less is more

Returning to the wall sculpture theme, my sister has been coveting these C. Jere brass urchin sculptures available through Jonathan Adler.  A cluster would look muy cool on a dining room wall.

Apologies for the mini photo!

Thanks to Martha Stewart for calling my attention to these significantly less expensive imitations, available on Jayson Home in three sizes.

It appears these have fewer needles than C. Jere's but the price is aaalllright.

how to get your downton fix in the off-season

About an episode into Downton Abbey Season 2, which I raced through on the PBS website last week before they took it down, it struck me--suddenly yet belatedly--that the Granthams are really just the next iteration of the Forsytes, which sated the reading, listening, and viewing public's voyeurism throughout the 20th Century.

Shortly after landing my first job out of college, one of my coworkers encouraged me to make use of my new Netflix account by renting The Forsyte Saga, a British miniseries about the comings and goings of a grand family and all of their exaggerated drama (i.e., the everything-that-can-go-wrong-does storyline that we see in Downton and, let's be honest, daytime soaps).  New to the Netflix thing back then, I dutifully ordered it and made my somewhat painful way through each of the discs in the evenings, eventually hooking even my dad, who generally eschewed tv shows and movies.  At the end of it, I thought, moly, that was barely tolerable.  The acting was laughable, being done in that stylized, halting, 1960s way and the only thing that got my dad and me through it was sheer wonder at how truly awful it was.  We wondered what all the fuss was about.

Well, come to find out, I'd ordered the wrong one.  My coworker's review was based on the 2002 version--in living color!--which, coming full circle, I plan to add to my instant queue now that I, along with the rest of the world, have to wait 10-ish months until Downton Season 3.  The Forsyte Saga may not compare with Julian Fellowes's production but it cannot be worse that its 1967 BBC made-for-tv predecessor.  Which means it will do quite nicely until we find out what the Roaring Twenties bring to Downton.

minty fresh

I'm obsessed with this guy's mint pea coat, logged by NYMag.com's The Cut in Milan.  Given the pastels dotting street style looks at the Fall 2012 RTW shows--at least in London and Milan--I hope J.Crew or somebody makes me a wool car coat in this exact shade with those exact buttons and that exact collar for fall.  Leave it to an Italian man, not even walking in a show, to catch my eye.

nymag.com

I must have mint on my mind.  A few weeks ago I tried David Lebovitz's ice cream recipe using fresh leaves and 'twas delish.  (Is it me or is the warm, creamy soup better than the frozen version of itself?  Kind of like brownie batter and cookie dough.)

Mine.

a stylish reason to pour yourself a drink

I recently purchased four sets of some delightfully colorful Kate Spade Prize Ball coasters.  One for me, one each for three lucky friends to be determined.  Might as well stock up.

Then I found these preppy canine coasters from Rifle Paper Co.  They're practically begging (pun intended) to be scooped up (partly intended).

I was lucky enough to receive Rifle's pale pink telephone message pad for Valentine's Day.  It makes me feel fancy and would be the perfect thing to track RSVPs for my excuse-to-use-these-cool-new-coasters party.

road trip soundtrack

Last weekend I discovered that the perfect song for driving the country roads back from Charlottesville is First Aid Kit's "Emmylou". 

For two reasons other than it being a really great song that undulates with the hills of the road.  One:  I love Emmylou Harris, specifically for her album with Mark Knopfler, which I had the pleasure of seeing them perform in concert and consistently listen to during car rides (and their song "This Is Us" was the last song played at our wedding reception.  It's the perfect last dance, if you ask me).  Two:  I'm indebted to these sisters because I actually heard their Fleet Foxes cover before I'd ever heard the Fleet Foxes.

Flippin' Swedes, teaching us how to be cool all the time.

happy valentine's day

Wee little sugar cookies, sprinkled and lemon glazed and packed in a turquoise Fortnum & Mason tin.  They made the perfect book club contribution a few weeks ago and if I weren't so lazy I'd make a gingerbread version today.

if I had a little lamb

I don't consider myself to be much of an animal person but a BABY animal person, yes.  A certain someone promised to get me a puppy sometime in the next ten years and the prospect makes me squeal like a baby pig with excitement.

Photographer Sharon Montrose feeds the dream with her beautiful, crisp studio images of giraffe, pig, tiger, and monkey pups (technical term), available on 20x200 (whose redesign is a little annoying, to be honest).  I received her baby lamb photo as a present last year.

I love him, his earnest innocence, and the very slightly blurred wisp of his tail.  If lambs stayed small forever, I might actually skip the puppy, but I'll take what I can get.

ikat, you kat

As we're all well aware, ikat is hot, hot, hot.  The tribal effect lends an element of authenticity and an aged patina to new-world spaces and the limitless colors and patterns makes each piece seem unique.  I especially love these high-gloss, neon silk pillow covers from Material Recovery.  This ikat is steroidal.

wall flowers

I bought one of these ceramic wall tiles from Element Clay Studio for my sister for Christmas, hoping that one day I can afford to give her a couple more to create a set.  They come in micro tiles, which I purchased, as well as larger 9" squares.  They are both soft and stark, detailed and simple.  Heather's glazed bowls are pretty swell, too.

And what do you know, Dilly Pad, another Etsy seller featured on their front page yesterday, sells similar wares but in less abstract (i.e., floral) forms and with the option of a glossy finish (and, ahem, a bit less expensive).

So pretty and unique.  Well...as unique as anything can be anymore.

a few finds

I love this upgraded yet laid-back leather butterfly chair from CB2.  It would be mega cool sitting atop a flokati rug in a teenager's bedroom.

A perfectly acceptable alternative, and at $200 less, is this Urban Outfitters version.

Also adore this uber literal trash pail, which I think I found via somewhere else but now I can't remember. A plain galvanized steel bucket would work, too, and when you think about it, the handle is genius practicality.