City Living

The skyline.. 

Well not THE City, but Raleigh city.  We decided to explore options for living in downtown Raleigh to see if we could find something interesting.. The result is that there are choices. Some good, some not so good.  Location, as it is with all real estate is key.  The primary choices are: Glenwood South and actually downtown. The downtown locations are Fayetteville Street, and then peripheral areas, one of which is Moore Square, another is closer to Artspace.  Here are a couple of the choices...

West at North

West is in Glenwood South, with some views overlooking both the downtown area and the bustle-bustle area of Glenwood South with all of it's Saturday night hustle.  You can catch the R line here to anywhere downtown- it seems the R line is the transportation of choice.  It's free.  It's frequent. And it's safe. But Glenwood South is not actually in downtown Raleigh. By bus it's just a couple of minutes away.  The area seems to attract people from all over Raleigh.   Helios, the venerable Rockford, Armadillo Grill, the Hibernian, 42nd Street, Bogart's, Sullivans, and 518 are all within walking distance of North.  The largest unit is 3 bedrooms, with one of the bedrooms being a teeny interior, windowless room. The view from the 14th floor is great and the condos are flooded with light. Other Glenwood South choices are 510 Glenwood, 222 Glenwood, the Paramount, the Quorum, 

On Moore Square, a couple blocks east of Fayetteville Street, there are several living choices.. The Dawson, Park Devereaux, and Hue which is in trouble and appears to be changing hands to Trammel Crow. 

The Big Daddy of downtown living is RBC Plaza. It's a pretty tall building, right smack in the middle of towntown near the Progress Performing Arts Center (is it really called that- I hate that it's called that. I wish Progress Energy would have used their cash to reduce my utility bills), the Convention Center, and perhaps more importantly community gathering places like The Raleigh Times, Sitti, Oxford, and Busy Bee. And lots more of an ever-more-vibant selection of restaurants and music venues.  

Looks tempting, but the pool looks like a small duckpond. Don't think
 you can actually do laps in that unless you are a Barbie. 

Speaking of the restaurants, to me it's all about not so much the restaurants but the conviviality of their presence.  It means you walk outside and there are actual people-- not just the occasional speed walker- but lots and lots of milling, dining, coffee drinking, browsing people in infinite variety. Living in the 'burbs can be isolating, especially if you don't have kids around with their constant comings and goings and influx of friends and traumas and fun. 

So, we are going to tool around downtown and I just may post some photos of our discoveries later today. Live downtown? You like it? But how the heck do you bring in the groceries....

Summer Reading in Review..

.. but fun books anytime, obviously.

I am just completing the last of Stieg Larrson's trilogy. Too bad Larrson did not live to see his enormous success... not only from his books but from the movies pending. Amazon is offering all three books for $41.47 and I believe this falls into the bargain category. They are: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (and there is a movie available on Netfix with subtitles), The Girl Who Played with Fire, and the Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's nest.  The books are referred to as the "Millenium Series" and reflect Larrson's struggle as a journalist against racism and right-wing extremism.  In 1995 when eight people were killed in Sweden by Neo-Nazis, he was the impetus behind the effort through the Expo-foundation to expose Neo-Nazi activity in Sweden.  The books are a bit dense with details, complex mysteries surrounding the travails of the girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth Salander.

Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, is the winner of the LA Times Book Award for Current Interest.  This is an insiders look at the pre-and post Katrina world of New Orleans through the eyes of main character Abdul Zeitoun, a Syrian-American home builder in New Orleans, married, father of four. Following the flood, through which he remained rather than evacuate, he traversed the city in an old canoe rescuing and feeding people and animals. During the brouhaha that ensued following the flood and the chaos of mingled authorities, Zeitoun himself was victimized but I'm not gonna tell you how.



The Blue Sweater is the pick of several colleges and universities this year for freshman reading. The sub title is "Bridging the Gap Between Rich ad Poor in an Interconnected World". Jacqueline Novogratz left a lucrative career in corporate banking to work with women's groups in microfinance, working to merge market systems with development and social empowerment.  Interesting if you want to know more about microfinance.

Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption, by Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton, is unusual in many ways.  First, it is co-authored by the woman who was raped at knifepoint by a man who broke into her apartment while she was sleeping.  Ronald Cotton is the man who was convicted of the rape and served years in prison before he was exonerated through a DNA test.  This is a story of how the "system" can fail, how forgiveness can heal, and how justice can -sometimes- prevail. Jennifer and Ronald are both North Carolinians.

Also worth a BIG kudos is Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese.  I read this last year, but it remains one of my all-time favorites.  Some reviewers say the book tries to be too many things, but I found it fascinating.  So, we are off to the beach where I hope to finish Hornet's Nest and tromp around through some great antique/consignment shops while the guys golf..

Happy Reading!

Wine Design

So, a quick post.

A group of us went to this place called Wine Design.  ( no, not whine design. you actually bring your own wine drink and paint, haha).

Here is the link.

http://www.wineanddesignnc.com/


Okay, so it's not a link.  But here is their little blurb. Its at 231 Bickett Blvd in Raleigh.

ENJOY A NIGHT OUT WHILE UNCORKING YOUR CREATIVITY WITH US AT WINE AND DESIGN !

Uncork your Creativity - Bring your own bottle of wine (or beverage of choice) and enjoy an unforgettable evening filled with friends, fun, and fabulous art! You supply your cocktails, and we’ll supply the rest.

At WINE AND DESIGN, all you have to do is sign up, show up, and sip up!  Your canvas, paints, paintbrushes, and corkscrew will be waiting for you as a local artist provides you with step-by-step instructions on creating that night’s featured painting.  You go home with new friends, great memories, and a newly-created masterpiece that shows off your “inner artist”.  

We were there for about 2 hours.  And guess what we all painted!!

YES! Pears! (reference my earlier post "Pears Are Definitely Us". 

To the point, here is my painting..  Yes, we are adding it to the pear collection, at least until one of my art collector friends pokes fun at it.. And, hey, it was fun!

Fancy Feet

The shoes this season are wonderful, especially the boots, booties, cropped boots, shoe/boots, and anything resembling a boot.  These are my favorite picks, but keep in mind they are not necessarily picks I would wear. I'm just saying I adore them..

Anthro Mahogany Ankle Boots. I am not sure
why they are called mahogany, which to me is
an oxblood color. The one review says they are
more of a gray or taupe.   $468. 

First choice.  These are from Anthropologie.  I love them, but no one in our family will ever own them unless the rest of the world hates them and they end up 75% off.

Wishlist Overthekee Boot - $298

These are from Free People and someone in our family received these as a birthday gift.  She says they are awesome, and soft but not as soft as they will be once broken in. She likes the fact that they are harness boots, flat, and fairly un-ostentatious looking.

They are called Wishlist OvertheKnee Boot and they are $298. 

So, by now it is evident that I am not a big dresser-upper.  Which is why I selected these last shoes that will fit in this space.  They are also by Free People ( no I am not 17). They are called Mainland Distressed Boat Shoe, and anyone who is from North Carolina, or a sailor, or a person who is into casual wear will know that these are a completely worn in version of  Sperry Topsiders.  I have some relatively new Topsiders in my closet, but I don't want them new.  I want them old and grungy looking like this.  The price of grunge? $138.  I know my brand new Topsiders were not this expensive...so maybe I just need to put them on and tromp around for a few years. 

Ottoman reupholstery..

Okay, just to clarify, I have absolutely no intention of reupholstering anything by myself.  Whew.  Having said that, I have an ottoman that is covered in some sort of chenille fabric. I put my feet on it practically everyday, sometimes for more hours than I care to admit.  I was never very fond of the fabric to begin with, I have to admit, so it does not pain me terribly to be reupholstering it.

What did pain me was to learn at a local design shop that I would have to purchase two hides at $200 each to reupholster this ottoman in a nice buttery leather.  Then they told me that it would cost me about $400 to actually have the work done.  Standing there with my mouth open, I said "thank you but, errr. No."  I mean I could easily find a new otttoman of some description for $800.  I have no memory of what I paid for the one I have, but I know it is of decent quality.  Here it is, somewhat worse for wear. See what I mean?

On my recent trip to the flea market here in Raleigh I went to visit the leather lady.  She has dozens of hides in all colors- dark brown, dark green, deep red, and the tobacco/caramel color I was looking for... Several of the hides she had were very LARGE. Now, I don't want to think about this too much, in fact I don't even really relish using the term "hide".  I like to think of it instead as "irregular yardage".  I hope the PETA people don't picket me.. ahhhh my readership is not large enough to extend that far undoubtedly.

I picked up the caramel colored "piece" and it is buttery soft, smooth, mostly regular in tone and color.  It is perfect.  It is very large.  So I called an upholsterer and they said to send them a photo to make sure we could make do with ONE errrr "piece" instead of the two "pieces" the design shop had recommended for my 33 inch square, tufted ottoman.  Apparently tufting requires more material.  So, I have done that and am waiting to hear back from them that the one piece will do.

The cost of my flea market find?  $70.  Tax included.

So here is the photo of the leather draped over the ottoman that I sent to the upholsterer.  I hope they say yes, you have enough leather and in a week or so I can show you a photo of the reupholstered ottoman!!

Bag People

 At our house, we are bag people.  Christmas and many birthdays and sometimes for no reason at all bags just appear.  We all need carry-alls, book bags, camera bags, briefcase bags, travel bags, you name it.  We have far too many bags to actually use on a regular basis. Many years ago- like 20- I bought a heavy leather caramel colored back that clips together and and has one shoulder strap.  Had I actually used it, it would probably be nice and soft by now, but I never actually used it because a) it is heavy and b) it is so deep that if you actually put something in it it falls into the 18 inch depth never to be found again.It looks like this.




But still, I keep my eye out for bags all the time.

Here are some cool ones:

This is by Frost River.  It is called the Grand Marais Mail Bag and it is only $50.  It is made from oiled canvas, designed to be hearty and weather proof.  If I just had some mail to carry around..

The second bag is Frost River's small Field Satchel. It's $90 and its only about 8x 8.  It comes in a larger size.  Now I don't hang out in the field much, but this looks like it would make me organize my stuff better..

This summer on my birthday my peeps gave me a JPK Paris nylon bucket bag.  Mine is brilliant yellow. I love the chunky gold hardware and the cheery color.  The drawback? Since it is definitely a bucket, stuff gravitates to the bottom and is difficult to locate.

Here are some other cool bags I have my eye on, have no use for.  So maybe just posting them here will be enough.

Chloe "Heloise" hobo.. only $1595

A. wants a TimBuk@ messenger for school

Gucci- for that great little trip I keep thinking I will take

What is your bag?

A Day at the Flea Market..

It's the first day in a while that has not been hot as blazes, so I decided to venture out to the flea market here in Raleigh.  Apparently I was not the only soul with that impulse.. it was packed! I stayed and wandered around far longer than I had intended and by the time I was leaving around 3:00 there were hoards of cars and people with red t-shirts on, girls with little short black dresses on (all of them blonde) and policemen directing traffic everywhere-- a State game.  Which of course I would not be paying any attention to.. upon googling I found that State is playing Western Carolina.  Who would think that would be a big deal?  And I did read the headlines today about the unfortunate UNC team and their qualifying brouhaha..  I digress.  I was continuing my quest for a small bookshelf of some sort, and I found a few reasonably priced possibilities. But ever keen for a bargain, I did come across a great mirror booth. They had mirrors of all description, including some incredibly huge mirrors. They also do picture framing and canvas stretching.   I bought three of them. Total price for these babies?  $125.

This is the largest. It is about 40 inches wide by
24 inches tall- and of course it can be placed the other way around..

This is a close up of the frame.
It is sort of burled.

This one also has beveled glass and is sort of warm
toasty pecan .. and has some worminess to it. 

This is the smallest mirror- 18" x 24". It is sort of
a filigreed tin in a soft gray color. 

I got one more great bargain, but I will show it to you later when I can take a shot of what it is for..  I will only keep one of the mirrors- one for J and one for A.. right now I am thinking we will keep the round one.. although J said he was interested in it too.  ahhh weelllllll.

Pears are definitely US.

My love affair with pears began a long time ago, but ripened when we renovated our kitchen 5 or 6 years ago.  To celebrate, I bought a large painting featuring some of my favorite colors and, yes, fragrant, shapely, yellow/green hued pears.  Little by little I added pear stuff: a small painting here, a marble pear there, a pear dishtowel or picture frame or.. whatever.  Yesterday an old dear friend gifted me with stacking pear boxes. As I was contemplating where to place them my interest in my old buddy the pear was revived.  My friend obtained the stacking metal boxes at Chapel Hill furniture store, the Red Window.

http://www.redwindow.net/Red_Window_Website/Home.html



Although the boxes stack, I placed them separately for the time being so I could enjoy them in different rooms!  They may or may not stay as they are.  Aren't they sweet?

Not obvious, but these are different sizes.. 

This is my first pear painting, surrounded
by other fruity friends
 acquired along the way. 

Walking through my house,
I have more pears
than I have sense, it would appear. Painting by Karen Dibenedetto. 

an ebay find.. 

Another wall of fruitiness..

And so, my collection is happily enhanced.  There are actually more in my house, but I don't think any more will fit in today's blog space.  What is your collection?  Is it fruity or fine..? 

The Venerable Work Shirt: Then and Now

 

When I was my daughter's age, a key element of my wardrobe was a chambray work shirt or two.  Mine were Levi's brand, in a men's small.  I am not sure they were even made for women then.. It was a light blue chambray (a kind of cotton that is much thinner then denim), collared, a little tab at the collar, I think double front pockets with a little place in one of them for a pen and the little Lev's tab on the left breast pocket, long sleeved, long tails.  I wore the shirt in phases:  freshly ironed, somewhat frazzled, and completely grubby.  During the freshly ironed phase I would wear it with jeans, tucked in, and maybe a blazer. Or untucked with a white turtleneck (those were big) under it and a hand-tooled leather belt slung low on the hip.  As the shirt became grosser I would knot it in front, mostly unbuttoned, wear it with grungy jeans and my Frye boots (which A wears today).  Hand made leather items were big, so I had hand made leather sandals, a hand made brown belt, and a saddle colored hand made leather purse. This was sort of the look , minus the classy shoes.





Recently, A has been interested in a chambray work shirt. Unfortunately, mine is no longer around.  Boo hoo.  So I looked around and it seems they are on the market in abundance, both in "my" style, and in modified versions. I could not, however, find a duplicate of my Levi's workshirt.. Here is what I found...

Gap

J Crew

Banana Republic-$69.50

This one is pretty close to my old shirt- $14.99 on ebay (plus shipping).  The work shirt revival is almost as dear to my heart as Frye boots.  What is your old clothing passion?