Make It

Poppies, Dark and Lovely

Love these atmospheric photos of poppies from the Saipua blog. Poppies always make me think California- bright, sunny, red. But I am loving this darker interpretation so much.

A Month of Sunday Walks

From A Month of Sunday Walks, by Leanne Shapton (via Fly).

The Real Deal on Health Insurance for Small Businesses

Sweet Fine Day is a favorite read of mine because I like how Jenna, one half of Whimsy and Spice, keeps it real about living and working and raising a family in Brooklyn.

Even though I know that healthcare for self-employed people in this country is a mess (and have in the past taken my own gamble of going for nearly two years uninsured), it was really eye opening to read this post and see exactly how much it costs to insure a young, healthy family of four in today's economy. The comments from readers in other countries are eye opening as well.

From Blog to the White House

I'm a little late on posting this, but did you hear that Andrea of FLY went to the White House? And met the President? And he called her fly?! Read the whole story here.

Yay Silkscreening!

Check out a few behind the scenes peeks at Lena Corwin's studio. It's a beautiful space. How does she keep her hands and apron so clean and ink-free?

Giving This Quilt Thing Another Try

I have been wanting to make a quilt forever but have been a little intimidated by the process. It seems so exact and precise, like any little screwup will ruin the whole thing. This image is making me rethink that. It's just big squares of colorful fabric, nothing too scary. I think I can handle that. (Image via decor8)

Black Diamond Rings

My engagement ring is a black diamond ring. It's a simple silver band with a little black stone. I didn't even know black diamonds were a thing that existed before I received it, but now I find them totally charming, so nice work, Matt! Wedding plans are slowly formulating, so I'm starting to think about wedding bands and what I would want that would complement this ring. A few ideas: Something like this makes the most sense. It would match nicely with my current ring, is affordable, unfussy, but has a little more pizazz than a plain band.

I like the style of the above two, with the stones set directly into the band. They're also simple, very wearable, and even though my engagement ring is silver, I kind of like the idea of mixing metals with the gold band.

Speaking of mixed metals, I've lusted after this Mociun black diamond ring for a long time. But I don't know if I'd feel comfortable wearing a $3,000 ring. Especially considering I lost my engagement ring four days after receiving it (Matt found it two weeks later! In the street! Under the snow!).

And just for fun, here are some more black diamond rings, found on Etsy:

via laralewis

  via beyondtherockz

via kyleannemetals

via louisagallery

Hello, Perfect Chair

I spent some time recently cruising the Room and Board site and came across a chair that I cannot stop thinking about: the Hans Wegner Wishbone chair. It's the dining chair of my dreams. Bent wood. A natural woven rope seat. Both sophisticated and casual. But the $799 price tag? Oh no.

Enter Overstock.com and their "Wood Chair with Temp Seat."At $189 per chair it still ain't cheap, but it's cheaper. Has anyone seen chairs in this style at thrift stores or garage sales for much less? Now that I know what to look for, I'll keep my eye out. And one day, a dining room like the one below will be mine.

Also, after finding more images of the Wishbone chair, I remembered where I'd originally seen it and why subconsciously I've probably lusted after it for a while.

 

Mad Props

I just read on decor8 about Mad Props, a new full service prop rental house in Boston catering to the many film and photo shoots in the city. I can't help but think this would be a great business for an enterprising Michiganian to set up here in Ann Arbor.

Michigan currently offers generous tax incentives for filmmakers and it seems like I'm hearing about something new filming or coming to our area every other week. I'm not much of a celeb-hound, so none of them have been exceptionally interesting - though I did have a Sandy Cohen sighting at Zingermans, and over Thanksgiving 2009, while my family was in town they stayed at the same hotel where Cedar Rapids was filmed - but you better believe I would be stalking the set everyday if Christopher Nolan films the next Batman movie here.

Cookbook LA

I discovered Cookbook via new-to-me blog At Home At Home. In addition to being a green grocer in LA's Echo Park neighborhood, Cookbook chooses a new cookbook every few weeks and cooks the food for their deli section from it. What a fun idea and a beautiful space! (Image via At Home At Home)