Happy Halloween! I hope its a wonderful and spooky day for you! Little Miss A. will be a Flamenco dancer this evening. It entails large earrings so that is what we are really excited about.
I'm loving Clover Canyon's beautiful graphic printed fabrics and designs. They are like wearable art. In today's Instagram-centered culture where we have to share our half-eaten bagel we are having for breakfast with 250 of our closest friends it seems like wearing clothes with photographs is only natural. These graphic fabrics have such a modern edge.
As I grapple with the balance of finding design inspiration in magazines and online and making it my own I go back to a WSJ article that I read not too long ago about interior designers and their mentors. This article starts off with Albert Hadley, who mentored Bunny Williams, who mentored Miles Redd who then mentored Nick Olsen where the lineage ends (in the article at least!). It was interesting to read about what they learned from each other. I can imagine the tension between the aesthetic influence they are under and the battle to make their own mark and style. A battle of wonderful inspiration that comes in so many shapes and sizes and transforming into something new, different, and unique that stands on its own.
I'm thrilled it is Friday! You?? Let's talk about affordable art. I love that there is so much affordable art out there nowadays. Etsy is always a great source if you know where to look. Also, a lot of bloggers are making beautiful works (like Sketch42, Cocoa and Hearts, My Favorite and My Best, Wink of Pink). There are some great websites that also offer original art at great prices like this website that I blogged about a while back (here). And last night I discovered the wonderful world of Serena and Lilly's art collection. I always knew about their beautiful baby and children's bedding and home accessories, but I didn't realize their art collection was filled with such beautiful pieces at such wonderful prices.
Happy Thursday everyone! What a crazy week right?! I'm so, so excited to introduce you to Courtney from Courtney Price. She is such a sweet lady with the most contagious enthusiasm you can imagine. Courtney is an interior designer star transforming clients' spaces into their dream homes one project at a time with her great sense of refined style. She is also a social media queen, (I still need twitter tutorials every now and again from her) and a chef! - such a well rounded lady. The best part?! She lives in Dallas so its easy for me to see her sweet face every now and again. So, here are her favorite things.
Now that I have a little Miss A. traveling has changed. It is no longer a spur of the moment pick-up and go adventure. Traveling now requires more planning in every sense of the word from packing, to logistics, to finding out about kid-friendly activities to even downloading the right amount of new Pepa The Pig episodes. And with a little one we realize that something as simple as having a kitchen can make all the difference in the world for a happy family trip. This way you can save on breakfasts and maybe even some lunches and dinners as you can keep some basic items around. Not all kiddos appreciate the culinary masterpieces in different cities and would opt for pasta and chicken tenders in a heartbeat. Not only is having a kitchen easier on the wallet it is sometimes easier around the belly as you don't have to eat out during every meal. Anyway, I'm loving all these websites that rent apartments in fabulous cities like London.
I have been obsessed with dining room lighting options for the last few weeks trying to find the perfect lighting situation for our future dining room. It all started in this post when I fell in love with Adelman's beautiful chandeliers. The
I'm so excited for this weekend because one of my good high school friends is getting married! It will be wonderful to get back together with the gang. I haven't met the bride yet, so I'm curious. Do you still keep in touch with your high school friends? We see each other probably once a year. They are pretty much all clustered in Boston and New York so its not too difficult to get together.
To celebrate a very happy Thursday I am thrilled to present to you a fabulous lady to you today! Nicole is one half of the interior design duo behind the blog Live Laugh Decorate. She is sweet, spunky, and oh so funny. I am loving reading about their decorating projects and entertaining posts about life's happenings. This bombshell mama (did you see the pink dress!!) has some wonderful favorite things she wants to share with us. Let's see:
One of my close college friends, Cristina, and her sister, Maggie, started a beautiful online party supplies store called Via Blossom. They specialize in mini dessert presentation and pretty and chic party décor. From cute little cupcake toppers, to the best selection of hanging decor I have seen in a while with the best color selection so you can mix and match to suit your theme. I had never seen candy wrapping supplies like these. They have all kinds of patterns from leopard (yes, I said leopard) and zebra to any kind of polka dots. And what about the little flower blossoms pictured above? Cute, cute! So, take a peek at their goodies and keep 'em in mind for your next big or little party.
I love that big earrings are in. I do. When I was growing up my mom had the best drawer of custom earrings. She had amazing hoops, chandeliers, dangly ones, really, every kind imaginable. Some made out of wood, or Bakelite, or metals. I loved being in the closet with her while she was getting ready for a night out because it meant looking through her drawers. Then, when I was old enough to realize I wanted to wear those earrings I learn that she has given them all away because, really after the 80s who wanted big earrings? She did save a few that I currently own. Nothing expensive but definitely BIG in the WAO factor. So, I'm very glad to see large earring beauties galore lately. Earrings can make an outfit for sure. Here is a round-up I hope you enjoy.
I saw this cute and colorful home and was instantly curious as to who lived here. It turns out the couple owns a flower shop, Bows and Arrows, here in Dallas! You all know I love color so I enjoyed the contrasts throughout. The home is fun, quirky and doesn't take itself too seriously. But what I really love is all the creativity evident throughout. And you can kind of see their aesthetic spill over from work to home and vice versa. Take note of the pompom sculptures they made. What a great idea for a DYI.
Happy Friday! It has been a busy but fun week. I love those! I have an interesting pattern play for you today. All in a fall color palette, yum! I love the mixed rich colors brightened by the lighter tan and white touches. The clutch and shoes are not my typical taste but I'm really liking the bold patterns of both. I would pair them with a simple button down white shirt and jeans. How chic! Now, as for that rug- well that would cozy up any room and of course cheetah is the new leopard, or was it zebra?! No matter- cheetah is the new "in" hide so make sure you have some in your home asap to update any corner. It really goes with everything.
I'm so happy to introduce to you Amanda from {re}cycled this morning for our 'A Few of My Favorite Things' series. I love reading her blog as she has such an engaging and entertaining voice. Her passion (borderline obsession) for design is evident in all her posts and she just has such wonderful taste. She is a lady on the 'go' as she has appeared on TV, and is expanding her brick and mortar store. All this, plus she is also mother to three of the cutest kids I have ever seen (they are straight out of a catalog! Trust!).
For same strange, or maybe not so strange as I'm sure its due to affinity, reason a lot of my friends are Scorpios (November birthdays). So the second half of October and first part of November is usually a busy time for me with celebratory birthday lunches, dinners or outings. For these instances I love dressing up to give importance to the occasion. I mean half the fun is planning the outfit, isn't it? I based the outfit on this beautiful Timothy McDowell painting. I like the kind of translucent colors it has with the darker pops of red and burgundy. It has a dreamy quality. And this dress?? Please! Cute and festive, what more could you ask for in a party dress? Well, there is one more thing it offers- the price is amazing as well. How perfect would also be for the holidays? I won't gush over the shoes, necklace and clutch, because I know you know I just love these.
Hi Beauties! As you all know my love affair with books and libraries in this blog I want to talk about using sconces in libraries. We had them in our first apartment right when we got married and I fell in love with the look. They are elegant and classic and brighten up any book shelf. Here I tried to find a variety of bookcases with different types of sconces. (I actually had a few more beautiful photos but I could not get their original sources. Its so difficult sometimes and I hate putting pinterest as my source).
I'm taking the day off. We went away for the long weekend and have had the most perfect days. I will be back tomorrow with an extra good post to make it up to you.
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How wonderful is this advertising campaign from Harrods? Photos were taken in all of Harrods' eateries and cafes. I love dramatic staged photos that relay a certain innocence and overindulgence for sure.
I'm beyond thrilled to introduce you today to Alison from a Heart of Gold and Luxury. Alison is one of those well rounded bloggers whose style I love. She bakes the most appetizing treats, she takes beautiful photographs, has a wonderful eye for styling, and she has great taste! Here is the lovely Alison presenting to us her Six Favorite Things. (I love a girl who loves wearing red lips and has the same passion for gold that I have).
Please
help me. I have a sickness. I can't stop thinking about gold/shiny
things. You have probably noticed with my posts like this one, this one and even this one
that gold/brass has been on my mind. I want my door hardware to be
brushed gold and all the furniture I like lately has gold (see images
above and below). I love spray painting anything gold like I did here and here. I actually have to control myself. I pin anything that involves a gold leafing pen. Really, this is serious.
What happens when you have some Modge Podge laying around and some beautiful marbelized paper and a gold leafing pen? These cool book boxes is what happens! This DIY was easy, fun, with a cute result. Here is what you will need:
My mom is the best scout for finding topic ideas for the blog. She rips out articles from newspapers, marks pages in magazines, sends me emails with links. She has a great eye. Way back in May she saved me a hardcopy of this article for me from the New York Times Style Magazine. I put it in my brainstorming pile and this morning I was reminded of it when I saw a spectacular chandelier over at Sketch42 from the same designer, Lindsey Adelman. I have to share these beauties with you. Yes, the are very expensive but really, really beautiful. Her work is organic and very different from you see around.