pomegranatesandpaper

Less Is Not More

You know, lately, I've been reconsidering "stuff". I think I have too much. I need a cleaner, pared down, streamlined, fresh approach to my house and my life. I am ready to deaccession tons of stuff, pull down all the curtains, put up matchstick blinds, eschew wallpaper, go neutral, slipcover everything in muslin, and pull up up the patterned rugs and go sisal.

And then I innocently click on Apartment Therapy and I am completely bowled over by this:

And this:

Followed by:

And the happiness of:

Head over to Apartment Therapy to see more photos in Part 1 and Part 2 of the Brooklyn Tudor home of John and Jason. They are interior designers so I guess I could hire them, had a dime to my name for such things.

But Oh! How these rooms make me happy, gleeful, smiling, thrilled!

I am not a less is more kind of gal and I never will be. I like edited, I like styled, but really, I like clutter and layers and romance and pattern, pattern, pattern, but most of all - COLOR.

This stops my breath:

We moved a good rug from the dining room up to our bedroom when we were house training Cucciolo. We replaced it with a cheap sisal indoor/outdoor rug, which was a wise discretion after an incident where we thought he might have drank windshield washer fluid and had to give him charcoal to induce vomiting. The rug no longer exists. Enough said. So now I am left with the bare wood floor in the dining room, which really doesn't work for me.  Just this morning I was trolling Overstock.com to find a cheap, attractive rug that they couldn't destroy with their nails, but nothing turned up.  I've toyed with the idea of a painted floor and this one is exactly the color and pattern I would choose.  Now all I need is a strong back and good knees (we have neither) and it's done!

Check out their site for their residential design work.  I am in love with a green and white kitchen in their Classic Colonial; the dining area in the Coastal Living (and Mr. Pom's mouth was hanging open when he saw the drum shade pendant hanging over the table. We had quite a disagreement over that very choice for our own coastal cottage) Also the foyer in the Cottage Charm and just about anything in the Anglo Mania section.  

How could you not love a design team whose philosophy is:

"Be bold or you just may grow mold. Or, put a smile on your style".

So if you are looking for me this sunny Sunday, I will be dragging all my fabric out of the closet and layering as much pattern and color as I can into this sweet little house. And to think I was about to order another sisal!

Saturday of So Much Snow

My waistline cannot take another snow day.

I made braised pork roast with honey, ginger, and soy.

I made chicken soup with vegetables.

I made blueberry pancakes and bacon for breakfast for the girls (like I didn't eat any, right).

I cleaned out the freezer and found a frozen Hershey bar from summer s'mores.

I et it. 

I shoveled. A lot. Cursed the snowblower that has been broken for two years. Then shoveled some more. Then I pushed The Teen out to finish it.

I let the dogs in and out more times than a pregnant woman sipping a Slushy uses the can.

I shoveled some more.

I ate some Tostitos, followed by a cold, left over pancake for dessert.

I did office work for, oh, SEVEN hours. 

I looked up my assignment for Monday which took me another HOUR and got me so aggravated that I grounded The Teen so she would clean her room, yelled at the dogs in person and Mr. Pom on the phone (who did not have a snow day but in return did not have to shovel or deal with dogs).

At 5:30, I was in such desperation that I made the Barefoot Contessa's coconut cupcakes and licked the icing beaters so much that when Mr. Pom came home and wanted to go out to eat, I, still in my pajamas and teeth unbrushed, looked at him sideways and handed him a bowl of soup.

Then he went out and bought me my first triple venti skim cap of the day.  Which I had with a cupcake.

I love you, Mr. Pom.

One more snow day and I will turn into a sloth and hang upside down from a tree. (or is that possums?)

Oh, and for those of you that notice these things, the pictures? They're from another snowstorm. Too slothlike to even get out the camera.

Walk On the Wild Side

Sick of winter? Disheartened by today's rain and tomorrow's snowfall? Ready to shed the boots, Uggs, tights, pants, scarves, and heavy coats?

Run, don't walk into the nearest city!

Sometimes you have to leave your little bit of the world and venture into strange and unfamiliar territory to refresh your senses:

 

This sweet lady knew just what was needed for late February: More Red!

Okay, maybe she did overdo it a  little, but she provided us with a couple of blocks of giggles as we stalked and darted behind trucks in order to capture this rare bird in all her plumage. She was an elder bird too and more plumage to her. And if that is her laundry in the bag, how does she dress to go out to dinner?

Heard of Top Shop?

You probably wouldn't have without a teen age daughter. My teen age daughter, however, had to be dragged into the store, kicking and screaming that they'd really rather wander around and find more graffiti. But as the wicked mother I am, I dragged her in and we wandered through three floors of mannequins with attitude, flashing lights, and pulsating music orchestrated by a DJ in a booth overlooking the floor.

It's basically Anthropologie on an H&M budget. I'd have more pics to show you, but it seems that photos are FORBIDDEN or so the 16 year old racking clothing glaringly told me as I dared to snap a few. Thus, most of the them are blurry as I was being surreptitious. But you get the idea. They have some great inexpensive accessories, the kind of things that are in this season and out the next and this is the place to buy them because they have very low price points.

I'm here to tell you that ropes of pearls with big Sarah Jessica flower corsages are the IT beads for spring. (I'm going to make my own.)

Too trendy for you? Then get thee to your local Asian market. I chose Pearl River, where I felt much more at ease amidst the embroidered slippers, hanging lanterns, and tea sets than I did dodging 6 foot tall mannequins wearing cropped shirts and micro minis. What can I say? Actually, so did the kids.  And this year, I am buying these lanterns and hanging them all over the porch ceiling. We just won't be able to use the ceiling fan. But think how pretty it will be while we are sweltering during mid-August nights.

I, for one, am dreaming of a little sweltering that doesn't involve my electric blanket.

Tuesdays

Empty Room

Full Room

WAS Saturday Morning But I'm So Behind In Blog Posts That It Became Monday Night

Photo by The Teen

By myself in my art room at 9:30 Saturday morning. The rest of the family is driving California Teen to JFK. I hope she had a good week - she got the plague almost as soon as she got here and there was much coughing and worried calls from her mom. But I think we saved the rest of the week and I'll post about yesterday later.

[Post-edit: The Teen has it now and it is officially bronchitis. My throat feels a little scratchy, too.....]

This morning, the sun is shining, the dogs are sleeping, and Mr. Pom brought home bagels and Starbucks. I am working on a new series of interiors in my sketchbook - gouache on Kraft paper. 

Mystery Man is home for the weekend! Look at what he brought me for my birthday!

Notice the little meta touch of The Princess in the mirror. 

The Teen rocked NYC with California Teen. I took Friday off and we went here

And had this for brunch

and this

After that, we had a lot of energy, so we went to New York Central Art Supply, which happens to have an incredible selection of journals. I didn't even know that they made a Moleskine "Folio" as big as this:

But I didn't buy that one, I bought an extra long landscape format journal made by Canal in Montreal, who makes  the paper in their Fourdrinier machine withfibers left from clothing industry offcuts, white tee-shirts, blue denim and flax straw from farmers.

The paper has a beautiful hand in a  yummy grey color that will make such an interesting background with gouache.

This is why I love hanging around with artists:

They are never bored because they are alway looking at the most ordinary things in the most unusual way.

For example, I just saw graffiti, while The Teen pointed out Shepard Fairey's  spray can man who is holding his iconic Obey giant. If you are not aware of Fairey's Obey sticker, you can read more about it here, but the point of it is to stimulate people to question their relationship to their environment.

Isn't that what art is all about?

Midweek/Midwinter

 

Ash Wednesday. The penitential season has begun. 40 days of praying and fasting in the desert to cleanse our souls and bring us through the heart of darkness into the eternal life of spring's resurrection.

 

It is early this year, this Lenten season. We will be delivered through to Easter when there is still a very strong grip of winter on our hearts. It always makes me sad to see winter coats and heavy sweaters on Easter morning church goers. In my mind, Easter is fuzzy chicks and white straw hats and new ballet flats. 

This week we had another 5 inches of snow atop the 12 from last week. The Teen is becoming more adept at getting in and out of the rutted, snow packed parking spaces on our street. Only the dogs delight in it unconditionally. During yesterday's fluffy, white candyland of a storm, Bella Sera went flying off the top porch step and did a big ol' belly flop into newborn snow in the backyard. Cucciolo buried his face and rolled and squirmed in the drifts, hoping vertically in the air like a jack rabbit.

Mr. Pom has worked 11 days in a row and yesterday, he worked 22 hours out of 24. He came home at noon today, crashed for 3 hours and was back at work for 7:00 p.m. Big problems installing a new computer system and the company is upside down with problems. 

The Teen has her California friend visiting for the week. I've seen them for a few minutes each day, coming and going with various groups, heard giggles and shrieks from the third floor at odd hours of the night, made cups of tea for them and left cash for excursions on the dining room table before work.

The Princess is busy with whatever she does and is rarely around to socialize. Consequently, I was alone all weekend and each night. At loose ends, bored, anxious, overeating, obsessively online, checking for comments and FB updates.

I get like this when things are out of balance. You'd think I would be luxuriating in having so much free time to spend my newly cleaned artroom. I even have a new journal open and began a new series of w/c sketches. But I haven't touched them since Sunday.My night table is littered with 6 half-heartedly started books, none of which hold my attention.Freftful, distracted, channel-surfing, not  sleeping well, worried about everyone and everything out of whack.

Realizing that next year, The Princess will probably have finally secured full time employment and move out; The Teen will be away at college; Mystery Man is content at his job 4 hours away. It's just me and Mr. Pom here with the two dogs. Oh, I'm getting maudlin, aren't I? I'm reading Home by Marilyn Robinson and I hear her aging, feeble father's voice in my words. It's not a good choice for me to be reading right now in my present state of mind.

But this afternoon, when I walked down the dirty sidewalk in the Bronx, picked my way over the filthy slush and dog poop, I noticed it. The light. The afternoon light was decidedly brighter and clearer. There's been a discernable shift forward, a tilting of the axis toward the light and if I can hold on a few more weeks, we'll be up to our ears in St. Patrick's Day snow showers, the tips of the daffodils above the frozen earth, and thoughts of reddened witch hazel.

So I'll hold onto this crosshatch of charred ash a little while longer.  No need to wash away the smudge of loneliness. I will let myself steep in the isolation I feel, a sort of permafrost of emotion, cut off from everyone and everything. Let the books go unread, phone calls unreturned. Let the dogs give me baleful looks that I am not the one to be counted on for those long, cold after dinner and pre-breakfast walks. They'll just have to make do with frequent trips to the backyard and encouragement to have lie-ins.

They'll just have to make do with me, as will I.  

Valentine of the Heart

I made this snowman in Charlotte's class. She cleverly had designed a snowman made from a woolen sock. Such a simple idea for a sweet day. 

I decided to make mine a Valentine Snowman. I wanted to send it to a special friend who was going through a very rough time. I thought it would be the perfect combination of sweetness and whimsy that would bring a smile to her face.

It never made the trip.

I had left it on a table in the living room while I looked for a box and tissue paper. Cucciolo was right behind me. When I turned around, he was gone. I heard him downstairs. Down I ran. He was faster.

All I saw was polyester batting and shredded wool, a chewed up felted strawberry, and thankfully, a button on the floor.

So, Carolyn, please take this photo as my expression of dear thoughts of you.

For Cucciolo, my thoughts ain't so sweet.

Did I mention that I only just saved by a hair's breath Mr. Pom's Valentine platter of brownies ?  He was faster than I was (the dog, not Mr. Pom) and I managed to grab the platter off the dining room table and he managed to grab just one.

Dogs: can't live with 'em. But I am considering that it might be possible to live without them.

thank you!

Thank you all for your birthday wishes! I rarely have my Blackberry on at work except for phone calls, but since I was in the office all day on my birthday, I took all the emails and facebook messages and I have to tell you it really made me smile! I had such a great day that I wanted to share my beautiful birthday cake with you.

ONLY KIDDING!

No, not 40~ That's my beautiful cousin Alison's birthday cake from last year.  Take the 40 had 20 minus 5 times 2 plus 45% = I ain't telling!

But really, it was a very nice day. I was taken out to lunch at work and to dinner by my family, then a tiramisu cake and presents.

Today we are running around cleaning, vacuuming, and arranging The Teen's room cause her friend from California is coming for the week. Tomorrow we will do the NYC tour and hopefully find a place for brunch that isn't too hopped up cause it's Valentine's Day.

I even got to sneak in a coffee with my friend Kathy at Starbucks and what a nice way to start the weekend morning! 

Be creative - do something for your self today!

New Class!

Art Is You has opened their early regisration for the Columbus Day weekend retreat. Huh? You say? Columbus Day? Wasn't it just Columbus Day? Yes, the year goes faster and faster and apparently due to something in our brains that processes events more slowly as we age (or so I heard on NPR...I think I remember since my brain is old, too.)

Art Is ....Wicked this year!  I urge you, nay, plead with you for the sake of your artistic impulses or lack thereof, to take a gander over there at the variety and breadth of classes being offered!

Not the least (I hope) is mine, Sister Illimunata's Book of Alluring Enchantments and Artistic Miracles. It is a two day class this year, filled with every kind of fun and funky mixed media as well as a  mysterious and spiritual journey in which we will exercise our taste buds, explore aromatherapy, and relax, paste, paint, and have as much fun as summer camp.

Here's a peek at our project.  I will be teaching it on Friday and Saturday.

HB To Me

Midwinter birthdays are TOUGH! Plans snowed out. Nothing going on.Too cold and dreary to imagine doing anything.  Should I take the day off? Ive no one to hang out with. Very easy to have a pity party.

Instead, I give to you (sorry, I ain't gifting, I am giving) pics that make me smile, laugh, and generally wonder: was it ever that warm and will it ever be that warm again??

 
That's me in the photo above. I'll save my day off and spend it just like that in about two months when the weather starts to warm up and we open up the Cape Cod Cottage and sit in the backyard with the sun on my face for the beginning of what I hope is a long summer!

I've Been Waiting for a Snowstorm All the Live Long Day

OK, you know it now: I have midwinter madness.

Seriously, you should have seen my office today: it was like Christmas Eve! People were giddy, tittering even at the thought of having the office closed for a snowstorm tomorrow. Not much actual work got done.

Me, not so much tittering or even twittering.

A weekend snowstorm is a day of quiet bliss. A weekday snowstorm is a frantic day before and after trying to reach adversaries, courts, get adjournments, get new dates, cover appearances for others who will not risk life and limb to get to court like you do, and in general, creates havoc.

But, right now, all the court appearances have been adjourned or we're pretty sure that the court will not take defaults since NYC is going to take the brunt of it. The mayor even canceled school for only the second time in 20 years for weather!!

So what am I going to do? I will tell you the boring part: finish a deposition summary; look up all our trials for the rest of February and March; do my expenses; and review some caselaw that just came down.

But in between?

I am going to clean my art room! Take all my fabric out of the armoire and refold it! Organize and restack all my journals! Purge and sort, fold, and trash!

You  have NO idea how calm and happy this makes me.

I have so many projects lined up and the studio is at the point where I cannot even walk into it.

So by this time tomorrow night, I hope to be an organized,calm, happy artist!

Makes me ALMOST as happy as the realization that I need to buy all new Goldens Hi Load acrylic paints for a new class, those paints that have a velvety matte finish and remind me of Santa Fe.

And I promise I will find a place to put them as soon as I get them instead of just piling them up on the desk!

Those Late Thursday Night Rambling Posts that Go Nowhere

I cycle through some moods. From high to low, I careen with intensity. Oh, I don't think it's med-worthy, but just an impressionable reaction to a lot of intense art outings and new-found art friends.

Right now, I have about ten art projects in my mind and I can't even walk into my artroom due to the mess. Poor Mr. Pom, I've taken over his desk as my dumping ground annex.

And I've already confessed to working on the bed and a few sprays of paint that have migrated to the old comforter. He's not happy about that.

So I, for one, am rooting for a big old February snowstorm. First off, a mid-Feb snowstorm has been a tradition since my 11th birthday when my party was canceled due to a snowstorm and my pregnant aunt walked over after the blizzard, only to be exposed to chicken pox that I came down with the next day.

Seriously, though, a big ol' blizzard is just what I need to fold all the fabric that's falling out of the armoire, to reorganize what I think is my desk lurking under about a foot of supplies (make that my desk and Mr. Pom's), and to find a place for all the stuff in the bags on the floor.

Sigh.

I am seriously pruning things around here.

In the meanwhile, our stove has a condition where the electronic ignition on all the burners goes on by itself. In order to get it to stop, we have to shut off the circuit breaker. The repairman says to just buy a new stove. Which means ripping out the cabinets and range hood. Oh, and a new floor, sink, and building a new counter.

And the shower wall in the bathroom? It's been covered in a sizeable portion of duct tape for about a year. 

And The Teen has a friend coming for a week from California. I'd really rather not have her shower with duct tape walls.

Ever since I decided to paint the fireplace surround and I put the remote control doo hickey in the gas fireplace, then forgot and turned it on, thus melting the doo hickey...we've had no working fireplace cause no one makes the part anywhere in the country and we have to buy a whole new set up.

Did I mention it's going to snow??

All this is a way of saying: HELP! My house is totally out of control and ergo so am I!

Add in some new projects and protocols at work, renewed commitment to dieting to lose the nasty few pounds that have crept back and all this = no posting, no reading, no cooking, and waking up all night with free floating anxiety and hyperactivity of the brain buzz.

So yea, bring on the snow!!! Hushed, quiet, clean, time-stopping weekend snow!

Mystery Man called to tell us that in his neck of the woods - they are expecting "paralyzing snow" of 20+ inches plus heavy winds. Geesh! Such drama.

Note to self: stop at store in the morning before work. Buy:

• all the comfort food  that will guarantee my spring clothes will not fit

OR

• be as Badger so eloquently put it: C to the R to the ANKY.....