Gallery Of Travel

Me and Aaron are spending our Friday night in (big surprise!)...and we're painting. (even bigger surprise!!) But at least this Friday night painting that we're doing is exciting. Bit by bit we've been chipping away at our kitchen re-do, and this evening we're doing one of the final steps of the distressed / sepia washed / rubbed off / spackle-y / old world plaster meets industrial drywall faux finish technique. I'm half serious and half kidding. Those words probably describe it accurately, though it's really fairly simple. You'll see exactly what I mean when I share some pics of the kitchen once things are further along. Tonight we're applying big swaths of creamy white paint using a large plastic spackling knife. It's looking awesome. 

Anyway, when working on tedious, large format painting projects, like faux finishes on walls, you stay motivated by staying inspired. We pull out our collections and pose them in front of their future walls. And sometimes pulling out the inspiration will inspire us to acquire even more inspiration...yep, I've been on Ebay quite a bit since the kitchen re-do commenced. : ) ha!

Also...we've been imagining the fab cooking and baking that will take place in our new kitchen. Aaron says he plans on overcoming his fears of baking (yes, he LOVES to cook...but he's got a baking phobia. He's always fearful that he's gonna screw things up.) Tonight, Aaron said that as soon as we've got the kitchen all done and hooked up, he wants me to give him "Baking 101" lessons...and he's serious! ha! 

On a related note...he's very excited about the new book out from Trophy Cupcakes. Well, we both are. I've never been to Trophy Cupcakes in person, but I have been an online fan for years! I love her aesthetic...I love when sweets transcend mere dessert and create their own little magical world. Below is a great and totally simple video of hers...one of a few that highlights the great stuff in her book. Aaron said he can't wait to master a piping bag. ha! I too cannot wait for him to lose his fear of baking. We're gonna have so much fun in our new kitchen!  

Like I said...we're working on the kitchen...and checking out fab kitchen stuff is what has been keeping us motivated. Here's something that is super cute...and you can take it home and actually put it to use. I love coming across adorable utilitarian things like this.

The "Pretty Pastel Decorating Kit" from Layer Cake Shop comes with a whole bunch of their favorite edible bits and baubles. Check out the cute little video below. What an awesome gift to get the sweet lover in your life.

The incredible vintage celluloid charm collection of Myko Bocek absolutely blows my mind! I LOVE what these look like. Anything that was once white has turned a faded creamy tone with age. In fact, all of the colors have been perfected with age. The yellows are so warm, and the pinks are so pale. The pastels are just so pretty in contrast to the bright candy colors.

I truly adore them.

Seriously, I'd treasure a necklace bearing just one charm. 

I can't even begin to imagine what it would feel like to be in the presence of all of these. Is this incredible or what? And this isn't even close to the full collection! wow!

This image slays me. The lighting...those walls...the pink trim. Just stop.

You know what I could spend and entire day doing? I could sit back, stare at this image, and imagine it being populated with all of my favorite things...my furniture, collectibles, many tables of sweets...both faux and real. And while we daydream we will also pretend that we live in a world where there is no such thing as lead paint. : )

Me and Aaron have been fans of Cy Twombly for a very long time. We associate our discovery of his work with the early years of our relationship...we're talking 1994 through 97...we'd spend so many of our weekends and evenings in NYC. As soon as the weather was warm we'd head into the city and traipse the streets for hours and hours...lots of shopping...lots of just looking. Anyway, on one of our trips to MoMA we stumbled across a Cy Twombly retrospective and fell in love with his work. So many of the pieces were such large format...some canvases were twenty feet long and twelve feet high!...anyway, seeing them in person like that was an amazing experience. And it's so cool that after all these years we connect with his work in the same way...and even more so. We didn't know the future of our art career back then, and there's something magical about recalling those early days of the two of discover artists together. So...I just came across this Art of Cy Twombly book, titled The Natural World: Selected Works, 2000-2007. You should check it out. And jeez...if an exhibit ever comes to your city...you must see his work in person.

Ok...thanks for checking out my Friday Faves! I hope you have a fabulous weekend. We're really gonna try to get our kitchen walls done...once and for all!

xo, Jenny...and Aaron says hi!