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Alright, we have a a confession to make: we don't really care about birds. Yes, birds are incredible creatures and we envy their freedom and flight but we don't feel that soul-rattling excitement that hardcore birders do when they hear the chirp of a rare species. Thats not to say that we aren't fans of birdwatching! Confused? Just take a look at this photo. On our last birdwatching trip we took a train to Philadelphia and spent 9 hours (you read that right!) with the Morris Arboretum watching a convocation of bald eagles bring their young to the Conowingo Dam in Maryland. Bald eagles are amazing raptors and they spend most of their time at the Dam instructing their eaglets on how to steal fish from inferior fowl. But the real magic of birdwatching is the meditative inspiration conjured by nature that you get to experience. Birdwatching demands time and patience, taking you to into uninterrupted nature flaunting unparalleled beauty. One must remain quiet, and still, so as not to startle any brush-dwelling birds which creates and preserves a level of peace that our busy lives typically prevent. We like to compare it to fishing: you linger stoically out in nature, ruminating quietly on the meaning of life, without any true aspiration of catching a fish (or in our case spotting a bird). It's boldly serene and profoundly reflective. Take a breath of fresh air, a moment of silence, and maybe feel a tingle of excitement when you spot a truly beautiful feathered friend. If you can get your hands on a pair of binoculars reach out to a local birdwatching group and see if you can tag along!

A native of the Netherlands, Marja Koenraad playfully uses acrylic and ink to create works brimming with striking linearity and broken geometry. We can see the plethora of genres Koenraad references in her pieces. Koenraad notes that she finds inspiration in the graphic structure of tattoo lifework as well as "abstract and folkloric ornamentation and design". To our eyes, the color palettes and shapes are reminiscent of both midcentury modern patterns and the wax prints for which Koenraab's country is known. This relationship is further exaggerated by the use of striations that act as a nod to the filling thread pattern within woven textiles. Koenraad manages to incorporate these iconic arts while presenting us with pieces that are approachable and entirely unique. Regardless of the origins of her design inspirations, Koenraad is overflowing with creativity and she has become a prolific artist. Sometimes the subjects are abstracted landscapes, other times they are visual representations of personal narratives. Her intentions aside, Koenraad offers us a portfolio of works on paper that are unobtrusively bold and capable of adding transformative funkiness to any space. The almost color blocked technique within the segmented shapes is hypnotic. Despite the use of vibrant fill colors, the abundance of black lines in close proximity to one another gives the illusion of a slight, discoloring haze that tones the pieces to a somehow muddied organic palette complete with sage and mustard shades which work together as a counterbalance that subdues the complexity of the jumbled shapes. Scatted, unobstructed spaces provide refreshing pops of color that take the pieces to the next level. We firmly believe Koenraad's works offer the perfect balance between fun boldly-colored geometry and sophisticated abstraction making them ideal for both novice and experienced art collectors alike!

Pittsburg is a city full of amazing hidden gems but none are as majestic as those in Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The lusciously black room houses free standing illuminated cabinets that display a massive aesthetic mineral collection, arguably the most impressive in the country. Simply put, there is a room in Pittsburg dedicated to exhibiting over 1,3000 magnificent rocks (from a collection of nearly 30,000!) and we can't understand why this isn't a destination on everyone's bucket list. The gems and minerals are unlike any you've seen. While crystals and stones are increasingly popular for their "spiritual" properties, the rocks in the Hall are true magic. Representing every size, color, and shape imaginable, the minerals and gems are selected and displayed as pieces of art, chosen predominantly for their beauty; this allows the Hall to transform into a stunning gallery rather than a scientific geologic showing (which would be interesting in its own right but no where near as noteworthy!). Undoubtably, the Hall will make you question our societal addiction to mundane diamonds rather than these exotic and mesmerizing stones and you might start fantasizing about how you would incorporate the Carnegie collection into your wardrobe should your lifestyle ever require a collection of weighty minerals and gems. Then, upon leaving Hillman Hall, you will find yourself in the Wertz Gallery of Gems and Jewels where you can see the actualized utilization of these stones in the form of luminous cut jewels and finalized pieces of jewelry. However, we preferred the rocks in their raw unadulterated forms which is a testament to how remarkably and successfully aesthetic the collection is. If you are ever in Pittsburg you would be remiss to leave without a peak into this glorious room. It will undoubtably be an unforgettable museum experience!

Alma Haser is our newest art obsession. Haser takes a base of photography and adds tactile manipulation to elevate her works beyond the simplicity of photographs. From woven images to portraits printed onto mind numbing puzzle pieces, Hager's works are simultaneously whimsical and invitingly haunting. "Born in 1989 into an artistic family in the Black Forest, Germany, Alma Haser is now based in London and on the southeast coast. She is known for her complex and meticulously constructed portraiture, which are influenced by her creativity and her background in fine art. Alma creates striking work that catches the eye and captivates the mind. Expanding the dimensions of traditional portrait photography, Alma takes her photographs further by using inventive paper-folding techniques, collage and mixed media to create layers of intrigue around her subjects; manipulating her portraits into futuristic paper sculptures and blurring the distinctions between two-dimensional and three-dimensional imagery." (1) Currently, we are loving her puzzles. Haser photographed pairs of twins and printed the resulting photographs onto puzzle pieces, creating two puzzles with identical piece structures but different images. She then alternated pieces from the puzzles of each twin, to produce a single puzzle. The result is tangle of nearly identical images that beautifully parallels the similarities and differences of identical twins. Additionally, the works are functioning puzzles! This means when you are responsible for assembly, adding an almost performance art quality of viewer participation. Once the pieces are matched, you are left with a photograph broken by both the physical texture of the underlying pieces as well as a swirl of dizzying faux piece outlines that work to further complicate the visual. Its such a profoundly successful series and we hope you manage to get one for yourself before they sell out! What makes Haser's art so remarkable for us is how minor interruptions of photographs can so powerfully alter both the visual as well as the provocative qualities. Despite the original photographs being lovely serene compositions, there is an unbalanced quality in all of Haser's works that we find addictingly discomforting. And the fact that all the manipulations are done by hand enhances this discomfort; Haser is taking something almost mundane and violating it to create something beautifully uneasy. Theres a somber magic there that is undoubtably alluring.

Sustainability has become all the rage in design. However, rather than trying to incorporate or repurpose discarded materials in new projects, we want to share with you objects that are beautiful in and of themselves. Add color and texture to your home with granite fragments and geometric hunks of glass. Inexpensive and unusual, these pieces can easy be added to your life as functional or decorative home goods because they are so inherently exquisite. First, let's look at granite and marble scraps. More often than not, these pieces are free; simply contact your local stone fabricator and ask to dig through their discard pile. We warn you, these bins of treasures are addictive! When cutting countertops and backsplashes, large in-tact pieces are resold as remnants but smaller broken bits are thrown away, and it's these angular shards that we want. Find pieces with raw, uncut edges and glue felt pads or wooden feet on the bottom to create stunning trivets or cheese boards. Appearing in every color and texture, you'll be able to make one of a kind platters for only the cost of glue and padding and a little "dumpster" diving. While they don't add utilitarian function, glass slags, cullets, and billets add unrivaled color and dramatic visual interest to windows and counters. Glass slags/cullets are angular chunks of glass discarded from industrial furnaces. Coming in a variety of hues, the irregularities on the surface of and within the glass rocks reflect light in stunningly prismatic ways. We set them on coffee tables and bookshelves as oversized paperweights and outside on our porches and stone walls as luminous garden decorations. Billets, on the other hand, are smooth rectangles of poured glass that are typically melted down by artists when creating cast glass pieces. We love their bold colors, slight ripples, and occasional bubbles and we lay these panes against windows for a chic alternative to stained glass and on glass coffee tables for unexpected pops color. However you choose to utilize these pieces, be soulfully inspired by their beauty and take joy and pride in knowing you breathe new life and purpose into something that would have otherwise been forgotten.

Sometimes we crave dark clothing's power to make us feel invincibly sharp. Whether we add punked out spikes, gothic chains, or the distressed androgyny of a grunge jacket, we thought our wardrobe exhausted the availabilities from the dark side of fashion. Until we discovered Double Vision Embroidery. This stuff is cool. Really cool. Edgy, melancholic, and trippy, the patches and overlays let out all the teenage angst we are somehow still harboring while allowing us to a project a truly chic aesthetic and mature sensibility. We're drooling just thinking about them. Described on Etsy as "Raw Looks from a One Woman Universe" all we can hope is to enter, even momentarily, into her intoxicatingly epic universe! Let's start with these ghost face patches. Are they staring at us? Do they even have eyes or just soulful sockets? Simultaneously, this design recalls the iconic "With the Beatles" album cover and elicits what we can only describe as a powerful Evil Eye. Apparently it's inspired by a 1700s British book of magic in which the illustration is used to "multiply one face, and make it seem to be a hundred or a thousand" so the unsetting sensation we feel is completely justified and all the more delicious. Next we have our favorite series, "Situation with Cat and Dove". A translation of a photograph to embroidery, the design depicts a fierce yellow-eyed black cat gruesomely disemboweling a white dove. It's sick by every definition of the word and we crave it at a fundamental—arguably primal—level. We are also obsessed with the 'Swarm of Flies" collection. These tiny embroidered flies are constructed from multi-tonal and metallic threads creating an incredibly successful illusion of multidimensional iridescence. So closely resembling the black bodied pests they were designed to mimic, this swarm gives us chills as our clothes do look like they are crawling with jittery insects. We can't stand uncomfortable clothing but we love style that makes us uneasy!

Sebastián Arroyo Hoebens, raised between Mexico and the Netherlands and educated at the Rhode Island School of Design, has enviable vision and craftsmanship. His furniture designs combine unusual materials with elemental shapes to create forms that look almost cast. We first encountered his designs in a graduate student show and this small introduction to Sebastián Arroyo Hoebens was all it took for us to become completely hooked. We were immediately taken by his designs, which he describes so romantically as "small monuments to the graceful warm shapes of Mexican ceramics" (we feel obliged to inform you that our hearts quietly melted when we read that!). As a testament to how profound his pieces are, only a few days after we walked through the gallery space his works were the only ones we remembered. After seeing his designs, we're confident you'll be able to understand why! We love that his largest piece, Mis Jarrones G1, a console table/sideboard, is constructed from CNC cut layered OSB board resulting in concentric circles across the bodies of the vase forms and an almost cork texture across the background. The piece simultaneously induces feelings of weight and delicacy: the vessels are suspended weightlessly in space on the solid stock block and the surface of the top is interrupted by gentle slopes, creating the illusion that the top is cascading into the mouths of the vessels. It's striking while maintaining complete functionality. In addition to its shape, the piece presents an undeniable tactile temptation. The presentation of textures was so alluring it took all we had not to run our hands over each piece. Look at the images below and tell us you don't recognize its enticement! Like deconstructions of the larger piece, smaller vessels capture the round bellies of the vase forms and the stark geometry of the stock block backs on an intimate scale. The display of three objects constructed from different materials—cork, mahogany, and burnt mahogany—presents an intoxicating contrast of textures and shapes with similar tactile complexities. We cannot wait to see more from Sebastián Arroyo Hoebens and we can't wait to get our hands (both literally and figuratively!) on some of his designs. (all photos from https://sebastianarroyohoebens.com/)

When the snow strikes we are quick to plan warm getaways; knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel is all it takes to tame our seasonal affective disorder and keep us motivated. This year, we ventured to the secluded island of South Caicos to the beautifully intimate Sailrock Resort. Unfortunately, we were met with cloudy skies for a few days but, as a testament to the spellbinding nature of Sailrock, our trip was no worse for the lack of sun. What makes Sailrock unique is the privacy. South Caicos has a population of less than 1,200 people and tourism is relatively light as most tourists don't leave Providenciales; in fact, there are only two resorts on the entire island! This offers the unique opportunity for a peaceful retreat surrounded by crystal clear Carribean waters without any crowds. During our trip we never had to share a beach with more than 4 people. It was magic. On our sunny days we didn't leave the beach that lined a cove on the western side of the resort. Because of the protection supplied by surrounding land masses, the water in the cove was shallow, warm, and nearly still, making it the perfect spot for sunbathing and water sports alike. The resort offers complementary sailboats, kayaks, paddle boards, and snorkels as well as hammocks and lounge chairs, all of which we took full advantage of! When cooler weather struck we took to bikes to venture along dirt paths to northern most point of the island where we witnessed breathtaking vistas and enjoyed the serenity of the landscape. Sailrock abuts a stunning nature reserve and the third largest barrier reef system in the world. As Sailrock remains relatively undeveloped, the wildlife truly flourishes. We encountered wild donkeys, barracudas, dozens of starfish, anemones, and a pod of whales who awed us with their flourished breaches in the otherwise undisturbed ocean water. The opportunity to witness such diverse and colorful marine life alone would lure us back to Sailrock. Inside the resort, our accommodations were dreamy. Our villa was situated off the eastern side of the island which abuts the open Atlantic, spanning uninterrupted until the Western Sahara. Elevated off the beach, the villa was complete with a private pool and, while we were too mesmerized by the cove to spend much time in it, the pool offered the perfect lit focal point around which we gathered every evening when we stargazed. Inside, the rooms were spacious and the kitchen fully stocked but our favorite features were the two private outdoor showers and living spaces accessible from the bedrooms. Waking up with a tranquil yoga flow in your private courtyard followed by an outdoor shower under the warm Caicos sun is our idea of heaven. The only downside we can think of is the transportation. It can be a bit tedious to get to the island. But please don't let this scare you away! Leaving out of Miami, we took a quick flight to Provo where we waited rather aimlessly for what we learned was an indefinitely delayed puddle jumper to South Caicos. There are no announcements on when or where the inter-island connections are arriving but there is a charm about the laid-back attitude of the airport staff (a stark contrast to TSA!). When our plane finally arrived, we boarded the smallest aircraft we've ever seen, with foam, numberless boarding passes in hand. To get to the seats, one must crouch down—we learned the hard way that ducking was insufficient to clear the low ceiling—and our tall companions had to slouch to avoid butting heads with the ceiling even while seated. The anxiety we felt being surrounded by the tattered seats, scratched windows, and crammed quarters quickly dissipated once we were in the sky and met with awe-inspiring views of the vivid teal waters. Seeing the shadow of our own plane glide across the clear rippled water was outstandingly beautiful and oddly meditative. There is also a decently long car ride from the airport along treacherous dirt roads that was a bit of a beating on our tired travel-strained bodies. We did love the return flight home, however, as we were instructed to wait for our flight on folding chairs scattered in front of an open shed on the tarmac! It was incredibly cool and despite the makeshift nature of the setup, we agreed it was surprisingly luxurious! All around the trip to South Caicos and Sailrock was remarkable. We will never forget the connection we made to the ocean and the transportation did leave us with some amazing stories to tell our friends upon our return. *(all images by Sailrock Resort)

Anne Poon presents us with a collection of necklaces that transform a mundane staple to an every-day masterpiece. As a designer and architecture graduate from Harvard Graduate School of Design, Poon has an undeniable eye and a unique talent for sourcing materials that are both strong and fluid. The necklaces are constructed often with antique and African beads, lending a pop of bold geometry to an otherwise simple arc shape necklace. Layered between brass disks or gold cubes, the statement beads are framed by unexpected sparkling metal, rather than the ubiquitous and tired chains to which we've become accustomed. The perfect balance of textures and shapes, these necklaces are effortlessly elegant accessories. There is something profoundly empowering yet comfortably approachable about Poon's pieces. Perhaps it's the striking shapes so delicately arranged that makes us feel so confidently chic but not inappropriately edgy while wearing them. An everyday necklace is one of the most important pieces of jewelry in a wardrobe; it elevates the simplest of outfits and dictates a level of sophistication that clothing alone often can't provide. We have yet to find an artist who consistently creates necklaces that are both divinely interesting and artistically wearable as successfully as Poon. And frankly, these necklaces just bring us endless amounts of joy!

The summer solstice is an under-appriciated astronomical happening. While the rarity of eclipses and meteor showers inspire people to rally and look to the sky, the sunrise on the morning of the longest day of the year is a celestial marvel that most people miss. You can set your alarm a bit early so as not to miss the sun breaching the line of the horizon, or you can take it a step further and welcome the sun with one of these brilliant solstice rituals. Whether you find spiritual serenity at Stonehenge or meditative stillness in the heart of New York, there is no right way to observe the solstice (but we think these events are not to be missed!). The most famous of these solstice rituals takes place at Stonehenge. Thousands of travelers pack between the massive stones and wait for the sun to rise behind the Heel Stone. As the sun continues along its course, it ultimately crests the Stone and casts a vivid blanket of light over the crowds gathered in the center of the complex. Druids and Pagans consider the summer solstice a holy time and, after feeling the energy at the moment the sun rose, we can understand why they chose Stonehenge as the site of their celebration. Additionally, the summer solstice is one of the rare occasions when people can put their hands on this ancient and mysterious monument, an experience that in itself is truly magical. If you have the opportunity to visit Stonehenge and participate in this remarkable tradition we assure you it will be well worth the predawn rise and travel. Another solstice tradition we adore is the annual 4am concert at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York, the largest cathedral in the U.S . Don't let the affiliation with religion scare you away! Guided by the awe-inspiring music of the Paul Winter Consort, the event begins in darkness and slowly, as the sun rises, the Cathedral becomes illuminated by gleaming stain glass windows. The music is captured stunningly by the vaulted space and resonate with us both physically and emotionally. Because the Cathedral is so grand (tall enough to hold the Statue of Liberty!) the concert has evolved to take full advantage of this canyon-esque space. An early morning concert to celebrate nature in the bustling city is a tradition we hope you get to experience. Want to enjoy the solstice in the city without the early morning wakeup call? You can join thousands of yogis celebrating the longest day of the year in the center of Times Square. A series of renowned instructors guide participants though hour long meditative yoga classes inspired by the profoundness of the sun. During the Yoga Solstice, we found a unique peace; despite being surround by thousands of people moving in sync, we became completely unaware of any busyness. It felt as if we were alone in a quiet personal practice; although, with a quick glance up, we were reminded of our location by towering buildings, roaring traffic, and the glaring screens that comprise Times Square. Our favorite moment, bar none, is shavasana during which, with closed eyes and a rejuvenated post-yoga bodies, we lay in the street feeling the rumble of subways rushing beneath us and the unfiltered energy of the city.