Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year!

I'll be back to regular postings starting Monday.

image via Pottery Barn

Target Home Design Event

Starting this Sunday, January 4, Target will be selling their new Home Design Event collection, a new home furnishings collection that will be available only for a limited time in stores and online, and will be offered at "unbeatable" prices.

Here are a few samples of their new offering. Certainly nothing innovative here, but if you had been admiring the original from Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, etc., but could not afford the original ticket price, Target is definitely angling to be your home furnishings resource.

Duvet Set Green - King and Queen $129.99 & $139.99

Small and Medium Green Pillows $24.99 each

Large White Leaves Vase $19.99

Woven Lamp $79.99

Round Mother-of-Pearl Mirror $99.99

You can view the rest of the collection here before it goes on sale.

images via Target

Artist Jenn Ski

These prints from artist Jenn Ski would make an adorable addition to a child's room. A great deal at $27 each for giclee prints or $14 each for digital prints.

She also does some great modern pieces for adults too. These giclee prints sell for $39 each.

You can purchase her artwork on her website or from her Etsy shop. Be sure to also check out her blog so you can keep up with her new projects.

images via jennski.com

And a Merry Christmas to you all!

May you and yours have a very merry Christmas!

image via Living Etc.

Last Minute Holiday Ideas

Had a busy weekend of Christmas shopping, meeting up with a friend from out of town, and attending an absolutely fabulous Hanukkah party, so I'm giving you today images from Sweet Paul's blog, which I'm passing on from this post by Holly Becker at decor8.

I highly recommend you check out his blog if you need some last minute ideas for your holiday dinner this week. He's been posting some really great, yet so simple, ideas for holiday decorations and delicious holiday recipes.images via Sweet Paul

P.S. Thanks to David & Jessica for the wonderful party you guys hosted last night! The food was delicious!

Last Minute Shopping List

A list of online shops that carry unique gifts for those hard to shop for friends and family that you've been putting off shopping for until the last minute. I've chosen just one item from the many cool items that each store carries, so be sure to check out the rest of their product lines as well for more gift ideas.

A+R: Joseph Joseph's Nest 8-piece Bowl Set $58

MoMA Store: New York Coffee Cup $14

See Jane Work: Webster's Fashion Color Dictionary $180

Ork Posters: Various city posters available $20-$35

Bob's Your Uncle: A-Z Animal Flashcard Set $35

Three Potato Four: 32oz. Milk Bottle Carafe $32 & Glass Chickadee Vase $18

Williams-Sonoma: Cities-in-Snow Set of four $24.99 (a surprisingly cool find from a normally staid store and it's on sale)

Supermarket: Gregoire Ganter ABC Magnets set of 26 $23

Fred Flare: Campfire Candleholder $24

For a little holiday cheer, check out the Fred Flare site here for photos of the famed New York department stores holiday window displays.

Friday Photo Finish

Snowfall on Obsidian Dome, California.

image by me

New Use for Old Furniture

I came across this really cool and clever bookshelf at Umbra today and just had to share. It's such a great idea! It was designed by Matt Carr who came up with the idea after finding two vintage coffee tables and deciding to give them a new life as bookshelves.

Biblioteca Bookshelf

Umbra sells the bookshelf for $725, but I'm sure you could find some fairly cheap tables on Craig's List, Goodwill, or at a Flea Market and have a handy friend or a local woodworker build them for you for about 1/4 of that cost or less, especially if you do the finishing yourself. It might even make for an even more interesting piece if the tables didn't match.

Warm Me Up

A cold Arctic blast has been keeping me wrapped up in all the sweaters, socks, and blankets I own, and also making me crave a nice body and soul warming cup of hot chocolate topped with real whipped cream. The only thing better would be drinking it out of one of these pretty things from Anthropologie.

Monogrammed Mug, Missus, $6.00 each

If I had the kitchen space I'd own a mix of these above with these below.

Monogrammed Mugs $6 each

I'm not a tea drinker, but I don't mind drinking hot chocolate out of a delicate little cup and saucer set like these.

Amelia Espresso Cup & Saucer $18

Julien Cup & Saucer $18

Holiday Party Inspiration

You must check out this wonderful party that blogger Cassandra Lavalle's (coco+kelley) friends threw for the holidays. The centerpiece is fabulously glamorous, and the food single-served in easy to hold containers is brilliant.

I'm loving the idea of serving portions of food in small, portable containers rather than buffet style with plates or napkins. I've been to too many parties where everyone spends most of the night crowded around the hor d'oeuvres table rather than out mingling around the room.

My 4 tips for a successful party set-up:

1. Place food and drink stations around the room. Even better if each station has a different selection. This way people will be forced to roam around the room and mingle with each other.

2. Place trays and trash cans around the room so people have easy access to places to put empty glasses, plates, and trash. This also makes clean up a snap since all the dirty dishes and garbage will be in specific areas rather than all around the room.

3. Music should be low enough for people to hold conversations without yelling, but it should also be loud enough to dance to if it so inspires them. If you want people to dance, mix in a little new with a little of whatever people were listening to at their junior high and high school dances... no one will be able to resist.

4. Lighting should show your guests in the most flattering of light, so dim the lights set out candles around the room or string up pretty white Christmas lights.

images via coco+kelley

Stuck on Stuck Labels

I love supporting fellow bloggers, so nothing makes me happier than to post about a fellow blogger's new business venture. Stuck Label Company is the new venture by "Oh Happy Day" blogger Jordan Ferney. Such cute designs! They will make your gifts, party favors, or whatever you use them on look instantly fabulous. It's so easy! Just look at her examples below...

All labels are just $6.25.

Top image via The Bride's Guide. All other images via Oh Happy Day.

Friday Photo Finish

In honor of the late and beloved, Evelyn Kazanjy. She was one sharp-witted lady. I'm grateful that I got to spend a little time with her before she passed. She raised the father, who raised the son that I love so dearly. For that I owe her a debt of gratitude.

Taken at Obsidian Dome near June Lake, Ca. on Saturday, November 29, 2008.

image by me

This chair is so wonderful... and not just because it's sitting in front of a nice cozy fire and has a beautiful throw blanket on it. The damask fabric on it is gorgeous. I love that fabric designers are experimenting more with textures.

Unfortunately there was no information listed for the fabric or the chair.

image via House to Home

Feeling Bubbly

I have been in love with this chandelier since I first saw it in an Anthropologie store awhile back. This photo doesn't really do it justice. It looks amazing when lit up. Actually it looks really cool even when it isn't lit up. Such a great design.

Effervescent Chandelier $1,998

Hostess/Host Gift Idea- Part 2

Here's another great gift idea that was featured recently on The Dieline. So many people are tea drinkers these days, so why not give the host a fabulous French tea that comes in a stylish tin worth keeping around long after the tea has been drunk?

You can buy the tea online stateside at Jin Patisserie. The individual tins, such as the Act II Green Tea (Green tin above) and Sans Complexe Scented Tea (Blue tin above), are available for $30. The boxed sets, such as the La Vie Est Belle (Blue labeled box) and La Vie Qu'On Aime (Orange labeled box), are available for $52.

Coincidentally, Jin Patisserie itself was also recently featured on The Dieline as well for the beautiful packaging used for their signature sweets. You can read that post here.

images via Jin Patisserie

Hostess Gift Idea

It's holiday party season, which also means time for gifting the hosts. Instead of giving yet another bottle of wine, why not give one of these great scented soy candles from India Rose that come in such stylish packaging you don't even need to wrap them. Just throw on a bow, and you're good to go.

The candles sell for $31 each or as a gift wrapped set of four for $100.

Top to bottom: Eeva Candle, Lalo Candle, Ryder P. Candle, Zarah Rae Candle.

Friday Photo Finish

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday, but I'm still trying to catch up on sleep from our late trip home from Mammoth Monday night on top of spending my days packing up my desk and samples for a move at work.

This is a photo of American artist Tom Otterness's sculpture, "Herring", in Den Haag (The Hague).

Last year, while en route to Venice, an unexpected strike at the airports in Italy had stranded Pete and I (and many others) in The Netherlands. In order to stave off the severe jet lag we were feeling, we went for a walk not really knowing where we were or where we were going, only that we had to keep moving. We ended up at the beach and happened upon some of Tom Otterness's sculptures. It wasn't until much later that I figured out who the artist behind those whimsical sculptures were. At the time, when my brain was only functioning on the level of "Fire bad. Tree pretty.", I wrote them off as being weird and strange. Once I had a chance to see more of his work with my brain fully engaged, I've come to really adore them.

What made me think of this? Well, Tom Otterness has a new art installation in the subway station at 14th St. and 8th Ave. in New York City that I saw here and here on the blog, missbinnyc. You can also see more photos of this exhibition and of his other works here on his website. If you're lucky enough to be in New York right now, I highly encourage you to go visit them in person, but if not, do check out his website. His sculptures are absolutely charming.

image by me