Daydreaming

This sexy house featured on Dwell this month is just delicious. A perfect blend of modern and vintage designed to blur the lines between these two disparate aesthetics. Read the article, click through the slideshow, and daydream of your own dream home....

T Rex gone done it again

Holy crap I love Dinosaur Comics

Robots!

I am a total sucker for robots. Roomba, the Terminator, Wall-e... and this rad speedy robot hand:

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

A supplement to the new 500 Days of Summer with my favorite gal crush, Zooey Deschanel, and the utterly adorable Joseph Gordon-Levitt. They are dreamy together, and what better choice of song to dance to???

In the Summertime...

I really love salads, but feel like I never make them at home. But it is also something you feel kinda bad about ordering in a restaurant, like it is a waste of a meal out. But The Minimalist thoughtfully has provided me with 101 salad recipes that are easy and delicious, so my excuses are now silly. Salad time, here I come!

Natural Geometries

After seriously geeking out last night watching Nova (all about fractals -- you should definitely check it out if you can!), my man shared these pictures from Mars with me this morning... Really gorgeous landscapes. I especially love nature photography that illustrates the intricate geometries, fractal patterns, and seems almost more like abstract art than a traditional landscape. Mars photography is often great for such things, as there are no unnatural structures (or are there...? mwhahaha) and because so much of it is satellite survey, removing the horizon from the picture and also playing with scale.

In my younger days, when I was toying with the idea of becoming a scientist, I used to spend hours on the JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) website, scrolling through all the latest Mars imagery... I'd forgotten how striking it is and may have to start doing so again...

Museum Chic

I’ve been musing further on what to do with the new place. My current idea for the living/dining area stemmed from a desire to paint all my furniture with black lacquer. I love the sleek, shiny look of a high gloss black finish. It makes the most cheap pieces look so much nicer, and is an excellent backdrop for a variety of design schemes: i.e., when I get the urge to redesign everything, it is a matter of details, not the entire slate.

So, that leaves me with a long low dresser, a long rectangular and higher square coffee table and a bar/wine rack that could be coated black, and possibly a bookshelf or two. But then what? I started with the dresser. I like the drawer pulls it currently has – aged metal details – but since it doesn’t need constant use, why not something a little less practical and a lot more fun? Like big chunks of rock or gemstone? Or odd pieces of driftwood? They’d pop against the shiny black and really bring some fun to the entire room. Thus sprang the following inspiration board that blends natural history, vintage museums, and sleek modernity.


The rooms would have to work with the ugly apartment base – brown carpet, white walls, ugly fixtures and window treatments – that I’m not allowed to change. Alas. But I think with some statement furniture and great details, this look could be almost as much fun as it would be in some great space with stained concrete floors, oriental rugs, industrial fixtures and all the money in the world…

Colors: blue, green, black, wood, cream with pops of rust, plum and orange
Textures: enamel, wood, linen, bamboo, velvet, stone
Sources for the above board (from left to right):

Terrariums (and a how-to!) Gem Drawer Pulls Black plates The art of Aili Schmeltz Turquoise The art of Jaclyn Mednicov Silver flatware Driftwood shelf Albertus Seba’s Cabinet of Natural Curiousities Claws Table Steamer trunk Steampunk beetles Leather chair

Dress up for Grown Ups

I can thank the lovely and incomperable C from With a Twist of Dynamite for introducing me to Looklet. And now all I want to do is dress up these digital dolls and pretend that their closet is my closet... I just did a quickie before shutting down the computer for the day, but I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more from Looklet in my posts...

Brants!

Wow... I really hope designers don't take this seriously. Rompers are bad enough... The world does not need any more camel toe.

Tabula Rasa

I just moved into a spacious townhome with my man and as we slowly unpack boxes and shove around furniture, I'm trying to decide how to decorate. One thing I love about moving is the blank slate it provides -- sure, I have objects and art from previous design schemes, so I could probably just copy those but I have all these lovely blank walls, so why not try something new?? And with all our lofted three storey ceilings I'm going to have to come up with something on a much larger scale than ever before. Of course, it will take me about a month or so to figure out what exactly to do... but for now, here are some bits of inspiration.

Fabric Panels and a diy guide by the creator!

Twinkly drapes from a music club opening... Could be interesting as a wall hanging, as a divide between our staircase and living room, or as drapes tied back between rooms...

Paper star lamps that I would either suspend from the ceiling or hang against a wall in a cluster. Perhaps also against a fabric backdrop?

I may also just hang long strips of pretty fabric from floor to ceiling for some color and texture... Basically, I want color and texture on these white dull giant walls, but need to do it on a budget and following apartment guidelines. As I make my plans, I'll be sure to post more info!

In the meantime, check out this great
Apartment Therapy piece on budget wall decor -- some are a bit funky, but all could be easily tailored to any style or situation...

Mad About You

In honor of both sassy vintage style and the return of Mad Men, here is a a tour of the Mad Men costume department... Get ready to drool!

Nerd is the new black

I am all about the librarian chic. If I were to scrap my closet and start over, every piece would belong to this aesthetic. I know the hipsters tried to appropriate it and that hornrim glasses seem to be oh so trendy these days, but I don't care. For me, librarian chic isn't just about boxy glasses, cardigans, tweed skirts and loafers. Instead, it is a look that pulls from all kinds of vintage, academic sources. It is the muted jewel tones of leather spines, club chairs and oriental rugs, Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby. It is argyle, tweed, plaid, cashmere, silk, lace, brass, glass, maple. It brings the Ivory Tower down to a cozy level where comfort, layers, and texture rule. It is Nikola Tesla, dirigibles, and Indiana Jones. It is all of these things draped on Heidi Klum: smart and fusty and comfy, but simultaneously elegant, refined, and sexy.

As I am daydreaming about fall weather and the return of all my favorite layering pieces, I've put together a little inspiration board that I hope conveys what I see as the quintessence of librarian chic...



Glasses Oxford heels Watch Parts Ring Key and Magnifier Necklace Tweed Suit Computer Sexy writer Cloche Tea Service School Newspaper Outfit Book Spines Library

Fantastic!

Is it just me or does Wes Anderson's new project -- based on a Roald Dahl novel -- seem especially rad?

Cyber Candy

Okay, so I'm definitely a Mac girl, through and through. But if Dell really made their computers like this I might just be swayed...

It is one year, ten months, one day and twenty-one hours later...

Oh, Pushing Daisies, my love. I miss you.

Called the love child of Tim Burton and Dr. Suess, with a splash of technicolor bright film noir, Bryan Fuller's third television series is by far my favorite. Certainly, Wonderfalls was brilliant and would have been great had it been allowed to play out for a full season or two, and Dead Like Me was tons-o-fun. Both incorporate a bit of morbid playfulness with magical realism, fast paced dialog and oh so sassy heroines, and the attention to detail in the aesthetics of the series is remarkable. But my true love is Pushing Daisies. Both seasons are now out on DVD -- though sadly, neither is a complete season -- and I urge you to go get both and settle down with some tasty pie for a delicious, delightful adventure! And once you've seen it all (so there are no chances for spoliers), check out this rad interview with Bryan Fuller, the creator: What Would've Happened On Pushing Daisies If It Hadn't Been Cancelled

Statement Necklaces

I am loving the big fabric flower necklaces I keep seeing everywhere. At first, I wasn't terribly keen on the fabric necklaces, but the more I see them on models -- plain tee or tank, jeans, maybe boots or fun pumps and a sassy necklace -- I wants one. It provides that same great pop of color and texture of a scarf, but is much cooler in the summer weather and keeps the sleek lines of an outfit of basics. I haven't decided exactly what style I like best yet, but window shopping on etsy.com is spoiling me for choice!

I'm also thinking of making one or two myself, to customize texture, color and length. I may even make one as a brooch instead of a necklace, which will work better when the relief of cooler weather means bulkier cardigans and jackets..

Enjoy the few below I've currently got my eye on...

BelieveInHappy

florabond

beanandthesprout

missimiss

Just Liv

Laundry Day

Among other things, today is laundry day. Whilst I wash, this is what I'm humming...