Bookworm Weekend: Yves Saint Laurent & Pierre Bergé

Unwinding from NYC Design Week (mid-May), my stylish friend, Betty Lyn Eller and I caught L'Amour Fou by Pierre Thoretton at The Paris Theatre. It was a magnificent film recounting how YSL and Pierre Bergé came together, their life, love, deep connection, their massive trove of beautiful objets d'art that filled their amazing properties, and the astounding farewell auction of these beautiful things. There will never be a collection this diverse, tasteful, well curated, and planned with exact detail. It is truly a reflection of their personalities, lives, and uncompromising desires.

The partners worked with equally talented names---the late architect and decorator Bill Willis, designer Jacques Grange, architect and decorator Francois-Joseph Graf, garden designer Louis Benech, architect and landscape artist Pascal Cribier, garden designer Madison Cox, and the late landscape artist Franz Baechler to express their vision.

These 2 beautiful tomes continue to be an inspirational delight and a must have for the library. This was one of my go to gifts for some designer friends last year.

The Private World of Yves Saint Laurent & Pierre Bergé

The Yves Saint Laurent Pierre Bergé Collection

The following photos are of my recent jewelry projects.

The peacock is a vintage brooch that I've converted into a necklace.

a broken coral that I will use as a pendant or ring

These tassels were from an old worn pair of Italian boots I picked up in Rome. I came home one day to find the left pair gone and found out that our friend's dog chewed on them. A part of those boots live on in this new necklace.

trailer

Turquoise Splash

Pantone 15-5519 Turquoise is the color of the year. More greenish than blue, it's  a delight to the senses. It was chosen since it 'transports us to an exciting, tropical paradise while offering a sense of protection and healing in stressful times'. Most of us love color and are attracted to a certain hue because we sometimes need to channel its energies. Turquoise is my all time favorite color and when I lived in the tropics, it was my black. Wearing it always brings me back to exciting holidays in exotic locales like Calicoan Island, Mykonos, Playa del Carmen, and Boracay among others. Long and languid times with friends in idyllic beach homes and island hopping in our beautiful archipelago also come to mind. 

I've collected many art postcards in turquoise and blue over the years from different museum jaunts. Last January, I decided to give them away to friends and influential mentors  in my life to commemorate 2010, our memories, and friendship.

A Bigger Splash, 1967

David Hockney

acrylic on canvas, 243.8 x 243.8 cm, Tate

*for Susan Steinberg, my high school bff, 

whom I spent lot of time with poolside and island hopping 

Sunbather , 1966

David Hockney

*for Julia Rosien, the Duchess of Sunshine

Bathtub Collage #1, 1963

Tom Wesselmann

124 x 154 x 11 cm

Museum fur Moderne Kunst Frankfurt

Zigarrenkistenbild, 1988

Martin Honert

147 x 200 cm

Gard (pale blue), 1967

James Turrell

Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich

*for Zizi, my art professor, who shed light on life,

conceptual and contemporary art 

Anthropometrie, 1960

Yves Klein

*for Christine Laddaran, my lizardous sister

Edition for Parkett 58

Sylvie Fleury

*for my globetrotter and gorgeous friend, Sabrina

In and Out

Fabrice Fouillet

Collection Galerie Privee

www.editionsvp.com

*for Robert Hecht, my amazing 

perspective and rendering professor

S.S. Andrea Doria Katastrophe, Postkarte

Spinnwebzeit. Die Ebay-Vernetzung

Museum Fur Moderne Kunst Frankfurt Am Main

59T 132, Attese, 1959

Lucio Fontana

Kunstareal Munchen

Social Media Diary 2 Year 1:Mid Century Mod Style

lucite sculptures

About a week ago, I mentioned that I met Marcy Feld of Irwin Feld Design last summer over a low carb lunch at Isabella's on the Upper West Side. Well, we ended up celebrating our first friendship anniversary in real life since many of us were in NYC for The Nate Berkus Show. It all came together so quickly, Who knew the design blogosphere would convene and make it even more monumental?!

Irwin Feld Design petit fours...yes, they are all about the fine details

Marcy and I have bonded over seemingly mundane (but not entirely) happenings over the course of our days in the past year. As restless Sagittarians (our birthdays are 6 days apart) who work from home, we occasionally check on each other and do the obligatory tug to the center. Something like a virtual buddy system of sorts that I have come to rely on.  I now have 6 Yiddish words in my vocabulary and fondly think of her as my Rosetta Cohen. She regales us with her brilliant writing and captivates with her beautiful photography. Her poignant blog posts are the windows to her magnanimous spirit yet also bring to life the mid-century modern pieces that proudly sit, stand, hang, and adorn the gallery. An insight or two is always gleaned from each post, just like her most recent one on slow home lifestyle. The Irwin Feld Design gallery in Stamford, Connecticut is a treasure trove of well picked, restored, edited, and fine pieces. Many of the designers we read and hear about come to them for that added oomph.  Here are some photos from my first visit last May when they hosted a Spring awakening cocktail.

yes, I wanted to swing from one chandelier to another!

Catherine @averydesign , Bob Avery, Gloria Battista Collins @gbcstyle 

Mona Klein Klapper and Marcy Feld

each vignette was D-i-v-i-n-e

piercing the senses with sputnik-like moments

Irwin Feld discussing some ideas with wallpaper designer, 

Tracy Hiner

of Black Crow Studios, another Twitter connection

a custom Hepburn-esque barstool covered in Stroheim from their 

Breakfast at Tiffany's vignette at the 

Le Beau Chateau tabletop event

here with Tracy Hiner @tracyhiner (I will write more about my collaboration with Tracy Hiner on another post) and Liz Orgera @ShorelyChic who is sweet as can be! She sells seashells and such on etsy so check her blog for details and sunny posts. 

Oh Marcy, what can I say but 

double hearty kvells for you and Irwin , and the gallery!

I know this is not a preferred photo of us 

(we're not giving credit to the Milo Baughman love sofa with our post 1-too-many-cocktail looks) 

but I had to post it.... 

I'm farklemptly sold on you!

sweet meringue kisses till we meet again!

the only way to end the night.....

there's nothing like roaring down the highway top down with groovy tunes

 from Stamford to the City with the Felds in their Modness!

how to get there: Take the Metro North Railroad (East of Hudson line) from Grand Central to Stamford (average travel time of 2 hours round trip at $18.50 - 24.50)

here's Marcy's blog post on their Gallery Spring Celebration 

Double Anniversary

I landed in Charlotte, North Carolina exactly four years ago today. Having led a relatively sheltered life in Cebu, Philippines, I've long wanted to explore living elsewhere. After two previous attempts to study in New York and landing a scholarship in Germany, the right time finally came after I turned thirty. Charlotte was not on my radar but it worked out. 

Cebu, Philippines

the Big 30 overnight cruise with my best friends

For most people in my circle, this wasn't the age to go out and do something different. It's the time to get serious and buckle down to whatever they expect of themselves or perhaps deemed by society. My restlessness was quelled by many exciting chapters, a few dalliances, travels, and a constant stream of stimulation from varied passions. There finally came a time though when I heeded the tugging of my consciousness. Within 5 months, a decision was made after asking my father, found a school, did the necessary paperwork and research, packed my bags, and immediately started a new life after my 20 hour flight. Picked a place with an international airport, a youngish demographic full of transients, no familial ties (they have to be within a 2 hr flight radius), and relatively close to furniture market. It was an interesting way to weave through life while getting to know myself more intimately. 

artwork by Dr. Joel Mendez 2003

A refreshing pace with nary a care in the world but my immediate goals and everyday to do list. I had the time to sort out experiences, nurture, and converse with myself. Truly a great period of affirmation, growth, and discovery. When one is almost always physically alone, there is a heightened sense of awareness and that was what I was after. This is also what drove me to walk 80 miles to Santiago de Compostela in 5 days in September 2007. My family and friends saw a different side from my usual gregarious self. For awhile, I'm sure that they thought I was mad.

I kept in contact and was thankful for many real and caring family and friends from all over the world so I didn't feel the need to socialize and seek out people in my new environment. Special mention to you dear friends for always being there. 

Thoughts of our beautiful beaches and 

sunny smiles brought warmth during winter.

Calicoan Island

a sandbar somewhere

The difference in time zones proved to be a good exercise in containment of emotion, whether high or low. If I was upset, there was no one to immediately call most of the time. My yoga guru would have been proud. Detachment comes when you don't seek it. Being a solitary spectator was meditative and I needed that after years of  being in the scene and sometimes, creating the scene as Gypsy Queen (my 6 year stint as a lifestyle columnist and I was out almost every night) aside from holding a day job at a furniture factory. My G.Q. experience gave me great sociological lessons that came in very handy. 

fishing in Ocala, Florida

Except for a handful of classmates, teachers and staff in school, a boyfriend, few friends from Withit, and a non denominational church (called Watershed --- which prompted my aunt to ask if I've joined a cult), I only know a few regular names...Google, Ed-my landlord; Eric-the fishmonger; Seang-the florist; Anna-the dry cleaner; Linda and Dan-stylists at Sloan,a fave boutique; Gale-the postman; and Carlo-the waiter at my perfect dine alone place, Coco Osteria, when I lived downtown.  I've had my fair share of addresses---from a cool downtown loft (my dad fondly called it the sanitarium, he couldn't quite equate industrial to chic); an established building 3 blocks away properly called The Jefferson ; 

 a Euro summer in Chateau de Pourtales, Strasbourg 

(with a whole chapter of its own akin to 

Before Sunrise (2003) and Before Sunset (2007)

  

  a historic duplex in Dilworth (the only place I felt truly at home in Charlotte) ;

a rambling pink Victorian in Warrenton, Virginia for my internship with the amazing Barry Dixon ; back to Dilworth ; a brief stint in a neo-chateau in Lake Norman ; and now somewhere in the Hickory woods. This time, the name Gypsy Queen, has truly hit home. All this moving is not futile though since I've learned to downsize and only buy if I truly like something or it's necessary. All my possessions are in a 10x10' storage and a few special furniture pieces stored in a warehouse. Of course, an opposite philosophy applies to the planet where my shoes belong :-)

Coming from entrepreneurial and furniture influences, the Snug partner and I decided to toy with the idea of a furniture business. So on our first sneak presentation at High Point Market in Oct 2008, we had a cocktail party and some friends and family in the industry critique the products. Then we put the thought on hold for a good year to see if we should still do it while working on our day jobs (still d0). I finished a bachelor's degree in Interior Design in 2.5 years just in time when the economy tanked. 

the lovely O at Home  ladies enjoyed lounging in the Lo Rider 

with caviar pie and Louis Bouillot champagne

Fast forward to May 2010, SNUG was launched in New York at ICFF. Pre launch, I had read about the importance of Social Media as a marketing tool especially for start ups and joined Twitter April 2009. Like many, I didn't fully get it from the beginning and was somewhat aghast about tweeting away too much info but eventually started enjoying conversations with like minded people. An intimate come-as-you-are virtual cocktail party. Coming from a different culture where it's not quite common to ask "what do you do?" immediately after shaking hands, I didn't say too much on my Bio, only to realize later that it's imperative to do so unless one is a known figure. I met many of these people online through tweet ups and upon the encouragement of Social Media maven Leslie Carothers (@tkpleslie) of The Kaleidoscope Partnership and maximalist Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo (@abcddesigns), I started this blog last Sept 22nd so my first anniversary is coming up soon. I plan to celebrate it all week by showing photos and snippets of the year that was for me in Social Media. It has been a fun journey meeting wonderful people and getting to know some of you extremely well. I've learned so much from so many! To me, it's not only a marketing tool but a way to communicate in our constantly changing world where sometimes, all you need to do to say or ask for something is to #just140it (there are 140 characters per tweet).

I spent most of the summer in Cebu and went on an unintentional blog hiatus, a no no  in the blogosphere, since readers expect consistency. I was Home and it was more important for me to spend every waking moment with loved ones and kept many in betweens for spontaneity and me time. I just needed that. In this day and age of instant gratification and TMI, sometimes it is more sublime to savor and save it for later.  

Thank you for sharing your world with me and 
taking a peek into my world!

I look forward to getting to know you all better.

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap