manhattan

thanks to an old episode of mad men that i watched recently, i've just fallen even more in love with ella fitzgerald (and new york, of course). ella covered a song called "manhattan" on the album ella fitzgerald sings the rodgers and hart songbook in 1956. it's truly a gem, and makes me smile (like ella, billie holiday and sarah vaughan normally do). give it a listen and tell me it doesn't make you wish you were dancing on the brooklyn bridge with gene kelly... just me? ok. well, listen regardless :)

go do

i had completely lost track of the sigur rós side project of lead singer jón (jónsi) birgisson until my friend jake reminded me the other week. i bought jónsi's new album sunday night and haven't been able to stop listening since! (i'm sure my neighbors are really angry that i've been playing it so loud lately, but that probably makes us even for their loud... talking.)

the first two songs on the album, "go do" and "animal arithmetic," are my favorite and make me want to dance so hard. if i wasn't listening to them on my ipod on a crowded train to work in the morning, i would be dancing up a storm for sure! my friend jean and i are going to see jónsi play the second weekend in may, but until then, i'm going to watch these videos on repeat:

"go do"

"sinking friendships"

when i grow up...

one thing i've become increasingly more aware of in the past several months is that i've never had to fully furnish a living space on my own. living with roommates typically results in a hodge-podge of pieces, which usually creates a less-than-cohesive aesthetic.

i'm looking forward to the day when i have enough dinero to make my personal design dreams come true--we're talking re-covering my grandmother's couch and adding a few new pieces to the mix... nothing too over the top. i would love to own one of these chairs (if not all) at some point in the not-too-distant future.








i also wouldn't mind some/one of these pieces to add to my non-existent collection (all of which can be found at anthropologie)...






what it basically boils down to is that i have expensive taste. it's the sad truth. the best way to remedy this? find similar pieces at flea markets or thrift stores! there's a thrift/vintage store i like in williamsburg on n. 6th called 10 ft. single (by stella dallas); they've recently opened up a furniture/home goods component next door. another great place to scavenge for furniture is housing works, which has several store locations in manhattan. (proceeds go towards the "twin crises of AIDS and homelessness.") i'm going to save my pennies and do some window shopping this weekend.

truancy treasures

while taking the day off from work to relax and catch up on... work, i managed to stumble across some really cool blogs and sites with kitschy finds. take this birthday cake mold, for instance, from the spoon sisters. if a friend or loved one made me a cake using this guy, i would be oh-so-delighted. food for thought (literally and figuratively).

the tongue-in-cheek offerings of design trio you and me, the royal we are also pretty fantastic. i really like these all occasions cards, and the description for the "these machines kill fascists" collection of pencils cracks me up, too:

"The pen is mightier than the sword, sure. So then a pencil is like way mightier than the sword, because it has an eraser, which means you can refine your mightierness. The other thing that makes these pencils so wicked mighty is that they each say "this machines kills fascists", which is kind of meta, what with the mightiness and all. Oh, and it’s a shout out to Woody."

travel-ocity

i saw this new series of travel posters by the heads of state in real simple and via swissmiss and had to re-post. i especially love the phoenix and seattle prints!

spring has sprung

it's amazing how a little sunshine can make you realize that you do, in fact, have a soul. that's what i love about the winter-to-spring transition. the little black cloud that's been hovering over you for a good portion of the past five or so months has suddenly decided to move on. joy!

this spring, i'm most looking forward to picnicking in the park, getting a little color on this unfortunately pasty skin of mine, and heading down to charleston, sc for a friend's wedding in april. it'll be a nice little "vacation" from work/new york. seeing my 'rents and friends from way-back-when only sweetens the deal.

i also wanted to make an addendum to my new year's resolution(s)... i've been consistently working on this one since january, so i don't want it to come across as a delayed resolution. ok, here goes: i've been "training" (i feel like a cheese for using that word) for a half marathon. basically, i've been better at getting to the gym, having a tangible goal in mind. me? proud? you betcha.

teacher's pet

i'm taking an introductory graphic design course (basic core) through parsons this semester and thought i'd share my first homework assignment with the class (below).

for our first challenge, we were given the task to create a self portrait using only one font... no bastardization allowed (i.e. skewing, italicizing, etc.)! believe it or not, i only used the following letters to create the image: a, C, c, D, e, F, f, i, j, k, M, p, S, v and x (not to mention a handful of parentheses and exclamation marks).

i rather like the concept, and i think my version turned out pretty well. i've been thinking about trying a few more just for fun (ha! imagine that!), but it might have to play second fiddle to my other assignments for now.


*i used american typewriter font