2.29.2008
Obsessing Over: French Armoires
So loving French armoires right now. When I was in Paris I saw one that was painted silver and couldn't stop drooling. I so have to do that someday.
on being a mom...
tonight I forgot about all the things that i sometimes think a "perfect" mom should be and for a brief moment I had complete clarity that motherhood is all about being lucky enough to share your life with a little perfect being (they will always be little, no matter how old they get...if not always perfect).
2.28.2008
Sometimes I need a little motivating...
...and what a prettier way to get it than these lovely posters from banner babe or sfgirlbythebay, and Right Brain Terrain.
2.27.2008
impatience
In true Merrilee style, I grew impatient with my hair and before I was able to read any of your helpful comments on the previous posts, I bee-lined it to the salon and went for a blond choppy bang look. I like it so far...they really helped me feel at ease with having bangs so I'll give a go (not that I have any choice anymore ;)). Now of course your comments have made me think lighter was the wrong choice. Let me know if you think I should head back in the dark direction when this starts to grow out.
hair help
Ok so i've recently cut bangs and I'm not sure how I feel about them. As far as color, I know I need some serious TLC. The question is do I go lighter or darker? I need your input people. Mini crisis here.
Obsessing Over: Candy Jars
I'm so in love with color coordinated candy jars. If only I still lived by Dlyan's Candy Bar and I could get all the color combinations my little heart desires.
creative photo display
loving the way ciel d'orange displays these antique photos. What a lovely way to show off your family tree.
2.24.2008
Sewful Sundays: scrappy quilt
As I mentioned on my 30 things... list, I want to try and get some sewing in on Sundays. Every few months I'm tied up Sunday mornings working on lesson plans for Primary but when I'm not teaching I want to try and sew. Atticus is almost 2 years old and just moved to a toddler bed two days ago (when did I get such a big boy?!). As a result he is in desperate need of some new bedding. I thought I'd try my hand at quilting...but want to start simple. I love this scrappy quilt (pattern found in the book Trimmings) and how the striped patches are just a tad uneven. I realize they have a baby in this pic but I'm going to try and make it large enough for Atticus. Wish me luck!
2.22.2008
I get by with a little "shout out" from my friends
I have to thank Cassandra Barney for the kind "shout out" she recently gave Jon and myself.
I also have to show you her new and fabulous paper puppet dolls she's working on...you will drool...and like me, have to have one.
2.21.2008
Salivating over...
Nora's dining room found via Design Mom. Making me want to paint mine this green...hmm...
2.20.2008
Catwalk to Closet: Lela Rose
Morning everyone. I've decided to start a new "column" on my blog called "Catwalk to Closet" where I take favorite catwalk looks and recreate them for less. I'm not going for an exact match, but I do try to capture the overall look and feel. If you have any runway pics you'd like me to break down for you, please send them over!To start off with, I've chosen this gorgeous Lela Rose ensemble from her recent fall 08 collection (something we could all wear now as we go from winter to spring). The the right are my picks for recreating this look:
- Flapped bomber jacket: Forever 21. $37.80
- City-fit stretch chino cafe capri: J.Crew. $79.50
- Silk rosette tunic: Banana Republic. $79.00... or
- Silk lace top: Banana Republic. $79.00
- Saffron ballet flat: Banana Republic. $78.00
- Soho necklace: Forever 21. $7.80
2.19.2008
Exquisite
I don't think I'll ever be too old for dolls. I love all the creations that Christine Alvarado, over at Du Buh Du Designs, makes.
At home where she belongs...
the emerald is really starting to grow on me...and just happens to be one of fall's "it" colors.
why I've been banned from ebay...
...by my husband, that is. I purchased these two paintings for what seemed like a steel of $19.99 and $16.99...until I realized that one would be shipped from China (ouch...shipping costs would be killer) and the other had a thick heavy frame...also making shipping costs high. Ok, so I neglect to look at shipping info and the location of the seller far too often...bad ebay newbie mistakes. But hey...practice makes perfect right? I just need more experience. And wouldn't you agree that they just go so perfect in the rooms they were meant for?
2.18.2008
Mystic Paper Beasts
I would love to take Atticus to a Mystic Paper Beasts show. Being in love with the book The Year I Didn't Go To School and with author/illustrator Giselle Potter it would only be natural that I would love the masked theater company her family started when she was little (which is actually what the book The Year I Didn't Go to School is all about).
2.15.2008
Today I am Inspired by:
...painted on architectural elements and creative art arrangements.
*I'll probably never be a legit design/art blog as I don't source everything due to my large and somewhat disorderly design file (much of which I started well before I ever became a dedicated blogger). If you want to know where a particular image came from I'll do my best to track it down for you.
*I'll probably never be a legit design/art blog as I don't source everything due to my large and somewhat disorderly design file (much of which I started well before I ever became a dedicated blogger). If you want to know where a particular image came from I'll do my best to track it down for you.
2.14.2008
fabulous cake
If I was super interesting and fabulously well connected I'd throw a V-day party and serve this cake (and of course you would all be invited). Happy Valentines!
2.13.2008
too cute decor ideas
overall a little too cute for me but I love the idea of using addition/subtraction cards for art and the "eat" sign in the dining area.
Vintage Inspired Jewelry
I LOVE these vintage inspired jewelry pieces featured in the March Country Living (a lovely issue filled with stories from women entrepreneurs). In fact I'm so into vintage jewelry that I had a dream the other night that I went to a workshop to create some similar necklaces to those above and I spent over $100 on the chain alone. I was so stressed about how I was going to confess this to Jon that when I finally woke up I was very relieved that no expensive chain purchasing occurred. Silliness.
brilliance
Just the other day I was getting Atticus out of the bath and thought, "it would be so nice to have a comfy chair to sit on while I dried him off like all those fancy bathrooms in magazines". Then I thought, "but it would get water damage, and I don't have room"...etc. Well I still don't have room but I was excited to see that Country Living has come up with a solution to the water damage aspect by slipcovering a chair with oversize terry cloth bath towels. Sheer brilliance I tell you.
Putting myself out there...at 2:30 in the AM
I couldn't sleep tonight as Jon was up working grading papers with his light on. The 2008 presidential primaries also came up right before I tried to go to sleep so...needless to say...exterior stimulation coupled with interior debating does not a tired girl make.
OK, so here is how I see it. Why would I shoot for the moon, take financial and emotional risks to create the American dream for my family and myself when after heavy taxes I could just as well work at Burger King, making more or less the same amount, and with padded health care? It doesn't add up to to burden the people with taxes (disguised as multiple reforms aiming to "make life better" when in turn it only perpetuates poverty, enslaving the recipient to a life of dependency) in the hopes of "freeing" them. It doesn't seem to speak logic to me. It sounds all warm and fuzzy yet does it really help? Does it really do good to shoot down those that can add more opportunity and jobs for those that need it? Shouldn't we be empowering our fellow Americans by encouraging them to work for themselves and their families and in a profession that enlightens their minds and in turn improves our economy (which then in turn improves their way of life)? To reduce a too large a percentage of America down to "those poor people who can't help themselves" is just well, un-American to me.
Ok, now I can go to sleep (hope I don't regret such musings in the morning...).
Don't worry, I'll be back to my usual pretty things and inspiring visuals. Such tangents won't become the norm...
OK, so here is how I see it. Why would I shoot for the moon, take financial and emotional risks to create the American dream for my family and myself when after heavy taxes I could just as well work at Burger King, making more or less the same amount, and with padded health care? It doesn't add up to to burden the people with taxes (disguised as multiple reforms aiming to "make life better" when in turn it only perpetuates poverty, enslaving the recipient to a life of dependency) in the hopes of "freeing" them. It doesn't seem to speak logic to me. It sounds all warm and fuzzy yet does it really help? Does it really do good to shoot down those that can add more opportunity and jobs for those that need it? Shouldn't we be empowering our fellow Americans by encouraging them to work for themselves and their families and in a profession that enlightens their minds and in turn improves our economy (which then in turn improves their way of life)? To reduce a too large a percentage of America down to "those poor people who can't help themselves" is just well, un-American to me.
Ok, now I can go to sleep (hope I don't regret such musings in the morning...).
Don't worry, I'll be back to my usual pretty things and inspiring visuals. Such tangents won't become the norm...
2.12.2008
2.11.2008
Lovely Artist: Penelope Dullaghan
I love the artwork that Penelope Dullaghan did for the Emily Dickinson Museum 2007 poster. As Emily Dickinson has always been a muse of mine I fear I must have one.
mom's supper ware
I was perusing the etsy store White Elephant Vintage and found these cups and saucers. My mother had plates out of this same Corelle Crazy Daisy motif when I was growing up. Wonder where they are now...
The "A" List
Jon and I have been thinking of what names we want for our future children and everything seems to start with "A". Because we have used "A" for Atticus already we feel that if we name the next child with an "A" name we will have to continue to use "A" names thereafter. I used to think that this was a silly idea but now I'm liking the unity and feeling of belonging it would bring to our family. I also really have always loved the structured look of the "A". (oh and an "E" name slipped in there...but she could go by Angeline). Please comment with more names that you like that begin with "A". I'm open for ideas. Thanks!
2.10.2008
I must paint Emily and Lavinia Dickinson
"[I]n this Emily was perfectly correct: home was, and has always been, something sacred for the Dickinsons. Nothing untoward could ever happen to us there, nothing that could make us lose faith in the goodness and nobility of humankind, nor lose faith in the future. Nothing could expose us to the storm outside, it was our private and fantastic kingdom, and we inhabited it naturally, like fairies do in tales, or those rebelious and passionate being in novels."-Lavinia Dickinson on the Dickinson home in the novel: The Sister, A novel of Emily Dickinson
