Where I've wandered

It's my last day in the mountains before it's time to head back east. The days have been filled with long drives, eating, cooking, art, films, horseback rides, skiing, wild animals, bookstores and meanders. A slice of the last 10 days: 

In Boulder, and surrounding: 

For margheritas + good happy hour eats: Tahona

For greasy, tasty, brunch: Walnut Cafe

For an endless selection of tea + gorgeous environs: The Boulder Tea House

For a pizza experience that makes you feel like you're back in Brooklyn: Pizzeria Locale (Get the Diavola pie) 

For fantastic coffee: The Cup 

For lions and tigers and bears, oh my: The Wild Animal Sanctuary

For low-key skiing with great runs and short lift lines: Eldora Mountain

For renting skis and snowboards: Crystal Ski shop

For theater, movies, or local entertainment: The Dairy Center

For snowy horseback trail rides overlooking the Rockies: Elkhorn Lodge (in Estes Park) 

In Denver:

For a great bookstore experience: Tattered Cover (on Colfax) 

For independent films in a beautiful theater: Denver Film Center

For beautiful flatbread pizza and excellent beer: Encore Restaurant (right next to DFC) 

For an architecturally shocking art experience: Denver Art Museum (and if you go in the next 2 days, catch the Robert Adams' show, The Place We Live, and the small Ed Ruscha exhibit, On the Road)

Happy Birthday, JBK

Happy birthday, Jacob. In just one year, you've made the whole world dance, sing, smile and laugh a little bit more. I feel very lucky to be your wife. Cheers to the future.

Merry Merry Merry

A merry, happy, cozy, relaxed, joyous and bountiful holiday to all of you, especially to my family.

Ice Cube on Charles & Ray Eames

Related:
+ Ice Cube is in the House! (NY Times)
+ The Architect + The Painter, a new documentary about the Eames by Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey

iSnow + Girl Walk // All Day in Denver tonight!

A few snaps of the snow last night and first thing this morning on my iPhone. More images coming soon.

P.S. If you're in Denver, Boulder or anywhere near the Rocky Mountains tonight, brave the snow and come to our Colorado premiere of Girl Walk // All Day at the Denver Film Center, 2510 East Colfax. There will be a multitude of screens, drink specials, dancing in the lounge, and Jacob and I will be there to hang out and chat. Tickets are $7 for general admission and you can get them right here.

In which I shovel and Jacob watches ....

We got 16 inches of snow here at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains last night. The sky was a dusty rose as we headed to bed, and is an earthy gray this morning. The roads are quiet, the dog parks empty; it's a perfect day to stay in and bake.

P.S. Have you seen this gorgeous video about harvesting honey on Kinfolk Magazine?

Rocky Mountain Cozy

We're in Colorado for the holidays and it is cozy through and through. The sun is shining, there's snow dusting the ground, the mountains are on the horizon, and there's gingerbread in the house.

Wrap it up

This year's gift wrap features concentric lines, blue blobs and golden dots and arrows. And, of course, some baker's twine. I do love wrapping after all.

Life Near Windows up through January 7th, 2012

Life Near Windows is up at Saffron in Fort Greene (31 Hanson Place) for just 2 more weeks, and will come down on January 7th. They have some incredible flora and fauna in the shop now as well, and if you're hunting for holiday gifts, I rarely walk out of here empty-handed. There are also a few copies of the Life Near Windows book left in the shop as well as one copy left for online sale.

Structures and stripes

Shooting architectural models for my brother, who is 2/3 of his way through grad school.

Disco dance party

 Turn out the lights, turn up the lights and turn on the disco ball. We danced hard at last night's Girl Walk // All Day screening. It was glorious.

My life has been full of dance lately, and I've had the chance to see more dance this year than ever in my life. I wanted to share a few performances I've attended or have caught my eye.

+ Pina, the Wim Wenders film about Pina Bausch, the legendary choreography, ballet director and dancer, is coming to IFC Center on December 23rd.
+ Traces is a heart-thumping show combining circus and street theater currently playing at the Union Square Theater. It melds acrobatics, dance, theater, aerials and music for 90 non-stop minutes. JBK took me for my birthday, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
+ Tonight we're headed to Kiss the Air!, choreographed by MacArthur Genius Award winner Elizabeth Streb, another high-flying performance that "incorporates ziplines, ladders, trampolines, hoops and bungee cords" at the Park Avenue Armory. Streb's work looks to stretch the human body to its limits. There are several more performances through Sunday, 12/18 + you can get tickets here.
+ Yvonne Meier's The Shining, originally created for P.S. 122 in 1992, is being recreated at New York Live Arts with a new set of dancers and asks, "how do we hide from fear,  play with thrills and terrors?" I've only read the NY Times review of the piece thus far, but my interest is piqued. Tickets are available for performances through December 18th, and December 20th - 23rd.

Pretty things in the post

A gorgeous holiday card in the mail from Lena.

You can get her books MAPS, which features whimsical illustrations of urban landmarks, parks and favorite destinations in 40 cities around the world, for just $25 for the holidays ($10 off the regular price).

Girl Walk at the Denver Film Center

We're doing a screening in Denver next week. If you're out in the Rocky Mountain area, I hope you'll come out. Jacob and I will be there to answer questions in person, and the film is showing on FOUR screens at once at the Denver Film Center. There will be drink specials, dancing, a DJ and maybe even a dance competition. Pass the word on to all your CO friends!

[Tickets available here]

Me + JBK

So many great photos from the photobooth at the Girl Walk // All Day premiere. See the full set. (Photos by Shootbooth).

Iacoli & McAllister

I'm in love with this light fixture by Iacoli & McAllister, which I saw in a shop downtown today. File under: "Future Home" and "When I'm Rich." 

Kinfolk Volume 2 is out

Kinfolk Magazine, Volume 2 is out. So excited. I've got a story all about the coziest wool socks in here.

$18, 144 pages, offset printed and perfect bound. A compendium of thoughts about winter and small gatherings with contributions by over 60 artists from around the globe. Get yours here.

Shirt shooting

A few photos from yesterday's shoot of Girl Walk // All Day t-shirts with my dear friends Sam + Viki. We'll be launching the shop this week. Stay tuned. 

Girl Walk // All Day: The Premiere

We had a film premiere last Thursday. It was amazing. moving. joyful. spirited. emotional. I've never been in a room with an energy quite like that. I want to help create that feeling over and over again.

If you want to bring Girl Walk // All Day to a place near you, and can connect us to a venue, please email us at hi@girlwalkallday.com or request a screening here. We want you to see this movie and we are doing everything in our power to get this movie to you. And you. And you.

If you are in NYC, we're having another screening this Thursday, 12/15 in the Back Room at The Gutter. Only 100 tickets (and about 30 left as I type). It's going to be a blast. You can get a ticket here.

See more photos from Fred Benenson of Kickstarter, Winnie Au and our official photographer, Sam Horine.  (All photos above by Sam Horine)

Taryn Simon: Shot True

Taryn Simon: Shot True on Nowness.com

I've been a fan of Taryn Simon's work for many years and own two of her books, An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar and Contraband, which I probably bring up in conversation more than most of the other photo books I own. More than the individual images themselves, which are indices of objects and people who fall into categories of things and people who have been undignified by a system -- like the criminal justice system or the system of importing and exporting goods --  I'm interested in the thought process that leads her to in-depth and systematic investigations using the medium of photography. In An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, Simon unveils secret sites and objects within the U.S. just after 9/11, when the government was  scapegoating and chasing after many sites of the same nature outside the U.S. In Contraband, she photographs contraband (and often very mundane) goods that were seized at JFK International Airport upon the entry of thousands of individuals into the United States. Alongside her images are often encyclopedic amounts of text, explaining context, biography or background of her subjects. 


Simon's work is currently up at the Tate in London and will be exhibited at MoMA starting next May, 2012.  She will exhibit A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters, a project that captures the images of individuals wrongfully convicted of crimes that put them on death row, and the role of photography in the prosecution process. I eagerly await this exhibit. 

The Coziest Place

Jacob and I both woke up feeling worn down and out of sorts. We decided to make our way through the grayness to EAT, just a few blocks away. They've started serving breakfast as of yesterday, and have also adding beautiful new woodwork to the already-beautiful space. The warmth of the room is restorative. All the food is made with the freshest ingredients. No refined sugar. All the pottery and dishes are homemade by Jordan Colon, one of the two brothers who runs the space,  and Arla Bascom . (Jordan's brother Jonathan does all the woodwork). They dry their own herbs. There's a record player softly playing tunes. Coffee is brewed to order, by the cup.

They are also selling pottery, woodwork and wooden spoons, and have a holiday fundraiser auctioning off some of these items next Monday, December 12th.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner Tues - Fri, 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. and Saturdays + Sundays from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. You can check in on their daily menu on their facebook page.

Touch of Evil

Beautiful work by the NY Times. Ryan Gosling from Touch of Evil, a "video gallery of cinematic villainy."

Scarf season

It's scarf season; my favorite. These three are on heavy rotation right now. The big wooly ones are still in the closet, waiting for a real rush of cold.

Nota Bene:
Look: The Year's Most Powerful Photos (wow, what a year it was)
Look / Procure: Gorgeous prints + totes available from the crew at More & Co. from their exhibition, Come Darkness
Read: This remarkable profile of the sculptor Carl Andre in the New Yorker, perhaps most (in)famous due to the tragic and mysterious death of his third wife, Cuban artist, Ana Mendieta. (Only available in-part online, so get yourself a copy)
Watch / listen: Todd Selby's short film about deaf performance artist Christine Sun Kim who collects found sounds and experiments with their feedback and physicality.

Jacob in the waiting room at CBS

They're not so big on decor, but hey, we'll take it.

[See the CBS Morning Show segment].

Things are taking shape

An afternoon spent with lots of tissue paper, rope and hot glue guns in preparation for the Girl Walk // All Day premiere on Thursday. (Thanks to my helpers, CT + AE).  Have you RSVP'ed yet?

Related, some great film press in the last few days from: CBS Morning Show [video clip of live segment], The Daily News, Portable.tv, Huffington Post  Canada, Wired, The Atlantic, SPIN, The Hairpin, Pitchfork and more.

Also related! Jacob and I love working together and with our many talented friends. We will continue to make things as a growing "creative and collaborative flock" under the heading, Wild Combination. Not so much there yet, but it's a place for budding and blossoming collaborations, brainstorms and future projects, that just might include you. (We are also on twitter: @wildcombo). Say hello.