Back Home.

Sorry for the lack of posting -- we just got back tonight from our vacation in San Diego. We had a wonderful time visiting friends and family, but are tired and not overly excited about having to go back to work tomorrow. I will be back soon with pictures and highlights from our fabulous vacation!

Etsy.

I love etsy (and frankly, could spend a whole day browsing on the site). I recently bought some necklaces from the seller wiyomu. You have to check out her store. The necklaces I ordered arrived yesterday and are so lovely. These are her pictures of the necklaces, not mine:

(Instead of blue pearls, I went with the ivory.)

Her items would make great gifts and are very reasonably priced. I love that many of the styles are customizable. And the shipping was quick too!

I need help.

I recently received the Boden catalog, and I am pretty sure there was something on almost every page that I can't live without. I've never ordered anything from them before, but may have to take advantage of the 15% off and free shipping both ways.


I am embarrassed to admit that there are even tabs on the bottom too. I was having trouble tearing the pages without ripping something I liked on the opposite side of the page, so I went to the only real estate that was left at the bottom. Now I just have to narrow it down (a lot) . . .

Riley.

We got a new camera that has a special setting just for pets. I am pretty sure Riley knows he should pose when the camera is set in "pet mode."



Speaking of pets, I learned last night on Jeopardy that Calvin Coolidge had a pet raccoon (named Rebecca). Interesting.

Chandelier Input Needed.

I need some advice on which chandelier to go with in the dining room. I think part of my problem is that I am not used to the pearson chandelier, so it still looks different/off to me. What do you think?

Here is the chandelier we originally purchased for the dining room:


Here is the new pearson chandelier:


I know I will need to get rid of the lamps on the buffet because it looks to "shady" with the 3 big drum shades in that room. And that is totally fine, I think the lamps will look perfect in our bedroom (with their original white shades). Maybe something like this below without the big lamps. Sorry for the poor lighting (clicking on the picture makes it a little easier to see).


Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

I heart Pure Design.

I am home from work today because I had to get a sacroiliac joint injection this morning (it is as fun as it sounds). (side vent: Why do they have you get to the hospital at 6:15 a.m, if they don't take you up to pre-op until close to 9:00?)

Any who, being home today has led me to one conclusion: daytime TV is terrible. Even HGTV and Food Network (my go-to channels) didn't have good shows on. Thankfully, I had some shows recorded, and today was a perfect opportunity to lounge around (and nap off the pain and sedation meds) and watch them.

I previously blogged about my obsession with Pure Design here. I was glad to see that a new season started recently. On the episode I watched today, Samantha redid a young couple's living room/kitchen.

How great are the Louis chairs, the ottoman, and the photo wall?


Love the kitchen chandelier and the pillows.


But my favorite part of the room is the trellis wallpaper behind the open shelving. Love it!

ribbon script coat.

I wish I lived someplace where it didn't feel like summer in October. That's mainly because I would buy and wear this coat everyday until Spring.

Breakfast Table Light.

I mentioned some new lighting for our kitchen in this post. The one from ebay arrived today; however, it has to go back because there is exposed wiring. Um, no thanks!

As soon as I saw it out of the box, I was concerned that it was too small. Before we boxed it back up to ship it back, I had Justin hold it up over the table. It confirmed what I was thinking -- it's too small.


I love the look of the light, but think we will go with the 18" pendant instead. Thoughts?

Lonny Mag.

Blueprint and Domino magazines may be gone, but there is a new magazine to fill the void -- lonny magazine. When I first heard about it, I immediately went to the website to get a subscription. Then I realized it was online only.

I love the idea of being able to browse online (and not have another magazine stack around the house). My favorite part is being able to hover over certain images and being able to link to the source. I got about half way through before I realized you could do that!

The only downside with it being online is that I can't tear out and save the pages. Saving the images in my "decoration inspiration" folder on my desktop just isn't the same. But, it will be easy to overlook because the magazine has such great pictures and tips.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures, but be sure to look at the whole magazine. You won't be disappointed!

Quote of the Day.

Justin: "I have an itch on the bottom of my foot, but I can't scratch it because it tickles."

5 things . . .

5 things I am thankful for . . .

1. A vacation to San Diego coming up soon!

2. Firefly sweet tea vodka mixed with lemonade. The drink is delicious, to say the least.

(photo: drinkhacker)

3. That The Hills and The City are back on! Oh Spencer and Olivia, I have missed you guys!

4. Having a hairdresser who I completely trust to do whatever she wants and always loving how it turns out. This time -- darker hair (for fall) and shorter bangs.

5. That I can see Joel McHale one more day per week on his new show Community.

(photo: nbc)

Kitchen Lighting.

I love our kitchen, but I think it could be even better with some new lighting. I am pretty sure the guy before us removed the light fixture above the breakfast room area. (He decided to change the fireplace too.) Neither renovation was a positive, if you ask me.

After several weeks of looking at decorpad, I finally was inspired to get some new lighting for our kitchen. It just so happened that Restoration Hardware is also currently having their annual lighting sale. Here are all of the pictures I saved as inspiration. All photos are from decorpad.






This last picture really sealed the deal for me. If you are really paying attention, you would recognize this kitchen from my dream home:

We decided to go with two 8" clemson pendants for over the island, one 14" pendant for over the table, and one 12" schoolhouse semi-flushmount for over the sink.

I can't wait to get them and see them in our kitchen. We found the 14" clemson pendant on ebay brand new for a great price and it shipped yesterday!

Minimum Requirements.

I mentioned here that we recently went to a UT football game. During the game, I came to the conclusion that there really needs to be some minimum requirements to be able to get a ticket. I am not talking about a high bar for admittance, but there should be some basic safeguards in place, especially for high-demand games.

As a disclaimer, I bleed burnt orange. For example, as a baby, I had a longhorn onesie. I have probably been in front of the TV for the majority of UT games my entire life (even if all I remember was my dad yelling at the refs).

In any event, we had a heck of a time finding tickets to the UT/Tech game. We were constantly scouring craigslist and would contact the seller almost instantaneously, and the tickets would already be gone. It was crazy. We finally found some tickets (after several people before us flaked on the seller). So with that background of being totally consumed with trying to find tickets (and we were willing to pay what I consider to be a premium), I was a little perturbed with the people I saw in the stadium. That led me to think about some requirements UT should have in place to get high-demand tickets.

1. You have to have at least a basic understanding of football. I am not talking about having to know all the hand signals used by the refs or the height, weight, hometown, and middle name of each player on the team, but merely a working knowledge of how the game is played. The boyfriend of the girl sitting next to me had to explain what downs were and that after 3 of them, if the team doesn't get 10 yards, the other team gets the ball. Puh-lease. I am pretty sure my mom understands that concept (no offense, mom).

2. You cannot even think about bringing a book, newspaper, or have your cell phone out during the action. Someone sitting near us was texting almost the entire game. She was paying absolutely no attention to what was happening on the field. Even when the person she was with tried to get her engaged in the game, she was having none of it and continued texting away. That brings me to point 3 . . .

3. You have to appreciate either college football or UT athletics. The same texter mentioned in number 2 sent the following message: "OMG. These people are crazy. They are yelling." (Yes, I have no shame -- I read her text message.) Are you kidding me chick, you are in a stadium with over 100,000 longhorn fans at one of the biggest games of the season. You better believe we are yelling Texas Fight!

Perhaps if these requirements were met, it would give people who are actually fans of the game a better shot at getting tickets. It's a win-win, really. People who don't understand football, don't care about UT or college football, and who would rather read a book or text a long lost friend can do so in the privacy and quietness of their own home without all the crazy, longhorn fans around disturbing them.

Dishwashing Soap Bottle.

A while back, I saw the clever idea of using an antique bottle for dishwashing soap on brooklynlimestone.com. At the time, I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for and settled on this little bottle from Crate and Barrel.


It was nothing fancy, but it did the trick and was better than the plastic bottle that the soap comes in. Recently, the little stopper fell in the bottle, so rather than figure out how to fish it out, I took it as a sign that it was time to find something new.

After some looking on ebay, I found the perfect bottle! I love how it has 8 sides!


Evidently, Schenck's Pulmonic Syrup was a concoction of Chamomile, worm-wood, catnip, essence of tansy, hyssop, hops, hoarhound, comfrey, senega, gum Arabic, licorice, elecampane, Indian turnip, lemon juice, brandy, and water. It was used to treat sore throats. (source: here).

Sounds like some very interesting ingredients. In any event, it looks super cute on the counter and makes dishwashing more enjoyable (if that is even possible).

Ikea Trip.

(Sean, this post is for you. I know you have been anxiously waiting . . .)

I mentioned in my post here that we bought something that required assembly from Ikea. We bought two Henriksdal chairs for our dining room. I love our dining room table and chairs (which we recently recovered), but the room just seemed a touch dark and needed a little updating. I kept seeing pictures of upholstered chairs at the head of the table and loved the idea.

Here is a before picture:

Thankfully, the chairs were very reasonably priced and were actually cheaper than some of the slip-cover options I was looking into.

It's nothing major, but I love the new look!