lunchtime walks

I found a cafe a few blocks from my office building in Hell's Kitchen. This is what the cafe looked like while i sat and drank my coffee and ate my cupcake.

All day i was remembering an old friend and really needed some time alone to reflect. I sat at the cafe for most of my lunch hour and wrote a poem about him. I cried two tears and smiled. Happy tears are good tears.

White Box Art Opening

Jessica and I trekked all the way to Chinatown for the Lee Bae art opening at White Box. It was the first time I visited the gallery since it moved from it's Chelsea location about a year or so ago, and I was looking forward to seeing the new space and my old friend Juan who curated the exhibit. We walked into the atrium of the gallery, and as I stepped onto the wooden plank walk-bridge, while simultaneously taking off my "Rapture" Redeux Sunglasses, I, in true hostess fashion, lost balance and stepped right into coal. Big chunks of black coal. Jessica and I giggled as the atrium got completely quiet and everyone turned to stare at us. We shrugged it off and made our way into the gallery for the exhibit. As one could gather from the name, the gallery is a big white open space which enables the visitor to focus completely on the art, though my focus was on finding the open bar. On our way there, I noticed a long strip of coal in the middle of the gallery. I turned to my friend and said, "Ooh, look Jess, how cool!" She thought for a moment and said, "Umm, I think the coal is part of the exhibit. You stepped in art, dude!" oops....

The show was okay, and the sun was about to set, so Jess and I left the gallery to walk our way back to the East Village. Passing through shady parts of Chinatown we found items you'd normally find indoors. I photographed them using Jessica as my model.

"demure elephant"

sylvia plath on a hot day"

a cupcake a day keeps the blues away.

That's right folks, today had all the makings of a bad day, BUT your hostess truly would not let the effects of mercury retrograde take her down. no sir!

When having a bad day, i normally buy myself something adorable to make myself feel better. but, since the last purchase, i've put myself on a strict budget! oh but what is this i find in my pocket? 5 whole buckaroos to spend on the one thing that will erase all the yuckies of the day and make me truly smile............CUPCAKE!!

Butter Lane is located on E. 7th Street in the East Village. I've been meaning to check it out for some time now, and today was, like, THE perfect day to do so. The gorgeous little shoppe was filled with sounds of laughter and "La Vie En Rose"! What could be more inviting than that? my eyes grew and my heart warmed. The lovely tattooed shoppe keeper, with her adorable star sprinkled cupcake tattooed on the inside of her arm, tried to talk me into trying a special cupcake frosting (like blueberry or lemon). Being the old fashioned girl that i am, i ordered the vanilla cupcake with french chocolate frosting and a cup of delicious Stumptown Coffee (best coffee ever!). The cupcake went too quickly and the coffee kept me up all night, though it was the most delicious combo a gal could have on a gloomy sunday.Oh, as i sat at the little counter with my cupcake and coffee, i met a pink haired lady named Gala Darling who has a fantastic site of her own called iCiNG.

A perfect ending to a not so perfect beginning!

Southern Art Opening

Saturday night was the Southern art opening at Last Rites Gallery. The artists were Matthew Bone and Brian Viveros. Matt and I are from the same hometown and I have been looking forward to this show and seeing him since he told me he was coming out for it last December. I haven't seen him in close to 10 years and in that time he got himself a lovely wife, Jennifer, whom i spent the entire night with trying desperately to convince to move to NYC.

Here are two of my favourite pieces from the show:

Matthew Bone "Show No Mercy"

Brian Viveros "No Smoking"

The show runs through June 21st. Go see it!

How do you mend a broken heart?

You buy a pair of these hot mama-jamas....(Vivienne Westwood for Melissa)
and make this....

That's what my good friend GuerillaStylist did this week. I went over for a quick visit before she left town for work and was so proud of her for turning that bumming little heart break into something creative and awesome and hot!

take that boy!

cheers to happiness

I discovered Rockstar Diaries this morning and it was absolutely what i needed to start my day. In one of their earlier posts, they asked readers to send in lists of 10 little things that make you terribly happy, so i did. I share it with you. You should send them your list too!

10 things that make me terribly happy

1. my sister's laugh.
2. my puppy waking me with kisses.
3. mom's first hug when she picks me up from the airport.
4. walking in manhattan in the morning before the day starts.
5. the moment you realize there's a connection.
6. dancing and singing to Shakira in spanish.
7. ideaist meetings.
8. getting caught in the rain without an umbrella.
9. listening to the beatles on sunday mornings.
10. cassis sorbet.

dreams

Last night I had what I initially thought was a terrible dream. I was in a heated argument with someone who was literally foaming at the mouth, when in walks a stranger who pulls me aside and tells me to 'Let Go'. I knew the person who I was arguing with (that part made sense), but i didn't have the slightest clue as to who the stranger was. I woke up this morning and replayed the dream over and over trying to make sense of it, a bit scared in fact of the argument and this complete stranger. Then when i stopped analyzing, it all made sense.

Let Go.

How fitting a message, a reminder, especially today on the eve of a very important full moon. Thank you.

new jewels

Apparently art is not the only thing there is to spend all of your money on! If you have an itch throw down some cash and adorn yourself, I suggest you do it at The Shape of Lies. A small mom and pop jewelry shop on E. 7th Street in the East Village, NYC. Walking up E. 7th Street on Saturday afternoon, some typewriter letter rings and charms displayed in the window caught my attention (of course, i can spot anything having to do with type fonts a mile away.) Peggy, the proprietor of the shop, greeted me and was super friendly and we gabbed about good restaurants in the area while she showed me rings and told me about the "rules" of her store. She only carries NYC based artists who produce their jewelry in NYC. Therefore, you'll see that most of the jewelry is one of a kind. I tried on a few things in the jewelry case when anchors hanging from the walls caught my eye. she brought a few down and i absolutely fell in love with an antique anchor design. i made a decision to splurge and get the anchor. I asked if she had any mermaid charms, since I've been dying for the right mermaid necklace for ages now and have never been able to find one that's not all fantasy or modern. and well, of course she had it. so after more talk - Love that Peggy - i closed my eyes and put the credit card down.

Both items are made by Karen Yost of Anomoly Jewelry. They also have an Etsy store. Go buy!

Oh, i almost forgot! Peggy and I also talked about trees. She has a pretty Cherry Tree in front of her shop and said that you can call up the Dept. of Parks and Recreation and request that a tree be planted in front of your building...for FREE! AND you can even choose what type you want planted from a list of trees. Isn't that wonderful? I checked my block and all the tree spots were already taken. But you should check your block and request a tree if there isn't one in front of your apartment building.

a new dress!

There really isn't anything more inspiring and romantic than gray, gloomy, rainy days in new york city. I love this weather so much i just want to be out in it all the time wearing a good rain-catching hat and writing poetry in my mind, while i feverishly duck umbrellas on the sidewalk. i'm terribly afraid of umbrellas, I must confess, for I fear they're going to poke my eye right out! if that were to happen, then this'll have to turn into the Pirate show! come to think of it, that could be fun too, yeah?

i'm not sure if you've noticed, i mean how could you not!? but this here show got a brand new face! thanks ever so much to Superforest's Jackson who was kind enough to help this little show look its finest!! i am absolutely beside myself and forever indebted. A home-baked pie could not repay the awesomeness that was given this little site. Please Please go visit Superforest, for they are a wonderful bunch of creative and happy folk who have inspired me immensely! Perhaps we can get them on the air one day.......

and now a word from our lovely sponsor, Redeux Sunglasses.

art on my walls!

There's an artist by the name of David Hochbaum i've known about for a while who's work is absolutely out of this world. i could never find the words to explain his style eloquently, so go over to his site and see for yourself. i will say that his work to me is like storytelling. what some of us do with words, he does with images and paint. and what he does with those images and paint, inspire me to put words together. i wrote a part of what became the poem "Swim in Defeat" after seeing this....
"you wake in a dream. you’re in your house on the hill. the one by the sea. so far up in the sky that the sound of the waves and the mist from the waves and the smell from the sea don’t reach you. all you see are those eyes."

I've attended a few of David's shows, and every time i leave dreaming of being able to one day buy a piece. So when he sent out an email about a series of prints on wood he was selling for 100 bones each, i jumped at the opportunity. $100 just means i don't go out a night or two this week (or pay my cable bill, again). but for art, dammit, i will do anything. I woke up this morning and saw my print in it's temporary location leaning against the wall atop my dresser and smiled. wouldn't you?

I recently read about a couple who lived solely on the wife's income so that they could use the husband's income to buy art. FOR OVER 30 YEARS!! i can barely live on my own income so art buying better not turn into a habit.