From Flower to Room

Lavender, fuchsia and cream.  A color palate that I admittedly would never have thought of.  But nature did and it stopped me in my tracks on my recent walk through the Filoli gardens.  The beauty of these three colors bleeding into one another on a small dainty flower was such a natural feast for the eyes that I thought I’d challenge myself to a little “From Flower to Room” post…

From flower

to room.

China Seas

It’s a bold color combination but if nature can do it, so can you.

Six Unique Kitchen Moments

As I said in my previous post, I’ve been evaluating kitchens and searching for inspiration.  Something that really strikes me are those one of a kind moments.

Like this antique island…

Or this oversized, colorful pendant…

Or this natural wood slab set on a waterfall island counter…

Or this bright pelmet box…

Mona Ross Burman

Or this fab oversized red lantern…

Or this bold red and navy kitchen…

All this, yet again proving, when you go for it, it usually pays off.

 

Pitching Pebbles

I’m working on a kitchen design and have been spending some time gathering inspiration on Pinterest.  I ran across this image…

Stacked pebbles as a backsplash.  Mind blown.  Now, I want to decorate a river house.  Or, how about stacked pebble backsplash for a Tahoe house laundry room?

You know, it also makes pretty wonderful flooring of a mountain home kitchen…

Or, a bathroom…

I pitched pebble flooring for a bathroom once before but we ended up going a different direction.  Here’s to one day finding the right client and the right place to put some pebbles on it.

From Burnham Design to Amber Interiors

Amber of Amber Interiors recently revealed a new beautiful project on her blog.  I recognized the furniture in the “before” shots from Burnham Design’s portfolio.  So the client of Amber’s must have worked with Burnham Design on her previous home and then moved and switched designers.

Here is the first home that Burnham Design did:

And here is the new home that Amber just completed and posted on her blog, here.

Both designers did absolutely stunning jobs and they are two different houses so it’s hard to completely compare.  Both are absolute dream homes.  But, if I had to choose one home, I’d be team Burnham.   I’m more of a color girl; I like the eclectic pieces throughout the home and the stronger use of pattern. What about you?

I’d also like to find the Goodwill where all the old house furniture was dropped off at.  Somewhere in LA people.  Lets get hunting.

Tablescape Deconstructed

We hosted a small dinner party for my father in law’s 70th birthday.  I wanted to make it special for him so I planned out some details that I felt captured some of his interests.

Here is the finished table…

Today, I thought it would be fun to break down the tablescape for you.  For Brian, I thought of his favorite colors and I knew that he loves the color blue.  So I went with a classic blue and white scheme.

I found these gorgeous vases at my mom’s house and had them filled by a great flower shop (Fiori in Burlingame) with hydrangeas, dahlias and queen anne’s lace.

From there, I added on a second layer of blue and white with a tablecloth that I got years ago at an antique fair.

I got that tablecloth at the same time as this one that I used for Graham’s birthday dinner…

From there, I added on our everyday plates, which luckily are blue and white.  They are from Williams Sonoma and still an absolute favorite plate.

From there I added on napkins.  I wanted a little color variation so I chose napkins with a red stripe because what goes better with blue and white than red?  The napkins are actually from the dish towel section at Ikea; they are like $0.89 for two so it’s a great resource for larger parties.  I wanted to keep the table more manly so I wound the napkins with rope to act as napkin rings.  I simply took rope and wound it around each napkin ten times and then tied it off.  The rope is also a little call out to a dude ranch that we’ll be going to for Brian’s 70th.

 You could leave the table as is for a fun night with friends just add wine glasses.

But, for the party, next up came the personal details.  Each seating had a terra cotta pot filled with kitty grass.  I got the pots at JoAnne’s Fabrics.  I attempted to grow wheat grass and successfully drowned and killed the seeds.  So in the 11th hour, I went to Whole Foods and bought already grown Kitty Grass and potted them.  I then wrote the guest’s name on each pot for the table seating.

Then in each grass I stuck a golf ball on a tee with a picture of Brian after he had shot a hole in one on the ball. Next to each pot, I placed a framed photo of the guest and Brian.

Everybody got to take home a picture of themselves with Brian and Brian got to walk around the table and go down memory lane with the important people in his life.

We didn’t actually sit down to eat until the kids were tucked in bed so I added on a final layer of candles which really added a fun element.

Most importantly, the birthday boy had a great time and he enjoyed the table.  It was a very fun night.  We think it’s our best dinner party yet.  Here’s to the many more we’ll throw in our home that we love so dearly.

And happy happy birthday to Brian!  I’m blessed to have married into such a great family.

Hats for All

This past weekend, we had a small 1st birthday party for Grace.  In a rare occurrence, I decided to get crafty and I made a ton of birthday hats for Grace’s stuffed animals.  Grace loves stuffed animals so I wanted to incorporate them into her party but keep the cheesiness factor as low as possible.

I put together a little dessert bar…

 

 

There were also bags of cookies as party favors on the table but I forgot to snag a pic of them.  Next to the dining room is the living room and that mantle had two bulletin boards filled with actual, real deal, touchable, not on a computer, printed photos of our birthday girl.

Our back yard is where most of the party took place and where the true hearty food was plopped down for people to graze throughout the day.  The animal theme continued there and these gents had on their birthday hats as well (I used cupcake wrappers for them).

There was more food than that but I took the photo before we laid out most of the food.

Most importantly, Grace had a blast.  She wore a hat all of her own for the cake cutting.  Speaking of the cake, there was a little snafu; we plopped Grace down next to a heaping slice of cake and gathered everyone around for “Happy Birthday” and then we realized that we didn’t have a candle in it so Graham ran into the house and got one.  He returned only to realize we didn’t have a lighter so he ran back to get a match.  All the while, poor Grace, was sitting there staring at her cake, licking her lips, while I held her hands back, not allowing her to take a bite until the momentous candle blow out.

She survived the long wait and then we set about stuffing cake into her face for her since she was luke warm about the whole experience anyway.

Although it may not look it in the photo below, her big sis was thrilled to have Grace’s party since she has taken over 100% of the gifts.  There was absolutely no jealousy just minimal understanding that it was Grace’s birthday.  And that is the beauty of having a two and a half year old…
With that celebration under our belt, we officially have a one and a two year old.  Now on to the next birthday party today – my wonderful, beautiful, talented, sister in law, Lindsay!

 

Happy Birthday, Grace!

I’ll never forget the day I found out I was pregnant with Grace.  It was the surprise of a lifetime that we had proved the fertility Dr’s wrong and that things could work out the old fashioned way.

My pregnancy with Grace was so different than Josie’s, with constant morning sickness ,that I was convinced it would be a boy.  She surprised us and we got to be thankful for another wonderful girl and the beautiful bond of sisters.

We thought she would have the same brown eyes that Graham, Josie and I all share: big, round and pure as coffee beans.  Grace surprised us with translucent saphire blues that you can spot from a mile away.  She shares the blues of my mom, the ones that I begged for blue contact lenses in my adolescence in the attempt to imitate.

 

 

I geared myself up for the three month mark to sleep train Gracie but she surprised us at eight weeks and slept right on through the night.  I was used to the soft pace of Josie and everyone has told me that “girls as so easy. boys are so active”  Grace constantly moved in my womb and she hasn’t stopped since.

 

I thought there was no way a crawling baby in a sleep sack could manage to get out of her crib but she surprised us with a loud thump, a little cry and then happy crawling around her room as she celebrated her freedom.

I thought that little ones usually walk after their first birthday but Gracie took her first bold steps at eleven months.  I thought that rocking chairs were meant to be sat on but Grace will find a way to crawl up them, stand on the seat and rock back and forth as though she is surfing a massive wave.

I thought her first word would be spoken to me or Graham but it was said to a dog at a park as she sweetly waved and said “hi” clear as day.  I thought that Grace would always be the one to follow Josie, and while there is plenty of that, there are still the times when Grace takes the lead and Josie reverts to crawling and follows right behind her sister.

 

 

 

I thought that such an active baby wouldn’t want cuddles but Grace clings to me like a koala bear.

I thought my heart had expanded all that it could as it grew to the moon and back when Josie was born.  But, boy was I surprised that my love has only grown two-fold.  My life is all the more enriched in ways I didn’t think possible when the bubbly, active, curious, strong, willful, determined, smiley, loving Grace was born one year ago today.

 

To my special baby, bunkies, Gracie Girl, love love, la la, stinkerbutt, sissy, Grace Katharine, happy happy birthday.  I love you so, baby girl, and I wish you a lifetime of continued happiness and exploration.  Thanks for all the wonderful surprises, may you keep them coming and may you always keep your mommy and daddy on their toes.