overheard in Brooklyn

(on my corner, after a very long day at work, walking home from the subway on a sticky, hot day)

Two girls, at most 6 years old, splinter off from a group playing in the spray from a hijacked fire hydrant:

Girl 1: "Hey, let's go play at my place!  I live just right there!"
Girl 2 (hesitating): "Oooh.  I been playing all day....  Ima wear myself through."

just so you know

I've found the first coffee shop in my nabe to serve Stumptown coffee! And they offer whole beans, too. :)

Perfect day

May 24, 2009

Spent the afternoon in SoHo, enjoying bloody marys at SoHo park.

Walked the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset.

Ate Brooklyn Ice Cream factory ice cream in DUMBO's waterfront park under the lights of the city.

Grillin' in the Park

Last Sunday in Prospect Park
93 degrees
Friends, delicious grilled foods, cute dogs

Tattoo: Phase 3 (color)

closed out last evening at Lenox Lounge in Harlem, enjoying good company, cold drinks, neighborhood charm and live jazz

Bar Crawlin'

At Beast
photo courtesy of Tom

Last night I enjoyed the company of good friends as we embarked on our first ever Prospect Heights bar crawl. We hit up Franklin Park, Beast, Soda, Barrette, Weather Up and Freddie's and adhered to a strict 2 drinks per establishment rule.

unveiling

Surprise!

I've wanted a tattoo of my namesake, Daphne, since I was 14.

After thinking about this image for so many years, and how I wanted it to appear on my body, I'd finally settled on a Neo Classical etching-like tattoo with color and fine line shading. One of the most important elements for the image was that Daphne needed to be in contrapposto -- I didn't want her to appear static, and I didn't want a symmetrical tattoo. The one thing I struggled with over the years was the placement. I knew I wanted it fairly large-scale, but I didn't like the idea of an asymmetrical tattoo on a flat surface of my body, so when the idea for a ribcage tattoo finally came to me, I knew I was finally ready to treat myself!

Last month I went to Saved in Brooklyn and met with Dan. Dan's a super nice guy, and loved the story, and got excited to collaborate with me. He drew up a sketch based on my requests and the images I provided, and added his own twists too. Yesterday I went in for my first session, to complete the outline of my tattoo! I had no idea what to expect, pain wise, since this was my first tattoo, though everyone who heard about the rib placement told me I was in for some hurtin'. Surprisingly though, I felt fine! Actually, I almost fell asleep at one point, I went into a completely relaxed state. Not gonna lie, though, the lines over my kidney, hip bone and a few on the ribs kinda sucked. I'll go back for another two sessions -- one for the shading and one for the color.

I cannot express how happy I am with my decision to finally get this done! I've wanted it for so long, and it really felt right for me at this point.

a treat

Today I'm treating myself to something I've wanted since I was 14 years old. So excited! I'll post pictures later....

good morning, Valentine

Stumptown coffee made with the french press,
with vanilla silk
and a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and raw sugar
in my favorite mug

Happiness is...snow!

The city is blanketed in a white fog right now, and huge snow clusters are falling in front of my view of the Empire State Building. *sigh*

Happiness is...sunshine and shoes

I'd been lusting after these Marc by Marc Jacobs booties all season, and now,

THEY ARE MINE.

Pre Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for these two.

Who's that on the etsy homepage?

It's me!

Lillyella featured dlittlegarden hand knits
Brawl on Bowery mitts in her handpicked items today!

There is a god!

Arrested Development will become a movie!

Fall Back to Basics

I'd promised I would have a few cowls in the shop by this weekend, but after a long and exhausting work week of board meetings and other challenges, I realized that I'll have to push the release back a week. I have the first cowl all ready to go -- just need to find the time to photograph it, but anyway I'd like to shoot a bunch of them all at once so it'll wait. Here's a preliminary shot I took this morning:


I decided to do a run of the cowls in the same yarn I'm using to make the Upper East Slouch hats and the Brawl on Bowery mitts. These cowls are muuuuch softer, fluffier, and drapier than the Golden and Pewter Fleece cowls I made for myself and Sarah (out of bulky tweed yarn). I kinda want to keep this version for myself! I'm calling this dlittlegarden hand knit version the Christopher Street Cowl.



Since I realized that I needed more time to crank out a few more Christopher Streets for the shop, I had time this lovely sunny Sunday to enjoy my sweet dog. Cinder and I decided a walk to Prospect Park to admire the autumn foliage was in order. We enjoyed a meandering path down through Prospect Heights, stopping to sniff a few fire hydrants and peer into the windows of a few townhouses on the market along the way.








Unfortunately, our camera batteries died before we reached the park, but we had quite a memorable romp around the grounds. Cinder loves plowing through the crunchy, spicy smelling leaves and playing tug-o-war with me over found twigs. We made our way into the nature trails, and just as we were peacefully crossing a stone bridge over a horse trail, a giant leaf fluttered its way down and landed on Cind's head! It startled us both for a second, and we looked at each other with shocked faces. I feel so happy having moments to connect with my dog. I know it might seem silly to some, but he grounds me.

Happiness is... Being an American today

One Reason I Love Living in NYC...

...Flagship stores!!

Sanrio Luxe, anyone (I'm looking in your direction, sister J.)

Happiness is...a looong weekend

I planned ahead this year and took off an extra 2 days around the 4th of July weekend. Yep- 5 blissful days away from the office!

Views from my weekend:

Happiness is... new beauty products

FYI, for anyone interested in makeup:

Yesterday I noticed my coworker rocking some gorgeously long, natural-looking lashes. When I asked her what new mascara she was wearing she told me it was this stuff, which she'd read about in a magazine. The brush and formula gave her excellent individual lash definition, was smudge-proof enough for her to put it on her bottom lashes, and didn't give her the feeling that her lashes were shelaced together. Having long suffered with inferior mascara products, and always up for a drugstore makeup binge, I rushed off to buy myself some. While there, I happily discovered that the mineral makeup craze started by Bare Escentuals seems to have reached the bargain brands. I'd wanted to try this stuff for a while, but didn't really feel like shelling out major cash. Physicians Formula offered the perfect solution for me- their Organic Wear line. I bought their loose powder in beige for $13.95 or something, and tried it today. It coats evenly and feels creamy on, and matches my skin tone perfectly (which never happens)! I'm totally obsessed.