1.
you should see juno. today. buy your tickets now.
2.
you would look adorable riding this bike. (via joy)
3.
when considering where to live, you should consider each city's crafty to non-crafty ratio (aka the CNC ratio).
it is quite fun running into talented blog friends like stephanie outside a local fashion market and meeting cool artists like mike, whose work i previously admired on several design blogs.
crafty folks are amazing online, but they are even more awesome in person.
thanks to door sixteen, i now know that the designer who chose the color scheme for our bathroom was following a chic art deco trend. it makes me think our tiles may be original to our 1920's building.
(photo of ernest hemingway's florida bathroom taken by arlo617.)
...but i am happy to be surrounded by it again.
1. glass canister with smiley carrots from my grandparent's kitchen that reminds me of all of the macaroni and ketchup lunches i ate there.
2. ceramic lady in an orange dress who was designed to be a drinking cup (flipped over). i haven't found the card with the artist's name yet but i'll post about her when i do.
3. purple tufted chair still surrounded by boxes.
we have started our search for an apartment (we won't seriously be looking to buy until the spring or summer) and the process is amazinly easy compared to new york. we drive around, find a building we like, call, and most of the time an affordale two bedroom is available. we hope to be moved into one by early november.
(couches from l to r: troy from crate & barrel, parcel from design within reach, dublin from room & board, rochelle from crate & barrel)
since we've never actually owned a couch, we are also starting a search for something simple and afforable. something neutral and versatile, so it will also work in the space we end up buying.
you know your life has become a little less exotic when you go from posting about traversing through the ecuadorian jungle to couch shopping! :)
besides couches, i've also been thinking about how to frame some of my art collection. the pieces are leaning up against a wall in my inlaws guest bedroom, and flipping through them every few days makes me smile. here are three of my favorites (none of which need to be framed):
an encaustic wax view of the sky given to us as a wedding present from my oldest friend. i feel terrible that i don't know the name of the artist, but i can't read the signature on the back.
gold steer by my friend, carol es.
softly spoken by my friend, julie.
i can imagine these three hanging in the same room as the new couch where i will sit and dream about future trips to south america.
this week i accepted a job where i will continue doing work related to HIV/AIDS. that being the case, these postcards included in a package from uschi will be perfect decorations for my office:
"fits all cucumbers"
"good for survival"
"stand up/suit up" (in german suit and stand are the same word)
i want to start a little collection of prevention ads from around the world. if you see any good ones and are willing to send them to me, i'll send you some goodies in return.
i couldn't resist this little goose pin from ferdinand (only $4!). she seems very curious, which is how i prefer my geese. i am into pins and brooches lately...i think they are a great way to spice up a simple outfit.
i hope you enjoyed the book reviews i posted yesterday. it seems that many of you like quirky, so today i want to recommend my favorite quirky book i read in the past couple of years:
4. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
i love haruki marukami. he is no doubt one of the best writers of our time. Kafka on the Shore is the story of teenage runaway kafka tamura and an old man named nakata who is able to converse with cats. the tale of the two men start out separate and slowly become intertwined. the book is surreal and dream-like. there were many details of the story that lacked a full explanation, but to me this did not matter. i enjoyed the book because of murakami's exquisite decriptions which allowed me to briefly travel in another world where the lines between reality and fantasy are often blurred.
i also recommend this review of the book written by john updike. i suggest reading it after you read the book as it contains many details from the story.
i will try and post a couple of more reviews over the weekend but for now i leave you with one more bit of quirkiness:
the amazing home of textile artist sara lechner.
hi friends. today was a typical quito day - overcast in the morning, sunny and HOT mid-day, hail and heavy rain in the afternoon, dry and cool in the evening. people always say that in quito you can experience every season in one day, and with the exception of snow, this is often the case.
anyway, today i wanted to share with you two of my favorite stores we found in buenos aires. both have great websites that i hope you'll enjoy.
the first is papelera palermo. my definition of heaven might be a perfect paper store. (well, maybe a perfect paper store that offers free massages and hot bibimbop.) almost all of the products sold at papelera palermo are made at their studio a few blocks away. we stopped by and they offered us a tour. their facililties are amazing and one day i'd love to take a class there.
the second is sopa de principe. we walked by this store when it was closed and i made jordan go back with me later. it was well worth the second trip. there were sooooo many cute stuffies it was very difficult to decide.
i chose a stuffed version of maradona, the famous argentian soccer player. he doesn't actually look like maradona, but more like the little monsters above only with a blue & white jersey with the number 10 on the back.
