I'm Not Sure About This Cold Weather Crap

After a long Indian summer in Austin, it's finally bleak and dreary outside. I've been waiting for this turn in weather for(almost)ever, but now that it's come I just feel... sleepy. Lethargic. Like crawling back into bed for some sunshine soaked dreams. But alas, alack, anon, that ain't gonna happen. Maybe it's for the best. Maybe I need to embrace the fall that's finally made its way into my little corner of the world.

Isabel Lopez Quesada

Maybe I can embrace the fall and go back to sleep? Because that bedroom could take me there. How about that plaid mixed with suzani? I may be a trifle overcontrolled by marketing forces, but right now I think everything should be swathed in plaid. I don't mean to say that I'm going to morph into an ax wielding lumberjack, but... I might morph into an ax wielding lumberjack.

I promise not to get to hipster douchey about it.

If Everybody Had an Ocean

Well, hello there! I’m Rebecca from The Reluctant Floridian. Despite the name of my blog, I actually call California home now, which puts me closer to one of my dreams: learning to surf. (Yes, I could have learned to surf in Florida, but the consensus is that Florida waves suck.) I may have grown up in the most landlocked of states (Kansas!), but I know that deep inside me, there is a surfer girl who longs to get out. I love songs about surfing, surf documentaries, and, unsurprisingly, surf photography. Which brings us to another one of my dreams: owning a LeRoy Grannis—the godfather of surf photography—original. Like this, say:

Waimea Bay (No. 58), 1973 (M+B Gallery)

Or this:

Duke Contest Finalists, Sunset Beach, 1968 (M+B Gallery)

Additionally, I’ve always wanted a giant surfing photo mural in my house. Molly Luetkemeyer designed this bathroom with me in mind:

M. Design Interiors

On her blog, Luetkemeyer explains that she finagled the photo from Surfer Magazine, and had it made into wallpaper. (Can non-designer folk do this? If so, I want in.)

True story: I have subscribed to the Mollusk Surf Shop newsletter for ages and ages and always (incorrectly) assumed they were solely in San Francisco. But there’s also one down the block (give or take a few miles) in Venice! Huzzah. In addition to stocking the requisite boards and clothes, Mollusk collaborates with a sweet stable of artists, like Andy Davis, whose work puts a smile on my face.

Andy Davis

I kind of want to hang out in his studio:

Andy Davis

You know how sometimes you walk into a store and your heart races a little bit, and you can, perhaps, hear angels singing? For some, this is Anthropologie. For me, this is Surfing Cowboys, another spot in Venice. The people behind this place have got my number. Old surfboards? Want.

Surfing Cowboys

Old furniture? Need.

Surfing Cowboys

They even have a house line of clothing printed with vintage-inspired graphics. And, they have a blog, where they offer this sage advice:

We see surfing as a metaphor for life.  Bringing a surfboard inside is like bringing the sun, the sand and the surf into your living room.  You can almost smell our Mother Ocean and ride mind waves.

I’m considering this permission to buy a surfboard even if I never learn to use it. (Don’t judge. I’m riding mind waves.)

Run With the Bulls

99.9% of the time I'd say I'm way too chickenshit to run with the bulls in Pamplona. Mostly I enjoy the marked lack of extraneous holes in my body, but also I am just lazy. I mean, it looks like you have to run really really fast to avoid being gored by a giant razor sharp bull horn. Does that sound like relaxing good times? Not particularly. But .01% of me doesn't want a relaxing good time. Part of me craves adventure -- the adrenaline rush of living life on the daring edge of inexorable boldness. Bolditude. Boldosity. Yeah.

I'm probably not taking my death wish to the Spanish streets anytime soon (and if I do, somebody please stop me), but I do have the overwhelming urge to shake things up. A little.

Nicolas Matheus

From the Right Bank

Gramercy Park Hotel

All the black and brown in my house is pretty (I hope) but not so adventurous. Maybe too timid and relaxing. Comfortable. Now I'm not saying I'm planning a stampede of sorts, but perhaps a little flash and danger is in order.

Or maybe I just need one of those jackets.

And now, an important announcement: tomorrow the hilariously talented Rebecca of The Reluctant Floridian (who no longer lives in Florida) will be guest posting right here...

I know! Right here!

You simply must tune in to check her out. The power of Crisis compels you.

See you dudes tomorrow.