Yesterday
Catherine from
The Shiny Pebble tagged me in her Bag tagging
post. I feel so guilty that over the past 3 years (and change!) I have been tagged quite a bit and have never played along; Bad blogger! I thought it might be interesting to compare my workbag to a woman's purse as all of the other nominees were ladies. However -my messenger bag is basically a 'manbag' as you can see - so purselike it's embarrassing! Lets dig through this mess, shall we? Don't judge!
-Reading materials for the bus - check! Vanity Fair and Veranda today.
-Ipod, flashdrive and camera (obviously not pictured) with associated cords
-Wallet and keys. Yes -my keychain is a measuring tape, I am an architect after all!
-Library card, work access card, extra business and blogging cards and a random coupon.
-2 burts bees chapsticks (I'm addicted to these but still not sure why I have 2), powder paper (to 'clean' my face if i'm going somewhere after work), gum, random old allergy medication tablets, a mint and some hand lotion stolen from a hotel (don't make fun -I get VERY dry skin in the winter - ouch!).
-Ordinarily I carry lunch and a snack to work and papers and drawing sets home as needed. Neither of these were in my bag at the time so they're not pictured!
The bag is a hard canvas messenger bag with leather trim by
Jack Georges which I love and always get compliments on! Simple, practical but still attractive; I've been using it for about 3 years now. Thanks Catherine for thinking of me! On with our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.
In the recent NYT magazine, did you notice the little piece on Ji Lee's parallel worlds? The very talented graduate of Parsons is currently the creative director of the google lab but his other passion is the 'empty' space all around us.
You know what I mean by that? Well -the pictures probably make it pretty clear -but ceilings and backs of business cards are 2 things he mentioned in the article. He sees these areas in our modern world as yet another great place to express yourself. 
In one of these miniature rooms for instance, he has placed a tiny guitar and Jimi Hendrix posters to express the inner rockstar of the client. What a charming idea, don't you think? The idea of anything in miniature generally will gain my support: so cute!
His idea of this parallel universe going on amongst our daily lives is also a pretty interesting one. Remember the children's book, the borrowers, by Mary Norton: Tiny little people stealing small items from us all and living their lives behind our very walls? That notion always intrigued me. If not behind our walls, why not on our blank white gypsum board ceilings which no one seems to notice in our modern age.
I remember years ago seeing an article about an older woman who collected miniatures (or doll house furniture, whichever you prefer to call it) and arranged rooms on her bookshelves in her living room: LOVE that idea. I think we all like to play god on some level and be the master of a smaller universe. Why not take after Ji Lee and place them on your ceiling?
All photos from BOOOOOOOOM
I decided last minute to stay in town and because of the hot weather have been nesting. Lilies from the Dupont farmers market.
Bacon and eggs (fried and runny), wheat toast, english breakfast tea with milk and OJ were on the menu. While the bacon fried (and then eggs done in the same pan afterwards), I took a few pictures. Daisies were snipped from a larger bunch ($4 at trader joes) elsewhere in my apartment and put into a bud vase to brighten up the winter gloom. Daisies are the most cheerful flower in my opinion and really last a long time (up to 2 weeks if you change the water frequently!).
NPR was on and featured the listener's favorite top 10 soprano solos which was a wonderful backdrop. Renee Fleming singing o mio babino caro by Puccini was #1. I hope you are all finding ways to brighten up your winter as well!
This past weekend I had a few friends over for dinner and they were nice enough to let me interrupt the party to photograph the table settings for the weekly 
Here is what we had (ignore the lamp cord!) - roast beef with carrots, potatoes and celery -a hearty winter meal on a snowy day. 
For dessert (lemon pound cake with fresh whipped cream) I used the bread plates for Wedgwood 'Cuckoo', the small coffee service is antique Austrian by Ernst Wahliss, the teacups are antique Minton and the sugarbowl is cobalt jasperware by Wedgwood.
The tea (violet from Laduree) was served on my sideboard from my wedgwood 'cuckoo' teapot. The sterling tea strainer was NOT fun to polish after a few years of not being used! Crystal candlesticks I brought back from my trip to Paris in the fall.
The evening had some ups and downs -the foil from the champagne gave me a nasty cut which would NOT stop bleeding! The rest of the rose was the best medicine......
I hope you enjoyed the meal as much as we did! 
The sad news is that my old camera (2002 canon powershot sds) finally died yesterday and I'm in the market for a new one. The good news is that I get to take advantage of updated technologies, mainly size! My old camera was small for the time (basically pocketsize) and has performed really well, but as the years progressed smaller versions were being released. As I like to carry my camera around with me all the time, size is so important -it must fit in my pocket! 
Turns out this is the last of a series of 12. Hallmark has been doing faithful architectural renditions of churches for 12 years: Where have I been? The box even gives the history of the style and when it was most popular (1890s-1920s). Each little individual red brick is rendered on the facade, as well as a red clay tile roof, which you can't see in my poor photographs!
Now I just have to collect the other 11!!
A party pavilion idea that I got from a recent party by Mary Mcdonald.
travel sketches
an idea for a house sketched on the subway
a field survey with measurements
A doorway in a house museum sketched quickly while I tried to walk along with the group!
a little seaside cottage idea
idealized sketch of garden & conservatory from a recent magazine.
Idea for a dressing room closet system
chair designs
weird axonometric drawing of a neoclassical house - worms eye view I suppose
plan of a NY penthouse apartment