2008 Kickoff

I picked up this Stendig Calendar at Jack Spade a few weeks back, and one for Carlo and Melvin as well, my friend Alex had said it was nice and big and would fill part of my bare walls, and it did quite nicely.
So, New Years Resolutions.
First of course is to post more frequently.
Second, I'd like to do more Ebaying. I have my eye on something right now!
Third, I would like to have more "detalle" (detail) Basically, that's how Cubans refer to people who always just go the extra inch with their thoughtfulness, so yes, I'd like to have more detail with my family and close friends and Carlo of course. So that means remembering to call my grandparents, sending birthday cards, and the always fun, "I got you this for no reason". So Happy New Year, and let's see how well I do!

Cool hat, cool girl.

I know it has been way too long and way too infrequent, but things have been very hectic these past few weeks. But anyway, today I had a chance to meet Patricia, the face behind Bobble Bee, and it was so nice to meet her. She had a very cool hat that was like that crochet Dior Mohawk type looking thing, I love it. Anyway, really cool girl, and she gave me a copy of a magazine from madrid that her friends created called "el libro mas barato del mundo es esta revista" which means, the cheapest book in the world is this magazine" I havent had a chance to read it, but basically its a book/magazine about madrid, to increase I suppose cultural awareness about things within Madrid, and each issue explores a theme via different creative outlets. The issue I was given was the erotic one. cool concept for a magazine...I wanted to post some images but my photobucket isnt loading for some reason!

Anyway, off to Miami tomorrow. I am a bit sad, today was my "technical" last day at Baron but I hope to come back in a few months, we'll see. I am supposed to start a job as a package designer at Kiehl's but am having technical difficulties so that is on hold until I hear back from them. So let us see what 2008 brings. Hopefully I can dedicate more time to the blog which I have been neglecting!

Book Review #11: Hand Job: A Catalog of Type

I picked up this book at my local bookstore McNally's, and I love it. Its pretty much a collection of hand created type in alphabetical order by designer. I was so inspired I went to Pearls with an almost depleted bank account and bought myself a ton of supplies to start making stuff, an exacto knife, cuttingmat, tracing paper, watercolor paper, really nice watercolors (30% off!) micron pens, a pica ruler, mechanical pencils, brushes, thumbtacks, the works...so I'm trying to finish up some projects so I can start doing my own thing. My workspace is looking a little more professional now hehe. Work is good, I'm actually getting to work on some cool things for Balenciaga and CK and some other stuff so we'll see.

Thanksgiving in Nolita!

Hey guys, sorry I have been MIA, a lot going on at work and trying to get my apartment together still. Speaking of which I am trying to find someone to sublet my apartment when I go home for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I will be leaving town the 19th and returning on the 26th, so pretty much that week, if you know anyone coming to New York, I would love to sublet to someone "known" Anyway, I'm asking 700 for the week, but maybe be willing to negotiate! This internship is not helping my bank account, so this is why I'm trying to sublet when I go home. Anyway...more posts to come I promise!

Book Review #10: Influences: A Lexicon of Contemporary Graphic Design Practice

Long title. I picked up this book this week, and when I bought it still had the plastic wrapping, so really I had no idea what was inside. Its actually not what I was expecting, but still a nice book to have in the library. Its an alphabetized collection of designer's "Influences" anything from a movie they might have seen, to a street sign in their hometown, its simply a large collection of inspiration, and with each and brief history about that person/place/thing that inspires. Great toilet read.

Desk Idea

I walked into Anthropologie the other day and fell in love with this desk, but unfortunately it costs over $1200. So that's not an option for me right, but it would be so perfect. The apartment's decoration has been on hold for a while, I'm ready to start making some changes, clean up and bit, and make it ready for winter. I want a cozier couch and lots of blankets. I also need to learn how to use my coffee press. Can't wait for it to get really cold.

Irreverent dress

Agnyess looking quirky as usual, and she does it so well. From the Sartorialist. I wonder where she got that dress. Very Jeremy Scott.

Neon Neon

sorry kids

I've been MIA for over a week, I had a bunch of friends in town from Miami last weekend, and then I got really sick along with like half the office, and I guess I really haven't been home. Anyway, I'm feeling a bit out of it, I haven't been out and about scouring the streets (I'm ridiculously broke right now) but last night I did briefly pass by Kiosk at night because as of today they have their stuff from Finland available, and they had like a mini party to showcase. I really love the concept of that store, partially because when I go visit places, I always love coming back with strange local goodies, like in Mexico, I just bought really odd things, because the clothes in the malls really dissappointed me. lol. Anyway check it out at kioskkiosk.com

book review #10: chloe

The mail was quite good to me this birthday, a generous thank you gift from carmen, a gift card for anthropologie from Lauren, and quite the birthday package from alex and carla last week, in it was a vintage movie film camera (with instructions), a framed butterfly, and two of those assouline books, one about Cacharel and the other about Chloe. I've only read the Chloe one, and the more you read about a brand, the more you grow to like it (or dislike it). Chloe was founded by Gaby Aghion in 1952 and has taken on the roll of feminine and bold pieces that broke the line between haute couture and what everyone else wore. It was one of the first labels to create ready-to-wear designs, for daytime, and was sold exclusively at the boutique which belonged to the author's, Helene Shoumann's, mother. She recounts her mother's clientele and relationship with the brand. Its really an interesting story, and its nice to see how today's designer's interpret and maintain the original spirit of Chloe.

more from supreme

Mr.


Murakami

Takashi Murakami and his boy Mr. have created some skate decks for Supreme which are coming out today in stores, and the 20th on their online shop. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a series of these...I think I prefer the Murakami ones. I wish Aya Takano had made some!

Look out for...

Jeanne Labib-Lamour, a Central Saint Martins grad, who is currently Giambattista Valli's new assistant. I found her in Jalouse, so the article was in French so I didn't understand it (but my new thing is to read Vogue Paris with a translating dictionary ...nerd alert) Anyway, she's cute, no?

colorsplash

images from British elle Decoration

This is the apartment of Liza Giles, a designer at Designer's Guild, the British interiors company started by Tricia Guild, notorious for its usage of bright hues. There was a time in like 7th grade, when I wanted my entire room to by Designer's Guild because my mom had brought me all these fabric swatches while I was redecorating and I fell in love. I ended up having hot pink and lime green in every corner. It looked about as scary as it sounds, but nonetheless, I have always had a love for color, even though these days I find myself in the struggle to stay neutral. I can't explain it. In fashion terms, I love that APC/ACNE JEANS/Steven Alan clean aesthetic, but when I see Sonia Rykiel and Cacharel's bright colorful stuff it just makes me happy. So as you can see I have this conflict daily, I'm really trying to figure out how to make my aesthetic schizophrenia work itself out. Anyway, I am obsessed with Liza's apartment. I think it has a little bit too much going on, all the rooms look the same, but it just looks so inviting to me, and lived in, which is so important, I hate when apartments look like museums. Anyway, I'm just marking this as some inspiration, because its fun. I think this weekend I am buying a can of white paint, I hear Benjamin Moore's China White pretty reliable. I wish I could paint my wood floors....

Wilde Thing

I'm loving these Native American boots from Wilde Ones. You know how I feel about white shoes.

Work clothes

I'm on a mission to find work clothes, so I picked up this "Swing" dress at In God We Trust this weekend, and even though its pure linen, I'm still going to be sporting it so long as this weather stays as warm as its been. Maybe I can prolong its life with some tights or something, I don't know but i love the detail of the buttons.

ebay crush: the clutch win

You know, I don't even know if I would categorize this as a crush, it was more of a "Eh, why not?" bid. I just ended up winning. Supposedly its a vintage Fendi clutch in good condition, and its navy blue, which I don't have, so it should come in handy. I really shouldn't be bidding on these types of things when I'm in need of still a lot more furniture, and work clothes. I woke up this morning at 7:30 and went over to the Chelsea Flea Market. I ended up spending my money on some ceramic doll heads my mom collects, and nothing else really perked my interest. They did have some leftover cloth tailor dummies, I guess from a fashion department, but they were beautiful for 50 bucks, maybe I should've invested in one, I think it would've looked really nice, I just wasn't a 100%. Maybe next time....

Yvan in the house

I saw this girl the other day on facehunter and I just really liked her helmet, I thought it was a really clever approach. I even had a dream about it (don't ask, too much time in front of the computer?) and then like two days later I saw her with her helmet on and bike in arms getting on the subway. Theeenn I saw the Facehunter across the street from my apartment, but of course I was too shy to say anything. oh well. silly me. I hope carlo doesn't do the same if he runs into an olsen in LA, he's there for 10 days on a shoot. Then again , they are probably in town here for fashion week.

parada

So I started my internship yesterday...It feels weird to be an intern again after actually working and having a lot of pressure on you, but its refreshing at the same time. Not that I don't have pressure, I have to bust my ass so they see I'd like to stay put, but its interesting to say the least. Its a small office, so far everyone seems very nice. The perks as of today: free magazines, Baron is the creative director of French Vogue so there are many a copy of that magazine floating around for grabs.

Anyway, the first one of the Deitch Art Parades took place like two weeks after I moved away from New York in 2004, one of those "these are the things you're going to miss about the city, weird parades" type things. But since I'm back, I will not be missing the third to be held this Saturday the 8th between Houston and Grand on W. Broadway. I won't be in costume however. But I will try to take some pics.

good fit.

Yesterday I found exactly what I was looking for, and two for that matter. I picked up a pair of Uniqlo's Wide Leg Jean in the dark denim, and then found this really high waisted light blue pair at H&M that fit great, and I had store credit at both so they didn't cost me a thing. Love that. I wore them last night to our sure-come-over-turned-full-blown-party.

many thanks.

Just wanted to say thanks to Bobble Bee for putting me in her 5 choices for this little blog recognition, I was really surprised and glad to hear it. If you haven't checked out her blog please do so!
Now its my turn to pass it on, so I'm going to say
1) xola loves... because her page is pleasant to read and I just like it.
2)It's nice that because they report on really talented artists and photographers, and have loads of goodness.
3) The Glossy because it was one of the first blogs I read, (along with Style Bubble and Fashionologie)
4){Many Treasures} because I like a lot of the photography in her posts
5)A wolf in sheep's clothing for all her fashion history knowledge.

Chloe.

The 2008 Spring Collections are coming up, Fashion Week starts on Tuesday.
Apparently Chloe Sevigny has done a collection for Opening Ceremony which she'll be presenting at the store sometime next week. I'm digging the logo, but we'll see how the clothes is, for some reason I don't associate her with "new clothes" to me she's like the queen of vintage you know? I'm sure the stuff is nice, I wonder if he has mom jeans in there, I'm looking for a flattering pair of high-waisted wide legs, so suggestions are welcome.

not so cheap monday

Unlike most brands that start off with the big expensive label and then create lower end (but still pretty expensive) lines, Cheap Monday designer Orjan Andersson just presented Qoniak, a higher end version, which will be out in the Spring. Its pronounced like the drink. Looks good, just sucks that its more expensive. Boo.

can't review it yet...

but I just started reading the Jerry Oppenheimer book, Front Row: What Lies Beneath the Chic Exterior of Vogue's Editro In Chief.
So far so good...

Book Review #9: Beasts

Carlo surprised me with this great book called Beasts! by Jacob Covey. Its a portfolio of different mythical creatures, described and then characterized by over 90 contemporary illustrators. The illustrations are beautiful and varied, and this is a great resource if you are looking for good illustrators. Its like a comic book-art book-child's fairytale in one.

two heads are better than one.

Carlo gave me these animal skulls for my birthday. Nothing like a little memento mori to celebrate birth.

if you can't beat'em, join'em

I read this article on my way to Chicago in Harper's Bazaar, and I thought it was kind of interesting. I really like how the author resolved their issue with bloggers...

dancing shoes.

Repetto is opening a pop-up store for 90 days at the Meatpacking District's An Earnest Cut & Sew starting 9/1.
Get your dancing shoes to celebrate that fall is just around the corner. I am very excited.

New neighbor

Japanese wonder MUJI will be opening its first U.S. store in November on Broadway off Grand St. Right now you can pretty much just get their stuff at the MoMA Design Store, but it carries only a fraction of the 3,000 products designed by MUJI. I found this bed and dresser on their website which if they carry it in the new store I will be sure to get. I still haven't found a bed I like, and this one is both low to the ground and has storage. The drawers also are simple enough that I can blend them with century pieces. Other favorites are the toolkit and the office supplies.

Starting next tuesday...

...I'll be at Baron & Baron! I just found out I got the gig! Very excited...That also happens to be the first day of Fashion Week here in New York. Anyway...wish me luck, hopefully it can develop into something permanent.....

Mayle Fall 2007

The mood board for this collection, I thought was quite nice. Here are some of my favorites looks from the collection:

Enter this

Uniqlo is having its annual Unilqo T Grand Prix, where one winner gets a lot of yen for thes best design of a t-shirt that shows "freedom of expression" so pretty much anything goes, anyone can enter, as long as your submission is in by September 20th.
Last year 30 entries were put into production, out of 15,000 entries, so do a good job.

better than fodor's.

There was time when if I had a trip coming up I would head out to the bookstore and buy the city guide that I thought would have the best shopping information (nerd alert). My mother is a big fan of the "Born to Shop" Series...but that's for an older crowd, even though she's pretty inclusive of all areas. But I'm not really always on the lookout for linens or collectibles, so now when time is short I go to the American Apparel Website and find out all the areas where they have stores, and usually I'm good to go. The three areas I visited in Chi-town...all had one...and they were pretty on point. The good thing about this method, as cheesy as it may sound, is that sometimes they stick stores is really random areas, so you get to see some neighborhoods that are a little more local...

Back!

I got home last night from Chicago and Northbend, Indiana and must say I had a fun time with the fam, even though when all of get together things tend to get chaotic, luckily my patient father and grandfather are very good at pleasing 4 Cuban women with many a shopping request. We woke up bright at early Wednesday to hit up Michigan Avenue, aka, the Magnificent Mile. Here you can find big flagships like Neiman Marcus, Saks, Bloomingdales, Macy's, and some upscale designers. Then there's FIlene's Basement and H&M, where you're more likely to run into me, hence I picked up quite a few goodies for fall...Some dresses and a pair of black boots at H&M, two cozy ponchos and leather gloves at Filene's.

Just around the corner near Oak street is Barneys New York, and down from there is Intermix, Urban Outfittters, and American Apparel. We had dinner at a great French Vietnamese place called El Colonial.

Hejfina

Jade

Then I made my dad drive me to the "trendy" area, Wicker Park/Bucktown , which my mother refused to get off the car. I wish I could have spent more time here, N. Milwaukee Ave has some interesting shops, including Jade and Hejfina for new designers, and then a boatload of second hand shops, and American Apparel, an Urban, a sneakershop, and a bunch of bars and club venues, if you're looking to furnish a place with second hand furniture, this is definitely a street to visit....My mom did get off the car when hunger struck, and we had some good sandwiches at Milk & Honey. Then back in the car....

Then we headed over to N. Halstead/ Armitage. Here you'll find a Barneys' Coop where I scored a great dress. There's Club Monaco across the street and a few other things, on Armitage, you'll find Cynthia Rowley, Intermix, American Apparel, Benefit, and other indepedent boutiques. I walked into this cosignment shop and found a gold and black evening bag, and a vintage black LV epi "Noe", which is great for travelling.

That night was the dinner at Le Colonial, and the next day we drove off to Northbend, so I only really had one day in Chicago. I'd definitely go back, hopefully with more time.

Leaving town

I'm heading out today to Chicago. Hopefully I'll have some computer access there, but if not I'll be back with Chicago goodness and a little secret when I get back. For now looking forward to seeing my family and celebrating turning 25 early. For the rest of us, my real b-day is coming up this Sunday. I have a few resolutions. 1) More heels 2) More salad and 3) stick to a budget.
We'll see how well I do with those. I hear the shopping is great in Chi-town, so hopefully I'll find some good stuff...

The Sartorialist in Stockholm...

The Sartorialist has been in Sweden for Stockholm Fashion Week, it has me feeling a bit nostalgic.


Hanging out in my old neighborhood, Sodermalm.


This girl looks like she's dying for summer to be over. Literally. She even has her fur on.

At home with Jane Mayle

This month's Domino has two great features, first a look into the homes of Libertine's designers, Cindy Greene (in NYC) and Johnson Hartig (in L.A.) The two have some pretty interesting spaces, very different, but they really know how to mix up colorful pieces well. They gave a good piece of advice for decorating: Invest one good antique (or I guess it could be a comtemporary piece) "to anchor each room." This does make sense, one amazing piece takes the quality of the whole room to another level, and makes it much less cookie cutter Ikea/West Elm. Greene has the Fiddleleaf Fig I'd like to get for my apartment as well as a Brussels Griffon, the ugliest dog, that I've kind of taken a liking to lately. They look like people. Ironically, another piece of advice is "Don't buy purebreed dogs, adopt," yet hers in as pure as they come. Anyway, they also have quite a few artworks by Damien Hirst which I guess is never a bad investment (unless you bought the rotting shark, but that's getting fixed) Anyway, another interesting piece, is a look at a few creatives' favorite rooms. Above Jane Mayle in her East Village walk up. Love the dining room table and the color coordinated bookshelf.

The Health Chair

I found this Ironrite chair on craigs list last night, but I haven't had time to pick it up. I don't know how well the blue is going to fit into my apartment, but I love the design and I love that its called the "Health Chair". Maybe I'll just line all my walls with chairs since I can't seem to find a decent set of drawers. Actually I did today, below my office there is Mid Century dreamland called Gueridon, filled with some of the more beautiful pieces of furniture I've ever seen. Let's just say the cost about 10 times what I was willing to pay. Good thing my Ironrite will be just as good to my wallet as it'll be to my spine.

Poppy King, Lipstick Queen

The other day my mom and sisters were walking around the Meatpacking District, and stopped into the very whimsical Wonderland Beauty Parlor. Not only did they carry the lipstick line I've been wanting to try, the founder, Poppy King, was getting her roots done there. I had read about her on Refinery29, and spotted her at Cafe Gitane the day before, but I didn't put two and two together until I saw the lipstick in the same room. They had sold out of the Red Sinner, but I picked up the Saint Rose, which looks awesome with a tan (I don't have one yet, but my sister did.) I asked her what liner she recommended and she said just to skip it. Anway, they sell it at Barneys and Lyell, but you always just go to Lipstick Queen.

ACNE is lovely.

I stumbled upon OAK in Park Slope this past Saturday, and picked up the latest issue of ACNE paper. This is one of my all time favorite publications. I picked up the first issue in Stockholm, at the ACNE store (for free) and have been hooked ever sense. The stories/articles are short and sweet, but clever and humorous. The art direction is phenomenol, even the advertisements are beautifully executed (except for one heinous american car brand i don't even want to mention). I thought this month's theme of PLAY is relevant to my current state. The editor points out the tendency towards drawing a line between work and play, and that one whose work is equally as playful, is easily criticized or not taken seriously. Its a shame that this is the mentality, but on the other hand, let those who think this way to live their lives as so. Its funny how many times when explaining to friends who don't really get what I do, what exactly I do, I speak about working late nights and decent pay, they roll their eyes or act surprised, as if the term "creative" just means i finger paint from 11 am to 4 pm and get paid minimum wage. No complaints, my work is quite the contrary, its just funny, the way other industries percieve creative fields. Its a good time, most of the time, and play is (or should be) a large part of my day, but for me, the best part is simply getting to dress however I please...

Viaje: Chicago

I will be meeting up with my family in Chicago on the 21st for a couple of days and I actually have never been. So, if you have any places you recommend, please pass it along. Usually I plan ahead, but this trip kind of snuck up on me and I haven't done my research...

ebay crush: beetlejuice beetlejuice beetlejuice

The other day I saw a girl in a really cute black and white striped dress, so she inspired me to look up stripes on ebay, and this is what I found (and won) I know its a little crazy, but with a hint of brown it should become more wearable. I think it just looks weird on the mannequin. Speaking of which, I dont even know its going to fit, after I bid I realized it was a size 2. Oh well.

At your nearest Kiosk

So my first issue of New York Magazine came in yesterday (maybe last week, I just hadn't checked my mail), and this particular issue contains a list of "maps" for all the classic New Yorker types, "Rebel Youth", "The Cheapskate", "The Dog Freak", and "The Lit Guy" were among the few. Under "The Design Maven" the first shop posted was Kiosk, which happens to be down the street. I can't believe I've never been here! Makes sense that I've never seen it because it is located on the second floor of 95 Spring. Its like a dream concept: The owner sells her littel global finds. Its like an international MOMA store meets the dollar store. Anyway, they have a site if you aren't planning a visit anytime soon. They are a little low on merchandise at the moment, but you can see the previous merchandise to check out the type of stuf they sell. I love this stuff.

Dust off your boxing gloves...

...the Barney's Warehouse Sale starts Thursday August 16th...

Oldie but Goodie

No, not face that embraces the cover, the fact that I bought an issue of Purple from 2006. She's the reason I bought it though, this is one of my all time favorite covers. I love how she mixes a Givenchy belt with a t-shirt her kid made for her in school, I think its adorable, and the rest of the issue is pretty spectacular. Also included are images of Chloe Sevigny sans her KSUbi jeans. There's the entire YSL ad campaign that absolutely loved, shot by Juergen Teller. A lot of Terry Richardson,( who I've spotted twice in the neighborhood this week walking his dog.) The magazine also came with a lovely supplement called Ed in Japan, which is a photo essay of Juergen Teller in Japan with his baby and his wife. The intro is adorable. If you come visit me, you can see what I'm talking about hehe....