Pretty silk

I just couldn't stop from blogging about this pretty dressing room I spotted a few days ago at Mornington Antique Centre on Tyabb Road, Mornington, VIC, Australia. It was so pretty and simple.



Here goes another round of searches on eBay for a silk shawl!

Barbie Store, Shanghai

A New Year's Eve treat... and feast for the eye:

For just the "gawk and gasp" treat, I discovered the Barbie store in Shanghai, China ages ago and this has been in my inspiration-need-to-blog files...

Mattel installed a Barbie store in Shanghai, China to mark its 50th anniversary... complete with psychedelic pink escalator..

here

here

This flagship contains a spa, cafe, design studio, fashion stage and thousands and thousands of new and vintage Barbies.

I grew up with Barbie, only having one doll, coveting my younger cousin's 3-4 figures. Mum couldn't afford Barbie clothes or shoes for my doll (hand me down from said cousin) so I learnt to make my own with mum's Singer sewing machine... I still remember the pink work suit ... and the apple green Audrey-style dress I made for her...

But I gave that all up when I turned 13.

Until now.



What's that dotting the stairwell, you say?

Let's look closer...



Closer!



875 Barbie. And since they're glassed in individual boxes... no DUSTING!

More, more!

here

Spa or beauty parlour, or cosmetic shop, Barbie-themed, of course!





Clothes





Gasping and gawking? :) I do like it. White, bright, clean and very funky stairwell! (I hope they pay their cleaning crew damn well.)

Read more here.

But as for me? 20 years later... I have my own Barbie doll... again... but this time, designed by design icon Jonathan Adler!

This is NOT a Hannah product!

Bank of Some States of America

Generally, I'm pretty happy with my bank, Bank of America. They are fairly understanding when I occasionally overdraw my account and I can usually get them to remove those pesky $35 overdraft fees. Every time I call, they thank me for being an account holder since 1999. Basically, Bank of America and I go way back.

Living in Boston spoiled me, however, in terms of ease of banking access. Bank of America branches are EVERYWHERE. Paying ATM fees became a thing of the past when I moved to Boston last year, much to my delight. There is nothing that incenses me more than paying money to access my money.

But here in Colorado, I find myself in a quandary. Colorado has 161 Bank of America ATMs, but no banking centers. And none of the ATMs allow check deposit. And that is what I urgently need to do: deposit a check.

Why urgently? Well, those of you who know me know that I have a somewhat precarious financial existence. I have many jobs (4 to be exact) but cash flow is always a problem. Waiting tables is unpredictable (some people tip like bastards); my graduate assistantship pays me in full for an entire semester at the beginning of the semester (which is nice but hard to parse out over time); another job is freelance and sporadic; etc. So I'm constantly working and earning, but often checking my mailbox frantically for checks and living on cereal and pickles when times get tough.

The current situation is dire in that if I can't find a way to deposit the check I have in my possession, automatic payments that come out of my account at the end of the month will make me overdrawn. And I'll be accruing those $35 fees in no time. Which maybe I can get taken off, but maybe not.

I can't believe there are no Bank of America locations in Colorado. They have 161 ATMs, but they are all located in random gas stations and can't accept deposits. Useless. Apparently, Minnesota, Kentucky, Utah, Indiana, Ohio, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota are similarly plighted. And you're really in trouble if you're thinking of traveling to North Dakota, Vermont, Mississippi, or West Virginia; they have no B of A anything, no ATMS or branches.

Which leads me to conclude that the name is kind of a misnomer. Bank of America? More like Bank of 35 States of America. Hmpf.

Also, semi-related: check out this video from 2006 wherein Bank of America, after another merger, rewrote the lyrics to U2's world peace anthem "One" to be about....credit cards. Shameless.

Merry Happy!

Happy holidays, everybody! It's Christmas Eve, my mother's favorite day of the year (because Christmas is ALMOST here but not quite...Christmas Day she describes as "bittersweet." And the day after Christmas? Don't even go there.)

I'm in Colorado, with my Christmas-obsessed mom and stepdad. It's snowing and we are listening to festive music (my mom is particularly fond of the holiday albums put out by Josh Groban, Jane Monheit, and Diana Krall) while prepping the stuffing for tomorrow's traditional goose dinner. Yes, we always make a Dickensian feast on Christmas Eve: goose + stuffing + mashed potatoes + green beans + cranberry relish. My mom and I spend most of the day cooking and sipping wine, while our favorite movie, Gone with the Wind, plays in the background. Yes, I know, GWTW is not technically a Christmas movie, but there is a Christmas scene, ok? (when Ashley comes home for Christmas and impregnates Melanie)

Christmas Day also has several key meals: cinnamon rolls and coffee before gift-opening, mimosas, bagels with cream cheese and lox afterward, prime rib (encrusted in salt, pepper, rosemary, and garlic) for dinner. While the prime rib is in the oven, we watch It's a Wonderful Life. Every family has holiday rituals -- my family's just happen to center around food, wine, and movies. I'm not complaining, but if you see me in early January and I look a little more rotund than usual, you will know why.

If you celebrate Christmas, merry Christmas...otherwise, happy holidays and best wishes for 2010!

my mom's cat, Sparky, modeling his Christmas collar and enjoying his favorite game, Cat in a Box

Blessed Christmas

To all my readers, I wish you a warm, cheery Christmas and may 2010 be full of joy, laughter and love for you and your loved ones.

Christmas at Martha Stewart

I enjoyed looking at pictures of Martha Stewart's home decorated for Christmas... gorgeous ideas to keep!

Pretty ballerina

Been meaning to share with you this pretty thrifted and fixed brooch... it's just a cheapie '50s piece, but I love its delicacy...

Picked up for just $0.50 at Salvos, and then fitted with a new backing from Spotlight with some Araldite..



Just makes me happy!

Christmas inspiration from Turquoise

Pic from House of Turquoise

I found this pic from House of Turquoise who's put on a fabulous inspiration Christmas post! I love love love it. And the other pics too, of course!

Too funny!

Our local fabric superstore in Australia, Spotlight sells a crafters and DIYers heaven's delight and also, 1000s of fabrics, spilling out their doors!

How funny then, to see my blogland-friend Viv from beautiful blog Ish and Chi use the *same* fabric to recover some vintage chairs that I used for my cousin's dining chairs!!

Viv's version

My cousin's chair

Of course, Viv's photography is much more sensational since it's got great lighting! Cousin's place is a tad dark!

Psst, I'll be suggesting to said cousin another splurge on her cute bachelorette pad soon!

Problematic Depictions of African-Americans in a Beloved Holiday Film

The other night, I watched a classic Christmas movie: Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Though I've seen it a dozen times, this always catches me off-guard:

Yep, that's crooner Bing Crosby, in full-on blackface. He's singing an Irving Berlin song called "Abraham" about Abe Lincoln's birthday that contains lyrics such as "When black folks lived in slavery/ Who was it set the darkie free?/ Abraham, Abraham!"

PROBLEMATIC. And the only actual black people in the movie?

That's Louise Beavers, playing (isn't it obvious?) "Mamie" and her two kids. Mamie is the all-purpose housekeeper/cook at the Holiday Inn. Obviously.

Sigh. I love Holiday Inn -- it features the first ever performance of "White Christmas," one of my favorite Christmas songs. There are lots of great dance numbers, not one but TWO love triangles, and plenty of glamorous 1940s evening wear.

And yet....

It's just hard to get past this, you know? The blackface is a part of the plot -- Bing Crosby adds it to the number at the last minute so that Fred Astaire's character won't be able to recognize Marjorie Reynolds (pictured above), with whom he drunkenly danced on New Year's Eve and wants to steal away from Crosby's Holiday Inn gig.

But still....yeesh. Racism kind of kills my Christmas spirit.

Is anything better than the Muppets?

I know, I know, you've probably seen it already. It has like 10,000,000 hits on YouTube. Still, I couldn't help myself.

Also, can Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem please go tour? I would happily drop out of graduate school to be their roadie.

Tram Depot Cafe

Andrew and I have had cafés on our mind lately... I thought I'd share with you a favourite find from my inspiration files... the Deptford Project Café.

Via DeZeen.

Located in Deptford, South East London, this is the brainchild of graphic designer Morag Myerscough. Taking 4 months to prepare, it opened in June 2008.

Via DeZeen.

I love the airyness (despite it being only a train-carriage wide space) and tbe WHITE, WHITE, WHITE-ness of it all. It truly allows the tabletops and the pendant shades to "pop" in this space.

Via DeZeen.

I love it!
Glossy white walls.
Round walls.
No art.
Table colours.
No chairs to fight with the tables.
Sometimes stools, sometimes chairs.
Bright.
No curtains.
Bright.



And the toilet? A shrine to Elvis!

Via DeZeen.

Read more about it here.

So You Think You Don't Like Poetry

A lovely poem, sent to me by my good friend Benjy. No time for much analysis, since I'm knee-deep in final papers and assignments, but I hope you enjoy it!

My Mother's Funeral
by Ira Sadoff

The rabbi doesn't say she was sly and peevish,
fragile and voracious, disheveled, voiceless and useless,
at the end of her very long rope. He never sat beside her
like a statue while radio voices called to her from God.
He doesn't say how she mamboed with her broom,
staggered, swayed, and sighed afternoons,
till we came from school to feed her. She never frightened him,
or bent to kiss him, sponged him with a fever, never held his hand,
bone-white, bolted doors and shut the blinds. She never sent
roaches in a letter, he never saw her fall down stairs, dead sober.
He never watched her sweep and murmur, he never saw
spider webs she read as signs her life was over, long before
her frightened husband left, long before
they dropped her in a box, before her children turned
shyly from each other, since they never learned to pray.
If I must think of her, if I can spare her moment on the earth,
I'll say she was one of God's small sculptures,
polished to a glaze, one the wind blew off a shelf.

My vintage yacht makeover!

I spotted an old old old boat in an antiques store in Balgowlah, NSW. So happened it belonged to a stall owned by my husband's aunt. So I got it as an house-warming gift :)

'Course... this is almost 16 months ago now...

It looked way more romantic in the photo she sent me of the boat.

It screamed out for a redo... since there was no way I'm displaying the tired blue boat with its moldy brown-now-white-then sails.

First coat of undercoat. I put two coats.

The topcoat drying, a bright sunshine yellow.

Husband hanging the yellow boat on its freshly painted pink base and holder above our TV with some wall brackets.

For almost 16 months it's been sitting up there without the third and final sail... I chose bright yellow-andsomethingorother vintage fabric/napkins for my sail... happy happy yacht! (Thanks mum-in-law for making the sails for me!! (I have no sewing machine!))

It's finally completed! TODAY!



(A month before we have to LEAVE this place!!!)

Lonny Magazine

I'm really enjoying Lonny Magazine. Have you seen it? Are you a fan??

The second edition is just out!



The Hotel Keppler makeover by Mr & Mrs Smith a great read. I do love the white cursif over the freshly painted black double doors.



The new look... now all swished in blacks and whites is so modern, sharp and fresh!

One of my favourite details is the black and chrome taps on the sink.



I enjoyed the J.Crew Women's Collection store on the Upper East Side of NY. My favourite feature? The unfinished floorboards. I'm not a fan of highly polished floorboards...



But I think my favourite feature was the one on Vanessa de Vargas of Turquoise (follow her great blog). I LOVE her so bright, so airy and so white home! And those chairs. mmmmm!



Goodness, look at that green dresser! I want THAT, Ms de Vargas!!!



And that dreamy bedroom... with the great pierced lamps!




Follow them on Twitter!

My Christmas List

Dear Santa,

Below please find a short list of things I'd like to receive this Christmas. I have been very good this year...well, excepting the fact that I stopped going to yoga two months ago. Staying in shape is expensive, Santa! Anyway, do your best. I realize some of these things may be more easy to acquire than others.

1. A Zeo Personal Sleep Coach

2. My student loans erased

3. Wine

4. Clive Owen


5. 18.5-inch waist, just like Scarlett O'Hara

6. A maid/personal assistant

7. These Alexander McQueen heels:
8. My ill-conceived bangs to be grown out

9. Sarah Palin's nonexistence

10. Dish towels (my August subletter stole mine for reasons unknown)

Love,
Katie

Moving...

I don't often share about my own personal life (although I do share with you most parts of my home and design process!) but I've been waiting for the "right" time to write and share about some changes in my personal life... but I guess now's a good time as any!

(Please enjoy with me some of my favourite rooms while I divulge this news.)



For a while now, my husband and I have been discussing about re-evaluating how we're going in terms of our personal goals, fulfilling dreams... Andrew's been given an awesome opportunity to begin the work to fulfilling one of his dreams... and support for when we start trying for Hannah's sibling! So we're making the very big move to fulfill them!



So late January 2010, we're leaving this gorgeous home (renting out) to move 5000 kms away. We're returning (we were there 2002-2004) to the Blue Mountains, NSW to live with my in laws for a while, at least for the next year or so.



We're excited, but also very nervous about it, since neither of us like uncertainty. For me personally, I need to be in my own home, always have... and finally we bought in 2008... which is a mere year ago! And now we're leaving!



We're giving up heaps of space, freedom, to now live uncertainly for the next few years... I have grown to love deeply my first home... and leaving is bittersweet.



So I won't have my own home to paint or knock nails into my home, but hopefully you'll keep on reading this blog, as my husband and I (and little Hannah) embark on a journey to fulfill some of our dreams, and work towards owning another plot of My Own, maybe in the Blue Mountains...