Feminine Fonts

I have a major love for fonts, and I am a big fan of Anna Quindlen's writing. (For a font-fix, check out Friends of Type.) So this poster just seemed perfect for me today, as well as for some of my friends. (You know who you are. :) It's by illustrator Erik Marinovich and was featured in this month's Woman's Day.

The second features a quote by Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. I confess I'd never heard of her before today, but I just made the connection that's why my wedding dress was called the "Schiaparelli." No idea why I didn't google that long before now...

Someday, I would love to be described that way in the kitchen! Until then, I shall keep experimenting...

Project: Bookshelves Revamp

Today, I have been thinking a lot about my bookshelves. We have four Billy Bookcases in the bedroom and office that hold a mix of novels, reference, music and religion books, and owl bookends. But they need some freshening up. Since a rolling ladder is currently out of the question (space, expense and lack of a stable built-in on which to attach it), I have been toying with color-cordinating my shelves. It's not a novel idea, but might give me a fun, cheap project and a new look. Everything is currently organized by subject matter and height, which makes it easy to find, but not the most aesthetically-pleasing. (For example, classic writers like Virgil and Homer are together, while the Parisian 20s expats like Fitzgerald and Hemingway are on another shelf.) Above are my Coralie Bickford-Smith Penguin Classics and some other favorites. Anyway, here is some of the inspiration I found today on the interweb.

Italianspiration

We just booked our flights and hotels this week, so Justin and I are for sure going to Italy in September. The trip technically celebrates our anniversary and my birthday that week. I'm sure I'll be posting in the coming weeks as I do more research, but to start, I looked at my own pictures from 2006. I've been to Venice a couple times with family and friends, but each time was in late fall or winter. I'm excited to be there when the weather is lovely!

But going through my old shots, I'm impressed at how vibrant and stately the city looks, even during a dismal season. This one is my all-time favorite picture I took in Venice. I think it's the combination of blues in the door, the way the water has chipped at the paint and the moss has grown over it. I desperately want to know what's going on inside.

Project: Desks

My husband works at home, and one of my current goals is to create a workspace that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is functional. We're getting there slowly, but there's only so much you can do with a full-size keyboard. But I have been doing some digging and was thrilled to find several posts on Ikea Hacker with creative, beautiful solutions.

My favorite is this Milk-inspired desk that enables you to have workspace and keyboard access. Right now, J has a desktop set up behind the keyboard, but it's anything but ergonomic. Other than a canister of pens, everything else has to go on other shelves.

Project: Rug Dreams

We need a rug for our living room. I love our hardwood floors, but in a room that triples as living, dining and kitchen, it'd be nice to define the space. These are older pictures of the room, but they give a sense of layout. Moving the piano is the biggest obstacle because it has to be on a sheet of soundproofing as well as casters. All that has to go underneath any rug we put down, and then the piano lifted on top. Needless to say, J is not too fond of that idea.

I really like the Andalusia rug from West Elm but think the weave might be too coarse and the color too much of the same chocolate brown.

Quote: Thoughts on Work

(Photo via Flickr)

Three rules of work:
1. Out of clutter, find simplicity.
2. From discord, find harmony.
3. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

Attributed to Albert Einstein, but in grad school, a similar message was also ingrained in my mind...
Three rules of good writing:
1. Clarity.
2. Brevity.
3. Euphony.


Thanks, Professor Hajdu!