Rainy Saturday

The forecast for the weekend is nothing but rain, but I didn't let that stop me from going on a little adventure! I headed to Williamsburg to check out the Renegade Craft Fair and say hello to a few of my friends in the NewNew. I also bought a truly unique necklace that I cannot wait to wear all summer long. It's perfect for every day! What did you do today?

Rainy streets of Greenpoint.

Don't let a little rain make you frown! Such a cute little bike bell.

Beautiful brick wall on Manhattan Avenue in Williamsburg. Also available in my shop.

DIY Project

I found this awesome fabric flower tutorial on Pinterest the other day and knew I just had to try it! I'm loving how the flowers make my cheap Ikea lampshade look so much more sophisticated! What do you think?

The project was so simple and I can't wait to decorate something else. I'd love to try making it a little fancier with some beautiful beads or gems.

(please do not judge the yellow lamp base. I am going to paint it to match.)

Alexander McQueen takes on the MET

This Sunday I headed to the Met with Holly to check out the new Alexander McQueen exhibit I've been wanting to see. I've only heard amazing things about the exhibit, so I knew this was one not to be missed. Let me tell you, IT. WAS. STUNNING. There was a line an hour long just to get in and it was worth every minute. This man was so incredibly talented, and deeply disturbed. We really did lose such a great designer, and artist with his passing. His pieces are so unique and creative! Here are two of my favorites from the collection. Images taken from the MET blog.

I love the alligator head shoulder pads on this one!

This piece is made entirely of duck feathers.

If you live in NY, you absolutely must go see this. If you don't, I'm sorry you're missing out, but definitely read the MET's blog about all the featured collections!

After the exhibit, and a little Manet/Monet browsing, we were exhausted and needed a little pick me up. So, I grabbed a salted caramel milkshake and Holly opted for a Yummy Nut cupcake from the Cake and Shake truck outside. I think it may be possible that whole rapture thing did happen, and that is what heaven tastes like.

Beautiful Sunday

Blooming Magnolias

Today was one of those days you are just happy to be alive. The weather was gorgeous. It was sunny and 65. I ate a sinfully delicious plate of pancakes from Cheryl's Global Soul. I walked through the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens with Laura. I planted my window garden of herbs. And finally, I stocked up on groceries at Trader Joe's. The best part was I ran all of these errands on my new bike. How did you spend your Sunday?

daffodils and tulips

snakeskin tulip. I can't remember the actual name.

CHECK ME OUT

Oh would you look at that?! I've made it onto Apartment Therapy! Please please please please take the time to favorite me. You have to log in, but really it only takes a minute to do. I'd love you forever and always if you did!

I made an ice cream cake!

(look at those layers of LOVE)

And you know what? It turned out great! All of this was in honor of Mr. Sinclair's decent into the life of a senior citizen and his absolute love of ice cream.

The whole process was easy, but incredibly time consuming. I followed this blog post written by an ex-Carvel cake maker but made some adjustments to make it my own. Here is how the process went:

• On Monday I bought ingredients. I decided I was going to make a strawberry cheesecake ice cream cake. I was going to use pie crust for the "crunchies" and Ben & Jerry's strawberry cheesecake ice cream, and my own home made ice cream. I also bought stuff to make the whip cream frosting from scratch.
• On Tuesday I made the trek over to Prospect Heights to pick up my friends ice cream maker. Any old shlep can use pre-made ice cream. Making it from scratch shows how much I really care, right?
• On Wednesday morning I made my first batch of ice cream. Vanilla. The whole process was really cool and only took about 20 minutes. When I get a full size apartment and have storage space, I am buying an ice cream maker. Then you have to put ice cream on the sides of a springform pan (about one inch thick) and let it freeze.
• On Wednesday night I put the strawberry cheesecake ice cream in the bottom and the pie crust on the top. FREEZE.
• On Thursday I put the rest of the ice cream on top of the pie crunchies and FREEZE.
• On Saturday I made the home made whip cream, and frosted my cake. FREEZE. This time to set the frosting.
• Later Saturday I decorated the cake and headed over to the birthday boys house.

All in all, it was a hit! It wasn't hard to make, but I still think I'll stick to a Carvel the next time (even if I do know how to make my own crunchies).

I've got a fancy new bookshelf!

So I mentioned previously about Jason's new adventure of Merrimack & Monitor a few posts ago, and now I'm excited to share my new custom bookshelf (which will be available for sale as a custom install piece)! I envisioned this gem MONTHS ago and asked him to build it for me and we've finally completed it. I could not be more excited about it. We've used black plumbing piping, reclaimed wood, and heavy duty drywall anchors to make this piece. I could literally swing from one of the bars into a back flip and that thing isn't moving. I had such a small space to work with (only 20" wide), and this is the perfect use of space! I love it so much.

With 5 rows of piping and 4 rows of reclaimed wood, I'm really able to maximize the small corner space in my studio.

A closer view of how the shelves interact together. We're going to put something fancy on the ends of the pipes to girly it up! Think dresser knobs from Antropologie.

A closer look at the reclaimed wood.

I love the imperfections of the wood. So beautiful!

I just like this guy, and felt he deserved a close-up. I picked him up in the Dominican Republic.