Happy Mother’s Day to all you amazing amazing moms out there!!  We want to thank you, honor you and wish you all a wonderful mom day

images via pinterest

In case you  missed it, Fashion Month just happened. And as much as we’d like to say that we were jet-setting to London and Milan and Paris, we weren’t. But we did hit our “local” fashion hub, NYC.

We love this time of year, overindulging in all things fashion-related. Clothing and shoes and accessories, oh my! Our mission is always clear: find cool stuff.

Consistently at the top of our favorites list is the always fabulous, always evolving, way-too-cool-for-school, Wendy Nichol. I paid a visit to Wendy at her newest store at 252 Mott in Nolita, and then followed her to her original retail outpost in SoHo, where she made me a leather and brass bolo necklace while I stood there and watched (and my phone was charging behind the counter, missing my 1st really good Vine opp).

Bags, jewelry, all kinds of accessories, and a scrumptious clothing line under her belt, now Wendy’s added rock star to her repertoire. You don’t really even have to hear her band’s music to know that it is awesome. To know Wendy is to know that anything she touches turns instantly to gold. Or black diamonds.

Some snaps from her shop (s).

Wanna snag some Wendy Nichol of your own? [answer: you do] You’re in luck! You can grab some of the goodness online here.

Or for the true Wendy Nichol experience (and a possible Wendy sighting), you can visit one of her 2 stores in Manhattan:

147 Sullivan Street in SoHo

(212) 431-4171

or

252 Mott Street in Nolita

212-966-0090

And FYI, her new direction in jewelry is off the charts. Featured already on the cover of Marie Claire and Crash, her take on delicate diamond luxury is, of course, unique and spectacular. To give you an idea of her taste level, I’ll put it in Wendy’s words, “I’m working with Van Cleefs people.” ‘Nuf said?

Last week was a birthday week over here (Happy belated Birthday, Arlene!!) Who doesn’t love birthdays? It’s the perfect excuse to indulge in absolutely every way (and get all your friends and family to agree to do whatever you want). We took full advantage. Even those of us who weren’t celebrating our own birthdays

-1- Happy Birthday, Arlene! A lovely little cake from the family.

-2- What would a birthday be without presents?? Love this wrapping by Rodarte from the NM + Target collection.

-3- Much wine was consumed this week. (A personal favorite was the 2009 Joseph Swan Vineyards Côtes du Rosa. Too delicious for words.)

-4- We made a cute new friend who was wearing some very very cute wingtips from Woman by Common Projects

-5- We had lunch at Fred’s at Barney’s and drooled over some product while we were there: Fornasetti plates…

-6- …and sparkly Carven pumps.

-7- Came across a super-fun line of porcelain vases: Middle Kingdom

-8- Threw it back to Jan 2010 and a shoot we did with Karl Rothenberger and Jessica Orr

-9- And celebrated the launch of a color of the year project we did with Kirsten Miccoli for the Norwegian design market.

Our 2nd week of January was a week filled with art. Of all kinds. Every week should be filled with art, don’t you think? So fun!

-1- We started with a visit to an exhibit at the Packer Schopf Gallery, where we saw all kinds of art*

-2- We even “saw” ourselves in some of it*

-3-And then we visited OUR work at the Defibrilator Gallery. Mind blowing to see something you had a hand in creating hanging on a wall. So overwhelming and awesome.**

-4- We admired our artful shoes by a manhole cover. Inside.

-5-  We took a moment to admire the artful Chicago architecture

-6- We purchased a useful piece of art

-7- We got some late Christmas presents — in the form of a couple of very artistic books

-8- We reminisced about sisters

-9- and we reunited with long-lost friends.

A very, very good week.

*Taxidermy and mirrored sculpture by Andréa Stanislav. Also featured in the current exhibit are Deborah Baker, and the mesmerizing works of Bruce Riley (far too enormous and intricate to be properly captured with an iphone, but amazing). The show runs through Feb 16th and we highly recommend seeing it if you’ll be in Chicago. More info here.

** “Doll wood” photographed by Kirsten Miccoli; styled by Arlene and Brandon for Kit This; hair and make-up by Loni Hale; prop styling by Kelly McKaig; models Colleen and Chloe for Factor Women

Happy New Year everyone!! Hope your 2013 is off to a great start. With an exciting and fun 1st week of the year under our belts, we can’t wait for the next 51. Bring it on!

So far this year, we’ve:

-1- gotten crafty

-2- and a little avant-garde. With twig-ball headpieces…

-3- and handmade cage bracelets (courtesy of the amazing Kelly McKaig)

-4- celebrated with some new shine (pretty Celines)

-5- and mourned the loss of some {almost} new shine (poor Tom Dixon pendant lamp)

-6- artfully covered (and smiled through) a giant shiner (that’s a black eye, in case you don’t know)

-7- had our first Throwback Thursday (that’s us with those cuties behind Rag & Bone, Marcus Wainright and David Neville)

-8- and had the best day ever with the most incredible creative team ever (Loni Hale, Kirsten Miccoli, Stephen Sloan, Kelly McKaig and [not pictured] Colleen Kloster, and Chloe Verkerke). Yay team!

-9- HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! May 2013 be filled with fun, success, health and happiness for you all!