ICFF

This was my first year attending the International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Jacob Javits Center. I felt like a kid in a candy store! Our budget however... made me feel like a DIABETIC kid in a candy store! : (

But I certainly had a wonderful time walking the fair and drooling. Here are some of my favorites.

What you don't get to see is that this bed rocks. Literally. It rocks back and forth like giant rocking chair canopy bed.

This is called the Wisdom Tree Book Shelf by Jordi Mila. It comes in Black and Red as well. I love its whimsy!

I don't know what's up with my recent infatuation with chandeliers. It has never been my lighting form of choice before. But this felt & clay chandelier by Mud Ceramics from the Design Africa design collective is so masculine, unexpectedly romantic and modern that I just love it.

This is the Sunset Bookshelf with telescopic shelves that gradiate in color reminicent of a sunset. My first instinct was that this would be perfect for one of the kids rooms. But it's so cool and fun, I think I'd want to keep it in livingroom.

And what may be my actual favorite; a clock! Qlocktwo will tell you what time it is in English, Arabic, Russian or any European language. It reminds me of Charles Gute's paintings.

Limelight Market Place

Like many New Yorkers, I have my own memories of the building known as Limelight. Mine involve getting ready in my friends parents bathroom and getting stuck with the cab fare when Michael Alig jumped out and ran, and a unique experience in the balcony level.

They certainly don't include luxury or shopping! Until now.

I think the renovation done on Limelight is spectacular.

My personal favorite is the amazing chandelier in the Maribelle cafe with the original stained glass window behind it. It was sublime.

And here is the view from above. SO different than the last time I was at Limelight!

Its definitely worth a visit even if you are just taking a bizarre trip down memory lane. But if you are in the mood to shop, I'd recommend visiting the Jon Wye shop. It had one of the best locations and most interesting spaces and some of the most unique leather products I've seen. Great men's furnishings! I see birthday presents in the future... I was lucky enough to meet Jon when I was there today. He was completely charming and so friendly.

Although I didn't buy anything from Jon, I did pick up a few Brownies from Mari's Brownies.

I was lucky enough to work with Mari briefly a number of years ago when she was still testing out her recipes on her willing co-workers! My personal favorite is the Carmel & Sea Salt brownie, although the Coconut is pretty good too. There is one called Heat (Chocolate, Smokey Ancho & Chipotle Peppers) that I got for Jason, but he wasn't gutsy enough to try it yet. I'll report back on that later.

J'aime Lacoste Red!

Macy's is not usually a place I find inspiration. It is more of an obligatory stop on a Comp Shopping trip, or a place I will do some quick one stop family shopping on my way home from work. So color me super surprised when I rounded the corner on the Men's Designer Sportswear floor and saw this amazing Lacoste Red display!

Blam - Roy Lichtenstein - Oil on Canvas 1962

Here's the whole Lacoste Red! collection.

Tromp l'oeil

I'm really inspired by Tromp l'oeil right now. I think having kids... especially a toddler puts me in make-believe situations a lot and encourages me to suspend disbelief a little more freely.

In Maxim's world, nothing is as it seems to me. Windowsills are kitchens, our legs are roads for toy cars, carrot sticks are mighty swords, our dog Clio has suddenly been named "Rinty" from his book Martha Speaks. I feel guilty when I try to bring him back to reality and correct him. I want him to revel in the limitless of his imagination. The world will make it harder and harder to have that freedom when he is older. I want him to enjoy it for as long as he can.

If we ever get to buy an apartment, I would want to tile my kitchen with these grass printed tiles I saw in the showers at Bliss Spa.

Imagine Tile 12"x12"- Grass $8.00 each

Wouldn't it be fun to feel like you were having a picnic in your kitchen? Or what about adding a stone walk way to your front hall?

Urban Outfitters Trompe L'oeil Stone Mat $140

And I love these tea towels from Conran Shop. They feel very modern and a little gothic at the same time.

Conran Shop Grain De Couleur Couverts Tea Towel $39

This is just a tribute to one of our household philosophies -

"Art Rules" Larry Charles

Conran Shop inside ABC Home

In a stroke of brilliance/what took them so long? the Conran Shop in Manhattan finally moved from its terrible location on 1st Ave in Sutton Place down to the basement of ABC Home on 17th & Broadway.

They were still busily unpacking merchandise, but was open for business. The selection was good, the shop was well visually merchandised, there were lots of execs watching everything. My one comment was that there was some pockets of dead floor space and pockets of over crowded floor space... it kind of killed the flow.

Here's what I LOVE!

Squint Oswald Sofa $6995. It's awesome.

Napoleone Chest $4950

It comes in about 12 different finishes. I love the Glossy Orange Lacquer

(shown in Glossy Green Lacquer)

White Metal Leaf Kaveri Chest $1295

I covet this!

Plank Table $950

So Bright and Colorful and Clean!

Time Zone Clocks $80 Each

Fun & Novel - You can mix & match your cities!

Large Flower Vase $350

Its too pretty to put real flowers in!

Welcome to my life

I thought I'd make good use of my newly found free time and let you in to our world.

I want to share things that relate in some way back to the 3 interrelated categories; Love. Home. Life. So basically, things I love, things around home, and what is affecting my life. Easy enough?

Let's see what happens.

XOXO