Notes from this here Renovation or Out of the Frying Pan

Yes we are.

The wreckage. A little embarrassed to show it. Hammer next to the computer is telling.
We have moved almost all this stuff out and now getting ready for step 2: paint.
Good bye piece-meal set-up and Ikea corner desk and blackboard wall which seemed like a good idea at the time.

poor little beads...you will have a new home soon...

inspiration board...

What I have learned about myself in the last 48 hours: I must crave the pressure. Sick but true. I like to jump right in, but this time, maybe I bit off more than I could chew? Yes. the answer to that is: "yes".

We are leaving next week for our anniversary holiday for a road trip in Wyoming and Montana. This week I am tearing my studio apart. Four bags of garbage, four bags of recycling and a giant box of giveaways and a few Craig's list items. What was I thinking?

So in between trying to remember where we put the boxes for last minute orders, un-drilling shelves, spackling and looking for vacation wear (oh yeah and places to stay?), here are a few notes from the wreckage. Thanks to you who wrote with great ideas and advice, Alexis and Maria and Katrina (who recommended this which has helped me tremendously in the last 48 hours...and did I leave anyone out? Uhhh, Cindy (!) who sent me some some treats with some great music to pack up and cough up dust to. And of course Rachel, who put the tack on my seat. Now I just keep e-mailing and saying things like, "set me straight Rachel, just set me straight..."

A Supper Picnic and The Madness has Begun

Maroon lake, Aspen Co

Yesterday was phase one of studio re-do. We purged. Vanessa sneezed dust. I parted with crap. We decided on paint colors. We struggled to imagine the new space. We pretended like we were moving out. There were a few shining moments where I re-read my old business plan worksheets and happily concluded I had done all those things, still want to do all those things, but just need to push further and deeper for the business I have built for now. A shining moment. I am excited to change the way we do work from t he bottom up.

More about that soon but first I had to post a few from our evening picnic at Maroon Lake in Aspen, another perfect moment in an entirely different way.

Vaguery and A Little Stuck

ALL images by photographer/idol Todd Selby©

I am needing a new space in which to work.
Rachel, resident design genius who I am lucky enough to live below suggests before I get carried away with re-inventing Bonbon I reinvent the space in which I work which. At the moment it is not a well-spring for creativity, just a jumbled up bit of tables and bad bookkeeping. And tools and fire. And bits upon bits and feathers and metal and at the moment a giant boar's head that Jim brought in for some reason. That's why I skipped my Monday Dose of Inspiration for a little Tuesday reality check. When this happens there is only one solution: re-assess, re-do, re-organize. Can't think otherwise.
She suggests I make three lists.
1. the non-negotiables
2. the negotiables
3. my wish-list.

I am going to do the following 10 things:
1. pare it down to only meaningful objects and important work items
2. ask myself the hard questions.
3. dump the tool drawer into the middle of the room.
4. shed.
5. toss.
6. feel unhinged.
7. sweat.
8. paint.
9. figure out where to put things
10 drink whiskey.

Anyhow, this was how Rachel explained it to me. Or at least how I heard it. Number 10 should go down the easiest.
OK then, feel free to help me. You know how I feel about you all. Any ideas and other nice pictures of work spaces gladly accepted. bonbonoiseau @ aol dot com. I am obsessive.

First Harvest and other Jams

The other day I picked my first little harvest: heirloom beans ready to dry (or are they?) and tiny tomatoes, a few fat little peppers...maybe enough for one bowl of soup, a miniature bowl of salsa? Who cares, they look so dainty in my gleena plates and bowls.


And then, Jim came home with our favorite once-a-year treat: zucchini blossoms. We really do only do this once a year and we only ever make fritters from them but the zucchini blossoms! They seem so abundant in the market, I might try to stuff them with something...frying is just so...decadent (but insanely delicious-screw it). (Marcella Hazan's recipe here.)


Jim took some action shots. He and Maxine must have been kind of bored while I was frantically hopping back and forth from batter to hot splattering oil, (getting splattered), yelling, "CAN YOU GET SOME PAPER TOWELS PLEASE?! (ouch!) OR BROWN PAPER BAGS! (shit!) WE"VE GOT TO SOP THAT GREASE UP! (owwww!).


And then...

red currants

red currants in water

red currants cooking and covered with sugar

And then yesterday, I met an amazing old friend who I'll tell you about tomorrow and we chattered our way through the Union Square Farmer's Market in which we found some lovely red currants.

I didn't buy enough to really get down into something big but when I got them home, I told Jim he had two choices (he was napping at the time): I was either going to make one of two recipes from my most prized new addiction 66 Square Feet (come on; Marie has a badass black cat with a much better inner voice than Maxine, is an incredible and passionate cook and is a freaking garden designer: hello? it's love): would it be her Bachelor Jam (aka IT) or her red currant jam...he rolled over and said, "jam".

I looked at the paltry amount of currants I had bought and said, the stuff with the vodka next week when I get a ton more.



This morning Jim asked me when I had made the jam. It's very very good.

Gleena does Brooklyn with Bonbon

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for the gleena-bonbon collaboration




in the beginning of the day there were lots of things...

by the end, very little...


The Dumbo Brooklyn Flea was amazing---it was a gorgeous cool Sunday and, I think sharing the tent with Asya was perfect--I think our sensibilities complimented each other really well and it was nice working together that day, getting to know each other better, discussing ideas and all kinds of things (watch out men)...we have some good plans for the future plus we both agreed the necklaces (see them up there?) would go up on our sites very soon. And of course, we promised a giveaway with one of them---but when? (is this the week of torture or what?)

See Asya's post about it here...