homemaking: john robshaw sample sale

 

i think these gorgeous beanbags are the solution to at least half of my problems.

maybe it's the season, but i've become obsessed with making my apartment cozier, more livable. ever since we cleared out half our belongings in a failed attempt to sell our place, it's been looking too spartan for my tastes. if i were in nyc, i would jump at the chance to buy john robshaw textiles at sample sale prices.

moving out

we have less than two weeks to get the condo ready for listing. i will be adding a few more things on LoGE in preparation for a move in june (if all goes well). we're going to rent a smaller place, so there won't be room for all of my clothing and shoes--don't get me started on our books. downsizing will be tough, but i think we'll benefit in the long run. leon, of course, loves playing with the boxes.

ironing in the new year

i never thought i would spend the last week of 2009 laundering new sheets and towels. the sheets took over 2 hours to iron; i found it to be as meditative activity as jogging. and the results were so very worth the effort. perhaps 2010 will be the year when i finally get my house in order. although, there's a good chance we may be moving. to somewhere exciting, i hope.

i'll be 30 in 17 days, leon will be 1 at the end of february.

may this new year and decade be a happy and healthy one for everyone!

color test print--black pearl press

the lovely elisabeth of black pearl press in the south end (just across the river from me), sent me a color test print and several of her notecards, which are even more gorgeous and tactile in person. such thoughtful gifts to help ready me to emerge from my shell. it's been rather difficult to keep up with my blog reader since leon's arrival. maybe now is a good time to stay in the touch the old fashioned way. i like the idea of slowing things down--blogs often move at a breakneck speed!

i also now have her calendar up on leon's wall. i'm one of those people who can't commit to a calendar until the new year is well underway. i'm often in denial that another year has passed, i suppose.

weekend

trying to make the used ikea gulliver crib more presentable
researching mattresses (coconut fiber? mohair? who knew)
browsing toast's archive sale (up to 85% off)
grading exams
waiting

wednesday treat

after reading jenny's post the other day, i realized that i haven't bought flowers for the house in almost a year. they may not be from saipua, but for $5, they're a pretty nice midweek treat. i highly recommend it.

the deadline came, i turned in what i had, and now i get to keep working on the chapter until i'm ready to start another one.

35 weeks down, 2 weeks to full-term--i am so ready to meet this little kicker.

painting, off to nyc for the day

the bedroom is finished, but some of the old ceiling paint came off with the blue tape. this apartment was poorly painted when we moved here, so i'm not surprised. i love the shade of grey we picked, it makes our furniture look so much nicer.

driving to nyc/brooklyn in about 5 minutes. after 4 years of the chinatown bus, and a lack of friends to stay with in the city, we've decided to drive. hopefully i'll make it to erie basin. oh, and maybe i'll be able to take photos in the mayle dressing room.

to do list:
mociun dresses
mayle everything
muji notebooks
moma

nesting

i'm in full nesting mode these days. my house is a wreck, a hodgepodge of incomplete projects. we've finally committed to painting the walls after three years of living here. a north-facing apartment with a dark kitchen and even darker bathroom = tricky. i'm going to paint a pegboard dark grey and mount it next to our new kitchen shelves. i sense another ikea trip this weekend.

i love frazier and wing's new hanging garland, as seen on d*s. alas, at $400, i'm going to have to use this as inspiration for an arts and crafts weekend. off to maine tomorrow morning to watch matthew fall out of an airplane. i will be proofreading my paper proposal and taking photographs of the event, since i prefer avoiding excitement and adventure.

the little room that could

just a little over 70 sq. ft., facing a lightwell with a closet that is 12 sq. ft., this room needed a lot of help. my previous roommate placed a queen size mattress on a box spring (no frame) that nearly blocked the closet and made the room slightly hellish. now that i've had a summer to tinker, it seems a japanese appreciation for small spaces is needed to make the room inhabitable. my new roommate is arriving tomorrow, and i think we'll pick out some bookshelves and a nightstand together. i also bought picture shelves from ikea so she can display photos and prints (she's writing a dissertation on max beckmann). honestly, there's not much i can do with the room. there are babies directly above and below, and it faces the bathroom. hopefully this will be our last roommate. some days i feel cranky and think i should add to the baby love-fest. can't you imagine three babies screaming their heads off into a single lightwell?

lena corwin pillow + offi perch lounge

i tried photographing it during the day but the colors bleached out oddly. i love the orange zig zag stripe, it reminds me of the sherbert i used to have at thrifty's drugstore when i was little. i was outraged when they raised the price to $0.55 for a single scoop cone. now i don't even bat an eyelash when i hand over $4.50 for some toscanini's or christina's ice cream.

the sisyphean task of being clean (or, why subletting can be a very bad idea)

so. i was gone for three weeks. i rented out my lovely condo (for next to nothing) to a former student who agreed to take care of the cats while i was gone. when i returned, the cats were still alive, thank god. they were attention-starved, but that's typical. it was the state of my apartment that nearly did me in. granted, i'm somewhat obsessed with cleanliness. but, having two shedding cats makes you adjust your priorities. i thought i was fairly tolerant of messiness. within reasonable boundaries, that is.

i arrived home to a distressing scene. the slipcover that i use for my recently re-upholstered (maharam fabric) hans olsen couch had half-fallen off. all my pillows (normally placed in separate areas of the room) were lined up against the back of the couch in a sorry attempt to camouflage the state of the slipcover. my beautiful emma gardner alpaca throw was on the floor, covered in dust and cat hair. there were 10 new pulls in the unprotected sofa fabric. the room smelled to high holy you know what. cat litter was strewn about a two-foot radius of the litter box. the litter hadn't been cleaned in about three days, judging from its contents. it was also clear that it had never been scraped, the lack of which had caused the liquids to turn into a malodorous three-inch solid. and the toilet. well. let's not talk about the state of my poor toilet.

after pulling out my hair and gnashing my teeth, cursing every deity i could think of for my stupidity, i immediately set to work.

anyway. if you've ever wondered how much two cats can shed during three weeks in july, here you go:

some art things in the living room

memorial day weekend -- home improvement

IKEA PS Boda solid wood shelf, 78" x 9 7/8", $29.99 / ea.
SIVERT bracket, $4 / ea.
Steel bookends, $7 / set of two

Total--$234

i need to buy a daybed for my spare room / office. something like this Modernica reproduction of the Nelson designed Case Study daybed manufactured by Herman Miller would be nice. something that costs less than the $1500 would be even nicer.