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

Rings

All of my favorite pieces of jewelry have stories behind them, such as who gave it to me, or where I was when I bought it. They each hold little bits of memory. The 50s vintage charm on a chain my mother gave me with "Happy Sixteenth" engraved on the back.  The necklace I bargained for in dusty Morroco market. The ring I bought after a big fight with my boyfriend.

I love jewelry with history- how about creating that history? You can actually make your own wedding rings right here in lower Manhattan. As in, using fire, hammers, and a whole lot of elbow grease. I can see all that sanding and polishing being very frustrating- but in the end what could be more symbolic than literally putting your own sweat (and in my case, probably tears) into your partner's wedding ring? I think a handmade ring would be a perfect expression of your own unique imperfections, plus you'll have all the memories of the 8 plus hours you spent making them together! It'll be awhile before you find me swearing over a chunk of metal that is supposed to resemble a ring, but I'm filing this one away!  Check out the details of one couples journey here.

The Weekend

We finally got some sunshine this weekend, the light was beautiful. We got our '60s groove on for a Mad Men themed party (I still haven't seen the show!), took a ride through Central Park, lingered over brunch, and watched the New Years Parade in Chinatown. It'll be a short week here at Peanut Butter and Poetry as I'm heading up to Boston Thursday night en route to a long weekend in Vermont. I hope your week is off to a great start!

Stunning...

It's amazing what a little touch of crimson can do.
via the The Sartorialist of course...

What Inspires Me: Blog it Forward

Welcome newcomers to Peanut Butter and Poetry! Blog it Forward is a chain-letter type progression of blogs linking backwards and forwards to each other in a line. Many thanks to Victoria of Sfgirlbybay for pulling this all together! More details here, as well as a full list of the 300 blogs participating and their scheduled days here. Thanks to Paris Hotel Boutique for passing the torch!


So, on to a few things that inspire me...


1. New York City

 

The people next to me on the subway, the museums, the amazing restaurants. How does one choose between Opera in the park, strolling across the Brooklyn Bridge, or a drink on the Met rooftop? This city is alive at all hours with an energy that shifts and changes by neighborhood. Astoria, Park Slope, the Upper East Side, the Village- each one has it's own people, vibe, trends, and architecture. Each one is a mini city of it's own. 


Credits: The poster above is by Julia Rothman, soon to grace our subway cars, and available at the MTA store. Thanks to Oh Joy for the head's up!


2. Travel

All that city energy can be draining, and I often find inspiration in new places, new faces, and new vistas. I love history- seeing something hundreds, or even thousands, of years old takes my breathe away. Exploring the world, whether it's with a scuba tank or hiking boots, helps renew my sense of wonder in this crazy world. 


Travel can also be imagining yourself in new places, like this house on it's own cliff in Iceland. Or peeking into other peoples lives via the Sartorialist. I'm not a big fashion connoisseur, most days you'll find me in jeans with my hair pulled back with the same old clip. But when I see these photos I imagine a whole life for these people. Whether it's taken in Milan, or on Madison Ave, I feel transported. 


Credits: The largest known Olmec head in Santiago Tuxtla, Mexico; Camping in Playa Tamarindo, Costa Rica; Trying out the Cu Chi Tunnels (enlarged for tourists!) in Vietnam;  From Kilimanjaro, Tanzania; Iceland photo here, as part of Heartthrobs and Villains "Let's Run Away" series; Fashion from The Sartorialist - 2/8 (man) 11/23 (woman).


3. Contemporary Photographers

I'm constantly inspired by contemporary photographers. Anyone that makes me look at the world a little differently. I love dreamy, ethereal prints, scratchy film edges, and have a huge soft spot for black and white images. 


Credits: Ballerina by Logan White, via Feaverish Photography; Field by Keith Davis Young via Lost; Freckles by Vic at Lost; Water by From Me to You; Yasmine Bleeth by Piewacket, with the story behind it here;


I hope you've enjoyed our journey through a few of my inspirations!
I now Blog it Forward to Piewacket! (what a great name, right?)

Books...

Let's talk about books. Real, paper, curl up with it on the couch, books. I read pretty quickly, and pass along a lot of books when I'm finished, but there are some I hang onto dearly. I borrowed W's copy of Illusions last year, and loved it so much I asked for my own copy, which he gave me for my birthday. I also love inscriptions inside books when they are gifts- so you'll always remember who gave it to you and when.

So I was thrilled to see that Pretty Pretty Paper and East Side Bride have started Read the Printed Word, a pledge to continue reading real books in this age of iphones and kindles and all manner of electronic thingy-mabobs. They have lovely buttons you can add to your blog (like the image above, or the stack of books to the right) if you decide to take the pledge, and they might even start up a book club around it. 

One of my goals for 2010 is to not only read more good books, but to use the New York Public Libary. I got a library card when I first moved to New York, but as a grad student I spent most of my time in the main research library which is gorgeous (remember the first wedding scene in Sex and the City?), but you can't actually check out any of the books. And there my patronage ended. Until Now. This week I dusted off my library card and got it reactivated. It seems that at some point in the last few years the NYPL has become this amazing, free, "Netflix of Books"! You can save lists of books online, and put things on hold which they will ship to the branch of your choice, and they even tell you how long the wait is. I have six books on hold at the moment- it seems I am number 84 in line for a copy of My Life in France by Julia Child. Yay for books and our amazing system of public libraries!

Cityscapes

I have a love/hate relationship with New York City. Having grown up in the country, I detest the noise and the crowds. I hate the smells emanating from the cement in the summer, and the slow tourists clogging up the sidewalks. But slowly over the last five years, the city has seduced me. Plying me with its endless restaurants of every variety. Cajoling with it's subway system that runs all night, and it's stores that stay open late. Somewhere along the way the very grittiness of city became part of its charm.

Marc Yankus' cityscapes diffuse all the chaos and noise into the softness of a summer rain. The glare of the buildings become like sparkling Christmas lights, and we feel like we're wrapped in an old memory that's just starting to fade.  With a little bit of the grime thrown back in here or there of course...  
Discovered via P at What Possessed Me.