A handsome man...

My boyfriend is more stylish than I am...

He saw those glasses in a store window late one night and went back for them.  They are actually women's sun glasses with the lenses replaced with his prescription.  They are one of a kind titanium frames made by a belgian designer.

Missed Connections, except with objects instead of people

Holiday season poverty combined with the shift in shopping mentality from decorating my home to filling the empty space beneath my grandmother's tree has resulted in a lot more covert shopping photography.  Looking at this batch of photographs definitely caused me to think a few times, "Wait, why didn't I buy that?  Oh that's right, I can't afford a dollar thrift store hat because it's Christmas."

My friend Andrew, who is holding this picture, was terrified by it.

We had these exact same mugs in my house growing up.

I collect elephants and it was really hard to walk away without buying this whole batch.  I almost bought a few, but they were too expensive.

Ditto for this Collection of saints!  Apparently one of this store's donors collect all the same things as I do.  Ultimately the male saints were deemed too large, as a way of limiting what I took home.

I've been thinking about beautiful serving wear for my friend Emily's wedding, which I am planning!

And I have been thinking about owls for my friend Mark's apartment, which I have been hired to decorate!

This hat must have been simply too small for an adult head, or I most certaintly would've bought it.

Why didn't I buy this?

What a great combination of art; how appropriate it's the window display.

This guy seemed so lonely and holy in this dirty corner.

I love that couch!

After my last blog entry about unpurchased thrift store goodies, I ended up going back and buying the kitchy rose pattern knee high rain boots!  Maybe something from this batch of photos will be gone back for...

Fox Skylight Antiques Gallery

I've been once again curbing my appetite to shop by photographing the merchandise rather than buying it.  This requires extensive use of the deliciously covert iPhone camera.  These photographs were taken at an antique mall near my house, and so I had to be extra careful.  Antique dealers always think you're some sort of spy when you walk around snapping shots left and right.  So it looks like I'm one of those teen age technophiles texting constantly, and occassionally lifting my cell phone above my head to make sure I get a good angle, err, I mean better reception.

I was with an out of town guest so we spent more time wandering around than I'm used to, leaving plenty of time to find compositions hiding amongst all the pretty things.  It didn't hurt that the antique gallery seemed to be some kind of refurbished factory.  Three floors of pretty things!  And funny things...  and strange... and expensive...

For self portraits taken in mirrors for sale at Fox Skylight Antiques gallery, check out my art blog: The Lunatic and the Swan.

A stylish presidency.

During our last presidential primaries, I was ostracized on more than one occasion for my lack of Obama fever. I had admired his eloquence since first spotting him on C-Span as a junior senator, when presidential aspirations were a distant twinkle in his eye. But when he announced his candidacy, I didn’t tape photos of him on my wall like glossy idols ripped out of a Teen Beat Magazine. And my facebook status wasn’t a perpetual homage to my conjectures of his potential greatness. And I didn’t vote for him in the primaries. I didn’t vote in the primaries at all.

This is where I received the greatest criticism. How dare I? But I was faced with two awesome possibilities (first woman president versus first black president), neither of which would’ve disappointed me in the least. Even John McCain (before he announced his vice presidential candidate) seemed like a reasonable fellow.

But of course, I celebrated when Obama won. I watched his acceptance speech and cried. And I felt a deep sense of American pride.

And now I read the news with the kind of bias that befits a liberal democratic middle class college educated female in her mid twenties. But this blog isn’t about politics. I’m writing today because the Obama industry provided me with something special last week. Something that I relish, something upon which I gorge often: style. Buckets and buckets of style.

The White House's state dinner honoring India's Prime Minister Singh was absolutely gorgeous. Browsing the photographs was a chance to enjoy beautiful tablescapes and elegant formal wear. And reading some of the major news websites coverage of the event seemed more like an article from Martha Stewart’s magazine. CNN highlighted the fact that the menu included “greens from the White House garden, honey from White House bees.” They also pointed out that State Dinners are the most coveted invitations in Washington. I can imagine.

Photo from msnbc.com.  Charles Dharapak / AP

Photo from cbsnews.com.