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The cartoons and the ads in the back of the New Yorker get reliably read every week in this house; this week’s classified winner is the Waldhaus Sils, a grand Swiss hotel in “an unspoiled alpine village.”  That has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it.  I didn’t even bother to look up how much it costs, that would spoil the magical calm bubble cast by the photos on the website.  Take a minute to revel in the musicians in the last photo and the lovely wooden structure they are playing in.

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I thought you might enjoy a new post I’ve got up on the Etsy blog —  I scouted all about the night skies, these and lots more like them.  Take a peek, and leave a comment, if you like!

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The Nova Wright family has found itself in poor physical health this week* so much so that my stoic acupuncturist used the term “healing crisis” — all minor infections of one kind or another but all happening AT ONCE, along with one confirmed case of strep throat.   We are holed up, taking our antibiotics, our probiotics and yearning for some binge-worthy TV but coming up empty.  So I thought I’d ask: what have you binge watched and what would you recommend?

Here’s what we’ve binged and LOVED: Chicago Fire, Scandal, Battleground, 2012, Suits, Homeland, House of Cards, House of Lies, Sherlock, Downtown Abbey, Friday Night Lights, Weeds, Arrested Development, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Lost our Binge half-way through: Battlestar Galactica, Mad Men (too dark in the third season), the crystal meth show   Breaking Bad.

Watched in a non-binging way (aka, painfully, week over week):   Modern Family, Nashville, Sopranos, Portlandia, Six Feet Under, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec.

I’ve never watched the West Wing or Buffy (!! I know !!) so those are two contenders.

*I should say its been a tough year healthwise: since Alex started school last June we have been sick every other week!  My toddler the petri dish.

Thank you for any recommendations!

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Dutch-Amsterdam Students Kitchen

 

Dutch photographer Erik Klein Wolterink  makes these composite portraits of kitchens; the voyeur in me can’t get enough. The more you look, the more you see.   My favorite is the third image down, where the oven is packed full of dirty dishes.  The Slate article quotes Wolterink “I can’t cook, for example,” Wolterink said. “And I’m not really into kitchens. I’m interested in the way we live, our daily environment, what surrounds us, the everyday stuff we normally don’t see or pay attention to.”  Click over to Slate to see more and larger images.

Surinam-Amsterdam Kitchen

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New York Magazine this week is full of  eye candy rooms and designer interviews galore — I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.   One article in particular,  The Ruttenbergs’ Exquisite Rabbit Holes, was packed with side by side examples of a mother/daughter’s design aesthetics. The highlight of the article for me was  Janet Ruttenberg’s kitchen, above, designed by Richard Rosen.  The custom shades were made from a photograph of a painting — so unexpected and would make night time in the kitchen so peaceful.  The contrast between the still lives and the industrial sink/refrigerators is also spectacular.

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Daily Dose of Green

April 28, 2013

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From DesignBoom:

english artist beth derbyshire, known for her ambitious large scale installations, has conceived the ‘rootless forest‘. the monolithic artwork
is a mobile, floating landscape – a bonafide mini forest made of real trees, planted in a barge that travels at walking pace along the
british birmingham and black country canals.

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Daily Dose of Green

April 25, 2013

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A cheeky, cozy red fox.  Photograph by Victor Liu >> Smithsonian Magazine Photo of the Day.

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Daily Dose of Green

April 25, 2013

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I’m slowly going through my google reader “starred” posts; I’ve made the switch to Feedly although I don’t check it that often. Truthfully, I use Blogtrottr to have my favorite blogs delivered right to my inbox.  In any case, expect some more Daily Doses of Green around these parts.  This one, found via Aesthetic Outburst, seems like a perfect spot to spend the summer.  I’m particularly drawn to the moss roof, and the porch that runs the length of the (tiny) house.  PS: for my fellow book-a-holics, the shelves inside.  PPS: I’ve been doing mini book reviews on instagram.  Come over and see.

Photographed by Lincoln Barbour and featured in Martha Stewart Living.

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Daily Dose of Green

April 18, 2013

While I love our new apartment, the major downside is that it doesn’t get any direct sunlight.  None.  Next apartment is definitely going to have a chair in a sunny spot, like the photo above.  Mole Architects via DTI.

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The Nova Wright family has been hard at work this past few weeks. We’ve been doing a Whole 30 nutritional reset; no refined carbs, no dairy, no sugar, no legumes, no soy (and no wine) for 30 days.  Yep, you read that right.  No pizza, no half and half in my coffee, no ice cream, no lentils, no gruner veltliner for a month.  But lots of grass fed protein and lots and lots of vegetables.

I promise to do a more detailed post when we get to the end of our 30 days, including how we did it and why we felt the need to  (we’re at day 15 right now).  I will say that so far it has been nothing short of transformational and a wake up call to the semi-mindless way we’d been eating and approaching food. The first week was hard, I won’t downplay that, but, we are both looking and feeling better than we have in a decade.  I am bounding out of bed in the morning and have the mental clarity of Erin Brockovich, Tim is sleeping better and rocking his CrossFit routines.  There is a new spring in our step! Alex is not doing the Whole30, but he is eating dinner with us so its more like a modified approach for him (little rascal still gets his string cheese).

The Whole30 is pretty cooking-intensive, so eating out is a wonderful treat, and isn’t as hard as you might think. Our favorites have been Hu Kitchen, Souen and Bareburger.   Souen is one of my favorite restaurants in the city.  The black cod is buttery, simple, really as close to perfect as can be expected on planet earth (a pair with garlic veggies and avocado salad).  Anyway, the point of this post is that I went to Souen with my sister on Sunday and noticed that they have a lovely vining plant.  It reminded me of the vining plant in the kitchen of a house we stayed in last fall in Vermont (below).  I’d love to live in an apartment long enough to have a plant take flight like this. In any case, more information on vining house plants here (including what kind of plants to buy).

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Photo by willowvale

The wonderful folks at Etsy’s blog asked me to do some Art Scouting and I got lost with my head in the clouds.   See lots more lovely cloud studies, photography and paintings.  Thanks Alison and Stephanie!

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Scouting: Yellow Bentwood

March 28, 2013

Seeing yellow bentwood everywhere.

First image: Nixon Tulloch Fortey Architecture via Desire to Inspire. Second Image: Madison Ave Crate and Barrel

 

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Food = Love Pre-Order

March 26, 2013

I got such a nice response to the line of letter press posters that I’m going to do a second run of the red FOOD = LOVE poster (after a few pleading emails).  I’m doing this one as a pre-order.  You can buy them here.  Thanks as always for your support of my creative projects!  I appreciate it more than I can put in words.

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Scouting Art

March 22, 2013

I stubmbled upon Garage Gallery, a LA based gallery that started out in an actual garage.  It’s now online so all of us can enjoy the fresh eye of proprietor Ali Grossman. The photograph above, by Flora Hanitijo, particularly caught my eye.  I’d love this in a bedroom or living room.  So serene and abstract. $575 for a 20 x 24 print.

I also like this print, by emma lawrenson ($150).

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