'lectric gold

dois mio

2010-06-12T11:21:00.003-04:00

*belly laughing.

watch this. then watch it again. you'll see.

2010-06-10T22:32:00.000-04:00

warm weather inspirations

2010-05-01T21:24:00.002-04:00

my girl shannon does some amazing work, right?

these are her sculptures... in the DESERT. they're a lollipop mirage.

and this is their soundtrack:

2010-04-28T23:53:00.005-04:00

yes. i have been waiting for someone to design this room since i was like 5

via

2010-03-14T22:11:00.002-04:00

sunday night @ my house: currently pulling country and western (& mexican) records for tomorrow night's mexibilly night at nita nita, which i am tickled to be co-spinning with the lovely bug jennings. i will try my hardest to replicate the above outfit (it's bright shiny 'merican blue in person, y'all) and promise some ever-lovin country and cumbias with your tex mex

soul beatle

2010-02-24T22:39:00.002-05:00

this is currently rocking my socks:

2010-01-18T22:36:00.002-05:00

this ain't no joke

2010-01-11T22:57:00.004-05:00

i started a new job today as the national events manager for weddings at this fine establishment!* if you need a DJ, i am your supplier. your sugar mama for the sweet, sweet music, as it were.

*showing redonkulous proximity to current domicile.

2010-01-08T00:44:00.002-05:00

thursday night boys & girls. just saw the great levon helm at terminal 5. here's a treat via alexis:

2010-01-03T22:19:00.002-05:00

here are some favorite iphone snaps from this year - except for the last one, which was taken by my friend ben on new years eve. woke up with confetti in my hair, stuck to my face, and strewn around the floor of the apartment. either the mark of a fine evening, or proof that you're sleeping with a glitter monster.

ta ta 2009!

2010-01-01T18:32:00.003-05:00

listen, maira kalman: your pursuit of happiness series this year in the times is just beyond. i can't wait to buy your new book, you are exhaustingly prolific, and your style just gets me right here. i'm pointing to my heart. do you want to grab a coffee sometime? call me if you do. we can go someplace with fancy tea service and ladies with crazy hats and charcuterie plates with cornichons and mismatching vintage silver.

i know this was not a personal new years gift to me, but can i pretend that it was?

2009-12-30T13:12:00.002-05:00

new years eve costume research. yes. queerest of them all is a fantastic pictorial resource.

Classy Weimar Prostitute is the new Lady Gaga

hey gino!

2009-12-30T01:39:00.005-05:00

i have been wanting to visit gino for years years years, and today i finally got the chance. magical! all the tuxedoed waiters speak italian and call you princess as they administer fresh ground pepper to your spaghetti with clams. the menu is hand-written in grandpa-script and the clientele is a SIGHT. jackie and i had the best lunch. caprese salad, seafood pasta, prosecco, espressos - it was just the tops. and the margot tenenbaum wallpaper! i died.

i highly recommend a visit

(ps: sorry for the poor picture quality. taken with my phone)

really?

2009-12-30T00:12:00.003-05:00

abby pointed me to this outlandish urban camouflage via japan. i mean....

seriously? you're not fooling anyone! we can see your feet, dude. pretty impressive that this fake vending machine is made out of a skirt though.

charlie and the chocolate christmas car ride

2009-12-28T21:32:00.002-05:00

yes, the mom is wearing a confederate flag shirt, the dad is the indian wayne newton, and the little girl has no neck, but besides that it's very christmasy.

this is how the affair began

2009-12-15T23:54:00.003-05:00

had dinner at alta tonight and there were highlights y'all. blue crab risotto, warm veggie salad, skirt steak, lamb meatballs, and the brussels sprouts of joy.... it's hard to know when to stop eating in that type of situation.

also on my new list of hot tickets: roses. i know. I KNOW. i hate roses. but all of a sudden i love them. there are a few (gasp) bodega roses in here even, and they just look and smell and feel like a delicious meal.

mmmmmm

we would be warm below the storm

2009-12-13T21:53:00.003-05:00

it's cats and dogs out there today. luckily i was holed up with some fancy champagne and a bevy of hotties in celebration of elizabeth's impending mom-hood. congrats e!

here was my offering:

(side bar: where can a person buy those itty bitty scissors that victorians used to craftily cut those silhouettes of their lovers with? you know, the ones you and your brother got done at disney land and are still in your parents' den? the kitchen shears aren't really hacking it)

brandy, anyone?

2009-12-07T17:33:00.004-05:00

via mpwa. yes they were.

feel-good tuesday jam

2009-12-01T14:31:00.001-05:00

the chills

2009-12-01T10:59:00.003-05:00

i should not be this excited about the design elements of an abandoned autopsy theater at a state mental hospital. it's like a wes anderson bizarro land hospital fantasy. though i could probably do without the bone saw thingy in the foreground.

photographer christopher payne, managed to gain access to this gloriously creepy place, and many others like it in his new book Asylum, which has just wormed its way onto my christmas list. (via the lens)

weekend epiphany

2009-11-23T16:30:00.006-05:00

with obvious inspiration from a california girl, and some paper scraps, it's actually possible to make invitations to a baby shower sans diapers, storks and baby animal imagery.

side bar: remember when you had to do handwriting exercises in 3rd grade and you wrote cursive for so long you thought your hand was gonna fall off, and you thought surely when you're grown up, you won't have this problem because you'll be so practiced at the art of drawing letters on paper that you'll develop super-human writing muscles? turns out it still hurts write a lot. damn you keyboards.

mary in the san fran sky

2009-11-10T23:43:00.001-05:00

this is probably my favorite song

2009-11-04T10:27:00.002-05:00

by what is undoubtedly my favorite band

the Defibulators - Hearty Laugh from BoB Coon on Vimeo.

helen!

2009-11-04T01:31:00.003-05:00

jeepers! the moves! the dedication! the peel-away outfits that reveal flesh-colored mid-sections!

if i could be anything in the world, i would be helen.

Love that Lucy

2009-11-02T17:40:00.004-05:00

i made this for my littlest friend. she's only about 20 lbs and doesn't

say much, but the girl's got moxie.

McG

2009-11-02T17:24:00.004-05:00

okay. can we talk about ryan mcginley for a sec. i mean. woah. these pictures! i have intense caveaphobia, especially in the nude (i'm pretty much afraid of doing anything nude. what if you fall and get stalagmited?) but this makes the whole proposition seem like a soft-core 70's sci-fi flick where everyone has names like skylar and gryphon and they're in the future... or are they? and i would so watch that.

all from his moonmilk series

bit & bob

2009-10-31T12:08:00.004-04:00

a practice & a left-over from alex's wedding.

i think i'm going to be a gypsy for, the 7th time this halloween. is this normal?

Gems

2009-10-31T12:02:00.004-04:00

when 100% of the light in a room is coming from candles (or candle-like objects) you know it's good. Gemma is on my top-10 list of restaurants-i'd-like-to-flower.

the most

2009-10-05T21:02:00.008-04:00

like in the last waltz when neil young is all "it's one of the pleasures of my life to be on stage with these people" – that is the feeling that you feel when alex & alexis ask you to take part in anything they're doing. especially nuptials.

via the phenomenal di bezi

i love these people. majorly.

mama's back

2009-10-05T20:47:00.004-04:00

this is how i'm feeling. it's a good feeling to have.

via daily beast

mannequin - a cautionary tale

2009-05-10T15:41:00.005-04:00

when we were little, my sister wanted to grow up to be a mannequin. Jen: thank god you decided to get that degree in graphic design, because the recession would surely have taken its toll had you decided to stick with that career route. you could have been just another poor cha-cha at the doomed virgin megastore, corralled in the basement, getting grab-assed by the other ladies:

(which i guess doesn't really look that bad, but still)

and remember that twilight zone episode "the after hours?" god it's good. hint: it's about mannequins. i urge you to watch, and thank your little stars that you didn't go down this road.

quiche & t.rex

2009-04-15T21:21:00.002-04:00

my night went something like this:

baking eggs into a pre-made pie crust and listening to mark bolan croon about his lizard leather boots. basically the height of pleasure.

(added fun: in this interview with soundcheck the other week, t.rex producer tony visconti discusses who, in his opinion invented glam rock, how he co-produced bowie's "low" though everyone thinks it was brian eno, and spins some good rock history yarns. i'm a sucka for this stuff.)

simples

2009-04-14T19:21:00.003-04:00

orchid, jasmine, lace & mint geranium leaves

ode to an L

2009-04-14T18:52:00.003-04:00

oh brown ikea sectional

you are not settee-sexy

you do not posses the right balance of horsehair and springs

that could have landed you in a much bigger apartment

you have no curvy camel-back qualities

no one blogs you under "lust" or "loves it"

and yet

you hold so many party guests!

i cannot forsake you

you are my L-shaped savior

without you i could not have tons of people over on easter to get tipsy

and have an indoor easter egg hunt

thanks to jeff & diana for the images!

2009-04-13T18:58:00.003-04:00

i believe the scientific name is tulipa deliciousa

urban landscape

2009-04-09T07:57:00.002-04:00

my mom took these great shots at central park and the botanical gardens this weekend. thanks for sharing, mom! (good to see you!)

it's rainin babies up in here

2009-04-08T19:06:00.009-04:00

new collage

2009-04-08T18:31:00.004-04:00

bill cunningham, you are true blue

2009-04-02T01:01:00.003-04:00

i just love this man. i love him. my ultimate dreams include riding the dragon in The NeverEnding Story, being played by kate hudson in a feature film, and having a picture in "on the street" even if it's just to help make a point of what not to wear.

he's the picture of dedication. i mean, just look at him go!

via the sartorialist

jamaican fantasy ride

2009-03-29T10:28:00.007-04:00

i think our trip to jamaica last week was my favorite vacation i've ever taken (with the exception of when my family drove cross-country when i was 15 and there are pictures of me scowling in front of all the most important national monuments. that was a travel highlight.) warm people, delicious food, perfect water and so much in the way of wild life! we'd be eating breakfast and a pink humming bird would buzz by, then a little lizard would scurry up a tree - we saw families of dolphins on the open sea, big ol crocodiles up the the black river, a rainbow of tropical fish on the coral reef, and the coolest cat ever, chris blackwell, chillin at the bar with a redstripe.

please excuse my gratuitous use of the photo function. i just can't help myself. treasure beach 4 eva!

OMG!!!

2009-03-29T03:12:00.004-04:00

so many chills!!

2009-03-26T21:02:00.005-04:00

last week we were in a pleasure dome of foliage. we stayed in this here cottage - top floor - called seahorses UP:

the second one looks like a brain! it's really light and filled with floating seed pods. i wanted so bad to explode the green brains, but i was afraid the eco-tourism-hippie-gods would spew their wrath on me. that might be the worst kind of wrath.

waves

2009-03-19T18:40:00.003-04:00

i'm going here for the next week to detox my brain and rest my little eyes and ears from computer screens and traffic and subway screeches. seafood, sunburn, and sand!

one girl's treasure...

2009-03-18T22:34:00.003-04:00

i found this great industrial salvage lamp at a flea market a few weeks ago. it's from an old jar factory. i love the color and its charming lines, but it's just going to be too much work for me to repair in the confines of my studio apartment. I'm putting in on craigslist, but if anyone's interested, please let me know.

she's from a simpler time when men wore hats and women were dames, and dames didn't take no flak from no one. this lamp set the scene for Gill when he went to cook the books down at the plant one Friday night, but captain faherty was there waiting for him when he got out, and Daisy was waiting in the car, face half-lit, taking drags off a long cigarette watching it all go down. yeah, this lamp has seen some things, all right...

flowers & fishes

2009-03-13T19:01:00.009-04:00

these gorgeous kumquats look like they did a round of 'roids before sauntering over to the flower market with that awkward body-builder waddle... which is to say they're bold and beautiful.

eeeks! creepy fish eyes! just the other day these dudes were swimming the the ocean, and tonight they'll be beautifully plated on the upper east side. unreal.

full disclosure: i have both drugs and global food production on the brain after reading this disturbing article in theTimes by Nicholas Kristof about antibiotics in pig feed causing huge problems for us human creatures. it's a lot to take in. thank god it's friday night and i'm giving my brain the night off. i'll let it marinade in the back for a while.

hearth gods!

2009-03-13T18:47:00.002-04:00

tomorrow night i'm reading a short story at the WONDERFUL hearth gods series at Jimmy's no. 43. come check it out! i'm honored to be on the bill with such a talented bunch. and the beer selection there is really good.

the beach is calling me with its siren song

2009-03-11T00:43:00.000-04:00

i'm going to treasure beach in jamaica next week which is really exciting because it will be my first time in the tropics! (not counting tropix nightclub, obv) it's also a recession, so my goal is to not spend dough on clothes before i go, which is nearly impossible - all reasonable vacation fantasies involve stunning new beach ensembles. SO, i have decided to make new items, which may sound like a stretch, but stick with me here. my first attempt is made out of an old t-shirt + a sewing machine and an hour of my time. i give you.... the beach cover-up:

it's convenient that i like un-finished edges and clothing items that could have been attacked by a wild animal.

*

2009-03-08T20:48:00.002-04:00

just when you think winter is never going to end, and you contemplate getting a hat permanently super-glued to your head, new york hands you a spectacular sunday that jogs your memory to the glory of sunglasses and spring coats and outdoor dining. before the stink of summer, before you have to lug your air conditioner out of storage, before dirty sandal feet and humid urine-scented subway platforms ... come sublime lazy sundays in march.

First to the pulse art fair. i don't necessarily get the whole point of art fairs, but i like looking at art and putting it into one of the following categories: a: we could totally make that (35%) b: why is that in this show? (30%) c: it takes a ton of balls to stand behind that, but now that you have i'm mostly on board (28%) d: this is blowing my mind (7%). how much is real talent, and how much is just having an idea, then having the confidence to go through with it and hang it on a wall? in some instances the emperor definitely wasn't wearing any clothes... but i had a great time and saw the requisite weird videos of naked women in the woods wearing body decorations made of trash. so i'm satisfied.

i really loved this beautiful & macabre wall hanging by jodie carey made of feathers and bones

vadis turner's tampon cake was both beautiful and cheeky

it's a mechanical bull! decorated with beer cans and spikes! kristian kozul - i want you at my next party.

next on to cafe 'ino for sustenance in the form of this amazing antipasto plate and something with bubbles, and the recipe for the perfect sunday is complete.

purdy parcel

2009-03-07T20:07:00.000-05:00

my peeps over at brown parcel press just launched their new website & blog. check it out. eye candy abounds...

wild is the wind

2009-03-07T16:08:00.000-05:00

artist tim knowles arms trees with writing utensils, creating wind-powered art.

doesn't this tree just look like it's bending toward the canvas? amazing!

2009-03-06T18:27:00.000-05:00

my great aunt & uncle live across the road from a sunflower field in northern minnesota. they get HUGE - high as an elephant's eye if you know what i mean. indoors, however sunflowers are a little blossom for me usually, but today they just looked so pretty and bright. it's gonna be 60 deg this weekend! bring on the sun!!!

2009-03-05T23:04:00.000-05:00

i never liked callas until this moment....

y'ello

2009-03-05T23:02:00.000-05:00

van! + vintage gift trimmings

2009-03-02T22:38:00.000-05:00

i cannot contain my excitement - tomorrow i'm going to see van morrison play astral weeks LIVE. as in the entire album from front to back. it's going to rock my transcendental brain wave. this will complete my early '09 trifecta of 60's Men Who Still Rock Really Effing Hard - the other 2 angles of the tri being comprised of Leonard Cohen and Paul Simon. I'm in concert heaven and it's only March!

also: here are some gifts i wrapped for the specialist of special friends. My girl E re-uses everything, so i'm sure this stuff has been reincarnated as something special like origami cranes or cat box liner....

the honky tonk in my heart

2009-03-01T21:06:00.000-05:00

my good friends and favorite ny band - the defibulators - are having a huge cd release bash this wednesday at the bell house in bk. meet me there. we dance. i can't wait to get my do-si-do on!

and they're a "critic's pic" in time out this week - check it.

um

2009-02-27T19:35:00.000-05:00

is it possible to be addicted to jello? i am exhibiting some frightening symptoms. i crave it during the work day and can't wait to get home to it. i jello alone, and not just on weekends. and last night i jello-dialed about 10 random people. it's getting serious. thank god i have other things to keep mind off it, such as:

these green leucadendron are my new favorite - they're such a luscious, bright springy color, almost like a green orchid.

ps: while writing this post i polished off an entire 5X7 pan of raspberry jello. i'm not joking.

dreamboat city

2009-02-25T19:18:00.000-05:00

next time i'm at the dentist this is going to be my happy place.

via ny times

m'ladies & their flowers

2009-02-23T22:35:00.001-05:00

i found this old girl in a church junk shop. she totally belongs in the john adams mini-series as one of laura linney's daughter-in-laws, right? t thinks she's depressing, but i think she just needs a little zoloft and a fancy cocktail.

she is a family heirloom from t's grandparent's house. look at that pose. she can hold it forever.

i recovered this little glam from a trash bin in the east village. missing an arm, bald from some crazy infection that makes your hand fuse to your head - and yet STILL hot.

#22

2009-02-23T22:17:00.000-05:00

i had the great pleasure of assisting the fantastic nicolette camille with a wedding this weekend. the girl is a total professional and a ridiculous talent ... thanks for letting me tag along!

on the daily

2009-02-18T23:11:00.001-05:00

i'm having a love affair with beef jerky. that's not a euphemism, i actually just really love it. it doesn't have a lot going for it, you know, with all the sodium nitrate, but it's REALLY delicious. i'm hoping not to turn into a giant jerky. here is the plan:

fw

2009-02-18T00:10:00.001-05:00

here are some shots i tried to snap casually at the shipley+halmos show last weekend - it's hard to try and look aloof while assuming a camera-at-the-ready stance at the same time. i had a whole back story planned incase someone was like "why on earth is that girl taking SO many pictures..." i'll have you know, my editor has instructed me to file a story by this afternoon about the ET-like hoods that are sweeping the runways. it's an epidemic that must be taken very seriously.

prisoner of love

2009-02-13T22:42:00.000-05:00

st. valentine apparently spent a little time in the slammer - no doubt deprived of creature comforts like his favorite pair of sneakers, hot chocolate, a nice firm pillow, and the internet. he also probably didn't see greens for a long while, so it's only fitting to honor the man with a little bit o bloom...

cages i have loved

2009-02-13T21:31:00.001-05:00

like many a lady out there, i have had a pretty heavy bird cage fixation for the last year. i wanted to get these in before the love wanes and highly-stylized cat carriers start showing up in the pages of the anthro catalogue.

this set-up, via anna kern just makes my mouth water for a pimm's cup

i scored this beaut at the swank sample sale. the possibilities.

this bud's for you

2009-02-13T12:52:00.000-05:00

i'm pretty sure these sea creatureish ranunculus buds come alive at night and leave a slime trail around the apt

buttery

2009-02-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

i had a good ol' time today hanging with the wonderful & talented sarah ryhanen of saipua. she has a generous spirit and is a wizard with the pruning shears - and we made this yellow dandy in her brooklyn shop. the palate brings to mind sun rays, butter, summer days, babies' butts... what, i ask you, is better than a baby butt? the answer is nothing. but this comes in a close 2nd:

check out more of sarah's mad skillz in her weekly d*s column...

zydeco sunday

2009-02-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

when the weather finally gets warm nuf to open all the windows you gotta put on something special to welcome it in and let it know it can stay a while. i like to tell the warmish breeze to pull up a chair, have a drink, and then i seduce it with a little bit of zydeco. specifically the king:

you can seriously dance all night to this record. should we maybe make an arhoolie work-out tape?

the ouchy beauty of the blue thistle

2009-02-07T14:01:00.000-05:00

even the LEAVES of these things bite. mixed with leucadendron (safari sunset!) and eucalyptus they make a stunning winter mix

this COLOR!

2009-02-07T13:48:00.000-05:00

the parlor at tudor palace in DC - steeped in presidential antiques and the dreamiest yellow- i want to bathe in it! or at least take it to lunch, then scrape off a sample for my kitchen walls.

via ny times

fruit & flowers: my favorite combo platter

2009-02-07T13:04:00.000-05:00

"getting pregnant" production design

2009-02-07T00:56:00.000-05:00

i was lucky enough to get to do the production design for the short film "getting pregnant" at the end of 2008. Here are a couple shots from the shoot. it was a wonderful weekend with a phenomenally talented group of peeps... more to come.

photos by justin mound

pink & purple

2009-02-07T00:55:00.000-05:00

when i was in 2nd grade pink & purple was the best color combo i could possibly think of. lisa frank folder: p&p; spin-painted t-shirt from squirt works: p&p; fave my little pony: p&p.

my 2009 version for your enjoyment:

end of day

2009-02-05T21:28:00.000-05:00

my grandma marge is one classy lady. she is an antique maven with an eagle eye and stellar taste. she has an amazing glass collection including end of day pieces - creative and colorful objects made by glass blowers with the day's leftovers. i hate to waste anything, so i bring home my leftover greens or blooms and keep my own revolving end of day arrangement on the mantle. love you grandma!

a little lamp porn

2009-02-04T21:17:00.000-05:00

this is SO going in the great hall of my transylvanian manse. i'm in love.

via 1st dibs

quinces

2009-02-03T23:12:00.000-05:00

there are apparently 3 kinds of quince fruit according to practically edible - because that's what they are. practically, but not quite. i bought one at the grocery store the other day and it tasted like a chalky old sock. their blossoms, however, are little treasures. behold:

the non-flora

2009-02-02T21:38:00.000-05:00

i've been really into experimenting with non-flower arrangements - they suggest flowers from a distance, but when you get close they're something else entirely. take this guy for instance:

purple kale and raspberries totally pretending to be roses or peonies.

i want to eat there

2009-02-01T23:15:00.000-05:00

my GOD what a dreamy tropical paradise sexy fantasy dining room. kara mann, my hats off to you. i want to eat oysters and lounge on pillows all day in here while being fanned by servants.

via biz bash

birthday chandelier

2009-02-01T16:03:00.000-05:00

here are a few photos from a 40th birthday event i did last month...

strung these puppies from the ceiling

shove off, winter

2009-02-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

nothing says beat it to the frost quite like these bright beauties and their springtime enthusiasm. shine on, girls!

blood berries

2009-01-26T01:25:00.000-05:00

i've deliciously wasted my entire week watching HBO's "Rome" - seasons 1&2 - blood, orgies, slaves, excess, villas, and more blood. in real life i'm queasy at the sight of blood, but on the screen of my crappy tv... totally into it. t and i will spend the rest of the weekend talking in bad british accents (why aren't they italian?) about antony & cleopatra and stepping on wayward berries.

shower me

2009-01-25T22:50:00.000-05:00

THE best bridal shower ever was an epic affair in which a tarot reader told 1/2 the girls to dump their boyfriends, the hostess entertained with expert headstands and moonwalking and everyone (but the mom to be) prosecco'd out and came up with baby names like corduroy and lamp shade...

oh, and there were these:

congrats jess! we can't wait to meet your small pod... though you probably shouldn't let any of us near it