I'm back!

Sorry for the not so brief hiatus, I guess I took a little un-announced summer vacation! That being said, I realized I hadn't shared a new place I fell absolutely in love with when I went down to Martha's Vineyard to see my parents while they were in town for a wedding. First of all, the Vineyard is one of my favorite places on the planet...specifically Chappaquiddick where our entire extended family has gone on vacation in years past. It's truly what vacation should be - cell phones don't work and the most dressed up I get is probably a t-shirt dress...if that. Here's the view from the house we usually stay in...

This summer though my trip down to the Vineyard was just for one night and I stayed in Edgartown at one of th emost charming hotels I've ever been to - The Charlotte Inn. Even their website is adorable...I love the line on the homepage - "Behind the times on purpose..."Then within the website they have an online brochure that is all illustrations of parts of the hotel from the check in desk to the patio dining.



Once we arrived I was in love. They have every corner of every room perfectly appointed with antique silver hand mirrors, umbrella stands, stacks of leather bound books, vintage telephones, and old bar sets with high-balls and decanters.
Here's my friend Sohee, who I went with, sitting in the "Green Room" while we waited for our room. I was in love with that horseshoe cocktail table.
This was the hallway upstairs outside our room. Don't you just want to live here?
This was in our room which had 2 adorable antique twin beds with summer quilts on them and then those 2 great club chairs.
My parents room had the best little kitchenette with an antique but functioning stove that fit just right with the cabinets and counter tops.

I was lucky my parents let me piggy-back on their trip because usually I'll take an inflatable mattress on the floor of anyone who will have me down to the Vineyard but if you have a change definitely swing by the Charlotte Inn even if it's just for a drink or dinner...you'll feel like you're in a completely different time.

Collaboration Celebration

I've noticed more and more collaborations that I've been loving - especially because for the most part they make something MORE affordable! Target comes to mind first as it seems like they're really pioneered this whole movement with designers like Zac Posen, Cynthia Vincent, and Rodarte to name a few recently.

Obviously paint has been top of mind and beyond the color I chose for my room I've been obsessing over all of Martha Stewart for Home Depot's colors...


I'm not usually very into light pinks, but I think this color (Ballet Slipper) would be so pretty for a Powder Room or maybe a big closet or dressing room (if you were lucky enough to have one!)

Another collaboration that I just came across was Mike Miller for West Elm. I first fell in love with Mike Miller's silhouettes through the John Derian website and have been pining away for one ever since - now they are in my reach! There's a whole serious of prints and pillows but I'm really loving the larger sized print - especially at a $79 price point for a framed print!


Last but certainly not least - I know it's not exactly news but I'm still obsessing over FENTONFALLON for JCrew. I drool over the cases with Fallon jewelry at Barney's and while the price-points haven't changed much they have edited their look a little to fit more into JCrew's repertoire - I mean, adding pearls to anything means it could be sold at JCrew I guess.

Painted Pretty

Were you all waiting with bated breath? I did it! I finally painted my room and love the color...I did end up going with Sharkey Gray by Martha Stewart and it came out so well! It's the first time I've painted myself and I must say I did a fine job. The best part was definitely that I think it looks really good with the things I already had in my room. I was looking to go with a little bit of a darker color since my bed is white I wanted it to pop off the wall more than it did in my older apartment where the walls were really light.

The other color I was considering was kind of like a coffee ice cream that I liked a lot but I wasn't wild about how it went with this print (above) which I adore. It's a print of the tall ships coming in to Boston harbor that my mom gave to my dad when they lived here in the seventies....and then I stole it!
Also, totally unplanned it matches this Gretchen Dow Simpson print I have of a bulding in Scranton (where I was born.) The mat on the print is almost th eexact color...I also like how the silver mercury glass lamp looks with the gray.
And my obsession with lucite is proven worthwhile again...because it goes with everything!

High Heeled Foot in her Shoes

I think I must have gotten too excited about this because I posted it last week on accident on but it's actually today that I will be guest-posting for Camila at High Heeled Foot in the Door. I'd be lying if I said Camila wasn't a huge inspiration to me and one of the sweetest people I'm fortunate enough to know. So scoot over there and check it out!!

But come back because I do believe I'm taking on the task of painting my bedroom today and as of now (which could still change) I'm going with...drumroll...Sharkey Gray from Martha Stewart's line of paint

Whirlwind Weekend - Part 1

I was home in Columbus over the weekend and am honestly surprised by how much stuff I managed to do in the span of 3 days! The whole trip was really based around Hat Day on Friday which is a fundraiser at the Franklin Park Conservatory to support their community gardening program (more on that in a bit) but the weekend turned into so much more! Starting with the Pearl Jam concert, ending with a Mother's Day brunch and a fashion show thrown in the middle there for good measure - needless to say I'm still tired.

So let's start with Hat Day...this was the 10th Anniversary of the event and it was the 2nd year I had gone, this picture is from the first time I went and is hanging up in my room.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a picture of myself from this year but I do have this great one of my parents!
What's better than an excuse to get dressed up, wear a hat, and help a good cause? Not a lot! There were some really amazing hats and as pictures start to surface I'll continue putting them up...

I Scream, You Scream

I literally did scream when I found this out! Just like me, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams has made its way from Columbus to Boston. I know it was already on DailyCandy this week but I thought I'd give it a few days and then just remind everyone who already saw it or inform anyone who hadn't what AMAZING news this is. My sister has written about it too so if you couldn't' tell my family is very fond of Jeni's. It all started with Salty Caramel at the North Market. Now that's the name of her blog and North Market is just one of 5 locations and a number of retailers (nationally, thank God!)


Opening the email from DailyCandy last Sunday was seriously like Christmas in May. They are now selling Jeni's at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge and hopefully soon at the South End Formaggio as well. Both seasonal flavors, like Savannah Buttermilk, and the classics like Salty Caramel will be available.


I very highly suggest you try them, or if you are in Columbus that you visit one of the actual ice cream shops because they are also adorable.

Images from Jeni's website and Real Simple.

Movin' On Up

I must say I laughed out loud when I went to pick up the keys to my new apartment and the key-tag said "Penthouse"...is that what we're calling a 4th floor walk-up these days? I guess so! Well 13 hours, 4 movers, and countless boxes later we're all in. It was seriously like putting a ship in a bottle and letting it expand and now comes the fun part. It's a Boston apartment so it's old, or in real estate terms "has charm" and it definitely needs a little TLC so you're in luck - you just get to read about it while I do the work!

First order of business is painting, here's what my bedroom currently looks like (without furniture) so I'd like some suggestions on paint colors...





Hopefully I'm not crazy and you'll agree with me that you can't tell exactly what color it is. It's like a greyish tannish white? I also am pretty sure the walls are not all the same shade. To give you an idea what it needs to match here's the bedding I currently have.


So what do you think?? My bed is white so I don't want the walls to be too light because then you lose the the bed against them.

Thanks in advance for you help!!

Sneak Peak

After starting to clean my apartment in preparation for my upcoming move (more on that to come!) I spent a good portion of the night laying on my bed on the phone like in the movie Bye Bye Birdie staring out my window, kicking my legs in the air, and watching them set up for Urban Showcase!! (see previous post below for details)

Lucky me can see right into all levels of the house from my bedroom and I tried to creep and get some good pictures but they didn't turn out well except this little guy in the basement window....

...don't you think there should be a little sign hanging that says "Jonathan Adler was here!?"

Urban Showcase

I've seen this house rise from the ground up over the past year and it has honestly been nothing short of amazing. I live just behind it and I've got to say Bradford has become my favorite street in the South End, it's a perfect location without being too busy and I love all the houses on it. 44 Bradford Street is finally complete and now ready to be shown off.


...and not just shown off in an open house. Local Realtor, Ricardo Rodriguez, will be presenting the Urban Showcase - April 29-30, May 1-2, and May 6-9.
Each floor will be done by a different designer and put on show to benefit the Pine Street Inn ($10 Thursday/Friday, $20 Saturday/Sunday). Need even more reason to come? One of the floors will be done by Jonathan Adler! Other designers include Terrat Elms (known for designing The 1850, also in the South End), Dennis Duffy of Duffy Design Group (designed Rocca,) and Lisa Kreiling of LTK Interiors.


Here are a few previews of the designers, Jonathan Adler...a private residence on Shelter Island, via jonathanadler.com

Terrat Elms...a kitchen in the 1850 building, via terratelms.com

Duffy Design...great room in Concord, MA via duffydesigngroup.com.

LTK Interiors...living room in a Boston duplex via ltkinteriors.com.

Karen Walker (not that Karen Walker)

Although I do covet her collection of Hermes and tolerance for Gin I am not currently referring to the Karen Walker of Will & Grace but instead the eye wear designer. Fashion is fun and should be treated as such which is a huge reason I love Barney's and Fred Segal...they don't take themselves too seriously. I've noticed Karen Walker's stuff popping up in magazines and I've seen it on a few blogs but I just finally got around to checking out her website and now I'm totally sold!

I mean, her logo was enough to get me excited...


Then once you actually get into her site this amazing pattern scrolls through different styles of her newest line of sunglasses. This is from her 2010 collection...


She also keeps her past collections up on kind of an archive of sites for each year. Here is 2009...


See what I mean about keeping it fun? I've tried a pair on and they are definitely a good quality so I'm thinking I might have to buy myself a pair. They're all pretty much under $200, not to say that's cheap but all the sunglasses I've wanted recently have been north of $300 which is just getting silly. This rain (in Boston) is supposed to clear out tomorrow so some nice weather this weekend might call for a new pair of sunglasses!

Music for my Walls

Unfortunately I think when you mention concert posters a lot of people picture a velvet black light Pink Floyd poster or something equally offensive but one of my current obsessions is band and/or concert posters either vintage or orginial by some of the great print makers our there right now.

One of the best websites for them is Poster Cabaret where I actually picked up this Band of Horses poster as an engagement present for my sister and her husband because they went to see them for their first date.

It looks so good framed and I think it made a pretty good gift if I do say so myself.

The other one from Poster Cabaret I'm loving both because I love the band Stars and because I love the artwork is this one, which is by the artist The Small Stakes - definitely one of my favorites on the website.

One great find that I cannot take credit for is a Bob Dylan poster that came folded in his 1967 Greatest Hits LP that my sister bought for her husband Peter for Christmas one year. She got in eBay and then had it restored because it was worn from being folded up in a record sleeve for so long but it looks perfect now.

One of the great thing about concert posters is they tend to come in really standard sizes so its easy to find frames at Ikea or other big stores to fit them so you can save some money on custom matting and framing.

West, Collier West

(I was picturing that in a "Bond, James Bond" kind of voice) Suzi West, of Collier West - my favorite store in Columbus - was featured on Apartment Therapy for her amazingly cozy loft in Columbus. And while my desk still looks as atrocious as it did (see below) I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share this! It's listed under Apartment Therapy's Chicago tab - See how chic the midwest can be??
I absolutely love this light fixture - aka 'branchelier' and it is actually on display in Hudson's front window right now (the Boston location.)
With less than 600 square feet you can see what a good job Suzi did of using space wisely because it looks much larger than that. I love the overlapping oriental rugs sprawling from the living into the bedroom.

Aparment Therapy notes that one way Suzi opens up the small space is by not using curtains to minimize the windows, but you can see she uses large mirrors too to make the space feel bigger.I think one of the smartest design tips in the article is "evaluate your life, how you spend your time and then build around that" which Suzi refers to when she explains why she didn't redo the kitchen - because she rarely eats in.

This is my favorite. I honestly can't decide what I like the best...the sign, the headboard, the bedding, the chandeliers, the chest. It's all amazing!

Help!

I feel so out of the loop...I haven't had time to browse, shop, click, read, blog, etc because this is currently my life...

...as soon as I can poke my head out I'll be back in action!

Paper Party

I'm a firm believer in the written word - I love thank you notes, I don't want newspapers to die, and admittedly I have some pretty juicy diaries from about Grades 6-11. So I thought I'd share with you some of my new favorite paper products as I feel like there has been an abundance of them recently.

Moleskine notebooks are a staple in my life and their most recent line is genius! Moleskine 'Passion Books' are journals catered specifically to wine, music, film, books, recipes, and wellness.


They have the same classic setup, shape, size, etc of the regular Moleskine notebooks but are organized based on topic and also each one has embossed covers specific to their topic.



I'm definitely going to get some I just haven't decided which ones yet - how do you decide between wine, movies, food, and books? (I mean, I've already eliminated 'Wellness'...)



The other new paper-products I'm oohing and aahing over are Jonathan Adler's new stationery line. I'm a sucker for a new set of note cards but our dear friend Jonathan has taken it to a whole other level with file folders, gift wrap, paper lanterns, and much more.


I love that all the envelope/card sets aren't match-matchy and that he makes good use of all of his great patterns and colors.

If you're anything like me these folders will legitimately make it easier to stay organized. I don't mind doing taxes, sorting bills, or cleaning up my desk when everything is getting put into these! (This might be a slight exaggeration)


Last, but not least, I love using note cards like this because you don't always have enough to say for a whole gift card - if you're giving a good gift I think "Love, Elizabeth" should suffice!



Well I could go on for hours about 1. Stationery in general, 2. Moleskines, and 3. Jonathan Adler so I'll spare you and let you look around for yourselves....have a great weekend!