazine stashes (we all have them), ripped pictures for magazines/catalogues, inspiration boards, flickr searches, interior designer portfolios and of course, BLOGS.

I hope that Domino will still live on in blog form. It would be incredibly crushing to have it just vanish.

The Best Notepads EVER

Stationary.

Most people think post-it's, maybe some lined paper in the office and that's it. Bland paper to write lists, notes and other necessities. Other people have an appreciation of paper quality, color, texture, weight, design, etc. etc. I have a slight stationary addiction. I've been coveting these notepads for well over a year now. When I first saw them they were sold in a wonderful set:




I don't remember the exact price but I clearly remember thinking that was an outrageous price for some paper that wasn't even custom or cardstock! Sigh. I still want them. A year later and I still want cute pads of paper with quotes on them.

At the current time they are sold in packs of 8, by quote. On the up side, they come with chic little bamboo pens and the have printed new quotes! Unfortunately I think these sweet little bits of paper will have to continue to party at the Townhouse a little longer. Like the rest of the world I'm trying to not throw my money away. These days I can't justify spending that much on paper even though the pricing has decreased. (Scratch that -- the pricing was really just altered since you now only get one design, in a smaller pack. Who knows if the actual price per item has decreased!) I'll continue to lust from afar....

Snowy.

The first real snow of the season started about 7am. As it continues to fall I become and more and more like a cat:

Yup.

Carine Roitfeld.

As seen in Paris at the Dior show. Photo taken by the Sartorialist.

Eh.

I was looking for inspiration and found this:


http://flickr.com/photos/moonbuggs/475716721/

Paper love.

I've always loved stationary... cards, journals, notepads, thank you-notes. I love them all. I'm attracted to bright colors, bold designs, patterns and chic quotes ( CharlotteMoss, hello!)

In the last few months I've decided to try my own. What brought about the idea? Simple enough - I got engaged, starting looking at letterpress invitation suites and knew there was no way I could afford that. Seems like I have expensive taste! After looking at lots of graphic items I decided that I would try my hand at the design process. So far it's interesting but my lack of design tools is proving to be a bit frustrating. I am using 3 (yes, THREE) programs to create/edit my creations. I don't have Illustrator. Ugh. I'm wondering if it's worth the investment.

fun little quote....

Image from quotablecards.com

Optimism.

I decided to check Apartment Therapy today and noticed a quote posting:

"Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, it’s unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there’s a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours." -- Noam Chomsky

Hmm... it's got me thinking about my life lately. I used to be so much more of an optimist. I think somewhere along the way of "entering the real world" I sort of lost that idealist vivacious hope. I am still optimistic about some things but less so about others. I think that's where the idealism comes in. There's optimism and then there is blind hope.

I relate to the last two lines in particular, "If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there’s a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours." I think that now, for the first time in a while, I'm confronted with my own expectations versus those around me. Have you ever felt like that before? How do you decide which road to take? I think I'm reaching a point where I need to shake up my life again. The main decision seems to be which path to take... the optimistic/ idealistic one, with no clear road signs, or the easy, fall-in-line marching order. How do you manage optimism without being short-sighted or idealistic?

Resolutions.

Lately I've been thinking about resolutions. It's still early enough in the year to be a major buzz word. On other blogs I've seen some/read some postings about New Years Resolutions. What can I say? That's not me. I am not really a "resolver"... is that even a word? I don't want to make resolutions for several reasons....

1. I don't make promises I can't keep. I like to think that my word is worth something and I try to keep it that way. I'm not going to make a promise (even to myself) that I know I won't or can't keep.

2. Sure, there are things that I would LIKE to work on so that my daily quality of life is better. That being said, there is nothing that I really need to resolve to do. Sure, I need to save more money and treat myself better but hey, I can work on that.

3. I'm stubborn and very much live by the "all or nothing" philosophy. As straight-edge as I normally tend to be there is something in me that has always hated rules. This is only really evident when I'm told "no" or "you can't do that" because that is at the point that I find myself thinking "just watch me..." It is a mindset that works well with challenging expectations but not so much with resolutions.

This year, I'm hoping for love, excitement, laughter... good things.

Image from flickr, EleganceisRefusal.

Pretty things.

I know that normally I have the attention span of a goldfish but lately it's been even worse. Maybe it's stress. Maybe it's lack of sleep. Whatever the reason is the end result is that I can't bring myself to focus enough to read anything longer than a blog post lately. I tried to read some books last week (both old favorites and new) and I couldn't make it past a few pages. Too much thinking. But to my credit, they were "serious" books so thinking was definitely involved. So, I gave up. Go figure. I found solace in the new Domino mag (it's getting better!) and flipped through some new catalogues. Is it just me? Does anyone else have serious ADD lately? Suggestions?