The last few days.

photos by ©J. Dias

(1) On Saturday I enjoyed a piping hot gruyere cheese croissant right outta the oven, blueberry lemon scone and the BESTEST latté at Cherry Bomb!

(2) I love Totems that can multi-task, especially cellphone talking, IPod listening ones.

(3) love our Canadian mailboxes

(4) Drama on a Halloween morning - my morning streetcar CRASHED right into a Beer Truck! no more beer for you!!!

Kelly's World

photos via Kelly Wearstler's site and blog

Man I really appreciate Kelly Wearstler! Creative process working 24/7, Gotta love that!

...oh and anyone that love stones as much as I do is tops in my books!!!

image from The Deli Garage

What!!! spray can paint food colouring??? parmesan pencils that you can sharpen into shavings for your salad???? Gourmet pasta shaped like nuts, bolts and screws??? What are the Dutch up to???? Pure, well constructed clean design! that's what! Check out The Deli Garage Food Cooperative site and blog for more Graphic Design and Foodie porn.

Couples Retreat.

image via The Sartorialist

I can say that I lived in these times....WOW!!!

It's up to you.

found via itemsbydesignbird

I haven't been to NYC in a few years and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. I'm pretty lucky to have done a big Italy trip this here so I ain't complainin', but still... it's NEW Fu@#$king York!!! there's no place like it.

Crystal Power.

photos by ©J. Dias

Whether it's some graphic prism/pyramid hipster art piece, a great amethyst geode in an editorial of a home decor mag, or incorporated into a contemporary piece of jewellery, there is no denying that crystals seem to be back again.

This weekend I spent some quality time getting stoned, we'll kinda.... I pulled out my rock collection and spent part of the morning taking these pics. Due to a lack of space I've had to put these guys in storage. It's kinda a shame but I'd rather see them displayed properly than just lying around collecting dust. That's part of the reason why I decided to photograph and post them, I think it's a great way of keeping them in my life, albeit in cyberspace.

Nature made this folks, the same nature that made us - maybe this is my religion.

My Home office and the search for the perfect desk.

Desks are tricky things. When I first moved into my place I thought I found the right desk but now I find I hardly ever use it. In the past few months I've become increasingly aware that I need to create a more functional, usable workspace. I've been thinking a lot about the kind of desk that would best suit my needs, i.e. a simple desk with plenty of leg room so that I can slide from one side (where my computer would be) to the other (my paper workspace).  I think the following are good examples what I think should work.

Via Frenchbydesign

via Apartment Therapy

via West Elm

via adayinthelandofnobody

So what do you think folks???

West Elm love

I haven't been to West Elm in a while, partially because I find it hard to just look and not covet/buy anything. They have so many neat and relatively well priced things that it's hard to resist busting out the wallet.
I love these woven felt baskets, I lusted after them for a good while but somehow managed to leave the store with my $$$ safely in hand. I have to be very good this month folks.

photos by © J. Dias

I also spotted these great little plates with a graphic comb illustration, so great!

They would look so really nice in a bathroom or a bedroom. And I think they were like six bucks, still I refrained... for now....stay tuned....

photo by © J. Dias

Go West.

So obsessed with white German pottery from the 60's & 70's right now. There is so much to love about these pieces! I think they speak for themselves.

image from Pamela Peterson Objects

and when I saw these Hutschenreuthers for the first time I was like whoa...OH MAN!!! WOW-EE!!!

image from here

 image from here

and here's my little collection...

photo by ©J. Dias

My fav might be these Manfred Frey for Kaiser vases. Look at them!!!

I'm pretty sure they are from the 70's but they could easily be from the 1920's, 30's, 40's, heck they even look kinda contemporary - awesome, just AWESOME!!!

So beautiful that I can't get enough of MY PRECIOUS!!!  YES!!! More!!!

..... deep breath..... and this folks is why I cannot be left unsupervised.

Brace yourself.

images from Steve & Co, suspenders seen via David Report

Kinda loved suspenders since I was a kid, had a thing for bow ties too. Love the two tone braces, and the bow ties... I want!

Why I love Vogue.

Photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot for Vogue,

seen on habituallychic 

Wow! this image is breathtaking!

As a side note, it features heiress Rooney Mara who will be playing the lead in the upcoming American version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Still Life.

© photos by J. Dias

You don't have to look very hard to find out that design and art exist everywhere.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone needs to 'make' art when all we have to do is look at what already exists around us. Perhaps in making art we call attention to paying attention.

Type love.

image via the positive posters via FrenchbyDesign

found via oncedailychic blog

Real men wear khakis.

image from Unis found via howtotalktogirlsatparties

It's well into fall and I have no excuse, I've got to start dressing better. There are two things that I want to happen before the end of the year, sort out my wardrobe and make art again. Okay so the art part is more important, but heck so is fashion. I love the colour options and cut of these khaki trousers from Unis.

Canadian Pride

photo via simplelovelyblog via afirstclassriot

Haven't heard the new Feist yet but it's getting great reviews. This picture is so beautiful, I heart Leslie Feist! You can hear some of the music on her site which is where I will be going after this.

Stephanie Seymour

Blast from the past or what!!! Loved Stephanie Seymour back in the day, and from this VMagazine shoot it looks like the gal still GOTS IT!!!

photo by Maria Testino for V Magazine found via Sandi in the City

and just in case you all forgot this one...

A Class Act.

©Photo by J. Dias

When I grow up I want to be Bryan Ferry! I saw him in concert this past weekend and it was quite the show. The dude is 66 folks, that's SIXTY SIX YEARS OLD PEOPLE!!!! and still oozes style and good taste. There were twelve people on stage including a phenomenal band, back-up singers and two drop dead sexay go-go dancers, it was quite the visual feast. These days many lackluster so called 'musicians' mask their live performances with lip-syncing and spectacle, so for me it was a beautiful and moving thing to witness a real artist/musician deliver such a refined, well produced performance. Oh, and folks as a bonus I discovered that he art directed KATE YOUR-SO-AWESOME-MOSS for his album cover (in true Bryan Ferry style might I add)

Photographer: Adam Whitehead

Print Love.

©photo by J. Dias

I love my print by artist Peggy Wolf. Check out her etsy site for more awesomeness!!!

She's based in the U.K. but it got to me (here in Canada) pretty fast. I LOVE Etsy!!!

I'm also happy that I already had this beautiful Tramp art frame which I feel really works with the print. All I had to do was get it matted and voilà!