goat & gramp

I mentioned the other day that much of my recent absence has been due to a soon-to-be-unveiled project I've been working on... Well, ta-daa! Welcome to the unveiling!  I present to you:  Goat & Gramp.  You guys are some of the first to see the beloved beast that has been eating all my time of late, a project very close to my heart because, well, it's all about shopping.  Not the kind of fast-paced gimme-now shopping that we so often succumb to for a quick fix (no judgement here, we all need instant gratification once in a while), but the slower, more thoughtful treasure-hunting kind, where you carefully seek out just the right piece for you and take the time to get to know the process and the people behind its creation.  This can sometimes get lost in our fast-paced world, and in the vast sea of information that is today's internet, it can be hard to connect with the smaller companies that are run by the makers themselves.

More on Goat & Gramp...

ikea haul

We had a big Ikea day this weekend.  But then again, every Ikea day is a big Ikea day.  Why is it impossible to do in less than 4 hours?  Even if you don't look at any furniture?  Even if you skip the meatballs?  Mind boggling.  It took the major part of our saturday, and left us comatose for what was left of it.  But the time and energy spent is less than or equal to the money saved, and I think we did pretty well for ourselves, restocking some basics that we needed, plus a few little luxuries to make me smile.

The details and the rest of our loot...

summer colors

Last time I did a pinterest roundup winter was still desperately hanging on, and it was obviously affecting my mood.  But it seems as if joyous summer colors have finally seeped their way into my subconscious.  Amazing how the weather and the seasons can affect us even in the way we are attracted to color and texture. 

As addicted as I am to pinterest, sometimes I forget to go back and actually look at what I've been obsessively pinning.  When I finally do it feels like I've found treasure; I'm like a magpie admiring all the shiny bits in my nest.  This time around I was so delighted to find all the pops of pink and fresh green in my collection!

Have you noticed any trends in your own image collecting lately?

upstate

I'm a sucker for a deep rich indigo color.  And if it's coupled with great shibori, I get even weaker in the knees.  The lovely ladies at Upstate hand dye each and every one of their gorgeous pieces.  And they do more than just stunning oversized silk shawls.

So much more...

fantasy giving

It's my mama's birthday today!!!  I wish I could give you an entire field of poppies to celebrate.

I also wish I could give you...

colors & textures

image sources available on pinterest

Every once in a while I like to share some of my recent pins, in case you're not following me yet over on pinterest.  Pinterest is one online addiction that I think is truly good for me.  In the midst of even my most hectic days, it slows me down, refills my creativity, floods my senses with colors, textures, tastes, and travels, all from the comfort of my laptop.  Are you addicted? Are we following each other yet?

(ps - if you're on other social media platforms as well, so am I! Twitter here, and facebook here.  Just saying.)

last minute

 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Still plenty of time to find the perfect gifts.  The folks I still have to shop for are always the hardest; I'm sure everyone as a few of them in their life. 

Here's a handful of ideas to help you fill those gaps...

ikea day

We spent a day at Ikea last week (including the trip there and back it was about 6 hours, so yeah, basically an entire day) and picked up some really lovely things.  God, I just love it there.  Now you may be asking yourself why I would buy things for the home when we're leaving in a year (ok, only two of you out there know that, but there you go, now you all do), but we only picked up a few essentials that are going to vastly improve our quality of life over the year to come.  That's how I justified it at least. 

These are the little things that bring happiness...

for me to sit on

Found this stunning couch while flipping through magazines looking for a new paint color for our living room (turned out perfectly, by the way).  Totally irrelevant to my life, but totally gorgeous.  And yes, I think I'm going through a blue period.

loveseat

I've been thinking we need a loveseat.  No, we don't have room, but maybe we can cram it in.  I'd put it in our shared light-filled office, and it would be a place where we can stop working, step away from our desks, and curl up with a book, together or separately.  The more time I spend tied to my computer for work, but more I appreciate the importance of occasionally sitting elsewhere, even just for 10 minutes.  As it stands now we just have one comfy chair in here, but if Husband beats me to it I'm forced to either sit in a dining chair, or go into the much darker living room.  And wouldn't it be nice to take little mini-breaks together?  Just a fantasy right now, but it may soon turn into an obsession, and I may have to take a mini-trip to a not-so-min-ikea some day soon.

gypsy interiors

Take a break from your reality for a minute or two and check this out.

Gypsy Interiors, by Carlo Gianferro

I think these are two of my favorites:

images from angeliska gazette and proximity magazine

Wow.

squished

Our newest drinking glasses:

image from uncommon goods, also available at pedlars

No, they're not plastic, they're ceramic, and they fool everyone!  Why do I think it's a great idea to fool people into thinking our nice drinking glasses are really just crumpled up pieces of plastic trash?  I don't know, I just do.  The crumples also make them super fun to hold, though a word of warning: if you put hot liquids in them they become decidedly less fun to hold.

ikea sunday

No such thing as a quick trip into Ikea, especially on a sunday.  It's a madhouse, and you inevitably get sucked in.  But we managed to accomplish our mission and got me a table for my sewing/work space in the back room, and a chair to go with it.

Bjorkudden and Bernhard

I love that Bjorkudden is solid pine and not your typical ikea laminate, and that Bernhard doesn't look like a standard desk chair.  Bernie's very comfortable though, and I couldn't resist the color!  (Does everyone end up calling their Ikea furniture by their original names or some shortened version thereof?  It's not just us, is it?  We have a leather Henriksdal chair that we just call Harry.  Harry's swell.)

But of course we got distracted and also brought home colored glasses, a mug, a mirror and some candles.

And then there's all the things we almost bought...

fresco turkish towels

These 100% turkish cotton towels from L.A.-based company Fresco are literally making my heart flutter.  I first spotted them a few days ago over at Honestly WTF and haven't stopped thinking about them since.  Fresco has over 100 different designs in towels, bathmats and even bags, in absolutely stunning color combinations that have me oohing and aahing over terry cloth - something I thought would never happen.

kobo

We've all heard of Diptyque candles, and yes, they smell amazing, and yes, they do last a while, but it's always seemed excessive to me to spend that much on a candle.   For much less than that (albeit still a lot of money for a candle) you could get a soy Kobo.  I actually discovered these candles in the bathroom of a restaurant we went to the other day, and words cannot begin to describe how good that bathroom smelled.  Warm and cozy and inviting and wholly unbathroomlike.  The one they had burning was Tabac and Talc.

Going on my wishlist immediately.

got millions?

One of my favorite things to do, in any city, is look at real estate listings.  New York is great for this because there's such a wide spread of prices and kinds of homes, and there's agencies everywhere with listings posted in the windows so you can just stop and stare and fantasize.  The other day though I passed by an agency that made my jaw drop.  Got 10 million?  They've got just the place for you:

This one's only 7.5:

Prefer to rent?  This place is $20,000.  A month.

I don't even really know what to say about this, but I had to share.  If you feel like spending some time in the land of make-believe, they have tons more listings on their site.  But for some reason the scale of ridiculous extravagance actually took the fun out of the fantasy for me.

water

This week I've been on a mission to fix my bad habit of reusing disposable water bottles.  I know it's horrible for your health, and I promise to stop.  Of course I have to find the perfect replacement, and I'm a chronic researcher, so it's taking a while.  I think I'm close to a winner though.  First up on my list of finalists: Klean Kanteen. 

These super lightweight food-grade stainless steel bottles come in tons of lovely colors.  My only gripe is that the lid squeaks when you screw it on or off.  Not too many people seem to be complaining about that in the reviews, so either I am hyper-sensitive to metal screeching, or it goes away with use.

A few more great options and some water packaging that totally threw me for a loop after the jump...

old school

This morning we went to Brooklyn Flea.  Such a relaxing flea market experience, especially compared to the rastro in Madrid!  One of the vendors that intrigued me most were the guys from Kasbah Moderne selling fully functional refurbished antique typewriters.  The woman who was helping us out said that in selecting a typewriter you'd want to think what your needs were - if it's to write your novel you'd want a different model than if you were just using it to write occasional letters.  Would someone really write a novel on a typewriter in this day and age?  The thought boggled my mind.  The only time I ever used one was to fill out college applications back in the day, and I'm sure they have computerized that system by now.  But, as impractical as they are, I have to admit I love the idea of having one around, especially one so beautiful as these, perhaps with a sheet of paper always in place so husband and I can leave notes for each other.  Do you have a typewriter?  Does it just seem archaic and useless?  Or could you be pulled in by the old time romance of it?

ethnicon

Since we just got back from Istanbul, my thoughts are on gorgeous rugs.  My mom has a thing for them, by which I mean she could probably open up her very own textile and kilim museum, and while I didn't quite inherit the level of obsession love she has for them, these modern takes on the traditional rugs really do make me giddy.

 

Ethnicon in the covered bazaar - photo from Design Jungle

The folks at Ethnicon take antique rugs, cut them apart, and piece them back together in these ingenius patchwork celebrations of color and texture.  Each one is unique, though they have color schemes that they use repeatedly.  We got an eggplant one as a wedding, and though it manages to collect dust like nobody's business (it's the dark color combined with an old apartment that generates dust continually - no fault of the rug itself I assure you), I absolutely love it.  My mom has an apricot sunset one herself, it is utterly happy-making.  The wonderful thing about these is that they work as well in a modern home as in one filled with ethnic textiles; these rugs are for everyone.  You can get them at the covered bazaar in Istanbul, or online through Unique Rugs.

more photos after the jump...

recently purchased - zara home & zara

A few weeks ago when my mother-in-law and my grandmother-in-law (is that right? In spanish there's even less of a word for what she is to me.  Seems wrong, seeing how sweet she is.  But I digress...) were here, they got us some gifts from Zara Home.  My suegra got me this amazing little basket for me to store my crochet and other craft projects.  Now I can have it all easily accessible in the living room, but it doesn't look like a hot mess.

My grandmother-in-law got us a beautiful set of sheets but sadly they didn't fit our bed.  This is just another one of those things I don't understand about living here.  In the States you know what size your bed is; it's twin, queen or king.  Maybe California twin if you want to get crazy.  But that's it.  Here it's in centimeters, and it's not standardized.  So she got me a set that was 150 cm wide, which seemed right, but it turns out our bed is 160.  Zara Home does not carry 160.  Which means we can never have sheets from there.  Makes no sense, right?  In any case, we had to return the sheets.  Yesterday I went and picked out a few things for the exchange.