Color it Wonderful

I'm a big fan of bookshelves. I think they say a lot about a person if they are given any thought and this one, well I might be inclined to say "obsessive compulsive" but I'm also going to say "brilliant."

From a profile of the editors' workspaces at Martha Stewart Living (via January 2009's issue).

Oh Gag Me

While partaking in the media gluttony that is watching tv and surfing the internet at the same time, I just left "Real Housewives of Orange County" out in the cold due to this scene:



(Shhh, Bravo, I'll be back next week, I'll get over it, but right now I want to throw up.)

Ode to Celerie

I've been pouring over Celerie Kemble's book "To Your Taste" and realized that I have a bit of a girl crush.

Celerie, your spaces are refreshing, your style and take on design -- inspired. I wanted to give you a big (straight) kiss when you acknowledged that there are no design emergencies, but yet still defended the profession and honored the place that good design has in people's lives. You seem to strike a balance that I find refreshing and I admire the pages where practicality takes center stage with inventive solutions.

Plus, let's face it, you rock a personal style that conjures up a more inspired Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Simple elegance, but slightly edged in prep school angst, like Carolyn if she hadn't been preoccupied with being all "Kennedy." I mean, photos of yourself in a marble bathtub? Balls man, balls.

It won't stop snowing

I'm starting to get cabin fever and our unexpected weather is cutting into my vacation time. Not only that, but I still need to do some Christmas shopping and a few of my packages are delayed. Looks like the family will be getting lovely printouts of the books that I bought them or a big card filled with "IOU." We're going on about 10" in Seattle and day 4 of ice and snow, and considering that Seattle has some of the worst drivers, it's not pretty. Perhaps you heard about the bus that almost nearly crashed through a guardrail onto the freeway like it was a scene from Speed? I thought so.

Little Duckies

I fell in love with three little ducks this morning courtesy of designlabshop.com. Vintage Konstglas made in Sweden -- I particularly love the blue color.

Christmas is a Comin'

For me, it doesn't really feel like Christmas until I have gifts to wrap for people. Especially because I am a paper whore -- I love me a good wrapping paper and ribbon combination. Few things get me more me more excited at Christmas than the sight of presents and (honest, I swear) it's because of the wrappings. Now obviously this giddiness is not going to happen with just any old package and a roll of dancing santa paper, but watch out if you give me a present with some prettiness on the outside. I'm planning my 2009 collection and I came across this totally unrealistic but awesome idea courtesy of the queen of unrealistic awesome ideas, Martha Stewart.


As a side note, it's known in some circles that I'm bad at receiving presents, this might also contribute to my love of the adage "'better to give than receive."

David Collins

I recently saw a posting by Habitually Chic the other day that has got me thinking about success in the design industry.

There seems to be such a range of paths that a designer can take towards finding success in this profession and to me, David Collins seems to have taken talent and passion and turned it into a real, honest to goodness business. I know that we're all doing that, or trying to do it rather, but on a large, obvious scale, he has. I mean, not only has he built a style that he can own, but he's built a shrine to his vision , an empire -- one that is sought after and studied. I know that this might be an obvious post, but in an economic time when everyone is cutting back and layoffs are everywhere, having a lucrative business based on a unique vision is a combination that is harder for some to find than others.

I Want: The Perfect Holiday Jacket

It's tweed and sparkly. This little number would totally be rocked to all of the holiday parties this season. That is, if they hadn't all been canceled or turned into potlucks.

Thanks recession for not giving me reason to buy such a fabulous jacket.

Oh, thank god

I Die. It might not be breaking news by now, but my excitement for the return of Rachel Zoe is huge. Without Rachel shutting it down and Taylor and Brad bitching in my ear, my Bravo hasn't been the same. Rodge & Taylor & Brad, oh my!

I do love how it's going to be freaking ages before it's back though since she has to get through awards season in order to have content worthy of viewing.

Still, I worship at the house of Zoe and I'm not ashamed to say it.

I feel kind of validated...

It's not a personal assault on plaid, I promise. Part of me kind of likes it, in fact I really don't mind it. But it's kind of like swear words. Sometimes they are so perfectly right for the situation and nothing can be better than an f-bomb, but coming from, let's say, someone you maybe don't like or someone who you aren't conviced actually knows real words, it becomes tacky and gratuitous.

That's how I feel about plaid. And clearly some people agree with me, here & here. I knew I liked them.


P.S. Domino, please try harder. I know you're better than this, and it's not that I'm mad, I'm disappointed.

Cullen Contemporary

I can't decide how I feel about the "Twilight" series, but I will admit I saw the movie and the one thing I can say for sure it that I love the house chosen for the Cullen family. While decidedly different from what the author described in the book, the production team went with a northwest contemporary design that pays homage to the region much better than what was originally envisioned by the author.

I Need: Office

I need a desk. Preferably this one.


And bookshelves this massive. Every time I watch episodes of "Sex and the City," I find myself wishing I had a wall big enough for a bad boy like this to hold all my books and magazines, because I am drowning in books. It's out of control, but throwing away books is like asking me to go all Fahrenheit 451, and I just can't. So instead they live in boxes and piles until I can get this.

xoxo

Somewhere between getting home from work and finishing my DVR'd episode of Gossip Girl, I walked into Bridget Jones' Diary.

I fast-forwarded. I paused. I all-around enjoyed my monday night of Gossip Girl (with about half a bottle of wine). And more importantly, while I welcomed sweats and an unhealthy excitement for teenage melodrama, I saw my roommate off on a "drinks thing" with a promise to break it all down when she got home.

Well, imagine my surprise when I'm interrupted by "guy number two" at my door, complete with a dozen roses and a fatty card bearing her name.

Somehow, she managed to cram two guys into a Monday night, all while I barely made time for network television. I could try to blame a lot of things, but I think that some people just have those lives. Lives where it actually does pour when it rains and roses come unannounced from more men than you can make time for. Some people also make it happen while others get just a little more than they asked for and take it as enough.

I hope "guy number one" was short.

A Fresh, So Clean

Future Business Leader of America

For some reason, Target is my happy place. Good things come from Target. And even better, if it was a good thing at Pottery Barn or Williams-Sonoma, it will eventually be at Target in a more moderately priced form.

Also, it tends to be a gathering place for the women in my family. I don't know how we do it, but it's as if we have a sixth-sense for each others impending trips and end up converging spontaneously to troll the aisles together. Here we swap minor details of each others lives while pressuring one another into $30 dollar tree skirts, for no other reason than "non-tacky ones are hard to find."

One of the minor details that we swapped today was that my 7-year old nephew starts Chinese next week.

What makes this particularly awesome is that when I asked her why he wants to learn Chinese, my sister looks at me with a completely straight face, barely taking her attention from a discounted plate set, and says, "Because he wants an elevator in his house."

There you have it. My wise guy nephew wants to be rich and at the early age of 7 has figured out that in order to have cool shit when you grow up, you have to know Chinese.

What I love even more is that my sister and her husband didn't try to persuade him. I think it's because, when you get down to it, we are all kicking ourselves for not having the foresight to drop out of French and Spanish and go after the elevator.

The Book of Perfection

I'm going to take a peek at Domino's "The Book of Decorating" on Thursday at one of my favorite stores. True, I could have scoped it at any bookstore, but last time I checked you couldn't openly booze there without getting dirty looks.

I hope it's as good as the canapes.

Thank You Earthmuffin

Thank you woman on my bus today for showing me a portion of your breast while feeding your 2-year old.

I can't tell you how much I also appreciated listening to you read children's book after children's book aloud to commuters. Trust me, when you would say "Next page please" I wanted to reach right out and turn it for you. I mean, since your hands were full with your lactating and child-feeding, it's understandable that you would need a little bit of help. Too bad your kid beat me to it.

I should also apologize for the width that my mouth dropped to when, after his morning meal, your "baby" sat up, started conversing and then walked off the bus. I mean, there I was trying to tell myself "oh he's just big for his size," but when he nearly tipped his hat and said "good day" to the driver, I found it hard to zip the lip.

Hot and Modern and Leather All Over

I've owned this set of chairs since college, when I had no real home, just a revolving door of rooms that I shared with as many as 4 girls at a time. Clearly that type of living arrangement wasn't conducive to mid-century modern, so I stored them and knew that one day they'd have their shot at a bright future.

After graduating, I pulled them out of my parents garage and now, everyday I look at the sad butter colored suede covering them and dream of when I will finally have my act together & re-upholster them in a deep, chocolate brown leather. Envisioning what they'll look like when the burnished metal gleams against the rich leather gets me through the sad reality that the suede from once-upon-an-owner is ripping more & more each time an unappreciative house guest sits on them.

Some day, my chairs, some day. Just sit tight and try not to rip anymore.

I want.

I want the life that this shoe would go with.

Wait, why?

This month's InStyle was actually one of the better ones to land on my desk in a few years -- I refuse to actually buy them since it's usually crap. But. I will concede that the features in the 'Beyonce' issue were actually pretty good and it had a feature on Kari Whitman's work for Jessica Alba. They also got hip to the fact that people are feeling po' and used clothes that weren't the price of a kidney transplant.

However.

Why in the hell is Katie Lee Joel in ANOTHER magazine? What does she do? What is her purpose?

Katie Lee Joel -- first you offer nothing to my Domino, now you offer nothing to my stolen InStyle. I don't care about your turkey, just like I didn't care about your boring shelving unit filled with cake stands. I know that you got lucky and bagged an old guy with dough, but until you can offer more, stay out of my magazines.

Is anyone really wearing this?

Despite plaid being in every magazine and on the body of Lindsey Lohan as she's snapped gripping a big gulp and a cigarette, has anyone really gone so far as to bring it back? Unless you're famous, I really want to call bullshit if you answered "yes."

It brings up an interesting temptation -- school girl sexy, a masculine edge to feminine softness, but really? Is that enough to avoid looking like a handy man? Probably not. It takes a hell of a lot of guts to wear plaid, let's be honest. These girls make it look cute because they are 80 pounds and don't get up and go to work in the morning. They actually can roll out of bed and they live in perpetual 80 degree weather so they don't have to layer in order to avoid freezing their nips off.

If I'm off base here, I'll eat my words, but until I see someone at Walgreens in a plaid button-down buying detergent, I'm sticking to them.