Saturday, November 29, 2008

Home Sweet Home

I discovered the website of Suzy Hoodless the other day, and couldn't tear myself away from the beautiful rooms she's designed. Who wouldn't want to live in rooms like these!

I'd love to curl up here on a rainy afternoon and browse through all the books. I love how all the colors work together and the chandelier is amazing:


This would be a perfect room for a large Thanksgiving dinner and I love the tree trunk in the corner:


What a peaceful place to work. I love the mid-century furniture and the round mirror:


Love this chair and the large photograph behind it:


I love these neutral colors and the spareness of the room. It feels so calm and peaceful. Who couldn't sleep here!


Check out the website here to see more rooms and find out more about Suzy Hoodless.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Friday Faves

I love these tea lights from Sinead O Moore via anothershadeofgrey's blog.


I love this vase from Little Flower Designs.


I love Paul Fusco's photographs taken from Robert F. Kennedy's funeral train as it crossed the country. See more here.


I love this nail polish from I am a Peacekeeper.


I love these sculptured fabric animals from Tamar Mogendorff.


I love this dress from Amanda Uprichard available at shopbird.


Have a great weekend! we're off to a spa in Virginia to celebrate a friend's 40th birthday. No kids + 12 friends = bliss.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Family Favorites

We played the "favorites" game at dinner last night. You know, the one where we go around the table and everyone says what their current favorite is in a variety of areas. Doesn't everyone play this game?!

And the results are:

Favorite toy
Kaden - computer
Kieran - Nintendo DS
Kohler - books
Me - camera
Stoehr - iPhone

Favorite season
Kaden - winter
Kieran - summer
Kohler - fall
Me - fall
Stoehr - fall

Favorite restaurant
Kaden - Pho-Hiep Hoa Restaurant (Vietnamese)
Kieran - Five Guys
Kohler - Thai Derm
Me - 2 Amys
Stoehr - Asia Nora (no longer in business)

Favorite day of the week
Everyone - Friday

#1 place we want to visit
Kaden - Hawaii
Kieran - Japan
Kohler - Turkey
Me - India
Stoehr - New Zealand

Favorite school subject
Kaden - history
Kieran - Bible
Kohler - media
Me - history
Stoehr - programming

Favorite movie
Kaden - Star Wars
Kieran - Star Wars
Kohler - Across the Universe
Me - Munich
Stoehr - Blade Runner

Favorite hobby

Kaden - drawing
Kieran - playing video games & drawing
Kohler - reading/writing
Me - photography
Stoehr - kayaking

Favorite TV channel
Kaden - Disney
Kieran -Cartoon Network
Kohler - Food Network
Me - ABC
Stoehr - Food Network

Favorite TV show
Kaden - Phineas & Ferb
Kieran - Sponge Bob
Kohler - Lost
Me - Lost
Stoehr - The Apprentice

Favorite place
Kaden - Kent Island, MD
Kieran - Michigan (Grandma's house)
Kohler - Yellowstone
Me - San Francisco
Stoehr - Xel Ha, Mexico

Favorite game
Kaden - Risk
Kieran - Life
Kohler - Life
Me - Rook

Favorite animal
Kaden - cheetah
Kieran - penguin
Kohler - Lhasa Apso dog
Me - panda

Favorite sport
Kaden - Tae Kwon Do or swimming
Kieran - swimming
Kohler - swimming
Me - volleyball

Favorite book or series
Kaden - Warriors series
Kieran - Megaman comics
Kohler - Rangers Apprentice series
Me - Barbara Kingsolver books

Favorite food

Kaden - chicken pot pie
Kieran - pasta or cheeseburgers
Kohler - fish with mushrooms
Me - Thai yellow curry

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Urban Forest Project

The Urban Forest Project is a series of outdoor banner exhibitions in cities around the world. In each location, artists used the idea of the tree to make visual statements on banners that were displayed throughout the community.

How beautiful is this banner designed by Rob Alexander! In this tree are the national birds of every country currently at war or in an ongoing conflict. Each bird is illustrated in the colors of its national flag.


To see all 186 banners, go here. At the end of the display, all banners were made into tote bags and auctioned off to raise money for local non-profits. Unfortunately I can't seem to figure out if you can purchase posters anywhere. Too bad--they would be amazing pieces of art to bring home!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Candy Thief

Kaden loves his candy. He has bags of it hidden in his room, stored from Halloween this year, Easter, and even last Halloween. Oddly enough, he doesn't eat much of it (which is why I let him keep it in his room!), but he loves to stash it away. Knowing this, I went to his room to get a piece of candy for myself the other day. I finally found his bag, hidden in his closet behind his clothes, but when I pulled it out this is what I found:

I about died laughing! It was just too funny. He knows me too well! I couldn't really take a piece of candy after that.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

75 Things I Love

1. VW vans
2. San Francisco
3. warm, gooey cinnamon rolls
4. thrift stores
5. rainy Saturday afternoons
6. Trader Joes
7. holidays
8. boot-cut jeans
9. vintage wooden furniture
10. design blogs
11. foreign films
12. new books
13. Living Etc. magazine
14. polaroids
15. post-it notes
16. Paris
17. Starbucks
18. freshly bathed children
19. report cards
20. flea markets
21. peppermint ice-cream
22. avocados
23. Fall
24. road trips
25. daily planners
26. art from Etsy
27. vacations
28. birds
29. TiVo
30. salted caramel hot chocolate
31. Thai yellow curry
32. hot tubs
33. childhood photos
34. mangoes
35. my iPod
36. Sunday morning snuggles with my children
37. Anderson Cooper
38. summer baseball games
39. Eames chairs
40. old typewriters
41. walls covered with art and photos
42. The Daily Show
43. cheesy potato soup
44. crusty bread and cheese
45. politics
46. Anthropologie
47. Lost
48. crossword puzzles
49. discovering amazing photographers on Flickr
50. the colors green, gray, and aqua
51. spring gardens
52. freshly laundered bedding
53. Thanksgiving dinner
54. blackberry pie
55. Sunday brunch
56. long photo strips
57. picnics
58. ceiling fans
59. peanut butter cups
60. cookbooks with photos
61. boots
62. fog
63. happy children
64. crock pot recipes
65. cozy quilts
66. lip gloss
67. Yankee candles
68. school field trips
69. homemade bread
70. fresh notebooks
71. modern architecture
72. NPR
73. Christmas music
74. Al Gore
75. warm chocolate chip cookies

Thanks to Hulagirl for inspiring this list!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Friday Faves

I love these Donald Pliner boots from Solestruck


I love this skirt and blouse from Heidi Merrick


I love this dress, also from Heidi Merrick


And another dress I love from Heidi Merrick


I love this painting by Joseph Alleman


I love these wall words from the etsy shop Tasty Suite


and I love both these pillows from Bonjour mon Cousin via Ali Loves Curtis's blog

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Thrifty Thursday

What a thrifty day I had today! I had my best day ever at the thrift stores. My cart was actually full! And I must admit a lot of it was Christmas shopping. That's not wrong, is it?! Not when the stuff is so amazing! And of course I had to buy a few things for me too.

First up, Christmas gifts! Mainly for my neice and nephew, but also a couple books and a cookbook for my sister and sister-in-law. I couldn't believe the beautiful wooden toys I found, and the puzzles had all their pieces. Score!


Next, three purses. The top left one is a Coach purse, the red one is Croft & Barrow, and the black one on bottom is Charter Club. Great prices for nice leather purses!


This tray I'm not too sure about. It was only $2.50, but I wasn't able to clean it up like I had hoped. I love the turquoise color and the worn texture, but it might be unsalvagable.


A vintage cross stitch in a worn, white frame. Love it! And I haven't decided if I will paint the frame next to it black, or leave it gold.


Last, a distressed black frame, a glass food cover, and a glass jar to add to my collection. I want to put the glass cover on my wooden cake stand and display things under it. I also found the tiny cup and saucer--a gift for my mom who collects them.


With my cart piled up with treasures, I thought to myself, now if only I could find a cool pair of shoes. And lucky me, I did! No photo, but I scored an orange pair of Nike tennis shoes in exactly my size. Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket today!

Calendars

I've been searching for a new calendar for 2009, and just found one I love. This beautiful calendar should be showing up in my mail any day now:

I love the typography, color, and flowers. I even love the display method! Purchase one for yourself at Hello Handmade Paperie's etsy shop.

Here are some other options I was considering and still might purchase:

Available from Orange Beautiful's etsy shop.

Available as a download from Little Brown Pen's etsy shop.

This last one isn't a yearly calendar, but an Advent calendar. It appears to be sold out now, but check back in case more become available. Cute!

Purchase from Pretty Swank's etsy shop.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Photo Display

With all the polaroids that have been piling up around our house lately, I've been searching for some ideas on how to display them. What do you think of these photos?

{image from Rita Konig's apartment on Domino magazine}

{image from Jordis!'s photostream on Flickr}
I love the simplicity and ease of just sticking the photos on the wall. I might have to paint my walls white again though!

Gift Ideas

Found these two amazing pieces of art and am wondering who I can buy them for. Perhaps my husband so I can enjoy them too?! Don't you think he'd love them for Christmas?!


I'd actually love to get the Washington D.C. screen print instead, but it doesn't appear to be available yet.
Click here to purchase.
{image from Ork Posters}

Who doesn't love a good owl painting?
Click here to purchase.
{image from the Curiosity Shoppe}

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Fall--Oh My!


Does this photo not make you want to throw a fall party? Preferably on Martha Stewart's farm? Fall is my favorite season, and this photo seems to capture the entire essence of all that's wonderful about fall. Fresh doughnuts. Warm apple cider. Just picked apples. Rough textures and colors. I can hear the leaves crunch and feel the chill in the air when I look at this photo. Lovely.

{image from Callahan Catering}

Friday, November 7, 2008

Family Modern Style

Want to know what your style is?! Like lots of different looks but not sure what yours is? Take this quiz! My style turned out to be Family Modern. Pretty accurate I think. Kind of an eclectic look with a mix of modern and vintage.

This is what my result said about me: Your home confidently embraces the many needs of busy, family life. It's adaptable and easy to live with, reflecting your sense of style without having to banish the kids to the attic or basement. You're sensitive to elements of design such as colour, light and architectural detail, mixing items that are relatively disposable with other pieces that in time will become family heirlooms.

Some examples:




Want to find out what your style has to say about you? Click here to find out!

{all images taken from www.mydeco.com}

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Paris

I'm always a sucker for before and after photos. I amaze over the beauty shots (they looked so plain before!), and intently study the home reno's looking for the little details. But these have got to be the most amazing before and after shots ever. Paris! The before's taken in the 1850's contrasted with modern photos of the same location. Beautiful! And, interestingly, not too different! Enjoy!











You can find the originals and more info here.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Change


What a day yesterday was! History was made and America woke up this morning full of hope and excitement. Not everyone is happy I'm sure, but from everything I'm hearing on the news this morning (even from conservative pundits) President-elect Obama will hopefully be an inclusive President who will work with both sides in solving the most difficult challenges America may ever have faced.

It was so inspiring to watch the votes come in last night. States that haven't voted a Democratic President since 1964 went blue this time: Indiana, Colorado, Virginia. And with Ohio and Florida added to the list, by 10 p.m. we knew who had won. It was amazing to see it flash on the screen and hear the cheers from Times Square, Grant Park, and in front of the White House. I didn't know if it would really happen: could America really vote for a black President? But in the end, they could and they did.

And now . . . on to the Inauguration on January 20. We will be there.

'Roid Week

My favorite shot from 'Roid Week:

A few more shots from 'Roid Week: