05.03.07
I live in Takoma Park, a historic turn-of-the-century close-in Maryland suburb to Washington, DC. Utne Reader dubbed my hometown: Leftiest burb anywhere. I’ve also heard it referred to as Berkeley East, Tie-dye Park, and The People’s Republic of Takoma Park.
So, as you can imagine, when CVS wanted to build one of their stores, with its humongous blasting signage and Made in China m.o., right here in the heart of “downtown,” there was a lot of hullaballoo, hooha, and ole’ fashioned protestation by the ex-hippie-turned-uber-high-income-earning-big-SUV-driving populace. That’s another story for another time, and I’m not going there right now. But the dealio is, CVS did get built and it’s conveniently located across the street from our office building. We like to stroll over for a soda, to have a private meeting, or just to kill a little time when our brains are aching from too much brilliant creativity.
Besides, I’m a drugstore cowgirl from way back and where else can you score great cheap make-up by the bucketful, the latest affordable wrinkle-cream concoctions, giant tubs of dry roasted peanuts with this really tasty seasoning, and occasionally a bundle of awesome CDs for very silly prices, see above. So what if they give you the wrong prespcription from time to time? Is it gonna kill ya? Oh, and yes, all songs are the original recordings by the original artists. Whaddya think I am??
Thus, if you call my office, designfarm, you’ll be treated to the sweet sounds of Roy, The Byrds, Frank, and the O’Jays on our hold music. So call now and call often! Especially if you have some good graphic design projects for us, ok?
Subject: Blog, I Heart Shopping, They Call It Work | No Comments »
04.03.07
I met Susie Stern (below left) and Amy Schildhouse Greenberg (below center) 40 years ago when I was nine and moved to Columbus Ohio. From 4th grade through high school graduation, and now that we are grown-ups with fourth-graders of our own… we’ve had adventures unlimited, apart and together. A more creative gang of girls you’ll never meet; Susie designs handbags for her company Cowbunnies, Amy is a fiction writer and translator, and well, you know me. To celebrate turning 50 this year, we convened from DC, Columbus, and Atlanta at the fabulously funky, cheap and chic Chelsea Star Hotel in NYC for a weekend of shopping, art, trading wrinkle cream secrets, and our special brand of merriment which, suffice to say, words can not capture. As always, I heart NY… and this trip was extra special indeed.
Happy Birthday to us!
Amy and her new boyfriend (sorry Josh), Mr. Kaufman, of Kaufman’s Furs. We just wandered into this famous spot for the sheer fun of it and ended up spending an hour touring the back rooms and factory and pretending we were hip-hop divas. Note to Josh: Amy looked TERRIF in that coat. Note to Clark: One word–Balenciaga.
This is my idea of a good use of fur (if there is such a thing), Marcel Duchamp’s Meret Oppenheim’s (boy is my surrealist face red, and thanks Arlene!) enduring sculpture at MoMA.
Jackson, oh Jackson, how I love thee. I spent awhile in the Pollock room at MoMA.
Looking at the sky and thinking of Molly.
The goddess of self-portraiture, Cindy Sherman at MoMA.
Subject: Blog, I Heart Shopping, Modern Art | No Comments »
03.02.07
For those of you have been reading this blog, you know that as Vessel of the Lord I am about to come into a large sum of money. $26.7 million to be exact.
And that, my friends, is a whole lotta beads. Especially when (professional and/or hopelessly addicted thrifter that I am), many of the very best beads in the world can be had for pennies on the dollah.
The two collections pictured above and below were scored last week and this week and cost under $10 (total) for each group. Above includes a really gorgeous looong strand of either wooden or carved seeds (the ends are very strange), a nice string of black glass rosary beads, and two yummy pairs of beaded earrings. The clusters are probably 50’s (love that palette), the hot pink dangles are 60’s. Just amazing.
This group includes some early plastic candy-ish orange beads, probably lucite, but with incredible opaque creamy swirled inclusions, modern but still useful tiny rosary pearls, and a really yummy strand of mixed stuff including deep emerald glass crystal cut beads and what is known as “sugar” beads (those bumpy ones). I’m loving yellow right now, as well as turquoise… excellent score, eh?
Subject: Blog, I Heart Shopping, They Call It Work | No Comments »
02.13.07
Are you racing around like a lunatic looking for something unique to bestow upon your sweetie tomorrow? Well, it’s too late for gorgeous handmade jewelry from So Charmed (there’s always next year though!), but have you considered your local Trader Joe’s grocery store? No? What’s wrong with you?
After ignoring TJ’s for over a year I returned last weekend and was pleasantly surprised to find vast improvements in their offerings… the produce was WAY better and the gourmet prepared foods were fabulous, creative (eggplant parmesan with filo dough!) and will keep me happliy microwaving for the whole week. But what really hooked me were the unusual and remakably well-priced exotic treats that TJ’s is famous for, such as edible, sort of candied, dried Hibiscus flowers (shown above and below) which have a delicate cranberryish flavor that is truthfully nowhere near as exciting as the visuals… they seriously look like weird aliens. Even run of the mill strawberries were spectacular visually (lots of leafiness and some stems!) and produced a pop of crispy tart-juicy flavor when I finally finished photographing them and served them up for breakfast.
Molly and I have been late to school two mornings running now due to my “need” to photograph foods purchased last weekend at TJ’s. The least I could do was share, right? So, if you don’t have time to pick some up, or you are one of those poor unfortunates that doesn’t have TJ’s, Whole Foods, and an actual old-school Food Co-op fiercely competing for your food dollars, yank these photographic valentines off the blog and pass them on. But you better at least show up with chocolate in person… and I KNOW you have a drugstore nearby so get going, it’s slim pickin’s out there at this point.
Subject: Blog, I Heart Shopping, Modern Art | No Comments »
02.02.07
Sometimes my day-job business life is pretty stressful, like this week, when we had a very important press check for a very important project… a day when I really wanted to feel on top of my game, on top of the world and just plain good about myself.
For many DC businesswomen, this would mean a power-suit, but for me, it meant donning a cute outfit that was a mix of pinstriped fitted straight-leg pants and a layer-y jacket with a built-in hoodie (Urban Outfitters… I still love that place), and accessorizing from my massive collection of, well, accessories.
It’s so easy to overaccessorize isn’t it? While I do have a tendency to over-layer clothing (jeans under skirts under jackets with tank tops and t-shirts–oh my!) I actually don’t wear a lot of jewelry during the week b/c I’m so freaking busy and it always feels fussy and bothersome. But that day, I pinned on this adorable handmade flower boutonniere (above) that had just arrived in the mail from Alicia Paulson’s ingenious store Rosy Little Things, along with one of my newer charm bracelets called Bluebird of Happiness (below). I wondered if I’d overdone it, but as I entered the conference room where my staff and the client were awaiting my arrival, I felt a surge of… not power exactly, but goodness. Happiness. Worthiness.
And, as I toyed with a teensy sterling silver Jack charm, staring down past my left shoulder at my wrist, it was clear that the warm feeling of goodness was emanating from the lovely pin, and yes, my bracelet too. Maybe also a little bit from these kick-ass pointy boots I had on, but that’s another post entirely.
Wearing handmade goods is like walking around with a big hug squeezing you. You are saying, well… duh! Didn’t I know this?? I mean, I MAKE handmade goods, don’t I? Yep, I do. So, I can’t explain the epiphany; maybe it was the day, or the particular combination of another crafty-girl’s stuff plus mine. I can’t say for sure.
If you’re thinking that perhaps I’m tooting my own horn here, and asking you to go buy my jewelry, honestly, I’m not. In fact, I’d like to ask you to go visit Rosy Little Things because Alicia is an absolute GENIUS of art, craft, color and design, and her things are full of love.
Support handmade goods, with all your heart (and your pocketbook too). The love will flow back at ya.
Subject: Blog, I Heart Shopping, They Call It Work | No Comments »
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