Infusing grandeur into otherwise drab Monday mornings with five things/ideas/events for the week:

I.  Several of my friends live in apartments with white walls that they don’t love but also don’t want to paint because they rent.  Though I risked it and painted every room in my apartment (including my latest BLACK lacquer kitchen!!) my suggestion to them is to find curtains and hang them as high as possible for a dramatic infusion of color.  I love IKEA’s line of velvet panels in gorgeous hues like dark gray and warm blue in a collection called Sanela.

II.  Speaking of apartments, a recent breakup prompted me to redesign my own.  I decided to look at everything and get rid of the things that I didn’t love.  Among the things that I tossed were two pieces of art.  Instead of replacing them with posters or prints, I made my own.  I’m far from an artist, but I knew generally what I wanted and hoped for the best.  I attempted to make two Rorschach ink blot paintings (a foolproof way to make abstract art), with one success and one failure (the ink blot lines looked too clean, so I added paint until it became something entirely different).  Though I won’t be pulling out the paintbrush again anytime soon, the process was productive and incredibly fun.

III.  This weekend, I’m headed to Tahoe with a big group of friends.  My favorite part of winter at the lake is making a huge dinner for everyone to come home to after a day of skiing.  I spent some time sifting through my hearty recipe collection, and picked Pappa al Pomodoro (an insanely delicious tomato-based soup with bread, basil, pancetta, and Italian sausage mixed in) and Blue Cheese Burgers.  Perfect cold weather fare!

IV.  Inspired by the sea of citron gowns at the Golden Globes last night, I spent the morning scouring the internet for yellow cocktail dresses.  My favorite is this Satin Knot-Front Halston Heritage.  I’ll be wearing it Wednesday for the Haring Gala Patron Party at the Catherine Clark Gallery.  I hope to see you there!

V.  The title of a Mark Manson article recently caught my eye - “Love is Not Enough.”  As someone who grew up watching and re-watching every romantic movie I could get my hands on, this is a startling realization that I’m only now coming to understand.  I’ve always believed that you must fight with everything you have for the people you love.  It turns out, that in doing so you might create something more toxic than the fairy-tales would have us believe.  Manson examines society’s idealization of love, concluding that healthy relationships require more than raw emotion and reckless passion.  Though I don’t agree with everything Manson espouses, I think it’s a valuable piece to read.

Have a wonderful week!  xx tt