wallflower

i LOVE wallpaper, but it seems so daunting and expensive. the wallpaper i like and have looked into in the past is very expensive. vintage prints & large, mod, patterns. these are some favorites from the Graham & Brown Collection.
(scroll down for good news)





i always thought anything like this was something that would have to wait forever because of the cost. but, once again, Target to the rescue!

gasp!

holyperfection!

more than a bag

the most beautiful art is the kind you receive as a gift from someone very special. these purses are pieces of art themselves, and their beauty is enriched by their history and former lives. so unique and interesting and lovely. all have sentimental attachment and were very sweet gifts from the women in my life. my mom, barbara, nana, oma and mrs. c all had these in their family. their mothers, aunts, grandmothers carried them to parties, family events, where else i don't know. i have found little compacts in them. a folded up tissue, a little lipstick stain. remnants of the women with style who used them before me. i hang or display them as art in my home, and use them on special occasions.

little edie

*spotlight on: favorite dvd received for christmas '06: Grey Gardens: Criterion Collection



it was the first thing on my list, i've been coveting this special edition for a couple of years now. well worth the wait. it sits with another favorite classic. Ingmar Bergman's mini-series 'Scenes From a Marriage', Criterion Collection.

i like her

stand up. put on your favorite shoes. grab your keys, ipod, magazine, wallet, and dog, and throw them all in a tote. now leave your home and walk very quickly to the nearest book store. walk in, find this book:



if you're totally lazy -which i get, and completely support- or are just super busy and don't have time for errands- again, i get it. i'm with you. i have now succomb to the temptation of web shopping too. you're not alone. here you go:

I Like You by Amy Sedaris

purchase it. one for you and one for your favorite person. it's hilarious, helpful, sick & twisted. amy's like martha on crack. i LOVE her. am slightly obsessed and kinda wanna make out with her. you will too when you see her suggestions on how to get urine stains out of a mattress. thank you to my favorite brother-in-law/best buddy SQUIRREL for getting this for me for christmas!

hand-me-downs

i'm a fan of the hand-me-downs.
a) they're free
b) i'm giving a second life to something that is already in my family
c) there's often a great story, anecdote, or weird history to the hand-me-down
d) i am filling my home with things that have sentimental attachment & personality.
below are a few of my favs....



my dad actually made this amazing lamp in high school shop class with different shades of old wood. crazy. coach is a talented man, and i reap the benefits. the jerks that moved will & i from manhattan to brooklyn broke off a chunk, which made me very sad. but i wedged it back, and the lamp stands on its own. it's from brooklyn now. it can take it.



my nana & papa's bowling bags, balls, pin & nana's bowling shoes. they have our bowling balls and shoes in them and we actually bring the bags when we bowl. i have nana's old bowling ball and it has her name 'Bobby', short for Roberta, engraved in it. useful storage and pretty rad looking.



again (and this will happen a lot) my favorite items are from nana & papa. this owl always sat on their screened-in porch, where we spent a LOT of time. i always looked at him and loved him. nana let me have yet another relic of her lovely life and he now works as a book-end in our 'book nook'. nana reminds me of a wise old owl herself. she always knows the ne, succint, short response that will cut right to the crux of the matter.
*note: the Archie comics. my sister, lauren, and i would read volumes of archie comics each summer. we partically loved the betty & veronica digests and would swap and trade them. not gonna lie, i still read them from time to time. that archie andrews (THANKS, LOLO) never let's you down. and never DID make up his mind about betty or veronica, did he?

our new fridge

4 frames

i love clusters of frames, photos, framed records. these are a few favorites put in a foursome in our office.
*top left: from an old art nouveau post card book i had. i loved them and took a few favorites out of the book and put them into frames i already had or could find for really cheap.
*top & bottom right: lovely cards from my bonnie & clyde artist dog and pony show designs
bottom left: an antique card justin & i found for less than a dollar our first week living in manhattan while walking through a flea market.

vintage signs

the bango sign is from anthropology. it sits with my nana's picasso & matisse tiles that she hung in her bathroom. also up there is will's grandparent's vintage blender. random object, but it looks so great with the others. it no longer works well enough to really use, so it's used as storage.


these are some vintage signs i've collected over the years. note the guinness sign that also works as a calendar. it has a magnetic circle to circle the day of the month. for us, it's always the 13th, and always a good day for a brew. i picked that up sign when i was in ireland a few years ago. the signs are of different loves, likes, and come from different times & places in my life. animal crackers from a favorite aunt & uncle.


doggie butt-hooks from ikea











the beatles sign i picked up in london, age 14, and the coffee sign i can't even remember. the print is an andy warhol campbell's soup i picked up at ugly luggage a few years ago. ugly luggage is a great antique/vintage/thrifty-but-classy store: 214 bedford ave. & N. 5th St., williamsburg, brooklyn. off the L train. bedford stop.