how cute is this??

can you say christmas? how great is this little diddy? what a fantastic clutch from kate! the color is awesome! happy saturday! its beautiful here and the weather is perfect...a jeans and t-shirt kind of day.

timeless art....

silhouettes are classic and timeless. the black and white is so chic. i love these plates done by rabbit toes. i love when you mix silhouettes together in a wall arrangement....i love antique ones of men you have no idea who they are, thrown in with a childhood one of yourself (mine is above). my in-laws have beautiful ones of my father-in-law and his sister done and they are just priceless. silhouettes don't have to be limited to black and white. just last year, i had one done of our dog (yes, this was before we had a child)! it's great....the background is robin's egg blue and his silhouette is chocolate brown. i gave it to my husband for christmas. he must have loved it b/c its still in the tube that it came in....

is this what my life is suppose to be like....

give me more jay jeffers...

he describes his design as "sophisticated fun" and that is exactly what this picture is. i love it when designers don't take themselves too serious. jay does amazing interiors and its easy to see why he was named one of HB's Top 100 Interior Designers. His interiors are fresh, vibrant, and have an element of surprise in them....that is why i heart JDG; not to mention the fantastic wallpaper featured in the room above! Bored, check out his inspiring website!

take me to Hudson....

while web surfing i stumbled across this gorgeous store Hudson. i love this store...well from what i have seen of it online. its like the perfect mix of old and new, stylish yet sophisticated...right up my alley. the owner, jill goldberg started out as a struggling actress in LA and left to become an interior designer. don't you just love the kelly weastler's trellis fabric upholstered on the armchair...and those pillows are vintage feed sacks...so chic!

stools anyone?

i love these mid-century stools from 1st dibs. i think they would look great with a kitchen table. instead of your typical chairs with backs, i think it would be fun to use these. to add some comfort you could always do circular pillows on the seats. i can see the pillows in maybe this fun mod green pod fabric adelaide, piped and backed in a mustard yellow velvet. i think this DWR pedestal table would complete the look for my "new found" kitchen eating area....

recreate that dining room on a budget

love the dining room featured below but can't afford the designer look....
here are some budget finds that can help you recreate this designer room: add the look of these asian doors, with the elegance of this table, the starkness of these chairs, the touch of this light (minus the shades), and lastly the essence of an "osborne and little" look-a-like wallpaper and VOILA....a fantastic dining room at a faction of the cost! enjoy :)

if only...

my dining room was this beautiful. i love this room. the wallpaper by osborne and little just totally captivates this space and makes you want to linger over your last sip of wine. while this room is formal- it's hip, hollywood, and totally inviting in its appearance. i love the starkness of the white chairs with the simplistic nail head (literally, they look like tiny nails just tapped into the delicate fabric)...i love the slight arch of the chair's back and legs...they are just gorgeous. and i love the doors leading into the space...very asian meets sleek nyc penthouse.

which highchair?

so i am having a hard time deciding which highchair i want to get the baby. we went to her 4 month check-up (the one i waited for an hour and a half for) and they handed us a pamphlet stating that it was time to start introducing solid foods....who goes and spends all that time at the pediatrician to be handed a pamphlet on how to introduce solid foods? i think that i need to switch doctors if that is the way she communicates with her patients. so i finally took the time to "read" our pamphlet b/c i have no idea how to feed a kid. needless to say, they strongly recommend a highchair for this venture and so i am trying to decide which one is the most decorator friendly, yet functional...any opinions?

the top is the totally cool tripp trapp chair and its great looking in my humble opinion. i love the design, the color choices, and the fact that it doesn't scream highchair. the problem i have with this is that the food goes onto your table vs. having a tray attached. therefore, anything the baby eats is getting smashed into my antique dining room table and on my rug. the plus, is that she can use this chair until the she is 6 yrs old....

now, the pink nano is for the hip, urban parents who live in small spaces. i would say we have a "smaller kitchen" b/c it has an island in the middle and a bar table w/ two barstools on the side. so there isn't a vast amount of space for this lovely object to hang out. and i will say that warren and i are much more "eat at the kitchen or in the family room vs. the dining room table" kind of people. i feel like this isn't a totally heinous highchair; it comes in rather cool colors, its leather, and it folds up and can be put away. lastly, there will be no smashed peas on the floor or antique table b/c it comes w/ a lovely tray....

so i am left with the decision....cool, trendy chair that grows the the child or "standard, yet stylish highchair, that functions like its original purpose"...thoughts?

**for those of you who don't have kids, i am so sorry to bore you with this blog. since y'all are the lucky ones w/out kids at home, have a blast bar hopping tonight...man, i miss those days...

chicken man

if you are from columbia, sc than you have no doubt heard of "chicken man", also known as ernest lee. he is a wonderful pop artist who has made his mark throughout SC. he began painting at the age of 12. he once described his folk art as something "done from the heart, not from a picture". his subjects are usually painted on particle board and range in prices (my mother-in-law has discovered that if you buy in bulk you get a better bargain). He travels throughout the south w/ his mobile open air art gallery. if you are interested in his work, you can usually find him on the corner of harden and gervais street in columbia...or just let me know, my mother-in-law has his cellphone number b/c she loves giving his art as wedding gifts.

needless to say, i was so excited when my mother-in-law showed up w/ this "chicken man" on monday. she has had her hanging in the garage for years and i have always wondered why. she claims its b/c she's a little frayed around the edges and some of the paint is chipping. but i love "chicken woman" with her big butt and endowed knockers! i cannot wait to hang her on my "want-to-be" cottage porch. i think i am going to put her above my yardsale church pew so everyone can see her from inside the house. she puts a huge smile on my face! thanks gayle for my giftie, she adds total attitude to my porch!

happy october

can you believe that its october??!! that's insanity. i feel like this summer flew by but maybe that's because i had a baby....i spent my summer learning how to change diapers, calm a screaming kid, and sing silly songs (something that i am personally not good at...my latest is "let me ride that donkey, donkey"...which is in turn a rap song...but she knows no difference).

now that i am a new mother, i feel like i have to fully get into halloween...does that mean that i now have to decorate my house w/ cobwebs and spooky ghost and witches? i mean, i am totally into christmas decor but i haven't ever been into halloween. well, besides the pumpkin that me and warren carve. we use to be awful at doing these...we would enjoy a 12-pack of beer and get out our best tj-maxx knife and some random soup spoon and go at the poor pumpkin. and let me tell you, what came out of that combo was quite hilarious.

however last year, we had a pumpkin party with our neighbors. my mom (who loves shopping the 75% off rack) had given up a "pumpkin carving kit" and the creation we made was definitely prize worthy. but this year, i want to create something beyond the jack-o-lantern face, or the spider, or the ghost...something a little "prettier" and more martha stewart. i love this idea of the house numbers (only my house has a lot of numbers so i am not sure it would look this cute)...i'll be sure to take a picture at this year's "2nd annual" pumpkin carving contest!

monogramming makes it better...

i have loved these chairs since i saw them in cottage living (one of my all time fav mags) a year or so ago. i love the numbers on the backs of the chairs. can't you see yourself at a dinner party and the hostess tells you to "go sit in chair #3"! i think its so innovative.

so why does monogramming things make me happy? it's not like i have a ton of stuff in my own house monogrammed...a shower curtain in my guest bath, bar glasses, a llbean handbag, and of course the wedding towels that everyone gets when they get married. i think it just makes it personal. a couple of years ago at the charleston symphony showhouse, one of the designers put a huge monogram on a slipcovered wingchair and i loved it. i guess i am in love with the unique monogram...the ones that are done in a different script, or in a funky pattern, or on an unexpected item.