equestrian and orange accents {weekend eye candy}

Loving all of the details from this cute equestrian cottage. Looks so cozy.

Here's to the start of a fabulous weekend!

{above via Style @ Home}

Happy weekend!

Not to get all ayurvedic on you but I have been trying so hard to be careful on what we are taking into our bodies over here....including things that may come way via the ears as well. I've had to bite my tongue hard a few times this last week just so that my kids had a better chance of being in a place that would ensue better health to the mind, body and spirit/consciousness..."laughing"..I am half joking and half amused at myself because I just half quoted part of the definition in wikepedia & being ayervedic is kind of an inside joke between a good friend & I... You see one time my friend got really stressed and picked up smoking again so trying not to crack a smile I said, "Tori, is that a very ayervedic thing to do?" Tori taught me about ayerveda so hence the teasing ensues whenever she does something that goes against it...(love ya Tor). Good thing I don't have anything she could tease me about:-)

Speaking of health, do you want to know where I have been getting some of my recipes lately? Bob's Red Mill.

I randomly went onto their website and found a huge recipe bank. The thing that was cool about it was that I could search by the ingredients that I already have at home and then it would give me recipes to use. For example I had creamy brown rice farina and I found the best griddle cakes using cooked brown rice cereal. Want to try it..go here.

Recent happy moments include:

- Hide and seek

- Kids who obviously think that just because you can't see them means you can't hear them either. I was dying at all of the cuteness in their giggles.

- Fluffy chard from Mom and Dad's garden.

- Good memories because of Dad's sculpture that he made in college (use to be inside as part of the home decor when I was a small child).

- Still can't believe how excited I get after each time I buy my kind of food at the store (as opposed to husbands kind of food:-). Some of my favorite things..nuts, seeds and grains.

- Continuing to practice shooting my camera in manual (as seen with the picture with the house plant on a stand). Note to self: KEEP PRACTICING.

Have a happy weekend!!!

{the primary colors are 1,2,3..red, yellow and blue}

I was cleaning off my desktop last night and realized that I had quite a few inspiration photos with the reoccurring red, blue and yellow color scheme. I also noticed that Leontine Linens sells travel and jewel cases. Yes pls. Oh and finding inspiration from that skirt in the top picture.

To see more of the beautiful monogrammed gifts that Leontine sells go here.

{images: 1 - Tamzin Greenhill, 2 - unknown, 3 - unknown, 4 - Elle Decor, 5 - Selby, 6 - House Beautiful, 7 - Leontine Linens}

{mirror tiles}

The above mirrored tile scenario has got me thinking about a spot in my house that could benefit from something of the like.

Did you happen to catch the latest issue of Rue yesterday? If so then I am sure you got to see Nicole's beautiful space featured. Anyway she recently posted the resources on her project and mentioned that she designed the above subway mirrored wall in her dining area. She had the mirrored pieces made by her local mirror man. I think this has motivated me to find me my own local mirror guy.

If you missed the latest issue of Rue and would like to see more of Nicole's space then go here.

{1st photo via Jamie Hertzlinger}

Charlotte's Locks {latest color obsession}

Todays color obsession comes from a new color that Farrow & Ball just came out with called Charlotte's Locks.

The above dressing table turned desk was featured in the latest issue of Sunset Magazine and when I saw the color it was painted I just had to take note of it. Charlotte's Locks is described as being a fiery true orange that was widely used as an accent colour in the minimalist decoration of the 1950s and is highly dramatic and extremely fashionable. Would you use this color?

{blankets x 3}

Well good morning all of you little love muffins out there!

If the above blankets are as nice as they look then sign me up to have three sent over to my house ASAP. The blankets are from Lake Superior Woolen Company based out of Michigan. I love that the company are a group of small family farms who raise their sheep on the green pastures of Northern Michigan. I even called them and the phone number listed is also the owners home number..so quaint. Just look at all of those colors to choose from and they say that their blankets are extra soft. Aren't they beautiful?

I've also had the National Parks blankets from Pendleton on my radar and recently went into a shop here in Scottsdale to touch and test the blankents first hand. I liked them but had concerns that when the summer hit that the blankets would be too warm because they are a tad on the heavy side. They even monogram their blankets which is always a nice touch.

When I first set out to get the bedding for the boys room I figured I would do duvet covers but it is clear to me that we do not need any extra fluff in their bedroom. In fact as I keep editing the space it gets more and more simplistic. May be due to the fact that those silly little boys gang up every single day and heave hoe their mattress off of one brothers bed in particular. I could never get a straight answer from any of them on who was the culprit and then one day I walked in on it happening in action. They were all guilty..the little hooligans. "Wellsie push that side", I heard as I flung open the door to find all three stationed at their corners..sheesh.

Anyway as far as bedding goes I feel like we are going for a look more like the below with just a sheet and a blanket.

{above room designed by Tamzin Greenhall via Nero Chronicles}

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}