Dear Friends, I think I have a rug problem. It’s like whenever I’m not on rugs all I can think about is getting more rugs. And then when I’m not on rugs I all I think about is rugs. And then my friends show me their rugs and how they’re using them, I just want to go out and steal/sell bikes so I’ll have more money to spend on rugs. I’m a total rug addict. It started out slow, I put a rug in my living room. But that rug was just the gateway rug, and now I can’t stop….
By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Meatless Monday Lovers, Like you, I occasionally dabble in vegetarianism. Not out of respect for the animal–though I respect those who live and eat by that philosophy–but because, sometimes, I just want to. And because I truly feel that vegetarian cuisine doesn’t have to be as boring as everyone thinks it is, my hat goes off to you, Mr. Yotam Ottolenghi (pictured above). While he’s not a practicing vegetarian, he does manage to create delicious recipes that could make you want to quit meat. Originally from Israel, Ottolenghi now graces the UK with…
Dear Diary, Do you know what normal people do when they are left alone? They watch movies, make soup, and pet their dogs. I, on the other hand, rearrange my entire apartment on a daily basis. In fact, just yesterday I woke up and realized the that my bedroom needed a little bit of attention. So naturally I spent the next three hours rearranging the top of my dresser (which is ugly, by the way, needs to be lacquered in a hip color but I can’t decided what). Below are the results of my playtime. Here is what the top…
Dear Paul Newman, Because of the Old Hollywood theme of last night’s Oscars, I have classic movie stars on my brain. I’ve been playing with a theory for a while now and I thought a cloudy Monday would be the ideal time to make it public. My theory is that you are the most attractive and stylish human being that ever lived. Here is the evidence: It doesn’t hurt that you were buddies with one of my favorite writers ever (Gore Vidal) or that you created a great brand of organic foods (Newman’s Own). Your face, your clothes, your career….
Dear Cities, You know, I love living in a bustling city filled with people from all over. But lately, I’ve been feeling cooped up. All I do every day is drive around searching for stuff. Which is fun. But sometimes I just want to get away from everything. Normally, when I feel this way I go visit my parents in the forest where I grew up. But work has prohibited getting away lately so I’ve been craving some time away from the crowds, outside in nature. This week, Emily is hosting some web shows for HGTV so I’ve been helping…
Dear Dollhouse, We’ve had a tumultuous relationship. At first, I loved you hard. I worked so dilligently on you and was so excited to see you. Now, I fall into the fetal position an start crying every time I hear the word “Dollhouse.” I’m not saying that working on the dollhouse isn’t the funnest thing I’ve ever done in my whole entire life, I’m just saying that my life is devoid of the kind of “free time” that would be conducive to contributing the necessary time to my beloved dollhouse. Anyway, I have made a bit of progress with the…
By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Non-Food Stylists, I would like to set the record straight on what exactly we, as food stylists, do for you and your endless love of food. Though you may not realize, food as you know it could not be the same devoid the skills we employ to practically every photo shoot or TV show you’ve ever seen. For example, do you think the limes in this photo just happened to fall into frame and angle themselves perfectly in respect to the light source? Nope. Did this perfect sprig of cilantro trim and place…
Dear Fashion World, I go through phases with fashion. Sometimes, I’m preppy. Sometimes, I’m casual. And sometimes I want to dress like a crazy misunderstood artist. Right now I’m feeling a strong attraction to anything casual or hippie-inspired. I just want to put on some comfortable, soft, flowing clothing with a lot of layers and sit at a coffee shop talking about my feelings to anyone who will listen. The following looks are from Diesel Black Gold. For more Diesel Black Gold looks go here. These three exciting ensembles are from Acne. These looks incorporate one small hippie nod (the…
Dear You, Firstly, I’d just like to thank you for being you. Secondly, I’d like to let you know about a super exciting post I just wrote for Emily’s blog. Go check out Shopping With Emily! Love, Orlando
Dear Artist & Illustrator Richard Haines, I was perusing the style section of the NYT recently when I came across some of your fashion illustrations. They reminded me of how much I love your work and how much joy I get from looking at the drawings you create. Seeing them makes me want to be transported into a cartoon world where everything is as gorgeous and appealing as it is in your work. The line quality, the casual yet refined rendering style, the lovely washes of color. It all makes me so happy. Thanks for making such pretty illustrations. Thanks also…
Dear Diary, I was in the car on Sunday after the Rose Bowl Flea Market and a Whitney medley came on the radio. At which point tears started streaming down my face. I was a little confused as to what I was so upset about. After all, it’s not like I was besties with Whitney Houston or that I was one of her biggest fans. Quite the contrary, I made fun of her crazy antics along with everyone else. But upon further investigation I’ve decided what bothers me so much about her death is the loss of something so beautiful,…
By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Chili, We’ve historically recognized you as a spicy stew made of beef, red chilies/chili powder, tomatoes and beans, but these days it seems you’ve lost that straight-forward sense of identify. When you look at any number of recipes today, the combinations aren’t limited to just beans and beef. On the contrary, the combinations are practically endless yet they all retain the name chili. Some have meat and no beans. Some have vegetables and no meat or beans…it reminds me of gumbo, actually. A wise man once described gumbo to me as follows: “If…
Dear Roman Polanski, I know you’ve been quite controversial recently, and I’m not going to comment on that. What I will comment on is the fact that you share a name with my favorite type of window covering (Roman Shades). And perhaps that counts for something. Actually, no it doesn’t… Roman Shades are a great alternative to drapery for a few reasons. Firstly, if you’re a dude (or a butch lesbian), they’re way more masculine in appearance than a flowing drape. Having them in your apartment and/or home will make you look way less ladypants than a house full of…
Dear Furniture & Cabinetry Company To Do Something, I was at the home of one of my favorite clients today and she told me about you and showed me your stuff and I was instantly in love. I love the clean, modern lines, the playful color, the clever legs. I love the beautiful woods, the generous scale, the masculine shapes. Therefore, To Do Something, you are my favorite discovery of the day. Thank you for existing. Let’s start with the sexy chairs. Hay chair! I’m not usually a fan of plywood, but I love how it’s juxtaposed with white lacquer…
Dear Sophia Loren, You know, if you were my daughter I would have named you Sofa Loren. I really love a good sofa. I’ve been searching for a new one for quite some time. My old sofa was great. Totally big mid-century piece. But it took up way too much space in my living room because it was 110″ wide. Which I loved but it left no room for side tables, which I believe to be a necessary part of having a sofa if you want to host parties because where else will people put their drinks? I loved the…
Dear Everyone, I know a lot of you have been curious WHAT was up with my dollhouse. Well, here’s the scoop. When we started the I’m A Giant challenge, Emily and I were very busy starting our design company and working on clients all over LA and New York. So, to make a long story short, my poor dollhouse sat at Corbett’s house for months, languishing on in the cold garage. Until a few weeks ago when I realized that it was supposed to be done February 1. Clearly that’s not happening, construction is taking much longer than expected (as…
Dear Bathroom, When I moved into my apartment, the showerbath looked like this: That was ugly, so I put up a white shower curtain. This made the room look much more clean and fresh (I promise. It looked good in real life. This is a terrible photo): But the white curtain was boring, so I replaced it with a shower curtain I stole from my mother’s linen closet. The good thing about my mother is that she hoards sheets, towels, and all sorts of linens. Continuously buying linens gives her a sense that everything is under control and the world…
By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Pennsylvania, On behalf of everyone (save the residents of Maine and Massachusetts…look it up) I’d like to thank you for contributing the most delightful sweet treat of my childhood years–the whoopie pie. Rumor has it that Amish women living in Lancaster, PA would make whoopie pies and sneak them into their husband’s lunch pails prepared for a day of work in the fields. When the unsuspecting men, famished from a morning of hard labor, opened their lunches they’d be thrilled at the sight of these sweet, fluffy little goodies to which they would…
Dear Apartment, You know, every once in a while it’s a good idea to freshen things up. Lately I’ve been noticing that every single thing that surrounds me is vintage. Which is great. I love vintage pieces because they are so much more interesting than new, mass manufactured furniture. But I think it’s good to have a balance of old and new so my place doesn’t look like it belongs to a grandpa (not that I have anything against grandpas, I love mine). Thus, I decided to add something new to my living room. Here’s what it looked like before…
Dear Jennifer Love Hewitt, I’ve been promising to tell you about what my favorite place in Los Angeles is and, well, here it is. I love LACMA (the Los Angeles County Museum of Art). There, I said it and I’m not ashamed. It’s my favorite place in this city. It gives me a sense of peace in a world full of chaos. I visited recently to check out the new Chris Burden installation (‘Metropolis II’) I was hearing so much about. It’s pretty amazing. But don’t take my word for it. Watch this mini documentary about it: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llacDdn5yIE] We went…
Dear Anjelica Huston, I know you’ve been concerned about my wardrobe lately, so I did a little shopping and here are some of the things I purchased. I was in desperate need of some new shoes so my search started there. I found these delightful Vans on sale for $40 (they’re supposed to be $90). As you my know, I was raised in Yosemite Valley and I’ve never seen a Yosemite shirt this cool. I got this on sale for $15. Apparently I really like Vans, because I bought these too. They were also on sale for $40 (from $80)….
By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Incredible-Edible Sandwich, I love the way you look sitting there on the plate, begging to be eaten. And though I’m not quite sure how, you possess some strange power over me to which I am utterly helpless. Never in all my years would I have imagined you’d look so delicious sliced in-two and slapped on top of a photocopier. Jon Chonko, of Scanwiches decided to capture the beauty of the almighty sandwich using nothing but a xerox–no photoshop here. Their philosophy is simple, it’s all about the true beauty of the bread and…
Dear Benches, You have no idea how handy you are in home decorating? Awkward empty wall? Add a bench! Weird space at the end of the bed? Put a bench on it! Empty space in the bathroom that keeps reminding you how empty your life is? Bench! I think you get the picture. Thus, Emily and I are always looking for benches. Often, we enter stores and flea markets screaming at each other in terror about how there just aren’t enough benches. For some reason flea markets have been dry as a bone when it comes to benches, so I’ve…
Dear Everyone, Look at these new chairs I found for my apartment at the Long Beach Flea Market! See them and more of my finds in my shopping post on Emily’s Blog today. It will be the most important thing you do in your whole life. Love, Orlando P.S. Here is the link to my shopping wrap-up.
