So....remember that bedroom furniture I was drooling over, specifically, that bed frame from West Elm? Well it turns out we are getting a giant tax return (oops) and Eric may have mentioned last night that we could buy that bed if I still wanted to (which is super thoughtful since I'm fairly certain I only mentioned that bedroom set to him once).
I feel like buying a bed frame would be a total splurge and completely uncharacteristic of us, especially since we need dressers (and siding and windows and grass) far more and since we haven't actually seen any of this furniture in person.
What's a girl to do?
a) be sensible and put our tax return toward savings accounts, cars, windows, and/or siding?
b) forget sensibility and buy the bed?
c) throw caution to the wind and buy the whole kit and kaboodle: bed, dressers, and nightstands? It is on sale, after all.
I have a feeling my sensible side will win out and we will have siding long before we have a bedroom set, but it is fun to imagine.....
Anybody with a West Elm want to go look at this stuff and tell me if I'm making a huge mistake?
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
New Drapes
I got new drapes for the living room window. They're navy and velvety. I like 'em. There was just too much white going on. They seem to add some warmth while bringing out the richness of Eric's Big Lebowski rug.
These are the worst pictures ever, so please just use your imagination.
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Mmm, velvety.
These are the worst pictures ever, so please just use your imagination.
.JPG)
Mmm, velvety.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Emily Henderson II
Last Wednesday, I posted about Emily Henderson's Sale at One King's Lane. Today, I thought I'd share a few rooms that she's decorated.
These are a few of my favorite - the first two are of her own home (living room and office), the next three are of Ian Brennan's home (living room), and the last three are the home of the blogger Oh Joy! (living room).
And a few of my not-so-favorites:
Sometimes I think there's too much clutter and that the pops of color she adds (hot pink or orange) are a bit much, but I do really like the way she refurbishes old furniture and is able to seamlessly mix vintage pieces with more modern ones. I think I'm most drawn to the rooms in which she uses rich materials and cool colors, as in the following:
I love the cobalt, the greenery, how bright everything looks with the reflective surfaces of the brass; the only thing missing is a piece of furniture in Emily's signature blue velvet (probably the reason I bought my drapes in the first place). Gosh, that light fixture is amazing.
All photos are property of Emily Henderson - I snagged them off her site - if you want to see more of her work, you can see her portfolio here.
These are a few of my favorite - the first two are of her own home (living room and office), the next three are of Ian Brennan's home (living room), and the last three are the home of the blogger Oh Joy! (living room).
All photos are property of Emily Henderson - I snagged them off her site - if you want to see more of her work, you can see her portfolio here.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Over the Weekend: An Unexpected Guest
We had a houseguest over the weekend.
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A little furry friend that showed up in our backyard and wouldn't leave. In fact, after we put him in his own yard, he squirmed under the fence and came back.
And came back.
And came back.
The third time, I was waxing the floors and had all the doors open to air out the house; the little guy came in and made himself right at home.
It was pretty fun to have a dog for a day.
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And came back.
And came back.
The third time, I was waxing the floors and had all the doors open to air out the house; the little guy came in and made himself right at home.
It was pretty fun to have a dog for a day.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
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Friday, March 15, 2013
Inspring Artist: Jeremy Miranda
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Best of Etsy: Himmeli Mobiles
I started this post about a year ago, and I am just now getting around to publishing it.
I stumbled across these mobiles on Etsy, and, after discovering they were made of straws and string, had grand plans of making some of my own. After a few tries, I got the hang of it, but I soon discovered that the string I was using would stretch out and that the diamonds would loosen and fall apart. It didn't help that the cat found my stash of straws and chewed them into oblivion.
In case you're wondering what you're looking at, these are Finnish Himmeli Mobiles - traditional Christmas ornaments made of straw & string. I couldn't find much about their origin, but it seems that traditionally, they were made of straw (like the grass, not the drinking plastic kind) in order to celebrate and encourage a good harvest.
Since my discovery last year, I've also found people who make Himmeli Mobiles out of brass as well. These are even more cool.
I had planned to buy (or make one) to hang one in the corner of our dining room, but for now, I will just look at them online and drool.
If you want to see more, you can go to Hruskaa's (I think they were formerly AMRadio) shop on Etsy and check them out!
I stumbled across these mobiles on Etsy, and, after discovering they were made of straws and string, had grand plans of making some of my own. After a few tries, I got the hang of it, but I soon discovered that the string I was using would stretch out and that the diamonds would loosen and fall apart. It didn't help that the cat found my stash of straws and chewed them into oblivion.
Since my discovery last year, I've also found people who make Himmeli Mobiles out of brass as well. These are even more cool.
I had planned to buy (or make one) to hang one in the corner of our dining room, but for now, I will just look at them online and drool.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Emily Henderson
I enjoy design shows like "Project Runway" and HGTV's "Design Star," but in all my years of watching these shows, my favorites have only ever won twice: Gretchen Jones ("Project Runway" Season 8 winner) and Emily Henderson ("Design Star" Season 5). Gretchen is really the only clothing designer from "Project Runway" that has since made a name for herself, and Emily Henderson seems to be doing even better in the interior design world.
Emily's blog is one of the few that I actually read each day, and it's fast becoming one of my favorites. She's a little bit snarky and, even though she uses a lot of hot pink and, well, color in her decorating, I really like reading about her process and seeing how her rooms turn out. It's like a behind-the-scenes, what-was-your-thought-process, look at how a real, awesome, professional designer turns a room from drab to fab. And she gives hints! From how to score deals at a flea market (wish we had one here) to how to shop at a flower market (also non-existent), Emily is really good at explaining aspects of the design world; I often feel like I'm actually learning something!
Bonus: SHE WATCHES THE BACHELOR, PEOPLE, and she's not afraid to comment on things like Kim Kardashian's failed marriage or how blue Ryan Gossling's eyes are (as she compares them to paint colors...). Which is super rare. Every other blog I read (when I say read, I mean look at) is too cool for school, if you know what I mean.
Besides the blogging and the interior decorating, Emily Henderson also gets to go to flea markets every weekend. Lucky duck. There, she picks up old furniture, paintings, and accessories and turns them into awesome pieces. A few of these pieces are now online at her curated One Kings Lane Sale in their "Tastemaker Tag Sale." If only I had 10 grand (and the desire to spend ten grand) for furniture....
These were a few of my favorite pieces from the sale; I'll have to post some of her interior design work soon.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Inspiring Illustrator: Liekeland
Monday, March 11, 2013
Our Icelandic Adventure
I still haven't sorted or edited all of our photos photos properly, but I am going to attempt to give a run-down while our trip is fresh in my memory.
Day 1:
We left Denver at four pm and, seven hours later, landed in Reykjavik, Iceland where it was six in the morning.
From the airport, we were shuttled to our car rental, SadCars. SadCars happens to be in a Quonset hut in the middle of nowhere. When we pulled up, I was a little worried that we were about to be robbed and left in the middle of Iceland to fend for ourselves, but the SadCar operator turned out to be incredibly kind and helpful. His inspection of our car included a pen light (it was still dark at 6 am) and the repetition of the phrase, "we only really care about major dents..." He informed us that we could bring our car back with or without a full tank of gas (which meant our car was completely empty), and as we drove away in search of fuel, the engine light came on. Ah, adventure. Those things aside, our car turned out to be very clean, reliable, and absolutely perfect for the rest of our trip. Eric was actually pretty awesome at driving it and I felt more than once like we were in a Bourne movie.
We meant to go to the Blue Lagoon for our first stop, but upon realizing we had no map and that we couldn't actually read any of the signs we were passing, we decided to head for Reykjavik and our hotel which was an hour away. Two hours later, I remembered that our hotel had looked like it was close to the domestic airport when I had typed in into google earth the week before. Thirty minutes after that, we saw a plane in the sky and followed its general direction to the airport at which point Eric got out and asked a taxi driver where our hotel was. Thirty minutes later, we were finally pulling into our hotel. THANK. GOODNESS. After checking in and a quick nap, we decided to hit the city!
One good thing about all our driving around, we had a pretty good idea of how the city was laid out and were able to walk straight from our hotel to the city center. We wandered through shops, had the most delicious soup of my life at a place whose name I can't remember, and ended up at Hallgrimskirkja, a giant Lutheran church in the heart of the city. It was breath-taking.
More walking revealed gems such as a skate part covered in incredible graffiti art.
We didn't stay out too late as we were exhausted after getting no sleep the night before and knew the following day would be busy...
Day 2:
The trip we booked included a "glacier hike" as part of the deal. We figured that the "hike" would be more a leisurely "walk" since most tour packages consist of activities in which an eighty-year-old lady with a heart condition could participate. We were wrong.
The tour guide took one look at my footwear and announced that we had to make a stop before beginning our journey; we headed back to "Glacier Tours Headquarters" and spent twenty minutes being outfitted with rain pants, snow boots, ice picks, and crampons. Eric and I weren't the only ones in need of gear, but I still felt like a failure as a Montanan. Here we are in all our glory:
From there, the tour bus headed to a hotel for dinner and then we began our hunt for the Northern Lights. We saw them faintly in the distance, but nothing too spectacular since the sky had been cloudy all day.
_________________________________________
The next days we had to ourselves (and our SadCar) and followed a similar pattern: In the morning, we'd drive into town and park by our favorite pond.
From there, we'd walk to a coffee shop and have some breakfast.
Then we'd grab a loaf of bread and some cheese and salami in preparation for a picnic lunch at whatever location we'd planned to see that day. After a day full of activity, we'd head back to the city and either wander around and get some dinner... (here's Eric eating a whale steak)
...or sit in our hotel pool and then have a drink at the bar.
Day 3:
After a croissant and some coffee, we headed a bit inland to Gullfoss and Geysir. Gullfoss was an amazing waterfall and Geysir was like a mini Yellowstone park. Both were beautiful!
Day 4:
It was too overcast (read: rainy) to walk around the city so we headed north and drove around a fiord. There were sooo many waterfalls!
Day 5:
We drove south along the coast, then stopped at the blue lagoon before flying out that afternoon.
Sigh.
I loved it in Iceland. I think I would move there in an instant. Everything was so clean (YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THE BATHROOMS), and people wear awesome sweaters there, and beards are a cultural norm, and everyone is beautiful, and there's Scandinavian design out the wazzoo.
I love it. I want to go back.
Day 1:
We left Denver at four pm and, seven hours later, landed in Reykjavik, Iceland where it was six in the morning.
From the airport, we were shuttled to our car rental, SadCars. SadCars happens to be in a Quonset hut in the middle of nowhere. When we pulled up, I was a little worried that we were about to be robbed and left in the middle of Iceland to fend for ourselves, but the SadCar operator turned out to be incredibly kind and helpful. His inspection of our car included a pen light (it was still dark at 6 am) and the repetition of the phrase, "we only really care about major dents..." He informed us that we could bring our car back with or without a full tank of gas (which meant our car was completely empty), and as we drove away in search of fuel, the engine light came on. Ah, adventure. Those things aside, our car turned out to be very clean, reliable, and absolutely perfect for the rest of our trip. Eric was actually pretty awesome at driving it and I felt more than once like we were in a Bourne movie.
We meant to go to the Blue Lagoon for our first stop, but upon realizing we had no map and that we couldn't actually read any of the signs we were passing, we decided to head for Reykjavik and our hotel which was an hour away. Two hours later, I remembered that our hotel had looked like it was close to the domestic airport when I had typed in into google earth the week before. Thirty minutes after that, we saw a plane in the sky and followed its general direction to the airport at which point Eric got out and asked a taxi driver where our hotel was. Thirty minutes later, we were finally pulling into our hotel. THANK. GOODNESS. After checking in and a quick nap, we decided to hit the city!
One good thing about all our driving around, we had a pretty good idea of how the city was laid out and were able to walk straight from our hotel to the city center. We wandered through shops, had the most delicious soup of my life at a place whose name I can't remember, and ended up at Hallgrimskirkja, a giant Lutheran church in the heart of the city. It was breath-taking.
Also, we wandered around the harbor and stopped at the opera house to use the toilet. And the wifi.
We didn't stay out too late as we were exhausted after getting no sleep the night before and knew the following day would be busy...
Day 2:
The trip we booked included a "glacier hike" as part of the deal. We figured that the "hike" would be more a leisurely "walk" since most tour packages consist of activities in which an eighty-year-old lady with a heart condition could participate. We were wrong.
The tour guide took one look at my footwear and announced that we had to make a stop before beginning our journey; we headed back to "Glacier Tours Headquarters" and spent twenty minutes being outfitted with rain pants, snow boots, ice picks, and crampons. Eric and I weren't the only ones in need of gear, but I still felt like a failure as a Montanan. Here we are in all our glory:
And here's the glacier in all its glory:
The glacier itself was a gorgeous blue color striated with layers of ash from the volcanoes in the area. It was lovely, but I was pretty glad to have had all that gear; the wind started howling before we were finished and hail began to pelt us as we headed back down.
After the glacier, we headed to Skogafoss waterfall.
_________________________________________
The next days we had to ourselves (and our SadCar) and followed a similar pattern: In the morning, we'd drive into town and park by our favorite pond.
Then we'd grab a loaf of bread and some cheese and salami in preparation for a picnic lunch at whatever location we'd planned to see that day. After a day full of activity, we'd head back to the city and either wander around and get some dinner... (here's Eric eating a whale steak)
...or sit in our hotel pool and then have a drink at the bar.
Day 3:
After a croissant and some coffee, we headed a bit inland to Gullfoss and Geysir. Gullfoss was an amazing waterfall and Geysir was like a mini Yellowstone park. Both were beautiful!
Day 4:
It was too overcast (read: rainy) to walk around the city so we headed north and drove around a fiord. There were sooo many waterfalls!
Day 5:
We drove south along the coast, then stopped at the blue lagoon before flying out that afternoon.
Sigh.
I loved it in Iceland. I think I would move there in an instant. Everything was so clean (YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THE BATHROOMS), and people wear awesome sweaters there, and beards are a cultural norm, and everyone is beautiful, and there's Scandinavian design out the wazzoo.
I love it. I want to go back.
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