Winter, Movies and Shoes. Oh My!

Winter hit the Triangle hard this week. It was twenty degrees when I left the house this morning which is not sleep in the carcass of a dead horse cold, but chilly all the same. And what better way to spend a cold winter night than at the movies?

Cary's First Flurries of 2016

When the Academy Award nominations came out, I was shocked to learn that I had seen four of the eight best picture nominees.  Because of one of my new favorite places, Frank's, I have become a semi-cinephile. Since I am already half way there, I am going to try to see all eight nominees.  And from the aforementioned horse carcass, the astute reader may have guessed my fifth Oscar potential was Revenant staring Mrs. Tom Brady's ex-beau, Leonardo DiCaprio

Revenant a great movie, but out of the seven movies I've seen over the past year it is not my top pick.

Here is my list so far:

7. Bridge of Spies - I would describe this movie as perfectly serviceable, like a pair of Dansko work clogs.  Well made, well acted and a good story, but it lacks pizzazz. Definitely watch at home material.  

They will save your feet.

6. Heart of the Sea - If we are going to stick with the shoe analogy, and why not, I am going to go with some sparkly spiked heeled Jessica Simpsons. The CGI is flashy and looks great, so it is definitely the kind of movie to go out for, but the quality of the story is lacking so it is not something that is going to last. (The Heart of the Sea is one of Yankee's favorite books, and he was very disappointed in the movie interpretation, so he puts this movie at a distant last. Having never read it, that was not an issue for me.)

Flashy and worth wearing - at least once.

5. The Martian -  Toms. Definitely Toms. They are fun, uber comfortable, and make your heart happy wearing them.  Matt Damon was lovable as always. The film makes you feel like humans have actually walked on mars and because of this I give it a 'Worth Going to the Theater' recommendation.

Oh so wearable

4. The Big Short - I am think a great pair of Kate Spades here. They seem very conservative and even a bit everyday, but they are really very fine, special shoes. I think in delivering the impossible, this movie went even beyond the whale in The Heart of the Sea and the bear mauling in Revenant. This movie made the financial meltdown entertaining and almost understandable. It was interesting, funny and frightening all at the same time. Plus Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt in the same movie? Worth the price of admission right there.

Simple. Timeless.

3. Revenant - Think Frye boots here. The attention to detail is unmatched in a movie/shoe that is readily available to the masses, and it has a longevity none of the other movies have.  In the same way that you can look fabulous wearing a pair of Campus boots from 1975, this movie will be watchable for decades to come. Even with a great story and high caliber acting, the true star of the film was without a doubt, the cinematography, and not just for the huge majestic mountain scenes, but also the stunning beauty and realism of the bear mauling. Because of this, Revenant is a must-see-on-the-big-screen film.

Just as beautiful and stylish as the day they were made 40 years ago.

2. Straight Outta Compton  - Converse All Stars have been around for almost a century and are very affordable and yet, when you see someone wearing them, you know that is a cool person. The same goes for the story of NWA - cool, very cool. This film successfully tells a very interesting story, with good writing, acting and music.  Sadly it had no chance of being nominated since the entertainment business is portrayed as, well, less than stellar.

Cool. Cool. Cool.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road - A fabulous, funky pair of Marc Jacobs. If you have not seen it, don't laugh at my number one pick. This movie has it all -  a strong story, almost non-stop action, and stunning cinematography. This is the kind of movie that movie theaters were made for. I saw it at the theater and recently watched it at home, and I like it so much I would probably watch it again.

They have it all - quality, beauty and pizzazz!

If I see any of the other nominees, I will be sure to let you know what its spirit shoe is.

It's a Holiday Wrap

It is eight pm on New Year's Day which to me means the holidays are officially over. Here is as rundown of the some of the highlights of our second Christmas in Cary:

• The most Cary-centric activity we did was the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival at the Koka Booth Amphitheater. It was pretty amazing. They build all of these displays out of lighted lanterns. The dragon was 186 feet long and sprayed water out of its nostrils to mimic steam. We lucked out to go on one of the few rain-free nights this December.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

•  My birthday is right before Christmas and Hubby gave me this sweet Mid Century Modern clock! 
  

• Comedian Son came from California and stayed a little over a week. I cannot really say he came home because as much as I love living in Cary, it will never be his home - it is just the place his parents and sister live. Georgia will always be home to him. 

• This is a photo of our beautiful Christmas tree. Please enjoy it because it is the last real tree we will ever have. We always had a fake tree until about four years ago when College Girl finally talked me into getting a real one. It was fine when we lived in the other house, but it was terrible in this house. The difference being hardwood floors. A reasonable person would think the hardwood/real tree combo would be better than having pine needles stuck in carpet, and that certainly is a benefit. The problem we had was ornaments falling to their deaths. I figure with a fake tree I can secure the ornaments better. Plus there is the lack of sneezing and hives too.

    

• Generally we spend our New Years Eves sitting at home, but this year we ventured out to see The Book of Mormon at the Durham Performing Arts Center. This was our first play since moving to the Triangle. It was very different than going to the Fox Theater in Atlanta. The Fox is an old movie theater and it is stunningly beautiful with an Arabian Nights theme including stars painted on the ceiling, but that old beauty comes a steep price or rather very steep steps with a serious lack of handrails. The seats are sized for 1920's sized butts, so a little tight for today's theater patrons. The DPAC is shiny and new, with comfy seats and safe stairs. As for the play, I enjoyed it but would not recommend it to anyone who is easily offended by ANYTHING AT ALL, because it is super offensive.  

So it was a great holiday, but I am ready to get on to the day to day living of 2016. I hope you had a great holiday too, and I wish you a very happy new year.

A Mid Century Modern Dilemma

My interest in mid century modern design really started when I began looking for a our new house. I was drawn to low roofed ranches with avocado green kitchens, and if I had an unlimited supply of money to sink into one,  I am sure that I would the proud owner of a 1969 North Hills ranch. Instead I am the proud owner of a five year old West Cary faux craftsman track home.

One of the great things about our newish house is the complete lack of decoration. There are no built-ins, no crown moldings, no chair railings. The most decorative thing is the mantel, and Yankee has promised to rip that thing out for me (a story for another day, I'm sure). Most people would find this a negative, but for me it just makes it easier to get that MCM feel I'm looking for.

Another way to achieve the look I want has been to load up on some nice pieces of furniture. One thing I have been searching for is a make up vanity for my bathroom.  I found a really fabulous piece at Gremlina Vintage in Fuquay-Varina, but while I debated buying it, someone else snatched that baby up. So I was again on the search until I found a desk on Craigslist that I thought might do, and the best part was the price - $30.

Yankee and I drove to North Raleigh to pick it up. The seller was absolutely the most hipsterish dude I have ever had the good fortune to meet. He lived in a tiny little hundred year old cottage that he had been renovating for several years. In true hipster fashion, he did not appear to be making much headway, but I digress.  We paid the guy $30 bucks and drove off with this:

In the  Craigslist photo I could not see what made this piece the true treasure it is. What I saw in the photo was a desk with nice MCM lines and drawers on the right side like I wanted but which were surprisingly difficult to find. I figured I'd bring it home, paint it and have a great little vanity.  When I saw it in person though, this is what I saw:

It has charcoal and rose Boomerang Formica! This was a really popular pattern in the 1950's. It is really cool and in pretty good condition too. The yellow top and edging are not it great shape though.

My dilemma is - do I paint it? On the one had I absolutely hate when people Pinterst-up MCM furniture. I see it all the time on Etsy and Craigslist. They will have a beautiful Lane Acclaim piece painted with gray chalkboard paint advertised as "Shabby Chic." It is really painful to think that beautiful piece of furniture painted and called shabby. On the other hand, the piece is the perfect size and style for my bathroom, but not the perfect color.

My bathroom is painted a light blueish gray and there is a lot of white in it. There is absolutely no pink. The pink in the laminate is very pale though, so not too noticeable. The yellow part is pretty rough with some holes in the top and gouges in the trim.

Last night I decided I was definitely painting it, so I took the whole thing apart to prep it, but I did not do any painting. It just feels wrong. I am considering just painting the yellow parts and leaving the boomerang. Any thoughts and/or advice from my readers?

On the inside, they used left over laminate. Now this color would be perfect in my bathroom.

This leftover piece is exactly like the counter top in my parents bathroom when I was growing up. 

Could the shape of this support get more 50's? I think not!

The two legs on the right side are wood painted black with metal caps.

It's ADOREable

I was meeting a friend at La Farm -  a tasty local bakery and restaurant - for lunch the other day. A few doors down from the restaurant is the Cary location of ADORE Designer Resale Boutique. I  always planned to check it out, but usually I am either running late for lunch or late for whatever I have going on after lunch or (and this is the most likely scenario) late for both, so I have never had the chance, but on this day I was a whopping 30 minutes early so check it out I did.

ADORE Resale Boutique

Now I have talked about my thrifting addiction before. Rarely does a week go by that I am not in a thrift store somewhere in the Triangle, looking for the perfect pair of old lady shoes or mid-century modern something, but shopping at ADORE should in NO WAY be confused with shopping at Goodwill. It is more on par with a high-end designer boutique. The biggest differences are there is way more stock than in a true boutique; much, but not all, of that stock has been worn before; and the prices are slightly less jaw-droppingly high. Slightly.

The shop itself is really attractive with nice displays through-out, and the equally attractive saleswomen was very friendly and helpful. And oh, the beautiful things they had. Jimmy Choo, Channel, Michael Kors. About the lowest end items I saw were a few pairs of Talbot shoes and an Ann Taylor skirt. Like I said before, not everything was used. I'd say maybe as much as 20% of the items still had the original tags on them.

Yankee swears that I can walk into any store and instantly hone in on the most expensive item there. I say it has more to do with good taste than actual dollar amount. It was either naturally inherited or nurtured into me by my parents. Either way, it happened in the form of a St. John red coat with faux fur trim dyed to match, except one touch  let me know the fur was not faux at all. The sales lady said it was beaver. I did not even bother to price it, since I knew it would be way out of my range and even if I could afford it, I would have to keep it hidden from Daughter and her vegetarian ways.

My fabulously fashionable gloves

Instead, I settled for a beautiful double breasted red wool gabardine coat and the most fabulous gloves ever. They are vintage black kid leather with white kid trim hand stitched inside. You can wear them up for a classic black glove look or  you can fold them over to show the white part if you are in a super-cool mood. The leather is so soft, just touching them is a joy. Though they are probably at least twenty years old, they had never been worn and still had the little hand written price tag and size tag on the inside.  My guess is no one could fit into them. I have surprisingly tiny hands and there were snug on me, but I bought them anyway, figuring they'll stretch a little over time.

Adorable red coat.

Overall, I rate ADORE fabulous, and I'll try to plan a little extra time to stop by whenever I have a La Farm lunch date. It will never take the place of my first love of digging around in the shelves and racks of a true thrift store though.

These Floors Score

In the latest edition of my newsletter* there is an article about two trendy flooring options - stained concrete and cork. I have never seen cork floors, and it is a little difficult for me to imagine flooring made out of such a soft material.  It seems like a bold ( or crazy) decorating choice - similar to putting white carpet into a house in Georgia's red clay country. Stained concrete on the other hand, seems like a brilliantly practical choice.

Concrete floors can go with any decorating style.

With a talented contractor, you can make your floors look like just about anything you want. I have seen them look like wood, flagstone and tile. They can look traditional or ultra modern, and your color choices seem infinite. My brother and sister-in-law just bought a new house and one of the main deciding features were  concrete floors  in the entire house - even the bedrooms. Even with their three big, rambunctious dogs, they can have beautiful, but easy to maintain floors.

                                             Modern Flooring by Passaic Artists & Artisans Concrete Shop

My sister was far in front of the concrete floor trend when she had them done in the house she built nine years ago. I asked what her opinion on them was after having lived with them for so long, and she said for her family of  a husband, three kids, a cat and multiple dogs, it was a great choice. Her recommendation was to hire an experienced contractor to do the work, so that the finish will last for years to come. One thing I can say is that after almost a decade, her floors look as good to me as they did in the beginning, and they have held up style-wise too.

*My newsletter is really interesting with a few short articles (written by professionals who are not me) and other features like demographic information and local events for whatever part of the country you are in. If you would like to receive it, just send me your email address.

My Thrift Store/Craigslist Problem

When I look at something - particularly something that falls into the category of houses or furniture - I rarely see what is actually there. Instead I see what it could be. I definitely inherited this curse talent from my parents.

One of my earliest memories was looking at a house that my parents bought when I was about four. It stuck with me because the upstairs was still charred from a house fire. It takes some real vision to buy a burned house, but they did it. They restored the unburned downstairs to it's 1910 Georgian splendor, and created a fabulous mid-century mod kids space (complete with yellow paneling and green carpet) out of the burned carcass of the upstairs.

My parent's biggest project - other than raising five kids that is!

 My projects are on a much less ambitious scale than that, but I almost always have something in the garage that needs sanding or painting. I must admit that I spend way more time finding pieces to work on than I do actually working on them. I am a regular visitor of the Triangle's many thrift stores, and every night I'm cruising Craigslist looking for cheap mid-century pieces that just needs a little love.

I thought I might share some of my latest acquisitions/projects over the next few weeks. I will start with the bamboo etagere* I found on Craigslist for $20.

Clearly my new shelf had been used to store paint cans at one point in it's life

Bunches of other projects in the background. Sigh.

I should have taken a video of how wobbly it was when I got it. Quite a bit of wood glue and some small nails helped me sturdy it up. I wanted to keep the antiqued yellow finish, but there was so much discoloration that I had to paint it, trying to get as close to the original color as possible, then I took a paint brush with some stain on it and flicked it to give it those random spots it originally had. The little corner pieces were in good shape, so I left them as is. After everything dried, I sealed the whole piece with an oil based, satin finished polyurethane.

Now the holder of many things including some Daughter made art.

It's sitting in front of my kitchen window with my colored glass bottles and the mint-condition early '70's green goblets I got at the Durham Rescue Mission Thrift Shop. It brings back memories of that yellow paneled and green carpeted playroom I spent my childhood in.

Green and yellow. A perfect color combo.

*Fancy new word I learned from endless hours of shopping for open shelves on Craigslist.

Historical Housing Prices Put in Perspective

Realtor.com has compared the change in the price of housing to the change of prices of other necessary items* over the past thirty years in this snappy little graphic.




*Okay, Radio Shack Stock is not really a necessity.