My father turned me on to Pendemonium.com which has a huge range of fountain pen ink (my father suggested that every self respecting stationery proprietor had to sell pens). They also carry a nice selection of pens, advertising papers and blotters.

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As the daughter of a writer who spent her formative years in independent bookstores, I have an ambivalent relationship with Amazon.com — on the one hand, anything that gets books into the hands of readers is a great thing. On the other hand, I’ve seen the thinning of the range of titles most bookstores carry, independent or not, as the more obscure titles are now solely purchased online. This thinning has diminished one of the true pleasures of a bookstore — browsing. However, every now and then, Amazon’s suggestions will provide me with the serendipitous experience of browsing in a good book store, which is finding an unexpected pleasure. Case in point: Period Rooms in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I bought the book immediately because the period rooms at the Met fascinate me — I’m a new comer to much of the Met, discovering it in pieces as classes at school require me to delve into uncharted territories (French ceramics, German architecture, American silver) and my some of my best experiences in the Met so far have been getting lost in the period rooms, which always seem empty.

I’ve been looking for funky retro water glasses and happened on this set in Hillsborough N.C this past weekend (at the “antique mall” in the “Daniel Boone” shopping center next to the Food Lion grocery store that sells more types of sausage then I can list here). I love how the glasses are a riff or meditation on the traditional blue willow china — Thanks to my grandmother, I have a couple of pieces of blue willow china and these glasses will get me to actually use them. Not to mention, the glasses are perfect for vodka tonics on our new balcony in the dog days of August. PS How amazing are the unicorn napkin rings !?! Predictably, T refused to let those into the house.

In the course of my auction research I found the site igavel.com, which has a showroom in New York. The prices are high, but the quality is too. One highlight of their current auction is this miniature room (complete with French scenic wallpaper!). “Pink Parlor, Graeme Park, Hursham, PA, circa 1722″ was built by Mrs. Farnum and Thomas C. T. Brokaw, Harry Smith, Edward G. Norton and according to the auction website, was first exhibited at the Philadelphia Flower Show, 1977.

This room reminds me of the Doll’s House of Petronella Oortman c. 1686-1705 I studied in Survey of Decorative Arts I.

This is one of three seventeenth-century doll’s houses that have survived intact. It was commissioned by Petronella Oortman, a wealthy Amsterdam lady. The house is remarkable in that all of the components are made exactly to scale.

“Seventeenth-century doll’s houses were not children’s toys, they were a hobby. In the 17th century, many wealthy Dutch merchants had collections of one sort or another, which they kept in display cabinets. The wives of these well-to-do gentlemen also had collections, which reflected their personal interests: their homes. Some had large cupboards full of miniature furniture and dolls, replicas of a real home. These doll’s houses were sometimes on a magnificent scale. Whenever an important visitor dropped by, the host and hostess would show their collections. The master of the house would open the drawers of his cabinet and explain the contents to his guests, while his wife gave a comprehensive demonstration of her doll’s house. She would display the contents of the cupboards, reveal hidden spaces, light the lamps and would let real water gush from the fountain in the garden. Doll’s house demonstrations sometimes went on for hours. for ladies, comparable to the cabinets in which gentlemen kept their collections.”

I love the fact that 300 odd years apart, on different continents, two wealthy women produced such creative, unique objects that reflected themselves, no doubt.

I’ve caught action fever. When I was 10 my mother and I would go down to the local auction house and check out the previews for the evening’s auctions. Everything was lined up on long dusty tables — I remember suitcases, old wooden kitchen utensils (my mother collects them still) and pink plastic dirty toys. My memories are hazy — I was 10 after all — but I also remember that coffee and sandwiches were sold in the back of the room and the old men sitting on stools. My favorite part was that the auction house sometimes ran a silent auction, so that if an item didn’t go for more then was bid at silent action during the live auction you’d still get to claim it. I think I even won a couple of things, but, I somehow don’t remember what I won. I also remember losing something I had really wanted (again, don’t remember).

This past weekend, I visited my parents, now living in North Carolina, and we went to the local auction house on Saturday night.
What amazed me was how much was the same — long tables (less dusty), coffee and sandwiches, old men sitting on stools. No pink plastic toys (but there were lots of christmas ornaments). However, on the whole there were some great antiques and good prices too. My parents bid on a sweet neoclassical loveseat and lost to a serious looking bidder on the other side of the room. Meanwhile, two silver haired women in their 60s right in front of us bought up prints and silver. The action was awesome, as was the mood in the room. My parents went go home with a wing chair for $60 dollars and two lovely lamps for $200.

High from the auction, I started researching good auctions near me in NY — any suggestions out there?

My cousin Ruth made this flash site which is almost as wonderful as the “dress your pug” flash site she made a couple of years ago! Create away and use that office color printer.

My oldest friend Emily (we met in summer camp when we were 12!!) came into town last weekend and what was supposed to be general wedding brainstorming session quickly spiraled into a full blown down and dirty project of actually designing and printing her save the dates on my trusty Gocco (we’re both get-it-done girls). The image is of a marigold (the key color/flower of her August wedding) and was found online (its a “swamp” marigold). We dragged the stationary store main of 19th Street between 5th and 6th (Print Icon, Paper Presentations, Aruthur’s, Kate’s) and ended up buying the hang tags, brown envelopes and ribbon at Paper Presentations. I love how they turned out and I can’t wait for round two — the invitations!

Adorable is the word that describes these magnets from The Small Object. I mean, ADORABLE.

Then, as much as I dislike Valentine’s Day, check out this idea from my new favorite blog, One Hour Craft …. DIY PANTIES!

So as you can see from the lite posts this week and last that I’ve been a little distracted by the start of school and my current obsession: the massive apartment hunt. I’m a nest builder/seeker by nature (ask anyone) and I take finding our next space SERIOUSLY. After more sixth floor walkups than I care to remember with tiny kitchens with no storage (cooking is a key ingredient in our marriage) we found this gem in MANHATTAN, a place I thought I’d never live again. We’ve put in an application:

Of course, since we’ve been living in a 300 sq foot room in a shared house with none of our own furniture, this leads to a frenzy of anticipation (our own space! real adult furniture! our own sofa that seats both of us comfortably!). My mother, who rarely makes pronouncements, made one: “Buy the sofa first and build the apartment around that”. Given my complete state of stress this week (work in the office till 10:30pm, starting classes, putting in the application) I found this pronouncement profoundly calming. We just need to find the sofa and everything will fall into place. While I’m not usually a fan of Pottery Barn (too overstuffed and antiqued) I do like this one but in Navy.

I’ve been working on a post about paint cards prompted by a visit a couple of weeks ago to Home Depot Lowe’s where I got obsessed with the color lavender (see a page from my home journal).

In the course of my paint card obsession and research I ended up at Lisa’s Flickr “Everyday Color” group. And just today I see this fantastic piece by Lisa (via Happy Mundane):

and an awesome interview with design sponge.

Update: Blogland delivered this treat from Design Verb: paintcard business card cases!

First, via Abigail Percy, Moleskin city guides!

Then, via Design*Sponge check out this fantastic concept: A Jar of Whimsies! Want it, want it!