a remodel in black & white

Well. Our house is finally free of contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc, etc...for a little while at least.

The big bathroom remodel that started a few months ago is finally complete. YAY. And, since I've noticed that I don't have much of a consistent theme of subject matter going on here on this blog, I figured why not throw in in a little design before-and-after magic.

Alas, I just found out that I really didn't have any before photos of said room. And I did remember to take some after the ceilings were complete, but also just found out that I accidentally deleted these from my camera...

...so the ONLY photo I found was from last fall of a friend getting ready (identity spared from humility of using the sad bathroom! ha :)). A bad photo, which maybe is even better as a bad before photo so you can see the mess it really was: 1) extra low drop ceiling, 2) boring standard white tile floor over even worse mauve linoleum, 3) a fitted tub with peeling off-white finish. on and on. UCK.

BEFORE & AFTER

I'd collected several ideas from some excellent design blogs I read, plus had some ideas of my own. Then after consulting with our contractor and laying out the basics, the room was stripped to the studs on all surfaces...walls, floors, ceilings.

One of the biggest changes was getting plumbing and electricity to the right side of the room where it didn't exist before. We wanted to combine our utility room into this bathroom so we can later expand our living room (where the current utility room is now). This required expanding the current towel closet to accommodate a stackable washer/dryer, and then building recessed shelving units in the extra wall space closer to the tub.

plexiglass panels rolled away to access the washer/dryer • tracks on the ceiling for the flat panels as not to have a door that encroached into the room space • magnetic spring-loaded plexi shelving cabinet doors
The drop ceiling was taken out and a flat ceiling was put in, raising the room 8" higher. A new can light and fan were installed as well. I knew that I really wanted this black & white theme, including black ceilings and floors, so that was pre-planned...

...but while all this restructuring work was going on, I was still finalizing my ideas for the tub area...which led to one of the most excellent scores ever: a vintage 1926 clawfoot, complete with original hardware including faucets, hand-held sprayer, shower head and rod, plus the curtain ring. This pretty much made the room, and everything else was just planned out around that.

right side of the room • tub detail • sink area
It ended up to be about 3" too long for the space, so we put a recessed shelf on the tiled wall, which worked out perfectly. The entire area is actually plumbed and designed as a shower space, with extra support to hold the super heavy tub on top.

Wanting to be more eco-friendly where we could, I chose one of those "green toilets" with low water usage, lighting with low wattage florescent, and 100% post-consumer recycled rubber flooring. Yep, all ground-up old tires under foot in this new room.

Simple clean design. Mix of modern + antique. A good book. Lavender essential oil. Bubble baths. Ahh.

swine flu, schmine flu

Headed a little south next month.

A bit for vacation, a bit for adventure, and a bit for another purpose.

When we've been deciding where to take off to next, I seriously went to Barnes & Noble and had books from 4 different continents lying around my spot on the floor, as I sat cross-legged and wide-eyed. To say we had no direction was an understatement. Little by little it got narrowed down, and the final decision is quite close to home comparatively.

We're going to Mexico. Going to explore the Yucatan for about a week to check out some Mayan ruins, caves, pyramids, cenotes, and reefs...then flying to Mexico City to meet up and volunteer for several days with the group Armonía that Rosa Loves has been raising money for.

When we found out that we could stay and work alongside this group, it definitely solidified the "where are we going" question. I'm super excited to meet the people of this humanitarian group, who work with "some of the country's poorest urban and rural communities transforming poverty into life".


A good friend has worked with them for the past several summers and actually is the one that brought the story to Rosa Loves. You can read more about the amazing story here. Shirts are being sold to raise scholarship funds for a few of the boys that Armonia supports, to go to college.

"These scholarships mean many things for these young men, as well as for their villages. They provide an opportunity to go to university and study, but, beyond that, they provide an avenue of hope for their village. Many of these villagers live in extreme poverty, and are so far from anything else that help or transformation is nearly impossible. Each scholarship recipient agrees to go back to their village for at least two years to put into practice what they've learned at university for the benefit of their community. For many, this is a willing joy, as they learn agricultural, business, or education practices that will improve the lives of their families and communities."

There are just a couple hundred more shirts to sell and we're hoping to be able to deliver the rest of the funds to the group...
So if you want to make a huge impact in a couple of boys' lives, get involved:

• JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP: "HELP FUND NICO AND LUPE THROUGH COLLEGE: 300 SHIRT CAMPAIGN"

• READ THE STORY

• BUY THIS SHIRT or THIS SHIRT
I look forward to bringing you news after meeting and working with this group personally...and really hope that we can give them the rest of the scholarship money if it's raised before we leave.

...until then, I'd better brush up on my Spanish.
adios!

matters of clothing

I've been loving this blog for a while now.

It's so simple, full of inspiration, interesting, and lively to me. With just a photograph The Sartorialist {def: a person who practices or is interested in matters of or relating to the tailoring of clothing} draws me in and takes me away to a street somewhere else, who I meet a person who is in someway wearing their personality through clothing.

He walks the streets, finds someone that interests him, and takes their picture. "My only strategy when I began The Sartorialist was to try and shoot style in a way that I knew most designers hunted for inspiration. Rarely do they look at the whole outfit as a yes or no but they try and look for the abstract concepts of color, proportion, pattern mixing or mixed genres."

Sometimes they wear very classic pieces, sometimes funky, sometimes super rad, and sometimes a bit strange...and that is what I like so much, because they all have a story to tell.

His photos have come from Paris, London, Melbourne, New York City (+ Brooklyn, Governor's Island), & Milan...but recently he's been posting a series from Florence, which of course has been making me smile.

I love to look at each photo and try to figure out where they were standing from the small hints of architecture I get in the background.

Although most of my top favorite posts have come from Melbourne and Governor's Island, here are some of my favorites from Florence (which tend to be more classic):

the high school student I love this one because of the baptistry behind her.

man stripe i'm not sure where this is, but for some reason makes me think of the Oltrarno area. and his tennis shoes are awesome!

color kids definitely thinking that is the round building at the university in centro

Definitely check out his blog for more shots in different cities. They really are captivating.
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On a different note, I've been posting more to my Tumblr acct, which are those posts that I don't feel need an entire blog post written about them...but just things I like, want to share, or are inspiring to me (words, music, photos, videos...) So check it out if you're not tired of me yet. erinlewis.tumblr.com.

day at the park

scenes from the park
Every now and then I have a really good idea...

...that turns out not to be so good.

Take this past weekend for example. We enjoyed a super nice beach day with friends...some surfing, some swimming, some reading. This was followed by a couple refreshing cojitos (not a typo. just with coconut) and a light lunch. It was so glorious outside, that I didn't want to stay in but I also didn't want much more sun.

So I said, " I know! Let's go to the State Park and find a nature trail!". Thinking that at least then we'd be under shade in the forest part. So we paid the entrance fee, slathered on the 70spf, threw water bottles and a camera in my bag and took off.

Seriously, as I passed the sign "Nature Trail >>> this way" I was bitten by the first of dozens of mosquitos. Never did I stop to think that it's 97º, almost 100% humidity, the day after almost a month of solid rain dumping more water on the city than this area has seen in years, and we've been warned about the high mosquito population this season. As soon as we looked down, we could see actual swarms of these nasties all around our bodies.

running past fairy shacks • stopping for one second by a sign • still running
So, off we went. Running.
It became just a funny joke almost of finishing the entire trail without stopping waving our arms around or slapping every bit of exposed skin every 5 seconds. An informational sign would come up, just long enough for us to read outloud the name of the tree or flower, before sprinting up and down the forest of dunes.

I think my bites totaled somewhere in the teens...but at the end we were rewarded by a stroll on the dunes walkway overlooking Salt Run, the beach, and more rain clouds in the distance.


Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea afterall.

film of all kinds

Film has been a consistent theme in a few of the random things that have interested me lately. Just before I left for Italy last month, I'd really began to appreciate again film cameras. The novelty of digital is starting to wear on me, and knowing I can take endless photos with no consequence and seeing way too many hacked Photoshop jobs...the careful selection, luck, anticipation, and even mystery in actual tangible film intrigues me once again. When I took photography in school, it was on an old manual Nikon with b/w studies in the darkroom. I mainly just got frustrated and didn't take it seriously, then was ready to "get on with it" when digital got popular. I've had a good run, but alas am ready to experiment.


Enjoying the instant gratification of the Polaroid recently has been fun, and with a lot of the film bearing dates long expired, the results are very mixed. Plus, I'm borrowing a friend's vintage half-frame camera now to try it out. (Flickr Half-Frame samples) But after being introduced to the magic that is a Holga, I'm so excited to get my very own and start working on some medium format. Light leaks, double exposure, natural vignetting, plastic lens scratches are all what is fun about film to me...not something to avoid with digital. I like not knowing exactly what I'll get...and I'm a lot more thoughtful at the images I choose to capture. We'll see what becomes of this new interest...hopefully I'll have some fun summer images to share.

Next.

Old classic movies. This was a random occurrence a couple of weeks ago, when I was really in the mood to watch some vintage, so we looked up the AFI Best 100 and got started. We've already nailed down a good handful, and Hitchcock is up there on the list. I've watched his films before, and we even own a couple...but all that came to mind was the annoying school children singing "hiplety-hoplety-now-now-now" over and over in The Birds. (Seriously, I have no idea what the words are to that song, but it's sounds like that gibberish to me, and would get stuck in my head for days after watching it). ...but, I must say that most of his films age so well and are pretty genius in many ways.

I'm usually prefer to see movies outside the theatre, but think I definitely have to make it for the 3D showing of Pixar's new film Up as I've heard rave reviews over and over and over...so here's the trailer, and I hope to see it soon.


One more.

Super into Passion Pit right now...Sleepyhead gets played back to back (sometimes cheating and starting at around the 1:19 mark)...slowly compiling my Summer '09 mix. Although it's music, and not film, the film that was produced to go along with the music is quite interesting. Enjoy (and happy June!)

spring in italia :: pt 3

balloon release over Museo Capitolino • ginger mojitos in Trastevere • fountain in Piazza Navona
My last few days in Italy were spent in Rome, and as always, it was an almost magical experience being in this exciting city. The history, monuments, colors, crowds, food, and sounds always make my days there full with a sense of wonder. I arrived on the train from Florence in the early afternoon, and after I got settled where I was staying near the Termini, I headed out for lunch and a unhurried walk across the city before I met in Trastevere for an early aperitivo that evening. I passed the colosseum and forum before making my way to the Capitoline Museum...only to find that it was closed on Mondays, so I sat on the marble steps in the courtyard and watched a rally of sorts (never gathered what for) that ended in a balloon release. It was so pretty seeing the colors float skyward.

Next I walked towards the river, and then crossed the Tiber into Trastevere. I met up with Arlene for aperitivo...and it was such a fun time catching up, plus the place we went to (an old auto repair shop turned chic club) had a fully vegetarian spread that night and we ordered the most amazing ginger mojitos that I haven't stopped talking about since. As it was getting dark, we walked through Campo dei Fiori and over to Il Gelato di San Crispino near the Pantheon, then parted ways just outside Largo Argentina.

Trevi Fountain panoramic
The next morning I gathered my strength for what I knew would be a full day of walking. After finding a place for a morning caffe' I carefully planned my route across town to pass the essential sites. I took a different way than I have before to check out some new streets. Finally, I was able to arrive at Santa Maria della Vittoria while it was open to see Bernini's St. Teresa in Ecstasy, which I've wanted to see for years.

Pantheon panoramic
Next was a walk past the Trevi Fountain before it got unbearably crowded, then just a few more blocks to the Pantheon again...this time in daylight. I know I've said this before, but everytime I see it, it reinforces my opinion that this is my most favorite monument in Rome. On through some back streets towards the river, I crossed in front of the Castel Sant'Angelo, which I've never seen up close. I walked on the west bank of the Tiber towards the Vatican, and went directly towards St. Peters.

looking up at St. Peters • looking down from St. Peters • mosaic art work • upclose
After clearing security, I paid my €5 for a ticket up to the cupola, I started the never-ending ascent to the top of the dome. Seriously, this climb definitely surpassed any other similar climb I've ever done. There were a few times in the super narrow and claustrophobic corridors that I had to remind myself that things were ok, there was enough oxygen for me and all these people, and that even though I was running out of water, I wouldn't faint of dehydration.

When I finally reached the top it was so rewarding to see out over the 7 hills of Rome, and to have walked through the inside of the dome getting a close up of the incredible mosaic artwork. After descending the hundreds of stairs, almost on my tiptoes as my heels were in so much pain, I slowly made my way out of the Vatican and across town where I had lunch at a mozzarella bar in Campo dei Fiori. I was going to just grab a pizza, but decided to indulge in a much needed sit-down break with a server. After walking a bit more after lunch, I again gladly paid the surcharge to sit down at an outdoor table at "Il Cafffe con tre effe" for my most favorite marocchino.

Colosseum and the Roman Forum at sunset
Since I was leaving quite early the next morning, later in the evening around sunset, I ended my stay in Italy by walking to the colosseum and forum area again to see it in the warm light. Even though the main road through the forum was closed, I caught some great views through several side streets, and when I turned around and faced the colusseum, it was almost glowing orange. My feet thanked me as I grabbed a bus back for the night instead of walking again...and then one more train ride and a long plane ride awaited as I waved arrivederci to the country I enjoy so much.

spring in italia :: pt 2

panoramic over Florence
Since the last post, I've spent some days in Florence and saw a lot of friends. I just arrived in Rome this afternoon and have a full day left tomorrow before heading back to the States. My time in Florence was unique as it really is so familiar and comfortable there for me, that it's so easy to fall back in a routine. I ate at several of my favorite stops for caffe', a panino, focaccia, ciambelle, but also added a couple new places to try out. Almost every meal was filled with another meeting with friends and it was so great to catch up with everyone.

last day in the countryside • walking up the 414 steps • view from bell-tower
I did try to add a few things to my list that I haven't visited in the city, so in between times I was meeting up with friends, I could do some tourist things on my own. One of the fun things I decided to do was climb up Giotto's Campanile, the bell-tower of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo). We climbed up the dome several years ago, and as this climb is a tad higher and more interesting as you get to see the inside of the church as well as the construction of the dome, the view from the bell-tower, I have to say is better in my opinion. Mainly because you actually have the Duomo in the view, la vista is so quintessentially Florentine. I lingered until I felt that I'd had too much sun, then headed back down the 414 steps.

looking down • bell-tower • GROM gelato
A friend who recently opened a new holistic shop in nearby Fiesole, invited me to a health fair she was a part of just outside the center. I went on Saturday afternoon, and ended up visiting for a couple of hours. I even had a Jin Shin Do accupunture treatment done, which is only performed with finger pressure and voice...it was really interesting to learn about and have been treated with it.

I'd been longing for the coast, since the weather has been heavenly and I'm so used to seeing the ocean everyday...so on Sunday I decided to head to the Riviera and take in the sun. I was planning to try out a new city in Liguria, Portovenere, but since it was Sunday and the public transport sometimes gets a bit sketchy, plus I'd never been and wasn't familiar with it...I finally choose to just go back to Vernazza in the Cinque Terre...one of my most favorite places. I've never been to this area and not hiked most of the day, so it was a nice change to get off the train, pick up a piece of the famous Ligurian focaccia, and sit myself down on the harbor while I ate.

view from the rocks in Vernazza
I climbed on the rocks on the east side of the harbor along with several other sunbathers, spread out my towel, grabbed my book, and claimed my home for the next 4 hours. Every now and then I'd venture about waist-deep in the cool Mediterranean balancing on the uneven rocky floor and trying not to fall into a cave area. I so enjoy the Italian beach culture...but more so in the natural areas like this and not the beaches with no space to spread out and umbrellas neatly placed in rows that you have to rent for the day.

view from where I ate lunch • umbrellas • from the rocks
After a 2.5hr train ride back to Florence in the evening, I had some dinner on a cafe overlooking the Arno, and called it a relatively early night. This morning I had a hot bombolone along with a marocchino and caught a mid-day train to the Eternal City.

...and this is where I'll leave until the next post...

baci...a dopo!