1.18-1.19.07 // BOSTON // Central Sq / Harvard Sq / Downtown Xing

1.17.08 // BOSTON // Campus / Lansdowne Street

BOSTON // Hunt Ave / Dodge Hall / Public Alley / Newbury St

{the english countryside}

A little slow with the updates, this week, I know--(sometimes there are not enough hours in a day). When I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, I think about donning my wellies à la Kate Moss at Glastonbury, or Marina Hanbury (although I probably wouldn't wear them with a see-through evening gown) and head to the English countryside, the perfect place for repose . . . green rolling hills, moors, dales, old stone cottages, skittish rabbits, rambling rose bushes, fiesty roosters, random sheep wandering about the narrow, winding roads and rustic footpaths.

If you ever feel the need to (really) escape the city, find your way to the English countryside, and you'll return with a new perspective. The little village where we stayed has remained unchanged for years, farmers still building and maintaining stone pasture walls by hand, years of history in each perfectly placed rounded rock, on top of moss-covered remants and beneath newly built wooden step ladders. Here, time nearly stands still and the pace of life is relaxed, the pride of the town lying in their recent win in a countrywide botanical competition. Here you'll get to know the utterly charming locals and taste local cuisne, such as Lemon Baked Sole au Gratin, and here you'll lose yourself in the greenest hills and country air . . .

{Marina Hanbury collecting eggs}

{one of my favourite photographs, farmer and cow ambling down a cottage road}

{late summer lamb}

{old stone cottage with enormous pink hydrangeas}

{English roses}

BOSTON // Ruggles / Snell Library

{ridiculously beautiful furniture}

{Mesa gerencia Paralelas}

Recently came across the Tresserra Collection, a line of astonishingly beautiful and incredibly well-crafted furniture by designer Jaume Tresserra, whose commitment to hand craftsmanship and the use of high quality materials has resulted in pieces that are not only extremely functional, but also lovely to look at--a combination that is becoming increasingly rare these days.

{Credencia Nobel, above and below}

{Mueble bar Elíptic, above}

{Mesa centro Escarabajo, above and below}

{heavenly spheres}

With little gold petals that cast magical (and romantic) shadows, the gold version of the Orten'zia suspended lamp is such a work of art, you almost forget it's a light fixture. Designed by Bruno Rainaldi for Terzani, tiny metal petals are hand-soldered to make up spheres that are then finished in gold-plate.
{Total height suspension: 190 cm max, diameters from 50 to 70 cm; the Orten'zia is also available in table and floor versions. }

{Click here to view another favourite gold fixtures.}

1.12.08 // BOSTON // Happy Endings / Semi Precious Weapons