My number one fashion love is jumpsuits, but a close second is t-shirts. YUP, simple, cotton, every-day tees. And so it makes me giddy that I just bought myself a new tee that is fun and unique. My new tee is The Air Barack from Unfortunate Portrait. There are a lot to choose from, but since my love for Obama runs deep, I decided on this one.
Air Barack. (Sigh. I miss Obama).
One of my friends, Scarlett Baily, is a talented artist based in Mexico City. She is young, fun, stylish, and oh-so-cool, painting mainly caricatures of people and animals for different events and companies. Scarlett also has painted two portraits for us that are my favorite two pieces of art in our house — they make me so happy and give such a fun flair to the playroom. So when she texted me this summer that she was coming to NYC, I came up with the idea of having her paint a shark in the kids’ bathroom. You see, Cruzzie is obsessed with sharks and loves everything about them. They are his go-to stuffed animals, his favorite books.. and he can basically name every shark in existence. So I wanted something special in the kids’ bathroom to reflect his love for the animal (and yes, first child’s love is overlooked by second kid’s interests. oops). Here they are, I love the final Sharkie! It is so different, special, and unique. It brightens up the bathroom and looks fresh and young!
Mr. Sharkie!
David Monn, the style guru and event planner extraordinaire, is good friends with my mother-in-law, as well as our own wedding planner (from almost 10 years ago!). Glamorous, chic, and stylish as ever, he was nice enough to sit down for a quickfire interview. Take a look!
David Monn, and his dog, Sammy. What a handsome pair!
There is a new neighbor in my hood, a nail art salon, Valley Nails. YEP, who knew, nail art! I mean, I guess I did, but I had never experienced it.
Welcome to the block!
It was everything that I expected it to be — a treat for a special occasion, such as a wedding (my excuse to get them done) or Halloween. A little pizazz and jazz to spice up a simple manicure. It felt fancy and fun, and I will definitely return to get more nail art before my next special event.
Halloween nails. I love these, but would never have the patience to sit there for that long, or actually be able to carry off this look.
I must confess that I am very #blessed; I have a mother that knits the most incredible and divine sweaters and spoils us with her creations, and a mother-in-law that is Queen of Fashion and Taste, and generously gifts us an obscene amount of clothing for the children, especially cashmere sweaters. (YUP, totally #spoiled, my babies both had more cashmere than I have ever had in my entire lifetime). I never knew what to do with all the old cashmere, until I found on social media (thanks again, Facebook), that a friend had a custom quilt made from all of her kid’s leftover cashmere. GENIUS. So, since 2012, I have saved every sweater with the plan of eventually having a quilt. After 4+ years of collecting, I sent everything last spring to Joan of The Green Sheep so she could make a quilt for each child. I got them this past weekend, and holy smokes, they are beyond beautiful. I am so so so so in love with the beautiful pieces of art that Joan created and am in total awe of her artistic and thoughtful viewpoint. Take a look. And start saving your kids’ sweaters!
Luxurious blankets!
Recently, I was gifted a big coloring poster. YUP, for the family to color on. Apparently, the new it thing is for adults to color to release stress, calm the mind, and channel a worry-free life. SOOOOOOO…..it happened.
Coloring.
Best discovery EVER (and of course, made in Portland, Oregon), is a crayon holder. I know, it sounds WAY OVER-DRAMATIC, but trust me, it seriously rocks my world. It made me want to start carrying it around not for the kids, but for ME! Easy, hip, amazing.
crayon burrito!
Believe it or not, Summer is around the corner! 6 more weeks! So better get going on the Spring Activities in New York City. My list is long and I hope to accomplish most of them this season!
1. Stroll the grounds at Storm King
A way of being outside in nature and enjoying art at the same time. Looks so beautiful and interesting and fun in the Spring or Fall!
As mentioned on Monday, we spent the weekend in Marfa, Texas (and yes, ‘Marfa’ sounds like ‘Martha’ but with a lisp. Kinda like how my 4 year old son says ‘flane’ instead of ‘plane’). Here are some photos highlighting the 36 hours in Texas.
We stayed at the beautiful Cibolo Creek Ranch which is 30 miles south of Marfa. So even more in the middle of nowhere. But the vast country side was incredibly beautiful and soothing. The big sky, the animal noises, the nature, and the purity.
Happy Monday! We just got back from an amazing, quick trip to Marfa, Texas. It was a lot of travel (two flights and a 3.5 hour drive both on Friday and on Sunday), but well worth it, as we went to attend the wedding of two good friends. Marfa, Texas is in the middle of NOWHERE. BFE to the max! In addition to the wedding ceremony, we were able to tour around the town, soak up some culture at the Chinati Foundation, and do a drive-by-photo-shoot of the Pop Art Prada Marfa store (even more in the middle of nowhere — 37 miles away from Marfa!).
Take 1
I am a huge supporter of small companies from Eugene, Oregon. Although I live in NYC, I still feel like a true Eugeneian, and am always so proud of local companies that sell products across the country (and globe!), like Nancy’s Yogurt, Toby’s Tofu, and So Delicious, just to name a few. I am especially in awe of Wee Can Too, a kids art supply company, created by a high school classmate, Sarid Ditton, and her partner Nicole (go South Eugene!). Sarid and Nicole are current examples of exemplary women with a goal and a dream (The Josie Natori of Art Supplies!). Trust me, the products are truly amazing!
Obsessed with anything from Portland, Brooklyn, and / or Stockholm, I recently came across the magazine, Kinfolk, from Portland, Oregon. And now, I am hooked. This inspirational, quarterly, ad-free print magazine is a piece of art, not just a magazine. Goodbye, Cosmo, and Hello, Basquiat! (And yes, I had this planned before the New York Times Sunday Styles article yesterday! The Josie Girl and the NYT apparently think alike!)
Wallpaper as art — what??? Super duper unique, interesting, playful, and affordable. Just what we like in art! When we were re-doing the house in Pound Ridge, NY, we had a huge blank wall that needed some OOMPH but didn’t want to spend the $$ on anything. So, our lovely designer, Ali Tick, came up with the most innovative and smart move EVER (hence the reason she is the designer, and we are the consumers). Wallpaper on a section of the wall, covered with plexiglass and large nails to LOOK like a piece of art. Brilliant.
Entrance into the house with the wallpaper in the center.
Ken and I are just back from Norway and one of the most amazing wedding celebrations/weekends we have ever been a part of. There are some Norwegian themed posts to come, but in the meantime, Ali Berlin, Contributing Editor, to the rescue! Take it away!
___
My dear friend Kate Seward is a cool, brilliant captor of beauty. Street style photographer, pro blogger and wordsmith, her way of witnessing the world stirs my insides. Kate and I met through our mutual BFF Carrie when we all lived in San Francisco, and I was instantly intrigued by her choices: lifestyle, clothing, books, words, perspective and humility (yes, I believe humility is a choice). Her talent is profound, her self-expression exquisite.
Kate started her blog The Styley in March 2011, and since then the New York Times has featured 25 of her streetstyle photos.
Since I am a wannabe amateur photographer (Bixby, my dog, is my main subject), I went straight to KS with my questions on how to snap better. Thought we could all use a few tips so here are her responses, along with some images which are individually labeled with the Hipstamatic film, lens and flash used on each one.
Kate Seward, Mistress of Light and Lens.
My husband says that my stories need to be shorter and funnier, but I am not sure how I can tell a quick story about the background on this AMAZING project by my friend, Alyse Edmur…
How cute is she????
Alyse is not only cute, adorable, pinch-able, smart, artsy, and likeable, but she is also the girlfriend of a close friend, Michael Parker, a classmate of mine at Pomona College. Michael Parker (he is one of those people I have to always address by first and last name) was the hot stud on campus (of the surfer, artsy, maybe never showered crew). Michael Parker is the type of person that you want at YOUR party because he is just so fun, wild, charming, interesting, interested, and hubba hubba good looking.
Sooooo Michael Parker.
So you couldn’t put two better people together than Alyse and Michael Parker. They are just the oh-so-perfect-match-made-in-heaven. You want to take them both and fit them in your pocket to carry around at all times — they are just both so perfectly cute and fun.
I mean, come on, don’t you want to be friends with them?
But this isn’t about their love story. Instead, it’s about the spectacular and fascinating book just released by Alyse (both Alyse and Michael Parker are talented LA based artists).
