cabin on the lake

The particular cabin on Lost Lake that we visited has been owned by my aunt for the last 4 years. I loved all the quirky details - most of the furniture and decor were hand-me-downs or found on the street. My kind of place!

© all photos by me

duke farms, part 1

Duke Farms, located in Hillsborough, New Jersey, is the largest privately owned parcel of land in the state. The Duke family purchased the 2200 acre farmland at the turn of the century and spent about $10 million developing the landscape, creating lakes, hills and other topography.

Plans were made and begun for a large mansion on the property. A two level basement was built, but the house was never completed. You can still see evidence of the original foundation.

The farm can be visited for free and includes 18 miles of walking and biking paths. More information can be found here.

©all photos by me

More photos here.

film biz prop shop

The Film Biz Prop Shop is a non-profit thrift store in Brooklyn that gets its donations from the film industry. It's surprisingly cheap (for New York), well organized and has a pleasant staff. Because everything is donated from the film industry, the wares are super random - you never know what you are going to find....antique commode, anyone?

I got this trophy cup for my office.

wood watches

It's wood! WeWood watches are made of 100% natural wood and they plant a tree for every watch they sell.  Personally, I like this darker stain.
Via Tracey

canvas bags

Even though we already have about seventeen canvas bags, this one is pretty fantastic.
Via BB-links.

book wallpaper, part two

My book wallpaper isn't doing so hot (a couple 100º+ days are to blame) but since I've recently decided that it's a temporary installation, its become less disappointing. What should I make with the pages? This garland is cute, and with the holidays coming, a wreath might be nice.

Along the same lines, a couple of starbursts might be interesting....

or a leaf inspired garland...?

water

Water, Our Thirsty World is the current exhibit on display at the Annenberg Space for Photography, a museum devoted entirely to photography that opened about a year ago in Century City. The museum is free and I found the exhibit very moving. The  exhibit was produced in conjunction with National Geographic, so if you're not able to visit the exhibit in person (on view through June 13th), please check out the current issue.

outstanding in the field

Outstanding in the Field just released their North America schedule of events and there are a couple in Southern California for this summer. They're not cheap, but a gourmet meal of only local food on the beach in Catalina (above) sounds pretty amazing. Past events has taken place at local farms, beaches and even a museum!

 

Via Tracey.

reknit

Did you happen to hear the story on NPR about ReKnit? Its a mother/son team that takes your old sweater, along with $30, and reknits it into something new. She is the knitter, and he is graphic designer/webmaster. Last month the re-knitted item was a scarf, and this month it's fingerless gloves. You can even vote to see what she will knit next!

Listen to the story here.

recent thrift store treasures

I did a little thrifting over the long weekend at my new favorite thrift store. I went with the intention of looking for furniture but was quickly distracted with everything else. Among my scores for the day were a somewhat trendy globe (above) and bone china plate (below):

Printed wool scarf:

Brass ship bookends:

and navy acrylic sweater.

mid-century modern field trip

We took a trip to Long Beach's Retro Row this past weekend to scout out used furniture for my new (and still fairly empty) apartment. There were tons of beautiful things, however not even close to the bargain I was hoping for. In fact, to say things were outrageously expensive would not be so far off. ...sigh....At least lunch was reasonable!







We visited Deja Vu, Xcape to a Vintage World, and a couple places that don't have websites on East 4th Street.