hair it is

Today is March 31st, so if I'm doing my math correctly, we're about 1/4 of the way into 2011. It's time to check in on my New Year's to-do list. Number one on the list (get a new job) didn't count because I already had a new job when I wrote it. Number nine (new kids) doesn't count because it was a joke and number four (new drink) doesn't count because I decided to stay with my dirty martini. So out of seven things I would like to do this year, I have done one: new hair color. I'm happy with that.

Disclaimer: I did not color my hair myself, but I thought the nice'n easy graphic was a nice touch.

read on

A couple weeks ago Catcher received a book that was once the property of a school library, and as he was peeling away the pocket that once housed an old-fashioned library card--is that even what they're called...you know, the thing they stamp when you check out a book?--I realized it's been a long time since I set foot in a library. I still carry my New York Public Library card in my wallet, but it's more of a relic to show how "literary"  I am (or how literary I was or wanted to be in my Manhattan days). I'm not sure I would even know how to navigate a library today. A bookstore is one thing, but is the Dewey Decimal system still in place?

Always a sucker for quirky, nostalgic things, I came up with this idea to make note cards out of old library cards (seriously, is that what they're called?). But the thing with coming up with a great idea like that is that someone else already has. Here's a look at some crafty etsy people who stole my idea:

library greeting cards

library card bookmark

just because

library card save-the-date

notecards

what about me?

As the second-born child (and girl), I know what it's like to be the second-born (and eventually middle, after the birth of my brother) child. So in an attempt not to make Scout feel like the forgotten second child*, here's a look at what she was doing while Catcher was getting his hair cut on Saturday:

Hi! I'm smiling. Just sitting here. Smiling.

Still smiling.

What? That smile wasn't big enough for you? If I smile this big, can I get out of the car seat? Still smiling.

*I don't have a complex about being the second born and don't think I was neglected in any way because of it. I do, however, think growing up as the middle child has made me somewhat perfect: the negotiator, the creative one, the problem solver, the mediator, the reliable one...I could go on ;)

a brand new man

So it only took me 2 years, 8 months and some change to get Catcher a "real," actual haircut. Here's how it all went down (in Catcher's mind):

Now...what are you going to do with this hair that's been in my face for as long as I can remember?

Ok. I like the taxi, but I'm not so sure about this smock.

Hmmm...not sold on this whole "haircut" thing yet.

Oh. I can see. That's pretty cool. I didn't know my eyes were blue.

Seriously. How many pictures are you going to take? People get their hair cut every day.

It was worth the lollipop.

CLEAR-ly

It started with my obsession for all things clear and led me to an obsession with a new interior design firm. Well...maybe not an obsession, but I like their designs. I saw the Akbar table (pictured above) in my latest issue of Elle Decor and had to check out the genius behind it. 

[Side note: when is too much clear furniture too much? Have I reached my limit yet? If I use this table in a bedroom, where there is no clear furniture of which to speak, is that okay?]

My investigative skills lead me to White Webb, NYC interior design firm of Matthew White and Frank Webb, and here is a look at some of their work that harmoniously tows the line between classicist and modernist:

glitter-ART-ti

Do I love glitter?
Do I love art?
If so, then I must love Camomile Hixon.

From the artist's own website, her work is described as having "...a 70's disco quality to the paintings reminiscent of mirrored car wash signs and gold lame curtain calls." Now you tell me: what's not to love?

Images from Tria Gallery

kitsch with class

As much as I hate tchotckes and collections of any kind--including bells and bobbleheads--I can be a sucker for some kitsch. The trick is to do kitsch tastefully, which is a contradiction unto itself, but it can be done. *Retro kitsch is often easier to work with than present-day--it's less challenging to make a Hawaiian luau dancer look cool than a Brett Favre bobblehead.

These are a few of my favorite [kitschy] things:

vintage dashboard hula girl, etsy

state pillows, Whispering Pines

ta-da: the leg lamp