Gauthier-Stacy

I love the angle that New England Home approached in their "Two of a Kind" article on design duo Jim Gauthier and Susan Stacy. The partnership between Gauthier-Stacy formed in 1996 and happens to be a high-end design firm based out of Boston. What I love about the article is that it shows that obviously they can work well together but still have very different preferences and style as observed in both of their own homes. There are things that I love both of these spaces. How about the bold black and white chairs with splashes of orange in Gauthier's home and that custom whimsical light fixture over the dining table in Stacy's home is killing me.

Anyway to read the article go here and to see more of their work go here.

P.S. - I first found the link to New England Homes over here. ...one of my favorite home decor & design blogs. In fact go here to see another fabulous spread that Julie posted from New England Home Magazine.

sunglasses & our Twilight trip

Warning: the below is long and would probably only appeal to those who have read the Twilight books and since I just got finished writing about it over on my family blog I thought it would be fun to share over here too since so many of you out there have read the books.

I saw the above picture of sunglasses and it made me think about my Mom and sisters. You see we have always had a thing for crazy glasses and when we were traveling to Victoria, B.C. a few months ago we were in need of a couple pair to assist us in our scooter ride because some of the party left theirs behind. Well nothing a little walk to a mall kiosk couldn't do to help us on our endeavors for fun, inexpensive & disposable eyewear. We were laughing so hard at Mom's huge pink glasses but that's what made it even the more entertaining. Everywhere we cruised on our scooters, there was Mom with a helmet and HUGE pink glasses glaring out. The above picture of the 1946 Vogue cover with the glasses then made me think about our boat ride over to Port Angeles as we were making our way back to Oregon. My sister candidly snapped away capturing life in action (in her previous college days she studied photo journalism). Our little Twilight adventure was about to unfold as we first landed at the port and headed straight to Bella Italiano to partake in the mushroom ravioli (which by the way has been there before the book was written). It was getting dark and with the prospect of an hour drive in front of us we did not fret that there was not a hotel reservation to stay in Forks. After all it was off-season so why would there not be any vacancies. Forks is not exactly a big town but as the night unfolded we soon found out that ever since Stephanie Meyer came to town the lodging industry has been booming...no rooms were available that night....except one little cabin down a dirt road next to the drunken hunters. Oh don't think the hunters weren't nice or anything and didn't invite us to feast upon their words, I mean grub that they had just slayed...we passed. After slumbering through the night with a stuffed bobcat staring down at us, we awoke to find a very overcast day in the Washington forest. It certainly made for a perfect setting to have vampires thrive. So far this place looked exactly how I envisioned it would look after reading the first book (it only took one book for me to give up on the series). Whether one is a fan of Twilight or not Ms. Meyers did a great job of surveying the land and then bringing the story to life. The town has also seemed to embrace its new found fame. I mean seriously, a parking space @ the hospital for Dr. Cullen. Oh and don't worry the town also mocks all of these tourists that come on a hunt in hopes to find Edward or Jacob because we observed it happening first hand and because it really is a true story you know...hehe. Our final stop took us to the cliffs and beaches at La Push. We enjoyed the scenery as the sun came out for a nice walk along the shoreline but where oh where was Jacob...

A quick synopsis would lead me to end in saying that if you ever decide to go to Forks, DO NOT go alone, for many many reasons..but mostly because it wouldn't be as fun;-). I also predict that there will come a day that the busloads of crazed woman coming to town will start to dwindle as pop culture hops on a different mode of transportation that just may not include vampires anymore. What will that next craze include? I can't wait to find out. Only one request would be that it would be something I could actually get me teeth into...dun dun dum.

"I wish" {an English countryside dream}

My sister sends out a family newsletter every week. This last week she asked each of us to finish the statement, "I wish". Other than wishing I were in Oregon holding my new niece the first thing I thought about was, "I wish I were on a getaway with just my husband". Of course at the moment I already had a few ideas and one consisted of packing the above and going to the English countryside.

The above is Lime Wood, a boutique country house hotel in England. It is set in the heart of New Forest National Park, just an hour and half drive from London. I would actually welcome the chance of precipitation that is so common in those parts.

{all hotel images from Lime Wood}

{top images: cashmere scarf 1, suitcase 2, rain boot 3, travel journal 4, umbrella 5}

window treatment inspiration

Just a quick one picture post because I am scrambling to get everybody out of the house before the painter comes. We are finally getting out woodwork painted. Anyway the above picture serves as inspiration to how I am going to approach a window treatment in our home except mine would not be as long and it would be mounted above the window. Now just trying to decide if it will be a DIYer project. I could sure benefit from a sewing machine if I had one and if I knew how to use one properly...Stay tuned.

Have a lovely day!

{Image from Homes & Gardens}

{awesome hardware}

I love the above toggle pull with cuff that is from the Paris Apartment Boutique. The best thing is that they also come in a brass finish...which I am most interested in.

(Found via Aubrey and Lindsay)

{A World Traveler's Abode}

I love that the homeowners in the above space keep dropping clues that they might be world travelers.

The above space is designed by Katie Leede. To see more of her work go here.

Alice Lane

Jessica L. Bennett & co., are you even kidding me with this space..it is really pretty.

I bet the Brady's are very happy with the job that the folks over @ Alice Lane just completed. Every time I am in Utah I try really hard to pay a visit to my friend Jessica and her beautiful shop Alice Lane...it really is one of my favorites. I always ask her what she is loving at the moment and then she takes me around and with such passion points out a few of the items in shop that she loves. It is so fun to see a person with so much enthusiasm about what they are doing and it certainly comes through on her work. Anyway to see more of the project she just completed go here.

Also I asked my husband for one of the really beautiful and soft vintage saris made into blankets that Alice Lane has in stock but it didn't really work out for Christmas....so Jessica I'm hoping the big W.B. will call you for another event that is about to happen.

{photography by the talented Nicole Hill-Gerulat}

hand dyed silk ribbon

obsessed with these silk ribbons.

channeling glamour

one more for the road...

trying to channel a little glamour. thinking about the above rug for a space in my place. i think leopard is very classic but has to be done right or else it looks so cheap. i hope the price on that rug is not an indicator as to how it looks in real life.

what do you think about that rug?

Hi guys, I crashed my girls school today in hopes to make them feel like I was really happy the day they came out of my belly and so on. Nothing a little Dollar Store and Ned's Crazy sub couldn't do to aid in our good times today. Now onto the real party planning..we are waiting until Grandma and Grandpa come to town.

On another birthing note, I occasionally get emails from other womanfolk who are either having a hard time getting pregnant or are having multiples. Well I am here to say, do not fret because it all works out. You too might be close to 30 thinking you will never have kids and then be done 2 years later because you now had 5 (but probably not)...if so just have fun with it because we all know the other option..Seriously though what I really am trying to say is that I love getting those emails from other womanfolk even if I can't answer some of the questions like how to get your body back. Usually I just answer by saying, "just don't look at your body in the mirror and eat lots of quinoa". Quinoa solves all problems in life..joke (for those that know me).

Anyway I hope to hop back onto the blogwagon real soon...

P.S. - I was just going through photos on my phone and remembering how I was trying to make the first lamp look like the second lamp..didn't really work out as you can see. I sure love that second lamp by Arteriors.

itch to clean

I am cleaning house and I mean business this time. My front porch looks like a garage sale and Magic Erasure has come out to play...my walls are sicko. Anyway if the above space was mine I would no doubt set a couple of the items out on the front porch because I am craving a simple and clean space. Don't get me wrong though I do love many of the elements from the above space. How about the cow picture above the sofa?

How are all of you doing out there in blogland? Anybody else have the cleaning itch?

[images via here}

ABC's

When I was in Las Vegas last, I happened upon a beautiful bookstore called Assouline. Besides all of the books, I immediately noticed all of the brass (hard to see but chairs are brass..obsessed) and the carpet with the numbers and letters. Anyway when I happened on the above colorful alphabet rugs I thought about that bookstore. I think those are some of the more fun alphabet rugs that I have seen and would look great in any room that houses children..like say a playroom.

{rugs from here}