love forever

Girl's Night In: Nailed It.

The nails in their splendor. Note the chevron rug below...

Remember that episode of Sex and the City where the girls talk about their Secret Single Behavior, the weird purely-for-them stuff they do when their partners aren't home?
The Mr. was in NYC for a few days and I decided to engage in my own favorite SSB: I got take-out, watched a movie (Midnight in Paris) and attempted a new home manicure: the chevron nail!
Two hours later, the movie was over but my nails were only half finished. One episode of vintage: Law and Order and they were perfecto! Well, not perfect but I am pretty proud of them. I followed this tutorial but used painter's tape instead of scotch. And I did two different colors for the chevrons. Next up, the holy grail of DIY nail art: the marbelized nail. I might need to do this one over the course of a weekend. It looks brutal!

What's your favorite night in activity?

Cookie Time

I can't believe I haven't mentioned the word "holiday" on my blog and Christmas is only one week away! Even though it doesn't seem like I'm in the spirit yet, festive things are starting to happening around the Loveforever house, we are just firm believers in some good holiday procrastination. Basically we talk about how much we need to get started on holiday preparations for a couple of months and finally spring into action around December 10th. Over the last week, wrapping paper was made, presents were crafted and of course, cookies were baked.


We were invited to a co-workers cookie party this weekend and I wanted to try a few new things. Last summer I went to Blue Bottle Coffee in Brooklyn and had parmesan fennel shortbread with sea salt. It was sublime, buttery, salty goodness. I couldn't find the recipe for it so I doctored this Ina recipe a bit, adding fennel seeds, a sprinkle of cheese and pink himalyan sea salt on top. Oh and a tiny bit of sugar to the dough. Mr. Love Forever said they tasted like tiny pizzas. I believe this to be a great compliment.






Another cookie I dream about is the TKO cookie (that's Thomas Keller Oreo) from Bouchon Bakery. Thankfully this recipe is very easy to find on the internet. The cookie is incredible: salty, crumbly and rich with chocolate and the filling is just like an Oreo but without the waxy shortening aftertaste. I made also made a peppermint variety, adding a few drops of peppermint oil to the filling and rolling the sandwich in peppermint candies crushed into sparkling minty dust. Oh. my. gosh. They are so good. Like tempted to not go to the party and spend the day in bed with a plate of cookies good.

Maskmaker, Maskmaker

As promised, my masquerade costume for the company holiday party!









Slightly creepy, but in an awesome way. I made a mold of my face and stiffened vintage lace over the mold using this magical stuff. I had to do about five coats to get the thing really stiff. Then I sewed sequins and more lace pieces all over the mask. For the collar, I used a pattern I already had, sewed together a few more pieces of lace, some more sequins and whole lotta feathers. I was afraid, like many of my well-intentioned ideas, that it wouldn't last through the night, but it held up through champagne toasts, sweaty dancing and serious photobooth posing.

Here it is in action at the party with a few of my co-workers/partners in crime. They all made their own masks too- hey, as the visual team we have to represent at a costume party!


Band photo!


Masquerades are so much fun! Hiding behind a mask for the night is oddly liberating. Usually I like dressing up for the party more than the party itself but put a mask on me and all bets are off!

The Dumpster Project: Art Basel 2011

Last week I went to Art Basel in Miami and came home with enough inspiration to overwhelm even the most overzealous of bloggers. This week and next, I'll post some favorites.




When most people are faced with the challenge of moving to a smaller place, they drop dozens of bags off at goodwill or have a massive yard sale. But Brooklyn assemblage/collage artist Mac Premo decided to make his years of collections into one giant art installation. And so, The Dumpster Project was born, a visual catalogue of Premo’s belongings.

Here is Premo’s Mission Statement for The Dumpster Project:

1. I have archived much of my life through collected objects.

2. I have moved a smaller studio, making it necessary that I get rid of a lot of these objects.

3. I have done so by using them as the raw material for one enormous collage, created inside a 30-yard dumpster.

4. Oh, also, I have photographed over 450 of these objects. Every day I post one, accompanied by a brief history of the item, here: www.thedumpsterproject.com

 

I was in Miami last week scoping out Art Basel and it’s dozens of satellite art shows and the Dumpster Project was one of my favorite pieces. I love the idea that you can physically walk into a lifetime of another person’s memories. And the visual merchandiser in me totally dug the way the pieces were organized- attached to the walls with screws or tucked into boxes, the floors a mishmash parquet of found wood.

What do you think your Dumpster Project would look like? Would it be this visually arresting?

for more about The Dumpster Project and read the (totally hysterical) histories of each object, click here. For more on Mac Premo, click here.

All photos by me. The Dumpster Project was most recently shown at SCOPE Art Fair in Miami.

Masq-peration

Every year the company I work for has a big, knock-out, over-the-top holiday party and every year the visual team is out of town prototyping. But not this year- this Cinderella actually gets to go to the ball for once! The theme is Masquerade and I am making up for lost parties by going all out on my costume. It's a bit Alexander McQueen, a bit Isabella Blow, a lot Philip Treacy (who designed pretty much every one of these hat/masks) and a dash of Lady Gaga.

I promise I will post photos of the get-up when it's done but for now some inspiration...

Isabella Blow in a Philip Treacy creation via

Philip Treacy for Valentino Haute Couture via / Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2012 via

Lady Gaga mask by Philip Treacy via /Valentino Haute Couture photographed for Vogue Italia via

Get Better Bunny

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know about Potato, my rabbit companion (of nine years!), crafty helper and all-around muse. My little bun is getting older and hasn't been feeling so well. It's so hard for me to comprehend, but he's an old man- he still has such a baby face and weighs just two pounds. Please keep my litle bundle of cuteness in your thoughts. He needs some good wishes out there.

Thankful

We spent our holiday in Virginia with the Mr's sister and husband and their two children. Their three year old daughter is my little partner in crime from the moment I get their 'till the second I leave. I don't have my own kids, or much desire to ever have my own kids but I love children despite (or because of?) this. I have been gearing up for cool aunt-hood since I was a teenager, when I first saw Auntie Mame. I've always wanted to be that aunt, the one who comes with presents and spends hours playing make believe and someday, when my niece is old enough I will be the aunt that invites her to stay for the weekend, takes her to museums and out for fancy dinners, and introduces her to my eccentric artsy friends.
We came home last night full of thanks and delicious food.
This has been a year of major lows for me, and I am thankful to come out on the other side, stronger happier and a better person. I am thankful for where I am right now and it's hard to ask for anything more.
For all who celebrate, I hope you had a restful, peaceful Thanksgiving!

Wanderlust: Three Days in Providence, RI

I've talked about my intense wanderlust instinct before. It's definitely a bit of a grass-is-always-greener syndrome- I spend three days in a cute town, city or hamlet and I instantly want to move there. But I swear, I could actually live in Providence for reals. When Squam friends Elizabeth and Christine invited me to spend a few days in their adobable city, I jumped at the chance.

Providence rolled out the perfect fall weekend for me with crisp sunny days walking through leaf strewn sidewalks and lazy brunches nibbling on pastries and drinking tea. Elizabeth and Christine were perfect hosts- that just right combination of lots to do and see but no hurry to do it in.



On Friday I hopped the train (I love train rides don't you?) from NYC and got into Providence very late but luckily Christine's house has a separate entrance so I snuck in to find a gigantic king size bed piled with pillows just for me and note telling me that there were homemade muffins and butternut squash soup in the fridge. What is this magical place? My personal heaven?












Saturday we walked all over the city, stopping for a delicious, local and somehow still inexpensive lunch at the art collective space AS220. My favorite part of the day (and possibly the month) was a visit to the Edna Lawrence Nature Lab, part of RISD but open to the public. Artists of all kinds can peruse the thousands of specimens, rocks, shells, feathers and animals there and then sketch, sculpt and paint them at the giant tables there. I think I could go there every day. They also had a beautiful exhibit about the geometry of plant life and nature. Just the kind of nerdiness that I go for.







We had dinner at La Laiterie, another local type retaurant. I had steak with mushroom gnocci and sunchoke fondant. It made my head explode with happiness.











Sunday started off with the aforementioned lazy brunch at Elizabeth's beautiful light filled house (and her vey own mini- Nature Lab). Seriously Providence, why are you hogging all the sun? I like my house fine but let's be real, it is a dark South Philly cave. After that we took another walk, did some shopping, followed by dinner at Christine's (why didn't I take pics of here house too? Dang!) and dessert at Pastiche.

And Sunday I took a walk with Elizabeth then headed home. Even the adorably cute train station had good food: I got myself a grilled cheese on sourdough bread from the local bakery with avocado and bacon. Take that Penn Station.

Good eats and pretty scenery aside, the best part of the trip was the talking. You know when you are with people that just get you, regardless of how short or long they've known you and the conversation is just effortless? I came home inspired and happy, ready to start lots of new projects and dream lots of big things.

Have a Fabulous Halloween!

pop pumpkins by Happy Mundane, right from Martha Stewart

What are you doing this Halloween? Are you dressing up? I'm not but the dogs at my office do and they have a little parade! Then I think I'll go home and pass out candy. I'm still new to trick or treaters actually going around to my house (in New York, kids in my neighborhood trick or treat at the stores!) and I love to see what everyone's wearing.

These are my current favorite jack o'lantern variations. I love the idea of painting on pumpkins (plus when you don't cut them, they live practically forever!) in non-traditional colors. On the other hand, I dream of having a big porch spilling over with gorgeously carved pumpkins with leaf motifs. I tend to not get into the spooky side of Halloween as much as the fall-time, harvesty side. Any new pumpkin "trick" you're trying out?

A few more fun Halloween-y links to get you in the mood:

The New York Public Library gets crafty with a video showing how-to carve their famous lions (otherwise known as Patience and Fortitude) into a pumpkin!

Diana Schoenbrun of the Beasties book (you can see my review here!) made this ah-mazing stop motion animation of her Beasties coming to life. I don't know how she did it but it's awesome.

 

Every Day

Print by Groundwork (buy one on Etsy!)

I had a very scary reminder today that to just be present in my day is the simplest and hardest thing in the world. I hope you all have a relaxing and happy weekend! I think that, for what's left of the weekend, I will too.