color and pattern

Our last trip to the Met was too brief, so I went back this weekend and couldn't stop marveling at the colors and patterns in the newish galleries for Islamic art.

©all photos by me

museum of art and design: crafting modernism

Crafting Modernism at the Museum of Art & Design is now closed, but you can still see all the pieces from the exhibit here. Do what I did and envision everything neatly arranged in your dream home.

objects in my grandmothers house that are now in my house

Some of the treasures that I took home with me.

All photos by me.

objects in my grandmothers house

Some treasures I found while in my grandmother's house.

All photos by me.

birth-date, day 2

Day 2 of the birth-date weekend couldn't have been more opposite than day 1. We spent the day seeing free art in Manhattan - in stores, office lobbies, restaurants and public spaces. Some of my favorites were the Ruan Hoffmann exhibit at the Anthropologie gallery at Rockefeller Center (above). We also visited the David LaChapelle piece at Lever House (these kinda look like the chains I have in my office....except with naked ladies..ha!).

 We ogled the mid-century beauty of the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram building:

 Another stop was to see Moveable Type in the New York Times building:

Additionally, we looked at the James Turrell installation at 505 5th Avenue and Jenny Holzer's work at 7 World Trade Center. I so recommended visiting some of these places - such a fun way to discover New York!

some of my favorite things: holiday edition!

Some fun things I got for Christmas this year included Japanese paper products (from Japan!) and this Heath teapot...

...a pretty white vase and membership to LACMA.

Since my favorite gifts are always the edible kind, I especially enjoyed this giant jar of honey!

Yum! I forgot to take pictures, but Jeff and I made a super delicious Christmas dinner as well. Prime rib, spinach Parmesan souffles, carrot soup and a ginger cake!

retro gallery/filament lighting

I must have walked by Retro Gallery/Filament Lighting a bunch of times (it's about 3 blocks from my apartment) but whatever possessed me to finally go in was rewarded with the most amazing vintage selection of vases, ceramics, lamps and chandeliers I have ever seen.

salt & pepper

Although these containers are a tad too unsanitary for my taste, they sure are cute! I like these ones too:

And these:

But these are probably my favorite:

watts towers

Having grown up in Los Angeles I'm embarrassed to admit that this weekend was my virgin visit to the Watts Towers. But it won't be my last. The experience was truly fascinating and inspiring - the entire structure was build by one man over a 34 year period using only found objects and no machinery - simply his own imagination.

More photos here.

enamored with: ironstone print

I'm loving this monochromatic limited edition print from Julia Rothman (in conjunction with the past & present series for design*sponge) featuring varying pieces of ironstone (a less expensive version of porcelain, originally produced in the 19th century).
Available for purchase here.