i've been busy

making lots of new stuff for the shop. (click on photo to enlarge.)

the fishscale pattern is one of my faves.
now if i could just get a little elf to come take pretty photos of each new item and load them in the shop, i'd be ecstatic.

favorites

my new favorite song. can't get enough of it. go here to listen.
pixel and i have listened to it 19 times already. she loves it too.

my new favorite glass cleaner. it really is streakless. got mine at target for $2.39.

this ...

inspired this.
i've had that above image in my head forever. or maybe just the last few months since i first saw it. where is it from?? i know i saw it over on blue hydrangea. but what is the actual source? help a girl out.

these'll be available in the shop soon!

letterology

i could live with this. dark wall. brass. letters. more letters. and that library light!

it's his house. well, his parents' house.

images from here

he should meet pixel. they have the same lifestyle.

weather gods, are you listening?

please stop. stop what you are doing. i can't take it any more. this is the last weekend you've ruined for me. i can't take any more clouds, greyness, drizzly rain and cold. you've made me cranky, depressed and lethargic. (although you did give me an excuse to lay on the sofa and almost finish this instead of doing my gardening.)


so, weather gods, let's lay it all on the line. let's take a look at how you've performed so far for the first half of june.

from June 1 thru 16, there have been 6 days with partly cloudy sky conditions, nine days with cloudy sky conditions, and one day with sunny sky conditions.* that's ONE DAY! WITH SUN!

precipitation for june 1-16 is running over an inch above normal at 2.22 inches compared to the normal 0.85 inches. there have been 12 days with precipitation.*

enough, weather gods! and just to clarify what i do need. i need this.

image from here

loads and loads of this. today is a new day, the first day of summer. last year you were beautiful. you went 3 months without raining. no rain and gobs of sunshine. please do that again this year. for my sanity. and therefore my husband's sanity. thank you.

* stats from here

weekly recap

yes, i watched parts 2 and 3 of the real housewives of new york reunion. i'm on team left couch. (i can't take credit for coming up with 'team left couch'. i read it over here.) best line of the night... bethenny saying that talking to kelly was like talking to humpty dumpty. i agree. actually, i think she was being generous by calling her humpty dumpty.
our new backyard patio was poured. pixel left her monogram. isn't her penmanship good?
things are blooming in the garden. hostas and masterwort.
hydrangea. always a fave.
but my poor little strawberries are struggling to survive. first there was constant rain, then there was a critter that ate them. grow, little strawberries, grow.
and finally, new shop products! i'm jumping on the ikat bandwagon. here's a sneak peek at some things to be loaded soon. lots more to make.
enjoy your weekend!

to tempurpedic or not

image from angie hranowsky via odi et amo

love this suzani bedding. love the colors of it with the neutral backdrop. love the mix of it with the modern touches. would love to climb into that bed now and sleep.

i didn't sleep well 2 nights ago. and haven't been sleeping well quite a bit lately. i discussed it with steve. part of the issue is we've outgrown our queen bed. between steve at twice my size and 2 cats who sleep on my side of the bed, i don't have much space. we want and need to upgrade our queen bed to a king bed. we're at odds, though, over selecting a mattress. steve wants to try a tempurpedic mattress. i don't.

we've shopped for them in the past. and found out that you simply put your sheet directly over the mattress. huh, what? but what about our fluffy down featherbed and super padded mattress cover? i like sleeping on a cloud not a foam pad with simply a sheet for a cover. the sales rep also said that if you "sleep hot" (ie wake up in the middle of the night hot) a tempurpedic mattress is not for you. i sleep hot. steve sleeps hot. this is why we keep our bedroom at nighttime as chilly as possible. hmmm...

have you tried a tempurpedic mattress? do you have one? do you like it?

randomness

this just excites me.
4 years ago i wouldn't have taken a second glance. because of the pinks and blues. thank goodness tastes change... and that mine have. i love it. the pattern mix. the colors. doesn't the couch look super comfy? (ok, i just noticed this... the stripes on the left cushion match up but don't match up on the right cushions. hmmmm. kinda bothers me. does it you?)

i only had time to glance at the pictures last night in the new lonny issue. it's on my list to read this weekend. along with this book. i'm halfway thru. very good so far.

in other news, this is our current back porch. until monday, when the concrete is poured. they tore out the old concrete patio yesterday. it involved a jack hammer and lots of noise.
steve designed the layout of this one. along with a roof over it. here's his drawing.
the beams and rafters will be cedar. shingle roof. wood underside. and the final element (which will end our run of 2010 home renovations...thank god) is replacing a large window in the dining room with french doors out to the new patio. i think i need a pretty chandelier to hang from under the roof. or maybe lanterns. this ensures that we can use our outdoor space even in the rain.

next week i'll post photos of my new office. here's a sneak peek.
i love my new space. mainly because it's finally totally enclosed and i can shut the doors and forget about work for the evenings and weekends. it's amazing how a physical barrier helps create a mental barrier.

and secondly, i love it because it's got one of these. does your office have one? if not, i highly recommend one. super cute and hours of entertainment.

and finally.... my last piece of news. this happened yesterday. it's one of a pair. i'll be on the hunt this weekend for something else for that space. (yes, i didn't fill the entire pot with dirt. i weighed it down with cinder blocks because we get extremely high winds here. )
have a great weekend!

the winner

image from here

this will be our new dining room chandelier. we just clicked 'submit order'.

it will be going above this table.
which we bought from here. when i called my local restoration hardware about 6 weeks ago to inquire about this table, the nice sales associate told me about an event that was happening at the shopping village in a few weeks. donate $25 to a cancer research foundation and receive 20% off of your purchases at participating stores. restoration hardware was participating. i waited. i participated. i donated and marched into rh to purchase this. (and i stopped in jcrew too, while i was there, cause, you know, i had that 20% off that, you know, i didn't want to waste.... and anthropologie.) anyway, we love the table.

back to the chandelier. it was a tough competition. i originally wanted this.
i thought the frilliness would be a nice juxtaposition to the rustic wood. steve hated it. i couldn't convince him otherwise.

steve countered with this.
and although i love the crystal shades (again, nice contrast to the rustic table) i thought the base bars were just too modern.

i moved onto these.
i love this. let me say again, i love this. i thought 2 of these over the table would be perfect. steve didn't. (but don't worry.... i'll work one into the house somewhere, someway.)

then i tried to sell him on this.
i loved the idea of 2 of these over the table. i thought these really suited the mood we were striving for, which is extremely informal. steve wasn't on board with these.

then we settled on this.until we went to order it and realized it was backordered until october. ugh.

this chandelier hunt was exhausting. seriously. we searched countless sites for countless hours until we were dizzy. we'd settle on one light only to find that it wasn't bright enough or too expensive or not large enough.

i involved my sister. i sent her the links to each choice, not telling her whose choice it was. her front runner was the capiz shell. second was the ultimate winner. i'm happy with our choice. i think it'll look great over the table.

oh, and the ultimate winner in the amazing chandelier race was originally .... steve's choice.

how do they know...

that pixel and i left the office to go answer the door??

creepy.

yippee!

finally! the sun is out.

image from here

it's been 8 days since i've seen a shadow. i was starting to turn into this.
i was getting cranky, depressed, and like him, didn't care about shaving. but, it's over now. i'm better. i'm smiling.

bedford springs

as i mentioned before, my sister kim, my mom and i recently spent a few days in central pennsylvania at bedford springs resort. the place is divine.

image from here

silly me, i didn't take my camera. i snapped these with my phone camera. the decor was beyond gorgeous. hopefully you'll get the gist. this is looking out to the lobby from the reception desk.

the lobby. done in corals and blues. several fireplaces, a player piano. afternoon tea and snack.

gorgeous art nouveau wallpaper everywhere. coral velvet chairs.the ultimate gallery wall at first entrance.
this fab little nook was right outside the elevator on our wing of the resort.
an indoor mineral springs pool was the central focus of the resort's spa wing. again, gorgeous wallpaper. marble tile floors. beautiful white molding. and more gallery walls.
this was the view down one hallway. mint paint.leading to hot salmon pink.
beautiful rugs everywhere.
the library.the crystal room, serving a breakfast buffet.

the door to our room was pale aqua. notice the molding. judge's paneling i believe it's called. i've added this to steve's honey-do list. i've got it earmarked for the recessed niche in our dining room. and perhaps some wallpapper above it. ok, honey??our room was similar to this one except painted a beautiful shade of blue.

image from here

even the on-the-property tavern restaurant had a fabulous restroom. look at that sink!

this was the hallway leading to the tavern restaurant. the chaise lounges looked out onto a firepit. the restaurant sold s'mores packages for some evening fun.
the service at the resort was beyond excellent. i didn't have cell phone service anywhere on the resort. the front desk provided me with a temporary brand new cell phone and instructions to forward my phone to that phone. complimentary.

kim and i took advantage of the spa. after our facials, we were free to use the mineral spring baths, where we exfoliated, rinsed, steamed, soaked, and cooled.

if you ever find yourself near central pennsylvania and in need of lodging, you must stay here. i can't recommend it enough.