apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Sorry, Maxwell, I'm skipping holiday talk.

I know that there was a thread that talked about the horizontal bookcases, like the ones from DWR and Hold Everything, but I wonder -- has anyone actually purchased or seen in person the Array from CB2? I was so unimpressed with the Hold Everything one (much too heavy, didn't seem very well-made) when I saw it at the store that I wonder if the Array is any better. It purports to be lightweight.

Sorry, don't have info. re the Array, but I do have holidays on my mind. I'm usually a bit stressed and bah-hum-buggy, but this year seems better for some reason. Don't know what it is, but I'm revelling in the whoel wintry holiday vibe and already have the CD player in the car loaded with holiday music (I can feel the eyes rolling at my mention of such a thing before Thanksgiving even hits). I just want to extend the holiday thing this year. Again - this is pretty unusual for me - anyone else feeling like me? And what makes this year different from any other? Ponder...ponder....

Doesn't this design need the weight to work? Not sure why lightweight, here, would be a good thing, given the architectural/engineering needs of how this support books.

Um, yeah, you're right, Ptoo. (She says sheepishly.) I guess I want weight, but moveable weight. I think if it came in pieces it would be better. Pieces are good.

Man, sometimes it sucks being single and a wimp.

It's something in the water... I've been in the mood to crack out the Xmas decorations, but the husband would have a fit. If I could get this dratted dollhouse off the dining table, I could start on baking cookies. I'm thinking lemon-ginger, potato chip, and maybe something chocolate with a pepper tang this year. And lavender shortbread if I can ever find any lavender around here. (I'd do better making chai masala shortbread -- *that* I can get the ingredients for at the corner store.)

Oddly, it's been sunny and in the low 70s here for ages, so it's not even that I'm in what counts for an autumn mood in California.

Hey wende--
If there are any dry/shippable ingredients to help your seasonal baking, that you think might be easier to come by here in NYC, give a shout. I'm always up for a good scavenger hunt!

wende - we are thinking very much alike! I hauled out the cookie recipes the other evening to get ideas. I saw a variety of shortbread at my local store - each with unusual flavorings and petals in them - so I'm toying with a citrus flavor with perhaps calendula petals or similar. If you have any problem finding edible lavendar, let me know and I'll send you some - we have two wonderful little hole-in-the-wall shops here with that would have it - one focuses on new-age-y herbs and such and the other is a wonderful spice shop.

I used prepping for an upcoming bazaar as my excuse to get the decorations out - I convinced myself it would be for inspiration - heh heh. Still, the cat is giving me funny looks.....

wende - didn't think to ask before - any chance I can get that chai masala shortbread recipe?

email: mail@libbyluhoo.com

I'm feeling the holiday bug too ladies. A friend of mine already has his christmas tree up haha!

One thing I'm doing to get in the mood (esp. the baking mood) is a weekly recipe swap on my site every Friday til xmas. Check it out if you want, and by all means submit one! (this friday I'll link to a page with all the recipes on it organized by week.. it'll be updated each friday)

http://www.myaimistrue.com/archives/2005/11/recipe_swap_week_1.html

Uh oh! I'd proposed chai masala shortbread as a joke! However, I think it's do-able, so I will try inventing it this week and provide the recipe if/when it works.

Thank you thank you thank you for the lavender-hunting offers, p(too) and Libby. I'm going to take one more shot at finding a store here and then start begging for favors.

I have to admit, the masala had me a week bit confused, but as a devoted chai lover, you lured me in on that!

Amber - I'll be posting my fave recipes on your site and looking for intersting new ones (and I'll send you a pix of my art table set up as soon as I find where I burried the camera - trying to get cards, ornaments, and knit hats done for a little extra $ this year has me wading in art supplies - aaaay!)

FYI to the grammar/spelling police:

I am not usually such a spelling idiot. It is so freaking cold in my cubicle (even with the mini-heater I swiped from my boss' office) that my icy fingers are causing typos all over the place. (If I have as many typos in the meeting minutes I'm doing as my AT posts, I'll be in trouble...)

I sometimes wish "the holidays" didn't come so close on the heels of Autumn, since I think the Fall season itself is reason enough to get cooking, feel festive, turn inward and savor it all.

That said, p2, methinks 'twas thee who put us all onto the Xmas thing, no?

I think I started the Christmas thing, but I agree that Halloween, then fall give us more than enough time to celebrate.

But here in NYC schedules get packed. I have to send out the Evite to my holiday party ASAP if I expect people to save the date. There are only 3 "holiday Party Saturdays" in December before Christmas Even so I need to ask people to reserve the date now.

As soon as I send the invite, I can't stop. I want to plan the menu, the deocrations, etc.

Today, I did get back to Thanksgiving though. The Food Minimalist has a great column in the Times about fun sidedishes that travel well: Roast Cauliflower, Raisins and Anchovy Vinaigrette and Quino wiht Carmelized Onions. Both are so weird sounding, they must be good tasting.

Yes, 'twas that evil-ly festive goChrisgo that first put lovely visions of (purple and silver) sugarplums in our heads. :)

But then he replaced them with anchovies and onions.

Hey, do we have any discerning Chicagoland scouts willing to play furniture critic and help "me (the first one)" out by taking a first-hand peek at the Array at CB2? (Any of you who were begging for a Chicago AT, this is your chance to shine!!) ;)

Oooh Libby I hate typing with cold fingers. So aggravating. I'll watch for your recipe post!

I live in Chicago and have seen the Array at CB2. It is sturdy and looks decent quality for what it is...I would go for the similar one at dwr if you want quality. I know it is more expensive but they are discounting it $25 each if you buy 2.
P.S. We would love AT in Chicago!!!

WTF? I just clicked onto a comment thread on the LA site and I got a pop-up ad! Something to the effect of "Today's Apartment Therapy is brought to you by... (some lighting company)." Was this a beta-test of things to come?

array bookshelf at cb2?

is it really that different from the dwr one? it's designed by the same person (or so says the cb2 website) so it's not a ripoff right?

I'd like to see them side by side as well. I know holdeverything make a similiar one, and that one is sometimes onsale for the ~$125 range.

I got the same weird pop up ad thing about a lighting company. But it wasn't like a regular pop up and instead blocked a lot of the upper portion of my screen. What gives? Please tell me this won't be the future of AT?! There must be a better way to do sponsorship/advertisers???

The only Array (CB2)/Sapien (DWR) difference I can see is the finish... Array is white powder coat, Sapien (appears to be) lacquered steel. That may account for the price difference, since the powdercoat may hide some welding flaws, hence a need for less precision in assembly? Just a guess.

Size, designer and number of shelves seems to be the same. So, if you can get to DWR to check theirs out, it may give you an idea of CB2's version.

Other than that, just go by color preference.

thanks for the array info. i know these bookcases were debated, and everyone had good points, but i do like the sculptural look. as well as the space-savingness.

wende, at the farmer's market down here on the peninsula every saturday, there's a lavender vendor. do you want me to ask if he has a website or sells in sf? can't remember if he's from half moon bay or boony doon, or neither. have you tried the ferry building? (although i haven't been yet, so i'm just guessing.)

ooh ooh. not to interrupt the conversation currently in progress, but a while ago, a friend of mine had this really beautiful blue duvet with "suns" on it that he purchased through Dolce Dormire (www.dolce-dormire.com) out in Santa Monica. Since then I've been unable to locate this particular duvet. Anyone have any ideas? It was a deep blue with yellow suns on it, and I believe italian. Anyone?

Adam - Have you checked the Flou (www.flou.it) website? If I remember correctly, dormire used to carry some of the Flou line and your description sounds like a design Flou might make. Hope this helps.

I just had to tell everyone... I'm so excited. I put my application in with Old Dominion Boston Terrier Rescue a month ago, to adopt a boston terrier... and they have found me a match! Her name's Kyla and they're bringing her by on Monday to stay with me for a week, to see if we get along.

My first dog in my new house!

I made my name the link to her page on petfinder if anyone wants to see her cute butt.

Ok whoa. The popup/screen thingy just happened when I posted that comment. I don't like that at all.

A popup is one thing, (that's why I use Firefox haha) taking me to a whole different screen from where I wanted to be is another. :(

Yipes! I just saw the semi-para-quasi-pop-up ad, too! Oh, well.

That pop up ad SCARED me! :) As a general rule, people hate pop up ads and I don't know about you, but I personally won't click on one (intentionally, at least). I guess someone somewhere must, or no one would do them...sigh.

Me (the first one), if you remember to ask the lavender vendor, yes, please, I would love to know if they have a Web site or SF outlet. I *am* going to fight my way through the Thursday market at the Ferry Building for le pricey fruit this afternoon and see if I've overlooked good spices.

The horrible irony is that I know just where I'd get exotic spices in Minneapolis!

Amber! Congrats!
She is sooooooooooo adorable I could just fall down. Boston Terriers ROCK (second only to Norfolk Terriers).

As a young man, my dad had a Boston Terrier! Named Patrick.

Hey, wait...

Hey, me (the first one)--
Since we got you some reviews of the Array (I still vote for the slightly pricier DWR Sapien-- take the CEO survey and get the a discount!-- because the color seems more grown up to me.), let's see if we can't get you a nice hot (insert gender here) to help you wrangle that thing in place! ;)

(Kathryn's pimping is wearing off on me!)

patrick, isn't the CEO survey discount 200 off 1000? that's 4-5 bookcases :) I only want two!

part of me wants to buy the DWR version, part of me (the poor part) is looking at the cb2 version or the holdeverything version...

ptoo, you make me laugh! but hey, maybe we need a bay area AT get-together. are there any straight men from the bay area lurking on AT? :)

i'd already done the ceo survey and checked on that discount, but as minh points out, i don't have enough money to spend. hey, minh, are you near sf?

so, here's what i found out yesterday (instead of working):

-cb2 array: $149. 14 feet square x 60H. weighs between 11 and 20 pounds (my notes are unclear here, oops). each shelf holds 9 pounds.

-dwr sapien (small version): $198. 13.5" x 13.5" x 60H. weighs 27 pounds. each shelf holds 20 pounds.

-hold everything studio spine: $149. 14L x 16W x 68.5H. neither customer service nor a store could give me a weight or tell me how much weight a shelf holds. the store rep said it's very heavy, at least 100 pounds.

the people at dwr customer service and my local store were incredibly nice. cb2 was nice, too, but hold everything customer service pretty much stank, and it's strange that i had to call a store to get any semblance of help. i think i'm going to splurge on one of the dwr sapiens because of the weight that each shelf holds. the cb2 array's limit of 9 pounds sounds really low to me for larger design or coffee table-type books.

so, thanks all (including michael in chicago)!

and wende, i'll see what info i can get from the lavender dude.

doh! i was hoping you wouldn't say that! now i have to wait for dwr to do their (not so) often 10% off everything sale to get them...

and sorry not in SF or i would go in with you on a set.

Amber - I'm so happy for you! And how great that you went to petfinders instead of buying a dog. Animals should be adopted, not bought.

Ahem...I prefer to think of it as "salesmanship".

Depends upon the percentage you take. ;)

(see, people DO read your nighttime posts!)

Thanks Anne & Patrick, I'm sooooo excited!

My pleasure me(the first one)! I would be happy to check anything out in Chicago or any AT readers! Have a good weekend all.