urban legend sneak peek #2!

Counting down to my shop opening on March 23 (fingers crossed); here's a sneak peek at my new vintage Lucite designs, available soon at Urban Legend.

dear glass: an open confession

Dear Glass,

I have something I'd like to talk to you about. First, I'd like to affirm that nothing has changed between us. I still love you. You know I love you, right? You're the original muse, and you could never be replaced.

That being said, I've been having certain cravings lately that I can no longer deny. Cravings for lightness and playfulness and bold color that I feel are not fully satisfied by our relationship. I need to confess. I've been seeing plastic on the side. You probably noticed. I've been scattering plastic around the house in a quiet way. There have been certain charges on our credit card that, if you looked into them, have probably led you to suspect something was up between me and plastic.

I don't want this to hurt you (you know I love you, right?), so in order to explore this playful side and still allow you to shine (you deserve that), I'm proposing to set plastic up in its own house. I'm planning to call this new house Urban Legend. It's going to take a little time for plastic to move out completely. It needs time to grow, and to establish an identity of its own. You and I, glass, need time to bond and rejuvenate our love. You have needs, and I know I've been neglecting you. I'm planning to open plastic's new home around the third week of March (as with all real estate deals, this date is a bit flexible).

Glass, I hope you can understand. I hope you can forgive me and that you and our loyal friends can embrace this new side of my life. I hope you can learn to love plastic as much as I do. To help you with that, over the next several weeks I'll be showing you some pictures (a sneak peek, some boudoir shots, if you will) to show you what we've been missing. You should know that my core values have not changed at all, and that the plastic I love is all vintage. You'll notice that in some cases, plastic is paired with brass instead of silver. The brass is handmade, and fair trade. I haven't really changed so much. And to reaffirm my commitment to you, and to our eco-friendly life together, I've redesigned your packaging using 30% recycled kraftpaper cards to showcase your gritty, sparkling loveliness. Shine on, my first love!

So for now, glass, I remain, as always, your faithful

Kateri

winner: sentence of the decade

By PearsonMaron, via Twitter, one of the greatest sentences I've ever read: "Troublesome Violet cried at the Dr. because she didn't get a shot." Magic stuff.

oh, the bear-manity!

The post-Valentine's aisle at Walgreens.

family poll, please.

I was on the phone with my youngest sister for a couple of hours this afternoon, mainly talking movies and figuring out how to find and/or upload things online. While we were doing this, I dug out my baby album and scanned in some old photos to send her. One of them is a truly lovely three-generation picture of my mother, my maternal grandmother, and me, and while I was scanning it, I noticed something. Family, please vote: does anyone else think Mom looks remarkably like Faith in this picture?


Not so much in the second one, but in profile it's striking.


And this one I'm posting not just because it's charming (can you believe how red that old couch looks in this pic?), but also to showcase Dad's early 70's threads. Excellent.

The Perfect Song

My friend, co-conspirator, almost-birthday-twin and former roommate Adrianne posted this on her Facebook page. Here's my version:

THE RULES:
1. Put your music player on shuffle/random.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. Write the song title and artist, regardless of how ridiculous it sounds.
4. Tag your friends, it's fun for the whole family! **
5. OK, go!

1) IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY?" YOU SAY:
Strangers (The Kinks)

2) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Wouldn’t Mama Be Proud? (Elliott Smith)

3) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Chocolate Jesus (Tom Waits)

4) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
The Hill (Marketa Irglova, “Once” Soundtrack)

5) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Amazing Grace (Sufjan Stevens)

6) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Sylfest Mork (Traditional folksong from Norway, “Nordisk Sang”)

7) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Happy (Brandi Carlisle)

8) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Start Again (Death Cab for Cutie)

9) WHAT IS 2+2?
Lost! (Coldplay)

10) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
The Sulphur Man (Doves)

11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Parker’s Mood (Charlie Parker)

12) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Age of Consent (Grant Lee Phillips covering New Order)

13) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Coconut Skins (Damien Rice)

14) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Sweet Talk (Spiritualized)

15) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Mansard Roof (Vampire Weekend)

16) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Are the One That I’ve Been Waiting For? (Nick Cave)

17) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Midnight Show (The Killers)

18) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Aikea-Guinea (The Cocteau Twins)

19) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
My Little Drum (Vince Guaraldi Trio, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” soundtrack)

20) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Sharks (Morphine)

21) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

The Perfect Song (The National) [no fooling, that’s really what came up]

girl + sunshine

UPDATE, Feb. 12 1 p.m. - Front page! Congrats, clever girls. xo

I feel an extra dose of affection for a treasury I made this week. In honor of unseasonably warm and balmy February weather, I give you: girl + sunshine.


From top left, featured shops are:

almapottery
PoleStar
Talula
cookoorikoo
thevintagecloset
houseofharriet
poordogfarm
fringe
thePhotoZoo
GetReadySetGo
tortillagirl
adri33

the last of their kind

I've been holding on to a stash of items that are one of a kind or the very last of a design, for no other reason than I just like to look at them. Parting is such sweet sorrow, but I think it's time to let some of them travel and see the world. They're posted in my shop in the section "the last of their kind," and I'll be adding more all this week. Get them while you can, they're all endangered species.

we didn't see johnny depp

Last summer when the new Dillinger movie was being filmed in Chicago, Leslie and I went to the Aragon to see if we could watch anything interesting happen. As it turned out, we couldn't, really, but we sat across the street and watched for a while anyway. I took a couple of pictures and forgot about them until I was cleaning out some photos today. Mainly they're just of the building itself, which I love, but I did manage to get one grainy shot of the period storefront they put in for the set (usually the windows of the building are empty and have signs for a daycare) and one picture of some extras in costume. And one of Archy, who was hot and got bored and took a nap.

point. click. repeat. repeat. repeat.

I've been experimenting with backgrounds for photos for a new line of vintage Lucite jewelry I'm working on, and so far nothing has turned out to be exactly what I'm looking for. However, a couple of them turned out to be a nice showcase for this particular bracelet, so I'm posting them here just to have something to do with them. And hey, while I'm at it, how about a picture of my new Petrol bracelet that was absolutely useless for the actual listing, but which I really love. Here they are.