Monday, August 16, 2010

Temptation City.

One of our friends recently purchased a high-end designer showroom complete with lots of eye-candy.  (Can you say jealous?)  Justin helped her set up her computers and get the network hooked up.  Of course, I was okay going with him because I knew I could spend the whole time drooling over all of the incredible goodies in the showroom.

I didn't bring my camera, but here are some of my favorite pieces that were there: 



(photos: LewisMittman)

How amazing are these chandeliers? 



You can see it in all its glory here:

(photo: the love list)

and here:


And one of my absolute favorite things, this amazing chandelier.  It was hanging over the desk area.  I kept wishing I had one of them over my desk.  I'm pretty sure it would totally increase my productivity!   

(photo: studio steel)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

San Diego Vintage Finds.

I mentioned in my recap of our recent trip to San Diego about some great vintage finds we discovered in Ocean Beach.  Here are the details . . .  

These sweet little owl paperweights were practically calling out my name and asking me to bring them home.  So of course I obliged.  Seriously, how cute are they? 


If you want your own set of owl paperweights, I came across some online at My Sparrow.  That shop has bunches of cute things.


Next find, a set of 3 candy dishes.  These were just so sweet. 


And they look so pretty stacked too.


I thought this vintage print of coral would be great framed as a nice way to remember Ocean Beach (since I couldn't take my acai bowl with me).


Next up, a small ornately framed print.  I am not as big of a fan of the print as I am of the frame.  I just thought it was so pretty.


Justin found these cool vintage Texas postcards (he's good!).  I especially like the one in the middle of the state capitol building because that's where Justin proposed.


So this picture isn't great, but it's a wild cherry phosphate bottle.  I am so sad because it made it all back in one piece, but I picked it up to move it and it slipped out of my hand.  It cracked and one of the corners shattered.  It pained me to have to throw it away.


And last but not least, a little milk glass pedestal bowl with a scalloped edge.  It's only about four inches tall.  It's precious.  I love all things milk glass. 



I will have to retake the pictures once they all find their permanent (or semi-permanent) homes.  I keep moving things around seeing what looks best in various places.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Smythe.

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Sarah Richardson. I found out yesterday from Bryn's blog that many of Sarah's jackets are designed by Smythe, Tommy's sister.  How cool is that?


I love a good jacket, and the Smythe ones are very cool (expensive, but cool).  How great are these two?

 (photo: ssense)


(photos: bloomingdales)

Pink, elbow patches, cute buttons on sleeves = perfection.  So I sent the link to the pink jacket to Justin via gchat.  Here is our conversation:

  SERIOUSLY
 
1:12 PM A-FREAKING-MAZING
  tempting, i tell you
  on sale
  in my size
  SUPER CUTE
1:16 PM Justin: nice patches
 me: um, they are awesome
1:35 PM Justin: It's not that bad. It is cute
1:36 PM It just reminded me a little bit of a riding jacket
  maybe because of the patches
 me: it is equestrian inspired
1:37 PM it's cute

Men.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

San Diego Recap.

As always, we had an amazing trip to San Diego.  (The only bad part of the trip was watching the movie The Time Traveler's Wife on the plane ride out there.  What a disappointment.)

Any who, we wasted no time and stopped by In-N-Out first thing.  If you've read the blog before, you know I have a slight obsession.  Maybe I'm just imagining it, but I think their burgers and fries taste even better when you eat them outside under the California sun.  We continued enjoying the beautiful sunny weather by indulging in some beer at a pub a little later. 


Later that evening we headed to Blue Boheme for some tasty dinner.  I love this picture of the boys.


The picture of the girls wasn't so good, courtesy of me.  I kept laughing, and when I get the giggles, I have a hard time stopping.  Of course, Lauren and Neenah look great in every picture -- I'm either cracking up or trying too hard not to laugh.
 

The next day, we headed to Ocean Beach.  We went to a smoothie place to enjoy an acai bowl (acai smoothie, granola, banana slices, strawberries, blueberries, and honey) for breakfast.  Basically, it's deliciousness in a bowl.  Thanks for the recommendation Emilia!


Justin and his brother Jason were good sports and walked around a few Ocean Beach antique shops with Neenah and me.  I found some great things.  Stayed tuned -- they deserve their own separate post.  Thankfully, there was also a Trader Joe's nearby -- so we made stop 1 of 2 that afternoon.  Man, I love that place. 

We then headed to La Jolla.  We weren't there long -- just enough time to enjoy the scenery and snap a few pictures.  Too bad it was cloudy (and, as luck would have it, cleared up immediately after we left).



Who knew there were squirrels there?  They seemed totally out of place, but they were cute nonetheless!


That night we went to see Joel McHale at Humphrey's by the Bay.  (Like In-N-Out and Trader Joe's, I love me some Joel McHale.  Don't worry, Justin's okay with it.)

(photo: here)

Before the show, we went to the Pearl, a hotel with a great little bar, for happy hour.



The vibe there was awesome (as was the food and drinks).  We sat on the floor (with sweet shag carpet).  Here we all are (except for Neenah, who's hidden).




Then we headed to the show, where Lauren was asked if we wanted our seats to be upgraded (for free).  Of course!  So we were moved where the white arrow is:


Yes, that is the very front row!  How awesome is that?  During the show, Joel even commented on us receiving drinks (something sarcastic like "Oh good, your drinks are here.  Is that white wine with ice?").  So basically, we're best friends now.

The next day we went back to In-N-Out for round two.  We sat outside again, but this time I splurged for the double-double.  Seriously, how are these things so good?   


When deciding what we were going to do, my only requirement for the day was to be outside so we walked around Balboa Park.  The weather was gorgeous and Balboa Park was so pretty and the buildings there were just amazing.


 








After the day at the park, Lauren and I made her grandpa's homemade vanilla ice cream.  I was in high school the first time I tried his recipe, and every summer I think about how delicious it is. 


I wish we could have stayed for a week (or a month) longer, but sadly, we had to come back to the humidity and 100 degree temps in Texas.  We can't wait for our next trip out there!    

Monday, August 2, 2010

Bear with me . . .

I am currently sorting through lots of pictures from San Diego and recapping our trip (including scoring some awesome vintage finds).  It was also my birthday yesterday!  We had fun celebrating, and I received some pretty great gifts I can't wait to share with you -- including this super fun Jonathan Adler chevron memo cube.  My office is cheerier already!

(photo: Paper Source)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Airline Ticket.

To the person who got our credit card number,

Thank you for fraudulently charging a $3,000 airline ticket on our American Express card.  While I would like to travel to Milan, I have no desire to travel from Milan to Ghana.  Hope you have a nice trip while we are busy here changing all of our automatic online bill pay accounts!

Best regards,
Emily

But so this post isn't all bad news, check out this pretty room (and the cute dog on the awesome pink chair):

(www.decorpad.com)

    

Monday, July 26, 2010

5 things . . .

5 things I am thankful for . . .

1.  Spending a wonderful long weekend in San Diego with Justin, my best friend, her husband, and my brother-in-law and his girlfriend.  Pictures of the trip to come! 

2.  Houston Restaurant Week begins this Sunday!  (Now may not be the best time to lose some weight.)


3.  Mario Badescu's Glycolic Eye Cream.  Nothing moisturizes my under eye area like this stuff.


4.  Mockingbird Bistro's new roasted chicken pizza.  (corn, roasted red peppers, fontina and goat cheese -- what's not to like?)

5.  HGTV's Design Star and Next Food Network Star. Now that The Hills is over, I am glad I have these shows to fill my TV void!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Neutral Living Rooms.

I am loving these neutral living room spaces:



(all photos: decorpad.com)


Thursday, July 22, 2010

Lois.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science has a "corpse flower" named Lois that is about to bloom.  Well, they've been saying that for over a week now and still no bloom . . . but there's been big developments and it looks like Thursday is the day!

From what I have recently learned, the corpse flower (so named because it smells bad once it's bloomed) is one of the largest flowers in the world (Lois is almost 6 feet tall!).  It's also very rare -- there have only been 28 other blooms in the U.S.

(photo: chron.com)

I would be lying if I told you I didn't look at the corpse flower webcam at several times a times a day!  I am not a huge plant person (frankly, I have a black thumb), but the anticipation is exciting!