I caught AMC's Mad Men last night and absolutely loved it. It was full of chain-smoking, philandering, and unabashed sexism, so much so as to make you squirm in your seat just a little. It's surprisingly refreshing.
As a bonus, the show was full of amazing 1960s interiors, like this one from a bar scene. I'm obsessed with this zebra wallpaper, but have had no luck tracking anything this sophisticated down online.
Here's another beautifully updated classic. These figural bowls, reminiscent of something you'd have found in your great aunt's parlor as a child, have a stark, graphic twist. My favorite is this bird sprinkled with gold polka dots. Other designs feature floral motifs.
These are by Nymphenburg and were designed by Hella Jongerius.
Check out this fabulous post from Elsewares that touches on the pointlessness of fancy baggies, true design innovation, and eco-responsibility . It's amazing what a Todd Oldham zipper bag can inspire.
I really like these bags made from recycled vinyl-mesh billboards. The ads once "graced" the Seattle skyline, but have been reused to create these tough totes. The handles are made from used seat belts.
Darwin didn't see this one coming. These animal-plant-insect accidents of weird-evolution are from Wondercabinet's Beastiarium series, available on Etsy. Each limited-edition print is silkscreened onto the pages of an old book and mounted on board.
Getting your hands on this stuff can be tricky. And though Libertine's collection isn't exactly my style, they are sure to have some separates that I will end up loving. The more popular pieces sell like hotcakes, so I was planning a trip to Target first thing on Sunday morning. But I just read that Racked has found the clothing on display in at least one NYC store today!
If you really can't live without Libertine, may I suggest a lunchtime trip to Target?
UPDATE: As of 12:30 PM, Libertine is out for sale at the MacArthur Target. It's already picked-over. :(
While we were in Istanbul, the city experienced some of the hottest weather in 30 years. On one of those sweltering nights, some friends invited us to their home for a BBQ.
Turkish cuisine's appeal is in the simplicity of its flavors. They highlight a few key ingredients and let them shine. Meats are simply dressed and grilled. Salads are served dressed with olive oil and Italian parsley or dill. Vegetables are prepared in olive oil or served pureed as appetizers.
Our hosts served a very refreshing, delicious potato salad. This salad was unlike anything I've ever tasted before, a combination of potatoes, cucumber and yogurt. And, they just sent me the recipe:
Summer Potato Salad*:
1 cup of yogurt 1 clove of garlic, finely diced 1 tsp salt
4 Russet potatoes 1 cucumber, grated Salt to taste
Combine the yogurt. garlic and salt in a small bowl and stir well. Place in the refrigerator.
Boil the potatoes until cooked through. Cool, peel, and mash. I used a food processor and added a little milk. Add the prepared garlic yogurt and grated cucumber and stir until smooth. Add salt to taste. The salad is good right away, but for the best taste, let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours.
SOUNDTRACK: "Stop Me," a reworking of the Smiths' track by Mark Ronson.
* Thanks to Erman and Burcu for the hopitality and the recipe.
We don't grow a lot of cherries in Texas. To my knowledge, we don't grow any. It's just too hot. Luckily, they still find their way to our tables via the local grocery store. And this year they are spectacular.
Every time I eat cherries, I can't help but think of the scene from The Witches of Eastwick. I won't get into the details. It's just too early. But those pits can be avoided all together if you use this cherry pitter from Oxo. It takes out those stones in one swift swoop.
As a Texas girl, I can't help but love this Yee-Haw wallpaper by Paul Loebach. The pattern features cowboys on horseback, oil wells, and even some tiny little football helmets.
We went to Turkey to attend the wedding of our good friend Burak. Not only was he planning his wedding, he was also nice enough to put together a few activities for his friends from the states. So on the night before the wedding he planned for us to board a large passenger boat for a floating party called the White party. Note: you were supposed to wear white.
We spent the early afternoon with another couple of friends on Baghdad Street, the main shopping drag of the Asian side of the city. We planned to cross the bridge back to Europe to change clothes and board the boat at 7 pm, but we had not budgeted our time well.
At 6 pm, we were still waiting in traffic, not even close enough to see the bridge, much less cross it. Luckily, the boat party was planning a stop on the Asian side to pick up more passengers. After a few phone calls, we all planned to meet at the second stop and Burak, the world's best host, was on his way to get white T-shirts for all of the hopeless traffic castaways.
We arrived at the boarding point at 7 pm in three separate cars. Right on time, except that it wasn't the boarding point. Or at least, that was the consensus at the time.There was a lot of discussing in Turkish and then we drove to another boarding point. No, that one wasn't the boarding point either. And so we returned to the original point in a mad rush, parked and ran through a city park filled with picnickers, strays, and fishermen to catch the boat at the shore of the Bosporus.
Even though it was 7:15, the boat had waited. We later realized that this was because the party that was designed for 200 or 300, was attended by only 50 or so. The early boarding time meant that people couldn't make it from work in time. Friday traffic in Istanbul is incomprehensible.
So we took a nearly private cruise of the Bosporus that night to the loudest mix of 80s and Salsa you can imagine. As the natives around us danced, we watched the city slink by, absolutely amazing, shimmering with light, and dotted with glorious, crumbling bits of history.
SOUNDTRACK: "Big in Japan"
The best Alphaville song I'd never heard. But if you're in Istanbul, you'll hear this at almost every club.
I saw a very expensive candle stick in the shape of a bird foot in Barney's last December. Of course, I loved it immediately and pined for it for months. But these gunmetal plated pewter bird feet by Ria Charisse have the same feel and are more my speed at $36 a pair.
I also love this morbid acrylic mirror complete with smoke, ravens, and x's over your eyes. I think it would be fun in an entry way. Deathwish Mirror, $150.
I am always a sucker for equestrian anything. Loafers with decorative bits, worn leather boots, and the drawings in this room from the 2006 Hampton Island Showcase.
The equestrian prints on the far wall are by Yana Dimitrova.
Yesterday and today have been two of the hottest days in Istanbul for the last 30 years. There was even talk of closing offices today because it will be 100 degrees Fahrenheit. For comparison, the highs are usually in the upper 80s, so most homes don't need air conditioners and don't have them. So what to do when it's too hot to do anything?
Luckily for those of us who know only a little Turkish, there are many American movies playing in English in air conditioned theaters. So I've now seen Hoax and Oceans' 13. We've also been to some lovely cafes, including Leb-i Derya in Taksim (this photo is the view from their dining room).
But tomorrow will be a better day. The high is predicted to be 87. Hooray.
This image from last Fall's Zara Home catalog is still one of my favorites. I love their rustic take on modern furnishings. You can't see the ceiling here, but I imagine it to have rough timber beams against a white plaster. I think a big dose of natural wood can add a lot of warmth to a white space while preserving the minimalism.
Of course wood beams could be a great addition to the high ceilings in any modern living space. But they're expensive and hard to install. Luckily, my brother just sent me a great link to a site that sells faux wood beams. They look very real. Well, at least they look real from a distance. And when they're on the ceiling, how close are you going to get?
These beams are made from casts of real wood beams, so they have realistic tool marks and grain patterns. You can get beams starting at $170. Check out some design ideas here.
PS- this site has some annoying narration audio playing on the home page and main product pages, so turn your sound down.
I caught AMC's Mad Men last night and absolutely loved it. It was full of chain-smoking, philandering, and unabashed sexism, so much so as to make you squirm in your seat just a little. It's surprisingly refreshing.
Here's another beautifully updated classic. These figural bowls, reminiscent of something you'd have found in your great aunt's parlor as a child, have a stark, graphic twist. My favorite is this bird sprinkled with gold polka dots. Other designs feature floral motifs.
Check out this fabulous post from Elsewares that touches on the pointlessness of fancy baggies, true design innovation, and eco-responsibility . It's amazing what a Todd Oldham zipper bag can inspire.
I really like these bags made from recycled vinyl-mesh billboards. The ads once "graced" the Seattle skyline, but have been reused to create these tough totes. The handles are made from used seat belts.
What a dark, clever design. When viewed through a full glass of water, the wolf gets bigger and badder.
Darwin didn't see this one coming. These animal-plant-insect accidents of weird-evolution are from Wondercabinet's Beastiarium series, available on Etsy. Each limited-edition print is silkscreened onto the pages of an old book and mounted on board.
Via Design*Sponge.
Domino has some new content up, including a gallery of tranquil bedrooms that makes me desperate to redecorate. They're all so light and airy.
Libertine's new line for Target, scheduled to drop this Sunday, 7/15, may actually be in stores right now. Libertine's collection is the latest in Target's uber-popular Go. International Flights of Fashion series.
While we were in Istanbul, the city experienced some of the hottest weather in 30 years. On one of those sweltering nights, some friends invited us to their home for a BBQ.
We don't grow a lot of cherries in Texas. To my knowledge, we don't grow any. It's just too hot. Luckily, they still find their way to our tables via the local grocery store. And this year they are spectacular.
We fight them in our gardens and in the cracks of our sidewalks, but there's something delicate and beautiful about these cultivated weeds.
As a Texas girl, I can't help but love this Yee-Haw wallpaper by Paul Loebach. The pattern features cowboys on horseback, oil wells, and even some tiny little football helmets.
We went to Turkey to attend the wedding of our good friend Burak. Not only was he planning his wedding, he was also nice enough to put together a few activities for his friends from the states. So on the night before the wedding he planned for us to board a large passenger boat for a floating party called the White party. Note: you were supposed to wear white.
I saw a very expensive candle stick in the shape of a bird foot in Barney's last December. Of course, I loved it immediately and pined for it for months. But these gunmetal plated pewter bird feet by Ria Charisse have the same feel and are more my speed at $36 a pair.
We just got back from 18 days in Istanbul, where we were attending a wedding (some of the celebrations pictured left)..jpg)
I am always a sucker for equestrian anything. Loafers with decorative bits, worn leather boots, and the drawings in this room from the 2006 Hampton Island Showcase.
Learn to reglaze thrift store plates with silhouettes, no kiln required, from Red Hot and Green.
Yesterday and today have been two of the hottest days in Istanbul for the last 30 years. There was even talk of closing offices today because it will be 100 degrees Fahrenheit. For comparison, the highs are usually in the upper 80s, so most homes don't need air conditioners and don't have them. So what to do when it's too hot to do anything?
This image from last Fall's Zara Home catalog is still one of my favorites. I love their rustic take on modern furnishings. You can't see the ceiling here, but I imagine it to have rough timber beams against a white plaster. I think a big dose of natural wood can add a lot of warmth to a white space while preserving the minimalism.
These beams are made from casts of real wood beams, so they have realistic tool marks and grain patterns. You can get beams starting at $170. Check out some design ideas here.
