Leisure Society

New York's 50 Best Places To Find Peace and Quiet

2010-05-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

This is my latest project. I have been wanting this book for a few years and I finally got it. My project is to visit the places in this book and see for myself. I definitely am in search of peace and quiet and I refuse to believe people when they say it's impossible in New York City. I'm going to write about them, so stay tuned.

Resist the New Busy - Join the Old Lazy

2010-04-30T06:01:00.000-07:00

I read this article this morning on The Idler website, home of one of my heroes Tom Hodgkinson whose book "How To Be Idle" helped me embrace my life of leisure. I was a little caught up in being busy for the past few weeks. This helped me to snap out of it again. I'd love to hear what you think. Click below to read....

The New Busy Article

Coming out of Hibernation

2010-04-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

I have been gone for a long, long time. I worked at my freelance gig most of the winter. But now I'm back at Leisure. Just in time for this beautiful weather!! Stay tuned for more updates on new pillows and leisurely adventures.

NY Creates Holiday Market

2009-12-10T07:11:00.000-08:00

NYCreates’ Sixth Annual 2009 Holiday Crafts Fair at the Brooklyn Historical Society

New York Creates is pleased to announce its latest initiative for the NewYork Craft Artist Community. In association with the Brooklyn Historical Society we are producing a Holiday Crafts Festival. The festival will take place on the ground floor entrance of The Brooklyn Historical Society’s building, located in downtown Brooklyn’s Historic District at 128 Pierrepont Street.

Come see me at the market and support local artists and crafters. There will be over 50 New York artisans participating, including Leisure Society. I am very excited to be showing new pillow designs and brand new sizes. I now have 18" x 18" and 12" x 12" pillows in addition to my 12" x 16" pillows. All styles are made with vintage fabrics and filled with recycled plastic soda bottles shredded up into fine filaments. Reuse and recycle!

What a perfect match - Leisure Society at the Brooklyn Historical Society.

New Pillows

2009-09-01T11:04:00.000-07:00

Catching Up

2009-07-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

I have been horrible at keeping this blog up since I've been freelancing Mondays through Thursdays. When I work at a job outside of my home, everything else kind of falls away. I guess that's one reason why I don't like working a full-time job. There's a lot of other things I want to do with my time! Anyway, here are some photos of what I've been up to in my free time in the past month.

Trout Fishing

2009-05-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

We went to my Dad and Molly's house this weekend in CT. My dad goes fishing a lot and we asked if he would take us. We spent the day at a beautiful river, and we did pretty well! We caught about 8 trout, but we let 5 of them go. The next morning Dad grilled them up for our breakfast. What a great experience.

Photo Shoot

2009-05-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

I did a photo shoot with my friends Eric and Matt for my new improved website and for some promotional postcards and such. It was really fun.

Shhh, it's a Quiet Day!

2009-04-23T11:50:00.001-07:00

This morning when I woke up, it was so blissfully silent that I declared today a Quiet Day. This means no music, and minimal talking. I just want to enjoy the silence for as long as I can, you know? I always put music on as soon as I wake up and it's going all day. And I usually listen to Sirius XM radio and I get really annoyed with the DJs or with stupid songs that I don't like. So by having a quiet day, I'm cutting out those annoyances too. Everybody wins. It's been pretty peaceful. I have found myself going to put on the music a few times, absentmindedly of course. I bring noise into my life without even thinking about it most days. Well, not today. I decided if it starts to get loud outside, like construction or dogs barking or kids yelling, then I can put the music on. Those things are more disruptive to my sanity than bad songs on the radio. So, I offer the challenge to you. Can you have a quiet day? Tomorrow I'm going to try a "no computer day". Boy, do I waste a lot of time on the internet.

Goodspeed Opera House

2009-04-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

This place is so inspiring to me.

Key Lime Pie Project

2009-04-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

I found this craft project idea in a book called 52 Projects. Make a key lime pie, take pictures of it. Take pictures of people eating it. Then hand-write the recipe out and put it in a box with the pictures and a bag of key limes. Send it to a friend with directions that they should share their photos with you, and pass it on. I'm totally paraphrasing the whole project, you get the gist of it. It was really fun. We need to work on our graham cracker crust techniques however. It wasn't as successful as it could've been. It was delicious though!

Hen Night

2009-04-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

We sure were a group of lovely hens! My very good friend Heather is getting married very soon, and we had her hen night this past Saturday. I danced my butt off! Our friend DJ Kimmy Gibler played my favorite kind of dance music: David Bowie, T. Rex, the Go-go's, Erasure, Wham. The bride-to-be looked fabulous, as you can see.

I contributed some of the photos that were hung all over the bar, Heather's own personal Wall of Shame. It was a very creative idea of some of the bridesmaids. It really made the night extra fun, I thought. Kate was an amazing bartender, serving up our drinks with straws in a very particular shape. I haven't stayed out that late in a long time! Cheers everyone, it was a really fun night, a raging success!

Mexican Holiday

2009-04-13T08:20:00.001-07:00

Crazy blue crabs!

Giant Buddha heads

Coconut palms everywhere

I could stare at the ocean all day long

We had a lovely 6 day holiday in Playa del Carmen, Mexico last week. Ahhh, only took me 2 days to relax. They had a decent spa where I spent most of my time in the Turkish bath and sauna. Got a pretty good massage. Swimming in the crystal clear water was my favorite part. I took so many photos, I may have to make a slide show and share it here.

It was a cold rude awakening when I got back though. The next day it snowed! Quite frankly, I am annoyed with this weather.

Still embroidering away over here. I joined a team on Etsy, the newnew. I hope to become an active member of the group when I finally wrap my head around the whole thing.

The Best Leisure Activity Ever - Rowboats in Central Park

2009-04-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

I was a passenger of course, rowing is too much work for my delicate constitution. It was the first beautiful day this spring. What a great day. If anyone is interested in doing this, I highly recommend it. And I'll definitely be back there soon.

March Blahs

2009-03-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

The month of March is my least favorite month of the year. It's so long, there are no holidays, and it's still COLD!!!! I am sitting in my warm kitchen embroidering away. I am looking forward to a little vacation next week - in Mexico!! Ahh, I will be in the sun a week from today. Just wanted to check in. I have contacted a few neighborhood shops to introduce them to my handiwork. I'll let you know if I hear back.

Don't work too hard!

And oh yeah, check out my website: www.leisuresociety.net

Leisure Society Featured On Papernstitch

2009-03-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

Check out Leisure Society as a featured artist at www.papernstitch.com, a wonderful online exhibition for artists, makers, crafters, etc. Click on Leisure Society, a photo of an orange scribbley pillow, to see my shop there. Then if you click the pink heart in the left hand corner of the screen, you'll be voting for us as best shop for the month and I'll win a prize!

Other news:
I applied to be a seller at the BUST Spring Craftacular at Warsaw in Williamsburg in May. Fingers crossed that I make it in!

I'm going to working on an official website this week! I'll keep you posted.

I Heart Montauk

2009-02-18T16:10:00.000-08:00

My sweetheart took me away for a surprise weekend getaway for Valentine's Day. Once we got onto the L.I.E., I knew we were headed for Montauk, at the very end of Long Island. This is my new favorite place on Earth.

Leisure Society Shop Is Open!

2009-01-26T10:28:00.000-08:00

Psst, please visit my shop on Etsy! I am working on more pillows and a little booklet to hold all of your embroidery needles. Please check back often to see new styles.

www.leisuresociety.etsy.com

Pillows

2009-01-19T10:25:00.001-08:00

My first batch of pillows are almost ready! The printed fabric on the fronts are vintage fabrics I have picked up here and there. The backs are solid, made with either reclaimed or new fabric. The fluffy inserts have filling made from recycled soda bottles. Now I am going to add a little hand-embroidered "graphic" to each one and they'll be ready for sale on Etsy and hopefully a few other places. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Happy New Year

2009-01-12T15:48:00.001-08:00

I had a quiet New years in the Catskills at this cabin we rented with some friends. No cable, no phone, no internet. There was a DVD player though. We cooked dinner, played Cranium, read books, talked, and watched the fire in the wood-burning stove. At midnight, we had our own countdown around the kitchen stove's digital clock. We had no noisemakers, so we used pots and pans to make lots of noise and ring in the new year. One night, we went night snow-tubing at a near-by ski resort. That was really, really fun!! I haven't had that much fun since I jumped off the high dive at Scott's this summer or got pulled around the lake on a tube by a motorboat. Wait, I see a tubing trend here.

For a few minutes, I felt like I missed out on something more raucous or social. But I know I didn't miss a thing. I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

The Cure For Anything Is Salt Water

2009-01-12T15:30:00.000-08:00

OMG, I am so sorry I haven't blogged in so long! The holidays really got me into a lazy funk for a little while. But I'm back! And lazier than ever. No, just kidding. I have been trying to get up earlier while still maintaining a life of leisure. I received lots of Christmas gifts that are helping with Leisure Society. I got a few embroidery books, embroidery floss and hoops, an amazingly cute tiny paper cutter, just to rattle off a few. I got a great book called The Cure For Anything Is Salt Water, How I Threw My Life Overboard and Found Happiness At Sea by Mary South. It's an amazing, inspiring book by a woman who walked away from a big job in publishing, sold her house, and bought a 30 ton steel trawler boat. She took a short course in seamanship and set out on a journey from Florida to Maine with her 2 dogs and a classmate. As you may or may not know, my true home is the ocean so I absolutely loved the book. She braves storms, running aground, near-accidents, and comes through a first rate captain. As it says in the book, "Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors."

The pics above are of the lighthouse in CT that I grew up looking at. The kiddies are my niece and nephew on their first sailing trip. Ah, to be at sea.

Have a Very Leisurely Holiday

2008-12-23T14:55:00.001-08:00

Here is what I have been doing to prepare for the upcoming holiday! Our Christmas tree is only 3 feet tall but I love it just the same. I made amazing peanut butter chocolate cookies and sugar cookies with neon icing. I made some really cute holiday cards for our loved ones. I decorated our wreath with some silver ornaments to spruce up our stairwell. I sure enjoyed that winter snowstorm, and didn't even need to leave the house all day! Phew! I think I am ready. Now I want to be relaxing by a fire with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa. I think you should do that now too. Happy New Year!

I Notice Things Now

2008-12-08T08:04:00.001-08:00

I was walking in my favorite neighborhood, Chelsea, the other day and I noticed all these cool things I had just been skipping over before. I used to be in a mad rush all the time, on the verge of tears because I was always late, just stewing in my yucky thoughts. I feel like I just woke up again. I used to live in Chelsea for many years, and it has always been an area that is so beautiful to me (even before all the galleries took over). The quality of sunlight on 23rd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues is so clear and fresh and cheerful in the morning. So I decided to snap some photos of things I noticed, some for the first time. It's so nice to be out in the city during the day, and not chained to a desk or in a meeting.

Giving Thanks

2008-12-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, and I have lots of families to see up over the holidays. We spent this Thanksgiving with my Dad and Stepmom up in the northwest corner of CT. The rest of my family spent the day together in another part of Connecticut. Since I knew we wouldn't be there, I sent my Mom two of those paper fold-out turkeys and wrote "Matt" on one and "Christina" on the other. I asked that the family put them at our places, take pictures with them, and send us the photos. I think I started a new tradition. My zany family went one better and here is one of the photos I got:

It's Almost Christmas!

2008-11-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

I was going to work yesterday in Herald Square, near Macy's, and I noticed they were just starting to decorate the little park at Greeley Square for Christmas! The air was cold and crisp, and to see those festive decorations really made my morning. Here's a couple pictures I snapped. I am very excited for the holidays this year!

Let's try some cards

2008-11-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

Here are some cards I made yesterday. I am kind of into rubber stamping right now. I wish I had lots of money to spend on all sorts of stamps and inks. I am selling these at Treehouse on Graham Ave. in Brooklyn. Soon I guess I'll make some holiday cards. Maybe I'll send one to you!

Halloween, Sorry so late!

2008-11-13T07:25:00.000-08:00

Halloween was pretty great this year. I was in my costume roaming the neighborhood by 3pm. I was joined by my fellow at-home-worker Amy Sperber. As you can see, I was Pippi Longsticking. Amy was Little Edie Beale, of Grey Gardens fame. We went to coffee and walked around Graham Ave. The children of the neighborhood were out in full force. So many cuties! We passed out candy to trick-or-treaters and hung out in the front yard. We were soon joined by Heather, Greg, Kate, and the party kept growing into the night. I ate my fair share of candy. A woman from one of the neighborhood salons liked my costume so much, she gave me a bag of Doritos! Check out my fellow characters:

How lucky I am to not be working! I could play all day with my friends! My costume was part store-bought, part-homemade. So I didn't spend very much, but I was very happy with it. The wig was key. What a great day!

Halloween - My Favorite Holiday

2008-10-31T08:38:00.001-07:00

My obsession with the Nightmare Before Xmas and Matt's obsession with the Misfits manifest themselves in this year's pumpkins. We carved them last weekend...they are starting to go. Luckily tonight is Halloween!!! I will be dressing up as Pippi Longstocking. Pictures tomorrow.

My Natural Habitat

2008-10-28T07:42:00.001-07:00

Oh I was in Heaven last week! We went to Topsail Island, NC with Matt's family for a few days. The beach is my true home. Everything else in the world falls away when I am near the ocean. The incessant stream of thoughts of what I am going to do with my life stops, and I am able to just be there. This is why I love going to the beach so much, and why I want to travel to every beach in the world!

The house they rented was right on the beach. We had sliding glass doors in our room that opened up onto a deck overlooking the sand. At night, we kept the doors open and fell asleep to the most soothing sound in the world - the waves crashing on the shore.

The first day was so warm we were able to go into the ocean and boogie board!! Quite possibly my favorite thing to do in the entire world. The next few days were cooler, so we rode bikes to the fishing pier, the longest fishing pier on the east coast! They were catching skate like crazy. I asked if I could take a photo...

I am not sure if I can ever eat skate again. I heard that it was flat like a ray, but I didn't know it looked exactly like a stingray!! Yikes.

The last day was rainy, so we had a major crafternoon. Peggy and I made greeting cards with all kinds of craft supplies, and Matt and Myron put together a 1000 piece puzzle in a matter of hours. Good clean fun.

Apple Pie

2008-10-26T14:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Matt said he wanted to go apple-picking and then bake an apple pie from scratch. It sounded like a good idea to me. We went to Connecticut to visit my oldest brother and his partner, and they took us to a nearby orchard. We had a wonderful afternoon of apple-picking, and we got a few pumpkins to boot! The best part was the homemade apple cinnamon doughnuts at the orchard. Our camera was broken at that time, so unfortunately we have no photos from that day. We picked a bushel and 1/2 of 3 or 4 different kinds of apples, including some delicious Japanese green apples.

Matt's mom is a master baker, so we knew we could get a recipe from her. We got everything we needed for pie baking right here in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at The Brooklyn Kitchen on Lorimer St. We purchased a pie pan, a rolling pin, and a pastry blender...items I never thought I would own. It was great to be able to buy everything in our own neighborhood, and not have to go into the city.

The recipe looked fairly simple, as all delicious things are. I was nervous though, because I haven't done a lot of baking in my life. Matt had grown up watching his mom bake all sorts of things, so he remembered a lot. It turned out to be pretty easy. The house was filled with a warm, wonderful aroma. We could hardly wait for it to cool. It was amazing!! I couldn't believe we made a pie from scratch with apples that we picked from the trees ourselves!

The Great Outdoors

2008-10-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

If anyone is reading this, sorry I haven't written in so long. September was a long, hard month for me. I was not very leisurely. I forgot what that meant for the month. I started to worry a lot about what I am doing with my life. I tend to do that a lot...worry about stuff instead of doing it. One great thing that came out of it, though, was that I learned how important and healing Nature is for me. I could feel the need to be among the trees, far away from concrete sidewalks and the noise of construction and neighbors.

I escaped Brooklyn twice in September - once I went to West Cornwall, CT to my dad and step-mom's house. They live on a big hill surrounded by woods. One day I sat in the front yard on a lawn chair and watched the wind blow through the trees for a few hours. I also did a few crossword puzzles. That's all.

Another weekend, Matt and I went camping near Bear Mountain, upstate a little in NY. That was lovely. We cooked and ate our meals outside. We slept in a tent. One day we hiked to the top of Bear Mountain. That was kind of hard, but we did it! It was quiet in the woods. We were on a part of the Appalachian Trail. It got pretty cold at night.

I felt more like myself again after I spent those few days in the great outdoors. It was like pressing the reset button in my brain. I forgot all my petty cares. I am trying not to think so much about what I am doing with my life, and just live it.

Leisure Society the company is slowly coming together. I have a new idea that feels more "me", and I hope to get the ball rolling next week. I am planning to make a few different shapes/sizes of throw pillows using these vintage fabrics I have been collecting. I am also thinking of doing some hand embroidery on them myself to give them a bit more surface interest and humor. I really like the idea of the embroidery because it is very leisurely, in a Jane Austen sort of way.

Not Being Very Leisurely

2008-08-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

Even I, a self-proclaimed lady of leisure, have trouble remembering to take it easy sometimes. The notion that work makes you a good person, and therefore not working makes you a bad person, is so ingrained in me. I am still plagued with thoughts of "What have I done today? What have I accomplished today?" I get sucked in by the critics in my brain that tell me I am lazy, that I haven't done enough each day, you know the stuff.

I've been trying to fit in some "being" time each day, trying to allow some time to just check in with myself and be present. Yesterday, it was so beautiful outside. I had been putting off making this excel spreadhseet for a possible vendor for 2 days. I decided I would just start it, just do a little bit. That's a problem I struggle with, getting things started. I make things into huge insurmountable tasks and then I'm terrified to even begin. So I got the music cranking, started it, and ended up finishing it before I knew it! Then I realized I haven't really been practicing what I preach, I hadn't been doing anything that brought me enjoyment.

I picked up my little folding beach chair and headed out to East River Park, a little gem of a park that has a spectacular view of the majestic City. I bought a good book - The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg - and made myself comfortable. I took breaks from reading to just look at the City. It looks small and quiet from across the water. It felt good to be outside it, instead of trapped on the island in an office or fighting my way through the 34th Street area. I could admire it from afar. I also looked at the clouds alot. There was a pattern in them that reminded me of the leather used on my beloved handbag. It is really wrinkley and textural. It's skin, OK, what do you want. It reminds me of a rhinoceros's hide, and that's what the clouds looked like yesterday at East River Park. After about an hour and 1/2, I headed home and I felt much better about life.

Progress

2008-08-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Leisure Society the company is still a work in progress. I know this, I want to encourage people to live life well. It's not all about working. It can't be! That is so boring. I am freelancing for a company I really like, and still it's a struggle to go to an office every day after working at home for so long. Ugh.

Scott's Lake House

2008-08-12T09:48:00.001-07:00

2 weekends ago, I went to Scott's Lake House resort in the Catskills with my best friends. We all stayed in an old farmhouse on the property, and it was the most fun I've had in a long time. Amy and I went tubing, where you get pulled by a motorboat around the lake, and I was so happy! Look at the picture of me in the water above. It was taken right after the tube ride. I felt free. No worries about business or money or family. I was totally in the moment, and it was exhilarating!

The place was so inspiring for Leisure Society, because it was basically a turn-of-the-century vacation compound. Every morning, Matt and I went for peaceful canoe rides around the lake. We all jumped from the high dive, which was a bit scary I have to admit. But I didn't think about it, I just went for it. I thought to myself, I'm going to have to remember all of this and try to bring a little of it into my every day living. At night we played charades in the living room and I laughed harder than I've laughed in years. It felt so good to be with my friends, and to just be myself. No computers, no TV, no phones, just nature and good friends.

If you'd like to see the whole slide-show of the weekend, click here.

I Need a Leisure Getaway

2008-07-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

I have been dreaming of a beach house on the ocean. What a life that would be. Someday after I do my exclusive collection for Target, I'll get one. But for now, I am trapped in Brooklyn, claustrophobic and sweaty. We all need to have dreams though. I would settle for a house in the woods near a lake. Far away from the neighbors.

Independence Day

2008-07-09T08:09:00.001-07:00

This 4th of July could very well be the best one yet! It was the perfect leisurely escape. Matt and I flew to North Canton, OH to spend the holiday with his family. His mom and dad had come up with a truly inspired itinerary of All-American activities that the whole family could enjoy. First, there was the North Canton 4th of July parade down Main St. It wasn't too exciting, but did feature some cool old tractors and Model T Fords. After that, we went back to the house for lawn games. These are fairly new games to me, since I did not grow up with them as Matt did. The games were Corn-hole (not what it sounds like) and Ladder Golf. If you don't know what they are, I highly suggest looking into them if you enjoy spending time outside playing peaceful, not-too-competitive games that do not require too much energy. They are on par with croquet in my book.

My favorite activity of the weekend was the wooden boat race. Matt's dad made us little wooden "boats" out of 2X4's and we decorated them with markers. Little American flags became our sails, then it was off to the stream behind the house for the races. My boat was christened "Bird of Paradise", quite possibly my favorite name ever. Please do not steal it. It had one good run, then became the 2nd vessel to be eliminated. Oh well, it tried its best. Matt's brother's boat "Gunboat" was the winner in the end. It was a very seaworthy ship.

We went to see the town fireworks, which were pretty good. It was all so calm, people so well-behaved. What a difference from the 4th of July debauchery of New York City. It was lovely to watch the fireworks with my sweetheart!

The final day's activity was a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Pretty cool! It wasn't as "rockin'" as it could be, but it was still fun to see all the memorabilia. I got to see a couple outfits Madonna wore on the Blonde Ambition Tour. They were designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, the man responsible for my teenage interest in fashion! Yes, one could say it was that one-piece "undergarment" with the pointy bra that made me want to become a designer. And I actually saw it in person that day. My other faves were Johnny Cash's outfits and the "punk/grunge" area.

Alas, all the idyllic fun had to come to an end, and here I am back in dirty, sticky Brooklyn. I should be at the beach. Or at least in the park playing Ladder Golf.

A Clumsy Shy Girl's Dream Come True

2008-06-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

12 years ago the one and only leisure activity I was interested in was going to rock shows. I went to a few a week. Ah, the good old days. All those places are gone now - Brownies, Coney Island High, Trammps, the Cooler. Coney Island High was pretty much my favorite place to see shows at that time, because I really enjoyed the pop punk. It was there that I fell for Weston. They embodied everything I loved: nerds, painful crushes, silly lyrics, rock-star posturing, fun. I could sing along with them at the top of my lungs and rock out and not feel stupid for once. It wasn't about being cool at a Weston show, it was about being yourself and having fun. Well, that's what it was about for me. I went to a lot of other indie rock shows at the time, ultra-cool bands like Blonde Redhead and Magnetic Fields, and that was all about fashion and standing there with your arms crossed.
I was the only person I knew who appreciated Weston's brilliance, and I usually had to go to their shows alone. Sometimes, I could bribe a friend to accompany me. I didn't mind going by myself though, because once they took the stage it was just me and them. I would stay safely on the edge of any mosh pit that happened to form, and jump up and down and bop my head back and forth. I can't believe I just typed the words "mosh pit". Do people even say that anymore? I was going to just say "the pit", but I thought there was a slight chance that a few people might not know what that meant.

Weston made me so happy. Then somewhere along the way I got it into my head that I needed to grow up, act my age, or something. I stopped going to shows, I stopped wearing my uniform of T-shirt, jeans and Converse, and I stopped having fun. I sort of forgot about Weston!
Luckily, 3 years ago I met an amazing, nerdy, shy guy named Matt. In the course of getting to know each other, we talked about music, of course. Turns out he loved Weston too! It was fate. We broke out our old CD's and I remembered every word. I remembered how awesome I felt after a Weston show. We dreamed of their reunion. Little did we know they had already reunited. Did they ever break up?
I reluctantly joined Myspace.com for the 2nd time partly so I could keep tabs on my all-time favorite bands and not miss their shows anymore. Being a part of the Leisure Society affords me much more time to listen to music, as well as obsessively search the internet. So even though I hated it at first, I have to thank Myspace for getting me back "in touch" with Weston. For it was there that I learned that they were playing at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ Friday night. Yeah. And they were going to be recording the show for a live album. It was gonna be a sing-along. And this time, I wouldn't have to go alone. I could go with my sweetheart!

I was super-nervous for them. I always got nervous before shows. I knew they would open with "Retarded" just as they used to. I was standing on the bleachers on the side of the room at Maxwell's, and as they played the intro I was overcome with the physical memory of just exploding on that first crash of the cymbals. I almost fell off the bleachers. It was like no time had passed. They played all the hits, Dave Weston did his famous strum-and-point move that I had forgotten about, and we all sang our hearts out. The silly jokes were flowing, my favorite being "Who's D to P?" as in the abbreviation of "Who's dying to party?" I think they had as much fun as we did.
We got home at 3am, which is the latest we've stayed out in years. We couldn't hear a thing for 2 days, and my neck was sore from rockin'. All true signs of a good rock show. Thanks Weston!!

Dreaming of the Beach

2008-06-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

Today is a rainy day and it's making me daydream about the beach. A beach on the ocean is where I feel most like myself. That's it for today. I have to do my Italian homework.

Inspiration

2008-06-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

For the past 10 years I said I hated art. But I guess that's not true. The truth is that I am so intimidated by art and artists that it's easier to write it all off. I never considered myself an artist. My high school art teacher told me I wasn't very good at it and I believed it.

But this year, I have rediscovered my own personal love of art, the love that led me to express my creativity through fashion. This love fell by the wayside in the rush of the corporate cycle of shop, draw, make, sell, repeat. When I worked in fashion, I only looked at fashion magazines or for inspiration. I didn't really have time or the brain space to look at much else.

Now that I have my own company, I try to look at lots of different things for creative inspiration: things that are important and interesting to me and only me. You know, I forgot what that was! It's amazing. Right now I have 2 inspirational loves. The first one is Olafur Eliasson. I went to see his show at MOMA 2 weeks ago, and it blew my mind. It sort of went along with a whole theme of mine lately: to really LOOK at things, situations, etc. The yellow light that washed all the color out of everything was my favorite. I had bright blue shorts and orange shoes on, so it was really fun to watch my colors change from room to room. Today, Matt and I are going to see his show at PS1.

The other inspirational love is this Sundance documentary on Marc Jacobs that I just watched this morning. Wow. The man really is a genius. I'm in this phase right now where artists and "real" fashion designers are so fascinating to me because they experiment, they tinker, they think, they play. I really want to do this too! It's their process and way of thinking that is so inspirational to me.

So this is what I am doing with Leisure Society. I want to dream, play, experiment. I am trying to approach it like an art project rather than a "business" at this point in time. It'll be ready when it's ready.

Today I work

2008-06-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

It has come to that time in the development of Leisure Society, LLC (the company as opposed to the blog) that I am going to have to get off my butt and do some good old-fashioned designer work. Update for those of you I don't talk to on a daily basis: I got 2 yards of each fabric I designed so I can get samples made up. This fabric is kind of pricey though. I've been struggling with costs lately, not wanting my finished products to be too expensive. The fabric has been printed digitally, and this technology is still new and therefore, more money. These people make life really easy for me though. They supply the fabric, print it, and ship it to my doorstep.

In an attempt to see if I can get costs lower, I have gotten in touch with a screen printer here in Brooklyn. I am going to go visit his work room today. If I go with a screen printer such as this, I have to provide the base fabric. That means that I get to play designer today and hit the fabric stores in Manhattan. In an ode to Project Runway, I will visit Mood first. I have to admit that I don't think I have ever been there! Ssshh, don't tell my other designer friends. I have a short list of other places to see as well. Then, last but not least, I must get zippers for the pillows I plan to make.

As some of you may or may not know, I am designing a little collection of Home Accessories, including but not limited to: pillows, aprons, napkins, placemats, oven mitts, pot holders, and book totes. The first collection is going to be about hosting a fabulous outdoor dinner party or BBQ or what-have-you. Who knows what's gonna happen? I have to try this though. I have to try to make a job for myself so I never have to go back to "work" again. Know what I mean?

All my anti-work talk boils down to wanting to be in charge of my own time. With Leisure Society, if I want to work I do and if not, I go to the beach. I'm figuring it all out as I go along here. That's fine with me. I'm free.

The Parthenon Slide Show

2008-06-10T12:04:00.001-07:00

Greece, part I

2008-06-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

I am going to need to think about how to tell everything about our trip to Greece. We saw and did so much! It may require its own website. I saw this new project in Budget Travel magazine where you can make your own travel journal online. So I might do that, and you will have to visit another website to read about it if you are interested. Supposedly you can put a lot more photos in that travel journal. On this, you can only put one photo per post. This, by the way, is the Parthenon.

In terms of Leisure Society, the effect Greece had on me was profound. Travel is still my #1 leisure activity, especially when it involves spending time on the beaches of the world which comes in at a very close 2nd. The art I saw inspired me tremendously, from the architecture to the statues to the frescoes to the pattern-work. I walked around in awe most of the time. I learned a few Greek phrases before I went and used them a lot. So now I want to continue my study of Greek, in addition to Italian. Studying/learning is another "leisure" activity that is very important to me. I call it leisure only because it doesn't involve going to a job and working.

Almost all of the other trips I have taken to Europe have been for work, and all I did was shop, except for once when I was in Florence on a Sunday and all the shops were closed. I know, poor me, right!? Also, we could only spend about 1-3 days in each place, so I never got to really see anything. It was really heart-breaking for me at the time. But this time, I got to see whatever I wanted. I saw ancient temples, bathhouses, marketplaces, cities, mountains, islands, tiny villages, beaches, lots of stray dogs and kitties, tavernas, churches, and blue, blue water.

I can't stress how important I think it is that we experience other cities/states, countries, cultures, languages. And not on TV! I think it makes us smarter, more interesting people to see these things firsthand, and not take someone else's word for it. Leisure Society is not about sitting around on your butt watching TV. It's about owning your life, being independent, and using your brain to learn about the world and make decisions. This is why I never want to work full-time for a corporate company again, because these things are not encouraged in that world.

Phew! Sorry to get all heavy on you there. Time to get back to work! I am on the verge of getting the first prototype samples made of my home accessories collection. I am having the fabric printed in PA right now, and I am going to use a sample-room in NYC to get the items sewn. How exciting!! The first collection is going to be for an outdoor dinner party, and may include placemats, napkins, aprons, outdoor pillows, and a picnic blanket.

I am a Greek Goddess

2008-06-04T08:06:00.001-07:00

I am the Ancient Greek God:

Hestia

Greek Gods Quiz

You are the god: Hestia

Hestia is the Goddess of hearth (more widely as cooking), and family. A hearth is a fireplace used in cooking and/or heating and symbolizes how a family centers around for food and warmth. Furthermore, public hearths broadened Hestia�s importance with extended families that were not directly of the same blood. Hestia is one of the three Great Goddesses, but gave up her seat to maintain the sacred fire on Mount Olympus. She was considered as the first and last born by Rhea and Chronus. This is because after the initially birth, Hestia (as with other primary Gods) were swallowed-up again by Chronus, only to reborn later. Although she is known to be passive and non-confrontational, she was important due to her association to the home and the hearth, which are both essential to man.

Hestia is known for the health and the home.

So I took this Greek God quiz at the website www.hitgreece.com and it turns out I am the goddess Hestia. Who knew? This is a great website if you want to learn Greek. I downloaded a bunch of their podcasts before I went to Greece and I could speak pretty well when I got there! People were happy and impressed that I knew a little bit of their language. Most people spoke English, but I think it's important to show some respect when you go to another country and learn a bit about the language and culture before you go. Stay tuned for more about my amazing, life-changing trip!!

Off to Greece!

2008-05-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

Matt and I leave for Greece tomorrow. I am nervous. 10 years ago I used to travel every few months for work, I was a pro. Now I travel less and less and it makes me nervous. We will hit Athens first, then take a hydrofoil ferry to Aegina, then we head to Delphi, then back to Athens for one more night before we come home. Travel has to be my # 1 favorite leisure activity. I just want to travel constantly. I love staying at hotels, I love planes, trains, buses and boats, and I love living out of a suitcase. I get bummed out when it's time to come back here to New York.

I encourage you, if there's anyone reading this, to take a vacation. Travel! Get a different view of life. Trust me, the office will survive without you for a few days, maybe even a week. Somehow, the work will get done. It always does. Use your vacation days! You're not going to get that time back. Don't put it off. There's always going to be something, some reason why you "can't" be out of the office. So why not just go?

CT Slideshow Part II

2008-05-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

Trip to CT Slideshow

2008-05-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

Weekend Getaway

2008-05-02T11:14:00.001-07:00

Tonight Matt and I will be taking the train up to CT to visit my Dad and Molly for the weekend. It's her birthday and we will be celebrating. They live in the "country", as you can see from the picture above. That barn is my Dad's workshop, where he fixes antique clocks for people. This is the view from the bedroom we stay in. Ahhhhh, just breathe in that fresh air!! I look forward to a weekend of reading, crossword puzzles, dominoes (the game, not the fake pizza), eating, going for walks in the woods if it doesn't rain too much, and sleeping. We may even see some wild animals in their yard. They have had visits from bears, turkeys, bobcats, and deer. And lots of little birds. We sit on the porch and just watch all the birds come to the feeders they have around the house. If I can figure out how to get more pictures on here, I'll set up a little slideshow.

Leisure Quote of the Week

2008-05-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

"There's a lot of exciting ideas running around. Some of them may be right and some of them may be cockeyed, but they're affecting all our lives. I want to know how I stand, where I fit in the picture. I can't find the answer sitting behind a desk."

Cary Grant in the film Holiday, 1938

Celebrating One Year of Leisure

2008-04-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start the celebration of my one year anniversary of leisure. I think my last day of full-time work was May 4, 2007. One week after that, Matt and I went on vacation. I've been meaning to write about that vacation for a year now. So in honor of the anniversary I'm going to write about it now. Well, not literally now, maybe later today. I'll leave this picture with you as a little teaser. Gotta get outside now, too nice a day to spend in the house in front of a screen.

Leisure Quote of the Week

2008-04-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

"One of the symptoms of the approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important and that to take a holiday would bring all kinds of disaster."

- Bertrand Russell

This Week's Leisure Activities

2008-04-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

Planning a trip to Greece
Sitting on the couch drinking my morning coffee listening to music
Researching inspiration for Leisure Society
Walking around Williamsburg looking in shops
Enjoying the warm weather at McCarren Park with a good book
Making paint-by-number notecards
Sharing long lunches with friends
Taking a scalding hot bath every other night with Lush bath bombs
Checking out the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum
Cooking dinners with Matt
Shopping for spring dresses and shoes
Getting a massage at Greenhouse Holistic?

Get Ready For The Leisure Economy

2008-04-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Is it coming? Click this link for an interesting article I just read in the NY Times small business blogs. This is a new book by Linda Nazareth, a Toronto economist, who is predicting that Americans may soon find themselves with more leisure time. Some people may even start demanding it. Don't get stuck with leisure envy.

The Leisure Economy

Leisure Quote of the Week

2008-04-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

"We don't have a lot of time on this Earth. We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms, listening to eight different bosses drone on about mission statements."

- Peter Gibbons, Office Space

Call In Sick

2008-04-18T13:50:00.001-07:00

On a day like today, how can one be expected to work? I ask you. The good news is that you could actually be suffering from neurasthenia, a disease invented in the late 1800s by George M. Beard, M.D. This disease is caused by overwork, the pace of modern life, its noisiness and information overload. The cure? According to other learned men of the time, it was rest. The overworked were instructed to spend weeks or even months doing absolutely nothing. So next time you feel like you're going to have a breakdown, simply tell your boss you are suffering from a bad case of neurasthenia and go to the park.

The Roots of My Idleness

2008-04-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share with you, dear reader, the origins of my idleness. This is The Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall. I attended high school in this very building in Milford, CT some years ago, never mind how many. Needless to say, it was an all-girls Catholic school. I have been thinking a lot about where my love of leisure comes from, and I realized that it all started here. Just look at the place. Can't you imagine me reclining on cushions in the turret reading Oscar Wilde?

The emphasis here was definitely on study. And as much as I love school and books, it was really hard for me to stay awake for the whole school day. So I spent many hours in the nurse's room. Please don't think less of me, but I pretended to be sick so I could take naps. Sometimes, I would even go so far as to say I needed to go home. Then my mother would have to come pick me up and take me home to my bed. I had to get up so early every morning, how could they expect me to keep going for the whole day? Luckily, I never played any sports.

But it was here that my love of books, art, music, and languages started to blossom. And without those things, what would I do now?

Maybe I'll go for a walk

2008-04-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I better go outside soon. It's a beautiful day, and I would like to go for a walk. I have been doing nothing all week, consisting mostly of looking at stuff online and reading actual books. I ordered a stitching kit from Sublime Stitching the other day. I want to learn to embroider. That should be fun. I'd like to include stitching projects as part of Leisure Society. Imagine embroidering a tea towel or an apron? It's very Jane Austen.

I wish I had a yard or a garden to tend to. That would be the perfect thing to do today. Oh, how I dream of a yard of my own! Then I would never leave the property. I could lay there all day in a little patch of sun like a cat. I would plant a little garden of herbs and veggies to use in our cooking. I've always believed that I have a green thumb. I just haven't ever tried to grow anything.

I have to tell you about the dog next door. Please forgive me if you are a dog-lover. It's not really a secret that I have little love for dogs. If your dog is smart and doesn't jump all over me as soon as it enters the room, I may grow to like it, but probably not. Anyway, both of my next door neighbors have dogs. And of course, they both have yards, those lucky bastards. So one of the dogs is out in the yard barking literally non-stop at least 10 times a day. It begins at 7:30am and continues on and off all day long until about 11:30pm. I am at home all day now, doing nothing as it were, and it. is. driving. me. crazy! Have you seen the movie Son of Sam? Doesn't the guy go crazy and become a serial killer from a dog barking in his neighborhood??

OK, I just had to get that off my chest. Thanks for listening. You are a true friend.

The Importance of Being Idle

2008-04-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Click me! The Importance of Being Idle

Check this video out to get the feeling of Leisure Society. Rhys Ifans plays the role of The Idler perfectly. And as my friend Kelly can attest, I've always wanted to dance with a top hat and cane. I am even more inspired!! Thanks to Oasis for the Leisure Society theme song!

Guitar Heroine

2008-04-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

I thought I would tell you about one of my new leisure activities. It's called Guitar Hero, maybe you've heard of it? Now, I know this thing has been around for quite a while but I am finally getting into it. I was never that into video games, even though I did have my 8th or 9th birthday party at Arnie's Place, a totally awesome arcade I went to when I was a kid. But being the contrarian I am, since everyone was playing them, I couldn't embrace them. The more people talked about them and how great they were, the less I wanted to even look at them. I also must mention that I sucked at most of them as well. I just didn't get it. Until now....

Most of my life has revolved around music. My first favorite band was the Rolling Stones when I was 4 or 5 years old. I also liked Kiss and ACDC at that time. I never studied a musical instrument, I know this is a total crime! But as I grew up, most of my friends were in bands or shared the same obsession with music. I even bought a bass guitar when I was about 23 years old and taught myself to play a few songs. I still really want to learn how to play the lap steel because I love Hawaiian music and old country, both which use this instrument. I have always wanted to be in a band, but I don't really play anything well enough. Anyway, when I first heard of this game, I thought it was an awesome idea.

I first tried it at my friends' Christmas party. I was awful!! I was mortified. Then, my boyfriend's brother got it about a year ago, and brought it over to our place. Matt and his friends were psyched! They were all instantly good at it! I was too shy to try it in front of all the guys, because I can't do anything in front of people unless I'm really good at it. Some neurosis, that's a whole other blog. After all the guys left I'd ask Matt to show me how to play it. I sat there for 3 hours one night trying to get it, and I still sucked. It made me hate the game.

But Matt really wanted to get it. So maybe two weeks ago, he brought Guitar Hero III home. It has amazing songs on it!! Watching him play, I couldn't deny my interest any more. I said "All right, I'm gonna try it again." I almost played Barracuda by Heart, quite possibly the most bad-ass guitar riff ever!!!! It was of course, at the slowest practice speed. But the seeds were planted.

One day Matt came home with a second guitar. For me!! So we could play together! I then found out that you can play the bass or the guitar when you play with two people. Hey, I've played the bass before! Let me tell you, this completely changed the game for me. No longer was I booed off the stage. I was now Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, I was Flea. I played the Strokes, Guns 'N Roses, I even played Sabotage from the Beastie Boys with that sick bass line in the beginning! It really feels like you're playing. And I'm not all stiff and nervous anymore. I can actually rock out now.

Gosh, just writing about it is making me wish I knew how to turn it on!! I'll have to wait for Matt to get home from work.

I still have a lot to learn about being lazy

2008-04-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

"I was part of that strange race of people aptly described as spending their lives doing things they detest to make money they don't want to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like." Emile Henry Gauvreay

I'm reading this book called Doing Nothing by Tom Lutz. He mentioned this group called CLAWS, an acronym for Creating Livable Alternatives to Wage Slavery, and a website called WhyWork.org. These are my people! However I am finding out that the founders of these amazing movements have moved on to other things. They were onto this quite a few years before me! I want to get in touch with them! And I also found out how much more research and reading I need/want to do on the history and evolution of the leisure lifestyle. On the whywork.org site, they have a ton of interesting-looking books that I will be reading soon.

How do I put all this together into something I can design to help you take more leisure time? I struggle with the continuity between the line I quoted above and wanting to make things for people to buy. It's tricky. I'm well aware that there may be a conflict there. I am very open to feedback on this.

Here is a paint-by-number project I did the other afternoon. I got it at MOMA. I'm thinking of making paint-by-number projects as part of Leisure Society's products.

How I came to be idle

2008-04-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

Where was I? Oh yeah, my life of leisure. I took the entire summer off last year. I hadn't done that since freshman year of college. Even in high school I worked all weekend at Brooks Pharmacy. I needed to detox from work, from fashion, from the L train, from the constant bombardment of noise and people. I wanted to figure out what the hell I was going to do with my life. I realize now that I should've started this blog back then to chronicle my adventures real-time, but oh well.

I started doing things that I wanted to do, for no other reason than my own enjoyment. I went to the beach a few times a week, taking the LIRR from Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn. I read tons of books, a few a week. I started cooking more. I spent a lot of time in my own company, which I felt I desperately needed to do in order to locate Christina again. I know that sounds really hokey, "I needed to find myself, dude", but it's sort of true. I felt I had lost my SELF in that world of go, go, go and do more, sell more, make more $$. The way I believed I could find my way back to myself was to literally do nothing. One of my old therapists taught me a great slogan or mantra, "When in doubt, do nothing." I knew I needed to be still and quiet, and listen for my own tiny little inner voice to make herself known again. I really tried to keep an open mind, and not have any preconceived notions of what I should do next.

Now this was not easy by any means. I suffered from guilt almost every day. Guilt about not working, fear that everyone thought I was a "slacker". I always hated slackers, mostly because I was envious I think. I was playing every day, going to the beach with my boogie board in the morning when everyone else was going off to work. Ha ha. Suckers! But after a while I felt a new pride when people asked me what I had been doing. "Nothing, " I would answer. It made more than a few people angry and confused.

But doing nothing, to me, doesn't always mean staring into space dreaming. Although that is a big part of it. I was doing lots of things, I just wasn't working at a job or career. I started studying Italian, which I had always wanted to do because my great-grandparents were from Italy. I never would've been able to commit to taking a class when I was working! Leaving at 6:00 (the supposed quittin' time) was impossible with all the work and meetings. It was also frowned upon. If you left at 6:00, or Heaven forbid before that, your good-byes would be met with "Must be nice." The people would talk about you and say that you did nothing and left early all the time.

Anyway, back to happier times....part of my doing nothing is studying, learning, attending classes, thinking. So I made a new commitment to keep taking classes. I'll leave you with a list of other things I enjoy under the umbrella of doing nothing.

Paint by numbers, crossword puzzles, cooking, dinner parties, board games, listening to music, taking baths, playing guitar hero, knitting, reading, volunteering, croquet, gardening, puzzles, sleeping.....

I'll try to explain more about Leisure Society, the company, next time. Im figuring it out as I go along.

Lady of Leisure

2008-04-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome! What is Leisure Society? Well, it's the company I started a few months ago. I want to design products that help people to spend more of their time at leisure. I have been designing clothing and accessories for the past 12 years in New York, for corporate companies. It was really fun and glamorous for a good many of those years, don't get me wrong. I travelled around the world, and shopped all the time, every girl's dream, right? Well, I got tired of it after a while. All I did was work. I had no hobbies, no time to take classes. In short, I felt like I had no life. And believe it or not, my job wasn't particularly creative. I was devoting all my time and energy to this thing I didn't even believe in. Worst of all, I was stressed out all the time and all I did was complain about my job. So I saved up some money and quit.

I'm not interested in climbing the corporate ladder. I don't want to have a "career" if it means that I have no life other than my job. There's so much more I want to do with my time! I work as a freelancer in the fashion industry as a way to make money. But what I really want is to do my own thing. I want to make my own job.

At first, I didn't know which way was up. I thought I wanted to go back to school to become a teacher because I wanted to do something with more meaning. But truthfully, that was only one of a million things I could do. I decided to volunteer with kids at my local library, the Leonard branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, helping them with their homework to see if I really wanted to become a teacher.

I found a book there that changed my life: How To Be Idle by Tom Hodgkinson. It validated everything I felt. I was sick of working! I was going to be a lady of leisure for as long as possible.