things that work

i'm a creature of habit.

rarely swayed from my faves.

and as far as skincare goes

i would not want to live without

these two products.

i've been using them for years.

this exfoliator comes in packets or tubes. 

i go for the packets because 

the "grit" settles in the tube.

and the grit is where it's at, y'all.

each packet contains enough for three uses.

i do it every other day 

and it is amazing.

when it makes contact with your skin

you get a burst of heat.

{not a burning sensation...}

it heats up like magic!

if you don't already exfoliate,

well, start now for your own good.

everyone i've recommended this product to

is hooked. 

makes your skin uber soft.

and that's what's up.

enter cleanser.

i use this everyday.

twice.

on exfoliating days this comes second.

at first i thought this might

burn my face off with acids.

{kind of intimidating ingreeds if you're clueless like me}

the reality is: this is somehow mild despite it's massive power.

a notable difference in skin tone and pore size.

i'm not a freaky deak 

high maintenance type of lass.

i had clear skin growing up.

and in my twenties.

then things sort of changed for me

epidermis-wise

and i just wanted things to be back to normal.

these are{for reals} what the doctor ordered.

 thought i'd share.

i get mine through this site because they

discount often but these are available all over.

can you think of any products you just would not want to live without?

incredibly interesting person of the day.

is mr. tom sachs.

as photographed by the selby.

these are all from his nyc studio.

which looks like it's pretty much the coolest place on earth.

maybe he has internships? he does like nasa a lot.

don't take the red pill.

dreamland was built in 1961 in japan.

it failed and now it's become nightmareland.

pretty sure willie wonka is hiding out here somewhere.

trippy pictures from brandknewme.

the one with the waggity tail

love these new mike miller dog plates from west elm.

these would be adorable mounted too.

hot dog! 

birds-a-plenty

i've been making tons of these little guys lately.

these are made with paper i bought at muji 

when we were in soho.

{ooooooh muji. thank you for not being over-styled.}

i keep cutting the paper smaller and smaller 

to make the tiniest crane possible.

this one was made out of a piece of paper 

about the size of a post-it.
just can't help myself when it comes to tiny things.

have you ever made paper cranes before?

it's mesmerizing. once i get going it's hard to stop.

i'm like ONE MORE>>>just one more...

everything in its right place.

when i move to space, this is what my kitchen will look like.

fantastical.

time traveled by gizmodo.

fro yo!!!

as of late, for whatever reason,

i've become rather obsessed with frozen treats.

and even though it fits into the category of

things-you-use-once-then-sell-at-your-garage-sale-

a-year-later-because-you're-over-it,

we decided to get an ice cream maker.

{other things that fall into that category are bread makers,

fondue pots (unless vintage), and juicers.}

based on a combo of amazon reviews and expert recommendations,

we picked this one from cuisinart.

we're very lucky toosince they carry it at crate & barrel

and we were able to use a gift card from our wedding.

there are bazillions of great recipes on the interwebs you guys.

plus, i won this book {spice dreams} from readymade magazine,

so, it was very hard to decide where to narrow down which

one would kick off my frozen treat journey.

now, if you've had pinkberry {or as it's called in my town; swirlberry}

you may understand why i was drawn to this recipe.

when you claim your recipe rivals pinkberry...

count.me.in.

i used greek yogurt and halved the sugar.

i don't love sweet things (prefer savory)

BUT in hindsight it was unnecessary.

my yogurt turned out absolutely amazing

and i loved the tart flave 

but using the rest of the sugar

would not have been too sweet.

next time i'm going full sugar.

we put strawberries and sliced almonds on top of ours.

sofa king good.

vanilla frozen yogurt recipe

3 cups greek-style yogurt

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla.

stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

refrigerate 1 hour.

freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer instructions.

what a treat!

on a side note, yesterday i was so hungry when i got home from work...

before even going inside...

i grabbed a tomato hanging from the vine

and ate it in the driveway.

also, i wasn't wearing any shoes because

sometimes i like to drive barefoot.

as i was doing this

i came to the conclusion

that i will be a great embarrassment

to my future children

to.be.sure.

porcupine puppy.

don't miss his spin move halfway through...

sneak peeks: mod squad

so, i am super hoping

{crossing my fingers}

to get these mod beauties

listed in the shop 

over the next day or so.

vintage pyrex mug. 

full metal jacket. vintage cream & sugar set

{their orange metal jackets come off to reveal the cutest crackle glaze pieces}

lots of dots. vintage pyrex bowl.

vintage pyrex refrigerator dishes. 

{i want to fill these with single servings of homemade mac & cheese}

the problem is:

i keep distracting myself

with thoughts of food

because, you see, i'm trying to shed

the eight or so pounds

i've collected on my ass

and arms since january.

and  between thinking about

food i want but shouldn't have

and food i should have but don't want

i can't seem to get anything accomplished

besides naps and origami cranes.

so, i'm seriously going to cross

my snack loving fingers

that i get these listed soon.

{poor fatty}

you wouldn't like me when i'm angry.

this was made with $5000. seriously.

ricardo de montreuil is now my hero.

overlorded at io9.

life on mars.

this is not mars, but it could be.

this is in a "blue hole" in the bahamas.

{a submerged, oxygen-free environment}

{a thin layer of fresh water separates the oxygen from salt water}

which can provide clues as to how life developed in early earth conditions

or how extraterrestrial life in our own solar system might survive.

it just happens that these places are also hauntingly beautiful.

more photos of the caves from wes skiles.

submerged at io9.

does a bear shit in the library?

i think i need a bear shelf.

possibly with plants and moss scattered among the books.

civil star wars.

can you imagine the levels of nerdiness

at a reenactment of the star wars civil war?

i'd happily don a chewie suit and monocle...

thank you greg peltz for bringing these to life.

skynet has awoken.

this thing is amazing and creepy as hell at the same time.

he'd look awesome with two big ram horns and a tiny monkey riding on top.

escaped from crunch gear.

nature vs. literature.

love this idea from gartenkultur.

green up your place and destroy a book... i mean... display a book.

infinite statements can be made with the placement and plant selection...

like a big cactus growing out of sarah palin's face.

p.s. - is that a darth vader pilgrim on the cover of the fourth book?

carved out by rag and bone.

klassy

i'm being a slow poke about posting bits from our recent NYC trip.

oh,'twas fun. 'twas hot too.

LUCKILY, we left at the beginning of the most recent heat wave.

so, we did not suffer much.

anyway, in the meantime of "real" photos

here are a few klassy bits for you.

after a superfun row boat ride in central park

my hair poofed up like don king {from the humidity}

and then we had lunch at the modern.

we kinda went all out and ate swankily.

we're not fancy people

but we rise to the occasion as necessary.

post lunch, we headed into the MOMA.
we.were.there.for.hours.

we left because it was CLOSING

not because we were done.

i think my favorite floor

was architecture and design

{but don't hold me to that}.

there were plenty of other exhibits that had me smiling, cheek to cheek.

like this fluxus wallpaper by artist george maciunas. 

the butts are from yoko ono's film number 4 (bottoms).
it's a giant wall of butts. butts butts butts.

naked butts make me smile.

what can i say...

and, yes, i am one of the nerds who likes an audio tour. 

that's the strappy phone thingy around my neck. 

{the other little something hanging around 

is my FAVE locket that forestbound included with my order.}

another simple pleasure of mine...

{besides squirting my husband with a thin stream of contact lens solution 

from across the room while he's brushing his teeth...

priceless reaction every time.}

sneaking into photos.

timing is of the essence. 

you have to sneak in there RIGHT before the photographer is about to snap.

the ones that turn out best are blank/scurry stares.

like so:

those are all the klassy bits from our trip that i can muster up for now, my friends.

i assure you...there are more where that came from.

not just for burning

rubber soles, walter ballmer

hot water bottle, lora lamm

rubber gloves, savignac

if you're like me

the first thing you think of when you hear pirelli

is tires.

{i'm not a gear head...i've worked on automotive advertising

for nearly fifteen years and some bits have rubbed off}

however, if you're not from the motor city

and don't give a hoot about sport performance handling on your car

{i don't blame ya}

there's a good chance you might guess pirelli is a pasta.

but that's neither here nor there.

i was so delighted to come across these pirelli ads

designed by some of the most iconic graphic designers of the 1960s.

the range of their product line was news to me.

and i was impressed with their ability to keep the theme

consistent throughout the campaign.

i've never used a hot water bottle in my life

but had i seen this ad

{and been alive} in 1961

i probably would have impulse bought one

as a result.

{via aqua velvet }

see more vintage pirelli ads in this flickr set.

on that chair over there.

the chairs at our house seem to multiply like gremlins.

if we had these, they could unmultiply... and still look awesome.

the form fitting work of philippe nigro.

stacked at apartment therapy.

wanna go for a ride?

just watch.

...beautiful footage of a very content man.

tinkered at the selvedge yard.

a room of one's own.

this is the highly inspirational workspace of the wildly talented cris rose.

looks quite cozy. and it seems we share the same taste. really makes me

want a kickass studio to hide in... just some nice thoughts for a friday.

you look lovely in pink, deer.

soft and sketchy for your wall.

great style from andzrej.

purchasable at inprnt.

invisible kinda.

gorgeous and solitary.

i wish every day felt like this.

from the mind of romain laurent.

popped at a cup of jo.

it's official...

you may have seen this dress at anthropologie in the spring. 

perhaps you passed on it the first time around because, 

well, there's a quite a bit of pink.

{that was my experience upon first blush.}

it was only after i saw a woman pick it up

raise the hanger above her eye level

and pull the corner out to reveal the full skirt a bit more

that a few fabulous things were exposed to me:

1. pockets.

as a person who never knows what to do with her hands

{put on hips? sassy. cross arms? bored. flailing/talking with them? hey, i'm italian.}

i appreciate dresses and skirts with pockets.

even had them put in my wedding dress.

2. cats.

not only do i like the idea of a dress with cats 

represented in watercolor painting fashion...

these look like my two cats, jermaine {mae mae} and tito.

 mae mae is a tortie. tito is an orange tiger.

here's a close up since they look like blobs in the above photo.

so i bought it.

by way of my actions
i feel like it's official. i'm a crazy old cat lady.

i only thought twice about buying it for about one second

and then i questioned myself for questioning it.

now, who am i to judge the woman

wearing a mock turtleneck sweatshirt 

adorned with a screen printed persian?

granted, this is a lovely dress

as opposed to an ill fitting sweat suit...

and i get tons of compliments

when i wear it

{i don't point out the cats anymore...

most people just think it's real summery and don't notice the cats}

but to be frank

i bought it because of the cats.

I'M A CAT LADY!

she likes to purr.

braids and whiskers go nicely don't you think?

come closer and she'll tell you more.

little sketch from valistika.

for sale at society 6.

sure do love me some home

never is a better step taken than the one through my front door.

after a super lovely trip to manhattan 

{and long island for a wedding}

i'm so happy to be home.

delighted to see my basil and tomatoes still alive.

and my hydrangea blooming.

netflix {true blood!!!} in the mail stack.

not to mention two wagging tails 

and two purring suitcase-squatters.

and with all the heat we're having

i won't be grumpy about staying indoors 

to shoot some recent treasures

for the shop.