The girl with the pink gloves

This is a story about beauty and obsession, sparked by a small photograph deep inside the New York Times Style section on a Sunday three years ago. I've tried, unsuccessfully, to train myself not to fall so deeply in love with objets. I'm a newspaper reporter. I lack the necessary requirement -- money -- needed to enjoy the hunt for beautiful and expensive things.

But there was something about this girl and the way she was captured (by the brilliant photographer Bill Cunningham) pulling on her pink gloves on a March afternoon in Paris. I wanted a pair of pink gloves just like hers, like they held the key to life's happiness. Granted, I live in Los Angeles, where people barely wear coats let alone long beautiful gloves. But I figured (and hoped) I would wear them on trips to cold, metropolitan cities while strolling along fashionable boulevards.

So my quest began: I combed all the usual Beverly Hills haunts. No gloves to be found. Especially not pale pink ones. I searched through Internet stores. Nothing. Then I turned to eBay. Surely someone somewhere was trying to unload a pair. Right? In fact, there were lots of pairs -- all made in the 1950s. It quickly became apparent why no one wanted those gloves: Only Hollywood actresses have hands small enough to wear them.

I should have just given up. But I didn't. I couldn't. Somehow these gloves became a symbol of luxury amid the mundane, a promise that the future would be grand. Or at the very least, anything but ordinary. Finally, I found a place in New York that made bespoke gloves with the finest Italian leather. I gave them my hand measurements and sent them my New York Times clipping. Six weeks later, the most gorgeous gloves you've ever seen arrived wrapped in tissue. Just like the girl's in the picture.

I have taken these gloves with me many places, to New York, Washington DC, Rome and Paris. I've pulled them on many times and admired them, fastening their little pearlized buttons. But I've always ended up putting them back in their satin pouch. I have yet to wear them out.

I'm saving them for the future, I guess. For the grand (or not). The promise remains the same.


PS: I found the gloves {here}!

Toast

The new Toast catalogue arrived today via Royal Mail. Always makes me happy. This issue is especially beautiful. I'm so looking forward to summer (and weekends at the beach)!

More gorgeous photos {here}.
And my previous Toast posts {here}.
PLUS! Toast stylist Twig Hutchinson.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend...
xoxo


PS: I always think of Joanna when I see bicycles now! She loves them. Visit her wildly popular fabulous blog, A Cup of Jo, {here}!

My Dream Kitchen

The Essentials: A killer range, gorgeous tiles, a marble table (for everything from making pastries to serving breakfast), oil paintings and folk art, colorful bottles, a dash of pink...

high ceilings, big windows (with a beautiful view), and one amazing upholstered chair (preferably tattered) for reading the newspaper and sipping coffee...

And finally, a long pine table for French-style dinner parties, flower arranging, magazine reading, purse organizing, bread making, inviting over the young Jack Nicholson (hah!)...What's in yours!?


UPDATE! A comment from the lovely Helen:
"A gorgeous place! I, too, want a tattered upholstered chair in my kitchen ...
Well, my cupboard is itsy-bitsy-teeny-tiny, so my perfect kitchen would be just a touch bigger than it is now ... a wall full of Majolica plates, small glass bottles for garden clippings, a big pedestal table in the middle of the room, mismatched chairs (at least one in turquoise), and maybe even a fireplace ... is that too much to ask?"

And from talented Tina Tarnoff:
"One of the things I have in my kitchen is my easel, my canvases, my paints... My studio is too small to hold it all and has been reserved at the moment for my papercuting gear. The kitchen is small and the easel gets in the way, the paint is all over the floor... but never in the food, I promise! But the easel looks so pretty in there. So in my huge dream kitchen (that looks very much like the one you are describing!), I would also have a huge, old, wooden easel, with a huge painting on it that I would be working on. I would like high ceilings and lots of light too. Oh, and flowers and copper pots."

From Char: "A battered pine table for friends to sit while I cook, a large range and fridge with plenty of room to hold whatever I'm working on, scads of counterspace, an old stone sink and a wide window sill with plenty of light to grow herbs to snip as I need them. And a coffee pot with well loved mugs so we can drink coffee together."

And from Anna:
"I found a house with an okay kitchen but beautiful arts n crafts decor everywhere else, with original early 1900's fixtures. I imagined 3X5 BW photographs of relatives and ancestors in rectangle or oval guilded frames of all types, hung in no particular pattern about the countertop on adjacent walls in the kitchen to bring it back to the age of the home. My kitchen would be the heart and soul of who I am, with reminders of all who came before, and who made meals for each other and nourished each other in their homes."

So lovely...

Photos by the amazing James Merrell. (I'm starting to run out of synonyms for the word beautiful. There simply are not enough in the English language. )

What's your sign?

This little sign--a traveling art installation by two wonderful Philadelphia bloggers--just lifted my spirits today. It belongs to Shauna and Stephen at Something is Hiding in Here. They built it, but they let their blog readers decide on what it says. (If you want to see it in person, it's in a window at the Fred Flare store in Brooklyn at the moment.)

Any suggestions on what the sign should say?  Perhaps: "I can't live up to my blue and white china"? Or Maybe:  "You are a jewel beyond price."

UPDATE! From Clare: "I'll have what she's having." 

 The all time great line from When Harry Met Sally.

(Thank you to the lovely Poppytalk for inspiring this post.)

Monroe

I love these old Life photos. The portrait, above, is pure Monroe. Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt shot rolls of film of the star on a sunlit patio at her Hollywood home in 1953. Most of the photos are glamour pics.
But this one...

...seems to capture a real sadness. It struck me.

Viewfinder Flowers

Here's a picture I took of the dried hydrangeas in a vase on my dining room table. I love viewfinder photos, but mine usually don't work out. I was so happy that this one did. Wanted to share it with you. Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday.

A Plateful of Records...

Found on illustrator Helen Dardik's fantastic blog, Orange You Lucky. Lucky to find you Ms. Orange!

UPDATE. Comment from Miranda:
I miss record jackets, particularly the big LP ones. They always looked so good propped in front of the stereo. . .like a rotating art exhibit.

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Let's throw a dinner party...

Who do you want to invite? What shall we serve?? (Macarons and champagne?) And what albums should we play on the stereo? Oh so many decisions....


PS: I love this GIF, built by the very beautiful and clever Katarina at Lolita. I'm showcasing several of her GIFs on my blog this week! Scroll down for more surprises!


UPDATE: The talent Tina Tarnoff said...
I think we would have to invite Oscar Wilde, because he knows how to enjoy his champagne, and would be the wit of the party, Julian Schnabel to bring some artistic bad temper and excitement, Tallulah Bankhead for some passionate table dancing, Simone de Beauvoir for brains and early morning philosophical discussions, and Henry Miller for a bit of controversy. Oh, yes, and we would play Cinematic Orchestra - Live at Albert Hall, and I think we would be most happy drinking champagne and eating macarons all night.

And from the lovely Giulia:...
Agree with Tina about guests. So that's done. (with additions at some point). Macarons & champagne, great. But I would like some savories...will stinky cheese be allowed? If so, it wouldn't be terribly awful, but I do like Fourme d'Ambert & since we're fantasizing & it's gone up to about $19/lb, I'd love to pretend to have it. Or bleu d'Auvergne (which is from near where I lived in France). Also what about oysters (so good with champagne)? OK, past lunchtime on East Coast, that's quite obvious. Happy planning. xo

So many reasons to miss Paris...

...but here's one: the macarons. I know this is horribly devilish of me, but which flavor is your favorite?


(Photo credits: here.)

Glass of Bubbly, Anyone?

It would have been so much fun to drink champagne with Marilyn Monroe...


(Millions of trackbacks here.)

Rodeside Proposal

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the charming "roadside photographs" by Jen Zahigian of Oakland, California. (They're for sale in her Etsy store.)

Jen noticed that I adore love notes written large on walls. She sent me an email with this lovely picture.

She explains: "I was walking near the BART tracks in West Oakland (not the snazziest of neighborhoods, but interesting and full of photographic opportunity!) and saw that a lovebird had painted `Will You Marry Me' on a billboard. The billboard was up for a few days and then of course, painted over. The sentiment made me smile, and I couldn't help but wonder how the recipient felt upon viewing the proposal."

I think I would say "yes" to a proposal like this, what about you?


PS: Thank you Jen for writing me!

A New Canvas...

...of pure white...

...with sparks of pink and turquoise...


...and red, as red as the soles of Christian Louboutin boots...

I used to believe that interior walls should be painted strong colors (preferably something from Farrow & Ball)...But lately I've been thinking that white-on-white sets off flea-market finds most beautifully. What do you think?

I've been gathering up plates today for my plate wall. Thank you for all your suggestions! (And Tina Tarnoff's brilliant link to the ultimate plate wall.) I ordered a set of Thomas Paul's silhouette dessert plates and found several gorgeous orange saucers at the flea market. I'm thinking about mixing in a few vintage Chinese enamel plates. And of course blue and white china...

PS: The photos are, yet again, by James Merrell. I'm so in love with his website, packed with inspiration.

xoxo

Sunday

My dears, I hope you're having a wonderful Sunday. What are you up to today? I've been reading the Sunday papers and drinking coffee. (Three cups! Too many champagne cocktails last night!) Now I'm getting ready to head off to the flea market at the Rose Bowl. I'm going on a bit of a treasure hunt. I want to do a plate wall and I absolutely need your advice in that regard. Will show you what I found when I return!
Have a lovely day!
xoxo




(PS: The photo above is by James Merrell.)

Graffiti in Cursive

Lovelylovelylovely...

I have to admit that I always admire neat taggers. It's hard enough making my writing legible with a pen. But a spray paint can?

(Via the Ghost Factory.)

Farmers Market

Hello everyone. Happy Saturday. My daughter and I had a marvelous morning at the farmers market in Pasadena. Like most of the open air markets in the Los Angeles area, the farmers come from all over Southern California to sell their produce. As usual, I bought more flowers than vegetables. I can't resist!

There was a fantastic selection of tuberoses (which remind me of my friend Sara Catania, who always had the fragrant flowers in her ocean facing apartment in Ventura.) I also bought bouquets of red tulips, red ranunculus and mulit-colored roses. (My daughter, Isabella, and I arranged them in old pottery vases while listening to Ella Fitzgerald!)

Also brought home in our basket and bags: Fresh salmon, French bread, a huge ripe tomato, leeks for soup, a mix of salad greens and beautiful blood oranges. We're going to have dinner in the back garden this evening!

Dragon Clouds....

...so high above...

...you might be spoiling me...
...with too much, love. --Bob Dylan

Happy Friday. It's so beautiful here today. Puffy, cotton-candy clouds and cool air. I can hear a lawnmower and there's a mocking bird out there singing like a car alarm.

I wanted to share with you some of the cloud photos I found on We Heart It (credits here). I remember as a child my father -- a painter and a sculptor -- would ask me if I could see the sleeping satyr in the clouds. I always could on the summer afternoons when the big rain clouds would move in from the west in New Mexico, where I grew up.

Even now, I look for the satyr and think of my dad, who always puts the mythological figure in the cloudy skies of his oil paintings.

Maira Kalman, Part Deux

Have you seen Maira Kalman's latest blog post on the NYT website? It's a tribute to Abraham Lincoln and it's absolutely brilliant. One of the things Kalman wonders: What would Lincoln have thought of Frida Kahlo? What do you think?

UPDATE: I love this comment from Yoli: "I whole heartedly believe he would have asked her out on a date."

Hmm, what if Lincoln were a ladies man...

Polaroid Cache

Some of my Polaroids, as found inside the one of my Emma Hope shoeboxes...

Are Peonies....

...the most beautiful flower....

...in all the world...

...or would you rather have...

...a rose? Another beautiful dilemma.



(photo credits: the fantastic jen and other lovelies here.)

The Company of Cats

It's raining today in Los Angeles and things are really unsettled at work. I'm relying on old comforts: the touch of warm hands of loved ones and the weight of my giant cat Coco draped on my shoulder. I couldn't resist putting together this little collage of black cats. We have two of them, Coco and Kali (named after the Indian goddess of destruction). They are my constant companions.

Everyone have a wonderful day!

(Photo credits, link backs and more wonderful pictures of cats on my I Heart It page.)

UPDATE! A comment from my husband posing under the name "Tiburcio" "I love cats, too. Except for those really needy cats that sit in front of their food bowl, bitching and crying to be scratched. I'd just like to say to those cats: "Hey, you're not the only one with problems! Why don't you try to do something productive around here instead of just spitting hair balls all over the place?"

(He's joking, by the way. He's a cat man.)