Happy weekending !

Hooray ! Liz is back Monday. I leaving you with more balloons, and, of course, a favorite quote.

To live content with small means;
to seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion;
to be worthy, not respectable; and
wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think
quietly, talk gently, act frankly...to
listen to stars and buds, to babes and
sages, with open heart; await occasions,
hurry never...this is my symphony.

-- William Henry Channing

Happy

So I stopped posting because Liz thought she was ready for her return. And while I'm sure she's very close, I think our fearless blogger hasn't been feeling very well. I have a whole folder of Balloon pics on my desktop I started saving a long time ago, and was hoping to incorporate into Liz's "30 for 30" birthday gift this past July.

Somehow I never got to them though. She's bananas for balloons, so I thought Id share a few in hopes that she looks + they make her smile. Such a childhood pleasure, right ? And what makes these floating shapes so happy + celebratory ? I don't even know that I can pinpoint it. But since early high school liz was delivering huge butterflies, and bees and birthday cakes floating high above our heads. I've loved them ever since. Hope everyone's having a good week !

An Email

Somehow guest blogging has warranted me receiving flattering emails about L&H. But instead of just passing it along to Liz, I figured I'd share it here where you + she can see it :). Last Wednesday, I got this in my inbox from my dear friend Ginger ::

Just got my 2011 calendar and couldn't wait to put up Jan and Feb... I always have 4 months on my bulletin board, and Nov and Dec have been lonely!

Looks great, right ?? Best Corporate Lawyer bulletin board I've ever seen...

From The (virtual) Desk

So I won't pretend to actually be at Liz's creative epicenter in Brooklyn, but when I received the coolest most prettiest Paperless Post in the whole wide world I realized - Duh ! - I hadn't even looked at the Linda & Harriett array on the classiest way to send an invite sans postage stamp website. Drool inducing. I'm glad I don't have anywhere to invite people right now because I don't know how I would choose. They're like commissioning Liz to make you the chicest letterpress invites ever, but they're instantaneous and the cost of the e-stamp. Start party planning this weekend kids, these won't be around forever + you probably need them to up your good taste party planning ranking.

Great Minds Think Alike.

You guys remember Liz's awesome paper quilt beginnings, right ?? Her use of scrap pieces of her beautiful prints ? Well it seems as though the amazing French clothing line A.P.C. had the same idea ! Look at these awesome quilts they've begun making from years and years of old A.P.C. fabric. Each is handmade by women in Bangalore, India. Pretty awesome -- as are all their clothes.

Paint Pots.

This is the back cover of the Rhode Island School of Design Graduate Studies Catalog. I have it on my desktop in pdf form + on my kitchen counter in book form. I just love the cover too much to dispose.

this is the front cover with their labeling chopped off. I just think it's so well done I don't know what to do with myself. The color, the absence of, the combination, the words and the neon (can't tell in the PDF below) binding to pull it all together, leave it to RISD, right ??

And When He Hides

Make you're own ! I learned in my color class last week that we usually use matching color intensity to our environment--meaning that if we live in Seattle of Vancouver, we keep our interiors more grey, more neutral. While if we live in Africa or the Caribbean we use vibrant high chroma colors. Maybe this makes sense to you (think coral pink + turquoise houses in the Islands), but it was sort of shocking to me. I just kept thinking about how when its grey outside I want to wear bright + happy. Well maybe our interiors and exteriors are different than our clothing, especially on a changeability level.

But I digress -- clearly this woman had the same idea as me last week on a rainy Manhattan day. Her yellow, red, turquoise, and pink ensemble stopped me in my tracks, and I don't think they would have on a gorgeous sunny day. Look at how her hat makes that flower bed and pipe covers pop ! Fantastic. I hope she stayed their all day (but stopped smoking) for all other passersby.

Mr. Golden Sun

Makes all the difference in my day and my mood. I hope whatever corner of the world you inhabit, you had all shades of fall and yellow this weekend. I was working with yellow last week, and looked up to see my palette filled with shades. They reminded me of the beautiful late afternoon light at this time of year that really is golden. If you're holed up in an office at 5 or 6 pm these months, take a minute to run outside and enjoy it. I know it always rejuvenates my mind and my soul. Happy November friends !!

Get Candy.

In case this Month ran by you in a blur I'm here to tell you it's Halloween ! I'm sure by now everyone has fun plans and creative costumes, but here are a few fun products I've come across this year and have been posting on my blog this week. Whether for your own party or for your hostess... Above are "Cinderella pumpkins." Aren't they darling ?? Not carving friendly, but fairytale friendly for sure.
I'm also LOVING this "Vodka in a Skull." An awesome vessel for the whole year really. A friend said today her boyfriend wast trying to figure out how to make it a mini fish tank post vodka. I think it would be great as a bud vase on a shelf. You could also use it as a water jug for the dinner table. And if you're not one for skulls (shame on your if you're not), black vodka is another fun unusual option.
And off topic of spirits is this fantastic black toilet paper. It's amazing how much its the little things in life, right ?

And if you're up for a fun baking project I made these last year. A lot of fun, but a lot of time :). And if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, THIS is the best. Liz and I both adore him.

Vintage L&H Part Three.

K, I promise no more for a while, but I had to post these because they are sort of my favorite. Ever. Have you ever seen something sweeter, more darling or more precious (did I just say the same thing three times ?) than this little doll above my initials ? This was one of the very first stationary gifts Liz bestowed on me and it was definitely Christmas, because I remember opening them in my mother's kitchen.

I got a mix of little gift tags and flats (above + below), and if I'm being honest ? I still have most of them. I just love this little sweet girl so much I can't bear to part. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge proponent of "why buy the good china if you're not gonna use it ?" but in this case using means losing, and I'm sort of too selfish. Love her. Know that if you ever see her little profile show up in your mailbox you are very very special.

Vintage L&H Part Two.

I held this post off so that 3 week old Griffin could get some air time. And my posts seem silly with a little life to talk about, but I guess for now, back to moi.

This one isn't so vintage as the time line is concerned, but vintage in the sense that L&H personalized stationary is not just a click away like it used to be. Liz made me these beautiful flats on the thickest most luscious paper ever, in my favorite color (blue), with perfect envelopes to match for one birthday. My favorite part about them is how versatile they are. They are mature and simple so they work for everything from a quick hello to a thank you or a more serious condolence not. They are such high quality and so sophisticated I could send them to the queen, but cool enough with the awesome font that I could send them to the pied piper of hipsters (heehee. The two extremes of monetary/image snootiness). Like Elaine and her discontinued sponges, I take out my precious flats, hold the thick card stock, and think long and hard about whether or not the recipient deserves one :).

Vintage L&H Part One.

As I said Friday, I was searching for some old school L&H last week. And as I said, Liz and I share a deep love for the State of Maine. In our early creative meeting days, when we'd daydream about where our companies were headed + about packing up and pitter-pattering around on the cobble stone streets of Portland, Liz made me this. A faux moving announcement for my fantasy move. How darling is it ?? And see that clear string on the right ? For years it had a cutie little plastic buoy hanging down (sorta kinda like the one below), and it hung on the wall over my desk. When I moved, I ripped the buoy off so that it could lay flat with other things. But I love my little whale tails, and the dream of the move.

Have a Wonderful Fall Weekend !

I figure by now you must be missing L&H sneak peeks and new products. Yesterday I started digging around some boxes of mine for vintage pieces that might be fun to see. In doing so I came across this (bad) print I had taken + developed in College, from when Liz visited me on a beautiful fall weekend my senior year, and we had gone apple picking. It was sunny and crisp and Maine. Bliss :). And we had come home and had a dinner party for a friend's birthday in our big old (decaying) Victorian home -- complete with cored baby apples as tea candle votives, and a college favorite -- share your knife with your neighbor (cause we don't own enough !).

A perfect fall weekend, and this weekend feels like it could be very similar for all you fall dwelling folk. For an unknown reason I wrote a Virginia Woolf quote around the apple tree print. I don't think there was any assignment or motive, except that clearly the image + text matched in their innocence. I just adore Virginia Woolf so I'll leave you with her quote + Hope you have a fantastic, and carefree, and sunshine filled weekend.

"A ten penny tea set made Cam happy for days. She heard them stamping and crowing on the floor above her head the moment they woke. They came bustling along the passage. Then the door sprang open and in they came, fresh as roses, staring, wide awake, as if this coming into the dining room after breakfast, which they did everyday of their lives, was a positive event on them, and so on, with one thing after another, all day long, until she went up to say goodnight to them, and found them netted in their cots like birds among cherries and raspberries, still making up stories about some bit of rubbish--something they had heard, something they had picked up in the garden. They had all their little treasures...And so she went down to her husband and said, why must they grow up and lose it all ? Never will they be so happy again."

+ One More For Good Measure ...

Also from the nymag design issue :: Brothers Evan + Oliver Haslegrave's home. Brothers that work together and live together (if you've read Eventide or Plainsong by Keith Haruf I'm thinking McPheron Brothers. If you haven't + you like sad books, I recommend). What really got me was the outdoor shovel in picture #1 in place of a faucet. First to think of this, and then to repurpose the item without making it look kitchy is sheer talent. Then there is the hammer door handle + lock, and this amazing lofted bed. It says he did it so that his dog wouldn't climb in ?! Seems drastic, but the billowing sheets look fairytale like + perfect. And don't feel sorry for the pup -- he takes two steps up to the right, and gets a lofted bed as well !

PS. As a frame of reference for their work if you live in New York, they designed Elsa in the East Village, Manhattan Inn, and Pauly Gee's, both in Greenpoint.

Simplicity is Bliss.

Speaking of simple design working well... I've had a Remodelista daily email sitting in my inbox for a month (actually, exactly ! September 20th), that showed the work of Michaela Scherrer, interior designer from Pasadena, CA (you'll die if you go through the projects on her site. Above is the tip of the iceberg). I am downright obsessed with these clean images, uses of white, and details of chroma and color. She really visually teaches that there is no "white." Everything is a color. Couldn't you move in to any one of these rooms ? Bathrooms included ? In love.

[images courtesy of Remodelista]

Inside, Please.

It's rainy + grey out. Which makes me want to be cozy inside. Have you ever stayed at an Ace Hotel ? I haven't, but I love the Lobby in the one up the street from me. And I just love this shot of the Portland edition above. Such simple things = such an interesting design. Hospital cornered blankets + photo shoot lights ? Pennies become infinite coolness.

There is a great article in a recent NY Mag about the design team Roman + Williams, + their journey from being no one to being the city's authority on Hipster/Vintage cool. If you live in NYC and haven't visited the Ace Lobby, go get a coffee at Stumptown, a drink at The Breslin, or a sandwich at the No. 7 Sub Shop. Also exciting is that The John Dory is reopening as an Oyster Bar at this 29th Street location. YUM. (As you can see The Ace is more than just a pretty face). Stay dry today !

[Photos courtesy of Remodelista + NYMag]

Soul Warming

I spied this while waiting for sandwiches in Flour Bakery this weekend in Boston. I just love it. Six words manage to say so much. You see yourself at a kitchen table with legs swinging, to short to reach the ground, the one voice on the other end of the phone that makes yours tremble no matter how strong you've been, or the hug that feels so encompassing and safe you could melt and stay there for the rest of your life. It's nice knowing no matter how tough life gets we have "soup" in some form to help it go down easier. And if we're lucky -- it's some good Jewish Matzoh Ball, or Chicken :). Hope everyone has fantastic Mondays !

Passing Through

Have you ever noticed some of our favorite things are those that last the least amount of time ? I was at a beautiful memorial service this past weekend, and in her Eulogy, the sister of the girl who passed mentioned that one of her sister's favorite songs was "Sacrifice" by Elton John. She said she particularly loved the line, "some things look better baby, just passing through," and that this line helped her when something she loved ended. Ever since I've noticed how many fleeting things are what we cherish most--like babies + sunsets, or fresh cut flowers. Maybe we give them extra attention, and they're that much sweeter, because we know how quickly they'll be gone. Soon babies become people, day turns to night, flowers wilt. Of course everything in life is fleeting, but some seem to slip through our fingers so much quicker. The wonderful thing is that we get them at all, and that they come around again. Another birth, another evening, another trip to the garden.

[images are a hike in Northern Cali Monday morning, my friend's sweet baby Will this past weekend, and the sunset out my window a few nights ago].

Have a wonderful weekend !

The Way Life Should Be.

Liz and I share a common love for the State of Maine. I started going to Maine at age 10 for summer camp. I spent 6 beautiful, perfect, innocent summers at Matoaka -- 1 Great Place (our actual address !) in Waterville, Maine. Then as you know, Liz + I went to College there, and Liz and John got Married there. Now I think we both just look for excuses to go. Lucky for me a best friend is getting married there this summer.


Anywho -- this new perfume " Maine " has gotten editorial everywhere. I don't even focus on perfume sections in mags (why do I care what you say it smells like ?! I need to actually smell it. Thanks.), and I've still noticed it nothing short of four times. And to be honest, I wanted it the second I saw it. I am very particular about perfumes, I layer two currently, and I already know I want it. Pllleeeeaaaseee let me smell like Maine. I see running bare feet, cool blue lakes, a sparkling sun, crisp air filled with burning leaves, apple orchards, blueberry pie, salty rocky coast air, I could go on, but what could be better ?

[Images courtesy of MCMC fragrances]

Where I'm Coming From.

As Liz said I'm applying for a master's right now, and while I do I'm taking some classes. One is a class in color, my favorite of most favorite topics. My confession though, is that no matter how much l love mixing new colors, swirling my palette knife around, or meticulously applying the paint to grids + wheels + charts ... My favorite part ? When I get up after all my concentration, turn the faucet on, and watch the colors run together, or thin out, or grow. I like the found combinations I hadn't planned on, but happened to house next to each other in their divots. I overheard a girl in my class say she preferred her metal palette to her plastic, because the paints didn't stain the steel color like they did the white. And it's funny because for as type A as I am, those stains are one of my favorite parts. Like an antique quilt faded from time in the sun and loving washes, or a table whose rings tell the stories of a thousand dinner parties, a colored patched palette warms my soul.

And I find myself snapping pictures of these palettes as I let the water run though my sink. For what ? I don't even know, but lucky you, you get to see them too.

I went to wash this last one last week + thought to myself how ugly it was. Clumpy and dark, I had no plan of photographing it. But as I stared and thought this, I realized how much I felt like that palette on this particular day. I was having a very sad day that felt heavy and blue. It was dark, and felt like I had to trudge through the muck, instead of swimming though cool lake water.

So I took a photo of him too. It felt worthy after it felt representative. And I don't even know why I'm sharing this with you except to say color is one of my favorite things (and I usually use too many words to say very simple things). And to love objects and people for where they are worn + tattered + imprinted, because that is where they've been loved or hurt -- probably the things that have made them the better imperfect that they are today