Cuppa Cawfee

If you've been to New York you know this coffee cup. Over nearly half a century, New York has made the improbable cup its own - we have used as many as 15 million of them in a single month. Still so identified with the city, the iconic cups have become standard-issue props on TV shows and motion pictures set in the city. This humble coffee cup is one of the things that makes New York, New York. Ever wonder how they came about?

"When Greek immigrants arrived in New York in the early part of the last century, they brought their coffee culture along with them, giving birth to the city's ubiquitous Greek diners and sidewalk pushcarts. In 1963, the Sherri Cup Company set out to produce a to-go coffee cup that would appeal to the Greek vendors. Marketing director Leslie Buck dreamed up a motif that included blue-and-white colors from the flag of Greece. His customer-friendly message, WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU, was printed in Greek-style letters, adorned with a trio of steaming, mustard-yellow cups, flanked by ancient "Anthora" urns, and framed with a Greek Key pattern. "

If you're as smitten with them as I am you can get them for yourself without the trip to NY at The NEW YORK FIRST Company.

Change Purse

Ceramic Cup

Cufflinks

Reusable Tote

(first image from valentinapowers flicker)

Illustrator: Peter Winnett

I'm not quite sure how I stumbled upon the work of Peter Winnett but I'm sure glad I did. His fashion illustrations are really beautiful. I love the sweeping sexy lines. Below are a few examples of his work. For more please visit his website.

for Victoria's Secret:

for Versace:

for San Pellegrino:

Tamlin & The Fall

Is it jewelry or a handbag? These miniaudieres from Tamlin & The Fall are certainly both. I'm absolutely beside myself over their beauty. Can't you just imagine carrying on of these in your palm? *sigh*
From the press kit:

Tamlin & The Fall's debut capsule collection, The Space Between, joins silver, leather, hammered-chain, and feathers into a trio of sculptural clutches for the edgy, sensuous woman.

Crafted to last a hundred years and designed to endure a thousand seasons, this quintessential trilogy is distilled from nature’s most enduring forms: the egg, the crystal and the shell. The egg has a dimensional fissure that cracks open to reveal an alligator-lined interior. The crystal is a sculptural gem mined to fit in your palm. The shell boldly embraces the hand like the guard on a fencing sabre. The interpretation of these shapes emerges as a group of palm-sized couture objects, each made with over a pound of precious metal. Timeless in form, function, and matter, the minaudieres speak a refreshingly modern language.

Outerwear Wonder

I would love to find a coat to wear this winter like the one pictured in this vintage Rene Gruau illustration. Talk about maternity chic!

...and hell yeah I'd get opera length gloves to go with.

Sideboard Love

Paul McCobb attributed 8 door sideboard custom made and designed for a Manhattan residence Ca. 1960.

This would fit just perfectly in my dining room. it coordinates perfectly with my diningroom table and chairs without being
matchy matchy. I'm drooling.

available here

An Open Letter To Tourists

(image- flicker)

Dear Tourists,

I understand that when you visit a city, let's say for instance, New York, you are there to sight-see. So you tend to walk much slower and in a zig-zagged pattern as your head turns left to right, up and down. I get this. You want to see the city that you've spent your hard earned money to come and visit.

Here's the thing though, It's were I work, shop, meet friends, make doctors appointments and generally need to get around town. So, here's my humble request:

1- If the sidewalk is narrow, walk single file. You do not need all five members of you family stretched across it forming a human snail crawl barrier. You'll make me late for the doctor.

2- If you want to stop and look at something, step to the side. There are people walking behind you. Then they bump into you and you proceed to shoot them a look of death. NOT COOL TOURISTS! So, no dead stops in the middle of the sidewalk please. We good?

3- Here's how we do things in this country, you walk on the right you pass on the left. The human traffic pattern is the same as the vehicle traffic pattern. This applies to almost any country. Look at what the cars do and when you walk do the same.

4- Ask us questions. When you smile and say please and thank you we'll be more than happy to help. We just look scary and mean (probably because we're frustrated having gotten stuck walking behind some bumbling tourists). Really though, we're quite nice.

ENJOY the city, it's lovely and there's no lack of things to look at. Also, feel free to spend lots of money here. We always appreciate it greatly.

Thanks!

Listening To- Crookers ft. Kelis

Hit pause on the player----->

Crookers featuring Kelis- No Security (radio-rip)

Deco-rative Coffee & Tea Service

Art Deco Coffee/Tea Service

France Circa 1930
Stylized hive design of concentric rings create a glamorous deco design with walnut accents.

Available here

Tea-rrific

Sarah Cihat
Rehabilitated Porcelain

$215

available here

Green Goddess

I'm very into the cabochon cut opaque stones right now. I'm always into green and I love a good statement piece. Given that, you can see why I'm drawn to the
Green Malachite Necklace and Earrings by Siman Tu

$750-

$350-

available here

Listening To- Shakira

Hit Pause on the player---->

When this video came on my husband was transfixed. Who can blame him? The chick is sexy. Although he did say she should stick to writhing in the cage and refrain from the awkward dancing.

Ahoooo!

Shakira- She Wolf (sorry about the annoying commercial)

What The Fug?

I love Cate Blanchet. I think she's fantabulous but, what in the holy granny afghan hell is she wearing? It's like she lost a bet or something. Tragic.

Steal These...

I 'm loving these cuffs (yes, one is a bangle if your going to play semantics!). Best part? They're all between $13- and $15- at Lulus.com. So grab yours now.

Illustrator- Geraldine Georges

There's nothing more I can say about Geraldine George's work except, it moves me. If you'd like to see more of her fabulously creative imagery you can visit her website here.

Drinking Problem?

My homie Dobbygirl over at Spry On The Wall posted this and I am shamelessly swiping it because HOLY CRAP this is one of the funniest things I've seen in forever. I know what you're thinking I've seen cats drink from faucets big frickin deal. Uhhhh...you aint seen them drink like this.

It so funny I'm assigning it to you all as mandatory viewing. Trust me, you'll thank me later.



HAVE YOU EVER??!!!

Jewelry Designer- Shaun Leane

Jewelry designer Shaun Leane had The UK jewelery industry's highest honor was bestowed upon his as he became the UK Jeweler of the Year for 2009. Leane's darkly romantic creative vision has seen him design pieces for Boucheron and Steinmetz in the past year and his catwalk collaborations include Givenchy and Marc Jacobs, Daphne Guinness, Bacardi and Bjork while his work with Alexander McQueen spans 13 years.

Some of my favorites (I'd seriously hurt someone for the garnet and ruby ring)...

Sabre Diamond & Black Leather Cuff

Black Diamond Sabre Pendant

Black Diamond Multiple Drop Luna Earrings

Garnet Luna Ring with Rubies

Smokey Quartz Aurora Earrings

18ct Yellow Gold Caramel Aurora Ring Set

Please visit his website to view more of his incredible work including his spectacular bespoke pieces.

Valentino Haute Couture

Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello’s Valentino Haute Couture shoot for Vogue Italia. Gorgeous.

In Memoriam

Patrick Swayze

1952 - 2009

Rest In Peace

"Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today (Monday Spetember 24th) with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," said a statement released Monday evening by his publicist, Annett Wolf. Swayze died in Los Angeles, Wolf said, but declined to give further details.

Patrick had been battling pancreatic cancer since January 2008. You can read the complete obituary from The Huffington Post here.

I leave you with my favorite Patrick Swayze performance of all time...

Shamefull

What Kayne did to Taylor Swift last night at the VMAs when she won her Best Female Video Award was unconscionable. How dare he stomp on her moment. After he hands the mic back to her she looks like she was punched in the gut. Listen, I'm no Taylor Swift fan but you need to be a decent human being and show this young girl, who worked VERY hard to get where she is, some respect.

Shame on you Kayne. You're a disgrace.

MTV Shows

It should be noted that when Beyonce won the Video Of The Year Award, the last award given that night. She graciously called Taylor onstage, told her she deserved her moment and stepped aside so Taylor could finish her acceptance speech.



Now that's a class act. I hope Kayne took note of it but somehow I think it was probably lost on him. Even worse was the backhanded apology he issued after the fact.

“I’M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD’VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED! I LIKE THE LYRICS ABOUT BEING A CHEERLEADER AND SHE’S IN THE BLEACHERS! …………………… I’M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!…………….. BEYONCE’S VIDEO WAS THE BEST OF THIS DECADE!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FANS IF I LET YOU GUYS DOWN!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FRIENDS AT MTV. I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOOO ME BUT I’M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!! NO DISRESPECT BUT WE WATCHIN’ THE SHOW AT THE CRIB RIGHT NOW CAUSE … WELL YOU KNOW!!!! I’M STILL HAPPY FOR TAYLOR!!!! BOOOYAAAWWWW!!!! YOU ARE VERY VERY TALENTED!!! I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME… THAT’S WHAT IT IS!!!!!!! I’M NOT CRAZY YALL, I’M JUST REAL. SORRY FOR THAT!!! I REALLY FEEL BAD FOR TAYLOR AND I’M SINCERELY SORRY!!! MUCH RESPECT!!!!!”

You're a vile excuse for a human and you'll never get another penny of my money.

Potty Mouths

Don't forget to hit pause on the player ---->

Courtesy of the fine folks at Sesame Street

So this is what I have to look forward to huh?

In Memorium

Rest In Peace

This was the view I shared with so many that day. The Towers were so big you could see them from all the way up on 86th and Broadway where I was, helping my friend who was recovering from surgery. As I got ready to leave for work they thought maybe a helicopter had mistakenly hit the Tower. I left the apartment and hopped on the bus, something in my gut told me not to take the subway. Cell phones started ringing off the hook. Frantic calls coming in. Both Towers? Airplanes? The Pentagon? We're being attacked! Traffic at a standstill. The lady sitting in front of me sobbing, her husband worked in the Towers. Oh my god. Get off the bus, run to the ATM take out the maximum limit, try to call my friend and let him know I'm coming back. All cell lines are now blocked. Heart racing. Get back to the apartment and watch out the window and on the television as the world as I know it crumbles. Clients, friends, friends of friends, people you never knew, gone. Everyone knew someone or someone that knew someone. Not one of us was unaffected.

It's the smell haunts me. Every year as I watch them read the names at the memorial service I smell it, burning in my nostrils. The acrid stench of death. Death of so many innocent victims . Death of the towers. The death of innocence.

I'll never forget.