Visit to Old Hollywood

I am in the city again to take the kids to fencing.  I  have about 2  hours to kill. Sometimes I pick up merchandise at vendors. Sometimes I have to shop for clients and sometimes, it is just time to blow off before pickup. Those days I get to check out the new shops. Limelight Marketplace opened recently.

A mini mall of pop up shops. Actually,  it is more like a tasting menu of shops. Each one is a small version of a main shop found elsewhere in the city.  One of the most interesting shops is Old Hollywood.  First you have to find it. It takes turns and steps and little passage ways to get to. It is a jewelry shop focusing on indie designer collections.  Their jewelry has such attitude and great vintage feel.

It looks like you walked into a 1930's prop department.  Wow  I love it.  I know it  can border on creepy, but so inspiring.

Just another afternoon in the city.

See you.

Christina

Keepsake Boxes

Keepsake boxes have different meanings for different ages.  Traditionally, for adults we like a nice box to keep our most treasured possessions. I like this box, handmade in Brooklyn. One can put a birth announcement inside the glass lid. It is lined in a chic gray velvet.

For children, a keepsake box can have a slightly different meaning. I remember having a tiny doll's suitcase where I stored all my very important items. I don't know what happened to my orange suitcase, but any day now I bet I will find it at an antique fair. My older son, Justin began collecting rocks from the garden when he was around 2. As he learned about dinosaurs the rocks became fossils and a collection was born. He needed a large keepsake box.  Really a mini display case was more in order. I found one at a flea market and was thrilled because it fit so perfectly on his dressser. He is a teenager now, but his box is still there. So I removed the cool sunglasses and the  ipod and his Beats  that lay on top so I could peer  inside.  Fossils,bones, rocks,shells and even the glass insect we purchased in Venice years ago. All the things that were special to him as a little boy.

My younger son, James still adds to his small keepsake boxes. I see some amber he purchased last year.  He is far more tidy than his brother. He even labeled his "My Display Case."

In the shop there is a large jewelry box for a little girl. The ballerina twirls to the sound of "The Nutcracker".  The top can be personalized.

Of coarse, there are some nice suitcases to store special cars and trains and dolls and all their accoutrements.

A vintage ballet case would work well.

Or  some new suitcases  that are even  large enough to hold sleepover essentials.

Everything to keep your child's special items..

See you

Christina

A Sunny Trip to the City

Kids were at Grandma and Grandpa's house last week, so Miles and I took an afternoon off from work to do some fun things in the city. First stop was the Knoedler Gallery on the upper east side to check out the Milton Avery show.

The art of Milton Avery's art was so indicative of the time. I love the industrial nature of it, yet it is such a gentle take on it. So beautiful. They would fit perfectly in my living room. Just a bit out my price range...

Afterwards, we strolled down Madison. I checked out some children shops, Bonpoint and Baby CZ. Always something new. It's funny as a shopkeeper, I look at other shops differently. Not only is  new merchandise always on your mind, but interesting displays, lighting, merchandising and  traffic flow are also.   We came upon Itoen tea shop.  Itoen  sticks close to it's  cultural guns, always pure in Japanese tradition.  It's closing it's doors, as well as the upstairs eatery, Kai Restaurant. It hurts to see another shop pass away. I bought a lovely handblown glass that now holds my makeup brushes on my new vanity in the master bathroom.

We reached  the subway  and headed downtown  to Moss. So crowdy was Soho, that it was nice to find a quiet spot at Moss. Moss is part galllery part store. The owner's folly. A section of the store was closed for remodeling. Flos Lighting will set up a new shop in the closed area .

Last year  we decided  that  our everyday flatware  and china  were tired  and needed replacement.  So I found some flatware at Moss that we both liked.

Nice and simple, not too heavy or light. Italian. I am still raking  over the china purchase.

Across the street from Moss I eyed a new shop that Kisan.  A shop that has a little bit of everything, with a large dose of children and women's clothes. Owned by a French and Icelandic couple, the shop holds carefully selected items from around the world.

I fell in love with these necklaces made by a Parisian jewelry designer, Servane Gaxotte. So Cici Crib cute!

Miles said it was time to buy my much belated birthday gift. I am kind of hard to buy for, so after 20 years of marriage, we kind of settle for this approach. I love my new necklace.

We  ended the day with an  early dinner at WD50 . The chef is imaginative . You have to go with an open mind. My meal was delicious! A nice ending to a sunny day.

See you.

Christina

Bakelite Show

We finally made it down to the Bakelite Exhibit at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers.   From utilitarian objects  such as phones and pencil sharpeners to jewelry, bakelite was all the rage in the 1930s and 1940s. The show was interesting in it's technical content.  The clock to teach time and the toy car made in Czechoslovakia were cool.

Bakelite can be so stylish. I wish they asked my brother for his napkin ring collection. Always a highlight at the Thanksgiving table along side his midcentury china.  Some of the pieces look like these:

I am definitely a casual collector of bakelite.  With the exception of the ridiculous number of  enormous bakelite beads that my sister and I purchased years ago out of  an elderly lady's  garage, my collection is tiny. I used  4 of the beads in the past 12 years they have been in my attic. They were  sewn on the tips of a window valance in my son's  little nursery.  One day I am sure I will find another use for them.  They are just so nice.

What about all that fantastic, fun bakelite jewelry that could have been displayed at the show.

My most recent purchase is a bellhop pin I found  at a flea market last fall.

One of the nicest pieces in my tiny collection is a feeding set. I waiver between selling it in the shop or donating it to the Museum of Modern Art for it's tremendous design.  This baby spoon and fork is silver plated with bakelite handles. It is made in the US by Napier. I believe Napier is no longer in existence.They also made some very chic costume jewelry during the mid century.

Can't wait until flea market season starts, for the hunt to begin again.

See you

Christina