FLEET FEET

Comfortable. Light. High tech. Just a couple of ways of describing these cool new shoes being developed by Unbelievable Testing Laboratory and being made of Tyvek!! Given the amazing properties of Tyvek—a construction material—the shoes promise to be long-lasting, breathable and water-resistant. Sweet!

What are you up to this weekend? I am going home to Connecticut and contemplating a quick trip out to Cape Cod to hang out with some friends early next week. So, just in case I don't make it back to the blogosphere until late last week, here are some fun things for you to check out:

The Summer of George.

275,000 dominoes.

This would be perfect for a NYC-themed party.

If You Give a Mouse Rat a Cookie; ha!

Speaking of Parks & Rec, I love Aubrey Plaza and think this could be hilarious.

I stopped watching this show a while ago, but boy is this performance impressive.

Beautiful tumblers.

An interview with my grad school professor on his new exhibition at MoMA.

Well, don't these look tasty.

Montage and Chevron look really pretty.

I would like to own this.


Have a great weekend!



(Tip about the Tyvek from here)

JAMES TURRELL AT THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM

On Tuesday I finally got off my lazy butt and went to see some museum exhibitions that—as a good museum professional and art historian—I needed to see. I checked out the Civil War photography, William Eggleston and Punk: Chaos to Culture shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Civil War images were beautiful (particularly the stereoscopic views), the Eggleston photos were invigorating and the Punk costumes were wild (coats made out of bubble wrap!).

But my favorite visit of the day was to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum to see the new James Turrell show. Turrell, an amazing Californian artist, creates work solely out of what scholars call "light and space" offering pieces that feature subtle yet powerful gradients of color and mind-blowing optical illusions. The entire central rotunda has been given over to one massive work, called Alten Reigen (2013), that has visitors camping out on the floor simply to gaze up at the ceiling and be bathed in altering chromatic bands of light. The effect is surprisingly enchanting and soothing and I highly recommend a trip up to the museum to see it and the other cool works on display (including some gorgeously illuminated drawings).

Find out more information here.

p.s. Sorry, I got a little carried away my DSLR again. I promise not to keep bombarding you with photos on every post!

BON VOYAGE

I am getting so excited for our trip to France this fall for our first anniversary (where does the time go?!). I have been planning our itinerary for the last several days and mentally salivating over all the delicious crepes and confections I will be eating over there. It's going to be awesome!

In the meantime, to keep my excitement running high I wanted to share these beautiful travel posters designed by Neil Stevens. These are the three main hubs of our trip—New York, Paris and Nice/Côte d'Azur—and would look gorgeous hung together on a wall, don't you think?

I love how bold and graphic they are and highly recommend you take a look at all the other gorgeous options here. Also, take a peak at his other posters here; they are fabulous!

WEEKEND RECAP: MoMA'S RAIN ROOM

Have you heard about the latest sensation in the museum world? It's an installation piece called 'Rain Room' on view at the Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition consists of a dark, beautifully-lit room with rain streaming down from the ceiling. Here's the kicker though: step under the rain and sensors note your presence and—magically—stop the rain around you. But only around you. It's like an invisible umbrella is hovering over your head! The effect is surprisingly glorious.





Clearly you can tell from the massive amount of photos posted above that I loved the exhibition. Even though I had to wait in line for five hours to see it on Friday (no joke! check out this story), I highly recommend a visit before the installation closes on July 28th. If you can't stand to wait that long you can opt for the short 'viewing only' line (which lets you see but not enter the installation) that's averages a 30 minute wait.

Read more about the installation on MoMA's website here and see more of my photos from my visit here.


p.s. I hope you like the video I put together. I don't often manage to edit and put the scraps of video I take together, but I couldn't resist this time. Leave me a comment if you like it and I will make sure to do more in the future!

THE (JOURNALIST) SPEAKS

The amazingly strong, inspirational, brave and brilliant journalist Robin Roberts received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs last night. Watch her acceptance speech here. And bring your tissues!

HELLO YELLOW!

Okay, I admit it. I am officially, irreparably obsessed with yellow. How did this happen? For some reason this summer I have discovered that yellow is the sunniest color, perfect to brighten up an outfit and I suddenly can't resist it. Sounds silly and trite, I know, but it's true!

So here are some of my favorite picks for adding pops of yellow to your life.

one
Kate Spade Saturday Corded Bracelet, $25

two
iLikeMaps Paris Map Print, $20

three
bkr Bottle in Canary, $28

four
Anthropologie Sun Stripes Napkin, $12

five
Anthropologie Color Pop Juice Glass, $8

six
Crocs Adrina Flat II, $40.99

seven
Claire Vivier Grand Pochette Clutch, $173

eight
Tubtrug 6.5 Gallon Bucket Size, $14.93


Do you have any yellow finds to add to the mix? Let me know in the comments!


p.s. I thinking that the flats (#6) will be just the comfy thing for walking around Paris. Has anyone bought them who can give me a review?

PARIS vs. NEW YORK

Guess what, guys? I am going to France this fall! Woohoo! For Christmas my husband gave me a ten day trip to Paris (and beyond!) to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. And I am so excited! We are just starting to plan the trip so if you have any recommendations, lay them on me! We are thinking several days in Paris and then taking the TGV to Provence and the Côte d' Azur. With lots of wine tasting along the way, clearly.

Anyway, all my recent daydreams about France have made me realize I never shared this wonderful graphic series with you: Paris versus New York. What started out as a simple side-by-side look at two of the world's most cultured cities has blossomed into a book and a postcard set. I snagged the book recently and can attest that it is awesome! It's the perfect combination of bold, colorful and cleverly insightful; a great coffee table book!

 Vahram Muratyan is the graphic design genius behind the series and you can learn more about him here. And see more examples of NYC vs. Paris here.

BACK IN BUSINESS!

Did you have a good holiday? You may have noticed I was gone a bit longer than I promised. Whoops! I was in Vermont with my husband's family two weeks ago—enjoying lots of delicious food and hours of reading and playing with my sister-in-law's puppy—and last week I was in Boston doing archival research for my dissertation at Harvard. It was a whirlwind of fun, relaxation and research and in the midst of it I didn't pop in to say hello. Apologies!

Even though I was off the blogging grid, I did manage to sock away some sweet finds to share with you. I couldn't wait to share this awesome video. I have a geeky love of acapella (music made solely with one's voice, including instrumentals) and I found myself watching the television competition show 'The Voice' several years ago when this amazing five-person group Pentatonix rose up through the ranks.  Now they are touring (hooray!) and making incredible videos for our enjoyment. I recommend all of them but this evolution of music (not unlike this) is so well done it's hard to believe it covers hundreds of years!

Learn more about the group here.

UPDATE: I am also obsessed with this song!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Are you guys celebrating the Fourth of July? This evening my husband and I are headed to Vermont with his family for the week. I am looking forward to cookouts, lazy afternoon naps, diving into good books, and cold swims in the pond. I hope you have something equally fun, summery and relaxing planned!

To get you in the spirit, I wanted to share this cool infographic designed by Ghergich & Co. for Quicken Loans. My favorite part about infographics is how they manage to teach us in a dynamic and visually-engaging way; there are lots of cool facts in this one that I didn't know (the Fourth of July didn't become an official holiday until 1870!). Maybe you will learn something new too!

Have a great holiday! I will see you back here next Monday!

MARA MI (OH MY)!

Living in New York, I don't get to Target very much. But this weekend, while visiting my parents in Connecticut, I popped in to grab a couple of things. And I discovered a gorgeous line of stationery, party supplies and tableware from the designer Mara Mi. Full of bright colors and patterns, it is pretty much crack for a design nerd/Martha Stewart hopeful like me.  I snapped the last three pictures of products that I was sorely tempted to buy but managed to restrain myself.

Check out some of their lovely products at Target here (beware, bad images!), but see the full selection in stores.