David Hicks La Fiorentina Really is EVERYWHERE

  

 I was reading the girls their bedtime story last night.


"Playing outside will make him cold. He'll want to go inside and curl up on the couch."

Wait. A. Second.


He'll want to go inside and curl up on the couch covered in designer David Hicks La Fiorentina!



"He'll ask you for a blanket."

(If the blanket is Hermes, I'll really flip.)

 Thanks illustrator, Felicia Bond, for infusing some good taste in my girls' nighttime read.
Intentional or not, made my night. 

Do It Yourself Christmas Wreaths?



YOU could do this! If you were inclined. And talented. 
Had lots of spare time, hot glue sticks and patience. 

Jenny from Little Green Notebook could surely do it. She is oh-so-talented. And she has kids. 
Three of them, like me. And a job. 
And yet she manages to do things like upholster head boards while her kids are sleeping. 

However, if you're like me, you are probably more prone to "buy it yourself" due to life logistics like three kids, a dishwasher to empty, gymnastics, music class and a house to Swiffer

Target and West Elm had some great wreaths that look "do it yourself"



Except, Cyber Monday is much, much too late to be thinking about purchasing them, because the ones I wanted are sold out by now.

By the way: West Elm, I'm loving most everything you did for holiday decor this year. 

As for me, with the current time predicament, its likely we'll end up with Home Depot evergreen wreaths on our front door and over the mantle. Dolled up slightly. But not painstakingly. 

I guess that will make them, "Modify Yourself".
Which might just make me the Sandra Lee of craft projects. 

Dear Santa


I would like to drink hot cocoa in these

Actually, they'd come in quite handy in making me feel special while drinking my morning coffee. 

This is becoming more routine, the morning coffee, since I've become mother of the three kiddos that you are watching 24/7 from your special Santa Spy Satellite. 

And if you were feeling generous, I see that Karin Lorenc, potter fantabulous,  has what might be some matching cereal bowls. That way, everyone in my family could feel special.  Perhaps she'd do matching dinner plates someday, with blue on the underside. 

They're so ME. Classic on the outside, with my can't-go-wrong-white. 
And smile-inducing blue on the inside. 

Found in Karin Lorenc's Etsy Store, here
Karin, you are my kind of potter, girl!


A Pretty Night's Sleep



I've been looking for new bed linens for months now.

Our bed sports a white duvet.  So I like my sheets to be pretty. Fold over-able.  I prefer a pattern. It seems pretty clear to me after searching that I'm not the norm. Go figure. And honestly, I don't care that much about thread count and all that. The look and the price are the things that matter most to me.

The results of my research:

I first tried Target and T.J. Maxx first, hoping for some John Robshaw lookalikes or something. No luck.

(Please. John Robshaw. I beg of you a Target partnership. Love your designs. But my washer cost less than your sheet sets.)

Real deal John Robshaw:


Just shy of $500 for a Queen sheet set before tax and shipping.


$170 & $210 respectively for Queen sheet sets. I'm really loving the Pink Florentine on the left.

$148 Queen Set

 
$228  / $198 Queen Sets

$92 Queen Set. I love both the sky blue and the driftwood colorways.

I was disappointed that these were only available in flannel. But a fresh take on flannel sheeting!
$172 Queen Sheet Set

$60 (on sale) Queen Set

I was about to put the last set in my shopping cart to purchase until my husband glanced over at me. 
And frowned. 



Crock Pot Girl: Slow Cooker Style



It's Crock Pot season. In actuality, a new era of slow cooking started here a month after baby Vivie arrived. We were beside ourselves trying to balance three kiddos and our basic human need to eat. The great take out food nightly debate was making us cranky.

Then one evening, after the babies were all asleep and Brett and I had dined with the toaster and some English muffins,  I noticed several friends "liked" Crock Pot Girls on Facebook.

Intrigued and hoping to overcome my self perceived status as a failed homemaker because I couldn't possibly mother three girls and cook nightly meals, I "liked" and made this:

Balsamic (Crock Pot) Chicken 
4-6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 onion thinly sliced (Not chopped)
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 tsp each: dried oregano, basil, and rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
ground black pepper and salt to taste

Pour the olive oil on bottom of crock pot
Place in chicken breasts, salt and pepper each breast
Put sliced onion on top of chicken
Then put in all the dried herbs and garlic cloves
Pour in vinegar and top with tomatoes

Cook on high 4 hours, serve over angel hair pasta

We haven't looked at a take out menu since!

Which means that at the top of my wish list there's a new crock pot of all things. If it's going to be sitting on my countertop every day, I want it to be prettier.  Unlike this bad boy, which we received for our wedding 14 years ago.

It could be the ugliest thing we own. It has a forest green ceramic insert and an ivy trellis, I do believe.



So, I'm dreaming about an upgrade. A crock pot  Slow Cooker that costs $175. All stainless steel and white ceramic yumminess.  Available at Williams Sonoma.

I wonder if they have a leasing program?

One of Those Days


I don't recall if I found this card or my husband did. 
He used to check out the postcards while I'd troll for treasures. But I love it. 
It makes me LOL as they say these days. Post stamped 1908. 

Halloween Decorations



I know, but I just can't! Even with my little ones. Bad mom? We do have pumpkins on the door step and all that. But nothing inside.

I do think though, that I might borrow an idea from my "idol mom" Meg of the Whatever blog and buy a few to paint.





Little Women


We have so many little women in this house.

There's Charlotte, above, our newest resident, having come from my grandmother's estate. She was made by my father's aunt, Garnet Moore Keeney, an artist who spent most of her adult life in Arizona. The figure's dark hair and delicate features remind me of photos I've seen of my Grandmother Charlotte as a young woman.

There's Zora.



She always had a spot in my maternal grandmother's home. I love her dreamlike quality. Relaxed, barefoot. Now, she looks out over me and the girls and my husband as we eat our meals in the dining room every day.

And then there are these two gals.


Vintage painted ladies, random Etsy purchases. The fair haired girl was first. I love how that painting is framed so low and off center. I love her pale blue blouse and the pink background. The blue lady up top came from the same seller and at first I wasn't sure....she looked more amateur...but I've grown to really like her too and she's a great companion. They're always hanging out by my secretary desk.

The true stars in the collection though are these three.



Look! I'm Back!


You've been on my mind, dear blog. But my youngest baby Vivie, well, she hasn't wanted to leave my arms, day or night, in the span of these past two months. And really, that's not so bad. Just a temporary glitch when it comes to hosting a blog.

My middle one Maren and I went downtown today to pick up my new Kate Spade glasses. Fine and dandy things extends to my eyewear. 

The inside of the frames is my favorite spa blue, a wonderful little surprise. 
And the pink case! Really, it's darling to leave out. Were it not for the six little hands around here who are constantly curious, that might be doable. 



Keep checking in on me. I promise I'll be home and have lovely things to share. 

Bathroom Redo


With the Imperial Trellis wallpaper off my upstairs main bathroom (still sad) I have been trying to come up with a new game plan.  Bed rest hasn't speeded this up at all. Saw this bathroom in the latest issue of Canadian House and Home and thinking the painted stripes could be a nice, fresh possibility, and doable within a budget.

It's Friday, I'm in Love


I love my digital subscription to Canadian House and Home. The April issue just arrived in my email in box on Friday eve, and oh, what a fun read. Lots of pretty, inspiring pictures to hunker down with for the weekend!

As our old friends The Cure said...."You can never get enough, enough of this stuff...It's Friday I'm in Love."

Good Distractions: Dwell for Target and Gray Essie Nail Polish

I went to Target today for some essentials, while hoping to spot the new Dwell bedding, specifically, these Casablanca shams:

Thought they'd be so cute on Elizabeth's gray/blue antique bed. Alas, I was denied. Nothing but a row of empty shelves with the promise of "something new coming soon."

Denied, I settled for something else that wasn't on my list, the equivalent of a candy bar for my finger nails:

It's called ChinChilly, described as a "sleek, granite gray." I kept seeing similar colors pop out at me from the pages of Vogue and Elle, so I made the $7 leap. Looks fantab on!

And, is it mere coincidence, how well my new nail polish matches my kitchen hutch?
(Excuse the bad photos...et hem...hopefully new camera in my future.)




Essie ChinChilly Nail Polish & Benjamin Moore Cumulous Cloud 1550. Almost one and the same! This paint color, btw, will go with me everywhere...love, love, love! The hutch, however, too big to be considered an accessory....

Manic Monday

I'm here, promise. Just tending to mothering, housekeeping, those sort of things. In the meantime, lets enjoy a little Victoria Hagen tranquility, shall we?

Three is the Magic Number

Lonny
I've got three on the brain lately. We're expecting baby number three in late July. I've never liked things in even numbers, in pairs, too balanced..so I suppose it is destiny, that just like the arrangements around the house - the stack of three books, the three vases on the table, the three paintings on the living room wall, I'll have three precious children, too.

I loved this perfect trio from the latest issue of Lonny magazine.

Friday Love

House Beautiful

Here's wishing you sunny skies and a restful weekend.
(and no dust bunnies!)

Sectional Sofas with Sass

Elle Decor, Photographed by Simon Upton

I have to admit. I can be a bit of a sofa snob. This extends to people who refer to it as a "couch".

Sectional sofas, well, I hadn't ever been a huge fan...Scared that perhaps that right arm might contain a hidden drink holder or that the left arm chair might secretly recline or have a pocket for the TV remote. 

But in the last month, I've seen a few that have me drooling. I'd still never use in a formal living room or one that has to do double duty like mine, but these have me yearning for a family room!

The pink one above was just recently in Elle Decor. Designed by Steven Gambrel and upholstered in a Brunschwig & Fils fabric. 

Architectural Digest photographed by Roger Davis 

I also like Sheryl Crow's sectional sofa, which was just in Architectural Digest.  
It is called the Ginebra sofa and is from 22 Bond St.


The Bond St website showed a different version of the sectional, which can be customized. Still smart design, although I prefer Sheryl's for the wood legs and fabric. I also wonder how well this one will wear, with the bench seat cushion.  Fabric on those tends to stretch and cushions can show "bottom" marks with time.

Restoration Hardware 

For the masses, Restoration Hardware has a nice sectional, the "Belgian Arm," although with not quite the wow factor. In a different fabric however...there could be potential. 

In summary: let's use the word sofa. Avoid anything advertised in the Sunday newspaper fliers that might come from a place with the words "furniture" and/or "world" in its company name.  Make sure you actually have the space to pull a sectional off. And thinking outside those boxy arms and microsuede fabrics can only lead to fun, in this gal's opinion.