Welcome to Manhattan Nest 2.0! I’m so glad you made it, grab yourself a drink and take a look around.

This lovely new website was only made possible by the extraordinary generosity, hard work, and superbly good taste of Anna Dorfman of the exquisite blog we all know and love dearly, Door Sixteen. Yes, we’ve met a couple of times now so I can say these things with absolute authority. I am convinced that she ranks highly among the kindest people in the world, and Evan, Bruno, and Fritz are all just as great as you’d expect, too. A few weeks ago, Anna very very kindly offered to do this for me, and after I recovered from the shock accompanying this good fortune, I shamelessly took her up on it. We talked concept, ideas, and inspiration. She toiled away and designed like crazy while I sent a bunch of indecisive feedback until we arrived here: Manhattan Nest’s new home. I hope you like it as much as I do, which is probably a little unhealthy at this point.

A few things you should know…

1. If you subscribe using an RSS reader, you’ll need to resubscribe to the new RSS feed address, which is www.manhattan-nest.com/feed. If you use Google Reader, click here to add the new blog instantly! If you don’t, you will no longer receive my posts, which could lead to depression, anxiety, bodily illness, or boredom.

2. Every single post from the old blog has been imported to this one, as have all comments! So have at those archives!

3. Check out the new pages at the top! There’s a cute little gallery of all the big DIY Projects, a new and improved Floor Plan, and a vastly expanded About page, now with some real information! And see that Contact page? Holler at me anytime, I love hearing from you.

4. As you might have noticed already, Eva wasn’t so into the blog thing, which is absolutely fine. So you’re stuck with me. That’s right: ALL ME ALL THE TIME. Muhahahaha.

5. I too am adopting the Featured Blogs system in lieu of a conventional blogroll. Since it’s mid-month already, I’m just going to leave those guys up until the end of December. Want to read about two Seattle-based architects wrapping up their stunning renovation and beginning to decorate? How about two ladies who churn out perfectly polished craft projects, DIYs, and recipes like there’s no tomorrow? A couple of architects in the midst of a massive renovation of their D.C. home, willing to take us along for the ride? A hilarious and insightful woman reinstating her roots in Brooklyn after an international leave of absence? They’re all there, waiting for you to click over.

I’m really looking forward to this new, souped-up chapter of this blog’s existence. A HUGE thank you to Anna for making it all possible! This is going to be fun, guys.

I did, and so should you. There’s a lot riding on this election. The choices have never been so clear, the rhetoric has never been so inflamed, and the politics of hate and fear have never been more threatening. And frankly, some of these candidates are downright terrifying. If you are a citizen of the United States and over the age of 18, it’s pretty much the least you can do for your country.

Every single vote counts. Everybody should have an opinion. So get out there, you crazy kids.

In my defense, last year I really pulled it out for Halloween. About three days before, while watching Dont Look Back in a class, I realized: BOB DYLAN. I needed to be him. On most people it would be stupid, but I would pull it off like it was nobody’s business. It was one of those perfect costumes– simple, yet everybody knew exactly what I was supposed to be. And in the West Village, when people want you to think they’re cool, they let you know that they “get it.” And Bob Dylan is so… relevant. Suffice to say, I got a lot of compliments that night. Obviously.

This year, I was hoping something similarly brilliant would strike me. It didn’t. But yesterday I realized who I’d most like to be in the world. He is not a man, but a shell. Let’s reacquaint ourselves, shall we?

After Anna from Door Sixteen introduced us all to this brilliance, I was obsessed. I watched it everyday for weeks. For the first week, I’d find myself watching Marcel before bed and upon waking in the morning I’d roll over groggily, open my laptop, find the youtube page still open, and joyfully watch it again. Maybe twice. Maybe three times. What of it? Marcel and I had something special.

Unfortunately, I am not shaped like a shell. And I didn’t really want to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love to watch people traipse around in bulky and unwieldy getups– just tonight I almost wet myself while witnessing two cardboard boxes struggle to hold hands. But I like my costumes to be something I can move in, lest I need to run from the police or stumble upon a discotheque, ideally those two events happening in sequence. Which is my excuse for deciding to embrace a craptastic, poorly planned, poorly executed, but quite comfortable costume with gusto. If you can believe it, all this went down on Halloween, because I’m just that efficient.

Step 1. Gather all your tan/beige clothes. You should have socks, pants, a sweater, and a hat. You’re going to want to wear about 6 layers of sweaters, both to round you out a bit and because it’s like the fucking arctic outside.

Step 2. Mix red and white drugstore kids’ paint together to make pink.

Step 3. Paint the front section of a white pair of Keds. Wipe the excess paint off with a paper towel because you don’t have time for that shit to dry.

Step 4. Write a nametag because otherwise nobody is going to get it. Then again, even then nobody’s going to get it, so do whatever you want. I was really proud of myself after free-handing Marcel’s scrawl. Seriously you guys, sometimes I wonder where I get such incredible talent.

Step 5. “Okay, uh, my one regret in life is that I’ll never have a dog. But sometimes I tie a hair to a piece of lint and I drag it around.” Lint is skeevy, so I used a mix of plastic bags, paper towels, and electrical tape. The tape made it slightly sticky, so it got progressively filthier throughout the night as I did, obnoxiously, drag it around. Perfect, that’s what you want. Tie a piece of black thread to it, loop the other end around your wrist.

Step 6. Build an entire world that’s big enough to make you look tiny. Definitely the hardest part, but so worth it.

Voila, Marcel the Shell with Shoes on. Jenny Slate would probably cry. Of JOY, you jerk.

Okay, I’ve set the bar pretty damn low. Did you dress up? Tell me everything, I’ve missed you.

A while ago, Amy Feezor (who writes an awesome blog of her own, by the way!) asked me if I would participate in an interview series called The Playlist for the Herman Miller blog, Lifework! Yes, that Herman Miller. The one who made both of my beloved Eames chairs and has manufactured some of the most influential designs in the world for almost a century– essentially, all the pretty stuff I dream about at night. Well shucks.

The interview is all about my workspace and music taste, and how the two relate. It went up today, so make sure you click over and check it out! It’s like a window into my mind: so lots of gabbing about myself and things I like. Also, never before seen pictures of my desk corner (I know, try to catch your breath). So come on. Click click. Don’t be lazy.

A note: I spent a good long time putting this playlist together, so think of it like a mixed-tape. I invite you to download all the songs and listen to them in that order. I’m more of a full-album-listener in general, but this playlist is, well, really fucking good. You’re gonna love it. You’re welcome, in advance.

Happy listening, darlings.

p.s.- what do all you stylish cool people boogie down to? I’m always on the search for more things I can belt out in the shower.