Christmas Vacation

Christmas is in full effect at my house.

We put the tree up on Saturday, and I'm embarrassed to tell you the other holiday decorations have been up for a couple weeks.

It all started the weekend I got home from being in Iowa.

I bought a few Christmas things while antiquing and I thought, I'll just keep these out since it's almost time anyway.

Then my brain said to me, maybe I should put up my Santa's since it seems strange to only have a few decorations out.

And Santa's really don't look good without stockings around the fireplace...yada yada yada...vicious cycle...everything's up...Christmas in full effect.

Decorating the tree with the kids is really fun, sort of.

I'm a visual person, I like ornaments spaced just so, I like glass ornaments, I like kids not to touch them, I wish I had velvet roping so I could rope off my tree.

Alas, that's not realistic and kids like to help and it's part of making holiday memories, 

so Hubs tells me.

So I let them put up everything on their own and then I rearrange everything after they've gone to bed that night.

I figure that's their penance for making me put up their homemade preschool ornaments on the tree.

We also watched 'Christmas Vacation' which is a holiday tradition at our house.

Us and every American family.

I realized something while watching this last time.

If I hadn't married Hubs or had kids, I would be just like the yuppie stuck-up neighbor next door to the Griswold's.  

I'd be Margot, aka Elaine from Seinfeld.

I'd judge and watch in horror at the crazy antics of the family who lives next door.

Everything in my house would be white, and clean, and my freezer would never know things like chicken nuggets or frozen waffles.

My pillows would be perfectly karate chopped down the middle and my kitchen cabinets would look just like the ones in 'Sleeping with the Enemy'.

That would be...bad...really terrible.

{via}

Jackpot

Last Saturday

 Client F, Hubs and I went to gander a midcentury modern dresser I'd been eyeing on eBay 

for F's office redo.
The seller lived close so it was a short jaunt to his house.

The guys house was unbelievable.

 First he let us roam about and said everything inside was for sale and no, he wasn't moving.

What the what?

There were lamps, art, furniture, vintage cameras, glass paper weights, the list goes on and on.
It was all stuff he'd bought from traveling the globe and shopping estate sales.

I was in heaven.

I got these two Indonesian bad gals who currently flank a bench in my entry.

And this Mexican ceramic pineapple which I'm infatuated with.

I think its insides hold the key to life's mysteries because I can't stop gazing at it.

We then followed the seller to a storage facility
where he had two lockers filled with midcentury modern furniture--
bed sets, side tables, desks, chairs, dressers.
Client F got the dresser pictured above and also three vintage cameras.

As for office updates,
yesterday I took these Ikea curtain panels to the tailor to have this trim sewn to them.

Shout out to Naomi at Design Manifest for the idea.

Sadly, I lack a talented seamstress in the family like she has. 

Lucky duck.

It's coming together.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Flu

Our house is currently plagued by flu 

 during a season in which all mankind seems to be in acquaintance.

It started with the kids

because all sickness and germs begin with them and their inability to not touch,

and has moved on to Hubs 

who was up all night retching and hunched over the toilet bowl.

My today will be about blankets and movies and low key hang time

 while zoning out to 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox',

which has become our favorite comfort movie during veg fests.

Side note:

I follow a funny being on Tumblr called kanyewesanderson
who wittingly combines the

lyrics of Kanye West songs to Wes Anderson movie stills.

If you are a fan of the two which I am very much,

it's a must see here.

New York Bound

Hubs and I are off to NYC tomorrow.

I hope to take in The Met, maybe MOMA, get my eat on.

 I'm most excited to wander about the city.

After having kids you understand that free time is the ultimate luxury.

So to go about a day with no thought of time...well...

it doesn't get better than that.

I leave you with wise words to contemplate.

Believe it.

Benjamin Moore Hale Navy

Hubs spent the last two days painting the family room and kitchen.

It looks crazy good.

We decided to paint the doors and surround trim the same navy as the walls.

I wish I had the words to describe how much I love it.

While attending Abigail Ahern's masterclass this summer 

the ideas that stayed with me most were

1. Go to the dark side with paint

2.  Paint walls, doors and moulding the same color

When everything is painted the same color,
the stuff you purposefully put in your home is pushed to the front--

furniture, art, books, rugs.

All the doors and trim in my house are painted white but not for long.

Why would I want the first thing people see be the doors?

Look at the art!  

I carried it home from trips abroad.

Look at the books!

Every museum I've ever visited has a book in the shelves.

Look at the furniture!

That was my great grandparents.

Don't look at the doors. They builder grade and they ugly.

A round of applause needs to be given to BM Hale Navy.

It envelopes you and its cozy and its exactly what I was hoping for.

Painted Fireplaces

I'm trying to persuade Hubs into painting our fireplace the same color as our walls.

I can tell he struggles with the idea.

I tell him our fireplace isn't so special.  

Unless you have some marble intricate monstrosity that demands attention,

why would you want the main focal point of your room be something 

you didn't purposefully arrange?

I love how painting the fireplace pushes everything around it to the forefront.

Here are some examples that show why I love painted fireplaces,

mainly for Hubs.

Just because it's not the first thing you see doesn't mean it isn't seen.

That Shit's Cray

In 1997 I met Hubs while working here.

He was my boss, he hired me.

Three girls later...everyday's Crazytown...I'm so lucky.

And no this isn't my house.

 Friday night was date night and we had so much fun together.

It was like back in the day...listening to music...talking...dreaming of futures
{now not ours but theirs}

and bouncing ideas off one another with all the new changes in our house 

since New York.

And alls we did was dinner and shop for furniture. 

And it was still the best.

15 years.

Crate and Barrel outlet

you are the wind beneath my wings.

Speaking of cray,

I snapped this picture from my car while driving last week.
Badass.

Madeline Weinrib at Barneys

This is Madeline Weinrib's home accessories line sold exclusively at Barneys.

I love.

{images via barneys.com}

What can I say?
She really likes me. Or as Hubs says, really likes herself.

In Bloom

Sometimes I look forward to being old.  

Kids are grown and out of the house living their lives.
Hubs is home with me and when we're not traveling the world, we will garden.

  I'll plant flowers and grow vegetables. Hubs will obsess over the perfect lawn {much like now}.  

We'll wear funny hats, and drink lemonade, and sit in silence together.

Speaking of Feathers...

Look what I got for Mother's Day.  

Hubs surprised me with an orange juju hat, exactly what I wanted.  

I may start using this blog for evil purposes {subliminal advertising} to create my dream wish list.  

So far so good.  

There's been recent talk of a fall trip to London to attend an Abigail Ahern masterclass.  

We'll see what the future holds.

Inspector Dizzy 

Vacay

Hubs + Friends + Beach - Kids = Best Time Ever

Cabo or bust.  Catch you on the flip side.

Shagreen

I was first introduced to shagreen when I lived next door to Lille, 

my favorite place to buy home accessories. Now an online business, owner Lydia Lando 

showed me amazing designers--Lulu DK, John Derian, R & Y Augousti, 

Juliska, Blahblah, Sigikid.

 Hubs bought me the most divine shagreen box by R & Y. 

 Since then, shagreen has remained my favorite animal hide. 

 The stingray has a multi-patterned durable skin. The back bone

 which resembles clusters of white pearls

was thought to be a protector of good luck and prosperity. 

 Early civilizations used stingray skin to fashion armor and handle covers on Samurai swords.

Not knowing then of its history, 

once while visiting Lille I admired a shagreen pedestal table and asked the salesgirl

if water could be spilled on its surface. 

 After looking at me in judgement for a few seconds she replied, 

"Yesss...it's made from stingray afterall...".

Touche.