Adding it up: from newspaper clippings to building a super modern digital platform

My job is going to consist in modernizing the company's communication platform, focusing on trends. My personal trend has always been 'back to the future' (way before vintage became cool yet once again, now more than ever and who knows for how long...).

It felt delightful that my first day at work I actually had to look through real paper newspaper clippings. Soothing. Reassuring.

I will savour this feeling before jumping into meetings with the MIT people!

Isn't it romantic?

Comfortable it might not be, but poetic it is for sure.
I'd go for it - maybe not to sit at it for hours on end (my back might not rejoice), but to provide a feast for my eyes & a warm & fuzzy feeling for my heart...

"Condom purses" prohibited

This Hopper's painting is strickingly similar to my morning commute - empty train, a good book as my companion. I am loving my reverse commute: I go the opposite way of the thousands of people coming to downtown Chicago early morning. You literally see all the bridges over the Chicago river 'flooded' with people, hurrying... So I stop (I have the leisure and the time to do that) & look at them before taking my train.
Coming back to Chicago at around 7pm I love the feel of downtown: it's peaceful and empty (but not menacing empty, like it might feel in some other American cities where the downtown has been abandonned, unfortunately, Minneapolis is one of the cities that come to mind). It's such an immense joy to go past historic buildings, have them all to yourself: the Rookery, Mies Van der Rohe's all-glass Post Office...

Anyway, from lyrical to cynical: I started by talking about the commute & reading on the train. I am not a huge fan of backpacks (practical but they cramp my style), so purses should do the trick of fitting everything in.
With regard to that, I have noticed that my criteria for buying a purse for years have been the following: it's a no-go if it's too small for a book to fit in (and believe me, I even have very small format books, but there are still some purses smaller than that, aptly baptised by me as 'condom purses', for that's the only thing that would fit there...).
I'm definitely up for protecting myself from many things (mostly bad but some good, too, as I am being repeatedly told by some 'friends'? now), but I will never deprive myself of the joy of reading.
Empty computer train just enhances the beauty of it all.

Jewels

Books are like jewels. And they shine even more when the display case is good. Simple, understated, and more impressive because of that.

Guilty pleasures: showing off

I am guilty (and good) at showing off - myself & the funky corky objects I have. These display cabinets would be wonderful to have!

If you've got it, flaunt it!

Why not?

More good news just came my way: a friend I love dearly, my twin, basically, will be in Chicago August 10-11th. Can't wait to ....catch up no, really, for it's impossible. Simply to look at him ('you look not at me, but inside me', caro Matteo!) and understand, feel, what has changed and what hasn't. And feel a bit sad because of the time that goes by and the two of you always been so far away from each other.

Anyhow, 'why not' used to be our favorite phrase, meaning 'who says you can't do that?"

So, the socks above (coming from the 1930's sock store) is something I'd put in my apartment. Do you need a logical reason to put something you find amusing on display?

Actually, I have a 'monument to 1968' planned for my bedroom wall, made of a 1968 vintage sign from Buenos Aires, a bra (symbolizing the burning of the bras) and a string of pearls, to be abolished as well... A new pearl revolution.

Worries

Yesterday was my first day at work but I am already worried about how long will I keep (what's left of) my silhouette.
Lunch bag de rigueur starting today.
Watch what you eat. Better still, watch what others eat, think about it, analyze it. Work yourself to...death - no, but a happy state when you are busy (happily busy) and simply forget to eat.
Incredible but true: in less than a week leading to my starting day I was busy planning things, not even that much running around, that I have indeed lost weight. No change in diet, just thinking less about the act of eating.
Makes me remember my exchanges with my great-grandmother, a wonderful cook & an otherwise wise woman. Sometimes I'd look at the delicious meal she prepared and ask her before attacking it: "Would I get fat if I eat that?", to which she'd always say: "You'd get fat from anything, as long as you eat it with lots of gusto".
Kind of a strange answer, considering that she loved to cook and wanted us to eat... but I have found it to be true: I am of the sort that, when stressed or too busy, can eat a lot and still loose weight.
Busy is better than stressed. Let's keep that in mind (but without concentrating too much on that, for when you want something, you have difficulty getting it!)

Astral mushroom and a nutcracker

Yes, the second one is not a lamp at all. And the first one ain't much of a lamp, either.

I'd rather stay in the dark!

P.S. when will it stop raining in Chicago? It's either my impression or it's raining more than usual this time of the year!

Shedding some light on luminous ideas

Looking forward to hearing some 'revolutionary' ideas from our Breakthrough Innovation (BI, like be, to be or not...) team today!

Little big difference

It's amazing how even when you don't want to go with the flow & do the same old, same old, you still forget how easy (and how great) it is to do something a bit different. Look here, for example. You could turn the table cloth the other, more 'normal' way, right? But if you don't, it looks much better.
Not a breakthrough innovation decision, but something that still makes you stop & think & notice.
Have a 3 hour long breakthrough innovation meeting today. Let's see how it compares!

Undress to impress

This is not the most practical arrangement but I'd go for it.

Plus this time around I am going to have the opposite of what I had when I moved to Chicago: way too much space. I wish I'd keep it empty for a while, but I have my doubts. So the alternative is to choose well what to put inside. Choices being infinite, it's easier said than done!

I want it. But what for?

Steel, tough & rough, masculine look...I always liked it. Saw similar cabinets at 2 antique malls recently. I know that I want it but I couldn't figure out what I'd do with it (and yes, even though I am an emotional buyer, I'd still would want to use it for something, right?)

Easy: the big one is ideal for my jewelry. That is, when I get all of it back from London capitivity!

Exception: cold could be made hot

Remember how when talking about 1000 chairs I called most of them 'cold'? Well, look here: taken by itself, each of the 3 objects above are very cold, but put together like this, the ensemble takes on a new meaning, gives an entirely different feel.
And that's the best part: give it a try, for you never know (this kind of logic works for me with regard to independent creative project, not with going out & other more 'normal' matters!)

Shabby for sure!

1930's airline chair. Not only rocking, but flying, too! The only other time I've seen anything remotely like this, was in a Lufthansa catalogue. Germans, practical as always, selling anything you could possibly think of, from their retired planes. It brought back some unpleasant memories, World War II and such...

Forget the "Welcome!" doormat!

No pretty doormats at my place: how about this instead? It's THE criteria for whom I'd let in!

Nothing new under the sun: remembering what you once wanted

Looking at objects in general is good because it reminds you of what you once wanted. I always liked old, industrial scales & I think I wanted to use them as a bookshelf of sorts. As you can see, it's not a revolutionary idea, but I'd still go for it.

See the writing on the wall: keeping promises

That's not what I am going to put on my walls at all. I think I already wrote about it, but 6 years ago, when I first moved to Chicago, I learnt about the existence of the writable wallpaper, and that, together with putting a swing in my apartment (walls allowing), became my dream.

So now I am going to do it for sure - just called to make sure the samples were already sent my way.

See what I mean? You can buy a chair for 300$, and it's certainly worth it, but how many folks would have walls to write on & tables to wrap with silk?

Shabby chic?

Crazy chick!

Let's get physical!

Thank you, whoever just outbid me on eBay (I was hoping to get a curvy shaby chic hmmm, not sure i like this expression too much...vintage French chair, its photo is in one of the previous posts here). Number one, I am saving money (not much satisfaction for me here, plus I am sure to spend it on something else!). And number too, not finding weird shapes in stores, I will be creating them myself (satisfaction guaranteed!).
I was reminded of wrapped furniture recently when I saw a photo of a dinner table wrapped in fabric. I think I will start doing it with silks. Can't get more 'shabby chic' than that!

As for eBay buying, what I really want is not online bidding, but getting dirty. Wish I had a car & time to go to Estate Sales in Chicago - treasure trove, live... The physicality of discovery makes the game really worth playing!

That's my guy, my shelf, my way of looking at things

I recently allowed myself to leaft through some interior design magazines (when I was a little girl I wanted home decorating to be my profession, but I also wanted to do a bunch of other things, so you can't take it seriously).

Precisely: not taking things seriously is what makes it great. And it's also what makes great design, or at least the kind of design that I love the most: creations that make me smile.

All right, this shelf by a Barcelona-based designer Jordi Mila, is not the most practical thing on earth. But the emotional ROI (return on investment) is huge.

The shelf's name is "Tree of knowledge". Quite appropriate, too, for if you know yourself (back to my favorite topic, here we go!) you'd know from the second you lay your eyes on it, that you either love it or hate it.

You already know my answer.

Thank you, Jordi Mila! You are my friend now!

Reflecting time & taste

Classical Chippeandale mirror & a superbly contorted Gaudi one. Which one reflects your personality better?

A room with views (of paintings, mostly Matisse)

My chair-obssession (and subsequent research) led me to the discovery of this photo: a room at Shukin's house, filled with Matisse paintings.

Well, I will have chairs for sure & copies of art work (on the way to becoming bijoux, not boooring posters in neat frames), so who cares if I am not a millionaire, like Shukin?

I am not alone in this world

My soulmates: it's good to know that having fun with furniture is not something that only I delight in!

Moving on to a chair - right now!

Had to turn down a lot of invitations for Fri night. Had to explain that it's 'nothing personal', or rather it is - I like to do my own thing. And I love the feeling of being at my own place. Nothing more soothing, relaxing and fun than this.
That's why investing in your space, creating it, thinking about who you are & what you want, what makes you feel great, is of uttermost importance to me.
Now I am off to read a French book about...(appropriate topic for Fri night) sex life of the French women.

"How does it work in theory?", as the T-shirt I spotted today said.
Everything you see, do & say is somehow connected.

Here comes the hint (and it sits down on a chair on the street)

See what I mean? Isn't it delightfully easy to say who did what?

Yes, that's Hector Guimard's chair (and I believe it was sold for a delightful sum of 9,000 US $).

Now, the chair I bought today (for of course I bought one, for an even more exciting 12$, photos to come soon) is quite classy & since it wasn't that heavy & I live nearby, I figured I'd drag it to my place instead of taking a cab.

Which I did. And when I stopped to wait for the light to turn green, my chair next to me, I realized (fast, as I always do) that I might as well sit down while I wait. Which I did. It felt good. Almost like a million dollar prank (and that amount of money could buy me a lot of Guimard chairs, I am not sure he even made that many, but I love his other furniture pieces.)

The Metro Abbesses station entrance above came to my mind: it is actually one of the only 2 original surviving Metro entrances in Paris, the other ones are replicas.

So here I am, thinking of me walking with my much cheaper chair instead of taking transportation & remembering saying goodbye to a very scared (of me) Parisian lawyer on a February Fri. night right there by Metro Abbesses.

Even though I lost 2 great chairs today & a potential fiancee , everything happens for a reason.

Still, I am mourning my chairs a bit. My emotional attachement to inanimate objects wins over many other things...

Extras

Some 'chair leftovers' from my little research today. Extras. If I had extra money, I'd definitely get some of these!