ch-ch-ch-changes

I've been needing a big change for several years now. I haven't been happy with my job but didn't really know what else to do so I've just been stuck in a rut and miserable. Well, come April 18th I've got a BIG change starting up and I'm so excited!

I'm a believer in destiny and fate, as cheesy as it may sound. Too many things have happened in my life that were so lucky that they had to be fate. Anyway, I was coming home on the subway one night and noticed an ad for a graphic design course. I thought about it then promptly put it to the back of my mind. Then I saw the ad in another magazine and saw that there was an open house to check out the school at the end of February. I went, thinking it can't hurt to see what they have to offer, and I was really impressed with it but still a little hesitant to fully commit. This didn't stop me from talking about it with everyone I could and thinking about it A LOT. So I started to really consider it and was ready to put my deposit down but needed just a little bit more reassurance. When I heard they were having another presentation I took Heidi, and after hearing what they had to say again and talking with the instructors, I put down my deposit. I went to work that day and it was the happiest I've been there in years! Just knowing there is a light at the end of the tunnel gives me a new focus. It's a 3 month course, Monday through Friday, from 8 to 5pm. I really like that it's short, but I'll learn what I need to know to get a job and start earning some money by September. I'm still going to be working nights and weekends at my current job to keep my insurance and have some money for rent and food but I KNOW I'm headed for a better future. YAY!

--Katie

chesterfield

I've been thinking of what furniture I want on my must have list. No place for it to go but I am always thinking of what I would like to get for that "someday" when I have my own home and more money to splurge with. I have always wanted a chesterfield sofa, I love grey so chances are very good that when I am able to get my Chesterfield it will be in a soft luxurious grey felt to snuggle up on and take long naps.


--heidi

yogurt goodness

While at our favorite Whole Foods on 2nd Ave the other night Katie and I saw this yogurt called Siggi's. The packaging alone made me want this yogurt. I love the type (aka font) they used and the nice clean design of their packaging. Plus the container itself was perfect. Then the fact that it is Icelandic just made me die a bit more. The design nerd in me was in heaven. Yes I tend to buy things based soley on their looks, hence the reason I am a bit of a design nerd.

--heidi

wot you lookin at?

I discovered the work of Jodie Silsby today via Design* Sponge and it's brilliant. I love maps so her project made me very happy. Jodie is a recent graduate of University of Portsmouth. While there she created the Portsmouth vernacular map and was awarded membership for entry to the ISTD (International Society of Typographic Designers) student assessment scheme for it. It's a map of Portsmouth that lays out the streets with words that relate to the dialect and language of Portsmouth. Having actually gone to Portsmouth before it was fun to look at the layout of the map and see what was included on it. Katie and I went there in 2006 and we loved the city. It was so charming and the people were extremely friendly and helpful. We had the best cabbies there of any of the towns we went to on that visit. I think this might have to join our family of maps. Plus I love English slang so this is a good way to have a daily dose of it.





--heidi

london shop fronts

I discovered a fantastic site today via Design Sponge. It is a site after my own heart. London Shop Fronts. It includes my love of signs, design and London, need I say more. It makes my heart so happy.

This is my favorite so far.


--heidi

it's a sign

Being the design junkie that I am I have a tendency to take pictures of signs that I find interesting. I also have silly sense of humor so some signs or notices that I spot will make me giggle for days. Here are a few of my favorites.

In 2006 we went to jolly old England to see THE MAN in his home country. Not only did we get to go on tour but we got to see this:

In Birmingham--I love the basic graphic design, so subtle.


In Kings Lynn--We got into town late and went wandering around for food. It had been a long day of travel so we were in crankytown. This made us laugh and made our night brighter.


In London--we stumbled upon this charming sign. I couldn't help but read it in a silly voice, with strong emphasis on the cheeeese. It is the oldest pub in London and was also in Miroslav Sasek's book This is London. Looks like we aren't the only ones who love it.


Potty humor, I see the funniest things in bathrooms all over.

In Oxford--this sign made me laugh so hard when I first saw it. We went to a department store to use the restroom. It made me wonder what had happened to prompt them to make a sign to remind people of such a basic thing.



This is from Parsons, bathroom graffiti is so much better at an art school.


We went to the Coney Island freak show labor day weekend with our sister Denise. We enjoyed the freak show but the bathroom had some classy entertainment.



Graffiti from Salt Lake City, inspiring reminder to...


vs. graffiti from Brooklyn, inspiring but in a different way


These signs are what really catch my eye












Last year when we were in Oakland for THE MAN we saw this and thought it very appropriate


Many New Yorkers can relate to this


There have been times late at night we have thought this very thing...


I wish I could have been there to see who did this one.

--heidi

the selby

I love magazines about interior design with all their pretty photos of gorgous apartmaents and homes all over the world. But sometimes they feel too over styled and don't really show the personality of those who live there. I want to see how real creative people live because for me right now that is more inspiring than a pretty home that a designer has worked on.

One of my favorite new places to look for inspiration is The Selby. I'm sure the photos have been styled but not to the extent that a magazine would. Below are a few of my favorites.

Bill Gentle and Fanny Bostrom



Mary Randolf Carter


Cheri Messerli and David Rager



--heidi

c'est tres bon

Sunday night we went to a French film called Tell No One. It was so good and we highly recommend seeing it if you have a chance. Full of suspense, intrigue, French architecture and funny French thugs. We loved Bruno, he is a bloke you want to be on good terms with for sure.

We saw it at our favorite theatre in Brooklyn BAM Rose Cinemas. Our favorite thing about going here are the fire hoses. The way they are placed on the walls make them look like an art installation. They are always perfectly wrapped or stacked. Are we total nerds for noticing this and then for loving it?

you light up my life

A very kind person that I know wanted to do something nice for me since I do so many nice things for them. They know how much I love lamps and offered to buy me a lamp for my new apartment as a thank you. I had a hard time deciding because I didn't want to break the bank but good lamps aren't cheap so in the end I chose this beauty.




I have many table lamps but no floor lamps. This will look great next to the brick wall in our living room. I love that the design is based on lighting for film and photography. It won't be here until August so I still have some time to make room for it. I was also lucky enough to recently get the table lamp that I have been pining for as mentioned before here. I got the hook up so my patience prevailed and I got a good deal. Gotta love that!

--heidi

lovely lamp

A month ago we went to a party in Chelsea. It was a co-worker's of Katie's so of course he had a great place overflowing with style. My favorite item was a lamp he had on a low table. I was so happy to find out that it is at West Elm so now I can have the lamp too! I can't get it til it goes on sale or even until we move to our bigger place. It is so lovely. The lampshade proportion is what drew me in at first and I love the sky blue color that it comes in. I will work extra at my part time job just so this lamp can join the family.


--heidi

say it ain't so!

I was deeply saddened (the tears are still coming) when I learned that one of my favorite people from Parsons had defected to Trading Spaces. Goil how could you?! I just don't understand what good can from this.



--heidi

sold!

Tuesday night was the Christie's auction that I mentioned in this post. I worked late that night so I watched the auction online in between meeting prep. It was so intense to watch the auction live since I couldn't hear what was happening (no speakers on my work computer, argh!). All I could do was watch the price of each item go higher and higher. When the Kaufmann House came up the auctioneer spoke for awhile, probably talking about the history and design importance of the house. The bidding started somewhere around 9 million and climbed up to 15 million. Then the price just stayed there while the auctioneer was talking to someone off to the the right of him. Not having sound to hear what was happening I had to sit in anticipation and wonder what was happening. I envisioned someone bursting into the auction shouting "Stop! I must have that house! I will pay a bazillion dollars for it!" then the room would gasp. Of course that didn't happen but the mind wanders when you can't hear what's happening. The price finished at 15 million plus then with the buyer's premium it was 19 million in the end. This surprised me because I really thought that it would sell for much more. Who ever purchased the house got it for a steal.

The rest of the auction was very entertaining since there were many fantastic pieces that were going for insane amounts of money. There was a painting in the auction by Mark Rothko (one of our most favorite artists) that went for 50 million. It was the second highest amount ever paid for a Rothko piece. You can see the results of the entire auction here. Plus highlights of the auction here and here.


--heidi

**update 28 May**
The sale fell through. On May 23, the president of Christie’s said that “the contract has been terminated by the seller by reason of a breach of its terms by the buyer.”

psst... is that a pig?

This morning we went to the DUMBO district of Brooklyn to check out Brooklyn Designs. It was a rough start since Heidi discovered that her wallet had fallen out of her purse and I don't have a pin # for my debit card, since it was $10 to get in-I didn't get in (at first). Heidi got in for free since she's a designer with a fancy interior design firm and had an email confirmation to get her in on the guestlist. It was in four different buildings and the first two were really small and people weren't really set up yet since it was only 10 am. so I wasn't really bothered about not getting into those and I could basically see it all from the door anyway. Heidi said rather sheepishly, "Yeah, designers tend to be late a lot."

The next space was much larger and, while being twins had nothing to do with this other than we've done stuff like this before, I really wanted to go into this one so I took her email confirmation to the ticket box and got in for free too! I'll let Heidi talk about the various designers but after we were done and walking back to the subway we walked over to a really cool bookstore (and we do LURV bookstores). The bookstore is on a corner and there was a girl standing there on her phone that I didn't think about her much since we were in deep conversation about some items we had just seen when she whispered to us "Are those PIGS? Are THOSE pigs? Hey, are those pigs?" At first Heidi and I had no idea what she was going on about as I didn't see anything and I was wondering if she was referring to policemen or something. That's when I noticed across the street a guy with TWO pigs on leashes. Yes, they were pigs but how is it this guy has two for pets in Brooklyn? Maybe he thinks he's George Clooney? They were so cute and just sniffing/snorting around on the ground-it just fits in with the crazy things that we encounter when we're not even looking for it.

-Katie

design overload

May is a busy month for design in New York. First off is Brooklyn Designs from May 9-11 in Dumbo. I wasn't able to go last year so I will be sure to make time for it this year. This design gathering features designers and manufacturers of contemporary furniture, lighting, rugs, and home accessories all made in Brooklyn. The design scene in Brooklyn has a more quirky style and a bit more edge to it in my opinion.

via

May 17-20 is the International Contemporary Furniture Fair or ICFF. I didn't get to go last year to this either, but a few of us in my office are planning to go this year. I heard that last year's show was a bit so-so, hopefully this year will be better. I'm especially looking forward to see the designs from the UK, Sweden, Brazil, Denmark and Norway.

via

The last design related event is the annual Kips Bay Decorator Show House on the upper east side. Decorator show houses have 10-12 different interior designers with each decorating a room in the house. It is a great way to see what the current trends are and to get some great ideas for your own home from professionals. When I was a student at Parsons I would volunteer to be a room minder so I could get free admission. I'm very tempted to be a volunteer again since the admission is still $30. I don't know if I will be able to work this into my schedule but I am sure going to try.

--heidi

pull up a chair

I love chairs, that is le fact. The first time I was in design school I was the only one who knew the names and designers of all the modern classics. I even had a poster of all the chairs in the Vitra museum. We don't have room in our tiny Brooklyn apartment for much furniture but I have six chairs. The most recently acquired is the lovely Neptune chair from Anthropologie.


It's based on a Swedish school chair, need I say more. It was love at first sight. Even better-I scored two for less than the price of one.

--heidi

ace hotels are super ace

I recently read about the Ace hotels in Portland and Seattle. These hotels are AMAZING! I love every square inch of them. Here is their design philosophy:

We offer all the comfort of a business class hotel without the soul-killing blandness of a faceless chain or last year’s design school fads. Our handsome accommodations combine modern lines with an eclectic sensibility, re-interpreting the classic flavor and affordability of European-style lodging. Our historic Belltown building is situated in the heart of downtown Seattle, within blocks of Pike Place Market and Seattle's ever-growing network of art galleries, clubs, bars, retail stores, and restaurants.

Oh how I wish I could be a part of the design team that worked on this. When I applied to Parsons I said that I wanted to design hotels that made people want to travel just so they could stay at the fantastic hotels I designed. This is that type of space. I'm ready to pack my bags. They also have Rudy's barbershop attached to them. How brilliant, I will never want to leave.

Two new Ace Hotels are planed for 2008. Palms Springs and....New York! It looks like I will eventually get to have my Rudy's experience. I will still try out the other locations since each one has styles & stylists that reflect the neighborhood's style.

This last photo makes me smile, so cheeky.


--heidi