My new brother-in-law Paul turns thirty this weekend, which is very fitting for family week (thanks, Paul!). To celebrate his old age, we went to the Drambuie Den on 14th Street, where we drank tons and then lit the drinks on fire.
Paul makes Lucy laugh a lot. Sometimes she laughs until she cries!
Ryan lights up the Drambuie, just the way Paul taught him.
Every time I hang out with Paul and Lucy a drink is somehow spilled on my foot.
Robin and Paul heart each other.
Last September, Paul also married my sister.

I love you, Paul! I am so happy you are in our family!

Despite my obvious love for all things baby, I've never been the type of girl who daydreams about her future wedding. It's always seemed so far off. But if I did dream, I'd think along the lines of the gorgeous wedding of designer Lena Corwin. I love that she used fabric for the portrait backgrounds, and the outdoor dinner looks like so much fun. She also made her groom's tie!
(via SF Girl by Bay)

Magic

Have a lovely and magical afternoon.

A reader in Germany gave me a tip about the painter Gerd Brunzema, who paints his children while they're sleeping. My reader says: "Very strange. It isn't cute at all. But I like it, cause it looks authentic." I find the series really sweet, though. (What do you think, readers: Creepy or cute?) Either way, they're wonderful.

No family week would be complete without a post about the Saturday Evening Post. So check out this incredible "silent" comic strip cover by Thornton Utz--it shows a day in the life of an awesome 1950's surburban dad. Illustrators usually have to do a single illustration for a magazine cover (think The New Yorker) -- here, Utz had to do nine! Bravo.
(via the amazing Today's Inspiration, a blog about illustration from the 40's and 50's.)

Kristen Oppenheim is exactly the kind of artist you hope to discover in the middle of a family week; I was thrilled to come across her work yesterday on I Heart Photograph. Oppenheim has an evocative range of photographs about childhood. Above is "The Treasure" and below is "The Leap," which are so sweetly realistic! (I remember making my parents watch endless "leaps"--I could almost do a split!)

Arguably the cutest baby gear ever is the Hug-Me Sweater by Oeuf, which seeks "to save the future lost mittens of the world."

Little Lina turns 28 today!

Twenty (of the many) reasons I love Lina:
1. She looks like a pixie.
2. She makes me laugh all day long.
3. She wears cool sunglasses.
4. She brings us sandwiches for lunch.
5. She reads tons of books and can recommend books based on people's personalities.
6. She detects gas leaks in the office (even when there aren't any).
7. She leaves half eaten food everywhere. Wait.....that's not a reason.
7. She calls me "Special," which makes me feel happy.
8. She says wise things, like that people are more transparent than they think and that all sandwiches taste better on toast. She's also great at Taboo.
9. She is tiny but strong, independent but loyal, sarcastic but sweet.
10. She comes up with funny slang, like Goldfish and Non-Starter.
11. She goes with you to the doctor if you're scared.
12. She knows all the juicy celebrity gossip.
13. She's brilliant at her job; she can diffuse any tricky situation beautifully and keeps everything in perspective.
14. She loves her family and has 20,000 cool cousins.
15. She listens to us all talk endlessly about our neuroses and never makes us feel weird.
16. She's always game for a party; she'll come at the beginning, mingle famously, break hearts and be one of the last to leave.
17. She takes strolls through Central Park in three-inch heels.
18. She makes a killer lasagna.
19. She knits clothes for babies.
20. She's my favorite partner in crime. She makes every day more fun. I hope we grow old together.

(Photo by Heidi Swanson.)

I love Patrick Smith's atmospheric photography. This photograph was taken at Val Thorens, the highest ski resort in France, where my family was lucky enough to ski when we were growing up. Our ski-school teacher Dominique was sometimes mean and sometimes nice, and my sister won an Asterix comic in a race. My mom said that on especially cold days, you could hear the little ski-school children weeping as they skiied past. So sad!

I wish they made this dress in adult sizes:)

Recently I've been experimenting by choosing a theme for each week of posts -- first, I did a week on nature; then focused on typography. This week, my dear readers, I will bring you art, photography and design featuring family. And now, to vastly increase the cuteness factor of your day, here is Vincent at the supermarket.

(Photo by Carlos Luis, via Swiss Miss)

Opening Ceremony: Sweden

What a cute little overall dress. Courtesy of New York boutique Opening Ceremony, which is now focusing on Sweden clothing designers. Great way to ring in the spring.
(via Refinery 29)

Swimming Pools

I have a thing for pool photographs. I'm really drawn to them for some reason. Even when they are sketchy and dirty. Almost especially when they're sketchy and dirty. I can't figure out why they're so appealing, but there's something almost erotically exhibitionist about the whole thing. (Is that weird?:)
These shots are from J. Bennett Fitt's No Lifeguard On Duty series. In a New York Times review of the exhibition, Ken Johnson writes: "Swimming pools are signs of spiritual optimism, economic prosperity and the hedonistic good life, so the image of a pool dried up and cracked or half full of dirty water becomes a symbol of disappointed hopes and dreams."

To end typography week on a high note, I bring you Nick Feltron, typographic genius. I think my friend Kenan especially would enjoy his 2006 Annual Report, in which Feltron catalogs what he ate, drank, saw and enjoyed during the past year.

Also, if you want to read more about type, check out these two blogs: Ace Jet 170 and Black White Bliss. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed typography week! Now onto the next theme....

When my roommate and I have parties, our guests often accidentally knock on the apartment door below ours. That's because we are technically "Apartment #2" but we are on the 3rd floor. Our downstairs neighbors' raving lunacy just adds to the confusion.

Needless to say, we need a house number. I was shopping around and everything I saw seemed either boring or dated. But then I stumbled upon these numbers at Design Within Reach. (Thanks, Mom!) They will do the trick....and now we can have parties again.

Originally a British World War II poster, this print is a great reminder that it's sometimes best to keep your upper lip stiff and just get on with it. It would be great to hang in a crazy, chaotic office like ours. You can get one here and sometimes here.

(Photo by Pensive Volcano, via SF Girl By Bay)

This gorgeous, whisper-thin moonwalk necklace by German designer Konstantin Grcic sticks lightly to your skin. Another fun way to wear type.

Another fun creation from Matt Sutter -- this time, a shirt for bike-riding type enthusiasts.

Oh, Ms. Helvetica Neue, you're so sexy. You're also a $20 print done by Matt Sutter.

Since I'm watching the clock today at work, I figured I'd take a break to post this great clock by Nava. I like how they play with the numbers.

NYC-base design firm Art Department makes whimsical objects out of clay, such as these letters, which would be cool in place of house numbers (you could spell out "two," for example). They also make a beautiful mobile (inspired by their swimming under a waterfall in the Caribbean), which I thought Lucy would appreciate. (She has been known to like mobiles.) Enjoy!