pinned [industrial windows]

Light is one of the most important things to me in my home- artificial, natural, you name it I care about it. In fact, it might be the thing of greatest importance to me, if I had to pick just one element of interior design to prioritize. Just ask D- my collection of lamps is slightly absurd.

Natural light is trickier, because of course you can't just head to the store and purchase some. The bones of your home are often unalterable, especially if you're a renter, which i will probably be until 2035 (ugh).

But just because you can't have it doesn't mean you can't dream about it, yes? My absolute favorite type of window is the large industrial-looking panes, floor to ceiling if you can get it. Here are a few images that I think get it just perfect. The last one is the best, although the rest of the decor is a bit modern for my taste.

the most beautiful of work spaces

both floors of the home can enjoy the natural light from these stunners

totally doable- an interior screen like this is could be added anywhere

a beautiful loft

looks like a thoughtful addition rather than part of the original home

via          CAN YOU IMAGINE!

link it up

I was in Chicago the end of last week and got stranded an extra day because of a fire. So, link up comin' your way today instead. 

If you too need to kill time on the North Shore of Chitown, go check out the Ba'hai temple- there are only 8 in the world, and this one is stunning. I know one person who practices their faith, and find it fascinating- the three main tenants are unity of God (just one fella), unity of religions (there are many paths up the mountain, but they're all pursuing the same thing) and unity of humanity (we are all equal, regardless of race, culture, gender, sexual preference, etc).

How to reheat pizza at home. Spot on.

When D and I want to pick a Netflix movie, it takes me 40 minutes of going back and forth between our queue and Rotten Tomatoes, trying to sort through the masses. Check out A Better Queue to bring the two seamlessly together.

In need of a classic camel blazer? Tried this on over the weekend and can't wait to buy it.

Why I hope to die at 75. I think my dad would agree with this dude. I mean, maybe if you're already 70, but I think as preventative care improves, not to mention smarter health choices being made since childhood, 95 is the new 75.

bibliophile [the interestings]

An interesting read indeed.

The Interestings, Meg Wolitzer

You've probably seen this notable cover around. It got a LOT of hype when it came out, which means there are as many naysayers as there are huge fans. To give you the gist, I'm going to start us off with the blurb before I elaborate:

The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge.The friendships endure and even prosper, but also underscore the differences in their fates, in what their talents have become and the shapes their lives have taken. Wide in scope, ambitious, and populated by complex characters who come together and apart in a changing New York City, The Interestings explores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a friendship and a life.

I enjoyed this book for sure. So we gather from the summary that this novel focuses on talent, success, friendship, and love. Friendship and love you can find by the bucketful in any novel, but the value in The Interestings for me was really it's study of talent and success. D and I, along with most of our peers, are at an age where we think long and hard about how we would define a successful life, so this book seemed well-timed to my own experience and also a bit of a warning (spoiler alert: not all of the characters have the "right idea" when it comes to the value one places on monetary and emotional success). The characters, however flawed, were so well portrayed off the bat that I didn't mind so much that they saw relatively little development or personal growth over the 40 years we follow them. I mean seriously. The personality flaws of these 15 year olds are the same flaws at 50, but it was still compelling to see them play out.

I've heard mixed reviews, but I enjoyed this one, and I'm comfortable recommending it.

craigslist creepin [raleigh-durham edition]

Do you even KNOW how much good stuff is on the c-list right now? I'm currently looking for some new chairs, so that's been my most recent search. Here are a few I'd love to make mine.

$140 for a possibly-Thonet chair...I would (and may) offer more like $90 and see what happens. It was just posted a day or two ago, so they probably won't be flexible yet, and by their labeling it's clear they know what they have, but it can't hurt to put my offer in the back of their mind, in case they can't sell it. It's sculptural and lovely. In my home, the back would be visible, which makes this one even more enticing.

$300 for this low-profile dark blue upholstered chair is steep, but could be worth it IF the fabric is high-quality and in good condition, which I can't confirm from the pictures. Real nice though.

A quick tip for you: searching "pairs" or "chairs" will most likely give you sets of seating, which in my opinion are always more valuable than singles. That's how I found these two gold leather wing backs. They would very much work with my color scheme, and leather (or faux, like these almost definitely are) is easy to clean. Plus, $150 for the set? C'mon now. Even I can afford that.

Although they won't work in my living room, this is a set of 7 chairs for $25. Wha? They're so fun!

Also, slightly random add-on that I need your help with: 1 ft long light bulbs. HOW COULD I USE THESE? This is the exact kind of Craigslist find I want to horde, because eventually it could be precisely what I need. Please send your encouragement, nay-sayers need not reply.

back in the swing of things

Hello! Hope you're off to a lovely fall and have been too busy enjoying yourselves to notice I took a few week hiatus. SO much has been happening personally, professionally, existentially, gastronomically, and socially that I've let for a song slip down my list of priorities.

In truth, one of the reasons I've been posting less is because the interesting things I love to do, and love to post about, aren't happening right now. Creative DIY's, little decor hacks and improvements to my home's functionality, and projects that involve a new skill take more space and time than I have available at the moment. While I appreciate our little apartment, our limited indoor and outdoor square footage (let alone the lack of storage) is just not conducive to big weekend projects that I find most engaging. I think, as a result, I've been apathetic towards posting regularly, because in my opinion, the best content is original DIY's, and I don't have too many of those to share of late.

BUT. I've decided to continue on. I still adore reading and cooking and drinking and traveling and dreaming about interior design, all things I can continue to post about until I have more physical space and opportunity.

Here's a few snapshots of my last month. See you tomorrow, for reals.

last of the summer outdoor concerts at American Tobacco Campus

LDW included a visit to Wrightsville Beach

Back on Loyola's campus for our dear friends' wedding

the MBA's are back (and so are the fun, boozy MBA events)

spent the last official day of summer at the quarry in Eno State Park

discover [honey]

Are you an online shopper? Do you like coupons? How about saving money?

It's rhetorical question day, obviously.

I was thrilled a few weeks ago to discover Honey, which combines my affinity for shopping from my couch whilst in pajamas with my sincere appreciation for discounts. Here's the scoop: install Honey as a Chrome extension (much like the "pin it" button from Pinterest, or the Ebates extension, or my much-loved poach-it). It'll look like this, hanging out at the top right hand corner of your browser:

When checking out at Piperlime or Asos or any other online retailer, simply click the icon to see all available discounts- if you want, it'll even apply them for you. I used it at Target.com over the weekend. It didn't find any codes that I couldn't dig up in 5 or so minutes of Googling around, but the convenience and time-saved is well worth it.

Oh, and if you're not already using Google Chrome, you're silly. Almost as silly as the four-dude team that came up with an online shopping app and named it honey...oops, my gender stereotypes are showing.