library love

currently reading:
- The History of Love

out from the library:
- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- Girl, Interrupted
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Each of my current picks claims to be a "National Bestseller"? Maybe that's my book choice? But how easy is it to be a "bestseller" these days? How long do you have to be selling "best" to earn the title?

[10/29/07: seth godin on the new york times bestseller list]

city walk

today was another wonderful car-free monday. it's hard to go a day with needing to drive somewhere for something--especially living in LA. but i feel the worst when i realize that i've spent half of a precious day off driving--or worse (and most likely), sitting in traffic.

luckily, mondays are quiet. i can stay at home, relax, walk downtown, get a few errands done. if i get car-required business done on sunday, then monday can be fully sans auto.

today was a perfect balance of work & play. i spent the morning at home working on a little design project (maybe the start of some exciting outside-of-work work!). and then i took a long afternoon walk around town. hit up the coffee shop, the library, and the choice local stores: my Stellar True Value Hardware, a couple of local shops, and good ol' Goodwill. a stack of books and a few around-the-house necessities made the day a success.


[photo from myflickr]

the ideal rug?!

recycled plastic rugs with colorful floral designs. at $28-89, this could solve my need for an inexpensive-but-attractive rug.
plus they're earth-friendly! [via AT:LA]

image courtesy of AT:LA

outsider art

over the weekend, we visited the watts towers (or rodia's towers in watts, as our tour guide preferred). what an awesome site. the elaborate, intricate beauty of the structure and the mosaics--it was all amazing. definitely an inspiration in found object art.

home sweet home

Since we moved into our first, sweet, little apartment, there's been a constant cycle of needing, finding, and arranging things. From Allison's awesome vintage kitchen table (thank you craigslist!) to my DIY pickle jar shelf (thank you home depot & albertsons!), the space needs to be functional, but fun, and cohesive, but true to two personalities.

Now I am searching for just the right...
- bookshelf. low and wooden for the living room. the current one is a white beast trying to take over the space.
- rugs, affordable but interesting & colorful. gotta mask this wall-to-wall carpeting!
- bar cart...not even sure what we're looking for in this, but when we find it, we will know.
- mega bulletin board & industrial-style lighting for our office nook.
- art & posters, an endless pursuit of pretty things for the walls.
- books!! since moving cross-country, our shelves are all but empty.

It might be a long time before we are Dwell-worthy, but I think I enjoy the process as much as the results.

weekend visitors

early on in our apartment life, allison & i decided that with our many visitors coming through our LA live, the one compensation we would require would be a photobooth strip from their stay. this has produced some great refrigerator mementos, even if we haven't coerced every single guest into the booth.

luckily, photobooth'ing is pretty doable in LA. there's one booth at the "must-see" Santa Monica Pier and a nice b&w booth at a nearby bar and many others scattered in funky bars & shops around town. i always love checking photobooth.net to get new locations.

with my mum & dad visiting over the weekend, i was psyched that they happily hopped in a booth on their last day. now i have a recent strip to sit alongside another photo strip of them taken 30 years ago at Hampton Beach, NH.

beginning & finale

we started the day with lattes and croissants at our neighborhood cafe.

and ended it with a table full of sushi at Noshi Sushi in Koreatown

in between eating, i had a little play & a lot of saturday work

highlights

loving...
- a new candle, Voluspa's Santiago Huckleberry = a pretty tin + a heavenly smell
- four perfect white plates at goodwill for $4
- another Moosewood cookbook to add to my collection!

plus we have weekend visitors on their way!

hello!

where to begin?
i've been asking myself that for too long
and finally decided to stop thinking about it
sooooo, we start here.

this blog is for:
* sharing
* exploring
* listing
* thinking
* creating