ode to the holy city
For my birthday, I requested and happily received Pat Conroy's new novel South of Broad, in which I have been immersed (when possible) for the past two weeks. I love Conroy's Prince of Tides for many reasons, but it struck a particular chord in me as a South Carolinian reading with familiarity as a transplant to New York. Reading this most recent ode to the Holy City while actually being here has been quite a juxtaposition, if not more of a palimpsest, and though I find the same familiarity when reading, it has become somewhat of a distraction. The penultimate master of name-dropping, Conroy made this book for blue-blooded Charlestonians who will recognize, appreciate, and best him in the category. With this undisguised social and physical context, I feel like I could be reading about people I know and thus am currently having quite the heightened experience of this city. Add to that the general Charleston-y weekend that I had, and I'm sure you will all understand the complete and eerie confusion that I am experiencing between the fictional and the real. Friday marked the first French Quarter Art Walk of the season; the weather was perfect, the wine was good, and we had a wonderful time! I awoke early on Saturday with the french doors to my screen porch wide open and headed off on my bike to the Farmer's Market in Marion Square. I managed to fit in a little more reading time before making my way to the first of two weddings downtown, which were appropriately located S.O.B. and/or sufficiently near by. I found myself moving between St. Michael's, St. Philip's, Society Hall, and Hibernian Hall all in the space of a night. I'm not sure if I would call it irony, but I was definitely feeling something like it, while imagining characters with names like Worth Rutledge circulating around the cheese table with me.
I've been known to get a little too involved with the books that I'm reading (I thought at one point in college that my life was The Odyssey), but I thought it was only appropriate, in light of the circumstances, that I reveal what has been consuming my mind as of late! I've also been thinking about an allora tribute to the Holy City, which is full of such rich, deep colors and textures that I can't help but want to translate into a chair. Be looking out for the Charleston signature collection; you heard it first here!
One of my friends forwarded this link from Lovely Listing to me yesterday, and it was just too funny not to post. Even funnier (or perhaps scarier): I find myself relating to the people whose home is shown above! I think Cooper will find this particularly familiar...
For my birthday, I requested and happily received Pat Conroy's new novel South of Broad, in which I have been immersed (when possible) for the past two weeks. I love Conroy's Prince of Tides for many reasons, but it struck a particular chord in me as a South Carolinian reading with familiarity as a transplant to New York. Reading this most recent ode to the Holy City while actually being here has been quite a juxtaposition, if not more of a palimpsest, and though I find the same familiarity when reading, it has become somewhat of a distraction. The penultimate master of name-dropping, Conroy made this book for blue-blooded Charlestonians who will recognize, appreciate, and best him in the category. With this undisguised social and physical context, I feel like I could be reading about people I know and thus am currently having quite the heightened experience of this city. 
Alright, so I know that we are all familiar with the lovely textile that is ikat. It had quite a run of popularity in fashion last spring, and several of you probably even own a garment made from its distinct weave; have you, however, considered ikat for your home? 
Looking at the blog, it is oh-so painfully evident that I have neglected allora for quite sometime now... one post all month! Unbelievable. T.S. Eliot said that "April is the cruelest month," but I do beg to differ. My vote is firmly for September. On a brighter note, I'm so happy to have a clean start for October: a month of football, renewed commitment to boot camp, and several fun weddings. Ladies and gentlemen, its going to be a great month!
PLEASE pardon the absence! It was not without good reason (well, a few of them...)! Some of you may know, but approximately 20 days ago I was confronted with the disappointing and shocking news that a. the "big house" in front of my carriage house had been sold and b. I needed to be out as soon as possible. Given the fact that my weekends exist in a perpetual wedding season and with football starting up, I realized that "sooner rather than later" meant immediately and set out to find a new place and move all of my possessions in the time span of one week. Add to that a big interview in Columbia for work, and I was down to the three day mark when I finally got looking. Luckily my mom and sister-in-law were able to do a lot of the ground work for me, and we found the perfect place! Coincidentally, it is only 2 blocks north of where I was before... and still on Rutledge! There is plenty of room for all of the chairs, which is exactly what I've been needing. Though the walls are all boring beige, the ceilings are a soaring 12'. Needless to say, I won't be painting them... sigh... but I'm already working out other ways to brighten the place up! SO, I wanted to share some images of the new NORTH{rutledge} studio (basically what I've been doing after work instead of blogging)!
