Compare and Contrast: So Much to Love

There's something inherently appealing to me about things that don't seem to go together, but go together perfectly. Salt and pepper. Peanut butter and jelly. Industrial objects and primitive furniture. I've always been excited about that element of "compare and contrast," but it really has been a theme this week, both at home and at work.


For starters, the new J.Crew and Anthropologie catalogs both arrived. The J.Crew outfits pictured are full of contrasts -- dressy pieces paired with really casual ones -- not a new idea, but exciting to me because some of the combinations I could actually imagine wearing. Love the ruffled and embellished t-shirts. And check out the great industrial housewares in Anthropologie. I especially love the lighting -- gracefully and industrial at the same time.



Continuing the theme, one of my BFFs, Kathleen, was visiting last week from Chicago and showed me the fabulous website of Maggie Taylor, an artist whose work she'd seen in New Orleans. Taylor takes vintage photographs, scans them into the computer, then alters them in Alice-in-Wonderland like ways, and prints them out as poster-sized canvases -- sweet, but eerie at the same time. Love it!

Joe was excited about the article he found in Newsweek (7/29/09 issue) on Polaroids, which I understand have now been rendered extinct by digital technologies. However, just as the actual technology is being phased out, its style is hotter than ever. There is now a program called "Poladroid" that allows you to alter your digital images to resemble vintage Polaroids. As more perfect images become available to the average photographer, the more the hunger grows for the fuzzy Polaroid.

Next, I'd like to announce that as a 46-year-old, evangelical mom, I heart Guns 'N' Roses. I'm blaming it on numerous games of Name That Tune, played while listening to the classic rock stations we find while traveling. Whenever "Sweet Child o' Mine" comes on, I can never remember which band it is, but totally love the song. Joe rolls his eyes at my lack of musical recall, saying, "it's Guns 'N' Roses." Last time this happened, I decided to look for the video on YouTube, and now I'm hooked. I was sharing this news with Kathleen, who warned me that my man Axl was nuts. I did some in-depth research on Wikipedia and found that indeed, my fellow Hoosier had a rap sheet befitting his head-banging lifestyle. But still, there's something wonderful to me about a long-haired, foul-mouth, tattooed guy writing such a sweet song for his (then) wife. Sigh.

Even our booth at this weekend's Grayslake was a study in contrasts -- painted furniture, mixed with primitives, seasoned with industrial. Not a bad show, but not a barn-burner either. A special thank you to our customer Elizabeth from the Bent Fork Bakery for the delicious cookies. And to everyone who came out to support the show on the hottest weekend in the last 3 years! Now it's off to downtown Indianapolis and small-town Kentucky, as we get ready for this week's run to Midland and Burlington. xo