Have you heard about The Night Heron? As of now it’s closed but god do I wish I got to experience it! An illegal speakeasy in an abandoned water tower in Cheslea, NYC it was open from March to May for eight weekends.

How did you obtain entry to this magical place? Well it was fairly complicated: In order to be a guest at The Night Heron you needed to be given a pocket watch by a prior guest who would give you minimal explanation of what it was for. Once received, you would need to report to a certain street corner at a specific time and call a number that was placed within the watch.

Guests would be led from one building to another and up twelve flights of stairs to the roof by helpers, the watches would be taken at the ‘door’ however at the end of the night if you wanted to continue the invitation chain you could purchase the watch. Whew! That’s a lot of work! But from the photos above seem completely worth it!

The mastermind behind this was N.D. Austin, a 31-year-old artist who specializes what he calls “trespass theater.”

I love this quote from him in his interview with The Atlantic:

“Yes, it reminds me of that question in The Little Prince,” Austin adds, helping the crew clean and stow away evidence of their existence. “‘Why is the desert beautiful? The desert is beautiful because somewhere it hides a well.’”

You can read more about The Night Heron on - The Atlantic & The New York Times.

Photos from The New York Times.

Luli Sanchez’s work (especially these blue pieces) makes me think of china plates and tea cups. So detailed, I love the first and second ones. Definitely inspired by blues lately. Probably because I’m longing to go swimming! xx

Unlike, what seems the rest of the world, I’m not particularly interested in seeing Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. However, what I am extremely interested in is The Fitzgerald Suite at The Plaza hotel in New York City designed by Catherine Martin, Academy Award winning costume designer, production designer, and co-producer of “The Great Gatsby.”

While the room as a whole in itself is absolutely gorgeous what has really grabbed my attention is the amount of detail put into the suite. I love the Jay Gatsby emblem on the cards in the Tiffany’s box, the letter from Jay to Nick, the awards from Yale to Tom along with (not pictured) the photos of Fitzgerald including his passport.

It’s almost a mini museum to Fitzgerald/Gatsby! At nearly $3,000 a night it certainly isn’t a spur of the moment stay, but I would definitely love to take a peek inside. xx

All Photos: The Plaza Hotel 

DIY: Tea Party Jewelry Holder

Just a quick little DIY! I had had this idea on my mind for ages now but never actually decided to do it until the other day! I remembered years ago seeing a Tea Cup Cake Stand Holder from Anthropolgie and loved it, but at nearly $200 it wasn’t something I could justify spending that kind of money on.

However, after thinking about it, it seemed like something I could easily throw together, and since I had been looking for a new jewelry stand I decided this would work perfectly.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

1. Cups, Plates, Bowls - I got my large plate, small plate, and coffee mug from the Dollar Store. The smaller bowl and the bigger bowl (used as the ‘pedestal’) I found inexpensively at Target.

2. Super glue - I used two types of glue because I wasn’t sure which was best (which is why two are pictured above). I found that the E6000 worked the best.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Clean and dry the plates, cups, etc. Make sure to remove stickers from the bottom (I didn’t do that right off the bat and it made things much more difficult than needed be).

2. Apply a thin layer of glue to the rim of the bowl/cup and place it on the plate at center. Apply pressure for a couple minutes.

3. Allow the separate pieces to dry before you start to stack them. Carefully flip your bottom half over. Apply another layer of glue to the rim of your cup/bowl for the middle layer. Carefully flip and place on top of plate. Again apply pressure for a few minutes.

4. Apply a thin layer of glue around the outside of the cup/bowl and plate.

5. Apply last piece to top and let dry overnight.

6. Cover in pretty jewels!

And viola! You have yourself a pretty and whimsical jewelry holder that will make looking for your jewelry a little more fun. Also because you can use a variety of kitchenware the possibilities are endless! I used white but I’d love to see one in color! xx

Don’t you just love these moody landscapes by San Francisco artist Jeremy Mann? Using oil paint he also utilizes various techniques including but not limited to: surface staining and the use of solvents. They remind me some of Whistler’s landscapes, particularly: Falling Rocket, & Nocturne Blue and Silver. xx

Talk about how looks can be deceiving! From the front outside this home looks like a quaint little cottage, however, as seen above the inside is a whole other story. With high ceilings and a long linear plan this home is absolutely gorgeous. I love the kitchen bar with the light underneath.

Plus that backyard and patio space is killing me. Sadly (but not surprisingly) it has already been bought. But maybe keep an eye on it in case it every goes back up for sale!