dedicated to chairs

I came across a blog dedicated entirely to chairs. As I am in a chair hunt, this was particularly pleasing to me. Take a look here. 

back in business!

Well here I am. Back. After landing in Chicago Aaron and boarded a plane to Boston, and the past week I've been occupied with moving in and looking for work. But I feel like we're finally settling in. I had originally planned on blogging through the whole trip, but since I didn't it seems so hard to go back through and update on what we did. All I can say is that I'm so glad I went. A few favorite destinations included Cinque Terre, Chamonix, the Loire Valley and Paris. I didn't expect to love France as much as I did. Currently I can share a Paris picture, but I'm having a hard time accessing the pictures we loaded to an external hard drive, so I'll try and post more later. 

Our apartment is so big and nice that its been really fun thinking about what to do with it. The first major project was stripping a mid-century danish dining table we got from craigslist. I was so happy to have learned thins new skill! Here it is with some Ikea chairs we bought.

I'll post more about the apartment as we finish each room.

Boston has been really great. Dorchester is a really diverse and pleasant neighborhood (at least our area). Last might we met a neighbor from across the street who moved to her house "as a bride" and has been there 62 years! Amazing. True to form Aaron has started his baking, already making english muffins and a peach tart.

Also, to be real Bostonians, we had a shrimp boil last weekend. So good. I'm excited to start blogging again, what with a new apartment to put together, a nice kitchen to cook in and a new life to start. 

travels

Its been a long hiatus from blogging... for good reason! About a week and a half ago I graduated from my master's program, moved from my home in Boston, put our belongings in storage, and embarked on a six week tour of Italy and France. We started in Sardinia, where I lived as a child with my family for over a year. Here we spent time with old friends and left my late father's cremains in the sea that he loved. Then we left for Rome to start our touring. And here we are.

I had been planning on posting pictures and keeping track of the trip on this blog, but internet access has been a problem for me, so my posting may be sporadic. I'll try to share when I can. Have a great summer and wish us luck!

new from Coconut Records, "Microphone"

I can't lie... I have such a crush on Jason Schwartzman

last day of school... for a long time!

Wow. Today is my last day of school. I can't believe how fast it went, and yet I'm so intellectually exhausted, I can't imagine it feeling longer. I'm off to my last class that will include cheese and wine, and then my last University of Chicago duty will be graduation a week from now. I'm so glad I did it, and only sort of glad its done. I can easily say it was my most challenging experience, and I've grown so much intellectually. I can also easily say the a PhD is not in my future (so near future at least) and that real employment will be fantastically appreciated. I'm so happy to have my master's at my age; now lets make a dent in those loans!

grover's take on marriage

vintage on etsy

I should really explore etsy more. This little shop, dear golden, has some great stuff!

R. Buckminster Fuller, at the MCA

On Sunday I joined Joy, a friend, to see the exhibit, "Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe" at Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. Wow! I was totally blown away. I had never really heard of him before, and was fascinated by how far ahead of time this architect, mathematician, and visionary was. He was very concerned about sustainability, efficient design, and globalization. The exhibit included models of his 4d homes, domed structures, and sea cities. I was most compelled of the video of 'Bucky' standing outside on a windy day with a table of rods and connectors in front of him, explaining why the tetrahedron is the foundation of the universe. While there was a tinge of sadness in it all, as many of his ideas never came to fruition, no matter how hard he fought for them, I was also filled with hope. I am often coming across modular housing, sustainable designs, and alternative materials in my reading, and I now see how foundational the thinking of Buckminster Fuller was. If you're in the city, I definitely recommend going stopping by the MCA. The exhibit ends July 5th. 

Domed Pavilion for the World's Fair, Montreal. still in existence.

Bucky's world map, meant to eliminate distortion and emphasize the interconnectedness.

Here he is with a model of a domed home and foldable interior

most incredible I think is his idea to dome part of manhattan to reduce cost: universal climate control, eliminate snow removal, protect against pollutants etc...

plate shelf

due to our way too large book collection I'm always interested in shelving options. We've been rocking the ikea cube bookcase for a while now and while I still love it, sometimes it looks a little heavy. I'm loving the above plate shelf by nARCHITECTS. very cool. 

wish list

coveting these palma patent ankle-wrap flats from j.crew. 

Listen: Phoenix

On April 6th I watched Saturday Night Live with Aaron (a favorite activity of his) and saw Phoenix perform. I had never heard of them before, which isn't unreasonable considering they are fairly unknown French band, and since that time I've had their song "Lizstomania" in my head. I really like them so I though I would share from their nicely titled album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (see the SNL performances here). What do you think? 

PHOENIX

on my wish list: proud mary

In my blogging around I came across this really neat company called proud mary. It is a company started by two you ladies developing socially conscious and inspired fabrics for wonderful products. While expensive, I understand the cost because of the mission of the company and the nature of a new company.  I've chosen this bag for my wish list. 

tempaper?

Just today I was thinking about how cool it would be to wallpaper, but that it seemed unlikely considering we will be renters for a very long time. I was inspired by these amazing papers from madison and grow. 

Then I came across these really cool temporary papers from tempaper designs. I think its a pretty good idea. Would you do it? 

I'm back!

Wow! We had to take our computer in the the Apple and they had to replace our hard drive. We lost almost all our music, but I'm glad they saved most everything else. It's disconcerting considering we purchased our computer less than a year ago, but oh well. It was under warranty. 

Anyways, its spring, and there is much to be happy about. Graduation is coming up, Europe is just around the corner, and Boston plans are set. I will really miss Chicago and our friends here though. 

Planning for the apartment has been really fun. I've been loving mid-century design lately, and now that I have a palate to place these ideas, things are coming together in my mind. We even already bought a Danish mid-century dining table from craigslist. Yes, we have a dining room! We love to cook and host, so we were hoping for a dining room. 

Well this is sort of rambling. Here are a few images that have been providing recent home inspiration. 

I love the layering here. We have so many books I'm thinking of getting another of the same large ikea bookcase that we have and replicating this in the living room. 

I love this room too.

We don't have dining chairs. Maybe paint random ones? 

update

So I've been a little absent from my blog recently! This week our computer has acting a little funky, and last week I was so focused on my thesis. Two quick updates: we found an excellent apartment in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. I can't wait to share more with pictures once we move. Also, my thesis is practically done! It will be turned in on Friday!!! So excited!

Sorry for the short post. Stay tuned for more activity as the computer is fixed and school slows.