My mind was captured by writer’s block today, so I decided to take a break and a buncha photos of our home. I filled out a little application and sent them to Apartment Therapy’s House Tours. Maybe they’ll pick us and want to showcase our place to their readers. Maybe they won’t.
In any case, I wanted to share them here. I feel like we put a lot of effort into making this place great, and it hasn’t been easy because our tastes are actually dissimilar when it comes to furnishing. I love color, vintage and cozy. Cameron seems to get into things that are more modern, muted and minimal. In fact, a loft probably would not be my first choice for a home. Everyone always groans but I say it’s too much space. Hence: I <3 cozy.
And yet, I think this place has really come to represent the both of us.
The upstairs office space overlooking the living room is mine, so it’s certainly more colorful and whimsical than the rest of the house. I feel, in a way, like it’s set apart. I love it very much. It’s some sort of luxury to finally have a creative work area in my home.
Cameron’s touches are elsewhere, like in our very minimal bedroom and the dark Shepard Fairey prints hanging in the dining room. The living room, meanwhile, is a blend of both our worlds.
We’re constantly thinking of new additions, improvements or, in my case, projects to convince the other to let me try. For example, I really want to wallpaper a wall in our guest bedroom (not shown) similar to a room at New York’s Ace Hotel.
It’s fun when you can put creative energy into your home, even better to make it reflect who you are. I’m really proud of what we have accomplished, and I love it here.
Ninja!
I’d like to introduce you to our new puppy! We rescued her yesterday from Spot! Los Angeles after meeting her on Sunday at a sidewalk adoption event on Larchmont. We didn’t go there to adopt a puppy—or even look at them—but when we saw her we had to hold her, and after that we just couldn’t pass her up. I could not stop thinking about her all Sunday after filling out the application. We’d considered getting a dog for quite awhile, but I honestly never expected we’d have one right now. She’s exactly what we wanted, though, and we just knew we needed to get her and make it work.
Cameron grew up with a great dog and a few of our friends have dogs, but she’s my first dog. She is still getting used to her new home, 14 weeks old and a terrier mix. She weighs just 8.5 pounds right now, but she might get up to about 15 (maybe a little bit more).
She wants you to know that she doesn’t care for her new orange collar, but she loves her krinkle toy, the sun and back rubs.
“Hello, Mister Typewriter. Welcome home.”
Those are the first words typed on my new (old) typewriter, a Royal Quiet Deluxe portable from 1938. I guess I didn’t plan to start collecting typewriters, but I am slightly obsessed. Where do I begin!
Cameron’s Aunt Jann called me over to the back of her van last weekend while we were up in Santa Barbara. She had a surprise for me. And this is what I found inside, protected within a black dust-covered, hardshell case. Incredible.
I brought it home and spent a chunk of time yesterday afternoon cleaning and restoring it to the best of my amateur abilities. Now she shines—free from years of cobwebs, grime and disuse. I imagine it sat in an attic or a garage for many years, but everything is still in perfect working order. The cleaning brushes are also still present, along with documentation that reveals the typewriter originated in Portland, Maine. Except for needing a new ink ribbon—this current one is, understandably, faded—it’ll work like new.
As a writer, the history attached to these things makes me crazy. I love to imagine what letters or documents it’s seen, what mind has put it to use. What happened over the years, nearly a lifetime, before it was brought to me? There’s an infinite amount of romanticism wrapped up in these machines, at least for me. It’s just enough to be near them sometimes, but it’s an honor to now call this one mine.
(Thank you, Aunt Jann. Thank you.)
Confession: I’m a very highbrow, sophisticated tea drinker. When sitting with tea, people are not allowed to look me in the eye. Some have claimed to experience an “intellectual high” while in my tea-drinking presence. Yes.
My mom loves tea and, more and more, it’s becoming my drink of choice. Brain juice! In 2008, I made my first attempt at creating a tea from scratch. It seemed like 1) a fun activity, and 2) a great gift idea. I selected some Chinese green tea and combined it with dried pear and a very little bit of lavender. I think it was a big hit.
This year I made my best friend a 2010 blend using Chinese green tea, dried papaya and dried pineapple. Essentially, you can combine any flavors that you think might mingle well together. With the selection of the herbs or fruits or any other flavoring you just want to make sure that you choose food-grade products (not, um, potpourri). Throw a spoonful of your mix into each teabag (many coffee shops or tea houses carry the empty satchels).
By far the most fun to be had here is the “design” portion. I found a small box, designed a cute label and placed my tea bags inside. Each teabag is sewn shut with just a few stitches of regular thread and topped off with a tiny cardstock tag. Previously, I illustrated little objects onto each individual tag. This year I used my typewriter to personalize them with my buddy’s nickname. Ta-dah.
Drink up, nerd badasses!
Today is my 26th birthday. I’m not one of those people who dreads a birthday, grays or getting older. Maybe because I feel like “old” is still a long way off? We can revisit that in a few more years over a dish of Werther’s Originals, but for now I’m excited about getting older; I’m excited about the next 365 days of my life, what they will hold, what I might accomplish with them.
For posterity: I took today off of work to “celebrate.” My close friends and I went out for burgers and drinks on Saturday, so the larger celebration—the wild one, if you could even call it that—has already taken place. Today, the actual day, has just been quiet. I am going to go get a tomato, mozzarella, cucumber and basil sandwich for lunch, read my book somewhere outdoors, work on some stories I have in-progress, and have dinner tonight at Gjelina in Venice.
My joy, does it speak for itself? I feel a bit spoiled this year in the gifts department. I can now officially shut my fat mouth about not owning a typewriter! Cameron got me the exact seafoam Hermes 3000 typewriter-of-my-dreams that I had been staring at for months and months. It’s from 1962 and it’s in beautiful condition, complete with its original manual and cleaning brushes. I unwrapped it on Saturday and I think, like a child, it has crossed my mind at least once an hour since then. I wake up in the middle of the night to make sure it is still there.
The typewriter was made in Switzerland (Serial# 3140602) and, as usual, I would really like to name it. Boy or girl? I’m not sure. If you have a suggestion, please let me know!
As well, Mom and Dad chipped in and I was able to buy a gently used Canon Digital Rebel XTi EOS 400D camera for my birthday. I’m on the very-very amateur scale as far as photographers go, but I’ve been wanting to learn and practice; I think this is the perfect opportunity.
So.
I feel like I am in a very good place going into my 26th year. Grateful and lucky, yes. There is so much to work on. My hopes are high and through the ceiling for what I can learn and accomplish. LET’S GO!
