Boykott the Kardashians!!

I'm taking back the letter K.

Who gave it to the Kardashians anyway? Well, I've had enough. In truth, I had never watched the Kardashians - Kourtney's nasal whiney drone sent me looking for a chalkboard to scratch with my fingernails for relief. And Kim? I don't watch girls who are famous for sex tapes. They are everything that is wrong with this country - with a C. Oh, there are some other C-words they bring to mind as well. Yes there are.

But one day while I was painting a bedroom (I recreated the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - definitely my most difficult DIY ever - tutorial to come! :) it was Kardashian Day on E! so I decided to watch and see what all the fuss was about (also, you can't berate something you've never really seen).

I was stunned. The excess, the MOTHER, the fake fighting/storylines, the annoying voices, the EVERYTHING. I kept wondering to myself how these girls were making SO MUCH MONEY off of this. Tiny little this.

It boggles the mind.

So, who's with me? Boycott! Boycott! No more Kollections, Kristmas (what?), Kardashian Kreations and Katastrophes of any kind. Let's let E! know that this is not Kardashian Kountry.

Just leave a comment below to let me know you're on board and you'll also be entered in the candle giveaway from Friday.

Train Wreck TV: High Society.

Did you watch? Have you ever?! There are no words to describe what I voluntarily watched last night in the form of Tinsley Mortimer's new reality show, High Society.

Well, I didn't have the words, but the brilliant Chris Rovzar of New York magazine did. Read his dead-on take, titled "An Anthropological Examination of the Debut of High Society" here.

SnOMG.

My backyard at approx. 3 pm Saturday

I totally just stole that from Meg at Pigtown*Design. Shhhhh.

The Mind Reels.

There is actually a bid on this lamp on eBay. There should be some sort of a department designed to put a stop to it.

Some Gorgeous Gossip (and Early Alaskan Fireworks)...

You've heard that Sarah Palin resigned. Have you heard this?

EXCLUSIVE: PALIN RESIGNATION 'DAMAGE CONTROL' FOR COMING 'ICEBERG SCANDAL' ... MORE: EMBEZZLEMENT INDICTMENTS COMING?

FURTHER UPDATE from The Brad Blog: Okay, I've now been able to get independent information from multiple sources that all of this precedes what are said to be possible federal indictments against Palin, concerning an embezzlement scandal related to the building of Palin's house and the Wasilla Sports Complex, built during her tenure as Mayor. Both structures, it is said, feature the "same windows, same wood, same products." Federal investigators have been looking into this for some time, and indictments could be imminent, according to the Alaska sources.

Palin's Wasilla Lake House

True? Or just gossip? Only time will tell...

Unbelievable. (Updated)

UPDATE: Thanks to Raina and Decorno for the update to this post. Apparently, Patty Barreiro, the author's wife (pictured above) has a history of multiple bankruptcies which was intentionally, some might say egregiously, left out of the article. Can you imagine?

Megan McArdle from The Atlantic monthly uncovered the dirt. Here's an excerpt:

"In September 1998, California bankruptcy court records indicate that Patty and her first husband declared bankruptcy. The financial statement they filed with the court indicated family income of $174,000 in 1996, $87,000 in 1997, and $126,000 in the first nine months of 1998. The income fluctuations are not surprising, given that her husband was in the film production industry. By the time of the filing, the couple owed about $30,000 on 8 credit cards, over $200,000 in back taxes, and almost $15,000 in private school tuition, as well as substantial car and mortgage payments.

[Then] In 2007, nearly as soon as she was eligible, Patty Barreiro filed again in Montgomery Country. ...The bankruptcy code requires filers to wait 8 years after a previous Chapter 7 discharge. Barely four months after she became eligible, Patty Barreiro filed again."

Here's a link to The Atlantic Monthly article.

Here's the original article from the New York Times Magazine:

My Personal Credit Crisis by Edmund L. Andrews

If there was anybody who should have avoided the mortgage catastrophe, it was I. As an economics reporter for The New York Times, I have been the paper’s chief eyes and ears on the Federal Reserve for the past six years. I watched Alan Greenspan and his successor, Ben Bernanke at close range. I wrote several early-warning articles in 2004 about the spike in go-go mortgages. Before that, I had a hand in covering the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the Russia meltdown in 1998 and the dot-com collapse in 2000. I know a lot about the curveballs that the economy can throw at us.

But in 2004, I joined millions of otherwise-sane Americans in what we now know was a catastrophic binge on overpriced real estate and reckless mortgages. Nobody duped or hypnotized me. Like so many others — borrowers, lenders and the Wall Street dealmakers behind them — I just thought I could beat the odds.

For the entire article, click here.

If you are not personally going through it, this article will illustrate how the mortgage crisis happened: one stupid decision mortgage at a time.

I saw this coming. I did. My husband is a real estate lawyer and he would come home with tales of refinances that made my head spin. I remember asking him in the late spring of 2007, "What if it all came crashing down at once? Could we have another depression?" He said, "It couldn't happen. There are too many safeguards in the system to allow a total financial collapse."

Right.

On a related note, I'll bet this guy sure feels stupid (his book was published in Feb. 2006):

Doh!

Earth Day.

I loved this song when it came out in 1990.

Did You Watch Grey Gardens?

I was fascinated by it - by both the house and the women. Here's a photo of the movie house.

Taberandrew flickr

This is a photo of the actual house in East Hampton, NY, restored today.



Here is a photo of the original from the inside looking out.

This photo shows the actual property in its eventual state of disrepair. Posing in front is Edith Bouvier Beale, Little Edie, Jackie Kennedy's cousin.

Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange did a fabulous job recreating the real-life characters from the Maysles brothers original 1975documentary film "Grey Gardens."

Here are some photos of the set interiors. I am in love with the cane chairs and I want desperately to see the kitchen (the only kitchen shot was in the dark at night).

As you can see, this photo depicts years of neglect.

This was the actual photo taken by Sally Quinn (who now owns it with her husband, Ben Bradlee) before their restoration. Mind you, this was after Jackie and Ari Onassis fixed it up so it was habitable. Sally said she touched a key on the piano and it went right through the floor.

The NYTimes has done a few articles on the house. You will want to click here for the link and also look up the slideshow to the Secret Gardener in the lefthand Multimedia column.

After I watched the movie on DVR, I stayed up late watching the original movie on YouTube. You can click here to see it. Additional parts are listed on the right side.

Liberty Post has done quite a few posts on this eccentric couple. Find her recent post here and click various links for previous posts and references. There's a blog devoted entirely to Grey Gardens and its inhabitants: here. Visual Vamp has some great photos and information, here. As well as A Bloomsbury Life, here.

Looks I have some ordering to do on Amazon.

Ow, My Eyes!

Please click on photos for full effect.

Is this a joke or is Domino trying to make its departure easier on us? Behold, the home of Nina Campbell. No further comment.

So as not to leave my beloved Domino on a sour note, a couple of rooms I like (minus the deer noggin):

I love the painted paneling and the sofa cushion. The homeowner shoved together two parts of a sectional and had a new cushion made. That handrolled mattress cushion has long been a favorite of mine. I wonder if the edge is uncomfortable?

Every home with kids should have a teepee. Yep, in the dining room, family room, wherever. I'd like to point out that I do not like the Noguchi light fixture - it looks like commercial HVAC ductwork.

Thoughts on the final issue or is it taboo to speak ill of the dead?

Domino is Dead.

Read about it here.

I have been worried about it since early October in my post here.

I liked it because it was different than Vogue Living or Elle Decor or House Beautiful. It was young and had a fresh point of view.

I love the Domino Book of Decorating and am glad I've saved every issue of the magazine. I found something of inspiration in every issue.

Here are a few of my favorite images (from today, actually):

I have been obsessing this week over the yellow wallpaper and green doors. Love the contrast.

Jenna Lyons' living room.

Allison Sarofim's bath. Next time I redo a bath, it's going to look like this.

Sara Ruffin Costello's kitchen.

I left out the rest of the Jenna Lyons photos that I loved from November. But you can visit them here if you need to.

So long, Domino. It was nice knowing you.

Here's What Wilmington Looks Like.

I know you stay up nights wondering what design looks like in Wilmington, Delaware. Well, these images from the Holiday issue of Traditional Home magazine give a glimpse into a home a few blocks from me. It must be in Wawaset Park because Westover Hills calls itself Greenville (home of Joe Biden). I'll go check tomorrow because it might be right here in The Highlands. (Update: Actually, I checked and it's in Westover Hills.) Anyway, this design is actually kinda racy for Wilmington.

Wilmington wears its buns tight. There is a lot of old money and a lot of new money that likes to pretend that it is old. Old money is not impressed. Old money will cut you.

It has a vast park system. The parkway and park near my house were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead of Central Park fame. Most of the old mansions were du Pont homes. They were abandoned long ago when people stopped having insane, excessive amounts of money to live in them, including the du Ponts. Except for Brip (Irenee) du Pont who still lives in this chateau in the Brandywine Valley.

Drive-by photography by HG

The Brandywine Valley is tres scenic and only a minute or two from the city. Brip lives in 3 rooms, the rest of the place is closed off. He drives an ancient Honda Accord or something and wears shoes that are 20 years old. That's how you know you're really rich. Some other mansions are turned into museums, such as Winterthur (Win'-ter-ter), about 5 miles away. The local crazies tend to be duPonts as well - inbreeding, don'tcha know?

There is one old mansion in my neighborhood which belonged to the family of Caesar Rodney (of the famous midnight-ride-through -a-thunderstorm-to-sign-the-Declaration-of-Independence- breaking-the-tie fame) where the gardens have been lovingly, voluntarily restored (that is, restored completely by volunteers) but the mansion is wholly derelict. I love that mansion and it is one of my life's goals to see it rehabilitated (I may be too late). Here are some photos of the gardens and the house at Gibraltar.






The gardens are just open to the public. For free. You can just go hang out or take your wedding party for photos or ride your bike and have a morning coffee there. Also a block from my house is Rockford Park, another part of the neighborhood park system. There's a huge dog park and baseball fields and a water tower that still functions: the engineer who built it also built our house so he had a place to live while he was working on it.


This is the Grand Opera House which has been completely restored and is a fabulous place to see a concert or a musical. I saw Brian Setzer (from Stray Cats) Orchestra last year at the holidays and it was awesome. It's such an intimate place.


Wilmington is the largest city in the state, home of the Blue Rocks and is the corporate domicile of more than 50% of the publicly traded companies in the United States, and over 60% of the Fortune 500. If Delaware is a very small world, then Wilmington is, well, smaller than a small world. But then its motto: "Wilmington. A Great Place to be Somebody" ruins everything.