photographer yunhee kim.

it’s been a rough week, people. it’s been heart-wrenching and maddening and i for one am glad it’s over. it’s only over in the sense that it’s finally friday, and i’m sure we all still have lots on our minds this weekend, but i think an escape is called for. at least from the news for a little while. i am going to turn mine to food. comforting, beautiful, delicious food. it’s also my nemesis, but for today, i’m forgiving food and just embracing all its goodness.

• this image makes me want to eat every meal from bento boxes. artist, photographer and sylist clarisse demory makes food look so wholesome and so artful. and bento boxes, don’t get me started. they just make food look so cute. styled and edible to perfection.

• do you read sweet paul magazine? it’s a lovely cooking and craft magazine and definitely puts the comfort in comfort food. paul has adopted his grandmother’s motto, “fullkommenhet er kjedelig…” which means “perfection is boring,” and he’s incorporated it and her sheer joy of creating into everything he does — from recipes, to beautiful DIY’s (like the table runner above), sweet paul is a delicious escape.

• pastry or art? you decide. Caitlin Freeman is pastry chef and now author who has written a book of dessert recipes from which you can re-create edible versions of your favorite works of modern art — Modern Art Desserts: Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Confections, and Frozen Treats Based on Iconic Works of Art. this particular dessert — a Cartagena vanilla ice cream and sorbet trio was inspired by Alejandra Cartagena’s photograph Fragmented Cities, Juarez #2. i think i could eat them both!

• inspiring the everyday is a beautiful blog. Beyond the cooking, blogger michael styles and photographs everything you see. he loves food photography, and he’s going to make you fall in love with it too. oh, and for those of you into gluten-free — inspiring the everyday is into that, too. NOTE: it hasn’t been updated in some time, so if anyone knows where to find his new blog, do tell!

• i love todd selby. and now i love his book, the edible selby. Photographer Todd Selby focuses his lens on the kitchens, gardens, homes, and restaurants of more than 40 of the most creative figures working in the culinary world today. his behind the scenes sneak peeks into some amazing kitchens is perfectly inspiring — and utterly mouth watering, too. read up.

daniel fischbaeck print via typo/graphic posters.

for a long time, i kept hearing ‘print is dead’ and i mourned that. i love print. for many years i was actually a print production manager, working in ad agencies producing print advertising for campaigns like these for levi’s 501’s and condé nast publications. it was fun, it was tactile and it was creative. i’d go on press checks all over the country and the smell of fresh ink running on those big old Heidelberg presses was a familiar and happy smell for me. but i don’t think print is dead at all and we got talking about this over lunch today — we see ink on paper making a comeback in lots of arenas — there are some wonderful new magazines in publication the last few years, and letterpress printing and typography in print is as mighty as ever. my thoughts for a friday are all about print. i thought i’d share. what are your favorite reads in print these days? what am i missing?

gather journal.

• gather journal – it’s just so stunning. a bi-annual recipe-driven food magazine devoted not just to cooking and eating, but to what those acts inspire: the bringing of people together. You will find lushly imagined images from some of the country’s most esteemed food photographers and fun, insightful writing.

anthology magazine video short from their latest issue.

• have you subscribed to anthology? it’s definitely one of the lovelies bringing print back. gorgeous home tours, delicious entertaining and adventurous travel ideas with sublime styling and photography. you should watch this little video to get an idea of what i’m talking about. anthology is on my ‘must read every issue’ list.

uppercase magazine.

• uppercase is where it’s at. a beautifully handcrafted magazine about all things design-related, printed on some really lovely paper. i write for uppercase on a regular basis, but i’m still unbiased — this magazine just shines. UPPERCASE publishes books and magazines for the creative and curious: products that spark the imagination and inspire creativity. and every issue centers around a specific theme. you’ll love it.

kinfolk magazine.

• and then there’s kinfolk magazine. Kinfolk began publishing to respond to the gap on the newsstand, and caters to a growing readership of artists and food enthusiasts, focusing on simple ways to spend time together and live with intention. Each issue of Kinfolk combines essays, recipes, interviews, personal stories and practical tips and is a trusted resource inspiring meaningful activities — whether it be a new cooking skill, a road trip route, or camping guide, all photographed quite beautifully.

savior magazine.

• there’s a stylish new independent fashion magazine out too, called savior. i haven’t seen it in person yet, but from what i’ve seen online it looks quite beautiful. have you see an issue of savior yet?

vintage penguin classics from hannah ellen.

i need to read more. and not on a kindle or an ipad. while those are very nice, i need the tactile feel of a real-live paper pages…beautiful book covers and bindings, the relaxing sound of flipping through a honest-to-goodness magazine. i like having the option to go back a few pages and check out things i want to understand better, and i even like (heaven-forbid!) highlighting passages that strike me as significant. so with that said, this fab friday, let’s hear it for the printed page!

do tell, what are you reading these days?

while in new york, we stopped into phaidon, and let’s just say i could have bought almost everything, or simply moved in. a beautiful building, containing incredibly beautiful books. i wouldn’t mind starting with their book the sixties, and vegetables from an italian garden.

love the Ladybird Nature Series from hannah ellen; florence and florence has lots of beautiful old classics, like agatha christie mysteries; the new issue of uppercase magazine is out (oh, and i’ve written a profile on flora grubb in this issue!); this is one fantastic cover of the Kandinsky collections from anthropologie.

Anthology, the lifestyle and shelter magazine begun by San Francisco writers Ahn-Minh Le and Meg Mateo Ilasco has its 3rd issue out – and available at anthropologie – it’s full of beautiful and inspiring design and photography.

Jessica Steeber and Cassandra Smith’s Fine Line Magazine is an international fine arts publication that’s lovely to peruse as well.

i’m quite anxious to read the new kings of nonfiction edited by my personal hero, ira glass. but the one that haunts my bookshelves is infinite jest by david foster wallace. it’s such a large, daunting book (over 1,000 pages), but i’ve sworn to read it. now…to just get off this internet and start.

i am an addict…magazines are my drug. i can’t get enough of design magazines. and with so many of out favorites disappearing (boo, hoo domino, i’ll never get over you), i am really glad i save them, and i tear my favorite pages out to paste into design journals. my little brother used to think i was mad – “what are you doing tearing up those stacks and stacks of magazines? get a life!”. ah, go on and mock me, but I find them invaluable inspiration. even the old journals, from many years ago, bring me so much pleasure to look through. i like seeing how my tastes evolves, and also stays quite the eclectic same.

so i keep these design journals*, cutting and pasting my favorite bits into collages, and colorful pages that i never tire of turning. i save mostly interior decor, but also quotes that inspire me, and wardrobe styling ideas. pretty much anything that strikes my fancy. got stacks of magazines, or tear sheets you don’t know what to do with? i highly recommend a little cut & pasting. (*tip: i use these).

I’m back with another edition of Foreign Correspondent, this time sharing with you the gorgeous February issue of Elle Decor Italia. The whole magazine is flooded with these amazing images of earth tones and neutrals that made me just want to gut my whole place. Many are stark rooms with little furniture, and I often crave living this way. But, who am I kidding, I’m probably never going to achieve that look, and will survive happily living in my little world of collectibles, but I have been gleaning, lately. I have! Really! Anyhow, here’s a look at how the other half live, in rich, warm tones, and probably bank accounts to match. But, hey, one can dream. Fodder for my summer house!

Amazing B&B Italia lounge chair; and beautiful, San Francisco(!) eclectic room.

Oh, how I love this mantel and the collection of vintage dogs.

I want to sit in this chair and bathe in this tub!

Beautiful screened print – it almost looks like a stencil on butcher paper.