{retail space}

I have been paying close attention to retail spaces as of late so when I came across the above space designed by Katie Ridder I took a couple extra looks.

Hey and this particular retail space looks like they sell jewelry.

Speaking of jewelry I randomly came across the below when I was supposed to be looking for pillows.  Love the lines.

life lately {Tucson}

Guess what???

 School is out.

Now what are we going to do with ourselves?

I'm panning for ideas to keep the kids busy but not too busy..ya know.  Pinterest already has come in handy.  Just this morning we made these..I recommend.

Last year we actually vacated the state of Arizona for a month and a half. We missed such things as haboobs.

This year I want to be flexible and open.  In fact we started out our summer with a trip planned to California until we found out it was only going to be 61 degrees on the shoreline.  We passed and opted to stay a mere two hours away in a place called Tucson, AZ.  I had pre conceived notions about the town and never thought of it as a vacation destination.  It turns out that there continues to be beauty in just about every place on this earth.  We visited the Desert Museum, which happens to be the second most visited tourist place (behind the Grand Canyon) in Arizona.  The drive takes you through part of the Saguaro National Forest..which is a very unique sight to behold.  Then we ventured down to the San Xaiver Mission...another unique sight.  So strange to think that the place has been there sitting in the middle of no where desert since the 1700's.  It was a great cultural experience.  Did you know that back in the day people purposely did not completely finish buildings to avoid paying taxes?  If you look at the top building you will notice that one side of the mission is missing the top piece.

What do you have planned this summer?  I need as many ideas as possible.

could you??? would you??? diy uphopstery fabric and bringing art onto furniture

A while ago my pal Angela from The Painted House who is an artist posted a sneak peak of her loft.  Being that her loft is a a haven for her to paint I thought it was only appropriate that she didn't just leave her art skills only to canvas.  She actually created some really cool furniture pieces with a little creativity.  Not only did she get some really cool one of a kind pieces of furniture she also saved money on what it would have cost to reupholster.  You have to go here to  check out all three of her chair make-overs that included bleach, gesso and a sharpie.

I've been taking note of the whole art on fabric movement.  I keep seeing graffiti and abstract painting on pillows, chairs sofas and drapes.  It made me recall my best friends home when I was a small girl because her mom had one room that was designated for all friends and family to express themselves with paint.

Anyway I have this lucite bench with really old and dirty microsuede.  I do plan to reupholster it but am not prepared to pick the fabric out quite yet.  I really felt inspired by Angela and immediately thought I too would let my kids create a piece of art on the fabric covered bench.  Then I completely wussed out.  I had visions of other pieces of furniture getting makeovers that weren't supposed to be getting makeovers.  Still I wanted to do something so I settled on the hexagon shape and went from there.  There was no plan and I just went with it hoping I would not completely destroy the piece.  I didn't have much to loose so it all worked out..plus it was kind of therapeutic.  All it took was a little time and some sharpies.

What about you..could you ever paint or take a sharpie to a piece of furniture?  Apparently one of the four founders of Kate Spade dedicated her home to her children and let them go wild on the furniture.  To read about the story and see more pictures go here.

above images from here, here and here

Well below is pretty much the final product of me, a little time and a shorpie.

image of the day

A proper post on its way but for now can I offer you this glossy black beauty. I am going to put it out there that I would prefer to have something of the above nature in my husband's office...I think it would work out quite nicely. Off to scourer Ebay.

Oh and just because I love you I've included a few more picture that you may not have seen floating around the land of blog.









from here & here

Hope you had a grand weekend

One of the many things cool about visiting the Grand Canyon on a weekend is that you can always say you had a "grand" weekend even if it was a below average weekend...but then again the Grand Canyon ups the chances of one having an above average weekend.

Man I do not know what my deal is but I do not want to be around the computer. Everything else in life seems a little sub par compared to my daydreams of being with my little family at the beach...and it just has to be the beach...not the lake or not the mountains..although a rainy afternoon in a cabin with the wind blowing through the leaves may make a daydream appearance next week...For now I will just put on my flip flops and go to the pool store to buy some stuff to shock my pool into not having a green tint. Now if my next blog post has something to do with pool loungers then you will know why.

Hope you all had a very grand weekend indeed!!

P.S. - There were a few times at the Grand Canyon when I thought the ideal situation would be to only have kids that were not mobile and could only be carried around in those baby sling things.

summer hats

I am a sucker for hats. I actually wear them quite often. A couple years ago my husband brought me a hat home from Costa Rica. It had a wide down turned brim and very colorful (I wore it here). This year I was really excited to see that Anthropologie found the same hats. Refer to the pink one above. I also found a source from Madagascar that sells many more colors and styles. Go here to check out the Madagascar Hat Company.

Can you tell I am dreaming of a beach getaway? Next up the perfect swimsuit.

{a home on the upper west side}

This space decorated and designed by Thom Filicia is very well put together. It is a balance between masculine and feminine. It also feels very safe and likable..it's rather pretty...not a ton of risks but just enough..ya know. Plus it feels fresh and classic at the same time.

When I was at my orthodontic appointment yesterday I overheard some younger women talk about their style when it came to decorating. One of the girls said, "I think my style is modern", then followed by the question, "would you say modern is the zig zag or chevron print?"  That was actually the second time I had heard somebody define their style by using the word chevron.  Now I myself like chevron but have recently found myself tiring of it which then led me to think about the role blogs and Pinterest play in influencing the duration of liking certain things.  In effort to fight the blogging..pinterest..sick of seeing things over and over I am choosing to say that today I really like the zig zag hardwood floor pattern in the above hallway/corridor space.....but I still probably am not going to choose most zig zag fabrics..especially if they are yellow, pink or aqua.

Do you feel as a reader or author of blogs that you tire of things quickly?

Mitt Mommy, Omama or Mom Paul

I got a kick out of my niece and nephew this weekend.  You see my sister was talking politics with her husband in the kitchen when all of a sudden her 6 year old daughter Addie said, "Mitt Mommy will you please get me some milk?"  Her older brother then followed up with, "What about Omama?"  He them tried to make a name out of Newt Gingrich to which his Mom explained he was no longer in the race.  Her son then said "OK Mom Paul".

My sister and I could've seen a potential Saturday Night Live skit out of those play on words...her kids are brilliant.

How was your weekend with all of the mothering business going on?  I'm going to keep it real and say that one of the best gifts I received was my husband taking the boys on an a camping trip...way better than the chocolate covered strawberries.  Sunday then brought breakfast in bed (in which I had to get back into bed and pretend I hadn't already been up preparing to have our family to church by 8am).  It was worth all of the effort because the kids got to sing to the mothers and I felt really good about them and my opportunity to raise them.  I love celebrating woman who mother in all different capacities.  I remember years past feeling either sad that I could not have kids or guilty that I wasn't doing a good enough job ONCE they did decide to make all of their appearances at the same time.  This year I was determined to not let any deterrents get in the way of absolutely having a pleasant Mothers Day...and phew it worked!!!

In my opinion women and mothers are the secret weapon to having a really good society to live in...


Oh and guess what finally went to the upholsterers shop.? Yep the below two twin headboards that will be converted to a daybed with a trundle for the girls room.   It really helps to have friends who have the same aesthetic that can send pictures via the cell phone to alert on good looking bargains around town.  The headboards were acquired for $25 from a local consignment shop.  Do you ever shop the consignment shops?  Sometimes they can be cheaper than the thrift stores these days.



The above picture was taken right before swim lessons and I must note an upholsterer's shop is not a place for 3 shirtless four year old boys in their swim trunks..or maybe not for 3 four year old boys ever,