Celebrate a Fifth

Well, this past weekend (May 26th) was Corrina and I's 5th Wedding Anniversary. I must say it has been a great 5 years indeed. If you count up the time we've been dating + married, it will be 12 years in November. Wow. Most of Saturday was spent painting the baby/guest room. Corrina, being pregnant, avoided the fumes. She was a big help in taping and laying dropcloths. She also delivered snacks and refreshments. The room needs an additional coat or two, and should be finished this weekend. I'll post pics when that's done.

Before heading out to dinner, we exchanged gifts. In the past we haven't followed the "1st Anniversary is Paper" tradition. In the 5th year, you are to give a gift of wood (insert Nick joke here). Although we didn't talk about it beforehand we both incorporated that into our gifts. I gave Corrina a modernish, mosaic pendant that incorporated mahogany, mother-of-pearl, and stone (granite?). It looked pretty good on her! Coco gave me a sweet, Quiksilver button-down for work/nights. She also gave me this:

She went to a local shop and picked out the one she liked best. Not bad at all. I wanted a black board that corresponded with the PDUB deck that Duane designed. Perfect. As an aside, Powell and I had bought a Roskopp for Duane as part of his bachelor present. Knowing that this was Duane's favorite deck, his brother also gave him a version shortly thereafter. Regardless, it's a classic. Thanks Coco!

After the exchange, we had dinner at Magnolia Grill in Durham. The last time we were there was for a Valentine's dinner in 1999. It's consistently rated as a top restaurant in the state, but it's really not too pricey. We got shrimp appy's, steak and halibut, and a cake/ice cream desert. Delicious all around. It was a great day. With baby Page coming along, we'll have to see what we do for our 6th!

Rock-A-Bye Baby

Years ago, I told Coco that if we had a baby, I would buy her an Eames Fiberglass Rocker. Well we've reached that point. I sold my last Eames Aluminum Group Chair to basically trade this fellar off of eBay. I couldn't drop the $1500-2000 on an original 50's complete rocker. So I bought a clean, mid-50's O.G. Herman Miller armshell chair, and a new, reproduction rocker base. The elephant gray goes nicely with the black wire and birch runners. Coco's happy with it.

Back when I promised that I'd get her one of these, I didn't realize that the Herman Miller Company hadn't produce the rocker for a few decades. They had stopped producing them in the late 50's. During this time, they were only given to Herman Miller employees as maternity presents. That explains the rarity of an original, complete rocker. They've just reissued the RAR rocker, but now they use a more environmentally-friendly, plastic-based shell. I understand the switch, but the fiberglass swirls in the vintage chairs just look so nice.

I could get into an entire essay on the husband and wife design team of Charles and Ray Eames (Duane got into it a bit on his blog). Their synergy, versatilty, and style is almost unmatched in my eyes.


Here is a little update on how the living room is coming around. The rocker will eventually go in the kiddo's room. We need a little paint, and a big canvas or hanging on that back wall. Crown molding would be nice too. We'll be getting much needed windows within two months. In fact, we just put in the order yesterday. As part of the installation, we're going to convert/expand the window in the record room. It's gonna be sweet when that's done.

Thanks for listening. I've put Coco to sleep!

Being Small is No Excuse

Apartment Therapy is having their 3rd Annual Smallest, Coolest Apartment Contest. Readers submit pics of their small living spaces that incorporate big (smart) design ideas to maximize comfort and live-ability. Kinda shows you what you can do with just a little room. We really could have put some of these ideas to use in our apartment and house in Hermosa. I enjoy looking through peoples living spaces... peeping tom.