The Bling-Bling Bling! Bag in the window. I was stopped dead in my tracks.
I think I went blind for 20 seconds.

Closer inspection reveals heart-shaped rhinestones in the mix. gee

I can say one thing with certainty about this oversized-rhinestone-encrusted bag: it will elicit a reaction. And for that reason, I would love to purchase one for $36 with my wholesale I.D. at Just Fantasies, Inc. on Broadway and 29th Street and carry it around, just to see the look on people's faces. I challenge all New Yorkers to try to be stoney-faced, non-plussed, disinterested, detached or jaded as they cross paths with The Bag. The Bag is possibly the most hideously beautiful horrible wonderful bag I have ever seen. $410 will get you a dozen.

I climbed the stairs to the second floor at Just Fantasies, Inc., in hot pursuit of this bag.
What I saw left me speechless. You must pay a visit to Just Fantasies, Inc.
and see for yourself. You don't need a wholesale I.D. to browse. Just to purchase.

Crisp, a brand new place for lunch with plenty of light and plenty of design,
on the corner of 43rd Street & 3rd Avenue

There are those Onda stools again!
Available at DWR.

I passed Crisp last night at around 6pm, soon after it opened, as it so happened. I started to take pictures, and a small crowd gathered around me, asking me what kind of place it was, and if it was open yet, and what they served. So I read the menu to them, and told them it was open. (I saw people ordering inside.)

Crisp certainly packs a lot of design into a small space. The popular Onda stools we saw at El Beit in Williamsburg, beautiful wood-grain counters, other-worldly torchier-meets-world's fair lamps, and flat screen electronic menus. Crisp offers an all-vegetarian menu of "handbag sandwiches" in (what I imagine will be fluffy Israeli) pita and "hummus bowls" with a small variety of vegetable toppings like eggplant or sauteed mushrooms. Sounds right up my alley. Prices are around $7-$10. The house-blended iced teas look tempting too: lychee red, gaucho mint, and apple mango, to name a few.

After reading a few articles and early reviews about Crisp, I found out that a "crisp" is a falafel which comes in all the "handbag sandwiches" and with the "hummus bowl." Why all the mysterious language? I think "pita sandwiches" in this day and age would suffice.


Crisp
684 3rd Avenue (corner of 43rd Street)
Midtown East
New York, NY
212.661.0000

Martin Gleit, The Tree

Perusing the blogosphere for any previews of the ICFF, I have read close to 15 articles about wallpaper this morning. Yes wallpaper is hotter than hot these days. And yes, The Tree by Martin Gleit, pictured above, priced at $94 per square meter, is wallpaper for your brick and mortar walls, not for your electronic devices. At $94 per square meter, The Tree can be custom-sized to fill your wall. WallCollection, a company based in Denmark that will ship anywhere in the world, offers vector-based wallpapers by designers, photographers and artists mainly from Denmark, including Wendy Plovmand, Mette Løber, Casper Balslev, Emil Kozak, among others, and Julia Rothman from Brooklyn. (Brooklyn is always in the house.) You can also upload your own image and WallCollection will create the custom wallpaper for you.

[page print from flavorpill.com]

My second piece is on the calendar for May 16. For full details, click here to read it on Flavorpill.

[page print from flavorpill.com]

I have news. I started writing about art and design for Flavorpill this month! I will keep you posted when new pieces are published. Two are on the site now.

My first piece is on the calendar for May 23. For full details, click here to read it on Flavorpill.

[image: glamourmagazine.uk]

Many wrote about Gwyneth Paltrow and her legs at the New York premier of Iron Man two weeks ago in this knock-out black lace halter dress; but no one wrote about who designed the dress. Since the dress is what is stealing the show, a little overt credit to the designer (and a link to the dress) would be nice. Or perhaps that is just my opinion.

Aha, found it. The Daily News reports (and with a better picture minus the flash) that the dress is by Stella McCartney. Click here to view her Autumn Winter 2008 Collection. The dress in question is Look #40 and appears towards the end of the show. Details below.

"Black Wool Cut Through Halterneck Embroidered Dress"
Stella McCartney, Autumn Winter 2008

[image: Grzywinski+Pons]

Grzywinski+Pons also designed the Hotel on Rivington that inhabits the neighborhood in a rather intrusive way, if you will pardon my judgment here. I guess I could say that I am a fan of their aesthetic, but not of their buildings' relationships with the surrounding spaces and with the idioms of the neighborhoods.

Once inside their spaces, the experience is quite different. Inside one of the rooms at this Lower East Side hotel, the city is your oyster (pearl included). The grey, white, and yellow color palette, pictured above, is minimalist and luxurious at the same time. And definitely on-trend this season. Have you visited a Kenneth Cole store this Spring, for example?

Speaking of "Hyper Design," the design show to top all design shows, the ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair), starts this Saturday, running May 17-20 at the Javits. Don't forget, the 20th (Tuesday) is the Public Day where you can purchase tickets for $50. It is more economical to be a design professional, to be sure.

[images: Grzywinski+Pons by way of New York magazine]
click to here view additional photos

Speaking of New York magazine's "Hyper Design" issue, did you happen to see this eye-popping Modernist home, pictured above, in Flushing, Queens? Admittedly, I am looking longingly at the subterranean pool, and at the room off the pool, and at the furniture from Ligne Roset and Poliform. The owner, John Hsu, is a developer with high profile projects in Manhattan, including a new 60-room hotel in NoLita designed by the same architects that designed his home, Grzywinski+Pons. For the record, Hsu got a discount on all the furniture through his pre-existing relationships with Ligne Roset and Poliform from "work." How nice.

My question is this. If Hsu met with such opposition from the neighborhood over the design of his home, as the article describes, why would he want it published in such detail for all to see? I personally would want to lay low for awhile until the neighborhood rage subsided.

Pools of light on the ceiling at DC Moore

After reading about Modernist architecture in Preservation magazine last week, I found the lighting near the elevator banks at DC Moore Gallery particularly beautiful. I have never seen such fixtures that look like a cross between an exhaust fan and a space ship. And then I saw the same fixture this morning in New York magazine's "Hyper Design" issue. What are the odds? Check out the photo on the right in The DIY Artist Loft.

If you happen to visit the gallery before June 13, the current exhibition of paintings, Roger Brown: The American Landscape will help you see light in a new way too. His paintings make quite an impact.


DC Moore Gallery
724 5th Avenue (56th & 57th Streets)
Midtown
New York
212.247.2111

Joe, you are such a tease.

Enter on Lexington Avenue to find the promise of the latest Joe,
which will be store #4

Joe The Art of Coffee has been coming soon to Grand Central for the past several months. To which I reply, so I'm ready already. More on this later today.



More:
There are rumblings that the newest Joe, located in the Graybar Passage of Grand Central Terminal, will open at the end of this month. I called and found out that everything is still on schedule. This Joe will be mainly to-go, given the constraints of the space. I am eager to try their iced coffee. I would imagine, after reading about their serious approach to coffee brewing, a la El Beit in Williamsburg, that it will be an iced Americano instead of an iced American coffee, a la Bluedog on 25th and 6th Avenue. Still you can't beat the iced coffee at Macchiato just around the corner. Dark, delicious, and two dollars. I do have my loyalties. I like my person at Macchiato. She always has my order ready when I get to the register. The new Joe might create an internal conflict.

Mother's Day Window, Cole Haan, Madison Avenue & 61st Street

Anneke Jakobs, Chiquita Chandelier (and detail), recycled cardboard, 2003
[images: Anneke Jakobs]

Advertising is Good for You is a humorous, well-written, informative blog by Boston-area copywriter and creative director, Paula Zargaj-Reynolds. As of today, it is going on my list of weekly reads. The "Advertising Arts & Crafts" section offers some great examples of post-consumer recycling, like this ballgown by Jamie Kuli McIntosh. I also found the Chiquita Chandelier, pictured above, by Dutch designer and master recycler, Anneke Jakobs. If you would like to make one, the artist has graciously provided a digital how-to manual for you on her Website. As I have an affinity for both bananas and corrugated cardboard, I may just download it. Click on tekst> to access a PDF. For a list of Jakobs' projects, click here.

[image: core77]

Or maybe I just have Murakami on the brain, anxiously anticipating seeing his show at the Brooklyn Museum. Doesn't this image make you want to find out the meaning of this curious crown on the Eiffel Tower? It's worth the click. Perhaps you will discover a new favorite design resource: Core77. I have.

[image: yourdivineinspirations.com]

When you think about it, eating a muffin is like eating a hunk of cake. Or a cupcake without the frosting. How is a muffin a breakfast item? What was I saying a few weeks ago? Correction: a muffin equals calories.

I was given a copy of Preservation at the beginning of the week, an architecture magazine connected to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and I have to say, I have been devouring every word. This issue highlights the restrained beauty of Modernist architecture, and the importance of preserving examples of Modernism around the world. Being a fan of this period and aesthetic, I feel like I want to get out and do some advocacy work. There are a number of articles available online. I recommend all of them: The Modernist Manifesto, Air Age Gothic and Palm Springs Eternal, to name a few.

The latest "Confetti Group" by Zak! includes divided plates, bowls and cups,
available at The Conran Shop

I have a thing for Zak! Ultra smooth. Pleasing to the touch. Affordable well-designed tablewear made of melamine. For example, just look at these ice cream spoons, which I purchased recently at Food Emporium (for $7.49). They make the experience of eating oatmeal much more exciting. the Food Emporium Bridgemarket the Food Emporium Bridgemarket carries many pieces from my favorite "Seaside Collection". I have had my eye on a set of bright sky blue serving spoons and matching giant bowl to use for fancy salads (or better yet, fancy pasta salads). The color would go great with red salad plates. Think of the dinner party possibilities! I do. If I talk much more about this, I will be running right over to Food Emporium and buying up a storm.

Right next door at The Conran Shop, you can shop Zak's latest "Confetti Group," pictured above. I love the oval-shaped drinking cups. A set of 6 is around $20. Also available on Amazon and Target, for those who don't get that far East.


Food Emporium
The Conran Shop
Bridgemarket
1st Avenue & E 59th St
Midtown East
New York