current obsessions

oversized slouchy shirts and lighter hair


what are your current obsessions?

scott johnson

I love his work! At a distance they look like abstracts, up close they are a cut-outs of humans just simply being humans. They become extraordinary when taken out of context like this.

Here's what he has to say: "Up close, the unique personality of an individual can be detected. Upon retreating to observe a large group of people from a distance, individual sentiment will dissolve into the abstract patterns of a crowd. Whether these patterns suggest a street fair, a protest, or a tragic disaster, the negative space surrrounding the event offers an absence of context, isolating the brush strokes in a sea of neutral color as if they were a school of fish. "

flickr favorites

It's been a busy day so I'm a bit late in the game. But here's my latest flickr favorites


power line by lane collins


by slot k


Vintage Tiger, by bobaniaa


winter whites by clumsy bird

Rising Tide

Today's Daily Candy caught my eye big time. Rising Tide Fair Trade Bags are handmade of vintage kantha quilts by women in India, and are so incredibly beautiful. $220 is a little more than I like to spend on a bag thats not all leather, but the cause is great and did I mention they're beautiful and one of a kind?

I heart New York

2 Shows here in NY that I'm excited about seeing:



Cai Guo-Qiang, I Want To Believe at the Guggenheim
(his work at the Seattle Art Museum was knock-you-off-your-feet good last summer)



Design and The Elastic Mind at MoMA

even though I usually am not a big fan of going to either museum, I'll brave friday free nights for wolves and technology of the future!

Brandi Strickland

Happy-making art by Brandi Strickland, all under $100. There's no excuse not to own original art these days.

I had a hard time picking my favorites of Brandi's work, aren't they lovely? All of these can be found on her etsy site.

le sigh

I had an insane day full of lots of mindless tasks spent largely with my headphones on off in another world, so all I have to share today is my current music rotation:


Black Mountain, In The Future


Charlotte Gainsbourg, 555


Mirah and The Spectratone International, Share This Place: Stories and Observations


Beirut, The Flying Club Cup

now to charge my ipod back up..

Etsy Vintage

Allen Company Inc. Vintage is amazing. Check it out for yourselves my friends.

I'm in love with this pendant light at Habitat.

via DesignSponge

new flickr style icon

I'm totally obsessed with the flickr pool wardrobe_remix, which is full of inspirational ladies (and a few guys) including the Finnish wonder that Spray Glue pointed out a while ago.
Well, here's my new flickr style icon, boboniaa. How amazing is she? It was near impossible to pick just 3 photos to share, they're all fantastic.

Rabbit on the Run

I'm really loving the stuff from Rabbit on the Run they have at The Reed Space. It was almost impossible to find anything else about them online, but I'm assuming this is their website.






LOVE this bag

high fashion

My friend and fellow blogger, Beth is endlessly inspirational. She can sew like some kind of sewing ninja. She's awesome, okay?

Her latest project is the creation (above) of a rtw/designer knock-off for this contest. And, that it is – a great knock-off which I happen enjoy more than the original!

japanese doll

I thought this Vintage Japanese Kokeshi wooden doll was so sweet, and only $15!
More unique and thrifty finds at Etsy: Blue Bell Bazaar.

Old Who?

I saw these shoes at old navy the other day and I was like, wha? Old Navy? In fact, there were tons of cute things that shocked me. I was only going in for a plain undershirt! I'll probably go back and buy them because I'm a sucker like thatl. Plus I only own 2 pairs of heels. Isn't that some type of girl crime?

Daily dose of photo inspiration

Found here. I wish I could pull that skirt off.
Apparently I really like photos of beautiful women leaning against dressers?

big fat rings call to me again

Meighan posted about the fabulous etsy shop something's hiding in here, which is full of really great stuff. But what grabbed me most are these amazing stained wood rings. I'm obsessed with big chunky rings and these are calling to me badly.

You can also find the work at rare device! (My favorite store in Brooklyn)

Sundays are for tinkering.

I was inspired by my friends beautiful home grown eggs (look at that blue!) to create this vignette with some of my jewelry. The earrings were a gift from Rick for my birthday and reminded me of tiny eggs.

Happy Saturday

I got distracted on my way to the laundromat by the sign at the deli under my apartment that said hyacinths (my favorite).

To all my wonderful friends..

On a completely totally different note than my last post, I have a little Kate Miss words of (sad) wisdom to share with you all. I was just telling someone that I love all of the fantastic people I've met through blogging, and I care a lot about the people in my life, even the ones I've never met before.
Most of you are girls and many of you live in big cities. As girls in big cities we all should be SO aware of our surroundings and be so so careful when we're by ourselves-even guys for that matter. I like to roll my eyes and shrug off comments like these from overbearing family members and people I meet when I'm visiting small towns, but sometimes its the sad truth.
A woman I work with came home late the other night to a man in her doorway who forced himself into her apartment where he proceeded to hold her hostage for 2 hours doing god knows what. She says she's unharmed and safe now, but he didn't steal anything and I don't even like to think about what went on for those 2 hours.

I count my blessings today and have opened my eyes to the harsh reality that crazy people are everywhere and even if you live in the nicest neighborhood in Manhattan you're never 100% safe.

So please be safe, especially when you're alone.

Welcome to my addiction

Yesterday the internet was down at work which proved to be really effing boring and be a very productive outcome for me. You all entertain me way too much with your blogs.

I wanted to share some recent buys of mine and since I can't find the products online I took some photos. I always love when I get to see what my fellow bloggers look like anyway.

First up: One of my new years resolutions was to stop buying so much h&m because its so shitty and addicting to buy disposable fashion. I've been very good at cutting back...because I've replaced it with Uniqlo. But! Uniqlo is better quality and so damn great!


The sweater and the jeans are Uniqlo. The shoes, which have only left the house once for a party because they're SO uncomfortable, are Nine West. Black jeans were really popular last year and I never really got into them, but I think they look really chic this year for some reason. I think you just have to pair them with soft sweaters and stay away from sneakers while you're wearing them to not make them appear so harsh.

Here's a detail shot of the sweater knit, which is cotton-cashmere and super soft:


Next up is actually some h&m. It looks like a sweatshirt, but its actually knit. I don't love the buttons, so I might replace them.

Uniqlo jeans (I love how they're straight leg with a tiny little boot cut). Vintage shoes.
**The ridiculous look on my face was my accident. I don't make pouty faces like that for just anyone.

Alternate way to wear the sweater:



And now I'll take a break from buying things for a while:)

otl aicher

The work of designer Otl Aicher is my forever favorite. I thank him from the bottom of my heart for creating Rotis and the 1972 Olympic pictograms. I also love that he designed the 1972 Olympic mascot, Waldi the dachshund. Could anyone could get away with such a mascot today? Well, I'm certainly glad he did.

Disturbing, in a good way

I'm feeling really uninspired this week, but Kyle Ranson's work reverses that a bit for me.

DwellStudio tabletop

Of all the new DwellStudio patterns, I'm most excited about the new table patterns Aerial (above) and Maze (below). I can't wait to get my paws on these in March!

before and after

I bought these pair of danish chairs off of craigslist and ebay this summer and have wanted to recover them ever since. I knew it was going to be expensive, so I put it off for as long as possible. This weekend I knew something had to be done. I marched down to the nearest upholstery shop and perused fabric swatches. It wasn't an easy task, but I found a lovely swatch that was quite affordable. I took it up to the counter and had the woman estimate the cost of creating the four cushions for my two chairs. The grand total came to $760! I told her I had to think about it, but was really thinking: I'm never coming back, I'd rather sit my butt on the hideous, worn-out tweed they are now.

When I got home I realized IKEA had some similar chairs with similar cushions. I dashed to the computer to get the dimensions and discovered that they were nearly the same! So, after driving to IKEA this afternoon, we came home with a pillow for the back and a floor cushion for the seat. This is one-thousand times better than what we had. What do you think, too beachy out-doorsy or does it work? I am quite pleased that they finally match since the other chair's cushion was yellow. The best part is the total=$160!

Thank you, IKEA.

A few things I love right now

lockets, bobs with bangs, Anntian A/W Sweatshirts, and Dru NY Deb Oxfords (I'm totally obsessed with oxfords in general right now..these are an interesting spin)

interview

This may be old news, but the movie Interview, with Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller was brilliant! It was provocative and highly entertaining–and I thought My Dinner with André was the only movie that could make one conversation in one room interesting.
Also, why is Sienna Miller so good looking?

Unleash the majesty of your words!

Epic Notes: set of 8 notecards and envelopes by Ray Fenwick. I love Ray Fenwick and I love me some note cards. Perfection.

The Gap, Whoa

I'm barely alive and this will probably be my only post today due to the insanity I've returned to at work, but I had to post about this. Maybe it's already all the hell over the blogasphere but I have barely touched the internet in the last 3 days.
The Gap has a new creative director, Patrick Robinson, a former Perry Ellis designer who has swooped in to reinvent the ailing company for their Fall line.

It feels a little reminiscent of A.P.C., no? I like.

Excuse the 10,000 huge images, my brain is in no shape to resize these right now and it was impossible to narrow them down! See more and read more here.

Hey guys, my gift fair coverage was cut short due to me very suddenly coming down with something gross. I guess it's making its rounds here in ny.

This is all very wonderful timing since I took yesterday off from work and then spent most of it in bed, and now I'm having to stay home from work again. I'm sure my work loves me right now.

Excuse me while I go cough my head off...

Decorno, if decor is your porn

This is it–I have discovered the single most entertaining decor blog: Decorno. I've laughed my ass off the past few hours reading the archives of her blog. Decorno's sarcasm will surprise and inspire you–I promise. There's plenty of decor and fashion inspiration as well; I can't get enough of her "things that are wrong" lists.
As an added bonus, she's located in Seattle and has been interviewing some great local shop owners!

NYIGF: Rebecca Overmann

So I ended up not spending much time at the gift fair because a large amount of it was things I've seen before, and the new pieces I wasn't allowed to take pictures of. I was a bit overwhelmed but a few things stood out in my head. After viewing the almost only good part of the show, the Accent on Design section, I decided to just take a quick run through the handmade section. The booth that stood out the most was that of Rebecca Overmann. Her jewelry is stunning. Here are some of my favorites.












a few more highlights coming soon..

NY Gift Fair Report: coming soon

Hey guys, its been a productive day for me at work hense my absence from posting, but I don't feel bad because this weekend..or Monday, depending on how busy I am, I'll be posting a fabulous report on the 2008 NY Gift Fair! The gift fair is not as smashing as ICFF, because you have to wade though things that you would normally think would be at a gift fair if you've never been to this one: shit. But one side of the fair is filled with fabulous designers that I plan to report back to you all on.

So stay tuned!

Kids are totally cool little people (for the most part)

Design firm Hort held an 'After School Club' where they went to primary schools and asked the children to re-draw record sleeves they designed. Then they made it into a little book that is extrememly awesome. One more point for the kids are totally cool little people side.