etsy front page

hello hello! owning your own little shop means you are constantly thinking about it! here is a front page link from etsy that i was featured on today! my hob nob clear glass collection is two in and on the second row. yeay me!

                                                                              klinker.

photo moto.

i'm no photo moto. i'd love to be but i'm still the novice phase. i notice the more i take pictures the more my style changes! good right? not when what i'm trying to do is hone in on a style. but it's coming. sometimes i have to go through the muck to get somewhere lovely. this is a bit of the muck in the journey to what i'm trying for...but it's got it's own lovely-ness. 

jellyjars

lighting. central park.

a few friends took a stroll after brunch through central park and this is what came up. i've been taking my camera with me places with the intentions of posting on my blog but am never happy with the photoshop work i do! this is an attempt at just practicing. i'm sure in a few years i'll look back and have perfected my style. for now this is my humble beginning.

the guggenheim

tonight i was determined to get out of the house and visit a museum. my attempts to visit moma yesterday were thwarted by planning for my husbands birthday party. tonight we rested from the after party and finally made our way up to the upper east side. i love living in new york. museums. theater. fall. now just to take advantage of it all.

visiting the guggenheim today was a wonderful step at taking advantage of new york. on saturday nights going to the guggenheim is by donation so we always spare a few bucks, borrow the free headsets and walk through the memorable spiral. tonight we couldn't be bothered by head sets. when you see these piece you would agree! maurizio cattelan had everything from foosball to taxedermy hanging from the ceiling. he made looking down into the spiral the main attraction.

the hanging horses at the end really do it for me. the art of making something look real and suspended is amazing! he's known for being a prankster and provocative and this piece was just that to me. i couldn't take my eyes off of it but it wasn't heavy. if you haven't had a chance i'd recommend stopping by. this exhibit is supposed to be until jan 22 2012. enjoy!

travel. thailand.

after vietnam we were looking forward to thailand. we met a few of my former students in bangkok and they showed us such a lovely time! may i recommend the massages. there are tons of specials try all of them and if you like get a mani/pedi everyday they are so cheap!
leaving bangkok was only made easy by the fact that we knew we were heading to an island! so fun! we flew in to koh samui which is a gorgeous place but then we walked out of the airport to the water front to catch a boat to our island. all of the local taxi drivers were only willing to take us to a certain boat area where we knew we'd have to pay more to get to koh pangan so we managed to walk about half way until we ran into an australian names kent who we tried to get directions from and then offered to drive us over. it was such a relief.  we don't mind walking as often you get to see a little more and we had nothing but time however if you don't like a long walk, don't. just don't let those guys get the best of you, walk out to the main road and stick out your thumb offer to pay a little bit and you'll be much better off! we got to our boarding station docked the boat and headed out to sea. my favorite part of the boat ride was getting off at the end! the boat was too big and there was no real dock so we had to get off in the ocean and wade ourselves in! it was so fun! if you have tons of stuff this part really stinks but otherwise it's a great laugh. and then we were there to our island vacation far from tons of people nothing to do but eat drink and be merry. i absolutely loved our jungle bungalow. there were a few resorts to choose from one really swanky one right next to ours with beautiful carvings and decor.  it was perfect enough for us to have the cheaper place at 22 dollars a night and walk next door to the beautiful pool and spa area.

vietnam. halong bay.

from hanoi we traveled by bus to cat ba town where we immediately decided to leave and head on a cruse through halong bay to a bungalow in the jungle on the other side of cat ba island. the boat was huge and the view of the rock formations was absolutely amazing. we took the boat to a dock and were left in what seemed like a strange situation where we waited until someone came along and opened a shack full of bikes. we road the bikes to our bungalow and were one of two couples in the entire town. the food was more expensive than in the rest of vietnam but they remembered that i don't like shrimp and cooked meals according to what they through westerners would like. a few days later a korean group came through and they fed them a more eastern meal, they were spot on with accommodating tastes! every one seemed happy and it was quiet and the perfect place for a little r n r.

vietnam. hanoi lake.

we were jet lag for a week, which worked in our favor in hanoi. the city really has a different feel at 5 am and even at that early hour you feel like you're showing up late to activities that have been going on for centuries. we took a motorbike to the lake and slowly walked around as people did their morning exercises. pull ups from tree branches, sit ups under benches, and synchronized tai chi to music. it's so communal and beautiful it's hard to imagine that some of the synchronized exercises were to tunes like on top of spaghetti!

 

  

vietnam. motorbikes.

the biggest culture shock by far of traveling in vietnam were the bikes. the sheer number alone was overwhelming, crossing the roads filled with them was a death wish, but riding on the backs of them was exhilarating.  my favorite memories of vietnam were zipping through the streets of hanoi and ho chi min on the back of a motorbike. you can see in the second picture a woman on the far right crossing the road. the trick was to just go and not change your pace, you depended on the cyclist to ride around you!

travel. vietnam. powerlines.

power lines. we couldn't get over these power lines in vietnam. how does this just simply work?

street food. sugar cane.

possibly the best part of vacation is food. this is the first picture of many to come of street food. this is a sugar cane drink. when we were kids we used to go to downtown la buy sugarcane from the back of trucks and chew on it. this was reminiscent of those times, and it was super refreshing in the humid night. it was awesome, she turned on a generator and then sent the sugar cane through!

getting around in ho chi min city - tuk tuk

it rained the next morning, something i imagined would happen every morning.

we went out anyway. the streets of ho chi min city were filled with moterbikes and tuk tuks. somehow, i don't know quite how, but it all works. we took a tuk tuk after a lot of walking, it was great fun! once we got off they asked for 150* dong (7.50 uds) much more than the 15 we had thought we booked. we were in one of those positions that happens when you're abroad, trying to figure out how not to take advantage of others or be taken advantage of yourself. we paid only 15 dong (less than a dollar). they didn't put up much of a fight and it turns out we were right! a few of these experiences and a person could become jaded it helps to know before hand and be clear with your expectations to avoid these problems. we always get a kick out of learning the ropes, half of the adventure is earning the respect of the locals. if you know how much stuff should cost and are fair respect usually comes quickly and then you can have a good time. only one other time were we faced with someone who wanted us to pay an exorbant fee and we shooed him away so fast even his fellow peers got a good laugh. getting anywhere in ho chi min city on 15-20 dong is sufficient and if you make the person laugh a little they're even happy to do it. though, most of the time, they'll try to hit you up for just a smidge more when you leave. can't hurt to try!

* dong are actually in thousands so when i say 150 dong i mean 150,000. it's just easier to drop the three zeros.

travels. ho chi min city. arrival.

after what strangely felt like a short plane ride (14 hours from nyc) we arrived in ho chi min city ready for food and adventure. we ate, we walked, and we talked. locals always want to steer you to flashy places what they don't realize is we would be happiest sitting on tiny stools just for the experience. our first night we sat at a picnic table and paid 120 dong for a meal for two with a few drinks (6 dollars.) By the end of 24 hours we found the tiny stools where we paid 50 dong (less than 3 dollars) for the same meal and some smiling faces too!
our meal of choice in ho chi min was bun, a noodle soup. deliciousness! you'll notice it in the first picture. this was our little buddy we made friends with while sitting on tiny stools in a non-touristy part of town. it took him a little while to warm up to us but what really did the trick was showing him his own photo! 

travels

this year has been an interesting one for my husband and i. he started school and i was looking for my niche. it required a big cross country move, selling all of our things, buying new things, finding a place to live, making new friends...and it all worked out fantastically! we love our new life in new york city but after a year of transition we needed a break. we figured out how to rent out our place using airbnb and planned a budget trip to south east asia. we had such an amazing time in vietnam, thailand, and cambodia. i look forward to bringing you some of our most treasured memories over the next few weeks.

as we walk on by

there's a man at grand central in new york. i see him nearly every time i'm there. down and out seems a bit superficial, he likely has some kind of ailment. it could have been brought on by drugs, by circumstances, or physiologically. what's interesting to me is how people walk by him. even as he shakes and stares, the average person without experience or any other credentials walks on by and you get a sense of helplessness for both - is it possible for the two to interact? we are respectful enough not to stare but we are aware of him.

 

NBC News Picture Book of the Year 1969

This book by NBC News is amazing. Pictures from the highlights of 1969 and there are a ton of highlights. The war, President Nixon, the Black Panthers, Africa...it's an amazing flashback.

organization!

 

Link 

Found this awesome organization tool. Reality is, it's a distraction from other work but it looks like I'm getting stuff done! Now if I could just cross a few things off the list. Kinda' hilarious to see the world link to something so archaic! 

Handcrafted furniture? Yes please!

I love wood. It's natural, whimsical, and earthy. I love anyone who can find a way to reuse something old and turn it into something great. Wood is the perfect transition material, it unabashedly tells it's age, and warmly welcomes you into it's story.  These coffee tables by Brand Mojo Interiors rock my socks off. A strand of lights over head, a linen runner down the middle and vintage glassware, some holding tea lights others with cocktails and you've got yourself the beginnings of some amazing summer nights.

 rustic coffee table

Ciara Obscura - top five tuesday drinking glasses

So very excited to have been discovered by Ciara Obscura's blog! She's puts together a fun collection of drinking glasses for her Tuesday top five blog post. That's me, number 5, but I feel like number 1!

drinking glasses - number 5

New Orleans

We took a trip to New Orleans this Spring. It was an amazing city. Never before have I visited a place with such a love for music. The people stop to listen to street performers and tip consistently it was a sweet encounter. These are pictures from our stroll to the 9th ward.

Vintage Peg Rack, Glassware, Picnic Basket - Sneak Peak

 vintage nylon scarf. picnic basket. milk glass vase.

 wooden peg rack.

 depression era amber glass.

wooden hand painted canisters.