Happy Valentine's Day! I had a great time at my daughter's preschool party today, it was so much fun seeing their faces light up as their bags were filled with cards and candy. We're dropping the kids off at my parents' and winging it because we don't have reservations anywhere. But it will be nice to eat our own meals without first having to cut up someone else's food (though it's good practice for our old-age future, I guess).
Hope you all have a great evening, and if you're flying solo tonight, just think of it as a great opportunity to eat what you want, go where you want, and do what you want because making yourself happy is just as important as making someone else happy sometimes. photo via hello naomi Xx a
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Life's been a little crazy lately and I feel the blog has gotten the short end of the stick for sure, so thanks for hanging in with me even though there've been a lot of days without posts. I decided to do another throwback-style post today and share something I worked on three years ago.
Trad Home, Traditional Home's digital magazine was still under wraps and being produced during the early months of 2011. There was a lot of industry buzz around the issue and it was a very exciting time. We were really trying to turn people's notion of "traditional" on its head. At the time, I was also producing my first major trend feature story completely on my own (plus a bunch of other stories) for the print mag, so I actually didn't have a lot to do with the digital version, but this was my contribution. Each editor had to select a color and source several products for the premier issue. The thing I like about this story—aside from the sorely-needed shot of sunshine it's providing—is that I would absolutely choose all of these products again. None of them seem dated; they're all as classic and relevant as they were three years ago. And not only would I choose them all again for the editorial, I would actually choose each of them in my own life. Sadly, DVF Home no longer exists. I really liked a lot of their tabletop and bedding pieces, so that's a shame. Another thing this does is illustrate that even if you're afraid of a lot of bold color, there are small-scale ways to bring in some brights in order to add interest without overwhelming yourself. I'm a bold color girl, but I can appreciate that some might like to keep their house toned down. (A little surprise here and there never hurt anyone, though.) A bright yellow business card holder, aside from being chic, is practical, too, for finding-it-in-the-abyss-of-your-purse purposes. In addition, you get to see what I look like with a blow-out and my head tipped at an angle, so there's that, too. photo: my own Xx a When I was in high school, I really wanted to take the rainbow marshmallows from Lucky Charms, coat them in something clear and make a necklace out of them. Many moons later, someone has done nearly that. Glitterlimes artist Debbie Tuch takes real candy and fruit and encases them in glitter resin. Real gummies, hard candy, chewing gum, and cross-sections of fruit are preserved for wearing pleasure. I love them for the bright colors and nostalgia-factor. They're a bit kitschy but that's what makes them great. The Fruit Stripe gum is really cute and makes you forget that that gum actually tastes really terrible. It might actually taste better covered in glitter resin. Did it always taste terrible? Spree, Conversation Hearts, candy corn, peppermints, sprinkle licorice, and more have all been remained as rings, earrings, necklaces, cufflinks, hair barrettes, and pins. Tuch started with Rock Candy (which was featured in Lady Gaga's Workshop at Barney's) and went from there. In addition to the newer candy pieces, she also works with various fruits, especially citrus, and some nuts, including metallic Jordan almonds. All the different fruits remind me of when my mom was dehydrating oranges and apples for her various crafts back when I was a kid. The dragon fruit slices, in particular, I find so interesting: Their white and black, or purple and black, centers with pink border and the irregular shapes are very eye-catching (left photo, center of the bottom shelf). What do you think of these sweet pieces? images are my own Xx a Over the weekend I helped my four year old make her valentines for her preschool class. Last year she was the only one that brought in handmade valentines. I know how busy everyone is, and it's certainly just easier and quicker to sign names on the pre-made cards with popular characters on them, but I'm really glad that we're still making our own, at least for now. My daughter is really into art projects and sticker crafts. Every time I go through the craft store, I grab a pack of foam stickers so she can do her creative work. I saw this pack of foam valentines and stickers at Target for $5 and brought them home for her. I helped her a little, but I was really proud of how she carefully put her friends' names and the decorative stickers on each one. We had some pieces left over, which I obviously commandeered to make the valentine above. Last year, I found card stock shaped like large cupcakes (always a cupcake theme with her) and we put each kid's name on it in white foam stickers. Then I wrote "You're sweet, happy Valentine's Day" and then she signed them. Craft stores always have paper or foam in fun shapes and most have adhesive backing so you don't even need to mess with glue if you don't want to. I know there are a zillion cute ideas on blogs and Pinterest, and I really do like the one that looks like your child is busting a lollipop through from the second dimension into the third, but I think sometimes attaining (or thinking that you need to attain) that styled perfection can be more stressful than inspiring. If you're not into commercialized characters (I'm not) or spending a fortune and you want to spend a little extra time doing something hands-on with your kids, here are three ideas I literally came up with this morning while fully intending to post links to other people's great ideas. Parents of young ones probably have most of this on hand. I did not shop or pre-plan for this (which may be obvious when you see them), every last bit came from something I already had in my house. I've mentioned before I'm not super-DIY girl, so these are pretty simple. But that's the thing - these are little kids, they're not trying to reinvent the wheel. They just want to have fun: To them, punny sayings are still novel and giggle-inducing. And making something themselves gives them a sense of pride and extra practice on the motor-skills. So give yourself a break, mom and dad, and if you want to shoot for something slightly more ambitious than store-bought, try these: We happen to have foam shapes that we use when finger painting, but if you're handy with scissors and short on shapes, you could make a heart from an old kitchen sponge. I used finger paint to coat the sponge, pressed down, et voila. Then I simply pasted (I actually used double stick tape, but you can glue, too) the original square I cut out onto another colored sheet of construction paper. Your child can write the 'to' and 'from' names on it and leave as is, or embellish as he or she likes. More construction paper and some left over lollipops here. But even if you don't have Dum Dums hanging around, they're only 10 cents each in the bulk bin, so it's really cheap. I cut out a 6 x 6 inch square of blue paper, a corner of a sheet of yellow paper to make the sun, and cut the cloud out of white paper. I glued the lollipops on with a bit of clear Elmer's to make it look like a balloon had escaped the bunch. I tied the yarn bow on after gluing, it was much easier than tying them first. Insert pun about soaring hearts, and you're done! A take on one of my favorite valentines. This required the most work (i.e. tinkering with my printer). First I grabbed a toy train and a piece of green construction paper and wrote the message in black Sharpie. When you write your message, try to leave yourself at least a half inch border of blank space at the bottom. I propped up the train with a few small foam stickers so the wheels would look straight. I took a picture of the train on the paper and printed it out on 4 x 6 inch photo paper (make sure you choose the borderless option). Then I glued the cotton balls on the photo paper to look like the steam from the engine. If you don't want the valentine to be 3D, you could put the cotton balls on the construction paper and then take the picture before printing, getting basically the same effect. If you make any of these, let me know! images are my own
Xx a Hope everyone is staying warm and lifting with their knees when they shovel, it's crazy out there lately. I drove down to New York last Friday to attend NYNOW, formerly NYIGF, the gift show at the Javits Center. In two and a half days—and 2700+ pictures later—I walked every single aisle of the show and saw some great products. Mostly, I was really excited to be back in New York and to see a lot of the vendors I haven't seen in a while, since I missed the last three shows (not sure how that time flew so quickly). It was great to catch up with people and this was my first time experiencing the show since they changed the format and rebranded. I think it worked out well to have all the home companies under one roof, though as I walked the show, I realized there were several brands that I didn't see. I'm hoping they'll be there in August. At any rate, I'm looking forward to sharing the things that I saw over the next weeks and months. In addition to new and interesting products, the booths themselves are often styled creatively. Here are just a few fun things I noticed: Xx a My husband and I don't really do Valentine's Day. We used to, when we were young and first dating. In fact, I recall a few gifts that I certainly hope my daughters' boyfriends do not buy them when they are 16. But while we do write each other cards, we stopped exchanging gifts for minor holidays, although he does often buy me an orchid plant (my favorite flower to try to keep long-term), which I'm generally able to keep alive for about six months. Who doesn't love fresh flowers, especially in the winter? (Of course, with two little kids, we'll be lucky if we can sneak off to dinner alone together. Calling all babysitters.) It might be snobby, but I'm not really a fan of red rose bouquets or carnations; they just feel very predictable. I'm attracted to more lush, interesting flowers like ranunculus, anemone, peonies, and of course, orchids. I love this low, tight arrangement (above) from Olive and Cocoa. The vessel is simple but lovely, and more interesting to me than any theme-y Valentine's Day vase, and something I'd definitely use again. Red's my favorite color so of course I like the shades of the blooms, especially the dark ones. What I really love are the little red mokara orchids at the top, which are the same kind as were tied onto curly willow branches that trailed down from my wedding bouquet. I like the idea of giving an arrangement rather than a bouquet, but that's my personal preference. Also, I'm not saying that you necessarily have to go this fancy, but before defaulting to red roses, think about your partner's true favorite flower. Taking note of that and offering even a few stems is more meaningful than a big bouquet just for the sake of Valentine's Day, in my opinion. If your loved one isn't a fan of flowers, there are always edible treats. Chocolate is ubiquitous, but again, think of what your partner really loves. Cheryl's makes really delicious cutout cookies, as good as homemade. My dad was given an assorted box of their cookies for Christmas 2012 and we devoured that sucker. They have several gift options at a variety of price points. The "long-stemmed" cookie arrangement is kind of funny, and the best part about giving an edible treat is you'll probably get to have some, too.
Do you go all out or keep it small to celebrate Valentine's Day? Or do you think it's a ridiculous holiday perpetuated by the industrial greeting card complex? My jewelry style tends toward the colorful, sizable, and architectural. I like big cuff bracelets, cocktail rings, and statement necklaces. Because of an allergy to metals that are for most considered hypoallergenic, I'm always on the lookout for accessories that are made of materials other than metal, or have very little metal incorporated into the design.
I love these necklaces by Homako. Materials such as cotton-covered rope, faux suede, fabric covered-gems, and linen are hand-crafted into striking pieces that would look as comfortable dressed-up as they would dressed-down. Throwing one on with a loose t-shirt and jeans would be such a cool, easy weekend outfit, but of course they would be great with a dress for work, too. These are my 5 favorite designs currently available in her Etsy shop. I'll be honest. In theory, I am super organized, I have an idea of exactly how everything should be organized and I love to buy bins and organization paraphernalia. But, in execution, I stumble. Sometimes I get the system in place, but then get swamped for one reason or another and it falls apart until I have a lull in my commitments and can devote time solely to getting reorganized. Sometimes I get the tools and never quite implement them and sometimes my nascent hoarder tendencies plus my current lack of space (though I can't blame it only on my current living situation) combine to create a stress-induced paralysis where I feel the job is too big and so I don't start. I feel so much better when others share their moments of disorganization. I can't tell you how happy this picture of Jessica Alba's full sink made me. Cleaning is another thing I struggle with, though most of our issues are paper and toy piles, okay, and the dishes. I think about cleaning and try to come up with a plan, like wash sort Mail on Monday, Dust on WeDnesday, vacUum on TUesday, but inevitably something comes up, or I get tired, or the kids refuse to sleep and I just give up. And as they say, something has to give, and for me, it's the cleaning up. When it comes to spending time with my kids or cleaning/organizing, well, I'm always going to choose my kids. And I don't apologize for that, but I definitely need to come up with some plan that I can actually stick to. I also have the additional problem of working from home. My husband is great, and he really does pull his own weight, but sometimes, whether he means to or not, I get that sort of "you were home all day, why didn't you clean anything" type of comment. So I started saying, "I was working all day. Did you clean anything while you were at work?" A few times of that and he got where I was coming from, but I think he would really like to come home and find that I've accomplished some household project. I'm sure other freelancers, bloggers, and people who work from home can relate to where I'm coming from. And to be fair, it's mainly my personal life that suffers because I put home stuff aside to make sure my professional deadlines are always met. I recently took on a new part time job on top of my freelancing, and now that both kids are out of the house all day, I'm hoping that I can use some of the time on work-from-home days to clean/organize. January has been a rotating schedule of sickness for our family, so I already feel behind, but I'm trying to not let those feelings overwhelm me. I originally wanted to make last year my year to get organized but I totally underestimated how exhausted I would be after having my second child. So, I'm hoping that I can regroup and make this the year that I get it under control, at least more than I have been in the past couple years. So with that in mind, I've come across a few organizing resources that I'm going to try:
Do you struggle with any of these areas? What works for you? P.S. Don't watch a bunch of Friends reruns while trying to blog about getting organized or thinking about time-management. It's really antithetical. Oops. Last night, someone whom I've been working with on a story sent me the link to this Elle Decor piece about interior designer Lindsey Coral Harper's malachite collection. We've bonded over our love of interior decorating, and she had previously told me about her malachite/Tony Duquette-inspired Christmas tablescapes, which were really great. As a thank-you for the story, she gifted me a small L'Objet malachite dish, which I adore. I've been crushing on these malachite roman shades (from the Belgian home of the Casamidy founders) for years: But, back to Lindsay Coral Harper. So, malachite is one of her favorite things and she collects new and mostly vintage pieces. The article/slideshow refers to it as her trend obsession, but I think it's reached an emotional level that surpasses being a trend, and has become a beloved collection. Using the word trend makes it seem a little more fleeting, though malachite has been big for a couple years now; Harper's pieces are classic enough to stand the test of time. Trends are certainly an excellent way to become familiar with different patterns, looks, and styles. It's hard to deny the hotness of her Monique Lhuillier gown: She mixes the malachite pieces throughout her house, as seen here on her bar cart and boxes of various sizes in different vignettes (top image). Having favorite pieces sprinkled throughout and used often is a nice alternative to a collection that is for display only. Also, I can't believe she found the flatware on Etsy… I need to spend more time on there and find some treasures like these. I met Lindsey several years ago at the NY gift show when her company Lamshop was brand new. Lamshop offers this lovely piece, so you know her love for the deep green stone pattern runs deep.
Because my dining table is oval-shaped, it's very hard to find table linens. Rectangular placemats don't sit nicely next to each other if you have more than six people at the table and I can't decide if I should try round ones or those sort of trapezoidal shaped mats. I can't decide if they're weird or practical.
And tablecloths: Every time a package says it's oblong, it really means rectangular which of course doesn't look good. So I generally forgo table linens because the table looks good on its own, anyway. But I remain on the hunt. A runner like this might not sit quite right at the ends of the table, but it is so pretty, I think it's worth trying. I don't generally think of myself as a floral person, but I do love these artful blooms, and the color palette is one of my favorites. So bright and happy, and I like the touch of metallic gold, too. The runner is suede, which probably feels wonderful and adds a nice mix of materials when you use it in combination with cloth or linen napkins, and the glassware, plates, and other decor elements. I think I would pair it with striped or dotted napkins, maybe in a pale pink, or a fresh green, or maybe a gray similar to the one that adds the petal detail to the flowers. And it's on sale, which means it's probably on its way out. Too bad the gift card my sister got me from Anthropologie was accidentally not activated by the cashier and she isn't sure where the receipt is, so I can't get it activated. Curses!! Anyone else have oval tables? I'd love to hear your suggestions or solutions! |
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