Air pollutants – equivalent to the emissions of 260 cars – are now gone with the wind thanks to the latest rising star in town. Her name is Wendy, and she’s garbed in PURETi titania nano mineral-treated fabric skin capable of cleaning NYC’s air. This lovely lady was conceived by our friends at design firm HWKN as part of MoMA PS1‘s Young Architects Program – a competition to design a structure that inhabits  MoMA PS1’s courtyard for the duration of each summer. At a soft opening on Thursday, June 28th, guests were given to opportunity to experience Wendy’s many talents…

This month marks the fourth anniversary of my coming to NYC. In some respects, it seems like yesterday that I boarded the puddle-jumper in South Dakota with little more than a suitcase and a prayer. But for countless other reasons, I feel like I’ve been here forever. Because of its glamour and its grime, I love this city. For every overpriced coffee or pull-your-hair-out subway delay, there are ten more visits to a world class theater production, opportunities to try a food you didn’t know existed, totally-ridiculous-but-totally-awesome performance artists in Union Square, and nights of dancing with your friends until…

Have you seen the latest Twitter scandal?  On the occasion, I present An Open Letter to Sweden: Dear Sweden, In theory, you had a really good concept there, letting ordinary citizens take control of the @Sweden twitter handle. We’ve enjoyed getting to know your people; young and old, sporty and intellectual, sexual, political, often compelling and sometimes underwhelming. The problem, of course, is that when you let a person speak through you, we forever associate their words with you, too. Which was sort of your point, but a perilous one. So although this has been a bold and inventive publicity…

Today,  we’re bombarded with clips of everyday people getting “Auf’d,”  voted off the island, or not receiving the rose. We evaluate these individuals, and remove them from the playing field because of the negative associations others assign them. In today’s culture, we tend to assume that we too are always being judged negatively. This was especially evident recently,  when VP+C did a project with New York based anonymous performance artists The Bumbys. Offering a “Fair and Honest Appraisal of your Appearance,” Gill & Jill Bumby provided assessments of guests based on a purely visual interaction. For many, this was nerve…

Lately, I have been looking for something fulfilling to do with my spare time. I find it easy to get wrapped up in the busy noise of the city, but it’s refreshing to just put everything on hold for a day and recap. Recently I got involved with NY Cares, an amazing non-profit program that allows people to take on interesting volunteer opportunities. I attended an hour-long orientation where a quirky man told us all about the different regulations and benefits that come with the program. How does it work? After you have attended the orientation you are free to…

Dear Diary, I have a new crush. And this time, I think it/we could go all the way. I’m talking about real deal commitment jazz. I’m talking about L-O-V-E. I’m talking about…felt! It wasn’t but a week or so ago that I fell for this come-hither cloth. In fact, until my eyes locked with pictures of products made from the soft non-woven wonder—Google images is my Match.com—it never ever crossed my mind, in all of my almost 30 years. But now, I’m a smitten kitten and I want, nay, must have helpings of furnishings and fashions in this fab fiber….

June 1, 2012 marks the 75th Anniversary of National Donut Day. Held the first Friday in June, this delicious event was started by The Salvation Army in 1938 in Chicago to honor the “Donut Lassies,” a.k.a. the women who helped to serve donut treats to soldiers during World War 1 and raise funds during the Great Depression. During WWI, The Salvation Army sent volunteers to France to establish “huts”  in order to meet with soldiers and provide some comforts of home, including writing supplies and a baked good. Due to the challenge of keeping baked goods fresh near the front…

  Confession – I have a thing about animal heads. And they are having a moment! I think it started with the pink paper-mache moose head I did in grade school (late 80’s of course). I had a momentary foray into real taxidermy, until I realized that ordering such online might actually result in the killing of an animal for me to have such décor. We wanted a rhino head over the bed…but not under THOSE circumstances… HELL NO! Contrary to the recent New York Times story on the over-styled house – http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/05/17/garden/20120517TOTEMS.html – if you have an animal head…

This year, VP+C was on site at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) with Dornbracht, and while the company’s the new Horizontal Shower is fabulous, we noticed a few other showstopping designs, as well. Check out what caught our eye at ICFF this year… Parvez Taj is always armed with fun business cards that double as samples of their contemporary prints. Up for grabs this year were shimmery illustrations printed on brushed aluminum. With each one so unique, it made selecting ONE quite challenging, it took all my might not to leave with all of them! Local NY design studio…

Popular, thoughtful, and delicious…and I’m not talking about myself! I’m talking about May Day, a local coffee shop in Minneapolis that I recently visited on my trip to the heartland. The fair-trade shop, which is committed to earth-friendly practices, serves up a variety of vegetarian and vegan offerings, and is particularly a hit among those of the indie/hipster persuasion…as well as wannabes like me. When I wasn’t cow-tipping or getting lost on Interstate 394, I enjoyed a creamy spinach quiche, a homemade 7-layer bar, iced coffee and, of course, the people-watching. I decided May Day to Minneapolis is the East…