finally finished the living room

This is our semi-put-together living room. We did our best without buying any new furniture. The beige recliner was a dumpster-dive find from college. It was in really good shape didn't smell or have any grody stains. Just Gorilla Glued one leg back on and Fabreezed the crap out of it. The green chairs were from Salvation Army. I think they were 40 bucks for both. Perfect condition. Vintage green rug = $10 at a garage sale. Old golden-yellow couch and wicker chair = inherited (free).





The paint in this part of the room is called "Cavern." Before it dried it looked way too lavender (sick) which I initially freaked out about but in the end I think it helped make the room classy and feminine without being overly frilly and girly. And yes we are still rockin' the plaid couch. I love our built-in bookshelves. Also prior to our makeover the slanted wall there was not painted (just white like the ceiling.... I think it looks a lot better painted like the wall). We were also surprised how the plant (inherited) helped make this corner more homey. The ottoman was a complete rehab of a dumpstered piece of crap by my BFF Lauren and I. Took off the skirt, repainted the legs, made a remote-pocket out of the old skirt and stitched on some cute fabric...FREE!








Ohh this couch.... I find it a little gaudy. But again FREE. White cheapo curtains from IKEA make the dark wood stick out like a champ. Snowflakes for Christmas party = adorable.








Front wall paint = "Cavern" Back wall paint = "Pier"




Apple water color paintings = Angela Wolf is amazing. Plus they help make me forget we have a obscenely large, awkwardly placed column in our living room.




Two sets of 10 assorted black frames for $12 at Target on Black Friday... yep. I finally framed the 20 cutest tidbits I have been saving the last few years with.




Cute, cheap switch plate covers from Home Depot. An Angela find.

Yes, this is the life I wanted.

My best friend Lauren and I went to New York City last week. It was her first time. It was magical if not exhausting. Here's a peek.

We love museums and wanted an adventure that would keep us warm and cognitively engaged. The Guggenheim came through on every level. The spiral, continually ascending, Frank Lloyd Wright design kept us interested during the much needed, free audio tour. At the "Chaos and Classicism" exhibit, we learned more about the progression of art between WWI and WWII then we ever thought we would need.








The upper west side. Just pretty cupcakes. 





Architectural tourism. Old buildings with character and round corners. 
I am smitten.





I once read a blog post about this building that was turned into huge, perfectly round lofts. Then I went to see them.



The jungle popping out from under Manhattan.


One of the sets from "You've Got Mail," Cafe Lalo was the perfect mix of tourism and untouched loveliness. I bought a tee-shirt and an espresso.







I take pictures of place's bathrooms on a regular basis. Actually, this one became the background on my phone for a few days. I want this wall paper.




More scenes from "You've Got Mail."




"This is one of those things I will immortalize forever and never understand why I can't recreate it. I will try to make one and it will never satisfy after this."

-Lauren, referring to a well-timed mango smoothie.

Adventures

The picture below is to accompany this post by Sam Bunting. Read on.

A couple weeks ago we were at D'mongo's while they were still set up to shoot Transformers 3. That bar naturally overflows into the street which was completely destroyed for the movie. It was great.

Meanwhile, inside. I love this picture. It really captures the feel of D'mongo's and I am pretty certain that is my roommate Angela sitting down to sing with the house piano master.





This is Eric and Caroline, Couchsurfers from Chicago who stayed with us that weekend. I liked them.

Here are some shots from Rainbow Blight at the Imagination Station.
Probably one of the most textually astonishing things I have seen in my life.



This is the pretty piece Sam made from our spoils.




This is the only dog in the world that I don't hate. Amanda's friend Nigel was the life of the party at the Slow's 5th Anniversary party. Overheard, "Look at that dog's cute jacket, it has pockets and toggles" "We'll tag him in the picture" and the best "Amanda, I saw your dog out at a party last week."


No big deal... I just live on the most beautiful street in the world. View of our street from the 5th floor of the Willys Overland Lofts. I was there for a lecture on Detroit's Urban Landscape.

A song, a quote and some sassy old people.

I have really been liking this song the last year.

It has only been on YouTube until now. I actually think I like the unfinished YouTube version a little better but I am sure the final product will grow on me with time. Check it out on Bandcamp!


And I get to see Sufjan play in October! Can't wait.





On an unrelated note.



I have read "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs twice this year and started skimming it again today. At the beginning of the copy I have there is this quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr...




"Until lately the best thing that I was able to think of in favor of civilization, apart from blind acceptance of the order of the universe, was that it made possible the artist, the poet, the philosopher, and the man of science. But I think that is not the greatest thing. Now I believe that the greatest thing is a matter that comes directly home to us all. When it is said that we are too much occupied with the means of living to live, I answer that the chief worth of civilization is just that it makes the means of living more complex: that it calls for great and combined intellectual efforts, instead of simple, uncoordinated ones, in order that the crowd may be fed and clothed and housed and moved from place to place. Because more complex and intense intellectual efforts mean a fuller and richer life. They mean more life. Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether it is worth living is whether you have enough of it."
-Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.




Detroit is slowly becoming the perfect city.

Us watching Detroit 187 being filmed across the street!