More on MoMA

Maybe you couldn't tell from the previous post about MoMA so I'll say it again, beside my friends this museum is up there as my most favorite thing in NYC. Sure it helps that the first thing I saw beside the garden, an oasis between buildings, could have been some kind of ridiculous Estate Sale, but then the second floor was dedicated to Design & Architecture, two on my long list of favorite things! And there was this, a room, four white walls inked with the names and dates of all, or at least most, who have entered.



And then there was every Smiths album cover turned art exhibit...



Some graphics. But I'm a bad, bad girl - no artist names. Oopsy.



And like I said, the second floor.



Notice, it folds - created for PUMA.



Now this... right up my alley.



Okay, if memory serves me right this is a play on today's obsession with security. Whatever it is it's cute, and cute I love - love it!



With a little bit'a foresight I would have taken more pictures of the things I admired but alas I didn't *sad* so I guess you'll have to.

Gone. Gone. Gone!

Lately my booth at the Antique Station has been the cause of a small percent of my routine anxiety. Contributing to this in a major way is the very first piece of furniture I loaded into the booth, a mid-century style veneer desk purchased from my holy grail of a thrift store. Initially this desk looked like a steal at $25, it still does, but as we hauled in collections that spanned decades the booth filled past capacity and the desk quickly became a space hogging burden.



Considering the Antique Station is conveniently close to Chapman University I've been telling myself for months to be patient, to wait for the school year. My patience started to run its course back in July when I grabbed the red pen and slashed the price, and still I waited.



So last week when I was in New York my buddy from the station who sympathizes with my urgency for the banishment of this desk phoned me up, he had good news - trumpets played and angels sang, and the person next me maybe considered me an escapee from Bellevue. It was a glorious moment!

Waste Not.

Finally back in LA and just a little rested after, I'm not sure how or why I did it, being awake for nearly 24 hours after leaving NYC. LA is home and I love it here, but I can't help but be a little jealous of all those New Yorker's walking everywhere, drinking in sweet little pubs, eating so decadently if desired and well no matter where they may be. And... I'm really jealous they have MoMA.

I spent hours in here and would've been happy to go back another day and do it all over again!



In the main lobby is an art installation titled Waste Not created by Beijing artist Song Dong and his depression-esque era mother. The Chinese principle, wu jin qi yong, that equates to “Waste not” is the basis for the exhibit.



The mass of his mothers belongings, even a structure from her home layout a maze of a cityscape. At first thought I wished for the luck of walking into this as an Estate Sale vs. an art exhibit. However, the era resonated with me as I meandered this makeshift city of an old Chinese women, an era that called for a principle of thrift - it's fascinating, and sad.





The photos below and the first image above come to me courtesy of 16 miles of strings flickr photostream





Below photos courtesy of abfall111's flickr photo stream





Besides time spent with all my New York lovlies our visit to MoMA was the highlight.

Colorado

Things I've learned:
Zion National Park is a mere day-LONG drive from Los Angeles
The Rocky Mountains are humbling
The Salvation Army has the best prices in every state


We were rewarded after a day of some serious truckin' with a day of few but seriously good thrift store deals. Amanda with a great winter coat for $20 and me with the missing link to my Pyrex primary color nesting bowl set for $.50.


As far as we're concerned the day began in Colorado and ended in... Colorado.



Rising early as was possible in Green River, Utah the day began in Grand Junction, Colorado where we hit up four thrift stores, had lunch and continued on our merry way.



The flats of the valley quickly faded as we moved our way into a ravine, wound along the Colorado River and squeezed through the appropriately termed, majestic rocky mountains.


I'm posting this blog from a hotel room in North Platte, Nebraska, night having fallen upon us as we crossed over from Colorado I can imagine the similarities between north-eastern Colorado and Nebraska and though beautiful I can't help but desire to turn around and drive through the Rockies once more. Like a roller coaster ride - again, again!


And so we plan to do it again tomorrow, awaken early with loads of ground to cover all for the sake of a good Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, a beautiful face, gorgeous scenery and adventure. Nebraska being the home of my grandfather's youth we'll have a lot of history to be a-lookin' for.

Road-Side Photographer

"The best camera is the one you have" - said by my friend Ivett Chicas before I embarked on this cross-country trip.


It's day one. Not only have we made excellent time but we have displayed the soul of true road-warriors, driving an eleven hour haul from Palm Springs clear to the middle of Utah.


On the road by 8am we lost an hour and arrived in Green River, Utah at 8:15pm! Smaller but far more alive, even with the boarded up gas stations and cafes along the one mile strip than our original sleepy destination of Richfield, Utah.


On a minor level I'm obsessed with Green River. The bright lights of Vegas reign throughout the town, a slow quiet river runs along the middle, half the town has been boarded up, keys tossed to the side due to our delightful economy and a majority of the population are tourists looking for some solitude.


The drive here was a long, pleasant journey through the familiar desert outside of California. Towns popped up along the way like a mirage, a place known only by those who never want to be known of again. Pink plateaus turned into green rolling hills, into vibrant red clay molds dashing toward the sky and back into pink plateaus.


The sun set just as we rolled into town.


And not once did we stop for a thrift store but twice we stopped for coffee. Tomorrow is another day and we've vowed to take it slow. A morning detour off the main highway and a thrift store or two along the way. Oh what the day beholds!

The Chairs are Mine - all Mine!

I just got home and unloaded two of the coolest chairs I now own - woot woot! Absolutely LOVE them. GoodForm is like the Cinderella of mid-century furniture - beautiful and under appreciated. Who knew, obviously someone, but seriously, who knew?! Go now, find yourself some. You WILL NOT live to regret it.

That said, it's my last little gift to my home before I leave for the cross-country adventure. I don't know how often I'll be able to post from the road but I promise to try. Until then, happy hunting ya'll!

x's and o's

GoodForm

I decided several years ago that the only way to buy furniture is to buy vintage. It was something like an epiphany when I discovered the sleek, clean lines and rich woods of mid-century furniture could be purchased for a fair cost and sold for the same fair cost years later. And for us hunters out there we don't only get to enjoy great design but at times we can even profit from it.

Even better than vintage resale value is the plethora of designers and manufacturers to be discovered. It's an all too consuming past time that I try to engage in only once in a blue moon, or maybe more like once a week. Lately though I've been on a roll. I guess that's what happens when you kill hours on end online. In the last 24 hours I've discovered two, one of each.

The talented designer Ben Seibel was brought to my attention while reading back blogs posted by Apron Thrift Girl.

Apron Thrift Girl's collection of Ben Seibel for Mikasa

It seems she has been a fan of his for years and I'm thrilled to have been turned on to his designs. You can check out her post here.

This new discovery of course led to at least another hour of research on the designer himself and searching Ebay where I discovered two pages of Ben Seibel and various designs. If your interested in learning more about this artist a good place to start is www.abenseibeldesign.com.

And what's a day of searching the net without killing a couple of hours on Criagslist?! Naturally I found many-a-things that I want and hardly-a-thing I should buy. I was however driven to learn about the manufacturer GoodForm when I discovered these beauties.





The website www.pastpresentfuture.net has terrific examples of GoodForm chairs and a little bit-a history to go along with it. It's amazing that these chairs were produced sometime between the 1930's and 1950's. By the looks of them I can only imagine they'll easily last long after we're gone and still look pristine. Can you say... LOVE!





I couldn't resist I'm going to "look" at them, umm... buy them tomorrow. Aren't you excited for me?

A Whole Lotta Blogging Goin' on

Someone once told me that the internet may very well be the cause of her ADD. It's the affect of sitting down to read the days news and having an hour later purchased a pair of shoes. Or deciding to check out a friendly fellow Blogger to having passed three hours blog-hopping. Is that focus or not?

Feeling richer in blog buddies but slightly brain-dead this evening I thought I'd share with you some terrific blogs I've run across. And we can thank Sonya over at Dime Store Thrift for getting me there one way or another.

I'm really looking forward to following Apron Thrift Girl on a regular basis, her blog, her site... inspiring. I spent quite some time scouring it all and learning that someone has actually implemented ideas I've had! Oh, what a great thing.

Then there are bloggers like Bohemian Vintage that have terrific finds, and Imperfectly Beautiful with great DIY ideas - I never thought it possible to LOVE a fake pumpkin!



I also really like Thrift Candy and Vintage Rescue Squad if not for the great blog names then they must be doing something right!

Oh, and Found, now home.

The great thing about all of these bloggers is that they (we) all have so much in common. There's the obvious love for vintage but it's apparent that when a girl loves vintage, she loves her home, her family and friends, she loves to cook and to eat and to garden, and there's a simplicity and creativity that is invigorating.

You can thank me later for helping you kill the next three hours.

Cross Country Road Trippin'

There were days not to long ago when a road trip involving moi driving across the country would've meant, at the very least, a plan set in place one month in advance and a suitcase packed 1-2 weeks prior. Those days are so far gone I can't even see them in my rear view mirror.

Here we are going on the Wednesday before the long-haul begins and I can barely conjure the excitement to plan said route, I still haven't UN-packed my suitcase from northern California not to mention packed for five days across the country and five in NYC. And I need to be ready to go by Saturday!

Please forgive me if I sound as if I'm complaining, I certainly am not, honestly I couldn't be more excited. I'm merely stating my awe over time and how it gets the best of us - just another cliche ringing true as they all tend to do.

But I digress. I finally sat down and mapped out the trip, and even though we won't be venturing along any of the routes on the above map (Route 66 was considered) I thought this website, www.roadtripusa.com was worth a mention. It's the only place I was able to find on the web that lays out optional routes. On top of this places of interest in the various states are highlighted. I only wish someone would do THAT for my random route.

Here you have it, and any suggestions along the way are welcome!

I-15 through Nevada, Arizona and Utah
I-70 through Utah and Colorado
I-76 through Colorado into Nebraska
I-80 through Nebraska, Indiana, Ohio
I-90 through Ohio, Pennsylvania and we're almost there!

Any thrift store suggestions are VERY welcome.

Orange is My Favorite Color

Orange really is not my favorite color but these fantastic finds may have me converted.

















I'm having trouble giving any of them up!

Just Smurfin' Around

Who loves a smurf?!



I do! It's been a whole lotta years since I've seen one of these cartoons and I'm curious, is it like watching Loony Tunes again or Duck Tales? Because if it's anything like Duck Tales, spare me, but Loony Tunes has only got better with age.



As a kid I owned one of those traveling record players in a Smurf motif, and if ever I find this again watch out because I'll fight you for it. But how I did not know about these fantastic Smurf Trading Cards I just don't know. I'm in love, they're so fun, so cool!



I have Scott to thank for the intro to these. Like the New Kids on the Block trading cards, like the Elvis trading cards, like the Beetle Juice trading cards, etc, etc, etc... total randomness.



So what do you think? Do you share my nostalgia? Wanna trade?



Let me know... maybe I can convince Scott to spare a set for some lucky lurker.