hirschberg hooped glass vases from a new york city jaunt

On my last self-indulgent junket to New York City, I stopped by my very favorite glass store, The End of History. I can't help myself. The shop is absolutely incredible. All the glass is organized NOT by manufacturer or country of origin BUT by color.

From the Robb Report, Great Find, The End of History.

Honestly, it is a cacophony of colors, shapes and sizes. In only the best way.

vintage shop labor day glass treasure and a church

So I bragged yesterday about "discovering" a new vintage modern retro shop, Out of Vogue, in Fullerton, over last Labor Day weekend.

So what couldn't I resist this time? Guess before clicking. A few of you will get it right.

#dwellondesign 2013: lights (and glass)

I love glass. Therefore, I love lights. Dwell on Design 2013 was last weekend at the L.A. Convention Center and it afforded me plenty of opportunity to see both.

David Trubridge Lighting. Beautiful colors.

mid-century thrift shop mystery: can you identify this bottle?

How about a break from our regularly scheduled #PSMW Palm Springs Modernism Week 2013 posts (only 2 more to go)? I thought I would crowdsource the identification of a mysterious bottle I purchased over the weekend.

The questions I have for the mid-century modern universe are two-fold:

1. Who made this and approximately when?
2. How much would you value it at?

simplify your life - throw away your books

Many years ago, I took to heart the book,  Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter. It was about two go-go yuppies from the 90's (remember the term yuppy?) who basically scale back their lives to in order to enjoy living more. I really took it to heart at the time. To this day, I can throw almost anything away in the household with nary a second thought. Spring cleaning for me involves Goodwill, Craigslist, eBay and the trash. My husband and son know to hide anything they really care about when the flowers begin to blossom and the birds begin to sing.

I was horrified one evening when I looked across the room while watching Project Runway (go Team Demitri!) and spotted this disaster:

BOO! Giant FAIL. Crowded bookshelves with items stuffed helter skelter all over. Chaotic.

gibraltar, new york and mid-century modern glass

Albert and Alex took my Canon EOS Rebel off to Gibraltar for Spring Break, including the fabulous wide angle lens that has been providing all the excellent pictures of the tiny bathroom spaces. Gibraltar is a really unique place, I have visited once. It is a one mile wide by five mile long British Colony off the coast of Spain, at the entrance to the Mediterranean. Gibraltar's population hovers around 30,000 and is an interesting mix of Spaniards, Moors, British and Jews. It was a safe-harbor destination from Spain's fascist leaders, back in the day. Albert's mum and dad are from Gibraltar, and Albert was born there during a brief interlude when the parents thought they might move themselves and their four, then five kids back to Gibraltar from the states. Albert texted me a few pictures from his camera.

This is a picture of a picture of the country (no kidding)
 on Albert's camera, sorry for the quality. Rock is on the right.

waiting for bids and shopping for mid century modern glass in New York City

All three contractors checked in this weekend with questions or to say they were still working on the bid. I am taking this as a good sign that they are all interested. Our architect says to figure it will take at least three to four weeks. Meanwhile, to kill time, I went to New York City with KP for our now second annual weekend of  extreme self-indulgence. Mostly intensive shopping followed by wine and dinner. We stopped in at our favorite mid-century modern glass shop, The End of History. Stephen Saunders, the owner, was in and said he remembered us from last time. Probably because of the non-stop self-deprecating chatter. I really loved three pieces from last year. He only had the yellow in the shop, and the green was at a show. The blue had sold. 

The three pieces I really wanted from the year before.

So, instead I bought two matching pottery pieces that should arrive in a week or so. Update Sep-30-2011: Here they are with the glass vase I purchased last year from the shop:

My little Italian glass and pottery collection.
I have a real problem with glass and pottery. More about that another day.