Just Keep Mov'n...

I've got apartments on the brain. Realtors and craigslist and kitchens and bathrooms and neighborhoods. My current apartment has been on the market for 15 months now, and this week I got the notice that it has been sold, and therefore I must be out by May 1st. I've been in Park Slope for almost five years now, but it seems to have only gotten more expensive, and prices in Manhattan have dropped. So I' m thinking of cheating on my beloved Brooklyn, and moving onto the island. Crazy, right?

I hate the stress of real estate in New York City. It's all rush rush and "available immediately", and "I can show it to you tomorrow if it's still here". It's quick decisions and "can I live without counterspace in the kitchen, or windows here and not there?" "Is this or that neighborhood really where I want to be?"

This is all confounded by the fact that W hasn't heard from grad schools so I'm trying to find a place that I can afford on my own, but that has enough space for us to share if he indeed ends up here. Stress. This weekend will be all about real estate, with appointments already to see upwards of a dozen places. Hopefully something wonderful and new will come of all of this.

Wish us luck!

photo by Alex Varanese via Lost Bird Found

Clothbound Books

I've been using the library a lot lately- if I don't get drawn into a book pretty quickly I return it and grab the next one on my "hold" list. But when it comes to classics, I'll always have room on my bookshelf for a beautifully designed book. I have Sense and Sensibility from the first Penguin Clothbound series, and they've just released another ten.

Little Women in a chocolate brown? Emma? Alice? Yes Please! The Odyssey is so pretty I'm almost tempted to read it again. But not quite. Which is your favorite?

Designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith, discovered via Twig and Thistle

Garden Markers

I would looove to have a garden. Fresh veggies, fresh herbs. Yum. I love the smell of tomato plants. They remind me of summer- that perfect combination of dirt and sunshine. If I'm walking along and spy a tomoto plant, I have to stop and stick my nose in it. Heavenly.

While my little Brookly studio doesn't allow for much digging in the dirt, a girl can still dream. I think these silver spoon garden markers are adorable. What a sweet way to mark a small plot.

Spotted via Naturally Nina, available on Etsy at DaisyChestnut.

Vinyl Sillhouettes

I've gotten a bit tired of the silhoutte trend, but these cut records caught my eye. A series called "Love is in the Air", Carlos Aires carves vinyl into all sorts of crazy characters. I remember the year my sister got her very own record player for Christmas. It was Fisher Price, but I thought it was the coolest thing ever. 

Discovered via d.Sharp

Photo Friday!

Happy Friday! I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend that hopefully includes a lot of time lolling about Prospect Park. It's supposed to hit 72 degrees today. That's summer weather!

Some black and white photo candy for you... I hope you all have a great weekend!

image by Layka

Life is Complicated

This makes me smile, I love the limited color palette!

Illustration by Nicholas Saunders, via Where The Lovely things Are

Birthday Weekend

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

As with every NYC parade, the sound of bagpipes is filtering through my office this morning. It's a blessing and a curse to be close to fifth avenue on parade days!

It's been a bit of a slow, under the weather, week for me. W and I spent the rainy weekend in CT celebrating my dad's birthday. We helped assemble a (complicated) German Forest Cake, and then had a special dinner of cheese and beef fondue. Of course, the birthday boy was is in charge of lighting the fondue. My father is well known for wreaking havoc when allowed to play with fire. Happy Birthday Dad!

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the extra daylight!

Human Subway Map

What a fun way to think about the complexities of our bodies. Sam Loman created this diagram of human anatomy sketched out like a subway map. It represents the arterial, central nervous, digestive, lymphatic, muscalar, respitory, urinary, and venus systems. Interesting take on our bodies, though I doubt it's completely accurate. After all, your appendix isn't really the "end of the line" is it?

Discovered via Cool Hunting, featured in Good Magazine.

Bobby Neel Adams

Bobby Neel Adams merges multiple photos together, highlighting our relationships to our families, or partners, and even our younger selves. 

Age-Maps: Two images of the same person at different times in their lives. "A jump of time is established in the tear". I find such beauty in the older faces- time adds such detail to the plain, smooth faces of youth.

Family Tree: Mother/Daughter and Father/Son composites, without using photoshop. "Investigating the visual DNA passed from generation to generation." I am endlessly fascinated by where genetics begin and end in the emotional webs we create for ourselves. The older I get the more I recognize my mother in my own actions and responses, yet I have a half-sister I feel no connection to.  

discovered via Design Crush.

Photo Friday

Happy Friday! I've decided to start Photo Fridays- a photo or two every Friday just for fun. It could be a quirky candid, or a sexy fashionista shot. Anything goes!

W and I are heading up to CT early tomorrow to celebrate my father's birthday. I'm excited for fondue and German Forest Cake! What are you up to this weekend?

Doesn't this woman look like she just walked out of the Country Buffet and landed in MOMA?

Photo via Me Melodia

Oh Alice!

I love this Alice in Wonderland image (actually an iphone wallpaper) by Katie Kirk. I'm intrigued by the movie, but holding off to avoid the crowds, and of course to avoid the disappointment of yet another over-hyped movie. So, have you seen it? Is is quirky and amazing, or does it fall short?

via Share Some Candy

Wire Dresses

Leigh Pennebaker makes these fabulous wire sculptures, each with a name inspired by the personality of the dress. Below are Juliet, Gwen, Deveraux, Denise, Coco, and Zsa Zsa. She writes that she "channel(s) the spirits of southern belles,  divas, vixens, and ingénues." They look they should be worn with bright red lipstick. Rather saucy aren't they?

found via Maquette

Tents

This warm weather makes me dream of summer- laying in the sunshine listening to the birds, floating in the middle of a lake, and camping. Those warm still nights under the stars.

7 Tents by Gretchen Mist, availble on Etsy; found via Black Eiffel.

Underwater

I hope you all had a lovely, restful weekend! W stayed up in Boston to kick the sniffles so I had a few quiet days to myself. The sunshine made it the perfect lazy weekend to hit up the greenmarket, enjoy a smoothie outside Tea Lounge, and catch up with some girlfriends over brunch.

Check out these images of surfers by Wayne Levin, discovered via Lost. I love the contrast of energy and motion with the dark, silent world of beneath the water.

Self-Portrait Sunday

Playing along with My Topography's new Self-Portrait Sunday feature... wanna play?

Portrait

How beautiful and haunting is this photo? I love how subtle and timeless it is. Ache.

By Softcollapse, found via the always excellent Feaverish Photography

Twitter

I've taken the plunge and joined Twitter. (@pbandpoetry). Come say Hello!
Photo by Brooke Shaden

Paint Images

My mind's been in a bit of a swirl lately, sorting out comings and goings. All candy colored lines of motion and confusion and hopefully a little bit of poetry. The fluid motion of paint conveys such a rich intention, full of possibilities and direction and promise. Don't you just want to dip a finger into the wet paint and leave a little mark of disruption? To just for a second disrupt the smooth flow onward?

Paint images by Kristina at Kris's Color Stripes; Constructed landscapes by Gregory Euclide, via Me Melodia; Paint table by John Nouanesing from epotpourri;

Vermont Weekend

Saturday morning W and I woke up to a white wonderland in Vermont. Friday night it was wet and muddy, but by the morning the trees were heavy with thick snow that had come silently during the night. The sky was a solid white, with the sun gradually burning through. It snowed most of the day, moving between flat grey skies, and magical sparkling sunlight.