Urban Comfort

Nature by Mail Order: Fall Finds

Yikes! It's been two weeks since I posted here, which might explain why friends ask me if I'm still blogging (and I am). Apparently I've just become one of those "slow bloggers." Things are decidedly not slow in my life this fall, which might explain some of my absence, but eventually I'll find my rhythm here again. It's time for change, but as you know, change takes time. I'll get there.

In the meantime, I've been finding some rhythm in my personal life. Over the weekend I started making seasonal shifts in my home, completely a mood changer. I'm always surprised by how the simplest of details can wake up my senses and give me a psychological overhaul. You see, while the rest of you are mentioning the nip in the air or the changing leaves, I have to create a sense of fall. The only sign of fall is that the highs are in the 80s instead of the 90s and the humidity has dropped enough that I think I'll be able to completely close my bathroom door within the next few weeks (if you live in a very old house, I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about). 

At any rate, I collect a range of natural items that I use as props for photo shoots or to integrate into my home decor. I rotate these collections according to season, which keeps things fresh. Every season, I find something else that captures my fancy and sometimes completely dictates the look of a room. It's the element of surprise that keeps me from setting up the same vignettes over and over. 

This year I suddenly had an urge to have sprigs of Chinese Lanterns in my living room. I've never seen the plant in my life, but I looked on Etsy and $10.95 and a few days later, I had a bunch of Chinese Lanterns whose vibrancy made me so happy, I decided orange was the way to go this year. (It's also my first fall having a gray living room and boy, do I love it! Such a great neutral to work with for every season.)

I believe in local and making use of what you find around you, but I also love that the Internet and the US Postal Service can bring the rest of the world to my door. It's armchair travel of a different sort. So maybe I won't get to see the leaves change this fall, but don't you worry about me. I can order boxes of them and roll around in them anytime I want!

 

Sources for Nature (click through for links):

 

The Keepers' House on Etsy (the source of my Chinese Lanterns):  dried flower bunches, gourds, acorns, pinecones, etc. 

Botanical Art on Etsy:  live plants, real leaves, botanical & nature art prints

Ron's Rustic Woods on Etsy: order boxes of fall leaves (250 to 1000 count), also smaller amounts of dried leaves in green and plum.

Bee Balm Dreams on Etsy: dried gourds and various types of pinecones

Ridge Top Cottage on Etsy: lots of dried gourds

Garden Spell Ghost Tale on Etsy: American Bittersweet

Crow Hollow Farm on Etsy: American Bittersweet

Save On Crafts:      Preserved Oak Leaves (available in a range of colors)

                             Maple Branch Candleholders

                             Natural Preserved Basil Pear Gourds

                             Natural Branches

                             Wood Slabs and Tree Slices

Mountain Feathers on Etsy: wide variety of feathers, including cruelty free

Feather Store:  variety of Pheasant Tails as well as Turkey Quills

 

Happy fall, by the way! 

 

 

Drawn Like a Moth to the Flame

I've been trying very hard not to hurry into the holiday season, ironic considering that I've just completed a New Year's assignment and started a 4th of July one. But personally, I'm trying not to rush into things, to savor the slow change of summer into fall. Admittedly, it's difficult for me when my magazines start arriving, full of holiday ideas. I do start to falter a little, then, and my heart rate picks up. What can I say? I'm addicted to magazines.

An arrival I'd been eagerly awaiting was Country Living, a perennial favorite of mine, knowing that one of my blog projects would be featured in the October issue. Remember the vellum moths on a lightbulb? That project inspired a Halloween craft feature based entirely on idioms and phrases (such a great concept!) that is at turns creepy and spooky, clever and whimsical. The editors and stylist did a great job and I love that my project became part of the story!

Of course the entire issue is great, which almost makes me want to start working my way through my list of Halloween ideas. But I'm going to restrain myself for at least another week.  And then...well, all bets are off after that!

 

Something About Mary (Part II)

As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to share a few photos of Mary Cooper's current home with you, a two-story 1830's Creole townhouse that she and her partner, Tomio, have lovingly restored. The house is in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, minutes outside of the French Quarter but seemingly many miles away. 

For when you ring the bell on the garden gate and step off the sidewalk of the city, you are immediately transported to what feels like a remote corner of a country setting. The garden is lush and overgrown, the house primitive, rustic, almost austere in its simplicity, the modern amenities of life nowhere to be found, making way instead for the chirping of birds, the breezes that pass through open doors and windows, the sound of rain on a tin roof, the laughter that comes from the open back porch, an inevitable gathering spot. 

I think it takes courage to live such a pared down existence. It's a lifestyle I am sure I could never willingly achieve. I love my central air and heat, the Internet, my smart phone, cable, Netflix, my Kitchen Aid...but I have a deep admiration and respect for what Mary and Tomio have been able to both create and maintain. It gives me pause. When I am there, outside influences ebb. I can focus on exactly what's in front of me. Honestly, it's a relief, an interlude in a busy day.

Mary and Tomio are moving on soon, ready to take on a new house, a new adventure. When they first put the home on the market, the realtor suggested they take out the good furniture, so that prospective buyers could focus on the house itself, not the magic they'd created. They didn't just move the furniture, they sold it, replacing it with the sparest of creations made by hand. And still, the magic lingers. It's intangible, not for everyone, but I hope a special person, someone with vision, steps through that garden gate and finds a place to call home.  

 

 Photo by Sarah Essex

  

Photo by Sarah Essex

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Sarah Essex

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If you're interested in reading more, there are good articles here and here, along with some of Mary's color advice here.

Something about Mary

 

I've been creating some version of a pin board my entire life. As a child, my walls were papered with colorful ads (certain my destiny lay in advertising), then glossy fashion pics (having moved on to working in fashion, something my friends would find laughable now, with my wholehearted embrace of a "uniform"), then on to binders, folders, and sketchbooks of absolutely everything that captured my fancy along the way - interiors and food, then photography, art, design, and finally, crafts.

My interests continue to evolve and become refined, and those clippings get winnowed out over time. But there are clippings I've carried with me from year to year, city to city, life to life. They've become old friends to me by now; I recognize that the subject matter has transcended the trends of the moment, speaking to a core part of my personality, illuminating my deepest desires, motivations, and needs.

Some of those tear sheets are photographs of the various homes of Mary Cooper, a chair caner (preservationist, artist, colorist, gardener, stylist, baker...) who lives in New Orleans. The earliest clippings are probably twenty years old, when she was about the age I am now. I didn't know her or know anything about her, but I understood her aesthetically and those aesthetics spoke to me in a way that transcended mere design.

Twenty years later, serendipitously, Mary and I have become friends.  I recognize her in all those old magazine pages, recognize that she is not given to trends, that she has a solid, confident, unshakeable sense of self and place, translated into surroundings that change according to practical needs, architectural design, or artistic desire, but never influenced by the comings and goings of the modern world (though she embraces IKEA as easily as she embraces antiques, which endeared her to me immediately).

The first time I spent an extended amount of time in her current home, I suffered from insomnia for two days afterwards. I felt so intoxicated by color, by her creativity. My sensitive nervous system was completely flooded, sent into overdrive by exuberance. That initial response led me to believe that I'd made the right choice in surrounding myself with neutrals in my own home. Subsequent visits have made me realize that I what I may have done was inadvertently "neutralize" myself into lethargy.

I find myself thinking more about color now. I think I'm ready to commit, to uproot the serenity I thought I had and give my home the sense of vibrancy that it's lacking - because if there's one thing I've learned from Mary's example, it's that your home should be an extension of who you are and what you need, on a soul level. Color, like everything else you surround yourself with, tells a story, the story of your life.  And me, I'm ready for the next chapter. Stay tuned.

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Below are photos from Mary's past home. Unfortunately, they're scans of tearsheets, so the quality isn't the same as a photograph. However, I think the genius of Mary's color pairings and overall aesthetic still shine through.

This 1885 house originally sat at the shore of the Mississipi River before being moved in 1908 next to a plantation on the outskirts of a young New Orleans. It endured one more relocation, a block away, threatened by collapsing levees. It was a flophouse for sailors, then abandoned for a decade before Mary rescued the house from ruin.

 

 

 

 

 
Tomorrow, I'll show photos of Mary's current home - a restored Creole cottage in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans. 

Mexican Street Corn Salad

When I lived in New York, any time I found myself in SoHo I would make the stop at Cafe Habana's takeout window for their Mexican-style corn on a stick. Juggling shopping bags, I would eat it on the way to the subway, already plotting my next visit. I knew it wasn't a pleasure confined to a restaurant, but it didn't seem all that practical to make at home either - and somehow, the idea of taking the corn off the cob just didn't occur to me. 

When a friend made this salad for July 4th, I knew it was a recipe I'd make over and over. It's bright and fresh with cilantro and lime juice, yet smoky with the slightly charred corn and chili powder, The salty tang of Cotija cheese pulls it all together. For the closest relative to street corn, serve the salad just after you make it, while it's still warm. But it's also great at room temperature, making it an easy potluck dish. I would tell you whether it's good cold, but I wouldn't know. There's never enough left.

 

Mexican Street Corn Salad

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 large ears fresh corn, shucked, kernels removed (about 6 cups)
Kosher salt
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 ounces Cotija cheese, finely crumbled (plus more to sprinkle on top)
1 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 cup finely sliced green onions (scallions), green part only 
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely diced
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (approximately 2 limes, depending on size)
Chili powder to taste

Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet (or a non-stick skillet) over high heat until shimmering. Add the corn kernels, season with salt to taste, and toss the corn in the pan, cooking it until it begins to brown (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.

Add mayonnaise, cheese, cilantro, green onion, jalapeno, garlic, lime juice, and chili powder. Toss to combine. Add additional salt and chili powder if needed. 

Serve immediately or at room temperature, sprinkling the top with additional Cotija cheese and chili powder.