Happy Friday!

Today is a very happy Friday for me, indeed!  I’ve got friends flying in from all over the country for my baby shower.  To say that I feel spoiled and like the luckiest girl in the entire world, is an understatement.  One of my closest friends from high school will be coming from Washington DC, with her precious new baby in tow!  I can’t wait to see them!  And later today, I’m headed to SFO to pick up two of my besties from college who are flying in from Seattle.  I am so giddy!  And a huge thank you goes to Lauren, Katy, Shannon and Julie for throwing me the bash.  I have the best friends ever!!

Graham is flying the coop with a group of boys so that we can have our girl time.  The forecast says rain the entire weekend but I’m pretty sure I’ll be singing in it with all my favorite ladies around.

Link

If you’re looking for something to do this Sunday and you want to get working on your Christmas shopping, head on over to Piedmont Avenue in Oakland.  My sister-in-law, Bridget, will be selling her beautiful clothing of Frances Reid Clothing outside of Piedmont Fabric.  Her clothing makes the perfect Christmas gift for the little ones in your lives.

Michael Darling Footed PJs

After shopping Frances Reid Clothing, be sure to pop into Piedmont Fabrics.  It’s a treasure trove and I absolutely love their fabric selection:

Another must shop spot on Piedmont Avenue is Nathan and Co.  They have great finds, like this apothecary match stick bottle:

Have a fabulous weekend and I hope you get a chance to sing in the rain!

Nursery Closet

Our nursery is itty bitty.  But, I’ve seen plenty of people convert closets into nurseries so our little room is definitely an easily manageable space.  I’ve got my glider in the room and I can’t wait to share pics of it with you.  The only issue is that with a crib and glider in the room there really isn’t room for a changing table as well.

There is a closet and I’m thinking I could perhaps convert that to changing table/closet with some ingenuity.  We shall see if it’s doable.  Here is my ultimate dream idea…

I’ll take it all…wallpaper, lighting, cornice, drapes, baskets, art work and adorable baby.  Sign me up!  The only issue is that my closet isn’t this wide.  I’m going to keep dreaming and see what I can scheme together.

Accent Chair: Before and After

If  you’ve been following my blog for years now, then you may recall this little gold accent chair that I scored at a thrift store back in Dec. of 2010.  In a rather pathetic manner, it remained in the fabric I purchased it in for roughly two years.  It wasn’t a chair that was ever really used so it was very neglected.

Here’s how it was, stained with a rather random picnic-table-esque fabric on it.

The gold chair got to meet up with this Studio Bon fabric that I scored on The Designers Attic about a year a half ago.

It was only a half yard piece and I had been saving it for something special.  I could never figure out what that something special was, until it hit me that it would work for the gold chair.  I sent it off to my upholsterer back in October but I always put client projects before mine.  Finally, yesterday, he had some time to whip up my chair.

I love the fun playful vibe it brings to my kitchen nook. And now I have another little item checked off of my long list of apartment To Do’s.

Thanksgiving Recap

As I said yesterday, the long weekend away was a blast.  I thought I’d share some photos from the holiday today.

We arrived late Wednesday night to our ranch and the houses were filled with chatter as our extended family reconnected with each other.  Thursday morning we had to get the barn prepared for Thanksgiving dinner.  Mom and I set the table using foliage from around the ranch.

An in progress shot…

The table set and ready

The pie table

Remember how I said Graham wouldn’t have to do any more DIY until early January?  Well, I lied.  Thursday morning he was up on a ladder with some nails putting up a boxwood garland on the barn door.

Graham did the hanging while my mom, sister-in-law and I directed on hanging the swags to the perfect level.  It was a job well done.

That night consisted of delicious food, thankful toasts, raucous laughter, singing and a dance party!  My sister-in-law and I are a month apart in pregnancy so we dressed exactly alike for dinner, naturally.

We had been planning this little outfit since July and it was so much fun to finally be able to wear together.

Friday consisted of a morning porcini hike for dinner that night.  Then we were off to the beach for some fun in the beautiful weather and to watch the little ones jump in the water.

Saturday, was a mellow day of mini walks, hanging in the sun, eating, and games of go-fish during the twilight hour.

Sunday, we left the ranch to meet up with Graham’s family for their tradition of cutting down a Christmas tree.  I absolutely love this tradition and I feel lucky to be able to be a part of it.

The men, and Lindsay, getting ready for the big Christmas tree cut down.  We all made it home with beautiful trees.

After all the hard work of cutting down trees Luke was a tuckered tiger…

Thanks for bearing through my little recap.  I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving and enjoyed the long weekend.

Cyber Monday

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Ours was so much fun and I really loved having some time away with family.  I skipped out on Black Friday (which I always do) because the thought of competing with crowds is just horrific.  However, Cyber Monday is much more doable in the comfort of our own homes.

Here’s some spots I will be shopping:

 

High Street Market is having great giveaways for every $25 you spend.  I shop here a lot for accessories; it’s a treasure trove!

 

History + Industry has a bunch of new pieces and new styles up on their site.  I love the new sonnet style necklace!!

 

Caitlin Wilson Textiles, a favorite spot for pillows and fabric is having her final day of a 15% off sale with the code GIFT15 at check out.

I also love that all of these sites are small businesses run by very creative women that I look up to.  Happy shopping!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  From my family to yours, I hope you have a grateful and blissful day stuffed to the brims with turkey.  We’re here…having dinner in the white barn…

The inside of the barn from Thanksgiving two years ago…

We have a wonderful tradition where everyone at the table has to get up and say what they are thankful for.

This year, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the little one kicking in my belly.  Last year’s Thanksgiving was filled with pain as we were in the thick of the battle of infertility and I really didn’t know if I could ever get pregnant.  I vividly remember sneaking away to Graham’s childhood room to have a good cry, desperate for a little one.   Now, here we are, one year later and my belly is large and in charge.  Thankful doesn’t even really describe the way how I feel for this gift.  It feels like a miracle and such a huge blessing.

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!!

Sunday Work Day

Graham had to do his fourth DIY project on a Sunday.  I’m sure he’s loving this new role as weekend handyman.  Luckily, for him and for our marriage, we will be busy through the holidays and he won’t be doing any house projects until after the new year.  Then, it’s back on for Handyman Graham.

After a couple of trips to the hardware store, a few expletives and some very sweet observations on my need to micro-manage, the shade was up.  I absolutely love it!  The lighting isn’t coming through correctly on my I-phone so the paint is looking a little off color.  But, in person it’s much better.

I’m especially smitten with the billy ball trim…

There was a debate on whether to do white billy ball trim or pink pom pom trim.  There is a part of me that wishes I went pink but really there’s no turning back now so love the one you’re with…right?  From a practicality stand point, the room gets about ten times darker with the black out shade then it did with the existing mini blinds.

Now, I’m pretty sure everyone will think I’m off my rocker on this one but the next mini project will be getting this candlestick made into a lamp…

I bought it at Goodwill well before I was pregnant with the thought that it would be the perfect lamp for a nursery.  It is probably what inspired the chinoiserie theme I’ve got going on in there.  When I bought it, one lady who worked there picked it up and commented on how strange (not in a good way) the piece was.  Then another lady who I thought was very well dressed for someone pushing her 80s came over and said, “Oh isn’t that fabulous?”  That was all the confirmation that I needed.  It may not have won over your heart but it did win over mine and perhaps when it’s all transformed into a lamp and sitting on a side table next to the glider you’ll be on team “fabulous” as well.

What A Day!

Do you ever have one of those unexpectedly awesome days?  It’s not like anything extraordinary happens but it’s just one of those feel good days.  That’s what yesterday was for me.

First thing in the morning, I dropped by my seamstress to pick up some pillows for a client and I found out that my nursery roman shade was ready.  It was a very exciting treat!  I was tempted to blow off all of my meetings and spend the day admiring the shade but I forged on.

Roman shade not actually installed and in terrible lighting…better shots to come.

My car was on empty but I didn’t want to be late to my meeting so I decided head to Los Altos from Pacific Heights and ignore the “e” sign.  Well, I made it to Woodside when the gas needle was well below the empty sign and the mileage tracker said I had 5 miles of gas left.  I was still about a mile and a half away from the exit and then I had to actually make it to the station from there.  It was a nail biting situation but I made it.

Why was this such a great thing?  Well, because it gave me an opportunity to think of my dad and how I was doing him proud.  Dad never took life seriously and it can be seen in the advice he gave to us kids over and over.  “Start ugly early and trade your way up;” “college is the longest, most expensive vacation of your life” and “don’t marry anyone who hasn’t run out of gas.”  Hilarious but there was hidden wisdom in all of it.  For the record, I think all of us have married people that have never run out of gas and my mom (who my dad obviously married and loved very much) has never run out of gas.  She rarely even has her car get to empty.  But, dad liked that running out of gas showed you took risks.  I think he was smiling from heaven on my risky pull into the gas station on pure fumes.

From the gas station, I was off to my first meeting.  We had a chandelier delivery that was coming that morning.  The box showed up and it was as big as a house.  I’m talking huge.  It was so huge that I made Allie pose in it and she happily obliged.

 It’s moments like these when it’s so wonderful to have a good chuckle.  I absolutely love working with Allie and I’ll give her a proper introduction on the blog as soon as I get a photo from her…ahem, Allie!  The meeting was also very successful where we nailed down some beautiful fabrics for drapes and a custom bench.

From there, we were off to our next meeting.  It was a meeting with a new client; we introduced mood boards for her living room.  She was great to work with and I’m very excited with where things are headed.  Somewhere in this general direction, with tweaks…

After that meeting, we popped by my mom’s home because she arrived back from Morocco yesterday.  She was so happy and she looked fabulous, complete with a henna tattoo (go Mom, so Madonna of you).  We had a great conversation about the design that she fell in love with in Morocco…pearl inlay mirrors, large lace chandeliers, Moroccan wedding blankets.  It was like she hit every major thing that is trending right now.  So wish I could have been with her.

She brought back this lovely pouf for baby girl…

I love it!  And boy is it authentic…straight down to the smells of the souk.  It carries a special meaning and it’ll be fun to have in there.  But, first it’s getting a good cleaning with the shoe/leather expert.

Once I got home, I went out to meet Heather Clawson.  I was in awe.  She is even more chic in person!  It was great to chit chat with others in the design community as well, like Crystal, of Rue Magazine.  She and I first met in Chicago, when Crystal was about to go live with her first issue and I was toying with the idea of opening a decorating business.  It’s fun to see where we both are at now and to spend some time catching up.

When I got home, Graham had Pandora playing.  And randomly “American Pie” came on.  “American Pie” is hands down my dad’s song…it was kind of our thing.  For all six months of my engagement we tried to figure out how to make that our father/daughter dance without boring the crowd to tears for the full 10 minutes of song.  As Graham’s I-Phone let out the sweet tune of Don Mclean, I sang every word and danced away on our kitchen floor dance floor.  In my mind, it was dad, me and baby girl having our first dance.  As the birth approaches, I miss him more every day.  So, it was nice to feel him there yesterday, checking in to say hi.

Happy Friday everyone!  May the good days keep on coming!  Fingers crossed!!

Habitually Chic

Do you read the blog Habitually Chic?  I do, habitually.  Ever since I started reading blogs, Heather has been on the top of my daily read.  And now she’s coming to town today for a book signing of her new book:

Not only is she going to be in San Francisco, she’ll be at the new fabulous store Hudson Grace which is literally a block away from my apartment.

I can’t wait!!  I will be starstruck and awkward and very, very giddy!

Getting Organized

Today, I’m feeling extra grateful for two things: my husband and the “nesting” hormone.  This past weekend, with Graham’s help, we went to Ikea, bought a bookshelf and a bunch of storage boxes.  Graham built the bookshelf while I went to town organizing all of my fabrics and papers.  Things were out of control in my office.  It’s hard to stay organized when you have literally 1 billion fabric samples and no storage.

 

Yes, I posed with boxes in an Ikea parking lot…so not normal.

Graham was a huge help lugging the bookcase to the car and building it.  Thanks, babe!  And the “nesting” hormone was a massive help in keeping me motivated to actually get this project done in a weekend.  On Friday night, on our way back from dinner with friends, all I could talk about was our morning trip to Ikea and how I was going to clean.  On Saturday afternoon, after Ikea, we stopped by a friend’s roof deck party and the whole time I was there, I couldn’t wait to get home to clean.  Those that know me, know that this is definitely hormonal because I love parties!  Saturday night, we went out to dinner with friends, and in the back of my mind, I was thinking about labeling my new boxes for the office.  Sunday, I put in a full day of cleaning the house.  You could not tear me away from a garbage can or a Goodwill donation bag.

If I could inject myself with the “nesting” hormone for the rest of my life, I would in a heartbeat.  Here’s to hoping this hormone never goes away.

And the results…

The beloved settee got moved to the bedroom so I could fit more storage in the office.  I moved my Dorothy Draper style dresser over to under the window…

And the dresser in its place holding so much more than a settee ever does…

And the behemoth of a bookshelf that holds all of my fabrics and client folders and taxes and business stuff and baby stuff and anything that seems important…oh, like, I don’t know…my marriage license that was stashed away in a random drawer.

All of my fabric memos are now tucked away in boxes according to their color…

It may not be the prettiest project that I have ever done but it may just be the most rewarding.  It feels like a huge weight off.

Oh and guess what Graham and I have reserved for this Sunday afternoon?  More purging.  Doesn’t it feel good sometimes to just donate away and get rid of things?  Why and how do we accumulate so much stuff?!!