The Hipster Home

I’ve started this blog post approximately 30 bajillion times. In my head. Without ever writing it down. (Can you imagine the mental constipation?? Ah, here’s that sweet relief.)

Fact of the matter is that I write all day long. I get paid to write. My job is to write. Can you guess what I’m NOT aching to do when I get home every evening?

To be fair, it’s not that I mind writing. It’s the baggage that comes with a well-crafted blog post. It’s the documentation, photo editing and wordy review that overwhelms me. (For instance, I’m not even writing this post in Wordpess. I’m writing it in a text file because I’m afraid I’ll see the formatting bar and won’t finish. Look—SUCCESS!)

Since I started working again, it’s taken time for life to equalize. At least I’ve started cooking and baking again! Not so much on the crafty side of things. I certainly feel guilt guilt guilty for neglecting my little pet site that I watered and tended almost every day of my experiment in unemployment and self discovery.

The great news is that my job is going well. Chronicle Books is still putting out amazing books (HELLO James Beard Award Country Cooking of Ireland!) and I must say, concocting Tweets and Facebook message is not at all a bad gig. I get home fairly early every day but plop down in front of my laptop right off the bat? No sir. I don’t know how you crazy bitches can have jobs and blogs and be perfectly styled and have lovely homes. Itmakesmewanttomakeamicrowaveablebrownieinasingleservingmugandwatchteenmom.

This is all a convoluted way of saying that I’m ABSOLVING myself of the guilt that’s been building up over the past couple months at my lack of THH upkeep. It’s not that I don’t have the energy to keep posting. I have energy. However, it’s spent on other more important things like taking showers, vacuuming every once in awhile and actually feeding myself and loved ones.

This is all temporary of course. I absolutely will pick up The Hipster Home again one day. I still get comments, emails and page views (!). It would be foolish to let such a beautiful and eternal creation like THH to die an unholy internet death of neglect.

After my time with Chronicle is finished, I’ve got an actually real and full-time (first since I was laid off Sept 08… HOLY SHIT!) so there’s THAT whole new adjustment period. GOOD BYE HOURLY RATES! I can’t even believe it. I’m giddy. Overjoyed. And a leeeetle bit stressing (weird dreams? check!) but all in all it will be ok. I’ll be ok and you’ll be better than ever.

Since I believe in making commitments and since THH was started on a self-promise of posting at least twice a week for 6 months, I’d like to put this into a digital contract for you all. I will maintain (albeit sparsely) the twitter account. And I will hold THH dormant in my heart until at least August 1, 2010 (if not sooner), after which I will reevaluate my time and make a new statement regarding posts and the future. I started THH because I felt like I was consuming a lot of content without giving back. But now I’m barely consuming any and as such, don’t feel like I absolutely must write here all the darn tootin’ time. There’s that word— equalize —again.

INTERNET HUG! You guys are the best, you really are. Thank you for reading. Thank you for being patient. Thank you for your support and kind words and barf barf barf you are completely awesome individuals that I may or maynot have actually met at some juncture.

KISSES!

P.S. Do you have questions? Comments? A riddle I might solve for ye? Leave me a high-five in the comments and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can… BEEP.

(I’d like to add the following footnote: SWEET JEBUS ALMIGHTY, ITS GOOD TO SOUND LIKE MYSELF AGAIN HERE, capslock and all.)

When sfgirlbybay asked the general internet if she should put together a tour of blogs talking about what inspired them, the internet answered yet. Blog it Forward was born. For my post today, here’s a handy-dandy list of what inspires me…

1. Colors- the brighter the better,  featuring crazy geometric patterns is best.  See also: kelly green, orange, gray, navy blue, sparkles.



2. Observing the world around me- When I’m stumped by a project, it’s amazing how frequently the solution will appear just by looking around

(All of a sudden, I noticed my week-old Valentine’s day flowers. Stunning in the light.)


3. The Internet- which features makers and doers of the world who share their work and inspiration in thousands of blog posts a day. (See also: Blog I Love)
4. My CSA box, the farmers’ market and Rainbow Grocery- hurrah for bugs, taking 20 minutes to wash one bag of spinach and having someone else send you a box of edibles every week. Also hurrah for other people’s carefully grown heirloom produce. Veggie boner.



5. Cookbooks- the pretty pictures, the idea of using a big, fat combination of ingredients with separate preparations making something wholly delicious, BAKING. Oh lord, put me in the kitchen with a good cookbook and I’m set for days. (See also: a collection of favorites featured in a tacky Amazon affiliate page, my General Store)
6. The area around San Francisco- you can drive anywhere from 1-4 hours out of the city and reach some amazing terrain. Driving up the 1 on the coast feels like you’re on the edge of the world. Field, road, car, cow, cliff, ocean.

(Lake Tahoe)


(Driving through the redwoods)

Thanks to The Goode Life for passing on the spirit stick.  Tag, you’re it living well!

What inspires you?

When you’ve got lots of time to cruise the ‘net but only a little green, I wwwant that! Please join me for a world wide romp in inspiration and completely desirable products that I could (but shouldn’t) purchase.

(Photo by The Small Stakes)

Have I told you lately how much I love WHOLE CAKES?? It is for reasons like this that they are #1 in my baked goods list. That cake topper would look fricken precious (not in a good way) atop anything but a majestic cake. Darling Dexter knew awesome when she saw it and for that reason I am grateful. You too can own a cake topper! For only three easy payments of $13.33… (just visit togetherforever’s etsy shop.)

My life philosophy is that color matches color. Chris Benz apparently believes the same thing which is why his Spring 2010 collection is ah-MAZING. Of course the one and only  Oh Joy! spotted his work the fastest, bringing about what, I’m sure, is an internet flurry of interest in this designers work. See also: sparkles match sparkles. Oh my, that yellow dress makes me want to CRY it’s so cute.

These boots are a real life find. One day, on my way to work, I spotted a woman in the brown pair. The next day, almost the same place, I saw a completely different woman wearing the black! Obviously I was behind the two women and immediately was drawn to the back contrasting zipper. After that second spotting, I knew it was my job to figure out who makes those shoes. Turns out these suckers are from… are you ready?… Steve Madden! WTF? I was as surprised as you. Second of all, I was taken aback at the steep price: $199. For Steve Madden boots? And I wwwant them?? What’s the world coming to?!? Le sigh, you wwwant them too, don’t ya? Well you can get these Steve Madden Roady Boots in black and tan.

The Mr. has a serious addiction to his Vans. Even though he has flat feet too, he doesn’t mind his arches scraping the pavement (ew?) in his slip-ons. I can’t do it. It totally bugs me! I didn’t think there would ever be a Vans shoe that would entice me. Then one day lil ole me was meekly scanning my google reader when I saw that Enchanted Royals had posted this show stopping pair of  Sophie Vans. Yes please! I’ll take two pairs. Retro refashioned. Love it.

I enjoy popping over to Mint to see what’s cooking. Recently, she posted a project that I adore. The Smock Shop exists to help starting artists make ends meet. Andrea Zittel created a simple smock pattern that artists have made into their own unique visions. All completely and utterly wwwantable! Head over to the site to check out the many variations.

I don’t have much to say about these dip-dyed curtains from Remodelista except that I find them mesmerizing. I think it’s the dark blue that really draws the eye. Or maybe the fact that our bedroom curtains are that exact shade without the white top. Either way, I love these curtains, totally wwwant them and think that they don’t belong in any room with a bed (where, clearly, you’d be wakened the second the sun peeped out.)

It’s gonna be a big weekend. I’ve got nothing is set in stone except having lots of free time. Guess what that means? Real THH posts about making things! It’s been spartan around here lately, I’ll admit. Coming to you soon will be a handful of posts that are beyond overdue: cooking for a bridal shower, an author event, pizza balls, candy making, fart chips, an Austin visit and BEYOND.

I also wanted to point out a few ch-ch-ch-changes around here! Last night, while watching Olympic men’s free skate, the Mr. hacked WordPress for me. It was the 21st century equivalent of being fanned and fed grapes. (GLORIOUS.)  Take note…

Look! The Twitter Mess (right sidebar) is no longer a disaster! It’s formatted and pretty and if you don’t follow THH on twitter, you are missing out! But now if you’re too lazy to click over, you can read my thoughts three at a time!

Next, please apply your attention to the BOTTOM of EVERY POST. THH has recommendations! Not only do you see the post title but a pretty, pretty picture preview. There are still some bugs to fix but it works.

He also made a few other cosmetic changes that’ll make your viewing experience like buttah. Welcome to The Hipster Home: now with more formatting for your pleasure.

So did the Mr. and I miss anything? Do you have some feature requests. Go ahead! I’m all ears.

Since the last I wwwant that! post, I’ve been collecting more completely desirous items available for purchase on the web. But something else has happened. I’ve been stock piling awesome inspiration and ideas for things to make too. So today’s I wwwant that! isn’t just for pretty objects I can’t afford but also will highlight incredible projects that are within our creatable realm.

TASTY ART ALERT: Kim Piotrowski was recently featured on My Love for You is a Stampede of Horses. I was immediately transfixed. Her paintings remind me of pantyhose (beige), My Little Pony (pastels), and Monet (everything swirled together) and although that sounds like an unsavory combination, I dare you to browse through her website and tell me otherwise. Her paintings belong in a beautiful world I wouldn’t mind visiting. (Clearly I did not go to art school.)

It might be last week’s internet hotness, but I can’t help but wwwant a Selleck Waterfall Sandwich. “April, that is impossible! It’s an web thing. You can’t own it, silly pants.” Au contraire, my good buddy. You can’t own it yet.  How badass would it be to have the creations available as as a giant fine art print for your house? Don’t you judge me. Just thinking about a print of Selleck Waterfall Sandwich IN YOUR BATHROOM or ABOVE YOUR BED will rock your world a little bit. Someone make it happen!

(photo by thriftandthread)

DIY DISCO BALL SHOES! (or ANYTHING) was originally created by Thrift and Thread and brought to my attention on OutsaPop Trashion. I’d really like to make a headband or yamaka using this technique. (2 for 1! OutsaPop Trashion posted a friggen awesome tutorial for custom hangers.) ((Ok fine, THREE for 1. Their post for this dude’s woven sweatshirt. Heaven.))

I just had to share this awesome DIY Valentine from my recent favorite bloggy blog. I found it while voting for The Bloggies 2010. A Beautiful Mess was nominated for the Best Art, Craft, or Design Weblog. FOR GOOD REASON. Look how easy they make it look to draw people and be incredibly thoughtful. So easy!

(Photo by Karen Barbe)

Recently I’ve noticed I’m stockpiling reusable containers. Unsure why, I knew the minute I saw this. Textile artist Karen Barbe created these playful brooches using old plastic bottles which she shared on her awesome Flickr stream. Yes, let’s do it! You can’t beat those industrialized pops of color. Creature Comforts gets bonus points for spotting the awesome.

The Kid Collective posted an amazing assortment of Parisian home inspiration and this Zap rug, designed by Fiona Curran from The Rug Company caught my eye immediately. Our colorful lil cheap ikea rug is on its way out and all I can think of is replacing it with this luxe business.

(photo by Anthropologie+You)

PRO TIP: Cucumbersome tweeted* about Anthropologie’s newest flower window displays made from old bottles (which are BEAUTIFUL by the way) and I noticed that the store has a dedicated Flickr site. It’s a gold mine. The stream is flooded with inspiration and fantasticalness. If you love the Anthropologie feel, then their Flickr stream will provide you with a good 30 minutes of WOW.

*SPEAKING OF TWITTER! Did you know that The Hipster Home is on it? True story! Hear ideas, updates and news the second it pops into my head @thehipsterhome.