Home » Archives for November 2008

"Rolling Homes"

Diposting oleh fawaid on Minggu, 30 November 2008

For the last of the pillaging my mother's book shelf series may I present "Rolling Homes", the crowning jewel of hippie books in my mom's collection.

Mind you, I don't actually own this book yet. It can get pretty pricey on some of my trusty sources ($125, are you kidding me?) but there is one ending soon on eBay today and if any of you outbid me, I'll never forgive you.

Published in '79, it surveys the hippie phenomenon of wandering homes converted from pickup trucks, school buses and big rigs.

My favorite, the hitched Conestoga wagon trailer with removable ceiling, perfect for all your stargazing needs.

Half gypsy, half Laura Ingalls Wilder, I would die to take one of these on a roadtrip.

Now I've never been one for trailer living but I think I could easily handle this parked in the New Hampshire woods for the summer. Add a little porch, Victorian gingerbread trim, and of course a woodstove, I might even extend my stay through fall.

Curbside living? A real possibility, considering New York's looming "great depression". If next you see me I'm covered in saw dust and wearing tie dye, don't panic. I'm escaping the housing crisis and building my own rolling home.

From the Thanksgiving archives...

Diposting oleh fawaid on Rabu, 26 November 2008

Today I'm thankful for my grandfather's collection of Italian rooster pitchers. Not only because they remind me of him, but also because after all of these years I never tire of seeing them ceremoniously throw up gravy all over my mashed potatoes.

Awash in Brooklyn

Diposting oleh fawaid

9:30 am on a bitterly cold Sunday morning found me elbow deep in muck, like a real respectable adventurer. The quarry was a century's worth of washed ashore treasure along Dead Horse Bay in Floyd Bennett Field.

A small group, organized by a fearless leader, plundered and pillaged the old bottles, shoe soles and general detritus of elder generations until frost bitten fingers seemed inevitable.

One may wonder why this is the only beach in the city that specializes in antiques instead of the usual Coney Island fare of cigarette butt's and loose Cheetos? Just ask the resident expert.

A real life terrarium. Complete with baby crab specimen.

Scrubbed and bleached, back at home. I've always been a sucker for milk glass and old ceramics.

I can hardly believe these tea cups managed to not break after being thrown away and then rolling around the bottom of the bay for 70 years. Guess they don't make em like they used to.

These have the most beautiful aged cracks. My deco vase looks like an old sea shell, fitting for something that literally washed ashore in a cloud of sea foam.

And I can't forget the namesake bottle.

I'll be heavily haunting this place for many a low tide come warm weather. It seems as though my little storage problem is going to be getting much bigger.

Thankful......

Diposting oleh fawaid on Selasa, 25 November 2008

The hussle and bussle of the season is upon us. Lots of food preparation going on this week, family coming into town, etc. I hope you all take some time to enjoy the craziness, the calm moments and being surrounded by things and people you love.

I'm thankful to again be wearing jeans with zippers and buttons - HA! good by elastic wasitbands! Oh and a waistline! It's fun to full out my favorite coat and cinch up the belt around the waist. Well all these things are trival in comparison to what I am really thankful for this Holiday.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving! I'm working on a few Holiday designs I hope to have done and ready VERY soon!

Take time to enjoy the "little" things this week....xo - Meg

"The Illustrated Hassle-Free Make Your Own Clothes Book"

Diposting oleh fawaid on Senin, 24 November 2008

This is another classic tome of my mothers, found on eBay after many years of fruitless searching. It's basically a Dummy's Guide to Sewing Hippie Clothes and the little drawings are so wonderful. I love how crooked they are, even I can draw like that!

Their amazingly cute kids clothes ideas. A fringed vest is pretty adorable on a kid, and only on a kid, however.

These two women are pretty neat ladies. They dedicated the book to their swamiji (they must have lived on a commune!) and they are always referring to their husbands as "their old men". My old man this, my old man that, so endearing.

They also dole out some funny hippie wisdom such as "Men should be able to get over their uptightness about making clothes, about doing all kinds of things they have been brainwashed into relegating to women." Ha.

and regarding tailored clothes..

"We don't use darts because we don't use bras- they give your clothes a sort of funny shape.....except the no-bra kind which are better than most." Sounds like my family alright.

Also, how to make a dress with a tee shirt for a pattern. The directions are pretty loosey goosey and I totally ate them up in middle school. I ruined countless pairs of jeans by adding a triangle of fabric at the hem to make them bell bottoms, as I learned in this book.

These days I've moved on to making these little pouches out of leather to keep my camera in.

Thanks, mom, for finding another good one!

A recreated bookshelf: Converted into Houses

Diposting oleh fawaid on Sabtu, 22 November 2008

Some of my mother's books are just too special to waste away on her wicker bookshelf back on the homestead so I recently started the undertaking of recreating a "best of the best" of mom's collection back here in Brooklyn.

Some of her books captured my imagination so fully that I'm still hooked on them 20 years later. I've been trolling used book stores, eBay and the wonderful abebooks to find my favorites so I can have my very own copy, as I wouldn't want disturb the family archives.

First up is the wonderful "Converted into Houses", published in 1976. It contains a multitude of amazing (and amazingly hippie dippy) spaces and their conversion into living quarters.

I was born from wheat bread baking, chicken raising, overall wearing, tepee building, mountain hiking, skinny dipping, yoga doing parents in a depression era farmhouse; so these hippie dwellings remind me of home.

A former chicken coop.

A former butterscotch factory in SoHo. Hmm, I wonder why I love houseplants.

A tugboat. And yes, we totally had those wicker chairs when I was a kid!

A schoolhouse in Sebastopol.

It just goes on and on; sailboats, train cars, ice houses, fire stations, churches, mews, railroad stations, water towers..... My grandpa's mill house would have fit in perfectly.

Some girls are scared they'll turn into their moms but I say bring it on. She's a gentle and kind soul with a great eye for all things eclectic. While I can't run off to Woodstock like she did or hitchhike all over the world (student loans and a fear of no showers), I'm happy to live vicariously in her books.

Cold hearted

Diposting oleh fawaid on Kamis, 20 November 2008

Yesterday's long walk has reminded me that Keds are not appropriate winter shoes. Cue my annual winter shoe maintenance drop-off at my favorite cobbler for re-soling, new heel caps, polish, shine etc.... Now I need a resupply of thick tights to make these ladies bearable for actually wearing outside.

If new wool tights aren't capable of melting my frosty heart, I have a backup plan, too.

Last night, Jim caught Minnie actually being sweet to me! Like the Grinch, my heart just grew about three sizes.

Moore, moore, moore.

Diposting oleh fawaid on Rabu, 19 November 2008

*This post is solely for the enjoyment of my dad, Tom, as he loves a Botanical Garden as much as I do and loves Henry Moore even more.

As I traipsed through the NYBG's Henry Moore exhibit today, it was such a relief to be focused on my freezing toes and the state of the tree's leaves rather than the normal city soul torture of thinking about dream jobs, health insurance and loathed dental appointments.

Ahhh, to breath freezing air and hold a cup of hot coffee. Maybe winter ain't so bad after all, makes a girl feel alive.

The exhibit's over in January and it's such a treat, even better seeing it now than it was over the summer. (Though it takes two hours to get here from home! Sheesh, I might as well as gone to Philly for the afternoon and seen the Gee's Bend exhibit.)

But to make the long lonely ride on the 6 train worth it, I saw a wild turkey as I was leaving. Boy, they run fast. Especially with Thanksgiving approaching.

My mad scientist

Diposting oleh fawaid on Selasa, 18 November 2008

At grandpa's memorial this weekend I came across some old photos of his brilliant scientist days.

Loving the white lab coat, grandpa. (that's him, front and center, as always!)

He developed these amazing foamy rooms. If you ask me what they're used for I'll deliver a well rehearsed speech using words like radio waves, stealth technology, naval research lab, NASA and submarine.

Truth be told, the science gene wasn't passed on like it should have been and I don't really know what I'm talking about. Wikipedia has apparently knows about his so called Anechoic chambers so all you smarties can fill me in on the basics.

Handmade for baby.....

Diposting oleh fawaid on Senin, 17 November 2008

I received a few gifts over the weekend that are a MUST share! and what makes them even sweeter is they are handmade! lots of love and talent went into these. We love creative and crafty women here on the Brassy Apple Blog! :)

Ok so on with the gushing. Could this "Friendly Sock Monster" be any cuter? And what a handy idea! You feed the dirty socks into his mouth, toss in the washer and you never lose sock mates! Genius! He was made and purchased from 52 Freckles on etsy.

I also received a binki holder made by 52 freckles as well.

Just clip onto your diaper bag and the endless searching for the binki in the bag is over! It's always clean and easy to find!

And as if I couldn't get any cuter with diaper bag stuff, my sister dropped off a diaper clutch! love IT!

It's reversible and has ME written all over it. A travel case of wipes and a couple of diapers fit inside. When it's changing time and you're away from home, just grab the clutch instead of lugging the entire diaper bag. Thanks sis!

And lastly, ...................are you still with me? LOL!..........I recieved a handle baby from my cousin.

The story of how she came up the idea and started her company is great! Be sure to check that out! You may laugh, gasp, or completely relate!!!!

So why am I sharing all these great gifts? Because they are just that.................GREAT gifts! If you have a little one on the way or know of someone who does, keep these products in mind. They are sure to be hit when given as a gift or shown off to your friends!

and to end the post let me just share a picture of my little snuggly guy. You don't mind do ya?

The Race

Diposting oleh fawaid on Sabtu, 15 November 2008

The Merrick family as an annual race that starts in November. It's a race against our very natures and it has been going on for my whole lifetime, probably for hundreds of years before that, too.

It asks the honest question Can we plant our paperwhite bulbs in time to bloom for Christmas? Coming from a family of well meaning forgetful gardeners, I, too, am prone to worry that I've gotten my bulbs planted too late for a Christmas display.

Last year I came in dead last with blooms around new years, but this this I'm ahead of the game. Yeess, score one for the home team!

Get Schooled in DisplayLink

Diposting oleh fawaid on Jumat, 14 November 2008

InFocus, the first company to deploy DisplayLink USB graphics enabled projectors that connect in a snap, introduced a new classroom version of their projector.

The InFocus IN3104EP digital multimedia projector provides classroom presenters with a bright of 3500 lumens with a 2000:1 contrast ratio and the true-to-life colors of DLP® with BrilliantColor™ technology. This XGA native projector features DisplayLink content-over-USB for fast setup and the subtle sophistication of LiteTouch™ control to stealthily blend into your classroom.

For more information visit the InFocus product page at: http://www.infocus.com/Products/Projectors/IN3104EP.aspx.

1/2 price sale!!!!

Diposting oleh fawaid on Kamis, 13 November 2008

To celebrate the arrival of my new baby boy I'm having a sale! I feel half the size I was a week ago - *snicker* - so how about a 1/2 price sale???

You GOT IT! All items on my website are 1/2 off from NOW until Sunday November 16th at midnight! That's just 4 short days to snatch up some great Holiday gifts at a steal of a price!

We could all use a break in our Holiday spending with the economy right now and I've giving it to you. :)

I've added 3 new products today as well! 2 new girls Mosaic jeans DIY kits and one new skinny scarf.

***USE THIS SPECIAL LINK TO GET THE 1/2 OFF PRICE:
SHOP HERE

DisplayLink USB Graphics on YouTube

Diposting oleh fawaid on Rabu, 12 November 2008

Many DisplayLink partners and customers have shared their interpretation of the benefits of USB graphics on YouTube. Here are some worth checking out:

ASUS EzLink
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=deLVOlf0rVY

EVGA UV Plus+ Commercial Contest
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VNbEzIO-TDc
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl5lK654xa4
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=g2t-dlscIug
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bf4n-o9_jxU
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cbTO-yQF0B0

Moon river, wider than a mile.

Diposting oleh fawaid

After much (much, much, much) scouting for an cheapo old lamp that I liked, I've finally succeeded.

Last weekend at my beloved Hell's Kitchen Salvation Army I chanced on this hippie 70's basket lamp for $3.99. It's not perfectly me but it reminds me of my new-age grandmother, and really, what's not to love about that.

I went to my Brooklyn staple shop, Moon River Chattel, to find a shade for my little lamp. I'm kind of a lampshade dunce and Moon River has just a few styles and sizes so I don't get too overwhelmed. Only ivory or white muslin, no trims or junky patterns and they're mostly all under $20. Lord knows I'd hate to buy a expensive shade for my cheapo lamp.

I really do love this store, even though it's mostly out of my league. The girls that work here are very sweet, too, even though they know I only ever buy Mrs. Meyer's dish soap and the occasional terracotta pot.

While I do like to torture myself by looking at their beautiful antique furniture, the real torture comes from peeking a glimpse at the store's backyard. Old ivy covered brick walls, a real true city gardeners dream. Fountains, mossy stone. It's amazing.

If it was strung up with old lanterns I don't think I'd ever want to leave. I already have a below freezing mummy sleeping bag and I'll happily camp out in exchange for tending the garden. Owners of Moon River, please please please let's set something up.