These photographs by Abby Powell-Thompson are so breathtakingly gorgeous. It makes me wish I had more time to learn how to use my camera and Photoshop properly. 
Cupcakes
A Good Marriage
Apricot Blossoms
My Kitchen Table
Slips
All images are from and available for sale at really great prices at Abby Try Again.
Discovered via Design is Mine
I’ve made no attempt to hide how much I love and adore Anthropologie. I swear I would cry like I’d lost my best friend if they ever closed up shop. It is heaven for people with no skill at pulling stylish outfits together. Their clothes, accessories, and furniture never look mass market, and always have such an amazing level of detail that I have not found anywhere else for the price.
Admittedly, I rarely buy full price goods from them because I tend to love everything they have and thus their sale sections are a just a wealth of great items at even better prices. However I when I stopped in recently, and I randomly tried on these pieces together… it was the perfect storm of fit. Fitted pants with a billowyish top that hides just the right spots. 
Pair this up with ballet flats or sandals and it’s the perfect little outfit to wear on vacation. Speaking of vacations, I’m so looking forward to a trip to New Orleans with Pete at the end of May. We could both use it after all the hard work we’ve been doing lately has left us feeling overworked and overtired.
via Anthropologie- Buzios Halter & Lattice Crops
Just had to add this stair idea to my earlier post about stairs. How awesome is this!?! I’m the kind of person who no matter how old I get will still enjoy playing on playgrounds… swinging from the swings, hanging from the bars, sliding down the slides… so I think this has got to be my ultimate dream staircase (not the metal and glass part which is frightening for a clumsy person like me, but the sliding part). 
Sorry to have disappeared on you at the end of last week, but I was pulling 12hr days at work and just didn't have any energy left to focus on blogging. Still a lot of work left to do this week, so I can't promise you it won't happen again, but such is life.
image via beach bungalow 8 via ohdeedoh
Such wonderful illustrations by artist Andrew Bannecker. Andrew works and creates at his home studio in New York and his clients have included Starbucks and The Land of Nod. Being that I’m such a fan of Starbucks visual displays, it’s no wonder I was automatically drawn to his work. His images have such a wonderful use of colors, textures, whimsy (particularly his illustrations for the Monsters Inked Show), and thoughtfulness. As I’ve said before, I am most drawn to art in which the longer you look at it, the more details you notice. 
Illustration for Nassau County’s “The Island Next Door” campaign. Note the heart shaped breath, such a nice touch. 
The Hummingbird and the Horse available for sale at the CIA shop.
To see more of his work go here, here, and check out his blog here.
images via Andrew Bannecker found via Blomma Finds
Such a busy weekend with an even busier week ahead of me! As soon as I saw this image from This is Glamorous, I haven’t been able to stop looking at it. It’s something about the shade of lavender that’s used in this all white room with the sunlight across the bed. Maybe because it’s a bedroom and it’s in Paris… either place I’d rather be right now than at work. C’est dommage…
image via This is Glamorous via the paris apartment
More flowers, but with an added treat… a surprise appearance by the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill. Although they were hanging out in the trees in a park by the Embarcadero Center when I took these photos. They were pulling flowers off the trees to get at the nectar, and this is about the only time they ever take perch this low to the ground, so it was a real treat to be there when they did. The only unfortunate part was that I only had my old Canon Powershot with me, so the quality isn’t that great.
images by me
In need of the calming affect of these pale blue rooms paired with neutrals…
images top to bottom: Ideal Home, Martha Stewart, and the last three via House Beautiful
… this trend of putting artwork and photography “casually” on the floor leaning against the wall is becoming a bit played out at this point. It also sort of defeats the point of having artwork in the first place. Who wants to get down on their knees to study a piece of art or look at photos? Not to mention when they are stacked so that part of the photo or the art is hidden.
My dislike started with the photos of Brett Ratner’s home in the March 2009 issue of Elle Decor. He has a large collection of photography that he has collected, so in nearly every room the framed images are on the floors leaning against the walls. Looking at room after room of frames on the floor, it began to look more like unfinished rooms than a design choice. I suddenly had an overwhelming desire to reach into the magazine and start hanging the darn things. 
The last straw was this bedroom below by Dillon Garris that was recently featured on So Haute!. Having piles of frames like this would keep me up at night. This jumble of art and photographs just doesn’t feel peaceful to me. It just feels like clutter in the last place that I would want it. It’s such a disconnect from the rest of the house which is so serene and beautiful (really you should check it out). 
So what do you think? Is it becoming an overused design element or does it have staying power?
top two images via Elle Decor, bottom image via So Haute!
I was somehow lead to these images of Alicia Paulson’s (author of Stitched in Time and blogger) studio on Flickr, and instantly fell in love with the space. It’s so pretty and organized. Most of all though, I think I fell in love with it for the color… I die* for those blue walls! Really what’s not to love?
Natural light filled space to create little pretties in?… love! 
Retro 50’s table to sit at while drinking my morning hot cocoa or OJ before settling down to work?…love! 
Jars filled with doodads and the shelves draped with pretty embroidered linens?…love! 
The pretty Chinese lanterns and the knit slippers on the wall?… love! 
See the bins turned on their side and used for storage/organization?…love!
Alicia recently put together a fat quarter pack for Sew, Mama, Sew, which of course sold out… twice!
images via Alicia Paulson
*and yes I may have been watching reruns of The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo recently. You have to admire someone who has so much passion for their work.
We’re expecting some warmer weather by the end of this week. After last week’s brain freeze inducing winds, I’m so looking forward to spending, and enjoying, some time outside. If I had a yard or a balcony, I would love to have a set of these great pieces from the French company, Fermob, that I found via Marie Claire Maison.
Fermob has a wide variety of colors to choose from, and is available from many US retailers which you can find listed on their website.
Alternatively, rather than buying new, you could go to your local flea market or hit up Craigs List, etc. to get a great deal on some used metal furniture that you can spruce up with any color of paint you like. With the proper prep work, they’ll come out looking as good as new. Find the details for this project here.
Feeling a little like this after a very late Saturday night visiting with friends from NYC in town for Passover, and then getting up early on Sunday to drive a couple hours to visit with the family for a few hours before driving a couple of hours back home. And did I mention all the food and candy I ate? All well worth it of course, but oh how I wish I didn't have to work today.
image via Twig Hutchinson
Colored some eggs yesterday… thought I’d share. 
images by me- note the second photo is intentionally out of focus. i took the shot that way just for fun, and i liked how it turned out.
