Wednesday, June 24, 2009

I’d like you to meet the new man in my life.

His name is George, Mini George to be exact, and I am anxiously awaiting his arrival in 6 to 8 weeks. His new home will be as the crown jewel of our foyer and I will be counting the days until his arrival. We bought him at Circa Lighting in Houston and if you live in Houston I urge you to visit their store. It’s lighting heaven.

George and I have had a long distance love affair for a while and finally we will meet. Sshhhh!!! Don’t tell my husband. :)



Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Stylish Organization

One of my favorite design blogs to follow, Elements of Style, featured the Ikea Expedit bookshelf system today. After reading all the amazing ways to use this stylish and versatile system I am hooked! Check out this beautiful nursery.






I am also loving this system for my studio! Organization is a must with lots of fabrics, notions and whatnots laying around. Read about all the great ideas here.



Thursday, June 18, 2009

My Heart Just Skipped a Beat

The image below sends my heart racing, in a good way. I get all giddy inside when I see cotton striped rugs. I love them for the simple casual elegance they bring to a room, especially kids rooms. They are extremely durable, inexpensive and the more wear they have the better. So don’t be afraid to let your kids beat the heck out of them.

Dash and Albert has by far the most impressive line of cotton striped runs. Below is just a snap shot of the endless possibilities. I just can’t decide whether to use one as a stair runner or in my daughter’s game room. Hmm….decisions, decisions

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Cupcake Toppers

A friend introduced me to these precious cupcake toppers for birthday parties. I think they are adorable and you get a dozen for $10. What a steal!

But wait, it gets even better! The designer TomKat Studio makes party packages to coordinate with the tiny toppers too. I wish I saw these for my daughter’s birthday a few months ago. Love the favor tags, love the invites, love the banner, I just love everything. View the complete line of handmade party décor at www.theTomKatStudio.com.












Sunday, June 14, 2009

Simply GOURD-gous!

My mouth waters when I peruse through the web pages of Christopher Spitzmiller lamps. His unique gourd shaped ceramic lamps became an instant décor staple among the design crowd. I love them for any room in a house especially a kid’s room. Their bold beautiful colors make the perfect accent to a child’s color saturated room and add a touch of sophistication.

Visit his website here and you’ll see why it’s no wonder Tiffany’s chose to adorn their flagship stores with these curvy beauties. And hey, if it’s good enough for Tiffany’s…







Saturday, June 13, 2009

House Update

Sorry I haven't been posting as often as usual. Our house reno is nearing an end and I am swamped trying to cross the finish line. Here's a sneak peak of the stairs. Our contractor Roberto is the bomb! He is a true artisan and has transformed our stairs from hideously blue to Hello Gorgeous!

Hideously Embarassing
Some much needed TLC applied.
Almost there...


Stay tuned for more updates.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Lovely Art

My friend Kate who lives in NYC introduced me to this artist a while back. I adore her art for children’s rooms. Their bold simple and add a pop of color to any room. Below are my favorites from her collection. To view more of her work visit MadebyGirl.com




Monday, June 8, 2009

Friends with Benefits

Remember when I blogged a while back about having two extremely talented friends who could work some magic with a camera? If you missed the first post check it out here.

I’d like to introduce you to my other extremely talented friend, Rachel. We met in college and of course became instant friends. I call her my pint size prodigy friend because she’s about 5 feet tall, brilliant and incredibly talented with a camera. Not to mention beautiful! She has a little boy named Griffin who’s about 6 months older than my daughter Jacquelyn.

Below are a few pictures she took in my daughter’s room of a bedding set I made for her cousin. When we took this picture my daughter’s room was littered with toys and stuff everywhere. She made it look like a showroom perfect bedding set.

She also takes beautiful pictures of children and newborns if you live the greater Austin area. Email me if you’d like her contact info. Thank you Rachel!

The bedding style is Traditional Welted, Slim Body Monogrammed with Ruffled Skirt.






Her little man Griffin. How cute is he?

Thursday, June 4, 2009

My sister rocks!

In case you didn’t know, my sister is awesome! She moved to Hoboken, New Jersey about two years ago to work in the big city. She landed a sweet job for the Swatch Group doing PR for Longines watches. Whenever you see a Longine watch in a magazine or sponsorship, that’s her handy work. She loves her job and all the perks that come with living and working in NYC. Sometimes I get to benefit from the perks too. Denise, my sister, got an email announcing a sample sale for Tory Burch. Being the thoughtful sister that she is, she immediately emailed to let me know she would be attending and was there anything I wanted. So naturally I sent her list of items to scout for me. Tory Burch 60-80% off of course I want something! Tunics, Reva flats, heels and handbags please.

Sunday morning I got a call bright and early because Denise was standing in line with about hundred other ladies with her GI-NORMOUS Ikea-like net tote ready to shop for 6 different people including her. After 7 hours, $1,200 worth of clothing and accessories, dozens of phone calls to and from and what Denise described as the craziest shopping experience she ever had, she walked away with some serious steals.

So…what did I get? Well…since you asked I got two beautiful tunics and a tote; a moderate amount of merchandise since I am renovating a home. I could have gone crazy but after those three items I had to tell my sister not to call me anymore, I can’t afford it!

Thank you Denise!!! You are the best!


My navy and white tunic $275 retail; sample sale $85! My pink, black and green tunic $275 retail; sample sale $85!



My white PVC tote $250 retail; sample sale $90! And my friend Laura’s green tote $250 retail; sample sale $90. I wanted the green tote too, but I made a sacrifice for my friend who LOVES green. ;)




Here are few pictures from today. That's me hard at work tearing up old parque floors. Ugh, it's exhausting. I work on the house during the day and sew at night. I am pooped! Also, our hardwoods arrived today. I am so excited. 5" wide handscraped Potomac Plank from Lumber Liquidators. Yay!!!! See ya ugly blue carpet!




Wednesday, June 3, 2009

My 50 Year Old Baby

We bought a house! A while back I vented about looking for a home with my family and how I was fed up with overpriced and poorly renovated homes. Well after several months of disappointments we found our diamond in the rough; a 50 year old 4 bedrooms, three bath, 1 game room, two car garage gem of a home. The home has literally not been touched since about 1975 but it has been meticulously cared for. Great bones and a family nurturing layout sold us on this house.

We closed early this morning and went right to work renovating. We’ve got a general contractor doing the bulk of the partial reno job we are doing before we move in. Below are few pictures of the BEFORE home. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my new hobby-decorating our home.


A few living room pics with the previous home owner's furniture.

The current dining room. We are turning this room into a study. I know wallpaper is huge right now, but faux brick and stone....not so much.


The dated kitchen. It's not getting a facelift until next year. More faux stone wallpaper.



Living room empty.
Please don't be jealous of my blue stairs...this look was discontinued in 1985.
The current master bedroom. Not very masterful.


Monday, June 1, 2009

Retro Rocker

Don’t let your kiddos cramp your sense of style. Make a statement without saying a word with this modern take on an old classic. Modern in style, compact for small spaces and available in a rainbow of colors it’s no surprise this chair is at the top of designer’s "Lust Lists". Check them out at www.Modernica.net