You can file this under helium balloon anomalies. On June 30, the last of our New Year's Eve balloons fizzled. It lasted a full six months. I think it was from Dos Caminos on Park Avenue. I guess we should remove it, but I doubt we will.

Apartment Therapy 8-Week Cure nearly complete! Our first of many dinner parties is set. Lots of weeding of belongings, lots of cleaning, lots of taking stock and seeing things in a new light. Lots of stress lifted. And two new silk/feather bolster pillows, one tablecloth, one couch solution, and one furry chair cover made by me! I totally recommend this.

I started rereading Apartment Therapy for the 3rd time. It's a good New Year's-y resolution-y type read. I already took everything off two bathroom shelves, scrubbed & shined the shelves & put everything back before work this morning. It's working! Apartment Therapy & Domino make a big deal about your entryway. I am happy with ours. Shot from our green hallway this morning. I love our green hallway.

These greens keep lasting! I got them, post-Christmas for 3 bucks. Score.

I got tired of buying hydrangeas. They lasted one day! Just one day! And then withered. It is definitely not hydrangea season anymore.

(day-glo) tabula rasa(s)


My Rowenta. Just look at her. Ain't she purdy? Two paintings my Matt Murphy.
Important plant. Lamp with silk shade I made. Found on the curb in Jamaica Plain
(Boston). Matching chair found on the curb in (on?) Beacon Hill.
Orange chair from Brimfield.


My beautiful Kenmore workhorse. And 2 serger friends. And "Lucky E" shrine.
And my diploma. It's in Latin. Desk from Harriet ♥. Art from Sandy. Thread scissors.

And here are the *Outfit Flashcards* which I've been working on for 2 days.

For my two days off from work (our office was closed for the holiday), I decided it was time to get my wardrobe super-organized. It was time to wear more than 10% of what I owned. It was time to make *outfit flashcards* and take the mystery/confusion out of getting dressed in the morning.

As it turns out, I am very pants-centric. So each pair of pants gets its own card. Pants in pen. Outfit options below in pencil. I haven't even thought about skinny belts, shoes, sparkle barrettes, necklaces, cardigans. Just the core stuff. Accessorizing, I have determined, can be whim-based.

Well it looks like we'll be tissueless for the duration of the storm. Duane Reade closed at noon today.

AARGH. (Humidity no likie.) (For safety purposes, our landlords de-installed our AC early this morning.) Which led to lots of emergency mopping as the condensation leaked across our wood floor and onto my husband's Saucony. Our landlords are very great, let that be noted. And it is their window, and in fact, their air conditioner, to do with as they judge.

Pictured above is window where the AC was. I'll look upon it as a pretty view. Except there's a storm coming, so it probably won't be pretty.


***
‎(I want to be here right now, curled up, asleep. Good night Irene. Your humidity woke me up at 2am Sunday and I didn't get back to sleep until 4:30am after I ate some yogurt & almonds because I was up so long, I got starving. Now it's Monday at 4:40pm. My eyeballs hurt. I just had an iced cappuccino. I think it's helping.)

I've read too much Weather.com and now am thoroughly freaked out by Hurricane Irene. 120 mph winds in NYC??? Yikes is all I can say. I wonder how garbage gnome will be in the storm? And also, who gave us garbage gnome? And why has he stuck around for so long?

Maybe there's a metaphor here. Just keep smiling and you can weather any storm. Okay, I'll take that as garbage gnome's message to me.

You should have seen last year's candle. It was a right angle. I suppose we should be thankful or something.

Quite pleased with my Second Avenue deli purchase yesterday. Twenty one spray roses for five dollars.

[click image to enlarge]

For a little background information, please read the previous post, and come back. Ever since the time change, I have been getting projects done that have been stalled for a long while. Like restringing a pair of 50s lamps (next post). And hanging recent acquisitions. Yes, we are pleased with our new art wall. Now, just one more photograph to hang tonight. And one more 50s lamp to repair.

[L-R] Michael Pellew, Happy Holidays, 2009, ink on paper; Alicia Kachmar, Safety Cones, 2009, yarn, batting, thread, beads; James Hull, Map, 2000, pigment & gold on metal; unknown Toronto artist, Safety Pin, 1998, encaustic on canvas; Matthew Murphy, A Classic Setting, 1995, oil on board.

My current glorious perfect bubble shower curtain.

This is going to be a very banal post about my needing a new shower curtain, so I don't blame you if you don't read it. But I am in a kind of banal mood these days, thinking about what people eat for lunch, and how much they spend, and how much I spend on lunch, and what I should eat for lunch. That type of thing. There possibly will be more banal posts today, but hey, what are you going to do. It reflects my mood right now. Personally, I really like to learn about the minute details of people's day-to-day. What does that say about me? That I'm human I guess. Why is Facebook so popular? I rest my case.

So I need a new shower curtain, and I can't for the life of me find the maker of my current one.* It is perfect in my bathroom. All neutral and pretty. Really thick and great quality. I bought it at Pluto in Jamaica Plain (Boston) back in the day. So here begins my internet search for a replacement. And lucky you, you get to come along on the shopping trip.


*If you have seen a shower curtain like my perfect glorious current bubble one in the shops, please share your finds! In the comments.

Choice #1: Venice! from Target, $24.99
This could definitely work. The black and white.
And I am very much in the mood to travel these days too.

Choice #2: Ice Circles from Bed Bath & Beyond, $19.99
Could this be it? It is a great replacement. So similar.
But now I am kind of hooked on Venice.

Choice #3: Pebbles from Bed Bath & Beyond, $19.99
Also a very fine replacement. No complaints.
Except after seeing Venice, I want a change.

Choice #4: Surfers, from Bed Bath & Beyond, price not shown
I love surfers. This could be a very good option.
Must check out the goods at lunch!

I am pretty excited to have my downstairs neighbor over for coffee today. We haven't had a good chat in awhile. I was trying to figure out what to serve instead of delicious sugary pastries, and then I came up with it. A nice fruit salad! And some roasted almonds. I hope the menu isn't too ascetic. But I am doing so well in my sugar fast so far, and would have NO willpower to sit anywhere near biscotti, chocolate almond croissants and chocolate-dipped almond horns (my alternate menu) and not eat them. Today is Day XVI of my Sugar Fast.

poor sad buried Ganesh, circled

I keep a statue of the Hindu deity Ganesh in the kitchen, because I figure the kitchen is the first room you enter when you enter our apartment; and as such, the kitchen is a symbol for the whole apartment. Or perhaps I am just far too food-centric. But I thought that Ganesh, Remover of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings, Patron of Arts and Sciences, deva of Intellect and Wisdom, might be most effective if I placed him in the kitchen.

So you can see my distress while eating breakfast this morning when I finally really noticed the giant wall of baking supplies blocking Ganesh. Yes the irony of the situation was not lost on me. And so I got to work removing the obstacles from the Remover of Obstacles. And as soon as I was done clearing a path, the sun came out. Thank you Ganesh.

Ganesh as he presides over my set of fruit-shaped coasters
I have lime, lemon, orange and pink grapefruit.


Ganesh, in situ

For the second time since we moved in, I noticed today that our door 'peephole' was painted shut. I thought I could unstick it simply by using a screwdriver and hammer. I unstuck the little rollerball [right], but apparently that was not enough. The peephole is still stuck. I think the project might involve some paint thinner, and I am not really in the mood for that right now.

I also noticed for the second time since we moved in, the first time being the day we moved in, that our door says J. Eastman. He must have lived here in the 40s. I read once where Jonathan Adler said that you should name your apartment and have towels monogrammed with that name, which would give your place a more regal air. We should get towels monogrammed with J. Eastman. I like our old apartment.

I must admit, I like taking pictures of my apartment after I clean it. It's like a reward for a job well done. Or something.

With the table design all set and the house clean, today is all about the menu and gathering ingredients. I have already been out to 82nd Street in Jackson Heights, Queens to get some special surprise treats for our TG feast tomorrow. I bought a small ton of veggies too.

Yesterday at the Container Store, I found delicate gold leaves that look like lace to include with my mini pumpkin, purple mums and gold pine cones. Now I must set the table, and go back out for more food gathering. Back soon to post more.

My Spring/Summer Table:
green stripe table cloth, white cafe paper and polkadot placemat overlays

All of my table designs are conceived as 'Modular layers.' Just like my clothing collections!
I think that layering complementary and contrasting
textures, patterns, and colors
creates more interest to your table (and to your ensembles too).
To read more about my concept of Modular Dressing,
click here.

I was browsing my blog the other day, when I came across an old table design which I completely forgot about [pictured above]. I have been using a purple linen tablecloth and brown wrinkled craft paper overlay [pictured below] for so long that I forgot about the summery green stripe table cloth with the white paper and polka-dot placemat overlays.

So I am designing a new table for dinner tonight and making a refreshing and light lemony-feta orzo pasta and mesclun salad. I am also trying to nurse my Lucky Bamboo back to health. I think it got heat stroke over the past 2 weeks. These plants mean a lot to me. I must make a grand gesture to try to save my Lucky Bamboo! I hope I can work some magic. Please send your good thoughts in the direction of my Lucky Bamboo...

The purple linen tablecloth with brown wrinkled craft paper overlay
as set up for a dinner party.


The purple linen table cloth with brown wrinkled craft paper overlay
as set up for Holiday: the same basic idea 'further accessorized' with
seasonal laser-cut plexi snowflakes

I was basking in the glow of our clean apartment this morning, looking around happily, sipping my coffee, when I decided to check my email. I found out from my friend Megan that Apartment Therapy's annual contest for the Smallest Coolest Apartment 2007 is on again. I decided to photograph our apartment to see how it stacked up to the applicants'. For some reason, my decluttered minimalist apartment looked cluttered in my first batch of photos. There was some unpleasant 'compression of space' going on. After studying some of the more successful shots on Apartment Therapy, I picked up some new tricks. Here is what I observed:

Alterations for the photo: tip #2. I used champagne glasses. Why not.

1. Place an item of interest in the foreground like Anusha's Modern Merge (#24) or Ron's Hotel Sweet (#40).
2. Set the scene with candles, plants or glassware like 42Anderson's Love, Eat, Party (#22) or Fernanda & Adam's Hidden Storage (#23).
3. Don't shoot anything straight on without the hint of a second wall. It looks too lonely and stark like Nick's Lucid Lucite and Clinical Creativity (#32), first picture. Of course, it always helps the photo to have darker, more defining colors on the walls, like Olivia Leigh's Limited Time (#10). I love this one.
   
4. Aerial views can be effective too, like Manuel's Houston Cottage (#12) or Billy's East Bay (#20).
   

I love to see how other people live, decor-wise. The Apartment Therapy contest is such a great idea. Below, some photos I took of our living room after studying and making slight adjustments. Try photographing your place. It's kind of fun.

I used compositional technique, tip #1: foregrounded yellow lamp.
Alterations for the photo: none.
(oops, forgot to remove the dangling extension cord behind the
Eames chair. You notice these things more in photographs
than you do in 'real life.')

tip #1 & tip #2: that plant in the red pot is normally in the kitchen,
and there is normally a stack of books where the plant is.
The magazine stack above the yellow lamp in 'real life' is also much taller.

I used compositional technique, tip #4: a slightly 'aerial' view.