baby's black balloon makes her fly...30 july 2008 gratitudes

i'm absolutely in love with the company that i work for. smitten. all i ever want is for us all to be in a room with our dancin' shoes on. and it was a night when everyone, corporate and shopfolks came out to celebrate the legendary peter hale cooney III. store clients and fantastic friends from school brought the house down.

1. kanako came over to our hot sweatshop of an apartment while pete prepped for his night. nothing tickles me more than hearing her giggle with pete.

2. pete's flair for accessorizing. he covered every base. rhinestone choker. fedora with feather. strappy motorcycle boots. crystal brick bracelet. wooden ring. black organza cape. his last big evening of excess...i think he went out with a bang!

3. pete's bundle of black balloons. all clustered in one of the shower stalls, it looked like a naughty junior high dance. i felt like it should have been called the "7 minutes in Heaven" room. unfortunately i didn't see anyone kissin'...boo.

4. lauren gray weinerth's forever 21 jumper and my forever 21 shoes. we are quite a pair. you can take the girls out of the south... so shameful.

5. lauren taking such good care of me. quoting a league of their own, girl interrupted, and fried green tomatoes to help bring me back to neutral. she is going to be such a good mother.

6. breakfast at clinton street baking company with lauren. hands down the best pancakes in town. biscuits. cheese grits. bacon. black coffee. nothing feels better after a night out dancing, than a proper southern breakfast with a sweet girl making you laugh the morning away.

7. pete cooney. lauren gray weinerth. sarah meyer. grainne belluomo. adrian muniz. john gardner. kanako tagawa. abby hassler. lexie zawaski. joey kuhn. max shimizu-jones. joie. lauren demith. haley seidel. jon lynn. james corrigan. alex. hadarrah moore. tremaine emory.vaughn vance. kieran mulcare. daniel vosovic. brendan coleman. blake nebel. matt perfediou. chris. cory. monique horton. linda bendak. chico clark. andrew weyer. alex weyer. asia. bryan. matthew christian. bernardo sanchez. ray dejesus. susie farhandi. paul sanford. christine cho. meghan oconnor. reed putlitz. chris gelinas. waylon watts. delvin.

a night i hope pete cooney never forgets. he is one loved boy. i couldn't stop smiling at how special all of these dear people made pete feel. and i am so glad he was born.

love will carry me away...29 july 2008 gratitudes

i feel like my heart is so full that i could fly away into the sky. look for me. the girl with grey hair and hearts in her eyes.

1. grainne and her mother's kindness. they have touched so many hearts in these last few days...and the best is yet to come. i'm at a loss for words.

2. maddy's phone call to tell me that she is getting married! i have so many dear friends who have found the loves of their lives. i wish this for every friend of mine. i want everyone to be in love and cared for the way they deserve. there really is nothing better.

3. spoke to sachi, one of my favorite SCAD professors. she took such care of me in college. without her and john, i would never have survived. teachers and mothers, two of the hardest jobs in the world. maybe one day i will be one...hopefully both.

4. the phrase, "you reap, what you sow". i've heard it quite a bit lately. i think i should chant it quietly to myself this next month.

5. pete's birthday extravaganza tonight. i'm about to fix myself up really nice for his party at happy endings. i can't wait to dance and laugh and see faces of the dear people who i adore with all my heart.

i am constantly amazed by humanity. how people chorale to make dreams come true. another beloved teacher encouraged her students to "disturb the universe". i love that.

breathless exquisite chills...24 july 2008 gratitudes

1. watched some lovely films by ellen von unwerth. i think i might even fancy her films more than her photography. the soundtracks to her films are just the icing on the cake.

2. had breakfast at cafe cluny and saw the lovely gloria baume and joanna hillman from teen vogue. these ladies are fantastic. i think i probably even blushed a little that they remembered me enough to wave and say hello.

3. wished my sweet corrie pellerin was here. today was her birthday and i wish she could have been here to celebrate. we lived together in college and survived SCAD's fashion department(by the skin of our teeth). she is one of the best listeners i know; one of the funniest girls i know; and definitely one of the most thoughtful friends i have. she really reminds me a lot of my mother. and that is one compliment i don't dish out to just anyone. she truly is a friend i know i will have when i am old and grey(naturally by then). a former room mate. a best friend. a bridesmaid. i am so glad she was born.

4. treasured the first part of my morning. the weather was cool and crisp, with clouds gently hovering. the shadows even shifted a little, tricking me into believing maybe fall isn't too far away. i'm hoping maybe august will forget its tendency to be a dreadful hot mess of a month, and we can just ease on into fall...

5. we re-merchandised our store again and it looks like a new store. clean, precise, and focused. we have all new fall ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, and accessories. and our new apothecary cabinet is absolutely stunning. the perfect display for our antique jewelry.

6. made a to-do list and checked off every item. this website, listography.com is a great internet tool to help get organized. i love creating it first thing in the morning while i'm still in bed. honestly, its becoming a new obsession.

fall into into some mischief...23 july gratitudes

1. went back to work after a week sick leave. saw my sweet girls that i work with. they kept me laughing during the day.

2. we received a new antique display case for the store and had to brainstorm a spot for it, given a set of placement restrictions by the president of the company. i love when we are given a project like this. it feels like solving a jigsaw puzzle. whenever we can have a task during these slow summer days, it is much appreciated.

3. at the end of the day i was sent over to the little marc store, where i happily closed the day with chelsea. she let me be her assistant and help re-cover the jewelry cases. she is so technically skilled with the best craftsmanship.

4. my netflix movies came! i watched another czech new wave film, daisies. these films are so bizarre, but beautiful if watched through a camera lens.

5. watched the thunderstorm through my bedroom window with pete. the sky lit up shades of purple and mauve and the lightening cracked like a glittery whip slicing through the clouds. i kept cheering for more thunder. i love loud claps of thunder that make you jump a little.

6. i made a to-do list and crossed off every item. very rare for this free spirit, but goodness it felt empowering!

hello dolly...22 july 2008 gratitudes

i love living in new york. i love the talented people who live in this city. i love that this city brings creatives here to visit.

as a little girl reading about artists, i would never have imagined that i would meet them one day. never even crossed my mind.

kime buzzelli, an artist i adore, just came to new york for a comic book signing. i sat in line with pete, shaking with excitement. i wanted to take a picture, but geeked out. i even brought one of her t-shirts to sign, like a complete fangirl. when i got to the front of the line, i could hardly speak. pete had to do most of the talking. she told me i looked like a flapper, and i just blushed. she signed each book with a darling little illustration next to her name. sigh.

maybe one day i will be an artist who sends young girls hearts aflutter at a comic book signing. oh to dream a little dream.

my life is like divided, into kissing...and not kissing 21 july 2008 gratitudes

thank the heavens for the gift of my so-called life. the whole season on dvd.

watch it here for one of my favorite scenes.

here's why i am grateful for this show.

1. more plaid styling combinations than you can shake a fist at. this aired at the same time marc jacobs launched his first grunge collection. amazing.

2. claire danes and her manic panic "crimson glow" red hair.

3. the way they captured teenage angst and "real issues".

4. the word "like". always excessive and always perfect.

5. jordan catalano. he should have been number one on this list.

6. the soundtrack...the cardigans, buffalo tom, r.e.m, and the violent femmes to name a few.

7. rayanne's outfits, hairstyles, and saucy comments.

8. how this show is an incredible 90s time capsule. but in the most non-hollywood, non glossy portrayal.

9. the quotability factor. such dry and clever humor.

i've been obsessed with this show since 1994 and i still reference it way too much. i met jared leto on the streets of new york in 1997 and took a photo with him. that i still carry in my wallet. like a stalker. he was so achingly beautiful, it hurt to look at him.

give me my sin again...19 july 2008 gratitudes

well, unfortunately i have some dreadful stomach something-or-other that has left me bedridden for the last two and a half days. its beyond wretched and i can't eat anything; have a headache and a backache; cold sweats and nausea. and i'm so far away from home and no central a/c makes everything seem a whole lot worse.

but at least i have movies to watch, including my favorite version of romeo and juliet. my favorite movie of all time. these two are the ultimate perception of beauty to me. i love love.

i think i could stay with you for a while...16 july 2008 gratitudes

what a day. to live in such a city. with so many close friends, just a phone call a way.

1. woke up this morning and met my sweet corrie pellerin for breakfast at clinton street baking company, a new spot that is fast becoming a favorite. she is my college roomate and i can't honestly imagine not living more than a short walk away from her.

2. convinced corrie to walk to the union square farmers market to pick out amy's birthday picnic treats. on the way, we coincidentally crossed paths with my sweet haynes riley with the legendary annika kaplan. two people who i adore and am constantly inspired by. i love them and seeing them at the same time always makes my heart skip a few beats. i wish everyone could know these two people. beautiful.inside and out.

3. prepared a birthday picnic for amy merrick. pickles, apples and peaches(new england and georgia), cottage cheese, creamed honey, black raspberries, a black and white cookie, orangina, and evian. i felt like rachel flax(cher's character in mermaids) when she plops down a plate of cheesball pick-me-ups and marshmallow kabobs and calles it dinner for her daughters. fun finger foods seems to be my great culinary outcome. well...all those foods are her favorites...

4. planned to take her to the cloister's but instead she tailored the picnic to a much more suitable location. central park's boathouse. she rowed us to her favorite weeping beech tree and we dropped anchor(sort of) in a shady, algae lacquered secret spot. picture little mermaid "kiss the girl" scene.

5. berry stained fingers and winnie the pooh honey dipping.

6. matching large sun straw hats with ribbons. we joke around that we look like storybook heroines, the light and dark version of each other. tall, fair and freckly girls. she is the fiery, feisty spitfire of a tomgirl and i'm the swoony, romantic, childish counterpart. she'll re-do your house and knit you a pair of socks. i will draw you a silly picture and throw glitter at you.

7. waxed nostalgic on american girl dolls, little women, vaudeville acts, love letters, summer homes, our future children, and how one becomes a professional blogger.

8. felt renewed, surrounded by water and trees and nature.

9. met up with pete, lauren, max and mollie at the new museum for the latest gallery opening. laughed a lot. between lauren and pete, i can't keep up! saw elizabeth peyton and wanted to tell her how much i adore her work. but i refrained.

10. went to freeman's post-opening. met up with danielle and her boyfriend thaddeus. saw jack mcollough from proenza schouler. sort of wanted to just touch him. it amazes me when someone so young has already become iconic. it was like if i had seen marc jacobs in the 90s. pete ducked out when lauren giggled, "i love their skirt i got from target". so funny and so classic lauren weinerth. she has that sort of disarming, self-deprecating humor that instantly makes her relatable and lovable. the kind of person who can charm you within ten minutes of talking to her.

i wish everyone knew these people in my life. they make the ordinary, extraordinary.

when it is dark enough, you can see the stars...15 july 2008 gratitudes

all is quiet on the west village front. everyone flees for the summer. gee, i wonder why...

which is all the more reason for me to spend the summer collecting, researching, improving, reflecting, growing. i hope, come fall, i will be a little closer to the goal of why i moved to new york in the first place. so here is my tally of good thoughts for the day.

1. woke up again, early early early, to work on my fitness this morning. it's the best way to start the day and i can see why every health guru suggests it. i feel so energetic and motivated afterwards, high from the endorphins i suppose.

2. ate a carton of blackberries. i could have had two more, at least. amy merrick's recent post has made me yearn for berry picking season. it tastes like summer and childhood to me.

3. came home to find a package waiting for me, "for the love of light" a tribute to the art of polaroid. i bought a sx-70 land camera a little while ago, but i'm afraid the shutter is broken. i want to try and take it to B&H photo to see if they can save her. anyway, this book is so fantastic and utterly charming. everyone should pick up their own copy.

4. worked with kristen today. she makes me laugh. she is one of the funniest, sharpest girls i know. she is so quick witted and man, can she banter with the best of them. my store is full of comedians. i just laugh. i can't keep up.

5. watched some of maximilla lukacs' films on youtube. i am fascinated with sarah sophie flicker, karen elson, and maximilla. i just love creative young females. i mean, they are enchanting. i would give anything to go to a citizen's band performance.

6. researched thaumatropes. one christmas when i was a child, my mother gave me a pack of french thaumatropes. she always included sophisticated little antique toys in our stockings. i love old parlour tricks and games. joseph cornell took that idea and made his own. lovely. if only i had a more technical, engineering kind of brain. oh the toys i would make!

7. i saw sid vicious, my favorite french bulldog in the west village. he is all grown up! puppies and children develop at warp speed it seems. blink and they grow up. time is a funny, deceptive little thing.

8. daydreamt. a lot. the days are long and quiet so there is time to fantasize and dreamchase while folding cardigans and spacing hangers. i have an itchy hand that wishes i could get away with drawing during the slow moments. but alas...an idle hand is the devil's playground.

tomorrow is my day off. i can't wait to play.

hope on a rope...12 july 2008 gratitudes

the days are long here in new york city...
when things are hard, surround yourself with inspiring people, art, film, fashion, objects...whatever it takes.
eliminate the bad and collect the good.
life is too short and this city is too full of opportunity to fret the small stuff.

1. i discovered the odd czech new wave film, valerie and her week of wonders. visually, i would liken it to the virgin suicides. the cinematography is dreamy and soft and bewitching. the content, however, is bizarre and kind of sexually deranged. the film has been likened to a cross breed of alice and wonderland and little red riding hood. it's also a little rocky horror picture show. in my humble opinion. watch this movie through the eyes of a camera and snap pictures the whole way. and be sure to cringe and bear it through the uncomfortable sexual undercurrent.

2. found a place in my room for nikki's birthday card to me. she is my little sister that i always wanted. pete, chelsea, and i wish we could fast forward through some years so we can all be artists and designers together in new york. there has never been a young girl whose future is so bright that it is palpable. chelsea, pete, and i all agree how we wish we could have been so driven and talented at her age. she is destined for greatness.

3. finally found a tim walker book of photography for a cheap price on amazon! i am painfully obsessed with his whimsical photography. it literally makes me ache when i see it. i was often criticized in design school for my sweet, childlike style of design, that it was too thematic. well, i like what i like, and so does tim. i'm a kidult at heart.

4. saw julie arkell's darling paper mache sculptures at the john derian store. her work is so detailed and tiny and obsessive. it amazes me when artist's can be so myopic(in a good way). she continues to inspire me. and have you seen what she looks like? total chelsea cook/ginny branch fusion. sincerely.

5. bought the book dirty wow wow and other love stories. this book documents childhood companions in the forms of beloved stuffed animals, dolls, blankets, and pillows. each character comes with its own tale. maybe one day, i will tell my tale of claire and baby claire, my treasured rag dolls of my youth. until then...

6. was introduced to the happiness project. it is changing my life a little, day by day. i try and look at it in the morning and before i go to bed. everyone deserves to be happy but i think most don't believe it. or maybe they forget. it should be everyone's number one priority. it should be pursued, discovered, released, retrieved, owned, given, and received. never let anyone take it away from you. hold it dear to your heart and never apologize for it. ever. it is yours for keeps.

"yer a grand ole' flag"...4 july 2008

1. our store closed at 6:00 pm, and still had a great day considering we had to work on our nation's birthday.

2. wore my funny fourth of july-themed sunglasses, thanks to my mother. she always sends me a care package with an appropriate pair of goofy sunglasses to suit the mood for the time of year.

3. my sweet man came in to town and i was able to have days off with him. so nice. he, literally, is the kindest and smartest man i know. everyone who meets him falls in love with him. without fail. i can't even build him up to be too good to be true. everyone who meets him agrees.

4. saw a hint of fireworks at the new museum on the bowery. we were the first people to get there, right at 7:00. we didn't even make it through the main display because we were too hungry...so we dipped out once the rain hit and cozied up at freeman's around the corner...

5. i was just happy to spend a weekend with my man. i can't wait til we can spend every holiday together. i just love him so much. i could have been anywhere and it wouldn't have mattered because i was with him. he makes the ordinary seem extraordinary. always and forever.