Bell jars

I love belljars and terrariums — there’s something about giving a thing a three-dimensional glass frame that makes it feel important. Even a cake seems even more lusty when it’s displayed underneath a  glass dome.

Chez moi, I like to assemble little still-lifes under the glass that reflect the season — or even just my thoughts.

Above: A sculpture my Granna bought my Grandpa of a war hero — and one of the letters she mailed to his base during the war, in 1943.

Below: a necklace I made for her once, in a glass trinket box I found at Sweet Salvage on 7th Avenue.

My friend Christina brought me this tiny bell jar and glass stand from Found in Mesa, which was the perfect size to hold my Granna’s vintage mini bottle of Chanel No. 5 — her signature fragrance. Under glass, it looks like the treasure that it is.

I’m also on the hunt for a bell jar with which to properly show off some of my favorite shoes, like this image from Lonny Magazine.

It’s a good time to be in the market for a treasure box. A few pretty ones that have me scheming scenes to construct under glass:

Curiosity dome from Wisteria, $49.

Gas light terrarium from Terrain, $38.

 

Trinket box from Terrain, $58.

Conservatory cloche from Restoration Hardware, $475:

Covered glass jars from West Elm, $79 to $129:

I’m feeling quite lusty myself about this towering wire birdcage from Pottery Barn, $199:

They don’t have to be class — this was built for easter glory, $10.50 at Pottery Barn.

What would you put in your treasure box?

By |2012-02-22T07:43:16-07:00February 22nd, 2012|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Valentine Postcards (and my new lovah)

I found these new Valentine postcards at FOUND in Mesa — and snatched up a satisfying stack that I’m going to send in the  good old mail. And then I plan to frame them.

 

 

If I could, I would send a Valentine to Golden Boy, my new scupture/lovah who arrived from my mother for Christmas. Isn’t he something? He’s about two feet tall, and wide, and big-headed (like many men I know).

 

 

Golden Boy got his name when decorator Kelly Wearstler took him home and gave him a gold leaf makeup job.

Tempting.

_

 


By |2012-01-19T07:42:18-07:00January 19th, 2012|Uncategorized|1 Comment

Slip a fable under the tree, for me…

I like to give books for Christmas: tokens of adventure, learning, beauty, romance — all the loveliness of the world.

Hemingway: “All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. ”

(The weather: tres important.)

I also like to get books for Christmas and usually spend the whole of Christmas afternoon lost in sentences and narrative and words. Some of my favorite volumes for sharing:

Let’s Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By. There are odes within to cuckoo clocks, bed curtains, and calling cards. I love my cuckoo clock.

Speaking of cuckoo clocks, I could have another. These are $68, SF Museum of Modern Art. I love the raw wood version. It comes in white here.

The clothbound Penguin Classics above are well-praised and loved already, but what I love is giving my friend Christina a few new volumes each year. We are building her collection.

 

Pictorial Webster’s is beautiful, and there are frame-worthy flashcards available now to match.

 

 

boxed set of J.D. Salinger‘s work — on my wishlist. It includes one of my favorite sentences:

“If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a dam*n if she’s late?  Nobody. ”

 

Attracted just by the cover — but it’s also one of the best books of 2011: The Lover’s Dictionary, by David Levithan.

I forgot to tell you about the Crack Pie I had in New York at Momofuku’s Milk Bar. It is butter pie, people. BUTTER PIE. This cookbook has the cult-worshipped recipe, along with others worthy of extreme caloric sin.

For kids: I found this at the National Gallery in Washington D.C. and went mad for it. There is a real hole through the entire book, which becomes so fun — the kind of book that also becomes a memory. Herve Tullet’s books are a good place to start..

And Ed Ruscha’s They Called Her Styrene — which is art and words and paint and modern West Coast culture by a modern-day artist who fascinates me.

I asked for this the minute I saw it:

Who doesn’t love maps? This is a gorgeously illustrated tome about mapmaking and the lore of the trail.

And lastly, because I love him so:

P.S. You can now comment below with your Facebook ID. A holiday miracle! It’s been too lonely around here for too long. Tell me about your standby gifts. I have a non-reading friend who is puzzling me.

By |2011-12-13T12:01:08-07:00December 13th, 2011|Uncategorized|1 Comment

Halloween Candy Smackdown

AZCentral’s second annual Halloween candy smackdown begins today — think March Madness brackets, except Snickers vs. Butterfinger. This year, a big controversy: we retired Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups because those show-offs just win everything. Play along and download the brackets for your office here.

At my office, we were manic about choosing the candies and pitting them against one another (watch 12 News’ hilarious video about our top-secret meeting here). I fought hard for my beloved Mellowcreme Pumpkin — which made it into Round One, but faces tough competition in Halloween Peeps. (Megan Finnerty dubbed this the “Jaimee Rose honorary bracket.” I like my sugar in pumpkin colors, OK?)

 

In our office, we also compete with one another. Everyone brings in a bag of candy, fills out a bracket, and the winner takes all the bags home just in time for trick-or-treating.

I love October.

(A big cheer for our genius AZCentral producer Kylie Gad, who dreamed the candy bracket up.)

And in case you need a creepy place to keep your pumpkins, this porcelain doll head bowl is on sale at Etsy. My mother will LOVE it for her creep-tastic Halloween buffet (which, as you may remember, is served in a coffin).

By |2011-10-03T17:03:34-07:00October 3rd, 2011|Uncategorized|0 Comments

I’m telling a story live -please come!

What are you doing on Thursday night? Want to come to the Desert Botanical Garden for treats and cocktails and see me tell the most personally humiliating/hilarious/heartwrenching story that I  cannot believe I got talked into sharing with the public?

Cool. Because I’m sorta freaking out about it, and I need nice people there. Also, these live storytelling nights are crazy fun.

The Arizona Republic’s series began this summer and is a standing-room-only runaway hit. Imagine campfire confessions-meet NPR-meets happy hour-meets poetry slams. The stories are short, personal, and true — and you can eat and drink while you listen. (Or tell your own story, if you’d like: sign up here.)

On Thursday, Sept. 15, I’m on deck, along with Food Network star and Valley chef Beau MacMillan of Sanctuary, playwright James E. Garcia, and Arizona Republic designer Audrey Tate. The live story slam concept is based on that awesome podcast The Moth, which all the cool kids are into, apparently. (And yeah, I’d never heard of it, either.)

Reserve a table here — and don’t worry, the event is INDOORS. And there is yummy food. And a bar. And the Botanical Garden at night, which is gorgeous. 7:30 p.m. Admission: suggested donation of $10, which benefits Republic charities.

(And that’s Chef BeauMac above, and you can see, already, that this night is going to be fun.)

By |2011-09-09T18:21:39-07:00September 9th, 2011|Uncategorized|1 Comment

This is your brain on 115 degrees

I spent the last few days in Tucson at a journalism conference, which also brought my first trip to Tucson institution Eegee’s for a strawberry slush, and oh. OH! (How did I not know about these when I was in Tucson the whole of January? How do we not have Eegee‘s here?)

And . . . how are we going to survive this heat? I know not. (Yes, I am speaking in olde English now. This is your brain on 115 degrees.) I feel lifeless. Maybe naps at 3 p.m., lots of Sonic slush instead, and a weekend in the swimming pool are the only viable options.

When I’m not researching real estate in Flagstaff, my plans include . . .

. . . finishing this collection of James Salter stories recommended by a brilliant writer friend.

. . . avoiding Sprinkles Cupcakes at all costs, because I do NOT want to know how good the new vanilla cupcake with Nutella frosting must be. You hear me? Keep me away.

. . . and maybe talking T into a Prescott day trip for kayaking on Lake Watson, which is my new sport.

OK, I have to go home and whine now. Wishing you a happy weekend (in hell).

By |2011-08-26T15:50:43-07:00August 26th, 2011|Uncategorized|1 Comment

My beach house, the tour

My wannabe beach house is finally finished (minus a certain surfboard that has yet to arrive). The morning after I finished, I asked Ty if he felt like he was in a ship. He lied and said yes. On Friday I shared photos, sources and how-tos in The Arizona Republic. Would you like a tour?

(DISCLAIMER! The house is rented, and I’m not to be held accountable for the countertops, carpet, cabinets, or color of the walls. In the universe that exists only in my mind, they’re very different indeed.)

Photos by Michael McNamara

My mother sewed all the pillows the night before the photo shoot. I love her. The one below was made from a real nautical signal flag. Full tour, sources  and instructions here. A few extra snaps below.

 

 

By |2010-08-02T07:45:39-07:00August 2nd, 2010|Uncategorized|3 Comments

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