DDOT announced today that it is uploading its archival photos of old DC onto its Flickr page.  I love looking at old photos of places I’m really familiar with, as I am sure you do too.  And these are really great.  Check out this one of F Street NW at 14th looking at the Treasury Building: 

Enjoy!

In my last post, I whined about how my favorite shelter magazine Domino folded last year.  Guess what!  It’s archives have just been put online (in electronic page-turning form) and can be found at the newly relaunched brides.com.  Check out the announcement from shelterpop.com here and see the Domino pages that are up already here.  YAY!

2009 was a sad year for magazines, when Conde Nast decided to coldly dispatch two of my favorites: Gourmet and Domino.  I think almost everyone has heard of Gourmet, and can probably understand the outrage.  But what about Domino?  For those of us who had grown up thinking a relatable “shelter” magazine had to look like my mother’s Better Homes and Gardens, Domino was a refreshing and young alternative.  The pictures were delicious and the style epitomized the way I wanted my house to look.  Well, I guess that’s what happens during the death throes of the publishing industry.

In the meantime, I have been getting my modern decorating fix by reading some blogs, my favorite being Design*Sponge.  But in my heart, I’m an old-fashioned, page-turning girl who is still itching for a magazine.  My friend Kristen raves about Canadian House & Home.  Architectural Digest is still out there.  But, nothing has quite filled in the Domino space…until now. 

The feature of a New York Times story this week, e-magazine Lonny Magazine is genius.  Started by two former Domino employees as a hobby while they were looking for a job (ahem), it combines a hip, glossy shelter magazine with the internet.  Because there are no printing costs, the issues can be hundreds of pages long (239 in their June/July issue). You can “turn” pages, and even “rip” them out and put them into an online scrapbook, and you can also click on links to beautiful lamps and pillows (thus, the secret to its success…ad sales!)  Check it out – if you like it, I will take the unpriced chair on p. 67 of the latest issue as a thank you present.

When I walked into Stroga, the new Adams Morgan yoga studio that I was hoping would help ramp up my work-out routine, I never expected to discover a gorgeous, inspiring, and historic space.  Recently renovated by Douglas Development to retain its lovely woodwork, stained glass, and AMAZING plaster moldings, the L’Aiglon Mansion was built in the early 1900’s and has served as both a residence and commercial space.  The yoga studio is a vast ballroom-esque space filled with natural light from the numerous windows.  You can’t help but relax when staring at this ceiling:

Plus, not only is Stroga beautiful, I have been very impressed with the yoga instruction.  Although I am a relative beginner, Noelle’s Sunday night Vinyasa class has kicked my ass, energized me, and brought me to a very centered place, all at once.

Boston did not have a lot of positive inspiration to offer me during my last year there, but it still somehow was able to deliver a miracle or two.  My last apartment, located on the street level of 92 Prince Street was one of them.  Not only did that apartment afford me a prime view of the very local (as in “cash only”… as in GoodFellas) bar across the street, and give me a great kitchen in which to furiously cook away my employment woes, but it combined my two greatest non-human loves: food and cool building-related history.

In 1912, 90-92 Prince Street was occupied by three friends from Sicily: Getana LaMarca, Guiseppe Seminara, and Michele Cantella..  With Gaetana as the admininstrator, Guiseppe as the salesman, and Michele as the worker-bee, the three started the PRINCE SPAGHETTI COMPANY!!!  Yes, in my very own apartment, people!!  They even say so on the website!! What??  You buy Ragu or Barilla or some other brand and don’t know what I’m talking about?!?  Well, then check this video out and be reminded.

The macaroni company grew so fast that they moved into much nicer and bigger digs 5 years later at 207 Commercial Street.  But my home was the birthplace of a culinary empire!!!