TGI Friday

This year seems to be racing by faster than speed lightning but thank god that the snow is thawing and we can all get on with our lives. Once again here are a list of blog posts which have rocked my world this week.

Mustard Seed Collective
Who doesn't love gay Paris? The fashion, the food, the wine and the wonderful architecture? Well the lovely Adrienne presents the French campaign by fashion brand, Forever 21.

Divalocity
It is a pretty dead cert that Precious is going to clean up at all the awards shows including the Golden Globes which takes place this weekend. This post looks at the star appeal of Gabourey Sidibe, the new star of Precious who has taken Hollywood by storm.

Yoruba Girl Dancing
According to Henry Reid, US Senate Majority Leader there is a negro dialect. Is there? Yoruba Girl was perturbed and discussed it in her blog.

Face Hunter
What you thought The Satorialist was the only street style blogger one capable of landing a book deal?
Not so. Yvan Rodic aka Face Hunter shows off his brand new spanking book.

The Stiletto Effect
Remember Taylor, the stroppy assistant in The Rachel Zoe Project? Well she has left the Zoe campy and gone onto pastures new. This post pays homage to her talents.

My Space - Winona Dimeo-Ediger from Daddy Likey

Winona Dimeo-Ediger has been running her popular blog, Daddy Likey for three years and since that time she has generated a lot of admirers. Fashion is the name of the game with Daddy Likey here along with the odd story on interiors and jewellery. The Portland native has cemented her status as a fashionista by writing a book which covers the fashion dilemmas that women experience such as never having anything to wear.  Closet Confidential: Style Secrets Learned the Hard Way covers the whole fashion experience such as shopping for jeans, the lowdown on underwear, picking out the perfect coat and how to dress for the job you want. I caught up with Winona to find out where she sat down to write her book and blog.

Describe the concept of Daddy Likey.
Daddy Likey is a smart, funny fashion blog for smart, funny, fashionable women. I created the blog because I love to write and I love fashion, and I felt like a lot of fashion writing was elitist and patronizing. I treat my readers like they're my friends, and to my delight I've made some wonderful friends in the process.

Where do you scribe?
Ooh, I love the word "scribe"! I scribe at a corner desk I've had since I was in 8th grade, which is now set up near a window of my apartment with a beautiful view of the Oregon rain and my neighbour's wall.

Why that place?
I've tried to write in bed before because it sounds so glamorous, but I always either fall asleep or watch 30 Rock on Hulu and then fall asleep. I like my desk because it's much less comfortable and therefore harder to nap. I also really like looking outside and daydreaming.

What is on your desk at the moment?
This is so embarrassing, but I'm going to be really honest: Four dirty plates, a piece of smoked salmon, a bedazzled watch, three headbands, twenty bobby pins, two pairs of children's swimming goggles, a few gift cards, various crumbs, five books, two magazines, and a back massager shaped like an octopus. Wow.

What form of inspiration do you have on the wall ie photos, magazine cuttings or extracts?
I have a huge inspiration wall above my desk and I probably spend more time staring at it than I do actually writing. It includes pictures of people and places that inspire me--Rachel Maddow, my great grandfather, Washington DC, the girls I mentor, my friends, etc., along with quotes, a New Yorker cover, and a poem my little brother wrote about cheese. I update it frequently with new photo booth strips and cheese poems.

Do you keep a tidy office or are you a messy worker?
I think my answer to question #4 might give you a hint. :)

You can buy Winona's book from amazon here.
You can follow her on twitter here.

Cult Creatives in the House

Us bloggers are always being asked to share our workspace and show others where we do our creative milling. Last year The Stiletto Effect ran a special feature where she interviewed several bloggers and discussed their private spaces. More recently, Daddy Likey showed off her blog spot and created her own tag by inviting fellow blog mates to do the same. Face it we are all obsessed with other people's private and work space and there may be a housing plummet but our appetite has certainly not waned.

Creative Space: Urban Homes of Artists and Innovators by Francesca Gavin gives us a look into the homes of 30 cult creatives based in hip cities such as Barcelona, Berlin, London, New York, Paris and Tokyo. Gavin takes us into studios, apartments and houses of the likes of writers, photographers and stylists and gives us an insight into their minds and how their interiors shape their thinking and creative process. We are all influenced by our surroundings so it is really fascinating to see how a designer such as Hardy Blechman who founded niche label, Maharishi, or Grace Cobb, fashion stylist and creative director for Wonderland magazine create their home.

For those of you who check out The Selby on a regular basis, well if Todd Selby was to produce a book this is what it would be like. Creative Space takes on a different slant from interior magazines that are out there. Instead of featuring perfect show houses that do not look lived in this book focuses on spaces that are spontaneously filled with collectibles that mean a lot to the owner. Francesca Gavin is a writer and editor who works at cool mags such as Dazed and Confused and Elle. Like her I also suffer from an aversion of minimalism so I am delighted to see a book full of vibrant, arty homes with lots of life and colour.

Creative Space: Urban Homes of Artists and Innovators is out in bookshops in May.