A quick post today, just to share with you some new purchases that have brought a bit of freshness into my home. I love these kantha quilts! Each one is a unique combination of colors and patterns, and they can be used as bedspreads, to cover a couch, wall-hangings, even tablecloths. Kantha is a type of embroidery popular in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, that originated from the way housewives mended old clothes by taking out a strand of thread from the colorful border of their saris and making simple designs with them. Old sari fabric is used to create these hand-stitched quilts, commonly known as nakshi kantha. The decorative running stitch is similar to Japanese sashiko quilting.

to dye for

I recently bought 5 of them, as I found the various prints and patterns so intoxicating. In truth, I am imagining them as bedspreads for the guestrooms in our someday-to-be-built house in Forestburgh. For now, one is disguising the large flat-screen TV and another will go in the barn, our summer sleeping quarters.

so revealing

Each one features at least two patterns, but they are often a random mix of various prints and palettes.

keeps me in stitches

The stitching gives them a wonderful handmade quality, and some even have patches where the fabric has been mended. This adds to their charm.

jarring effect

I popped into The Future Perfect on Great Jones Street the other week after having lunch here (divine kale sandwich) and fell in love with this wallpaper, which I am considering for the bedroom, and the work of potter (or “international clay boy and vesselist,” as he calls himself) Jered Nelson. I’m sure you can see it’s right up my Santa-Cruz-hippie-Sinophile-upstate-’70s-boho-chic alley. I transferred my soy sauce into this gorgeous little jar.

stirring pots

I also got this pitcher from him, and both pieces go rather well with a recent gift from my beloved friend, ceramist Mirena Kim. I’m keeping brown rice vinegar in her lovely aqua jar, a sweet spot of color in my earthy kitchen.

Is it really Friday again? I’ve been up to my ears in work and trying to get on top of things before we leave for our trip to Venice. We’re going for the black-tie 50th birthday celebration of a dear friend, and have rented a charming little garden apartment in Dorsoduro for the first week of May. To say I’m looking forward to the time away would be the understatement of the century. But I’m also praying for rain at home (it’s been bone-dry here) and hotly anticipating a summer of gardening and foraging (more on the latter next week), both of which are off to a pretty good start. I want to share with you a few of the early beauties that announce spring, as well as a bunch of links I’ve been saving up for things to eat, do, ponder and buy.

petal pusher

At first I though this was some sort of wood violet, but I can’t find it in any wildflower guide, so now I wonder if a gardener of bygone days didn’t plant this delicate specimen. Anyone know what it is?

thrillium, trillium

I planted a couple of these beautiful trillium last year and they have reappeared much to my delight! Most of these plants, including the muscari up top, are in our backyard which is shaded by a huge pine. It’s dark and damp back there, so these woods-loving plants are at home.

sweet little ladies

These are bluets, also known as Quaker Ladies, and they have sprung up along sunny paths throughout the garden.

wild thing

I planted this wild ginger a few years ago and had given up hope when I saw it making a rather vigorous comeback under a small dogwood. I will be on the lookout for its understated but very beautiful red flowers.

false friend

This is a false morel, a poisonous trickster to be avoided in the kitchen. By the time I saw it, disguised amongst the leaf litter, the slugs had gone to town.

I hope you are all enjoying your own season of renewal, and feeling that sense of optimism and excitement that comes with casting off your woolens and turning your face to the sun.

Got violets of your own? Consider this lovely jelly.

Loaded down with Meyer lemons? (A delicious fate!) 100 ways to use them up, here.

Isn’t this the perfect summer tote? Actually, I think it’s one of these. (And I’m obsessed with my leather zip pouch from here, too.)

More ceramics porn. I recently bought a couple of these pieces and I am in love.

This lime pickle looks divine.

The latest eye-opening condiments, here and here.

A very fun video (just wish it wasn’t promoting a “light spread”)

Some lovely stationery, discovered in this week’s New York magazine article on all things artisanal in Brooklyn.

I also ordered some of this for my hirsute honey.

A cooking blog with a very fresh format, here.

You know I’m a longtime fan of Askinosie Chocolate, but I only recently discovered their extraordinary new (and already award-winning) CollaBARations. Licorice and chocolate? Yum.

Tired of getting junk mail? Do something about it here, and with this app.

Maybe you’d like to breathe some new life into a tired old chair or sofa with this convenient service.

Want to eat less meat? This guy has figured out a pretty great way.

And for sheer inspiration, watch this.

Have a wonderful weekend! xo

In September of 2009, after nearly 25 years in New York City, I decamped for the little cottage in Sullivan County that had been our weekend escape. It was among the best moves of my life. Recently, I read in World of Interiors magazine (one of my greatest sources of inspiration) about an artist residing in the most spare and beautiful cottage on the rocky coast of England. She said that being so far from the city enabled her to resist the trends and tug of consumerism so present in a throbbing metropolis, and fueled her artistic endeavors. Like her, I often go all day without speaking to anyone, except perhaps Titi, my boon feline companion. I am more in touch with my self and my creative impulses than ever before. I ebb and flow with the rhythm of the seasons now; the natural world is compelling and so alive to me. If this sort of existence tempts you, consider making a move of your own. There is an amazing little compound with a Victorian church for sale in the Hudson Valley that could be the answer to your dreams.

a house to worship

Ayumi Horie, a gifted studio potter, has lived for the past decade in this place that includes Cottekill church (1,000 sq ft) and a loft-like 2-bedroom house with an adjoining studio (1,900 sq ft). All of it is lovingly restored with thoughtful details and an artist’s eye. The yard is landscaped and there is a fenced-in garden. The buildings sit on just shy of an acre, minutes from the NYC bus line, Stone Ridge, Rosendale and High Falls, within two hours of New York City.

a sight for sore eyes

Ayumi is moving even further north to her home state of Maine, and she is hoping to pass this place on to someone community-minded who will carry on the church’s tradition of art (the previous owner was also an artist). The area is full of forward-thinking creative people, beautiful landscapes, farms and bucolic vistas.

the answer to your prayers

The house has new windows and walls, marble-floored bathrooms and radiant floors in the downstairs bedroom, bathroom and dressing room.

domestic bliss

The kitchen is flooded with light and equipped with all the amenities for someone who loves to cook and entertain.

oh the joy

The tub alone makes me want to live there. Imagine the peaceful hours you could spend here!

get to work

And I’m definitely drooling over the studio, a dedicated space for creating, building, working, dreaming, playing. Each of the three sections—church, house and studio—has its own entry, making the property flexible and functional in its use. All this for just $349,000.

So what are you waiting for? Find out more here. To see the spring bloom at the Cottekill Church, follow it here on Twitter.

Home again, home again. As much as I love to travel, sometimes I think coming home is the best part. Especially when the transition from balmy Hawaii to balmy New York is so smooth. (Minus the jet lag, of course.) Our trip to the Big Island was extraordinary, and I plan to tell you all about it, but I hit the ground running and have not yet had a chance to sort through all the photos, much less my thoughts. So that’s for next week. For now, a few glimpses of spring’s first signs—it’s arrived fast and furious in these parts—and links to some of my latest discoveries. I’m chomping at the bit to start foraging and have a long list of wild edibles I’m determined to find this season. By the way, I’ve missed you madly and realize all over again what a wonderful creative and social outlet this blog is for me.

the trillium are here

I’m excited to report that two trillium I planted last year have poked through the old pine needles and are making their gorgeously mottled green debut! I’ll definitely show you again once they’re further along.

not boring at all

The hellebores add a quiet drama to the garden early on, opening broad flat flowers in striking greens and purples. I plan to stock up on a bunch more this year as these are so pretty and reliable.

rhubarbarella!

The rhubarb is the first thing to spring up in the vegetable garden, although over-wintered scallions made it through and lovage, collards and anise hyssop are also making a tentative appearance.

wild thing

Garlic mustard (above) and nettles are just beginning to show in wet fields, and asparagus and Japanese knotweed won’t be far behind. I can’t wait to start feasting on the wild tastes of spring! A few of these soft garlic mustard leaves will add a sharp pungency to salads. I also like to make a pesto with it.

road food

I brought a bunch of these kale chips on vacation and they were devoured by our crew of ravenous volcano hikers. Although I like to make my own kale chips, I must admit these are super-crunchy and slathered with addictive nut and spice mixtures in flavors like spicy miso, Bombay ranch (insane) and sea salt and vinegar. New York magazine called them “Doritos for health nuts,” and they are not wrong. Order them here.

We drank oodles of coconut water when we were in Hawaii, and this is good stuff available here.

If these won’t inspire you to get into the garden, I don’t know what will. (You know I have a leather fetish.)

More ceramics porn. Have I mentioned how much I love stoneware??

Blog LOVE. Also this one, again. And this one, always.

Consider this for your next charitable donation.

I would dye for you. More on my latest obsession soon.

Marvel at these twin sisters and their rad embroidery skills.

Have a wonderful weekend! xoxo

With the equinox less than two weeks away, spring is in the air, quite literally. It smells of change, a watery freshness that has beckoned the migrating birds, the slumbering bears, the silent buds. The ground was speckled with an ethereal frosting of something this morning—teensy hail? powdery snow?—that’s already dissipating as I write this. The first sign of the new season, fragile yet hardy snowdrops, have popped up beneath the river birch. I leave for Hawaii on Sunday. With a couple of posts in the hopper, the blog won’t be completely silent this week, but travelogues won’t post until my return. This is a vacation, and vacation I will.

In anticipation of all there is to do on Hawaii’s Big Island, I’m packing binoculars (birds), flashlight (caves), hiking boots (volcanoes), bathing suit (black sand beaches), mosquito repellent (rainforest) and Euell Gibbon’s Beachcombers Guide (foraging). It should be an action-packed 10 days.

In the meantime, I’ve compiled a few links for you; some inspiration, a little food for thought. May you be transported!

This new online travel magazine looks promising

A great way to know what to read next

Start planning your garden

I’m obsessed with these pillows

I hear this will put some hair on your chest

These look ideal for getting organized

Some unusual combinations for excellent breakfasts or snacks

A sustainable resource reinvented for the 21st century…

…though I’m loving the book backlash

Some adorable things on sale here, perfect for spring

xoxo

Hello, my name is Laura and I’m an addict. Hello, Laura. It’s been 30 seconds since I last Googled. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to get off the stuff, but I just keep going back. It gives me everything I need and I can’t live without it. I don’t even remember a time before it—what was that like?! How did we know anything? Go anywhere? Where did our answers come from? I’m safe with Google. It’s the past and the future. It’s knowledge. It’s the modern oracle. It’s everything to me. And it’s good news for you, too. Just take a look at what I’ve found for you this week.

An intriguing new way to enjoy caviar

What we’ll be cooking from come spring

I’m desperate to carry one of these boho-chic creations

The ultimate barn red

The only thing to wear in the kitchen/garden (bedroom?)

A little interior porn

Join me in ordering 12 pounds of these (hello, marmalade and vin d’orange)

More fabulous foraging

Treats to buy or inspire your own homemade version

I absolutely must sweat out my toxins in my very own one of these

Need motivation to exercise?

I haven’t figured out where to buy this yet, but for now I’m ogling

More inspiration for beauties of all ages

A dear friend just sent me an assortment of treats from here and I’m hooked (habanero sugar?!)

Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend & holiday, if you’re taking one. xo

Yes, yes, the hair is mostly grey now. People congratulate me on having a “good” color of grey. But what if it weren’t “good”? What if I had a weird, ashy, muddy color? Would I be forced to keep coloring it in order to look “good”? There is often some level of discomfort when I get into these conversations, because inevitably people (read: women) start to question their own commitment to artificial color. I do not judge. I religiously colored my hair for 15 years and, if the inconvenience of spending precious city time in the salon chair were not a factor, I might still be doing it. But the move upstate and all it has engendered do seem to have connected me to a more authentic expression of myself I find gratifying. That said, this post is about a different sort of grey altogether. Read on to find out more, and to check out my latest list of inspiring links.

grizzled comeback

I refer, of course, to The Grey, the new flick from Liam Neeson, the acclaimed actor who has been reincarnated as a fierce yet vulnerable action star. (If you haven’t seen Seraphim Falls, Taken or Unknown, you’ve missed out on this new persona.) Essentially an outlandish chase, The Grey, directed by Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces, Narc) is the story of a motley crew of plane-crash survivors endeavoring to elude the pack of ravenous wolves stalking them through a frigid Arctic landscape.

huffing and puffing

The film works as a blunt and brutal thriller, but when it strays into more existential territory I thought it got a touch heavy-handed. This doesn’t mean I can resist Mr. Neeson’s wounded blue eyes and fierce leadership. I would follow him into the belly of the beast.

Heading in a different direction? Here are a few distractions for the weekend…

This fascinating TED talk about our relationship to technology

Some more ideas about how to ditch the city for good

A new magablog (did I just write that?) from the natural foodists (and that?) at Pressed Juice

Something excellent for your favorite kitchen compulsive (and the site has tons of other fun stuff)

A compelling reason to get to Philly early in the morning (notice who makes the spices)

Another fun alternative to the deli cup

My favorite things to sleep/lounge/loll about in

A bottomless pit of inspired imagery

A fabulous new oxymoron: locally-made copper

Another reason to dream of spring

The long-awaited answer to What on earth do I do with this?

The perfect Valentine’s Day gift for yourself

Have a beautiful weekend! xo

You may remember the Dreaded Bathroom Renovation that commenced around this time last year. You know, the one that was supposed to take a week and took many, many more? So many in fact that I came dangerously close to the edge and even broke out in shingles on my neck. In the end, it all turned out fine and we remain quite pleased with our new loo. And G finally brought home the right lens to shoot the tiny, narrow space in which we conduct all our ablutions, so I can share the outcome of all that suffering with you. Normally, you would show the before pictures as well, but I am just too ashamed to do that. Suffice it to say that I turned to G one day and said This looks like a poor person’s bathroom. That may seem like a terribly elitist statement, but I think it begins to give you the right visual. It was so bad that you would think only a total lack of funds could be keeping the owner from fixing the situation. It was rotten through and through. Cracked and loose tiles meant years of seepage and leaks, and there was a permanent air of mildew. Our towels stank just a day or so after washing. Oh, the horror. And now? Something worthy of showing you. (Though please bear in mind that the lighting does not do it justice.)

sink or swim

Because it’s such a tiny space, I was going for something very functional with plenty of storage. But I also wanted a look that straddled the line between rustic and sophisticated, as I think the rest of our home does. I resist going too country or “grandma,” and I do like ethnic touches—artifacts from our travels, mostly. (The shower curtain is made from a vintage Indonesian batik.) There’s not a great deal of color in the house, but what there is tends to dovetail with the natural tones surrounding us: dark green, greys, browns, and the occasional flash of orange.

into the glass darkly

Even though the space is very limited (not-big-enough-for-a-decent-tub small), I wanted rich color and texture and not just the typically stark white bathroom. We found these gorgeous striated glass tiles in varying tones of grey and green, and used them on one wall only. They are dark but dramatic, and the brushed steel mirrored cabinets break up the wall. It would be wrong for me not to tell you that these cabinets, ordered from Restoration Hardware, took NINE MONTHS to be delivered. And they are so poorly made that they were a bear to install. But in the end, they do look good.

shower the people with love

The large shower is now a joy to be in. The bronze hardware here and at the sink is from Jado. (I was unpleasantly surprised at how costly nice hardware can be.) I love the light-greenish-grey subway tiles, which are a close match to the paint color in the rest of the bathroom.

quite a hoot

The shower floor is squares of bluestone, a variation on the larger bluestone tiles that cover the rest of the floor. Bluestone is available at local quarries up here and is what we used for the bathroom counter and on our kitchen floor as well. The ceramic owl is 1950s Mexican pottery collected by my parents.

leather bar

There are a few nice touches that give the bathroom some character. I found these excellent bronze-and-leather drawer pulls on One King’s Lane, a great resource for discounted things for the home.

branch out

These fun towel hooks, also made from bronze, are from this fantastic store in Bangkok. I have been waiting for the right place to use them since I bought them on a trip to Thailand in 2005.

double hook

These woven wire hooks are made in India, and I got them many years ago at Anthropologie. They have served various purposes in different homes of mine. They work well for bathrobes.

I’m not showing you a picture of the toilet, but it’s just plain white. Another smaller brushed steel cabinet hangs above it. I finally have enough room for all my lotions and potions, and G has an entire cabinet all to himself. Our towels (Riviera sheet towels in coal from Matteo) stay fresh and, as for the renovation, I’m going to wash that memory right out of my hair.

It’s pretty fascinating how the internet has opened up so many avenues of opportunity for art and commerce—sometimes separately, sometimes together. There are jillions of blogs and online stores and social networks of every stripe. And now, there is a fantastic source for affordably priced art from the roster of talented illustrators represented by my dear friend Stephanie Pesakoff. Stampa, which just launched last week (as per this mention in the Times), offers limited series of prints, with 4 artists at a time each selling their exclusive work for 4 weeks only. Once the edition is closed, Stampa will never offer the same art work again. A new series is added every week, so there’s always something to discover. (There are actually 5 artists available currently, but that will change to a permanent format of 4.)

drawn to illustrators

Stephanie founded Art Department’s Illustration Division 16 years ago, and has fostered many successful careers and high-profile collaborations since then. She has impeccable taste, as you will see not only by the art for sale but by her beautifully designed site (full disclosure: it was created by Studio Lin, who also did mine). With Stampa, she invites you to “curate your space.” (OK, I wrote that tagline for her new venture.)

coming to life

This week, the site launched the colorful work of Bella Foster, a Los Angeles-based artist whose interiors and still lifes have an air of Matisse about them. Be sure to check out the profiles for each artist, which include a questionnaire that’s a little window into their personal quirks and fetishes.

of thee i singh

Also up on the site at this moment are Sara Singh‘s gracefully precise watercolors and ink drawings. I especially covet these beetles, the hummingbirds and the flies.

canine unit

Alli Arnold‘s whimsical and wonderfully humorous critters and characters are full of joy. You may recognize her work from projects with Tiffany and Kate Spade.

poetry in motion

Sirichai‘s strikingly simple geometrics in bold color combinations are so compelling. There’s a voluptuous apple on an acid green background that is electrifying and the dancers, above, are amazingly kinetic.

on top of the world

Bo Lundberg‘s striking colors and original style—informed from his work as a graphic designer—are in much demand from both editorial and corporate clients.

The artists that Stephanie represents create imagery that is very diverse but consistently brilliant. At the most basic level it’s ideal for enlivening your home and office. But it’s also a great opportunity to start a collection of beautiful exclusive pieces. And it’s art: transporting, inspiring, uplifting.

Stampa’s prints are made digitally, using archival inks and substrates, and each is hand-embossed with the company’s gorgeous logo. The prints are available unframed or framed by expert framers in New York City using 100% archival materials. To join Stampa’s online community, you can register here. Go ahead, curate your space.

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