Following Rabbits Blog

It's no secret that I'm super inspired by street art-- tags, stencils, murals, posters-- I see it all as such a pure, unfiltered form of art that gets watered down the moment it's curated, framed or sold. Lately I've been really into stenciling, and over the weekend I took a crack at making a graffiti stencil from a photo of myself in Photoshop. I actually quite like the way it came out, but some of the details and fine lines would be lost if I tried to cut it out as a stencil frame. Rather than lose the details, I decided to make posters instead. I'm wearing headphones in the photo, so I added song lyrics to each of the posters. I particularly love this one:

There are several ways to make wheatpaste (like papier-mache or modge podge, it's a liquid adhesive used to adhere posters to a wall, then a coat is painted over the poster to seal it). The easiest/cheapest way is by mixing flour and water, but with time and the elements, the posters can be damaged. Shepard Fairey uses a synthetic paste, which can get a bit pricey, especially if you're adding a sealer to the mix in order to make your posters more permanent. But for beginners, a flour/water mix works very well, and can be stored in a sealed container for up to a week. And with that, all you need is a trip to kinkos to print your posters and you're ready to rock!

*Note: Hanging wheatpaste posters or any kind of unsolicited materials on the street is illegal. I am not suggesting you go out and paper your neighborhood or other people's property. Don't be stupid.*

I've been hunkered down at home all weekend with this 100+ degree heat. Yesterday I was so sick with a migraine and the heat that I was having hallucinations after taking 3 excedrin. o_0  So today I was eager to get some food in me asap. I had some fresh basil and tomatoes and a baguette that I got yesterday morning, so I threw together a quick batch of bruschetta.

I cut up a big tomato, four basil leaves, a clove of garlic, and threw in a splash of balsamic vinegar. I mixed it all together in a big bowl and set it aside. I brushed several slices of baguette with olive oil, and toasted them on a baking sheet at 350* for 5 minutes. Once the toasts were out of the oven, I added the tomato mixture and voila-- fab lunch for a hot day.

SEE IT: art I fell for this week
Paris vs. NYC is a great art/design blog run by Vahram Muratyan, a graphic artist who presents contradictions between NYC and Paris in poster format (you can buy them here!) Here are a couple of my faves:

WATCH IT: video I peeped this week that you should too
 

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

HEAR IT: songs I downloaded this week
1. Nostalgia by Cut Off Your Hands 2. Happy As Can Be by Cut Off Your Hands 3. Comes and Goes (In Waves) by Greg Laswell 4. My Fight for You by Greg Laswell 5. Starlight by Muse 6. Easy by Dragonette 7. Fixin to Thrill by Dragonette 8. Grown Ocean by Fleet Foxes

Alexander McQueen at the Met

DO IT: things to add to your calendar this week
Outdoor Films! Tonight you can see Back to the Future, The Princess Bride, or Wall-E; tomorrow catch Star Trek. See my full outdoor film calendar for locations and details.

If you haven't checked out the High Line since they opened the second section last month, check it out! Time Out New York has a great High Line guide and hot spots around that area to check out. 

Last week of Shakespeare in the Park! Enter here to sign up for the virtual ticket drawing.

Only a few more weekends! See Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at the Met through August 7th. (I'm going tomorrow- it looks stunning!)

Borders bookstores are going out of business and liquidating all of their inventory- go snag some beach reads on the cheap. (You don't want your e-reader full of sand, do you?)

A part of me is really into victorian fashion with a gothic, dark twist. Think spats, fingerless gloves, leather, lace, feathers, studs... you get the idea. I tend to wind up on etsy when I'm looking for unusual accessories or anything really over the top. I was searching for a feather collar and came across Metamorph-- a shop full of handmade gothic fabulousness. I'm especially in love with this feather shrug, that can be worn like wings, in a criss-cross harness style, or as a collar:

This lace cameo collar and black ruffle collar would send any basic dress over the top. Talk about statement pieces:

If you're looking for a subtler edge, a pair of spats or lace gloves will do the trick: 

My flights and apartments are booked! I was originally toying with the idea of a day-trip to London, but since I've never been there I extended my entire trip from 6 nights to 7, and am staying the first 2 nights in London. I am so excited!

Nichole of Little Brown Pen recommended that I use airbnb to find accommodations, and I'm so glad she did (her photos of Paris are stunning, btw- check them out!). I'm staying in an adorable home in Brixton while visiting London and have rented an entire studio apartment in the 1st arrondissement in Paris. I'll be a 10 minute walk from Pont Neuf- which I'm told is one of the best places to watch the sun set in Paris.

I've been devouring everything I can read on Paris and London, and would love any recommendations you may have! I'll be there for the first week of September... 7 dreamy days and nights. I can't wait!