On the Road to Better Days!

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Holy Cow - I have been SO MIA for the past month!  So much has happened and everything has been so emotionally taxing (& it's not even over yet).  My boyfriend and I lost someone very dear to our lives and we have been spending a lot of time in Washington, DC - we've taken it upon ourselves to be the strong, reliable family members and keep company to those who need it.

Washington, DC is such an inspirational city.  There are so many neighborhoods and each one has its own unique and clever voice.  No matter how much older I get, or what new "styles" I discover I enjoy, I will always (I repeat - will always) have a preppy side to me.  I am so in love with Georgetown it drives me crazy sometimes.  We drive by the homes each time we come here (mostly because I find a reason to visit the neighborhood) and I ask my boyfriend to drive slow so that I can try to catch a glimpse inside the historic homes.  


Besides wondering who lives in those homes, I try to imagine what they look like.  Usually I can only catch a glimpse of the lighting or a painting and it's so fun to mentally decorate the rest of the house based off of that one glance I got.  


I wish I could just knock on their door, bat my eyelashes and convince them to give me a tour.  Maybe one day I'll get lucky enough :)


Until next time.. 


adios!

Bloggers Day of Action for Haiti part 2

Tweet Yesterday was such a great day.  So many awesome bloggers joined together to help spread the word to donate.  

Jeanine from AphroChic has a charity auction on her website today - all proceeds will be donated to help the people of Haiti.  The items up for auction are:
1.  Handmade aprons from urbancasita 
2.  Drawer liners from Hammocks & High Tea
3.  Piece of personalized art from Name Your Design.  
Start your bidding!

Another gem of information; our combined efforts caught the attention of the Huffington Post.  Carolyn Rubenstein wrote an article detailing our efforts and is donating $1 for every comment she receives on the article (up to $250).  


Once again, here are some sites that you can donate to:

Donate: 

Mercy Corps

American Red Cross

AmeriCares

Yele Haiti

Google Support Disaster Relief

Ushahidi

I donated via text: text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to RedCross relief efforts in Haiti. Or textYELE to 501501 & donate $5.  It's so simple and adds the charge onto your next phone bill.

Halligan and Adam Smith's Philadelphia Home

Tweet I wrote about their artistic home today on Apartment Therapy, and here's a little snippet:

Halligan Norris Smith and Adam Smith are newly weds living in Philadelphia. She's a jewelry designer and he's an artist and bike mechanic. Their creative abilities are certainly noticeable in their unique home, and we're happy to see their home featured onDesign*Sponge.

Their mix of antiques, family gems, yard sale finds, and trash picks create a colorful and lively living space that modernists and traditionalists can collectively enjoy. They both come from artistic families — Adam's dad is a furniture maker (he made their master bed), and his grandmother painted a Pennsylvania Dutch Fraktur (hanging in their living room) to commemorate their wedding day. Halligan has pieces from her families history throughout the home. Their bedspread was her grandfather's, the mirror hanging above the living room fireplace was her grandmother's.

Halligan and Adam are self-proclaimed collectors — which is evident in their bathroom where they hung their collection of "creepy critters". You can also see their collection of handmade, vintage doll clothes and interesting collection of tools hung together in the hallway, and a collection of their friends artwork hung on the wall going up the stairs.

Their first project as newlyweds was the fantastic bookshelf they built on the outside of the stairs. A collaborative DIY project is a great way to start a life together — a quick way to discover if you work well together or if you're going to tear each others heads off!

This bookcase was their first DIY project as a married couple.

They found this amazing chair at a yard sale & paid next to nothing for it (jealous!)

They're self proclaimed collectors.  This is a combined collection of vintage, handmade doll clothes & unique tools.

Do you ever get this lucky when bargain shopping?

Bloggers Day of Action for Haiti

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Jeanine from AphroChic organized a Bloggers Day of Action for Haiti and I knew I couldn't just sit back and do nothing.  Below you will find a list of fellow design bloggers that too wanted to take action.  You will also find a list of websites that are taking donations.  

A Life More Fabulous

Bay Area Style File

Design for Mankind

Hammocks & High Tea

Jodine's Corner

Lindsey Lou

Makeunder My Life

Nuvany Nice

Simply Grove

Single Bubble Pop

Styleture

Tam + Sam

The Cubicle Chick

Urban Casita

Donate: 

Mercy Corps

American Red Cross

AmeriCares

Yele Haiti

Google Support Disaster Relief

Ushahidi

I've Found Perfection in Two Forms

Tweet I never really have a concise theme for each post that I write, but there are just too many amazing things that I want to share with my readers.  


First and foremost; how amazing are these necklaces?! AH, I wish I could justify spending the minimum $800 for one of these gems.  You can purchase one of these necklaces from Bruxe Design in 10k Gold, Sterling Silver or Bronze.  

Can you imagine owning an Eames Plywood Gold Necklace? Drools...

In completely unrelated news, I am absolutely head over heels inlove with the wedding website Once Wed.  Yesterday I sat in front of my computer and read through 25 pages - in one sitting!  I'm not planning a wedding (maybe one day!), but I can't keep my eyes off it.


I've realized some wedding trends: Yellow accent colors, DIY at every chance, headpieces, three piece suites for the dudes and brightly colored shoes for the bride:

four out of five with this wedding.

Non-traditional shoes for the bride, and the ever so popular yellow for the bridesmaids.

Kind of in love with this seating chart!

And, I absolutely cannot stop thinking about this picture.  It has been on my mind all day. I love the way the bride looks.  Her dress is perfect, and the sweater is just the perfect added touch.  And the boots - do I even need to expand on why they are amazing?

You can see more of this perfect wedding here. 

(Images: 1. BruxeDesign.com, 2. Jessica Johnson Photography, 3. Ben Blood, 4. Erin Hearts Court, 5 & 6. Braedon Photography)

Want: Crocheted Guns and Lady Gaga

Tweet Due to the fact that I write for Apartment Therapy and spend most of my day scouring the internet for the coolest most inspiring design, sometimes it's hard for something to really just knock my darn socks off.  I was reading A Tall Drink earlier and spotted these amazing crocheted yarn sculptures from artist Nathan Vincent.  

These are my favorites! 

Another super over the top thing that I absolutely love (and I'm prepared to be judged for it) is lady gaga.  She's extremely underrated by people over the age of 25 and I think everyone should give her another chance.  With music videos like 'Bad Romance' - how can you ignore her?  She's an artist, and if you take the time to read a few things about her you'd realize she's actually pretty interesting and has a message.

Adios!