5.23.08 // LONDON // Brick Lane

{happy weekend + bar carts}

{Jacob Hertzell, stylist; via emmas designblogg}

Looking forward to a little down time this weekend, especially time outdoors on our recently refurnished patio . . .

Not certain if anyone still uses bar carts, but sitting and dreaming en plein air for a few moments somehow made me think a moveable place for water and lemons and fizzy drinks and wine would work out beautifully . . .

{via i suwannee}

{Hazelnut Lovejoy Vodka; label design by ID Branding; via Ruby Press and Design Crush}

{photography by Deborah Jaffe for domino}

{Watercreek Carafes from the American Summer collection at Ralph Lauren home}

{Hanover Bar Cart from Restoration Hardware; via Apartment Therapy Los Angeles}

{Lovejoy Vodka; label design by ID Branding; via Ruby Press and Design Crush}

{Marc Jacobs for Waterford Jean Footed Decanter}

Pledge Time

I take pledges from time to time. I did The Compact ( I lasted a couple of months...but doing so, even at that level of commitment altered my buying habits tremendously.)

I did an ETSY pledge to buy Handmade (...again I lasted just a couple of months.)

Oprah made a pledge this week to Eat with Consciousness (Quantum Wellness) …and I am trying to lean into it.

I’d like to list some of the interesting pledge programs that come into my mail box.

This one keeps reappearing, and I did post it as a comment. Apparently it's sender wants it to receive bigger attention in my little blog. Here goes....

‘Right now people in the industrialized world are facing two very grave problems: obesity and a growing scarcity of oil. Compounding this problem is the new food shortage brought about, in part, by the conversion of food cropland to bio-fuel crop production. Most people feel powerless to help, but there is one thing that we can do. Ride our bicycles to work.
If everyone would agree to ride their bikes to work one day per week we could cut oil consumption by as much as 10-15%. No one would argue that riding a bike burns more calories than driving the car. Although popular politically right now, most bio-fuels consume more energy than they produce. We would be much better to eat those bio-crops then use our own energy to transport us around.
So spread the word. Make it a movement! Bicycle to work one day a week and do your part to cut back obesity and the overuse of oil and precious cropland.’

Euro-Style Bicycles & Saving the Environment

I couldn’t help but notice a synchronistic, spontaneous happening.

Here in the USA there are 2 blogs and 2 website style blogs, where everyone has recently purchased......

Euro-style bicycles. They will be sharing their new bicycling adventures with you!

3 of the 4 plan on making a commitment or pledge if you will, to (daily) ride their bicycles and rid themselves of car dependency.

*****

Chicago: Hank & Me recently bought Orange OMA



Sacramento: EcoVelo recently bought Pashley Sovereigns; Princess & Roadster

Brooklyn: Drunk and in Charge recently bought Velorbis Churchill Classic

Wash.DC: Confessions of a Dilettante recently bought The Electra Amstedam Classic in White

What Do You Think? Are you planning on selecting a nice Euro-style Bicycle for your next ride?

JoyRider Knickers

photo credit: NAN EASTEP

I love these Knickers....I like the new designs even better...the ones I saw at the Farmer's Market where I met Nan and where she sets up shop every other weekend. The new designs included adorable little pin stripped vests with the knickers. They had elements of reflective ribbon placed so masterfully (without being overdone.) Nan wore a pretty femmy blouse under her vest so it was so newsboy chic, like the looks Lou Doillon sports. My camera went on the blink so I promise to go back and photo again.

{warm + woodsy}

{photography by Patrick Van Robaeys for Coté Est}

Never imagined falling for a wood interior, finding the overuse of wood to be, at times, dark and a little out of fashion . . . That is, of course, until I happened upon this beautiful ancien hôtel particulier, a home overflowing with French style in the English countryside, where everything feels comfortable and inviting, and infused with warmth and a wonderful mix of French glamour and English country charm . . .

5.20.08 // LONDON // SOHO / SUPER SUPER Magazine Party

Up Coming Books

hey everyone. have a few illustrations in a couple up coming books.
pretty excited about, here are a few of the illustrations.

The Deadly Nightshades

Official movie photography by digitalfabrik.ca

Goings On from the Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion Week.

My Fav Dutch Model / Bicycle Pic

photo credit: Iekeliene's self-portrait polaroids

Market Shopping

Shopping for the week's garden fresh best from the local Farmer's Market. The dress she wore was really cute... but when I snapped this I wanted to focus on her bounty of garden greens.

{top five things i can't live without}

{photography by Juliana Sohn}

Always new and exciting things happening, including a new feature, Top Five Tuesdays: discovering fun and intriguing things about fun and intriguing people . . .

First up is the very cool and down-to-earth Monika Eyers, Contributing Editor, London, for domino magazine, who shares her list of the Top Five Things She Can't Live Without . . .

{iPod Touch}

ipod touch to organize my life: I tried desperately to go the pen & paper diary route but there is something so useful about having everything there at the click of a button. Calendar, contacts, google maps, music, etc. I never leave home with out my ipod touch (I'm waiting for next year's improvements before upgrading to the iphone). Now I scribble out the dates on my gorgeous old Smythson diary and use it as a notebook instead.

{must confess that I also love my iPod Touch, relying on it to catch up on the latest runway shows through video podcasts . . .}

{Peugeot herb chopper}

Moving to London has miraculously domesticated me in the kitchen. I am borderline obsessed with my wooden handled Peugeot herb chopper. It does the trick in seconds and makes me feel like a bona-fide chef!



{Dyptique Chene candle}

There is something so lovely about walking into a home that smells good. It's like being in Paris where every shop and hotel exudes a sultry fragrance. Dyptique's Chene candle is my scent of choice and rarely a day goes by where the candle isn't lit for an hour. I recently found out they are soon discontinuing the Chene room spray (eek!) and have since stocked up on that as well.

{Peonies in May}

Peonies are my absolute favorite flower. They smell as gorgeous as they look and as all good things must come to an end, they have a torturously short season. For this reason, come the 1st of May, I make sure to have a constant supply of fresh bunches at home for as long as possible. They always make a room feel just a little bit more special but run, don't walk, they'll be gone in just a few weeks!

{Waterworks baskets}

I have a bit of a reputation for being a hoarder when it comes to papers, magazines, newspapers, etc. Without my trusty natural abaca baskets from Waterworks, my husband would surely divorce me. They keep the chaos neat and tidy and I especially love that they have handles for easy transport - you never know which room you'll want to settle down in and getting sorting.

{a little ruffled}

Love Sarah Watson's pretty new shower curtain designs, made by traditional weavers in Italy, Lithuania and Portugal. There are four designs in all, including the charming and ruffle-trimmed, Catherine.

{ultra modern}

{from Elle Decoration May 2008}

The panels of Sarah Dorkenwald and Ruth Spitzer's Wallfurniture LC2 wallpaper {above} will instantly open up a small space into a view of an ultra-stylish and modern lounge . . .

Also like the effect of using one panel of Tracy Kendall's Plates wallpaper, installed as artwork next to a powder blue Smeg and metal colander.