The travels and musings of a vintage-inclined modern mind.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Wild Weather Weekend
It was one of those weekends on the Oregon Coast, the kind where you just curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and watch the storms come in off the ocean. We are currently experiencing the remnants of Japanese typhoon as I write this (i.e. 80 mile an hour wind gusts). That is just one of the many interesting aspects of life on this sparsely populated coast; we regularly get hurricanes come on shore, but they are never named and are hardly ever reported in the national news. At any rate, some pictures of the storm...
Friday, September 27, 2013
On The Hunt For...
My current vintage décor obsession these days is Chinoiserie, which
according to Wikipedia is defined as “a French term, signifying ‘Chinese-esque.’" Chinoserie vignettes are usually characterized
by beautiful hand painted wallpaper (think De Gournay), rich & heavy fabrics (think Shumacher), intricate Chinese Chippendale furniture, and beautiful Asian antiques. Unfortunately, I can afford none of those things. Alas, I am now on a mission to find whatever pieces of Chinoiserie decor that I can find in my favorite flea markets and junk shops; hoping and praying that someone doesn't know the gems that they have! I've already made one score, purchasing these gorgeous foo dogs at my local Goodwill for $10 a couple of weeks ago.
Now, I am on a mission to find a great Chinoiserie mirror. I've gathered a couple of couple of examples below, but as you can see, these mirrors do not come cheap on the open market. That will only make it all the more sweet when I do come across one in that is buried and forgotten somewhere. I will undoubtedly do a little happy dance when I do find one, and then blog about it. Wish me luck!
1.$229 at House of Pemberley on Etsy.com 2. $595 at Serena
and Lily 3. $415 at One Kings Lane 4. $1799 at One Kings Lane 5. $395 at One
Kings Lane 6. $915 at claytongrayhome.com 7. $1765 at treillageonline.com
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Gilded Emerald Living Room
All of my friends laugh at me because I am constantly rearranging and switching out furniture and rugs in my house. Hence, I decided to try a little experiment on Polyvore to try and design a living room that I would never rearrange. My recipe? A touch of Chinoiserie, a dash of emerald, a pinch of Paris, and a hint of brass. Voila! I give you my perfect living room...
Ellsworth sofa $2999 (Horchow) 2. Linen Knit Green 18” pillow $35 (Crate and Barrel) 3. Gold Silk Bead Embriodered Pillow $25.40 (The Home Centric on Esty.com) 4. Surya Adana Navy Blue Area Rug $509 (rugstudio.com) 5. Ceramic Elephant Table $225 (gracioushome.com) 6. Meridian Coffee Table $599 (Z gallerie) 7. Gold Openwork Chinoiserie 37 1/2" Square Wall Mirror $240 (Lampsplus.com) 8. Arietta Chair $999 (Crate and Barrel) 9. Living by Christiane Lemieux Birds print cushion $64 (houseoffraser.co.uk) 10. Handpainted Han Chinese Cabinet $600 (okadirect.com) 11. Vintage Brass Pineapple (Etsy.com) 12. &13. Paris 8x10 photo prints $30 each (Rebecca Plotnick Photgraphy on Etsy.com)
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Barcelona Market
This last visit to Barcelona, I finally managed to visit the
Mercat de la Boqueria, a huge food market that sits right off of the Rambla. Don’t
make the same mistake I did and go to Barcelona twice before making the market
a stop on your third trip! This place is a veritable paradise not only for foodies
but for photographers as well, with colorful displays of food that are artfully
presented. Between the sights, sounds, and smells (not all of them nice) be
prepared to for your senses to be overloaded when you walk into the market.
Unfortunately, the hotel I was staying at (NH Barcelona Centro) did not have
kitchen facilities; otherwise I would have been able to get into real trouble
here in terms of purchasing all sorts of good food. As it was, I settled for a
treat at one of the many pastry vendors, and stopped at a spice vendor. In
addition to every kind of ground pepper you could imagine, they also sold large
quantities of saffron at VERY reasonable prices. I bought a small 2 inch box
jam-packed with it for all of 5 euros as a gift for my father, the cook in the
family.
As a side note, if you are looking for reasonable accommodations
in Barcelona, NH Barcelona Centro is a very good option. Though lacking in
kitchen facilities, this hotel provides reasonably priced rooms in a
centralized by (fortunately quiet) location on a side street of the Rambla.
Anyone who has traveled in Spain before knows that the Spanish love to carouse
till all hours of the night. This hotel provides you the opportunity to be
close to all of the action, but still be able to sleep!
Monday, September 23, 2013
Friday, September 20, 2013
Setting Moon
I snapped this photo on my way into work the other morning; the setting moon (as the sun rises) over the Pacific on the Oregon Coast.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Barcelona Flea
Back in May, I decided to celebrate my birthday in one of my very favorite places, Barcleona. If you've never been here, I encourage you to add it to your bucket place. The art, architecture, weather, and shopping make it one of the most vibrant places to see in the world. I always find something new when I go there. This last visit, I made a point of spending a morning at one of the oldest flea markets in Europe, Mercat Del Encants. This nondescript parking lot of vendors and stalls is about to undergo a big transformation, which means I will be heading back to see the update in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, here are some of the items that I found:
A vintage Spanish coffee grinder,
An ornate Rococo solid brass plant stand
All in all, it was a very interesting experience to try and navigate this market by myself for the first time, but I feel like I scored some good deals on some interesting stuff. A word of caution; all the web research I did prior to my visit to El Encants indicated that I should try and bargain with the vendors. My experience? Not so much. I'll be the first to admit that my Spanish is not great, and unless you can speak it fluently with a Catalan dialect, I would refrain from trying to bargain. I felt and (undoubtedly) looked silly. Despite the language barriers, there was one vendor in particular I found, Jose Robles, who was particularly willing to listen to my broken Spanish. Jose also had two of the best stocked booths at the market, packed with very interesting things at reasonable prices (or at least prices that an inexperienced American was willing to pay). He was the source for the 2 items I purchased above. If you want a glimpse at what you'll find at El Encants, check out his website: www.joserobles.com.
In the meantime, happy hunting!
Image source: ca.wikipedia.org
A vintage Spanish coffee grinder,
All in all, it was a very interesting experience to try and navigate this market by myself for the first time, but I feel like I scored some good deals on some interesting stuff. A word of caution; all the web research I did prior to my visit to El Encants indicated that I should try and bargain with the vendors. My experience? Not so much. I'll be the first to admit that my Spanish is not great, and unless you can speak it fluently with a Catalan dialect, I would refrain from trying to bargain. I felt and (undoubtedly) looked silly. Despite the language barriers, there was one vendor in particular I found, Jose Robles, who was particularly willing to listen to my broken Spanish. Jose also had two of the best stocked booths at the market, packed with very interesting things at reasonable prices (or at least prices that an inexperienced American was willing to pay). He was the source for the 2 items I purchased above. If you want a glimpse at what you'll find at El Encants, check out his website: www.joserobles.com.
In the meantime, happy hunting!
Image source: ca.wikipedia.org
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