Sunday Best v.194

Rest by Winslow Homer, 1885

• Entertainment Weekly spells out the new rules of spoilers.
• Subway riders are surprised when a woman offers them slices of cake.
• Gillian Jacobs speaks emoji.
• A baby that takes care of business.
• A haunting look at what's left of the Sarajevo Olympics.
• Children reenact the Oscar nominees.
• Rare pics of Old Hollywood.
• Insider dish on the figure skating world.

Collage Inspiration

Two collages I completed on Sunday.

As you know, I'm newly OBSESSED with collaging. It's really the perfect art activity for cold winter days and nights. Cutting out tiny little details while marathoning "House of Cards" is basically a perfect February Sunday. I've never particularly explored collage, but I have ALWAYS been a paper hoarder. I usually snip out any images that I find arresting before I throw away magazines, and I love tiny pretty things. This is a great outlet for that hoarding tendency!

Here are some mixed media artists whose work has inspired me. I've found myself rediscovering their work, most especially Joseph Cornell, one of my all-time favorites!

Max Ernst pioneered the idea of surrealist collages, mixing and matching pieces and parts to create sometimes humorous, sometimes frightening, sometimes sexual assemblages. It was an exhibit of his work that first inspired Joseph Cornell to combine the paper ephemera he'd been collecting.

Fellow DaDaist and Surrealist Kurt Schwitters, an artist whose love of typography was prominent in his collages.

Joseph Cornell was basically the Emily Dickenson of collages and assemblages, a recluse whose surrealist assemblages were romantic and childlike, full of nostalgia. He started out with simple collages, but soon branched into dioramas...something I'd really like to explore down the line!

Modern collages have been popping up a lot in both their paper and digital forms. I totally want to make a copy-cat version of this one by Martin O'Neill. Love it!

Sunday Best v.193

I'm still hard at work collaging! Something about winter just brings out the crafty in me. Spent most of the day cutting and gluing and watching House of Cards...perfect lazy (yet productive!) Sunday.

Here are my favorite links of the week:

• A former Lego ad star speaks out about its new attitude toward gendered toys.
• What it feels like to place fourth at the Olympics.
• This is so stupid it's awesome.
• Can't help but laugh at the Shoshi Games.
• An artist has reinvented the door!
• A guide to dating Seinfeld.
• The greatest school closing announcement ever.
• Why writers are the worst about procrastinating.
• How to close the gap between your ability and your taste: keep working at it.
• Just another way the Canadians are kicking ass at the Olympics.
• Stars, they're just like us and take horrible class photos.

Wine Club: Valentine's Labels

Wine Club met up for its annual sampling of wines of romance last week. The rules are simple: choose a romantic or suggestive label and see if the contents are as alluring as the designs! 

•  Temptation Zinfandel: This zin is a blend of zinfandel grapes from several regions, and has hints of red fruits, including strawberry. 
• Lo Tengo Malbec: I brought this spicy malbec, which was a big crowd-pleaser if I do say so myself. It has hints of blueberry and sweet plum.
• Dearly Beloved Red: This Trader Joe's wine might be inexpensive, but it ain't bad! It's an extremely drinkable red, blended from not one, not two, but five grapes: zinfandel, merlot, petite syrah, syrah and Cab Franc.

 Wink Red: This red table wine has flavors of ripe berries, with a smooth finish. Easy breezy, just like its cover girl.

•  Be Flirty Pink Moscato: I'm a sucker for girly, sweet, wimpy Kool Aid-y wines, so of course I loved this! It's sweet and sparkly, just like it should be.

• Chocolate Box Truffle Moscato: Another delicious, sweet, sparkly moscato. I can't get enough, and that label is damn near the cutest I've ever seen.

Have a very sweet and romantic Valentine's Day, whether it's with your significant other, a Galentine's Day or a bottle for yourself and your Netflix!

Midcentury Office Chair Conundrum

As I mentioned last week, I picked up this 60's rosewood desk chair with the intention of getting it reupholstered.

The current fabric is an ugly 80's pattern that does nothing to bring out the warmth of the wood. Being the naive little darling I am, I imagined that would be 3 yards of fabric, max and thus, might not be too expensive. I'll wait for you to stop laughing at my ignorance.

So far I've only gotten one quote, but it confirmed my suspicions: the gorgeous solid rosewood back makes this a trickier job than most, plus it needs a good welt (cording) around all the sides...definitely not a job for amateurs! The quote I received estimated a couple hundred bucks, which is really only worth it if I expect to have it my entire life, or if I think I could someday sell it for more than that. I'm torn, because I totally love its unique shape and that rosewood is gorgeous, but I also seriously doubt I could ever re-sell it for more than the total cost. (You never know, though...perfectly preserved chairs like this go for more than $1,000 on 1stDibs...but I'm no antique dealer!)

So what would you do? I'm kind of inclined to save my pennies up and spring for it down the line, but that makes me afraid I'll never do it and just end up getting rid of it after a couple moves. Thoughts?

Sunday Best v.192

I spent all of Sunday cutting out snippets to make myriad collages. The urge came out of nowhere and was SO FUN, but truly sucked up my whole day. I just cut paper and watched Olympics, and it was blissful. Needless to say, it meant I also forgot to post my Sunday Best!

• Why it's bad advice to say, "Do What You Love."
• The most amazing local Super Bowl ad.
• What happens when you grow up with Facebook.
• A fascinating interview with Lorne Michaels.
• Get better answers when you ask better questions.
• The city of Portsmouth has a great, sensitive Facebook page.
• A crazy idea: equal marriages might mean less sex.
• Raw celebrity portraits by Chuck Close.
• The most important timeline: George Clooney's pranking history.
• LOL for real: the biggest Jeopardy fails.
• An incredibly touching Facebook movie.

I Spy: Midcentury Modern Hunting in Richmond

 I don't think I can pinpoint it to a certain date, but somewhere along the way I fell head over heels in love with midcentury modern furniture, which refers to anything from the 1940s-1970s. It's had a huge resurgence in recent years, so I know a big part of the obsession came from magazines and blogs. But the first time I remember realizing I loved '60s furniture was my sophomore year in college, when I was creating a collage out of Eames chairs trimmed from magazines and I was just in love. My in-laws have a home full of it, and I love all of it!

I know I should be careful not to end up locked into an obsession that frankly, can get a little pricey. Truthfully, I don't ever want to have a home so stuck in one era that it looks like a Smithsonian exhibit. But, I can't resist the pull of tapered legs, warm teak and rosewood, brass and chrome accents and clean lines! So when I stumbled upon Born Again Furnishings, a Richmond-based consignment shop specializing in midcentury furnishings, it beckoned me like a siren and like Odysseus, I just couldn't resist. I hope you realize what a big step it is for me to tell you about my new treasure trove when I haven't even had the chance to clean the place out! Here are some items that caught my attention:

 Ultra-modern and timeless teak-and-chrome lamps. Trust me when I say these would go in ANY living room. They're sleek and could add a little edge to even the most traditional of living rooms.

 This table and chairs were being sold as a set, which is a shame because the table is clearly the winner here. I pictured it in front of a breakfast nook banquette, with a bowl of oranges on top. The legs are so sculptural and cool.

 Lucite will always be popular with those of us who were obsessed with Domino Magazine...I've seen a lot of acrylic and lucite furniture, but a wine rack was new to me! This $100 one would be a great showcase for your collection.

 They had several really great dining tables and buffets, including this little buffet that would work perfectly as a multifunction storage piece. Use it as a bar, use it in an office...heck, fill it with blankets and board games. This workhorse would always be ready to serve.

 I thought this lamp looked like something you'd buy at West Elm right now. Interesting, timeless...even Japanese-looking in its minimalism and imperfect lines (I love the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi).

 A story: My in-laws actually have the lounge version of Ingmar Relling's Siesta chair and it is so beautiful. It has just the right balance of sculptural elegance and smushy, well-worn comfort. It has a striking silhouette...definitely not the kind of chair you stick in a corner. This $440 bad boy looks gorgeous from all sides.

This dresser, despite its discoloration on the bottom drawer, was the best of all eras. It has the warm wood and clean lines of midcentury modern furniture, but the curved bowfront hearkens back to classic styles of the mid-1800s. It truly would work in any room.

I did end up leaving with something...part of me wonders if it was unwise, because I will definitely have to get it reupholstered if I want to keep it. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and in the moment, my heart wanted a 1960s rosewood swivel chair. More on that later!

Taking Myself On a Date to the Art Museum

 Do you ever take yourself on dates? I think it can be so rejuvenating, both for you and for your friends/partner. Sometimes (often, actually) I really want to go somewhere or do something that doesn't remotely interest Sean. He is always a good sport about being dragged to art museums, but this past Saturday, I had no plans and he was at work and I just had the urge to get out of town.

So I took myself on a date to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where I saw an exhibit on Hollywood Costumes and fell head over heels in love with their exhibit on how they commissioned a piece from Ryan McGinniss. Up until I visited the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art on a whim last month, I don't think I had ever gone to a museum by myself before. I've always loved talking about the art or artifacts with my friends and family, so it's been a surprisingly fun endeavor to go completely alone.  It means I can look as long as I want, move on if I'm not interested and be quiet and contemplative. It seemed a little silly to drive an hour away to see a couple exhibits, but it was nice to have some creativity-boosting me time, and it gave me lots to tell Sean about when I got home. I recommend it!

 The Ryan McGinniss exhibit is a brilliant way of taking the viewer into his "studio" without anyone going to Brooklyn or without him coming to Richmond. Through blown-up photographs, tables with screens and a projection of him working, guests could get a sense of how the project was completed. It was one of the most accessible exhibits I've ever seen in terms of breaking down the process for the viewer.

 The VMFA invited McGinniss, a native Virginian, to draw inspiration from their collections and he derived graphic design-inspired "logos" that were then screenprinted on panels to create a giant piece called, "Art History Is Not Linear."

To show how he created his derivations, the museum is exhibiting some of the inspiration pieces beside examples of his symbols. They even had a free poster-size chart that's like the Rosetta Stone to understanding his piece. Is that not the coolest thing ever?

Once you begin to recognize the concept, you'll see each piece contains hundreds of years of art movements condensed into one artwork. So brilliant!

It was a great little day and I even had a chance to stop into a new-to-me midcentury modern consignment shop...more about that later this week!

How about you? Do you have a favorite place to take yourself on dates? Any recommendations?

Jack Daniels Mac & Cheese

 I have to beg your forgiveness! I made this mac and cheese about three weeks ago — eternity in blog years — and it's been languishing as a draft. In preparation for watching the Golden Globes, Ashleigh and I tackled this recipe for Jack Daniels' Mac & Cheese that's been making the Pinterest rounds. It was delicious...but not without its share of bacon disasters!

After preheating the oven to 400 degrees, I started out by boiling 1/2 cup of whiskey until it reduced to about 2 tablespoons. I set up a little assembly line of bacon, the whiskey and a mixture of brown sugar and a little cayenne pepper. I drenched each slice of bacon in the whiskey, then pressed it into the sugar, then added it to a foil-lined pan.

 We then popped the bacon in to bake....and after a while, we smelled a little smoke. It took us an unreasonably long time to realize HOLY CRAP that's the bacon we smell. We opened the oven and it truly looked like the moment Cher realizes she forgot she was baking something in "Clueless," with smoke pouring out of the oven and charred black sticky bacon. Whoops! Not a big deal though...luckily we had more bacon, so we just started all over.

Meanwhile, we prepared a box of elbow macaroni and in another pan, mixed 3 tablespoons of butter and flour, 2 cups of milk, a tablespoon of whiskey, cheddar, provolone cheese and spices. It got scary there for a sec (I think I need to get some Wondra next time I want to make a smooth thick cheese sauce) because the flour mixture just wasn't getting smooth enough fast enough, but somehow it all worked out.

 We added the cheese mixture to the macaroni...

 Pulled out our glorious candied bacon...

And put it all together. The verdict? I actually though the mac and cheese wasn't quite as good as other versions I've made (I'm partial to my smoked gouda mac), but I'm not sure I can ever have mac without candied bacon again. It's THAT good and adds that much to the dish.

Sunday Best v.191

I have been the worst blogger these days, but I like to imagine absence makes the heart grow fonder? We have been buried under snow for the past two weeks (a truly rare occurrence in Tidewater Virginia) and absolutely OBSESSED and preoccupied with finding a new home. Nothings really wrong with our current place, but when you get the itch, it demands to be scratched. We've been touring some places, seen some great stuff and some not-so-great stuff, and it's generally all we've been thinking or talking about. This is a weird crossroads to have reached; no reason to move, per se, except a desire to switch it up. Thank you for bearing with me!

• What happens if you try to bum rush Jim Cantore.
• One woman tries dressing like Beyonce at work.
• Susan Sontag's 10 rules of parenting.
• Anna Kendrick geeks out over meeting Beyonce.
• Every trick Harvey Weinstein has pulled in Oscar campaigns.
• A Full House reunion on Jimmy Fallon.
• What happens to clothes left at the dry cleaners.
• Life advice from Tami Taylor.
• A musical ode to Craigslist's missed connections.