This song's so hot it's stolen

I discovered this song, "My Dick" by Mickey Avalon, while watching Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay. And as a poet, I have to give Avalon props for some of the rhymes here-- truly sophisticated stuff. To watch the music video (with audio!), click here.

Soon I will write at length about Thanksgiving, reflecting on this year and what I'm thankful for, but since I don't have time to go into that now and it's been over a week since my last post, I'll just give you this small gift.

You're welcome.

Mickey Avalon widget by 6L & Daxii

Let's face it...

For the past 4 years, this blog has always been about airing interior design matters, whether personal or highlighting a designer's work. I hope that it's been more about my home rather than just posting the portfolios and works of the myriad of fantastic designers around the globe. I'd like to think this has been more about putting my feeble attempts at creating a more personal home, both while I rented and now that I've finally been blessed to own this lovely home. Of course, this means I've certainly shared with my readers my pathetic mistakes, my few triumphs and my mental moodboard for different living rooms/spaces. And I do so thank you for reading and following me; in part, seeing the number of readers in Google Analytics come to bijou kaleidoscope despite not commenting, has spurred me on.

I've been feeling recently that (maybe it's that time of the month again or something) I can't be bothered anymore. To write, to share, to try... Sometimes having no budget (pea-sized or otherwise) challenges me. Times like now, it depresses me...

If you have the budget (and experience), making mistakes are easily repaired... if you don't have the budget... mistakes are very costly... so trying new things out, or even affording the new things, is not always possible.

So thanks for allowing me this space to air out my mistakes, my bad attempts at creating living spaces that I had hope to inspire... and eventually build upon. Thanks for being gracious, for not chewing me out and cirticising...

(maybe next week there'll be more to read... but for now, i'm mellow.)

Have a good weekend!

Rug from towels?

So far, my planned yellow, black and white home office (blogged here and here) is looking more like a a box of crayons because our furniture, stationery, office accessories aren't all yellow. Though I'm slowly changing them to be more yellow, black and white where I can, progress is slow.

(I desperately want to paint the mucky brown fireplace a bright yellow.)

Ever since seeing Bev Hisey's Yellow Moroccan rug I've wanted a yellow and white rug for this space, just to make the space and my intentions for it more cohesive.

Bev Hisey's Yellow Moroccan


Some other contenders:

Moorish Tile by Pottery Barn


Kaley Bloom Rug by Pottery Barn


Brink and Campman's modern rug


Of course, none of these are available in Australia and finding a similar rug here has been rather painful (within or without my pea-sized budget).

This Saturday, after enjoying a great brunch at Gas, South Melbourne, Australia, (253 Coventry Street, South Melbourne) we roamed around Clarendon St. I'd been eyeing these beach towels from Bed, Bath and Table and they were finally on sale! So I grabbed two for under $70.

I've laid them down on my home office floor. While I'm not keen on the square-ness of the rug, I really do like the yellow and white modern floral pattern and they do make a more white & yellow statement.

But they are what they are (for now): 2 beach towels side by side. Can you perhaps throw in some suggestions how you would transform these into a more substantial faux-rug?

Would love to hear some suggestions! Thanks so much in advance!!!




Pardon the unstyled shots!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Who is Sarah Palin's publicist?

"Sarah, baby, it's going to be great, we're going to do the interview while turkeys are being slaughtered in the background. We'll show those pansy liberal vegetarians who the real Americans are! Wait, Sarah, why are you wearing a Burberry scarf and drinking Starbucks? You're a real everyday normal woman, with real everyday normal problems like a knocked-up teenage daughter, right? Right?!?!"

(thanks to Jocelyn and Levi for sending this to me...)

Domino: the Book of Decorating

I had to choose an affordable "something I'd like" for our Christmas gifts to each other (husband and I). Now with a mortgage, 10ft luxury ebony wood yachts or mountain-top Swiss chalets are out of the question (they were never in to begin with)...

I finally chose. (He chose a good quality coffee grinding kit (the Coffee Been's kit) and I am getting:

The MUCH talked about and MORE MUCH longed after Domino Mag's new book, Domino: the Book of Decorating.



Can't wait to get it!!!!


(Btw, we're not precious about not revealing our gifts to each other. I *HATE* getting gifts I can't appreciate so we have decided to make our gift list known to each other so we can truly appreciate what we give each other -and family members-)

A note to Australian readers/longer-afters-too, Amazon beats ANY price offered by Australian retailers (online and otherwise) for this book.

Boola Boola

As some of you may know, this Saturday marks the 125th anniversary of the Harvard-Yale Football Game, an event categorized by immense anticipation, binge drinking, and very poor athleticism.

In case you are not sure which team to root for, let me help you out. First, click here for some appropriate music to play while you read.

1. Yale's team is the Bulldogs. Bulldogs are cute and feisty (just like me!)

Harvard's team (and their daily newspaper) is the Crimson, which reminds me of my period, as well as that scene in "Clueless" when Alicia Silverstone tells Wallace Shawn she is "surfing the crimson wave." To summarize: yuck.

2. BILL CLINTON went to Yale! George Bush also went to Yale.


3. Yale's fight songs were written by Cole Porter. Perhaps you've heard of him?

4. The Yale Precision Marching Band, in addition to featuring standard band instruments, includes violins, bagpipes, accordions, keyboards, cowbells, triangles, and air guitars. Their halftime shows are more about pyrotechnics than fancypants formations. Basically, they like to blow shit up on the field.

5. Harvard sucks (and Princeton doesn't matter).

There are too many other reasons to list here, but basically, GO ELIS, and wear blue on Saturday! If you're in the Cambridge area, visit me Friday night at Hong Kong in Harvard Square or track me down at the Yale Club of Boston's tailgate on Saturday.

Weather.com

Cloudy

36°F

Feels Like
28°F

Ok, so maybe I'm being oversensitive, but whenever I log on to weather.com and see something like this, my first reaction is "Don't tell me how I feel, weather.com! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME!"

What if I go outside, and to me it feels like 29 degrees? What then? For all you know, weather.com, I'm dressed super warmly today. Maybe I feel like it's 65 degrees and sunny. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT? Are you going to tell me I'm WRONG?!?!

I just think this feature of the website is rather presumptuous. The science of weather forecasting seems somewhat comical to begin with, but this crosses the line. Now meteorologists are not just telling me what the temperature is, they are also speculating how my body is registering that temperature.

It's like weather.com and I are in an unhealthy relationship and I try to express my feelings, and weather.com tells me what I'm really feeling, which is a thinly veiled prescriptive statement about how I should be feeling. Like there's something wrong with me if today's high of 36 degrees didn't feel more like 28 degrees.

Well, I have news for you, weather.com. You do not know how I am feeling, so I would appreciate it if we could just keep things professional. I do not dispute your claim that humidity is at 50% and there are 11 mph winds coming from the northwest. I believe that the sun will rise tomorrow at 6:48 am and set at 4:46 pm, as depressing as that is. All I want from you is a general sense of how fucking cold and/or windy/snowy it is outside so I can dress accordingly. You do your job and I'll do mine, ok?

All best,
Katie

p.s. I do get a kick out of the pet safety forecast feature. Though Maude never ventures beyond my apartment and sleeps approximately 16 hours/day, I'm sure she would be grateful to know her "flea comfort index" should she ever find herself awake and outdoors.

Spring has been sprung!

I'm very upset.

We discovered a small bird's nest at the back of our place...

Then last week I saw a blackbird nesting in it.

Then she flew off as I cautiously approached it.



She flew right back after I walked off with my precious "first" shots. We enjoyed another few days of seeing mummy bird love her eggs from inside the house.

But the next two days, another bird must have stolen an egg! The mother blackbird is now gone, the nest has only had one egg for days and no mummy bird!

I wanted to see those eggs hatch... I wanted the mummy bird to have another chance at having her own.

I'm upset. (But this is nature... no?)

Boston v. New York

I have now lived in Beantown for a little over three months, so it seems like a good time to reflect a bit on my life here and how the adjustment has been going. For the most part, it's been a smooth transition, though there are things I miss about my old life in New York. Specifically:

1. 24-hour subway service

2. 24-hour restaurants

3. 24-hour life in general

Being a student again is fun and it's nice to feel like I've matured since my undergraduate days in terms of my study habits. I still write papers the night before they're due, but I generally think about my thesis and create an outline a few days in advance, which makes the writing process easier. And I'm much more comfortable speaking in class. And much better about attending class. On time. Having done the reading.

But being a student in Boston is as annoying as being an actress in New York. In New York, I used to not admit to being an actor because, well, EVERYONE is an actor. Responding to the question of "So, what do you do?" with "Well, actually, I do theatre" usually results in an eye-roll which translates roughly to "yeah, you and every other asshole. Let's just cut to the chase where you give me a freakin' postcard for your next show so I can deposit said postcard into the next trash receptacle, k?"

Since Boston is a city of students (about half a million, to be exact), all you generally hear people talking about (on the T, in coffee shops, anywhere) is 1) their classes and 2) how wasted they were last night ("Seriously, I was so wasted last night. For reals. I mean, I don't remember anything at all. Except how wasted I was.")

So I guess it's fair to say that I miss the social diversity of New York. Boston feels like one big mostly-white campus sometimes. Which in terms of the abundance of cheap beer is a good thing...but otherwise, gets old fast. I do not want to move back to New York -- that I only see happening if I mysteriously come into a large sum of money. Which now that Barack Obama is President, I guess could happen. I mean, according to this woman, all my financial woes are pretty much behind me:



As one international student whose college admissions essay I was editing wrote, "The road is long and hubbly," my friends. That applies to me and our new President-elect. Hubbly, hubbly, hubbly.

In-Progress decorated restroom

I think I've mentioned a million times now how this whole place was painting in the one shade, even bathtubs, toilet paper holders, toilets, door knobs etc...



I also lamented about how sad our toilet was...

And the source of inspiration:

Image taken as screenshot from the Designer Visions Online O-At Home apartment walkthrough videocast

That collection on those shelves would have easily cost $350-400 and that is $350-400 I don't have to spend just to make a really small space prettier... when we have other needs.

But I loved how reds and oranges and pinks were used to "jewel" up the space.

We had friends over on the weekend and they were wowed by what I'd done to the restroom, which is kinda surprising since the guy that noticed is normally pretty... duh about design etc.

This is how mine looks right now:
I think I spent $70 on this, including the Ikea RÖNNSKÄR wall shelving, frames from thrift stores and repainted in some leftover black gloss, and the two bars of soap, each costing me $14.95. The rest I kinda went picking from around the house.



I try not to keep too many magazines so I tear out the sheets. But I like keeping most of the covers since so much work has gone into making them pretty... I thought to hang them up in our restroom, selecting those with the same shades.



As collectors know, a collection is never complete/done. Collections evolve, change and develop... so this isn't "The End" of the Restroom.

Toy kitchen

I LOVE this toy kitchen. Pottery Barn Kids: The Gourmet Kitchen Collection .... it's sharp but of course, it's expensive and it's in the US.







So... I have been surfing around, trying to eBay a bargain of a toy kitchen for Hannah. In that surfing, I've encountered some share-worthy sites:

Crumb Catchers turned a cheap entertainment unit into a toy kitchen.




Jenny Ikea hacked an adorable unit.




Manda posted about her easy to do toy kitchen. By utilising a neglected 2 door cabinet and spending just $10, she's got this cute one for her lil ones:


Michele Beschen posted about how she created a set of gorgeously cute kitchen toy units on the DIY Network


My favourite has to be this. Virginia sends in to OhDeeDoh shots of her own Ikea hacked kitchen for her lil one.



I'm looking for a large one... maybe the husband and I could DIY a Kidkraft one...

My Nicola and her friends

I wrote about my eBay score nearly two months to the date... the gorgeous Nicola by Shabner.

Image from Decor8

Today I realised I hadn't updated you on where it now hangs! Holly from Decor8 posted a pic from London store, Etoile Home where the Shani has photographed her gorgeous vintage and new wares. I spy a Nicola there!



She now graces my fireplace. I'm looking for smaller, similar artwork... maybe some vintage brown and black prints...

(Fireplace to be painted crisp white or yellow soon).

Note to Emerson students: Weed is still illegal

I woke up Wednesday morning still buzzed from Barack's victory to find this e-mail, from the Dean of Students at Emerson College, in my inbox:


Dear Students,

In light of yesterday’s vote to decriminalize the possession of small quantities of marijuana in Massachusetts some individuals have inquired if its passage will impact College policy. Possession is still unlawful in Massachusetts and the College is still subject to the federal Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act. That law conditions the College’s receipt of federal funds on its enforcement of standards of conduct that clearly prohibit unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs. Thus, please be advised that the Student Code of Conduct as it pertains to marijuana possession, use, or distribution remains as written in the Student Handbook. A PDF of the Student Handbook can be found at www.emerson.edu/student_life . The College’s sanctioning guidelines for marijuana possession, use, or distribution is located on pages 92 and 93; the College’s Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) policy is located on pages 97 - 102.

***************************************************************************

Translation: it is still against college policy to smoke chronic on campus. Sorry.

I have to give mad props however to the "individuals" who needed this policy clarified. I hope they were stoner students. Stoner grad students would be even better.

I hope many of you are celebrating the passage of Prop 2 this weekend. Yes we can (and only incur a $100 fine if caught with less than an ounce)!

My typewriter corner

I spotted a photo on La La Lovely and was instantly captured and inspired.



While I don't have that antique a typewriter or wallpaper that lovely, I did score a really good vintage typewriter a few months back and since moving, I have displayed it on my desk but that space has given way to my gorgeous notecards storage system.



So that typewriter was parked on top of my supplies cabinet.... until that photo, thanks!

I also had a small side table just kinda kicking its feet waiting to be used... and other bits and bobs...

I love my new little vignette made from gathering odds and ends around the home already!

Happy Belated Halloween!

Ok, it's two days late, but still...it's the thought that counts.

I spent Halloween night waitressing (in my guitar costume), but yesterday, in honor of the Day of the Dead, I rode the ferry out to Salem, MA with some other Emerson grad students. Though various websites assured us that Halloween festivities would be happening all weekend, the town was actually pretty quiet. By the time we arrived at noon, they had already taken away the 1,000-pound pumpkin. We were greatly disappointed.


We did visit the Salem Witch Museum (which would have been better had it featured an animatronic Tituba) and then hung out at the Psychic Fair, where I received a reading from The Stone Lady. We also pondered our mortality in a historic graveyard, which was conveniently located next to a fried dough stand and the New England Pirate Museum.

Since no one was burned at the stake or wrongfully imprisoned, I guess the trip was a success. And check out the gorgeous sunset we witnessed while waiting for the commuter rail:


And now, two spooky videos, both filmed yesterday by moi. The first is not for the faint at heart!




Listening to a cappella the day after Halloween with a raging hangover = horrifying.

And finally, a Halloween hat that sings and dances.