I Love This Room, And Someone Needs to Copy This Coffee Table….

I love the soft prettiness of this room with the graphic wha-pow of the coffee table. What a cool simple way to transform a bland square coffee table. I’m sure this particular one is in the thousands, but anyone can tape off some stripes.

A Little Some’in Some’in

Here are some snapshots of a party I did awhile back now. It was a graduation party for a girl (obvies once you see the pictures), so we kept it feminine, but not too frilly.

And look! I made a lolli log!

And then of course there is Miss Pomp and I hard at work

A couple tips for decorating at-home parties:

1. Pick an area and focus on it. For this party we focused on the food table, because that is what there is the most of, and everyone will go to it. Focusing on one area brings a lot of impact in one place, instead of little impact in lots of places.

2. Pick a theme, feel, or look, and stick with it. We wanted it feminine but modern, so we used a lot of shiny or sleek white surfaces, kept the lines somewhat clean (see stripes on trays and napkins, boxes and trays in rectangles or squares as opposed to curvy shapes), and stuck with shades of pink, grey, and white, and natural wood tones for warmth.

3. Think in layers. Just as in fashion and clothing, layers keep things interesting and dimensional. We hung things from the ceiling to draw the eye up and make even more of an impact and a “space”, and create a layer where there would have been nothing. Then we layered the layer with a sign in front of it. We used lots of trays and boxes to tier and add height and dimension, and threw in a couple of unexpected ways to display or show things (see cupcakes under bell jar, lollipops in a branch, and napkins on a ceramic feather tray with a wood coaster on top to keep them in place.)

4. Lighting. It might not be your first thought on a food table, but candle light and lamp light can bring in warmth and focus. It can highlight things you want to bring attention to, and make it feel cozy.

Happy partying!

We’ve Been Doing This For 2 Years…We’re Totally Veterans…

(Dress ~ Vintage, Shoes – Sam Edelman)

Last week Husby and I celebrated our 2-year anniversary with a fun date night to a fancy wine bar and restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz, Soif.

They had live music and a great little tapas menu, and THE BEST olive oil I’ve ever had.

It was the perfect night to wear this vintage beauty that I picked up a couple months ago at Stripe, but wanted to save for something special.

Happy two years, husby!  I love you more and more every day!

 

 

I Never Dreamed I’d Meet A Girl Like You

I got to do all the decor and flowers for a friend’s wedding a few weekends ago. She was a super fun person to do a job for because she pretty much gave me free-reign. She even let me turn some old metal filing cabinets into a cupcake tower. Awesome.

Though I know how to turn me some trash into treasure, my camera skills leave something to be desired. So these crummy off-colored pictures don’t do everything justice, but it’s still fun to share. (*The cake isn’t totally set up yet in this picture. Fast forward about twenty minutes to me and Miss Pomp trying to stack the tiered cake silently during the ceremony, and me accidentally punching it on the side. Yup. That’s right. I punched the cake.)

Those vases I wrapped in grey and white striped bakers twine. Yeah- that only took about two hours. I made use of the time and re-familiarized myself with Jordan Catalano and the Frozen Embryos.

This chalkboard saying idea I saw online somewhere…Green Wedding Shoes maybe?

I collected various gold containers from Goodwill and other thrift stores to use as centerpieces. I wanted something shiny for texture, and I liked how the gold looked with the pink and tiffany-ish blue. But I wanted them used and a bit weathered so it wasn’t too shiny. The tables had vases of either yellow roses, fushia dahlias, or pale peach roses.

The evening may or may not have included karaoke, and may or may not have had the groom singing Flock of Seagulls (…a girl like ewe-ew-ew), and may or may not have included a couple of Misses rapping Timbaland.

It was a small wedding with a lets-be-creative-and-thrifty type budget. I don’t know about you, but those are the ones I sometimes find the most charming.

Here are a couple of tips for making a wedding feel not cookie cutter, and to communicate detail and thoughtfulness:

1. Bring in furniture pieces to use in place of folding tables for drink stations, cake tables, buffets, etc. Desks, workbenches, consoles, side tables, and dressers are ways to add character, make your guests feel like they are at home, and go against the wedding-factory feel of the same-old-same-old. It’s also a great way to add in pops of color.

2. Signage. I’m all about signage and have been known to use it even for things that don’t need a sign. I once made a sign for an event I did that said “Coasters Are Your Friends….” by a stack of coasters. Signs that are pretty and graphically go with your decor make things feel cohesive. It’s one of those details that you might not take huge notice of when they are there, but you notice their absence when they are not. It infuses your theme everywhere possible. And I don’t mean theme in a pirate or Star Wars kind of way. It can be as subtle as stripes, or just a consistency in color and font. And it is an inexpensive way to “decorate”

3. Speaking of fonts, pick one or two and use throughout, from invitations right on through to the event.

4. Use trays unabashedly and un ashamed. Trays corral items and immediately turn it into a collection. Use them. They’re awesome.

5. Try using glassware, vases, wire caddies, lacquered boxes, and the aforementioned tray to display needed and necessary items like napkins and utensils. Again, it takes the necessary and makes it thoughtful. In one of the pictures above you can see I put grey and white striped straws in vintage gold trimmed glassware. Did they need straws for their drinks? N to the capitol O. But, they were fun, out of the ordinary, and an extension of the Jordan Catalano twine wrapped vases. You gotta add some unneccessary in a couple of places.

Pants Pretending To Be Skirts

(Pants – Anthropologie, Grey Tank – via Villains SF)

My favorite new cozy pants.  The thing I’m most thoughtful about when getting dressed is that I want to wear things that are comfortable. I’m not too interested in things that restrict movement, or things that I have to be tugging at and re-adjusting throughout the day.

These Anthro pants, available here, are meant to be cropped, but I wasn’t really into that, so I sized up a couple of sizes, and slung them low on my hips. I love the puddled effect on the ground. It will probably ruin the bottom of the pants in the long run, but at the moment I’m loving it.

 

 

 

Mary’s Cookies and Whole Foods

A couple of weeks ago my mom, the owner of Mary’s Cookies, had the privilege of serving her cookies at one of Whole Foods parking lot fairs. Miss Pomp and I helped her make her sign and design her booth-

 The DIY sign idea with the nails and string, I stole (with permission) from my friend Katie at Wylie Weddings. She and her team created an amazing backdrop for a wedding show with driftwood, wallpaper, nails, and string…..4 of my favorite things.

You can tell we used a lot of organic, natural elements to keep it simple and creative (hopefully). It totally reflects my mom and her cookies- she hand chops all and every ingredient, everything is organic or top of line product, and they are super homemade looking and tasting. Were talking chunky hearty cookies.

It was a super fun day and her booth was the toast of the parking lot.

Holy Mid-Century Modern, Urban!

 

 

While perusing the Urban Outfitters site the other day, I was VERY pleasantly surprised by all of the new additions in the Apartment section!  Affordably re-imaginings of mid-century pieces, available ten minutes from my home?  Yes, please!

(All images via Urban Outfitters)

That brass floor lamp is on my immediate “must-buy” list.

Girls Night Out

(Dress and cuff ~ H&M, Kimono ~ Anthropologie,

Shoes ~ Pierre Hardy for Gap)

Last Friday night I spent an evening out with some girlfriends to celebrate my friend’s Bachelorette Party and I must say, it was awesome. Her family was in town for the wedding, and we had an awesome time telling stories and just enjoying being together.

I got this kimono (on sale – holla!) at Anthropologie a couple weeks ago and it has been on constant rotation, it is so cozy and is such a great “throw on with anything” item. Judging by how many times I’ve worn it already, I might wanna get another one right now for when this one gets worn out.

 

 

The Sartorialist

This guy is an incredible photographer. Most of his pictures look like life in technicolor. Street style at it’s finest. Beautiful moments in time that capture the essence of a person in a snapshot. The way my pictures look only in my head. Here are some highlights over the past couple of weeks-

Ikea Hack

What a beautiful Ikea hack. One of the best I’ve seen. Problem is I have no idea who did it or how they did it. I found it in an article about Ikea Hacks, but with no references to this particular hack. Doesn’t look that complicated (famous last words from the spouse who would not be the one hacking).