Mail Sorters

I am loving these old school toast racks to use as mail sorters!

A little behind the times...

I know that I'm one of the last people in America that hadn't watched Madmen.  I could blame our lack of cable or my busy schedule, but honestly there is no excuse.  Shug and I are in love with this show!

We are even nerdy enough to look for furniture and design elements we like from each episode.  I had a heart attack over this couch in the episode we watched last night.  The sleek mid-century aesthetic that was popular during the 60s has been the object of desire for us at every yard sale, thrift shop, and estate sale we've ever attended.  So, I'm sure you can imagine how fun it is for us to see an ENTIRE SHOW full of furniture, art, and architecture we love!

Oh. And the storyline and characters aren't half bad, either.

A Movie to See: An Education

Being a seventeen-year old girl seems to never have been easy, in any walk of life or your global position on the planet.  It's the grey area between childhood and adulthood, where everything is fresh and lovely, but also terrifying.  Now think of being seventeen back in the early 60s in England, where getting "an education" at Oxford guarantees you, as a female, a position in teaching or social service...or as a wifeypoo.  Um, yeah.

An Education takes us on a journey with Jenny, an English schoolgirl, who is "very clever" and dreams in French.  I don't want to spoil this coming-of-age story, but I will say Carey Mulligan practically effervesces off the screen.  Listening to her talk about a new singer she discovered or art she likes made me think of the fervor and conviction I had as a teenager that seems to get burnished away with time.

I liked that this story also gave us examples of women toeing the lines of their "proper places" in society.  Miss Stubbs, Jenny's English teacher, seems textbook in her appearance and demeanor as a teacher, but we come to find out she is single by choice and a world traveler.  Helen, Jenny's compatriot on her jaunts with her new beau, doesn't test the waters of truth, but chooses to drink greedily from the seemingly bottomless glass of that in-between world of mistress and girlfriend.  Even Jenny's mother, who seems conventional in her role, shows a backbone and opinion, bending her husband sweetly to her decisions.

Jenny, herself, tests the waters of a non-conventional lifestyle and while she admits she "feels old," she doesn't "feel very wise."  This line embodies the spirit of the film: of growing up and growing in to the new roles allowed to women by society.  Do I agree with the definite lines drawn around the roles for women in this film? Of course not.  But, do I identify with the excitement and wonder discovery and growing up can entail?  Of course.

A book for the reading pile: Middlesex

A few years ago, under prompting from Bestest Best and Oprah, I tried to start Middlesex. I must not have been feeling as fortified as one should to read of metaphorical, literal, and cultural genocides. I threw in the towel a mere hundred pages in.

I regretted it.

Last week, at the urgings of my abominable cold, I tucked into my couch and started Middlesex from the beginning. I was so happy I did.

I don't want to give too much away about the characters or the plot, but I will say you will be pulling for characters and their horrific actions with irreparable consequences just a few chapters in.

The nature of straddling two worlds is explored in depth in this book: the Old World vs. the New World, Eurocentric "Americanism" vs. Hellenic assimilation, gender roles vs. biological sex classification, incestuous love vs. forced pair bonding, and being a man vs. being a woman vs. being both. Um, LOTS was covered in this amazing multi-generational story.

The beauty of Jeffery Eugenides's writing had the pages turning at a rate unnoticed to me. I was so compelled to keep on with Calliope's journey...and her grandparents', and her parents' journeys, I was shocked when I had reached the last page.

I truly believe Middlesex will become a modern classic. It traces the history of a young country along with the mutation of a human gene, passed from generation to generation - the only remnant of a rich heritage so quickly forgotten in the name of homogeneity...the American way.


Also, thanks to Kenzie for the post on the benefits of reading the printed word. I hope to never live in a world without books.

Bummer.

I still love sparklers.
NSFW source.

Not-So-Guilty Pleasure #29087

Go here. It's pretty fun!

Guilty Pleasure #465

I mean, what is better than a novice nun-in-training meeting a huge family, teaching them to dress coordinately with each other, sing lovely songs about singing, and spinning on mountaintop valleys?

Um, nothing...

Nostalgia Junkie

How cool are these gals in this Japanese YeYe commercial? I am really digging the short hair on one of them! It's also interesting to note that this is a commercial spot for a whole minute...An eternity in today's marketing world!

MIXTAPE

Forest Swords - Miarches from the battle on Vimeo.

Nice.

Mid-Century Cocktail Party

Found here, here, here, and here, on Etsy...
Love these! Especially those highball glasses with the big polka dots!

Get this in your life so I can come over and visit it....

How ridiculously awesome is this couch?!?!

We don't have the space or the cheddar...so get on this people!!!
Found on KSL for $750 or best offer (!!!)

Make this happen.
I need to live vicariously!

Don't let this couch go to the wrong home!

Can I get a tattoo of tile?

Because that's about how much I love these colors and shapes.
Too bad the texture and glossiness couldn't be replicated in a tattoo.

I would totally get a tile tramp stamp, a few tiles laid on the small of my back.
"Decorator-4-Life" would arc across the top of the tile work.

Cause I'm gangsta like that.

All of the tiles and installations sent straight from Heaven's bathrooms and entryways
found at Heath Ceramics.

I'm going to have to buy only four at a time. That's OK, since I'm not really ready to take on our bathroom project quite yet!

Amazing Style

I wish I had half of this beautiful woman's fashion sense!
I love the glasses and yellow coat!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Photo courtesy of Advanced Style.

Wedding Invitation Stamps

What say you? We kinda missed the boat on the Eames Series Stamps...
And oldie stamps are super-pricey!!!

What do you think??

Pay no attention to the Suby in the reflection...Do you dig this new dresser and mirror?
My undies haven't ever been so happy,
they now get to live in a drawer instead of a plastic record crate!