May « 2010 « Covet Living

Ahhhh, Sunday morning. Everything is calm. Still. Peaceful. The air is cool and fresh, the dewy grass is wet under your feet, and the sun feels warm on your face.

This, however, is where I usually still am that early on a Sunday morning.

E-vennnnntually, the dull gurgle of the coffee maker (one of my faaaavorite sounds) coaxes me out of my big, fluffy, down-filled, rumply, all-white bed.

…Welllllll, either the coffeemaker or this big red fluff ball. He lays patiently right there most mornings until I get up. Doh.

The thing I love about Sundays is that you get to move in slow-mo and take your sweeeeeeeet time lingering over the morning paper, sipping your coffee, and listening to some reeeaallly chill jams. There’s no hurry to be anywhere or do anything inparticular. Saturdays are for mowing the lawn, going to Home Depot, zipping around to drinks with friends and birthday parties; all that good stuff. But on SUUUUUN-days, if you don’t get out of your pajamas until 4pm, it ain’t no thang. If you feel like reading a book in one sitting or watching a TBS/TNT moviefest while you eat bon-bons, have at it. Sundays were meant to be relished. I know this because I am very, very smart.

…And while I’m being modest, lemme tell you what… as the maker of infinite, bomb diggity mixed tapes for middle school boyfriends, I can assure you that the mix below is an EPIC Sunday Morning Mash-up. So pour yourself some java, dunk a crusty baguette in it, put your bare feet up, and start marinating.

(Click the song titles and you’re ready to rock!)

1. “Don’t Wait Too Long” by Madeline Peyroux. Most of her stuff is in French, but this delightful little ditty is en Anglais. Every song this woman touches turns to gold. She also does a rad version of “La Vie En Rose.”

2. “Black and White” by Sarah McLachlan. Ooooooh. I wore this entire album (Surfacing) out in high school and hadn’t heard it since, until recently. I forgot how poignantly good it is.

3. “Just Like Heaven” by Katie Melua. A slower, sweeter melodic version of the Cure’s original classic.

4. “The Very Thought of You” by Billie Holiday. Maybe my all-time favorite old school jazz tune. Belongs on a Sleepless in Seattle kind of soundtrack.

5. “Sunrise” by Norah Jones. Norah + Rainy Days & Sunday mornings = MFEO.

6. “Hang on Little Tomato” by Pink Martini. Makes me want to grin a big wide grin with my eyes closed, and merrily bob my head from side to side. What a happy little ditty.

7. “Girlfriend” by Phoenix. A little more upbeat, and perfect for driving around in a convertible in the sunshine. My dear friends Caitlin & Calder – the geniuses over at Blue Moon Events – tweeted a gorgeous wedding to the tune of this song a few days ago. If you have 2 minutes, it’s worth the watch.

8. “They Say It’s Spring” by Erin McKeown. I read about this in a Real Simple spring issue a few years ago, and it totally puts me in a springtime kinda mood.

9. “I Will” by Ben Taylor. A joyful tearjerker by James Taylor’s son about loving someone forever (and ever), even if you’re not with them.

10. “Tonight” by Koop. Sounds it should be playing in a scene from Sex and the City.

11. “Sweet Memory” by Melody Gardot. A modern-day jazzy and bluesy chick. Like Madeline Peyroux, girlfriend puts out a lotta good stuff.

12. “My Baby Just Cares for Me” by Nina Simone. A tad androgynous, jazzy, and sounds like it belongs on an episode of Mad Men.

13. “Fields of Gold” by Sting. A nostalgic, all-time fave. GYAH, it’s good, and it gets better every time I hear it.

14. “Le Temps Perdu” by Carla Bruni. Other faves include “Quelqu’un Qui M’a Dit” & “Le Plus Beau du Quartier.”

15. “What I Wouldn’t Do” by A Fine Frenzy. They sound a little like the Weepies to me, but this song isn’t Weepy at all. It’s perky!

16. “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

17. “Pink Moon” by Nick Drake. He’s the same dude who sings “Northern Sky.” Kelly Ripa turned me onto Pink Moon. Ye know. Cause we’re like, friends and stuff.

18. “So Nice Summer Samba” by Joao & Astrud Gilberto. An idyllic little tune that makes you feel like you’re in the Hamptons.

19. “Lithium” by Bruce Lash. This dreamy Nirvana remake makes me feel like I’m on a beach, in a daze.

20. “Guilty” by Yann Tiersen. For some reason, I love cooking to this song. It has a way of unwinding you.

*Photo Credits, top to bottom: Morning Light via flikr, via Absolutely Beautiful Things, Steaming Cup via flikr, Bed in White via flikr, my photo, Mixed Tape via flikr.*

xoxo,

Last week, I hit the junk store motherload.

For the last few months, I’ve been seeing this mysterious “Salvation Army” in the distance whenever I get on the highway. That’s about enough to make someone like me drive over the guard rails in pursuit of mothball-covered treasures. I went home and yelped it, but alas… no dice. Driving around trying to find it was like looking for Atlantis. Remember that climactic scene in Labyrinth, when David Bowie keeps moving baby Toby around the MC Escher stairs so Jennifer Connelly can’t get to him? It was like that. Then, last week while I was running errands, I saw a teeeeeeny sign near the corner of Ashland & Clybourn in Chicago, and there she was – down a little path, tucked behind some buildings…. A diamond in the rough. A most MASSIVE Salvation Army. Hallelujah.

THIS place looked like 20 bombs went off inside Fraggle Rock. I’ve seen some junk stores in my day, and I’ve neh-ver seen anything like this. I thought a little goblin was going to crawl out from under one of the 957 mounds of crap in there and slime me.

Albeit messy, this place is still a treasure-trove. It’s heavy on the dishes (see previous Goodwill Hunting post on how to mix-and-match dinnerware), board games, electronics and housewares, and light on the furniture, but all at traditionally dirt cheap Goodwill prices. Aside from the goodies-to-be-had, trips to Goodwill always make for solid entertainment. For instance: I was at a thrift store with my cousin Jill recently, and some trucker (40 years my senior) sauntered over, handed me his number, and winked. Thanks dude… aces. Last week, the old lady standing next to me in the dish aisle held up a ceramic statue of two rabbits doin’ the nasty and went, “heh-heh (spit), look a-dem guys!” then let out a scary, deep-throated, raspy smoker laugh. Ya kinda gotta love it.

On to the TREASURE HUNTING (!) Here’s what was scored one rainy spring afternoon:

1) A couple wide mouth Ball jars for 40 cents each. I just can’t get enough of them. They are my favorite drinking glasses, but can also be used 1,001 other ways. Stay tuned for an upcoming Ode to Ball Jars post.

2) A HUUUUUUUGE bag of corks for $2. I’ve been collecting my own and wanting to do this for a long, long time… and now I don’t have to sacrifice my liver to do it. (Inspiration courtesy of the genius duo at Young House Love – a blog you should definitely be reading if you’re braving any form of DIY renovating). Tip: Place the candle in the hurricane FIRST so it’ll sit straight, then fill with corks.

3) This enormous map of Nantucket for $15. Granted; the rope is a little hokey, in an “ARRR matey” kinda way. But the print is awesome. (Note: If you come across any large frames that are inexpensive and still in good shape – even if they’re a yucky color – SNAG ‘EM. The next time you want something custom framed and don’t want to spend a fortune, spray paint your $10 Goodwill frame whatever color you like, then take it to the frame shop and have them use it to frame your print. Or whatever. You’ll still have to pay for the glass and the matting, but it will be EXPONENTIALLY cheaper.)

Nantucket looks swell in our dining room, which has 10 ft. ceilings and not much natural light, so a bright, larger-scale piece (this is about 48 inches wide in real life) is a plus. As a general rule, art should be hung at eye-level, and I used that rule-of-thumb when hanging this piece. But, I know – it’s still a smidge too low. The light is also a smidge too high, but the cord isn’t long enough to drop it any further, and my landlord had to jimmy-rig it up there. I’ll let you know if I have any additional excuses about why my dining room is still unfinished.

Okay, one more: please exsqueeze the sparse room and naked windows. It’s a work in progress, and being the most indecisive person in the universe, I haven’t chosen fabric for them yet. Below are a few in the running… thoughts?

(Clockwise, from top left: Home Couture for Quadrille’s “Contessa” – available to the trade. Rowe Furniture swatch. Pottery Barn’s Gabrielle Jacquard.)

That’s all I scooped up this time around. A Goodwill word to the wise: even though everything is 10 cents, it doesn’t mean you need to buy everything. Or anything at all, even. Don’t take home anything you can’t use, don’t love or don’t need. But if you love it, by all means, grab it! Then take it home and give it (and yourself) a good scrub.

xoxo,