me and my bag went to a matinee and saw the artist and i’m probably the only one who didn’t LOVE it.  i went in wanting to love it, expecting to love it, craving to love it, but i just didn’t.  i appreciate it – how’s that?  i appreciate its uniqueness.  and style quality.  and the lead actors are gorgeous and definitely deserve oscar nominations.  but the storyline was a bit old-fashioned for me.  and i GET that it was supposed to be an old-fashioned storyline.  but actually sitting through an old-fashioned storyline is a whole ‘nuther story.   i found myself just wanting it to hurry up and get on with itself.  but OH THE DOG.  what is it with these amazing, adorable dogs who steal the show?  this movie features another jack russell terrier, the same type of dog in the movie beginners, with that same on-screen lovable appeal.  who AM i, doling out all this canine love?  i must be softening up in my old age.  

so, what’s my final word on the movie?  i’d say see it to see it so you can have conversations about what ya liked and what ya didn’t like.      

also -

wouldn’tcha say my safari/sling chair kinda sorta resembles this chair i found while flipping through my urban eco-chic book? 

i want that apartment.

it’s the closest thing i could find to the style of mine.  the canvas on mine actually cleaned up amazingly well.  i surprised myself.  not only in getting it clean but in reassembly of the chair.  t’weren’t easy stretching that fabric back on, but i reigned supreme and conquered.   CHAIR VICTORY. 

thrifted another mug that doesn’t leak.

schramberg germany pottery.

and now i must stop again with the mugs.  no more!

this is a wood burned piece of art from poland that i happen to love, about the size of a sheet of paper.

not sure if it’s new or old, but i’m guessing old(ish).  it’s stamped on the back and i’m pretty sure the artist’s name is z. klosinski. 

could this be a relative of the famed polish cinematographer edward klosinski?  because i’m sure there are no other families in poland named klosinski.  who knows?  but that’s the fabricated story i’ll be telling people to impress ‘em. 

january proved me completely wrong where work was concerned.  i assumed i’d have no work.  i think i worked more days this month than any other.  not a ton of hours but just enough to screw up my plans for organization.  so organization and tidy-time will have to wait for february.

you artsy folks might enjoy it.  i CANNA BULIEVE what people do with a single sheet of paper.  blows the mind. 

(i’ll just put this out there – i’m available for a segment if there’s a sequel to the movie.  have your people call my people.)

it doesn’t leak and that is most important.

“girl, why u drinkin’ coffee outta the sugar bowl?”

i swore off buying mugs a couple years ago.  it was getting out of hand.  every now and again i’ll pick one up if it’s absolutely nothing i’ve seen over the years and there’s a coolness factor to it (much like that rosenthal studio-line dresden mug i just blogged about.) 

well, yesterday i saw such a mug.  a rose of england fine bone china mug with the cutest hand-painted drawings on it.  a london street scene. 

and i didn’t pay 10¢ or 25¢ or 50¢ TOPS like i normally do.  i was feeling RICH and paid TWO dollars for it. 

well, the f*ckin’ thing leaks. 

since when does a mug LEAK?  i’ve never heard of such a thing.  i poured my hot water into it this morning and it just leaked out all over the place. 

and i refused to believe it leaked so i did it again. 

and it still leaked.

(from taking these pics i can make out a hairline crack in the thing.  it’s so hard to see with the naked eye.)

looks like i’ve got myself a pencil holder.   

i also took a chance on a bowl that i thought could possibly be an eva zeisel and now i don’t think it is.  drat.  it’s still a fine looking curvy bowl, but i’m shallow.  i want it to have a designer label or i ain’t serving potatoes in it.  i’m a snob like that. no i’m not.

boy, this was one HECK of a week.  i thought i was having a STROKE this morning.  no lie.  a real live stroke.  my eyes went all kerflooey and kaleidoscope-like for 10 minutes or so.  scared the crap outta me.  but i’m still here.  not to mention i was a MAJAH PLAYAH in a crime scene at work.  solving, not committing.  i’m not giving out details but let’s just say i’m a hero and a man’s in jail.  for a long time. 

and what’s my reward?  a leaky f*ckin’ mug.

i LOVE when that happens. 

well, the exact opposite happened to me the other day. 

i hit every red light.  EVERY ONE. 

AND had to stop for a school bus.  it became so ridiculous it was funny.  had i been in a hurry it probably wouldn’t have been funny. 

but there was a (small) pot of gold at the end of that red light rainbow. 

sister had a special request.  she lives a less “wanty” life than me.  lives with the bare minimum.  and i’m not exaggerating. 

she had been making old-fashioneds over the holidays (bourbon is the new vodka, after all) and didn’t have proper glassware.  hers were either too small or too tall.  she needed something “goldilocks just right.” 

“hey, could ya keep your eyes peeled for some rocks glasses in your thrifting travels?” 

done.

i don’t pay too much attention to glassware, but i thought i may have found some iittala beauties, since i found another made-in-finland item in the store and a piece from norway.  perhaps a donation from the same home?  so i took a chance.     

anyway – turns out these are vintage iittala aslak rocks glasses.  there were seven of them.  nice.

(there were also three vintage kekkerik iittala water goblets i picked up as well.)

the other stuff was an arabia covered individual casserole. (?)  i can see using it to make hot artichoke dip.

and a figgjo flint wall plaque/trivet.

translates “there’s food in good drink.”  i couldn’t agree more.

and a rosenthal studio line mug.

this one’s marked “dresden.”  designed by kitty kahane. 

and THEN, just cuz i was on a ROLL, found a couple eva zeisel (RIP) stockholm rocks glasses to boot, in a whole ‘nuther store.  they’re plain and not quite as dramatic as the iittalas, but i’ll take ‘em.

a pair on a pear.

macrame was not part of my world.   

so, i’m sure you all saw the incredible macrame wall hangings by sally england making their rounds on the internet. 

via sally england

incredible.

i was inspired. 

surely i could teach myself how to macrame. 

so over the summer i picked up a vintage macrame book at the flea. 

and i looked it over a little.  and i put the book down and forgot about it.  but then i’d pick the book back up, see what i needed for materials, think about it some more, and forget about it again.

recently i was poking around the ol’ internet and came across a simple project as a nice jumping off point into the world of macrame. 

and i’m proud to show you my first EVER macrame project. 

the precision.

the detail.

i’m practically THERE  on making it into the wall hanging hall of fame.

ugh, every time i see this tablecloth i shake my head a little.  it just ain’t pretty.

so there’s this plastic bucket with some rolled up posters and they’re pretty beat up, small rips and tears, but one had a vintage wood mounting so i figured i’d take the time to unroll them and check ‘em out. 

the wood mounted poster:

ok ok, a vintage lucerne, switzerland travel poster.  interesting. 

the second one i unrolled, i gasped a little. 

now, for the life of me, i can’t recall which cool home i’ve seen this in, but i remember seeing it somewhere and i also remember thinking, “where does one go about getting a print like that?”  and then you know, you forget about it.

until.

until you UNROLL IT.

you unroll it when you’re so completely stressed out and it’s like instant prozac.

this might not excite many, but i was giddy.  a vintage ben shahn poster.  it’s on super-thick paper and yes, it’s a little beat-up, but COME ON! 

COME ON. 

also – a vintage spanish bullfight poster. 

i get a little queazy over the whole sport of bullfighting, but this reminds me of a friend’s home from the 70s, so why not?  i grabbed it.  artwork by ballestar. (?)

my place is about to become VERY VERY 70s COOL. 

and then there’s this maurice utrillo poster, too. 

a gallery promotional poster?  whatever.  i love it.  this one is torn the most.

can you STAND it?  all these vintage posters landing in my little lap.  i don’t mind the rips and tears and water stains and holes.  gives ‘em character and patina.  says me. 

ok, and not a poster, but also found this mod little square vase that day as well.  the label is torn but my guess is it’s made in japan.   

the criminally low-cost way to ease stress.  i’ve gotta say, i’ve had a couple bad years of thrifting.  not BAD bad, but not great.  and these past few weeks have been great.  there’s even more to come….

nothing centers me more than a cheap danish chair.

tarm stole-og møbelfabrik a/s. 

instant calm.

ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

there is a vegan casserole in my near future. 

goodwill had a non-chipped piece of excellent cookware at a reasonable price. 

figgjo flint covered casserole in the astrid pattern.  made in norway.

secondly, movies.

rentals (not theater.  i’ve hardly been to the theater at all these last 12 months.)

first:  beginners

nice quiet movie with great style and thonet chairs. 

christopher plummer and chairs via elle decor

funny how ya thrift a couple thonet chairs and* boom* the next movie you get from netflix has a ton of thonet chairs. 

so i googled “beginners movie thonet” and found 2 articles mentioning the thonet chairs.  here from elle decor and here from dwell. 

i re-fell in love with ewan mcgregor and i positively love the gal who played his girlfriend, mélanie laurent.  she has fantastic messy bohemian parisian style and i wish i was her. 

also - me, not being much of a pet lover, FELL IN LOVE with arthur the dog (above middle and below right, obviously)

now that’s a dog i could love. 

second:  forks over knives

i saw a PBS movie critic call this movie the worst movie of 2011.  i couldn’t disagree more.  i simply loved it.  i love the message, which is eat a plant-based diet vs. an animal-based diet.  no meat, no dairy.   i loved the people profiled for the movie.  regular folk.  people you wouldn’t imagine eating plant-based diets.  firemen.  professional athletes.  oh i wish everyone in the world would see this movie, but the facts are - urging people to give up foods they love is a tough sell.  anyway, i’m glad i FINALLY got to see this movie.  from the date it was released on DVD (back in august) it was #1 on my queue and i finally got it from netflix only 4+ months later.  good job, netflix.

whoa, have i been busy with work.

i ain’t the spring chicken i used to be and massaging our morbidly obese nation much appreciated holiday vacation week clientele has taken its toll on my little body.  i am plum tuckered.  

squeezed in a quick trip to the high class goodwill after work, despite overwhelming fatigue.  priorities. 

came home with a few items – a vintage linen wall hanging, a house plaque from portugal, and a bennington potters lion plate.  yes, i already have one in white.  and a cool, unused vintage potholder.

and now i’m gonna nap for days.