genius & beauty

daily mail online, via @CAknitwit

in memoriam

alexander mcqueen was a visionary artist, whose medium happened to be clothing. i hope you have found peace, mr. mcqueen. your talent will be missed, but not forgotten.

m21 is *hongray* (LA street food fest)

first, m21 wants to thank everyone for all the well wishes! it is heartwarming to know that so many people whom we've only met in cyber-space, were concerned about health and well-being of lil ol' m21! and the prognosis is: we'll live! yay! we are re-embracing life as we speak: flowers smell sweeter, the sun feels like a kiss on our skin, and every stranger on the street is a long lost friend! ;-)

second, m21 is of the opinion flu shots don't work. we got both the regular and the H1N1 this year, and we got the ick anyway. though i guess, it could have been much worse without- we got sick last wednesday night (sore throat, fever, aches, tummy upset) and a week later, we feel like we'll survive, so perhaps the shots lessened the length and severity of the ick- who really knows? on second thought, m21 says don't listen to him about health advice- he's a decorator, not a doctor, dammit!

third, after subsisting on soup for a week, m21 is hongray for some real food! so that why this saturday, he is thinking of checking out the LA street food fest and completely gorging himself on the vast array of treats that the gourmet food trucks of los angeles have to offer. it is all sounding so tasty delish right now: the buttermilk truck, the grilled cheese truck, mama koh’s korean chicken wings, the sweets truck, frysmith, and more... our one complaint would be that the truck that started the craze about two years ago, the kogi korean taco truck, isn't going to be there, but that's cool- we've already gorged ourselves sick on their fare, it's time for some new taste treats! (and m21 guesses he shouldn't say kogi started it all, since LA has such a longstanding tradition of really amazing taco trucks: m21 has many fond, yet slightly blurry, youthful memories of eating the most delicious meals ever, while standing on some street corner with a crowd of other drunken fools at 2:30 in the morning!)
so are you hongray too? will we see you at the LA street food fest? m21 is aiming to arrive at noon, which means we'll for sure be there by 2! nom, nom!

sick day (rhymes with ebay)

part 2 of m21's visit to the pasadena antique center will have to wait a bit, as we are feeling a bit too skankedy to compose a real post today. (being sick sucks, btw- we tried to tried to get mona to make us soup but she keeps whining that it's too hard without opposable thumbs, and richard won't even wake up from his nap to go to the store and get m21 ice cream. children can be so ungrateful, can't they?)

so until we are feeling a bit healthier, we invite you to visit the auctions we have currently running on ebay. yes, ebay. we know we said we were done with it forever, but never say never, ya know? our bff asked us to help him sell a pair of rare 1970's italian modern settees by cini boeri, and there is no better (and easier) place to attempt to find a buyer for something of their rarity then ebay. as long as we were listing for him, we threw up a couple items of our own too (le garage is le full with the two settees and a milo baughman sofa we recently picked up).

we'll be back soon with some real postings and in the meantime, please send soup, ice cream and magazines... ;-)

a visit to the pasadena antique center (pt. 1)

y'all know how maison21 loves the old pretty things- can't ever get enough, actually- so it follows that we've never met an antique mall we didn't like. ok, that's not entirely true- we've been to plenty of antique malls that are so full of gramma's musty ol' doilies and entirely shabby & completely un-chic antiques, that we've never felt compelled to return. one antique mall we DO feel compelled to revisit again and again, is the pasadena antique center in duh, pasadena. in fact, on our last visit several weeks ago, we took something like 178,952,843 photos of things we loved and wanted to buy, and have spent every moment since our visit, editing them down into a more reasonable number for a post or two... ;-)

how can m21 find that many things he loves and wants to buy, you ask? well, every time we shop, we are shopping for three distinct entities: group one is real clients (sadly, always the smallest number of things needed- on this trip, we were really only looking for a small ottoman, some art and a few accessories); group two is imaginary clients- 'ohhhh, wouldn't it be fun to do an english inspired gentleman's library, or a chic art deco apartment for a woman of a certain age?"; and of course group three would be moi-self, maison21 (the largest number of items found by far): "omg, omg, that is the coolest ______ i've ever seen, i NEED it for the atelier! NEEEEED!"

so here are the 10 coolest things we spotted for moi-self's personal use, as well as for our clients, both real and imagined (part two of our visit will be a peek into the spaces of our 3 favorite vendors at the mall):

loving this rocker- recovered in a black kid leather, it would be very maison jansen-esque.

we were VERY tempted by the great price on these massive art glass bookends. the "tail" of the one on the right has broken off, but a visit to brookes restoration could remove the tail from the other to have a matched set...

this leather topped occasional table was absurdly cheap, and was the piece that sparked the "english gentleman's library fantasy.

and this concrete ram would look fabulous in his garden, all overgrown with ivy. you know how m21 loves the animals, both real and decorative!

m21 was crazy for this pair of portraits- so modigliani on a budget.

lacquered parchment waterfall table goodness, and we also dig the blackamoor inspired tables- totally kitsch, but could be groovy in the right setting.

this tiny porcelain monkey table was hot, and no, we aren't over monkeys. singerie is a classic decorative theme, and if it was good enough for marie antionette, it's good enough pour moi. "let them eat bananas!"

this giant clamshell planter on a wrought iron stand would be stunning full of orchids- m21 sees it on a travertine floor in a modern bath or entry..

loved this terra cotta roman bust- the bright white glazing against the area left raw makes it super-chic; and the dorothy draper-esque side tables would be fab in our imaginary lady client's art deco inspired pied á tierre .

this pair of vintage barrel backed chairs was the item m21 most longed to bring home for himself. so. damn. chic.

so which is *your* favorite? stayed tuned for the next installment of our visit where we'll take you to the spaces of our three must-stop vendors at the pasadena antique center!