Round-Up

 

It’s spring! Maybe, sort of, kind of, finally?

 

To celebrate, some completely unrelated articles and web-things that I found worth a read:

+ I’m definitely going to be spending a good deal of time browsing Typedia, a “shared encyclopedia of typefaces,” which I discovered by chance during a Google search. Who knew that there were so many subclasses within serif fonts?

+ In I’m not sure if this is fascinating or makes me uncomfortable or both news, Grub Street has an article on how fancy-pants restaurants like Eleven Madison Park Google its guests in order to elevate their dining experience. Apparently, this isn’t even that unusual. (If you haven’t seen the New York Times‘ Op-Art graphic on dining/restaurant lingo from a couple years ago, I highly recommend it. Aah, to one day be a B.G.E. at a place like Annisa!)

+ Blogger Jennifer Chong went backpacking in the mountains in Arizona and has been posting beautiful (beautiful!) photos from her trip.

+ Just for fun: Have you played the game 2048? Are you obsessed? Most importantly, have you gotten to 2048 yet?! (For me, the answers are yes, yes, and, sadly, no.)

 

From the Last Few Months

Finally sharing some photos from the past few months. A nice variety, I think: Doughnuts and palm trees in South Carolina, snow (and a dog!) in New York, plus flowers at All Good Things and pastries at Lafayette.

Learn

I have been getting that hankering that always seems to come three months after New Year’s resolution time. I want to learn something! I haven’t settled on what it is yet, but I have a few ideas floating around: a watercolor or dance class, a (not necessarily new) language, maybe even knots (gonna be honest and say this last one is not really at the top of my list, but how cool would that be?!).

Oh, and maybe I can also teach myself how to post more frequently (haha, good one!). But yes, I got a little inspired this morning, so here I am. Photos to post, things to learn, possibilities to explore (like developing my blog layout into something a little more exciting?)! Maybe with spring on its maybe-way, I’ll be inspired to take my camera out with me.

Then and Now

It’s almost hard to believe I took the photo above at the end of November. With a late Thanksgiving, my birthday, and dear family friends visiting, it was a busy (and food-filled!) few days, in the best possible way.

Then, the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year’s seemed to take their time, which can be a good thing when there’s so much to do. (I like Christmas and the holiday spirit that comes with it — at least in non-overwhelming doses — but I do not live day-to-day in anticipation of it during the rest of the year. I know some people do, but I just never have. So, I don’t mind that those first three weeks of December don’t go by in a flash.)

Now, January is here! I am very happy to say that I am still knitting, with just one month to go before I hit my one-year “anniversary.” These days, if I’m not knitting, I’m thinking about knitting, or thinking about how I should be knitting those mittens for my friend.

In terms of “Internet things” (I really must come up with something more clever/catchy): I’ve put this tea pot on my wishlist. | I’ve decided, maybe somewhat prematurely, to try my hand on knitting a sweater (eek!) this year and have been bookmarking a lot of posts on this blog. | There’s been a lot of “house envy” over all the beautiful interiors/exteriors Elise of Pennyweight has been posting here.

Oh, also, hot chocolate? It does the trick this time of year.

Number One

A new year, a new blog? Yes (new year) and no (new blog). Part of me wants to really just start this blog all over again, with a new name and maybe some other new things, too (as I would argue that I have yet to “establish” myself/this blog, I don’t think it would be all that difficult). But I’m happy here. I do want to try some new things out — short and sweet posts and all that. Share a bit more of myself, maybe. At the very least, I need to start sharing some of all these photos I’ve been taking! To start, just one, from Charleston, SC, where we went between Christmas and New Year’s. Seems like a fitting time-frame for a new blog (post!) in the new year.

P.S. Happy New Year, and then some, even if I’m a little late. 🙂

Friday

I don’t know what it is, but ever since we fell back and gained an extra hour, I have felt so tired. I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be the opposite. Maybe it’s the fact that it now gets darker earlier or it’s just pre-winter blues (even though I love fall).

I have a busy week ahead after this weekend, so I will need to make sure I prioritize sleep. Have any fun plans for the weekend? I have a housewarming party to attend and plan to do some reading. I hear it’s supposed to warmer, too, so maybe some time outdoors is also in order.

Happy weekend (yay)!

Photo by Taking of Toast, edited with VSCO Cam

Stone Barns

This past weekend, we took a brief trip up to Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY (just outside Tarrytown and less than an hour from the city).

They are known for having an amazing restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, as well as Blue Hill in NYC. See here for an article from 2008 calling it “the most important restaurant in America.” I haven’t yet had the chance to try it for myself, though, since the “cheaper” menu option is still $148 per person (I am sure it is wonderful, special, and would make for a lovely meal for a special occasion, but that is quite pricey).

Anyway! It was fun to walk around the farm and see some fall colors! Temperatures seem to have finally dropped — and fast! — but it’s been a relatively mild fall otherwise, so I haven’t noticed as many reds and oranges on the trees. Maybe I’m just not looking, though. 🙂

If you are in the city (or near it), I do recommend a trip. Nearby Tarrytown was appropriately decked out for Halloween (and we didn’t even see its neighbor, Sleepy Hollow/North Tarrytown). It all felt very autumnal.

All photos by Taking of Toast, edited with VSCO Cam

Sea NY

For the past few Fashion Week cycles, I have made an attempt to look at all the shows covered by Style.com (which, it turns out, is not every show — when feeling particularly ambitious, I also check out Now Fashion, which has broader coverage). It is rather exhaustive, but then I realize that I am sitting at my computer staring at photos, not a) a model walking in the shows or b) an editor/reporter scrambling from show to show cover it with a looming deadline. Fancy clothes aside, I think I have it pretty easy. I don’t know why I do it; I think it’s so I can feel “in the know” (that, and I’ve always been interested in fashion — there are just some years where I make more of an effort to be aware of smaller, up-and-coming designers). I have various self-imposed criteria for what looks I will add to my Style.com lookbook. They mainly revolve around “It’s so pretty!” or “I want to wear that, sigh!” But I do also like looks that I would never actually wear (for one reason or another).

I’d heard of New York-based Sea before, but this year, their Fashion Week presentation for Spring/Summer 2014 was a real standout to me. There was a fair combination of looks I could definitely see myself wearing and those I’d wear if-only-this-or-that-were-different. Their presentation contained more than 40 looks, but I keep returning to these four.

You can see their full collection here.

All photos by Gilbèrt François, courtesy of Sea / from Style.com

Forward (Maybe)

 

Oh, little blog, you deserve better. Part of me wonders if it’s time to throw in the (electronic?) towel and accept that blogging is not for me. Part of me has hope than I still make something out of it. But mainly, part of me (most of me) is just exhausted. In the tired, whiny way. It has nothing to do with the blog, or the blogosphere. I just haven’t had the energy — and maybe that’s just a euphemism for desire — to want to update here. This is nothing new! Many months ago, I was talking about how maybe the reason I’m always struggle with updating and maintaining my blog is because I put too much pressure on it to be something or contain this sort of post, but not that one. This is not productive or helpful to anyone! Certainly not to me. “This is your blog, lady! Post what you want!” (No, seriously, I am pretty sure this same exact post exists at least two other times in the archives.)

Soooooo, while work is, well, work, why not try again? Selfishness is not really a quality I admire, but all this trying again is really just for me, so I can prove to myself that I can do this and to feel like I have something to do other than work. Gooooo, team me, right?

Photo by Taking of Toast

Futagami

A few months ago (unfortunately, I can’t remember where), I started seeing pictures of items from the Japanese company Futagami, which makes beautiful brass design products. Another line of products to go on the “future home wish list.” Their current line was made in collaboration with designer Masanori Oji, who says that he “design[s] living products” (I like that).

From Japanese Products Trading:

Founded in 1897, FUTAGAMI has a long history of making brass products such as artifacts used in the Buddhist traditions. Brass products gradually change their color over the course of many years due to oxidization. The longer they are used, the richer and subtler they become, dissolving into the human heart and the environment.

From top to bottom: Stationery Tray; Bottle Openers; Morning Star Black Pendant Lamp; Paperweights; Komagata Bookend; Chopstick Rests

I also like this lamp, which casts a shadow in the shape of a star on the ceiling (click through the photos to see). See more from the line here. Myth & Symbol, located in Houston, Texas, sells a selection of Futagami products — including this beautiful trivet — in their online shop.

All products and images from Futagami