Shopping Again

Just doing a quick looky loo on Goodwill and found some things I LOVE but have no current room for.   So I'm sharing my finds here in case any of you are in the market for some fun items.

This would be my 2nd Goodwill Bling Bling Shopping installment (see the 1st one here).  Enjoy!

This Brass Fishy is so cute! I want him in my house... on some books maybe. He'd make a sweet little addition.

I love the small unicorn dish, not too sure about the larger one yet.  But for that price get both and gift the one you don't like.  Kinda reminds me of The Neverending Story. (that movie scared the **** out of me when I was little BTW)

No front door is complete without a fun knocker! Love this anchor one.

I remember back in the day my Mom have quite the collection of shoe clips.  I used to think they were so dorky, but now I'm kinda loving them.  These brass clippies are funky and different. Wait, or are they ugly and gross?

Whatever I cant tell anymore, but they piqued (or is it peaked or peeked, I should have paid more attention in English class) my interest enough to post them here.

Clean these monkey babies up and they are the PERFECT addition to any bookcase.  I actually kinda want these, but I have to keep telling myself I have no more room!

Every desk needs a chic paperweight.  Love this beetle one!!

Know any Bunco players? These dice would be a cute hostess gift.

Clean this crabby up and you have the perfect bookcase accessory or a fun beach house hostess gift.

See anything you are going to bid on?

11 Questions Blog Tag

I'm changing it up here today with a little Q&A about moi.  The lovely Dina over at Honey & Fitz tagged me to play along in the 11 Questions posts.

Here are the rules I had to play by:
•You must post the rules.
•Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you; then create 11 questions to ask the people you've tagged.
•Tag 11 people and link them in your post.
•Let them know you have tagged them.

And here are my answers to Dinas questions:

1. What is the #1 most played song on your iPod (or other mobile device)?

Pretty much anything by Adele lately. I just love her and her voice!

2. What is the last movie/tv show/book that made you cry?

I hate to admit it but it was Parenthood the other night.  Sappy I know, but that show makes me tear up every week.

3. What story does your family always tell about you?

Hmm, I don't think they tell any stories about me.  This is a hard one I might have to cheat and pass on this one.

4. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Hands down it's pistachio,  I'm obsessed.

5. If you could have your dream second home would it be a mountain hideaway or beach house? (or other?)

Belgrade Lakes Maine.  Growing up I spent my Summers up at my Grandparents lake house and it is, by far, the best childhood memory I have.  They recently sold the house and it make me sad to know I can't just drive up to "my lake" anymore.  I hope one day to start the tradition all over with my own family and my own Maine lake house.

6. What is the furthest you've ever been from home?

Last Summer I traveled to Sri Lanka for my second wedding.  It is where my husband is from and it was the trip of a lifetime!

7. What is the oldest item you own?

This is a hard one because I have so many old things from both sides of my family.  But, if I had to pick just one I guess it would be the old farmhouse kitchen table.  It was the kitchen table my Dad sat at growing up and he told me it was made by hand and is over 150 years old.

8. If you had to pick 1 place in your town to bring a tourist, where would you take them?

The North End.  Not just because I used to live there, but because it has so much historical significance that it can't be missed when you visit Boston. 

My old apartment was right in back of the Old North Church and every Sunday my roommates and I would wake up to Sunday morning service in our front yard.  Literally our family room window overlooked the sanctuary.  Needless to say our views were priceless. 

Oh, and you cant visit the North End without eating. It's the best Italian food around!

9. What one food do you never get tired of?

Since I was talking about Italian food I am suddenly in the mood for a caprese salad.  I could eat one of these for every meal- I love them!!

10. You have to move out of the country RIGHT NOW. Where do you go?

No question it would be Madrid, Spain.  I decided to go abroad my Jr year in college and picked Madrid because my minor was Spanish.  I went all by myself (not knowing a single person) and lived with a host family for 4 months.  It was one of the best decisions I ever made.  I love that city so much and would LOVE to be able to go back and live there again.

11. Are you a morning person or night person?

Hmm, I would have to say morning.  While I dont like getting up to the sound of my alarm I am not a crabby morning person, I am usually in a good mood.

Alright, that wraps it up for me.  Here are the 11 bloggers I'm tagging:

Sarah of Belle on Heels
Stephanie of Sabbe Spot
Jessica of Lavender & Lilies
Natty of Natty by Design
The Lindsays at Sadie + Stella
Helena of A Diary of Lovely
Alicia of Alicia B Designs
Brooke of Blueprint Bliss
The sisters of Chic Coles
Kim of Keller Creative
Kate of DomestiKated Life

And my 11 questions for them to answer:

1. What is tops on your bucket list?

2. Whats your favorite tool in your toolbox?

3. What's the best quality about yourself?

4. If you could drop what you are doing right this second and go somewhere, where would it be?

5. If you could be an animal what would you be?

6. What is one junkfood/candy/snack that you can't get enough of?

7. If someone offered you a $5,000 shopping spree to just one store, what store would you choose?

8. If you could live anywhere in the world (besides where you live now) where would it be?

9. Chocolate or hard candy?

10. What's your favorite color?

11. What's your most treasured item in your home?

I cant wait to hear all about these ladies!

Surprise Peek

Last week I posted about some mini DIY paint projects I wanted to do.  I actually got my butt in gear and since then I've been going crazy painting drawers. OK only two drawers. But those two took a long time because I: primed them, change my mind about a paint colors (after I painted the 1st color) and in the process fix the drawer to my nightstand. 

No fancy pictures yet, but here is a small peek of my new coffee table drawer

I put a few of my paper mache trays to good use.  One holds lighters (and no, I don't smoke I just light candles almost everyday) and the other holds random chapsticks.

I either need to either make a few more trays for the other items or get lucite ones so I can see all that pretty orange. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. 

I'm working on finishing up my nightstand drawer, it's girly and I cant wait to share!

Hits and Misses

Oscar night wraps up the 2012 awards season and I guess its about time I get in on the fashion action.  I have not read anyone elses fashions reviews yet, so we'll see if my hits and misses are in line with others.  I'm actually looking forward to hearing what Joan Rivers has to say about everyone, she is always so funny.

Anyway, here we go.  I'll start out with the ladies from the big movies this year

The ladies from The Help were the big winners for me.  Even though I thought Viola Davis was robbed of her Best Actress Oscar (how amzing is that green on her!?!) all 4 of these ladies looked amazing!  Jessica Chastain was not my favorite at the Golden Globes, but last night she got it right.  And Emma Stone is so funny, I really love her and her red dress.  The Help cant be mentioned without talking about Octavia Spencer- she looked amazing, her speech was great and I was so happy for her!

Next up the ladies of The Bridesmaids

Not all my favorite.  I love these ladies but I was not such a fan of all their fashion choices last night.  Althought I wish Kristen Wiig had her hair up at least she wasent wearing a choker last night.  Maya Rudolph looked hot- hottest I've seen her in awhile- loved that purple on her.

The rest of the ladies were just mehh to me. 

Ellie Kemper's bangs were just too harsh for me. But, I think that color dress looks amazing on her!

I loved Rose Byrnes dress, but whats up with those shoes?

I LOVE Melissa McCarthy, she is one of the funniest ladies on TV, but her dress was just too much for me- the sleeves were wings & not the pretty kind.

And I dont have any complaints about Wendi's dress, I just wish she wore some earrings or a necklace.  She just looked naked to me.

I have not seen The Artist yet, I still have mixed feelings the whole silent movie thing, but I HATED all of these dresses.  That mint green color can be beautiful, but yuck!  And Penelope Ann Miller had AHHHMAZING earrings on but her dress and that headband were just not working for me.

Here are her earrings

 These two ladies, who are slightly older than the rest, looked stunning in my opinion.  That neckline on Glenn Close is just outstanding and while I know people may disagree with me I think that Meryl Streep looked her best last night.  Compaired to what she wore to the Globes this is a complete 180, rock on Meryl!

The ladies in black 

Nothing surprising from Tina Fey, looks like she does at every other award show, although I do love her hair.  Sandra looked beautiful in the black and white number. The top was slightly baggy for me, but that belt was rockin'!

And while this PAINS me to say it (I'm still team Jen) Angelina was beautiful.  I mean her leg, the lips (I know we've seen them before) and of course her date, she really looked stunning.

The Nudes

These go in order from love to hate.

Giuliana was glowing, and that neckline was PERFECTION!  I might have liked her hair better if it was not has slicked back, but overall she was beautiful. 

Cameron was just ok.  The bottom of her dress was pretty, but the top was plain and I hated it.

JLo I love you, but what what were you thinking?  Not at fan of anything here.

 The Whites

Again in order of love to hate.

Gwyneth omg how I love you! That cape was just Red Carpet royality looking.  Only someone like you, with that amazing body, could pull something off like this.  Seriously I cant get enough of this dress!

Kelly Rippa has a body to die for and anything looks good on her.

And Rooney Mara, is that you or your ghost? I cant tell where her dress ends and her skin starts, they are the same color.  Not a fan.  I like you better in black.

The Colors

No order here, I only LOVED Michelle Williams dress here.  She has totally not been my favorite at past award shows, actually might even be my least favorite dressed but I just LOVE this redish/coral number she wore last night.  Perfection!

The rest are mehh- Nothing special, I dont have strong HATE feelings but they arent memorable either.

To wrap it up, here are my best and worst dressed of the 2012 Oscars

What did you think about last nights fashion and the winners and losers?

a sweet surprise

When I started this blog I had no idea who would ever read it.  It was more of a diary to keep track of things I liked, but clearly it grew into more than I ever could have imagined.  I had one of those major HOLY COW moments a few months ago when a sweet, sweet reader emailed me.  In her note she told me that she had found some faux bamboo chairs at a local second hand shop and had remembered me posting about them and wanting one. 

Long story short she only needed two of them and wondered if I wanted to buy the other one.   Amazing, right?  I don't know if I was more happy about having a new bamboo chair OR meeting a new blog friend  (I think maybe more the latter, she is so friggin funny- Hi Eileen!) 

Fast forward a few months and my new chair is finally at home! 

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic

Only problem is I don't know what color to paint it now, there are soooo many colors I want.  I'm having a major design ADD moment.

You can see the top of the chair is my little testing area- its Rumba Orange right now.

Anywoo, I went in search of some Bamboo / Chippendale chair inspiration...

So many colors, so little time (and not to mention only one chair).  I'm thinking I might just have to go with my gut on this one and go with my first choice, Rumba Orange. 

But, if any of you have any strong opinions I'm open to change!


(Photos from: Amanda Teal, Elle Decor, Domino Magazine, My Little Happy Place, Elle Decor, Elle Decor, Lonny Mag, Jonathan Adler, Lonny Mag, Unknown, Pinterest, and Rue Mag)

Looking up

I've been working on my mid-term project all weekend and one of the things I wanted to incorporate into one of the designs was wallpaper.  But, not used on the walls.  Here are a few inspiration photos of where I want to use it

Ansley Interiors

Caldwell Flake Interiors

Domino

Lonny Mag

Sarah Richardson Design

Simply Grove via Made by Girl

Veranda Magazine

I hope my fake client (aka my teacher) likes my design plan!