The Captain's Messenger

I've been ogling this Anthopologie bag for awhile now, and it's finally on sale! You know how I am about bags... and buttons...

Josef Frank "to go"

I just can't stop going back to the Svenskt Tenn website and sighing over these totes.



My only quibble is that I wish they offerd more textile options for the bags. They carry so many fabulous textiles by Frank in their store...
On the top of my wishlist? Definitely Gröna fåglar.



Oh, Gröna fåglar, you're so dreamy.

Hooray for needlepoint!

Remember this?

Anthropologie has started putting their needlepoint ottoman thingys online. Finally. I can't wait for the piece I already posted about to go up, so I can visit it online with many a melodramatic sigh whenever I want.

Pheasant Needlepoint Ottoman, $348.


Rooster Needlepoint Ottoman, $348.


Also on that same post, I talked about how I loved the juxtapositon of using old master prints for needlepoint...I can't help but see it as (unknowingly) tongue-in-cheek because of the "negative" (even kitschy) connations of so-called "low arts" like needlepoint. I'm an art history major, so it kind of goes with the territory for me to obsess over silly things like that.
Thus, you may understand my delight after winning this piece at auction this weekend:




I just love the rich colors in this piece - and the price (it was under $20).
It's an unknown artist's version of Rembrandt's portrait of his young bride Saskia (1634). Would you look at that hat!

THE Boot

You know, it's fitting that on the one-month anniversary of this blog, I introduce you to an item which has been on my mind for many months.
(sorry about the delay in posting by the way, I'm bogged down with real-life stuff)
Convince me not to buy these boots.
Or convince me to buy these boots. Either way, I'm screwed.

See, I'm well beyond my "impulse shopping rule," which is if I have a desperate desire to buy something rather pricey (but still on the right side of affordable) on impulse, wait two weeks and if the feeling hasn't abated then it was meant to be. I've been visiting them online with sighs of longing since they appeared this past autumn (I can't believe they're still up, actually, and full price too!).
They're Anna Sui, and they're beautiful, and they're so me. Come on - they have Arthurian scenes etched into them (thus their moniker as the Malory) boot). Boots with literary references? So me. And after my extra-lavish New York trip, they're way off-budget.
I know that one of these days I will hop on over to Anthropologie's boots section and they will be gone, gone, gone. And I will regret it to the depths of my soul. For at least a month. Maybe more!
I mean, these are it. THE boot. What to do?

Sale Bags on Parade

I noticed some fabulous accessories on sale at Anthropologie - I know, I know, this is really turning into an Anthropologie blog, though others do it better than me.

This cute sunny pochette is $39.95, marked down from $78. The color is right on trend, if that's your thing.


Don't you love the fact that this bag is really two bags in one? I like the details of the round gold button thingys. $299.95, marked down from $578.


I seriously debated whether or not to get this Ananas bag when I was on the hunt for a new one last month (I ended up with this beauty - in black - which was on sale at Shopbop). Now it's on sale for $299.95, marked down from $498. The grey color and interesting shape, as well as the adorable huge wooden button, lend it major points.


Meet its precious younger sister, which is on sale for $149.95 (from $288).


I posted lovingly about this Hayden Harnett tote last month...and now it's on sale! $249.95 marked down from $528.

Coasting away

On my recent Anthropologie stop, I picked up two of these coasters, on sale for $3.95 each. I just wanted something shiny to bring home to console me from this.
And they're avian...even better!
I am loving them - here's a photo of one of them in situ on my bedside table, awaiting a mug of a hot chocolate:
.

Coasters make me laugh, really - yes, they do serve a purpose, but most of the time they don't really do much but sit around and look pretty. Not that they need an excuse.

Yes, needlepoint can be sexy!

If you've been reading this blog for a little while, it's probably pretty clear to you that I am a huge Anthropologie fan. Still, I have the unfortunate tendency to get a bit jaded. Especially now that a store has opened 2 blocks away from my apartment, which I pass twice a day on my way to/from the train. However, this does not mean I lack the capacity to appreciate it (hell, worship it) when something truly spectacular appears on the floor.

My most recent visit on Monday evening revealed this footrest, tucked somewhat incongruously at the foot of a bed:


It's huge. And it's needlepoint! This was like the holy grail of finds.
I stopped and stared for awhile. What first caught my eye was the top part, which is an interpretation of Ingres' Grande Odalisque:


I love this painting by the way, and the way that Ingres was playing with deformity in order to achieve the ultimate sinuous line.

I then walked around to the side, and gaped as I recognized this painting:


A postcard of this image happens to be hanging on my bulletin board right now. It's Fragonard's Young Girl Reading.
The other two sides are landscapes, which I found less easy to identify...the front-facing one looks Gainsborough-ish in execution but it's really difficult to say as landscape is not my forte.

Now, let me give you some background into just why I am so off-the-charts excited about finding this.
I recently flipped out when Shelterrific posted about this recent fleamarket find:

I loved the tongue-in-cheekness of it. The irony is that needlepoint has long been considered a "low" art and been pushed under the umbrella of the once-dirty word, "craft" (helping to smooth over this thorny language issue are shows such as Needle Art: A Postmodern Sewing Circle which was at the DePaul University Art Museum and Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting at the Museum of Arts and Design). Melding it with high art (in this case, its a creative interpretation of Diego Velasquez's famous Rokeby Venus which is now in the National Gallery, London) is pure genius. In my humble opinion.
I searched madly on ebay for my very own interpretation. Secrely, I imagined finding an exact copy of the same piece, like magic. I just love the contrasting blues and yellows and the ironic undertones of the piece. I too desire the heady combination of high and low. And as aesthetic objects, I simply find both of these pieces to be quite beautiful.

My finding of the footrest was serendipitous, to say the least. I mean, just look at the top part! Another reclining nude with her back to the viewer. Seemed too good to be true.

My high lasted until I discovered the price tag several feet away, trampled by the muddy feet of some previous customer. It was $1300.

I like to think that they shared my disgruntlement with that seriously painful price. Humor me, ok?

And excuse the horrible muddy photos, which were snapped surreptitiously with my camera phone - I always feel weird taking pictures in stores. The colors are really much more brilliant.

I Heart NY

Things I love about New York:

Hearing the bells of St. Bartholomew's church this evening as I walked back to my hotel. It was just one of those random, perfect moments that sent chills up my spine.

The efficient subway system...shame on you, CTA! I also love the parallel-facing seats, as they remind me of the Tube in London - without the funky upholstery though.

The two-floor Anthropologie I found next to Radio City. Totally unexpected and cool. I was less enthused with their spring/summer offerings, but that's more about me than about the store and will be explained at a later date. Getting to see the Josef Frank stuff in person, though, was to die for.

This one's my favorite. It's so whimsical! I would upholster my whole life with Josef Frank prints if I could.

My dinner last night. Worth every penny.

My teensy "mod on the cheap" hotel, especially the cheerful Eames bedspread (it matches my stationery!) in my tiny, cute little room. And don't forget the iPod dock and flat screen TV! I'm only paying $100 a night, which is pretty great for Manhattan...and Midtown to boot.


The fact that it's warmer than Chicago. It's 30 degrees, get out the shorts and t-shirts ladies and gentlemen!

All of the above totally makes up for the nasty, foot-deep sludge I've been trudging in for the past two days...and the fact that my plane was delayed 7 hours and I didn't get to my hotel until 5:30 a.m. yesterday. Seriously.

Anthropologie catalog image credit (you must see their new print catalog by the way, it's a feast for the eyes) goes to Craving Anthropologie. I'm such a fan of that blog.

Get Me Some Hayden Harnett!

Can I just express my deepest, tenderest love and affection for the Steamer Satchel at Anthropologie?

I love the shade, which is this beautiful, indefinable smoky green hue. I also love the distinctive shape, and its size - it's a pretty roomy bag. Pretty much anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm the proverbial girl who likes her bags to hold everything but the kitchen sink (and sometimes even that!).

The Steamer Satchel is by one of my favorite new bag brands, Hayden Harnett. I saw one of their other bags, the Nico XX in this gorgeous lemon yellow and the leather was just to die for - it was soft as butter, no joke.

Sigh.

Bag Lust

OK, I have to say, bags are my weakness...


and I've been obsessing over this one for weeks now. At least I'm rather justified, as Jessica over at Shiny Squirrel has the hots for it as well.



Oh Anna Corinna, why dost thou tempt me?