City of memories

Whoops. I meant to post this a few weeks ago! I am very into what Forgotten Chicago is all about. In a city with so much history, it seems like every block has its fair share of secrets to spill.

I'm so impressed by all this site has going--a Flickr set, Facebook page, Twitter feed. Geez, someone's never going to be able to let Forgotten Chicago slip her mind again.

Anyway, I would really love to go on the Pilsen/Little Village tour they have coming up THIS Sunday (see what I mean about meaning to post this way back in the day), but I don't see it in the cards. I'll probably be recovering from Beer School where I'm sure get an A (related: old breweries!).

I'm definitely planning to go on at least a few in the future. There's nothing more I love than old stuff and snooping around, so this tour series is about like chocolate and pretzels to me--perfection.

I want to hear about it if you go!

In the meantime, the site is full of interesting bits and pieces (maps, architecture, infrastructure, whoa WHOA. A forum--time to nerd out).

(images from Forgotten Chicago's cool Flickr pool)

In my leisure suite

Here's where I'll be tonight
Pretending that I live there. Or can afford any of their snazzy wares.

More info if you care to go:
Enjoy local art, great furniture, a beverage, and good company!

Artist/ gallery curator David "Netherland" van Alphen lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Though David's family was from Holland, he was born in Toronto, and has been in Chicago for the last eight years. Being a child of the 70's has influenced him greatly and is reflected in most of his work. Juxtaposing images, his color choices and the new modern context comes through his nostalgic imagery and helps to isolate and enhance them into a beautiful montage. David does not resize, photocopy or scan any of the images he uses. All images are cut directly from their original source and and pieced together to keep each piece unique

More info about Netherland.

“Leisurama” will be on display until Friday,Sept.18th

Black is the new black

I've been magpie-ing away pictures of black rooms to satiate my ever-growing need to paint something else in my house black (or more accurately, Poppy Seed). I've got my eye on you, front door.

Anyway, of course--of course--the incredible Desire to Inspire swooped in with a post that should be able to still my shaky paint-roller wrist for at least another week or so.

I still have a few snaps squirreled away to warrant an entry here on the web log. Let's all paint everything black!
(Via Sara Thira)

(Via Apartment Therapy)

(Via Domino)

(Via Marie Claire Maison)

(Via Marie Claire Maison)

(Via Marie Claire Maison)

(Via Marie Claire Maison)

(Via Living Etc.)

(Via Living Etc.)

(Via xJavierx)

(Via xJavierx)

(via I Suwannee)

(Via House Beautiful)

(Via House Beautiful)

(Via The New York Times)

(Via The New York Times) *I know I posted these recently, but I couldn't resist tossing them into the mix.*

And from the QB herself, all of these below are from Desire to Inspire




I saved this one for last because it's my fa fa fa favorite. But it's not helping at all!
All I really want to do now is throw down a tarp and paint all my doorjambs black and then rub my face all over that shiny, shiny floor.

Maybe it's time to see a therapist.

The lovers, the dreamers and me

Thanks to fabulous guidance from the blogblog log (thanks so much for showing me your fantastic sources! I had a blast), I picked up some some jazzy trinkets yesterday. I bought a lot of glass items and took some quick turns in the old Subaru (I heard one whole bag of breakables sickeningly clink and jangle its way to imagined oblivion as a bag toppled over when I backed into a parking spot just outside of my building. Upon examination, the entire bag and contents were somehow upside down--good one, self!) But fortune smiled on me, and I managed to get everything into the house intact and now arranged just so.

Even if I had dropped the whole lot of loot (which would not be a surprise to anyone who knows me), I would have still had the warm wooliness of the Hudson's Bay blanket I found to dry my tears. So excited to have one of these!

I've (admittedly very casually) been looking for one of these blankets for years. Yeah, they're bright and kind of cabin-esque, but they're so warm and can look wonderfully modern and graphic--but never stark.

Can you make the rainbow connection?



(Via Melaniecoles)

(Via The 10 Cent Designer)

(Via James Glave)

I can definitely see mine (MINE!) folded up into a nice cat warmer at the bottom of the bed this winter.

BUT. There is always the option of upholstering something. Hmph.


(Via Apartment Therapy)

(Via Alison Milne Design)

I DO have a very similar U.S Navy blanket that might look pretty sweet as a bench...

Ok. It's August. I have a few months to marinate on this one. Good chance I'll hate the idea by then and be glad I didn't maul a completely innocent blanket.

Putting the kitchen in the hot seat

I have big dreams for our little kitchen. Please join me on a little free-form musing of what I think could work...

Don't get me wrong; it's a nice place with way more cabinet space than I've ever been used to (not dividing it among three roommates helps) and--gasp!--it even has a pantry!

(Pictures as it was with the previous owner)

There's a lot to love about it: hardwood floors, inoffensive black granite counter tops, decent appliances, enough room for a table. Nothing really to complain about at all.

And yet.

Ehh, I think it's sort of long on potential and short on character.

Here's what I'm thinking.

That's the table we have in place now. And that light fixture is not cutting it at all. Since I didn't win Atomic Indy's Rejuvenation contest (weep, weep), I don't think this fixture is in our future:It's gorgeous, but maybe a bit on the expensive side.

I'm looking for something like this...but I turned up NOTHING in my three-minute online search. Thanks for nothing, Internet.

Help, please! Anything awesome and mod and ORANGE would be perfecto.

Why orange? Well, because I'm in love with this wallpaper:

Matchsticks Circles by Graham and Brown. It's an official obsession, and I'd love to see it on the walls behind the table and quite possibly on the one behind the cabinets on the right side of the kitchen (feel free to lobby for this in the comments. While Marc is cool with the actual wallpaper, he isn't so sold on the actual purchasing and hanging that comes with picking it out).

On to the rest.

The cabinets are nice and all. Even if they're not exactly my cup of tea, there's really no way to justify replacing them. Maybe a face lift with these Hygge and West ceramic knobs would be nice:

In the mix we have our teal and walnut chairs. Will that work with all the orange, I'm wondering?

Here, I made this. Print it out and hang it on your fridge.

We actually have those orange chairs. Right now they're in the office, but I'm not averse to hustling them out into the kitchen.

But I don't know. Would they fight with the table? Would four chairs with arms be too much? Would old tealies need to take a hike into the office?

Ok, so now maybe that's orange overload? I don't know.

Would a black pendant be cooler?

Probably.

So that turned into a lot of musing. And more than a little anxiety. HELP!

Ok, kids. Here's a recap of my burning questions. They will be on the test.

1. Scrimp and save for Rejuvenation glory (which means that nasty white thing is there for probably a year)? Or hunt for mod orange? Or go sophisticated (and affordable) with black?

2. Are we ok with the wallpaper? If so, which walls?

3. Knobs? Actually, I don't really care what you say. I love them. So there. To tell the truth, the same kind of goes for the wallpaper. See? I have way fewer questions than it initially seems.

4. Chairs? Orange? Teal? Neither. This one is really getting to me.

Guys, I got a haircut

No, really, I did. Last night. It's almost as cute as this; too bad I didn't see this snap until today.

I'll have to take this picture in next month for inspiration.

Seriously, though, I'm kind of a lonerish (not to be confused with loserish, ok?), introspective dreamer drinker, so this is a pretty accurate depiction of what I look like when you catch me "partying" (I put that in quotes because I just read somewhere that you're not supposed to use party in verb form after college. Pfffft.)

Pastel sundress + wine cooler + bubbling stream = Sumer of Alison's Dreams. Well, maybe throw a unicorn in there for good measure, but I'm not going to be picky.

Related: The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quote Marks

(Party blog via Mighty Girl)

When it's over

Some good news and some bad news:

So let’s get the tough stuff out of the way first. Here goes.

I have a confession. I don’t hate Sugar Ray. In fact, I happen to think they’ve been responsible for some damn catchy tunes (one of which I heard yesterday at Qdoba, prompting me to come to this revelation and make this confession), and they give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about my 90s past.

I don’t hate—nay, like—them so much that I went in search of a greatest hits album this morning. WHICH THEY HAVE. Admittedly, I thought it would only have three songs, but 15 tracks, whatever. I’m buying it! Deal with it.

Ok, on to better and brighter things.

1.WHAT?!? Arrested Development is really going to be a movie? Really? It would be cruel to jerk me around. Straight from Jason Bateman’s adorable mouth:

“A big-screen version of Arrested Development is planned for next year. ‘When it was on TV, if you missed one word the whole third act could be blown for you. And TV is a different experience. You come home and you've got to finish a call so you miss the first ten minutes or you get snacky and you go to the fridge and you miss another two minutes, so it's a different experience to film.’

2. There’s a garage sale at the Empty Bottle this weekend, combining my two great loves of drinking and buying junky crap. Really, though, I went to the Schuba’s one last winter and came away with some really cool, super cheap (and free!) posters.

Also of note, lots of cute, friendly boys were milling about the last one. if you're in the market, this might your chance to pick up a not-yet-drunk, music-loving, living and breathing souvenir along with old pool table lights and half-burned-out beer signs.

Sew exciting

Sorry about the crap post title, but I made a pillow! With a zipper.

This was my first time even touching a sewing machine, so I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

Zipper detail:


This was about a month ago (as I said, I've never been on the ball time-wise) and since then I reupholstered an elliptical chair. I need to refinish the iron frame and reattach the cushions but there will be photos sometime this summer!

P.S. Do like I did and take a class at the Needle Shop. Rachel is great.

More good news for book dorks and general freaks

After a long week, this weekend should be great fun! Saturday is the Printer's Row Book Fair. I’m especially jazzed because (1) I will also be going to Printer’s Row Book Fair: The Party! which is sure to include sangria and delicious snacks and tarts.


And(2)the kids I teach at 826 Chicago have just published their first book A Sunday Afternoon Hotdog Meal, and they will be celebrating at the fair with their book release party on Saturday! I picked up my copy last night, and it is such a cute, funny little weird book of a love note to Chicago’s cuisine, public transport and more. I highly recommend.

And then there’s Sunday. Have you ever heard of Chic-A-go-go? It’s a public access show where kids and all sorts of people from around the city dance around and generally spaz out onstage…it’s been on for 10 years and my roommate and I are sort of obsessed with going on one day (here's their Myspace).

Well Sunday, is Chica-A-go-go: The Movie at Schuba’s. Here’s what they have to say:
The cable access dance show Chic-A-Go-Go has been a Chicago fixture for over a decade, but its producers looked much farther back for inspiration when crafting the feature film version fo the show. Paying homage to the rock 'n' roll b-movies of the 1950s, Chic-A-Go-Go - The Movie sees Miss Mia, Ratso and the Chic-A-Go-Go Dancers facing the threats of anti-rock 'n' roll activists, a local crime boss, and a stodgy judge… Prior to the 2PM FREE screening, Chic-A-Go-Go friends (old and new) are invited to join the cast and crew for Schubas/Harmony Grill very affordable, very delicious brunch at noon, followed by a "red carpet" reception hosted by Miss Mia from 1pm-1:30. There will also be a brief, but energetic, dance parties before and after the screening.

Sunday morning dance party? That’s just what I need to forget my stolen bike!