Seven More Questions

In our second installment of Seven Questions I picked the brilliant technicolor brain of one of my best friends, Renu. She is a fabulous Manhattan dwelling friend, wife, professional, and mom-to-be! In fact the present wrapped in December paper in my last post was a gift for her growing bean, who is due in December!

Q 1. What's something you wish more people knew?

A 1. Their blood type. I can never seem to remember mine.

Q 2. Current sources of inspiration? (Books, websites, movies, music, people, places, food)

A 2. Elle Decor for aspirational living spaces, Garance Dore for clothes/style, Papercrave for paper/design inspiration, fffound as well, 'Lagerfeld Confidentiel' for Karl Lagerfeld's direct quotes and comic relief, 'Casino' has been visually inspiring for me since high school, Alexa Chung for style, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg for career inspiration, tomato cheddar soup from Hale and Hearty to warm you up, the blue seas around Tobago for brilliant color.

Sam Rothstein takes a smoke break.

Alexa Chung's cat eyes.

Q 3. What did you want to be when you grew up? What do you do now?

A 3. My mom reminds me that my first proclaimed aspiration was to be a 'doggie doctor.' I am the farthest thing from a vet. Just took a new job in finance (my background) and will be taking on the job of a lifetime (being a mama) in December! 

Q 4. When you look back on your first love, how do you think your idea of love has changed or stayed the same? What have you learned from then to now?

A 4. Changed: Love doesn't have to be rife with barriers and sacrifice. When it is the right person, things will flow and it will come together and just work, unobstructed. Stayed the same: It is perfectly OK to be infatuated with your partner, even after 5.5 years!

Q 5. What is your biggest weakness? (Spiritual, disciplinary, dietary)

Q 5. Inability to commit to an exercise routine. Ever.

Q 6. Three things you want or are working toward in your future?

Q 6. A house. A creative enterprise at some point. A kick-ass family of my own to add to the two families I already have.

Q 7. And finally, for my records, chocolate/chocolate, chocolate/vanilla,  vanilla/vanilla or other (please specify)? (This is helpful in case I am ever bringing you dessert).

A 7. With regards to cupcakes? Vanilla with vanilla icing! Or carrot with orange vanilla icing! Or vanilla with chocolate icing! You decide. [OK, hummingbird cupcakes! Since you introduced me to them!]

Reusing Is Where It's At

Took home a bunch of old Dolphin Studio calendars from work a few months ago when we were cleaning out a closet. They are nice enough that you don't want to get rid of them at the end of the year, but unless you are particularly attached to a month that you want to hang up on its own, what do you do with them?

You reuse the pages as wrapping paper! 


Awesome since I love paper gift wrappings and adornments but won't let myself go crazy spending a lot of money on dreamy gift wrap since it all gets ripped up and thrown out. This is the best of both worlds. 

Cozy Fall Weekend Ahead

My mom is about to make some upgrades to her kitchen and asked for my help. The room as it is now is beloved to her, but she recognizes that new cabinets offer much needed organization opportunities and storage space. Of course this leads to all sorts of questions of layout, new appliances, and new materials, and then next thing you know you have a project on a scale much larger than what you had envisioned. I think she is bringing me in for reinforcement, so she doesn't just retreat from the whole thing.


The first thing I do when approaching a home project is accumulate a lot of inspiration by looking through magazines and design blogs. It propels me into action. When the project gets underway and I start to feel a little lost, I always go back to it as a reminder of what's on the other side of all the discomfort, second-guessing, anxiety, mess, and bills. (I hate an inbetween stage.) So my first move was to send Mom images of good kitchens I have on file. I went through all the jpegs in my dropbox (Do you have one for your home and work computers? Life changing!!!), and in the process came across some images from a tiny 1840s farmhouse in upstate New York that I die for. It has nothing to do with my mom's project but I had to share. 

It is the epitome of this time of year in the Northeast.  This morning on my way out the door Mr. SevPrez told me I looked nice, "very Northeast," (plaid shirt and cropped corduroy peacoat) to which I replied, "Well, that's where we are!" But he begged to differ. He thinks we are just tristate. Can't we be both? Or do I really have to give it up and just move six hours north? Please advise.

Love the wall color, the map, the globe, the beat up table, etc. 

Amazing hand-papered wall treatment with blank antique paper. I have always loved this look, but this is the first time I've ever seen it done with blank paper. Lots of great bathrooms in restaurants in New York have done it with old books or newspapers. I would love to do this in a bathroom but I think maybe it's only worth doing in our "adult house." This is what my sister-in-law calls the house you see your kids growing up in. I'm not there yet, but hope our next house will be the one. We'll keep saving our pennies.

Time Capsule

Stumbled upon this in my old college stuff. Can you believe it's 9 years old? Seems so current.

Bukowski; Something Like Warhol Said

Maybe I'll start naming all my posts as if they are episodes of Studio 360. (That's an inside joke that nobody will get. Does anyone listen to that show? Nobody ever talks about it except in the New Yorker. Not a good sign.)


"Either nobody's a beauty, or everyone is." Or something like it, I give myself permission to quote inaccurately and with impunity when not at work. 


I love Bukowski, he was such an unapologetic sentimental bastard. 


Me and him, we're saying the same thing. He's just being a badass about it.


The Secret
by Charles Bukowski


Don't Worry, nobody has the 
beautiful lady, not really, and
nobody has the strange and 
hidden power, nobody is
exceptional or wonderful or
magic, they only seem to be
it's all a trick, an in, a con,
don't buy it, don't believe it.
The world is packed with
billions of people whose lives
and deaths are useless and
when one of these jumps up
and the light of history shines
upon them, forget it, it's not 
what it seems, it's just 
another act to fool the fools
again.


There are no strong men, there
are no beautiful women.
At least, you can die knowing
this
and you will have 
the only possible
victory.




Just to prove that Bukowski was blowing smoke with all this angry alcoholic nihilism, I offer this rejoinder.


You Don't Know What Love Is (an evening with Charles Bukowski)
by Raymond Carver


You don't know what love is Bukowski said
I'm 51 years old look at me 
I'm in love with this young broad
I got it bad but she's hung up too
so it's all right man that's the way it should be
I get in their blood and they can't get me out
They try everything to get away from me
but they all come back in the end
They all came back to me except
the one I planted
I cried over that one
But I cried easy in those days
Don't get me onto the hard stuff man
I get mean then
I could sit here and drink beer
and nothing it's like water
But let me get onto the hard stuff
and I'll start throwing people out windows
I'll throw anybody out the window
I've done it
But you don't know what love is
You don't know because you've never
been in love it's that simple
I got this young broad see she's beautiful
She calls me Bukowski
Bukowski she says in this little voice
and I say What
But you don't know what love is
I'm telling you what it is
but you aren't listening


...


I'm 51 years old now and I'm in love
This little broad she says
I think you're full of shit
and I say baby you understand me
She's the only broad in the world 
man or woman
I'd take that from
But you don't know what love is
They all came back to me in the end too
Every one of em came back
except that one I told you about
the one I planted
We were together seven years
We used to drink a lot
I see a couple of typers in this room but
I don't see any poets
I'm not surprised
You have to have been in love to write poetry
and you don't know what it is to be in love
That's your trouble
Give me some of that stuff
That's right no ice good
that's good that's just fine
So let's get this show on the road
I know what I said but I'll have just one
That tastes good
Okay then let's go let's get this over with
Only afterwards don't anyone stand close
to an open window.

Marimekko Love

Guess what everyone's getting for Christmas this year?

As of tomorrow, the Crate & Barrel below my office will also house a Marimekko store. This is very dangerous! My cloth napkin collection has already grown to two fully stuffed drawers! I already have my eye on their pillows, and my tiny Marimekko dress (thank god leggings are in or else it would be scandalous) is one of my favorites. I doubt they will carry apparel but I will certainly let you know!

Keeping The Doctor Away

Sometimes I wonder how I'm going to fill my sketchbook with things I want for my future when I'm not the most technically proficient illustrator. I have a lot of big ideas that I can't figure out how to represent on the page. In instances when I solve the riddle of how to work with my skill level, it makes me very happy.

Click for full size.

Yesterday I woke up sick, after running an awesome half marathon on Sandy Hook. I think one of the ROTC kids working the aid stations must have had a cold and passed it along with the gatorade. As unpleasant as I feel, I'm really excited that my new favorite drawing came out of it. I'm also grateful that I had some beautiful apples left from apple picking with my favorite West Coaster. Sometimes everything comes together.


Oh, and the Pats won! All in all it was a good Monday, despite the head cold.