snowy (!) Wednesday

Late spring snows + pals + pizza, wine, dessert= lovely Wednesday

Music lover

Matt comes home from Afghanistan Saturday-ish and I can't wait. I'm driving to Atlanta to meet him at the airport, a 12 hour drive. Although since I have plans to meet friends for dinner on Friday night, and food motivates me- I'm hoping to do the drive in 9.5. Because I have limited music capacity (in the form of a Nano) I've spent the last hour and a half crafting the perfect play list. This means sifting through 7,000 songs and who knows how many albums. Which is great because it forces me to revisit some forgotten favorites.

Without ado- top 5 albums I'm excited to listen to on the way to Georgia:
1. The National- High Violet
2. Pixies- Doolittle
3. Girl Talk- All Day
4. The Magnetic Fields- 69 Love Songs
5. R.E.M- Green (This has been my favorite album of all time since evers)

And top 5 singles:
1. Phoenix- 1901
2. Major Lazer- I'll Make Ya
3. Jay-Z- Big Pimpin'
4. Best Coast- Goodbye
5. The Soft Pack- Answer To Yourself

(Honorable mention to Rod Stewart-Maggie May because I'm listening to it right now and wow, what a great song)

Shoe Obituary

My sister Jane sent me the following email the other day- an obituary for her shoes:

Dear style 07A,

A girl only experiences her first pair of Chanel flats once. I remember the first time we met. You were so pretty and gold, and you fit so perfectly. You have been loyal to me for many years and it is very difficult to say goodbye. However, given the rank odor emanating from your elderly soles (not to mention the discoloration taking place on your body), I feel that I have no option.

Au revoir, mon amour. J'adore.

Rest in peace,
JMG

Frivolous? Not at all. Clothing can be an inanimate, intimate companion. The email made me think of items that are faithful companions to me- a navy coat with a voluptuous fur collar, Ray-Ban Wayfarers. And shoes- especially shoes. I wear a lot of flats and I have a talent for ruining them in spectacular ways- an impromptu hike on top of a mountain, an outdoor concert at South Street Seaport that ended in a rainstorm, very long walks around various cities. I also have a pair of beloved Converse that I bought the day I moved to New York- they were white, but after 8 years of use-- not so much. 

favorite shoes

meditation on gallery walls.

I've been doing some deep thinking lately. About gallery walls. Gallery walls, I've found, are as controversial in interior design as color-coded books (in my world, at least). I love them both. I'll leave my strong belief in the beauty of color coded books to another post though....

Anyway, gallery walls. Controversial, because they clutter walls up. Difficult to create because you need a sense of color, proportion, and a lot of materials. And a large wall. I think they are beautiful and can be done in different ways. Here are some of mine, and my sisters gallery walls.

Very low-res image of my sisters apartment-- maybe Jane will send a better image after seeing this. This gallery wall is brilliant, though not boy friendly (my boy, anyway). It perfectly reflects my sisters personality, and I really love how she's taking ownership of having a small space- she's using every inch. It's hard to tell from the picture, but her sense of color is amazing- she takes the crazy palette (her couch is red, you can see the yellow table and pink chair) and makes it whimsical and perfect.

The gallery wall in my Ohio City apartment- this wall had a lot of potential because it spanned the length of the apartment. This is pretty much what my current gallery wall in Shaker Heights looks like.

Part of my gallery wall now. Again, needs more. I really love my silver antlers- I found these for $5 at Urban Outfitters. I have some other antlers at my house, and I'd like to have them mounted to use in a wall composition.

My new apartment- I'm excited to play with this space. Former workers housing, it looks like a gallery to begin with.

It's got two levels, I think the gallery wall should be on the second level in the "reading nook" we are setting up. I will follow up once we actually move in.

Other thoughts on gallery walls in the comments?

Swap Meet

Recently, I was lucky to be part of a very big night in Cleveland- a clothing swap. And not just any clothing swap-- an opportunity to swap with some of the brightest, fun, and creative girls I've met (not to mention, most of us are the same size). 

busily swapping

This is the second swap meet I've helped organize. The first one was smaller- 5 of us sat around, drank wine, and told a story about every article of clothing that was swapped. This one was larger, and in my friends studio. We drank spicy beer (Tecate, rimmed with lime, sprinkled with salt and cayenne pepper) and ate Chinese buns. 

Like last time, the choice of items was amazing. More like a curated boutique (that happens to be free) than closet cast-offs. I scored a J. Crew blouse that I have COVETED for 3 years. Everyone put thought into what they brought- nothing was unloved. I write, and think, a lot about community, friends, relationships. Our clothing swap perfectly exemplifies the beauty of being part of a like-minded group of friends, of being part of a community. These girls inspire me. I have lived many different places (in the last 9 years, alone- Tallahassee, Miami, Brooklyn, Cleveland- don't get me started on where I moved growing up as a retail brat) but it's Cleveland where I've been most inspired to be part of the community. Maybe it's getting older, maybe it's craving roots, maybe a little of each- either way, it's a great thing. 

* a note- I didn't take these pictures, my friend Deanna did and they are lovely.

Things that make life worth living 4

Via The Citrus Report
Cyndi Lauper sings while waiting for a delayed flight in Buenos Aires. If this doesn't make you smile, I can't help you....

I'm also loving the yellow top/scarf combo to her right. Is she a flight attendant? Either way, I love the combination of nude/yellow.

With apologies to Debbie Gimbel

My mom is an amazing cook, but as a child I hated, hated, hated meatloaf. Maybe it's because I hate ketchup? Since the days of childhood meatloaf night, however, I've had some amazing meatloaf- notably at a Brooklyn Heights cafe where it was wrapped in bacon, and once on a cold night when I first moved to Cleveland. Friends called and said "we're coming over to have dinner with you, and we are bringing meatloaf!" I cringed, but THAT meatloaf had prosciutto in it! A bacon-y surprise! If that's not community, I don't know what is.

All that is neither here nor there tonight, though. Tonight I made Fennel and Apple Meatloaf - a revelation in meatloaf. Here's the recipe via one of my very favorite blogs, Pink of Perfection

Movie tonight is Paris, Texas. Happy Sunday!

Fennel and Apple Meatloaf, from Everyday Food

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced medium (3/4 cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small fennel bulb, diced medium (1 1/3 cups)
1/2 Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced medium (1/2 cup)
1 3/4 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 pounds ground pork or turkey
1 cup grated Gruyere or sharp cheddar (1 3/4 ounces)
1 to 2 slices white sandwich bread, diced medium (1 cup)
1 large egg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion, garlic, fennel, and apple and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and vegetables begin to brown, 5 minutes. Add lemon zest and coriander, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
In a large bowl, combine pork, cheese, bread, and egg. Add vegetable mixture and season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using your hands, mix until ingredients are combined. Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet; form into a 4-by-10-inch loaf. Bake until meatloaf is cooked through, 40 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let rest 15 minutes before slicing.