A Productive Weekend

Finally managed to get to some of the craft projects
that have been on my to-do list over the weekend.

A few new cards...





And I finally got my "bus roll" bookmarks
printed out in black and laminated...


I was pretty pleased with how they turned out, but
definitely learned a few dos and don'ts for my
next batch. Trial and error, that's half the fun, right?

Upstairs, Downstairs

After running across this photo from Traditional Home
this week, it renewed my desire to refinish my stairs.
An odd space to want to redo, but I've always sort of
hated mine. Sure they are functional, as all stairs are,
but mine are just so boring.

Much like my builder grade kitchen and bath
cabinets, they are sort of a blah shade of oak.
And the neutral carpet doesn't do much to
perk them up...


I'd love to do a dark wood and bright white combo
like my inspired pic. Then again, I love the all white
look like this shot from Sarah's House, season 1...


Or this one with the warmer colored carpet runner...


Another project for the "one of these days" list.

Happy Saturday!

Forgive Me, I'm a Little Slow

Turquoise is the 2010 Color of the Year per Pantone.
However it's never really been one of my favorites.
But I think I'm coming around. Having run across
these rooms recently, with their pops of turquoise,
both subtle and vibrant, I definitely see the draw.

LOVE the neutrals together with the
turquoise accents...

Homesense.ca

I adore this light and airy space. How perfect!

hgtv.ca

I'm a total sucker for a white kitchen. And with that
turquoise tile, gorgeous!

House of Turquoise

I think this room is just so soft and pretty. Love it!

Laura Ashley

I can just imagine sitting at this table with a cup of
tea and blogging away on the laptop, can't you?

hgtv.com

SO looking forward to Friday this week. I'm hoping
I can take the afternoon off to attend The Great
American Scrapbook Show here in VA this weekend.
I'm not a scrapper, but I do love to make cards.
Fingers crossed they have some cool new supplies!

The Grays Have It

I was trying to refile some of my pictures last night
and I realized just how much I'm drawn to neutrals,
especially grays, as of late. Thought I'd share a few
of my favorite rooms.

BHG

Style at Home

Ideal Home

hgtv.ca

It's another hot one here in Virginia today.
Hope everyone is staying cool.

Ode to Summer

Happy First Day of Summer!

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of
the lazy days of summer. It would start with the
flowers blooming in my grandmothers garden.
We'd anxiously await that glorious last day of
school when there was no more homework, no
more tests, just the celebrated final day when
the bells would ring for the last time until fall.

Then it was long days of playing outside, endless
bike rides through the neighborhood, and catching
lightening bugs. A day at the pool here, a picnic
there. Ahhh those sublimely simple days.



Images from my parents garden

Random Favorites

Hate that work has been so busy lately that I've had
to neglect my posts. I'm hoping things will quiet down
this coming week and I can get back on track. Until then,
thought I'd share a few random favorites from my files.

Some women love shoes, I love BAGS. And I adore
this brown leather tote from Clarevivier.
Classic and gorgeous!



On Saturdays when I don't have to run out of the house
early, I love to catch Colin & Justin's Home Heist on
BBC America. They are pretty over the top, but also
rather entertaining. And some of their rooms are just
lovely. Like this bedroom...


I tend to be a pretty frugal shopper. I shop the
clearance rack at Target quite often, and never pay
full price for something at Michaels. Awhile back
I picked up this little gem which was 50% off plus
I had an additional 20% off coupon. SCORE!



And another find from that recent issue of Ideal Home.
This Laura Ashley pillow is right up my alley.

Fingers crossed that I can get back to regular posting
next week, and I'm hoping to have some great new
crafts to share.

Happy Weekend!

Ideal For Sure

In a recent issue of Ideal Home, these living rooms really
caught my eye.

Love the yellow and gray. Such a perfect combo...


Nothing fancy in this space, but I adore the blue
and taupe stripes on that wall...


This daybed style couch would be perfect in my
spare room...


I hate that it costs 8 bucks an issue to buy Ideal Home
here in the US, but it's so worth it.

Good Eats!

I had a business dinner this evening and we went to
the Italian restaurant Il Fornaio. I believe it's mostly
a West Coast chain, but Northern VA was the
recipient of their first East Coast location. Anyway,
it was my first time there, and OH MY.

I had a chicken dish that was quite possibly the best
chicken I've ever eaten. And the piece de resistance,
a little chocolate number called the Rosina al Cioccolato.

The description from their menu:
Chocolate mousse, fresh raspberries and sponge cake soaked with Triple Sec; served with orange crème anglaise.

A better description... heaven on a plate.

I'll get a picture next time!

The Orange Blues

Anyone catch Color Splash Miami last night on HGTV?
I can't say the Old World with modern touches bedroom
was my style, but I loved a few of the pieces. Those white
chairs and their orange pillows... gorgeous! The blues and
greens in David's paintings against that orange wall sent
me in search of ideas with that color scheme.

HGTV

Not quite the blue/green, but I love the blues and oranges
in this outdoor space. Funny, I think it was done by
Design Star #2, Kim Myles...

HGTV

This entry sure makes a statement with it's orange...

BHG

And just the slightest hint of orange in this room,
but how sweet...

The 80s 2.0

Thought I'd take a quick break from what seems like
none-stop work over the past few days (and unfortunately
includes this weekend) for a quick post.

I was just reading an article about "The Karate Kid"
remake taking the top spot at the box office this
weekend. And what came in second? Why it was the
remake of "The A-Team". How crazy is that? Let's
see, this makes three 80s remakes so far this year, yes?
"Clash of the Titans" was the first. Which I admit I
did go to see. Mostly because I have a tiny little
celeb crush on Sam Worthington. Not the best movie
I've ever seen, but it was entertaining.

Part of me feels a bit sad that Hollywood seems to be
running rather low on original ideas these days. But on
the flip side, I have to admit, "The Karate Kid" remake
looks quite good, and visually stunning. I caught
a trailer awhile back and thought the cinematography
looked incredible.

I just did a search to see what other reboots from the
era of big hair and leg warmers (I heard those made a
recent comeback too!) we have to um, look forward to.
On the list, Tron, Red Dawn (oh my, really?), Footloose
and Oliver Stone's Wall Street.

Let's hope they leave some of our favorite classics
alone, and where they belong... In the past!

One Season Ends and Another Begins

Last night finished up the season finales for those shows
that I follow. I laughed, I cried, even sang along with one.
First up a quick look back at a few of my favorite endings,
then a look ahead to the return of some summer favorites.


*****SPOILER ALERT*****


The series ending of Ugly Betty...
Was I the only one still watching that show? It definitely
floundered after the first season, but I really enjoyed the
last one. I'm sure many hated Daniel following Betty to
London, but I for one loved it and thought it was done
very well. Hello, my name is Kristi, and I am a hopeless
romantic.

Glee...
When this show first premiered I only watched because
of all the hype. And honestly I didn't really like it. That
was up until the club sang "Don't Stop Believin'. And
I was hooked. Sorry, I am a child of the 80's. And in
last nights finale they did a medley of all my fave
Journey tunes. Loved it!




Chuck...
I was thrilled when I heard Chuck was saved yet again
for another season. Seriously, if there was one show
you should give a try it's Chuck. Yes, totally my opinion,
but it's so well written. The way they have developed the
characters and plot from bumbling nerds at the Buy More
to the spies with a heart of gold (cheesy but true) is just
phenomenal. And bam, they did it again with the reveal
of Chuck's Mom still alive and taking the show in a whole
new direction.

Enough with the endings, lets look forward to the return
of a few of my favorite summer shows.

Drop Dead Diva...
Such a cute show, and it always has a lovely little lesson
in there somewhere. I heart it.

Royal Pains...
This show is worth checking out just for some of the
homes and exterior shots. And I love Evan played
by Paulo Costanzo.

Psych...
I know, I know, it's such a silly show. But you gotta
love the bromance between Shawn and Gus.

Any shows you are going to enjoy this summer?

dish-a-holic

I confess, I do love dishes. Plates, bowls, cups, saucers,
I love them all. If I had unlimited cabinet space, I'd probably
have ten or more sets. I think it started many years ago when
I lived near a Pfaltzgraff outlet. My Mom (probably where I
got it from) and I would hit there twice a year warehouse sales
and pick up a 20 piece setting for about 10 bucks. Ahh the good
'ole days when companies would overproduce.

These days, I indulge my habit by picking up small pieces here
and there. But I fell in love with these patterns while perusing
macys.com this weekend:


Perfectly simple...

Lenox-Voila

Love these colors....

Lenox-Chirp

Great for mixing and matching...

Martha Stewart - Hudson Collection

Lounging

As I've mentioned before, I took a lot of
inspiration from Amanda's bedroom in "The Holiday" for
my own master suite redo. One item that I unfortunately
couldn't copy from her space was that big fluffy pillow filled
sofa/daybed. I'm afraid I only have room for a couple of chairs
in my space, which is not bad, but still, how great would it be
to have a comfy loungy sofa like that where you could kick
back and read a book.

I ran across this sofa which was a fair match to Amandas...


Actually I think I like this daybed from Thomasville better...


If you didn't have a seating area in your master, I think converting
a spare bedroom into a lounge space would be a very cool idea.
Like Sarah Richardson did in her first series of Sarah's House
where she combined an office with a sort of TV room in one of
the bedrooms. Such a great space.




Happy weekend everyone!

Etsy Thursday

Happy Thursday to all! I can hardly believe the weekend
is almost here already. I must admit, I do like the 4-day
work week. Thursdays mean I peruse my Etsy Favorites
and pick a few to share. This week, it's art. Photo, print,
poster, I have it all.

First up, given the fact that you see them EVERYWHERE,
I think it's safe to say I'm not alone in liking the chandelier
craze. I would love to have this print for my bedroom...

Lucky Bluebird Art

This is kind of a cool modern twist on the bus roll signs. And
I love San Francisco...

Agathas Typewriter

I think I need this in my office...

Nella Designs

And there is so much great photography on Etsy, it's almost
impossible to pick one to share. But I've always liked this
photo by the sfgirlbybay...

sfgirlbybay

If you knew the colors would work, I think this would make a
cute wedding gift...

Lucky Bluebird Art

And of course I'll finish up with a Keep Calm poster.
This one is just fabulous...

Keep Calm Shop

That's it for this weeks favorites. Signing off to go
watch an episode of House Hunters International that
I'm shocked to say, I've never seen. And it's London!
Cheerio!

Location Scouting

You know, you really can find just about anything online, no? I
was surfing some real estate listings the other day and stumbled
across a site which offers location services for filming. And I
mean just about any location you might need for your TV or
movie filming needs. Auto dealerships, prison cell blocks, of
course any kind of residential home you may want. I especially
liked the property to destroy option. Anyway. I started clicking
through a few of the homes. Fell in love with this place:





Gotta love the white with those pops of green.

Images: Joe Darrell Location Services

Powerpoint To The Rescue

I just love the digital images from OliveRue that I mentioned
on one of my Etsy posts. You can do so much with them. I
got the bright idea I wanted to frame a couple, but when I
did, they looked a little blah. And my local craft store didn't
have a mat I liked. So I put my crafty cap on, opened up
my office presentation program, and added a background
and border.

And voila...



Sorry, it's not the best photo. And you can't really see my
border, but it really added the perfect punch.
I loved how they came out so much, now I want to try
giving some of my other images the power point
treatment.