Stars and Stripes

It's Independence Day in the United States and that means that Stars and Stripes abound on everything from flags to patriotic pedicures. Even this fire hydrant got some love of country love...




Happy 4th!

The Art of Appropriating Andy Warhol: Q & A with Mike Bidlo

Last Thursday I met the artist Mike Bidlo in the lobby of the Lever House to discuss the latest addition to the building's art collection: His stack of "Not Warhol Brillo Boxes." Instead of the provocateur I was expecting, Bidlo was a soft-spoken intellectual who is more interesting in teaching others about the masters than criticizing them. Read all about it on T Magazine's "The Moment."

Sag Harbor's Sustainable Living Emporium

Donna Karan's Urban Zen has some serious competition: Down the road on Main Street in Sag Harbor is Well Nest, a serene haven for cold-pressed juices, super vitamins, delicious mood-enhancing chocolates, terrariums filled with orchid plants and even wooden ipod covers. Basically, all things sustainable, especially if they're also chic.
I especially loved the Japanese recyclable picnic gear which includes square paper plates (genius) and wooden flatware that looks Victorian in design.

For more info head to 125 Main Street, Sag Harbor or www.wellnest.us

Missing Marina

New York is just not the same without the knowledge that Marina Abramovic is sitting serenely up at MoMA while we rush around her like chickens who have lost our heads. It's been a week since she moved out of the museum and I'm not sure if, without her unwavering gaze, we exist at all.



I went to MoMA to bid my farewell just four days before her vigil ended. And although photography wasn't permitted I snapped these two cheeky pics with my iphone. Hey, Peter Magubane used a milk carton and a loaf of bread when he had to.

Love Your Hair? Let the World Know

Kissa Thompson, the founder and creative director of Buttaflyunltd has made a t-shirt that tells it like it is.

It certainly inspired me to start thinking about going back to my naturally curly hair instead of throwing hundreds of dollars away on straightening treatments. Kissa's next move is to make her t-shirt in girls sizes and give talks on the importance of learning to love the hair you were born with. Hair, hear.

Calling all Renegade Crafters

McCarren Park in Williamsburg is a live manifestation of Etsy.com this weekend. If you missed the first day (today), you've still got all of tomorrow to catch up on some crafty finds.

Here, some items that made me smile.

1. Onesies by neighborhood. Babes who hail from the Jersey Shore, don't need to wait until they can walk to get ripped.

While Williamsburg tots get instant hipster mustache-cred. Go to www.handsomehoward.com for more info.

2. I have a serious soft spot for homemade dolls, especially when they come in all the same colors as real little girls.


4. Inknjoy's animated bracelets are so cute, I vote for an armful of friends who all look like they'd get on well with Daria.

A Not So Simple Salad

Caffe Falai on Lafayette Street in Soho is one of my favorite New York eateries. Today I tried a new salad there for the first time and fell head over heels for the presentation before I'd even tasted the delicious mix of trumpet, shitake and portobello mushrooms under that canopy of parmeggiano.

Street Boners: Having a laugh at your crazy get-ups

If you're a fan of The Sartorialist, you'll love Street Boners, a tongue-in-cheek version by Gavin McInnes, the former top dog at Vice. He has created an entire lexicon of looks from pocahipsters to the nerdy slut and rated them with a kitten rating system.
Read more about it here and here.

Summer Highs...and Lows

It's Memorial Day on Monday -- the official start of summer in America. And in New York, that means that more bikers will take advantage of the lovely warm weather and hit the streets and bike paths in the coming months.

There's one memento mori that always stops me in my tracks on the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn. It looks like any other bicycle at first, tied to a street pole or bike rack, but on closer inspection one realizes that it has been crudely sprayed white and sometimes it has flowers on the handle bars and a note explaining that it stands there to mark the spot where a cyclist was killed.

They are called "Ghost Bikes" and described here as "quiet and somber memorials for bicyclists who are killed or hit on the street...They serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of cyclists' right to safe travel."

According to GhostBikes.org, these aren't a New York invention at all. "The first ghost bikes were created in St. Louis, Missouri in 2003, and they have since appeared in over 100 locations throughout the world. For those who create and install the memorials, the death of a fellow bicyclist hits home. We all travel the same unsafe streets and face the same risks; it could just as easily be any one of us." *Shiver*

Above, is a minimal ghost bike that I spotted just off the Williamsburg Bridge, a fantastic bike path between the Lower East Side and Williamsburg. It may not have a plaque or flowers, but it's a stark reminder, nonetheless.