Me in Melange

living in a JP tee...

I've often thought about this, I guess since sitting in the James Perse showroom listening to the rep boast about how her whole wardrobe was JP and how lucky that made her.  It's true, JP's tees are truly luxurious, simple, and classic.  Why wouldn't you want to live in them!?  Well, now you can my friends... James Perse has just introduced his ultra-new furniture line, bringing his California style to all parts of your home, not just your closet.  Take a peek at all four lines the Malibu, Los Angeles, NorCal, and Brentwood.  Only available at James Perse boutiques.  signed, me {CA}

Living Large...

Everytime we go to the doc's to get baby girl checked on, I immediately search for this old issue of Elle Decor they have in the waiting room...  it has a full story on Nanette Lepore's NY townhouse designed by Jonathan Adler... and I sit there and drool while we wait for them to call my name.  True eye candy, especially that 'dressing room' of hers, I also love her daughter's room... what a cool bed.  signed, me {CA}

      

 

More pomanders!

Pomander Tutorial Since I'm on a kick....I think I'll make these for Christmas.  They are so colorful and pretty!!  Wouldn't they make wonderful little ornaments?  Signed, ME {lv} 

Cool site for rugs!!

I'm on the search for a new entry rug for my home...I wanted something fun, colorful and different.  I came across this site and there are some great prints--the colors are fantastic!!  http://www.laylagrayce.com/searchresulthome.aspx?CategoryID=988&view=all  (laylagrace.com).  FUN!  Signed, ME {lv}

Daydreaming...

of this heavenly set from West Elm!  Doesn't it just look dreamy and perfectly suited for summertime?!  signed, me {CA}

outfitting a room

I love this article in Domino, it shows how to take elements from your favorite outfit and then dress your room!  Such a great way to think about decorating.  signed, me {CA}

Finally got my cut-art!

Some of you might remember I blogged about this cool site a few months ago.  www.cutarts.com is the name, and the artist will take a profile picture of what you send him, and do a black silhouette "cutting".  I sent in my in-laws profiles, and he did a picture of my mother-in-law facing my father-in-law.  It is really great...looks just like them, and will be beautiful when framed.  It took longer than they anticipated (a bit over 4 weeks instead of the 3 weeks initially promised), but the end result is worth it.  This would be a great thing to do for a kids room of a child--maybe in a colored paper instead of the classic black!  I paid $100 for an 8 x 10 picture with two profiles.  Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that in person it is even better than expected!  Signed, ME {lv}

The art of delegating....

I spent a lot of time pondering this yesterday so I thought I would share.  Delegation, I've always known, is one of the most important things in management...you've got to learn to be able to let go of things at the appropriate time and pass on that task in order to free yourself up.  I'm pretty darn good at it by now, there isn't much I won't or can't pass on to the right person.  Part of being able to do that is letting go of the concept that you are the only person who should or CAN do something.  You've got to realize that most things you do can be done by someone else just fine and that you in fact are not solo in your talents and/or abilities.  So...that part I get perfectly fine, in the WORK setting.

The hard part for me is taking that concept and translating it somehow to the home.  I of course, was realizing this as I was running the 4 million different errands and "things" necessary to make Thanksgiving work (and the next two weeks when we will at some point have a new infant).  There is part of me that unconsciously "shelters" my husband from a lot of stuff and I think this is common to a lot of women (although what started me thinking was my girlfriend who on Monday was explaining how she doesn't shelter her husband).  By "sheltering" I guess I mean that I do a lot of the multi-tasking, house-organizing, and mentally-draining coordinating that is necessary to keep the ball rolling because I think to myself, "he works so hard, he is such a great father, blah, blah, blah."  Part of it is also probably because I want to be able to do it all...or think I "should" be able to do it all.... work, run the kids around, run the household.  So there are certain things I just do without even thinking about it, simply because I want to make it easier for other people I love (him and others).  That is a nice theory, as long as you aren't killing yourself in the process, which I am. 

I guess this is where letting go comes in and delegating.  I've got to accept that it is o.k. to ask for help, and o.k. to burden someone else who is already working hard because I'm in the same position, so my only choice is to kill myself trying to accomplish it all, or share the responsibility and we can both semi-kill ourselves.  I also have to let go of the concept that I'm the only one who can do the house stuff....I might be the only one between the two of us with the multi-tasking and aforethought skills :-), but I'm definitely not the only one who can run to Cosco for toilet paper and lightbulbs.

Anyway, I think I'm probaby particularly bad at this, but I know at least some other women need to "check" themselves and start delegating too because I see them running themselves ragged.  Like I said, others out there, like my dear girlfriend, have a different response...."I just ask" (she is a stay at home mom--which I think would be make it even harder to ask sometimes because you feel like it is your "job" to do all of it).  I know if I ask I'll get help (from my husband and any other number of people in my life), and there would be no attitude about it, so it really is silly not to just unburden myself a tad and delegate some of the mania away...hopefully bringing just a tad more peace into my life. 

Signed, ME {lv}

a chic home...

So now that I'm an old married lady, ;) I have started to concentrate on making an honest effort to really fix up our tiny (but stylish!) apartment.  I do love putting together rooms... and often think less is SO much more. I try my hardest to put a limit on clutter (with the exception of my one very messy craft closet) and put an emphasis things that we really love, i.e. photos, plants, cooking etc.  With thanksgiving right around the corner and a growing number of out-of-town guests on their way to Eugene... I'm excited to clean and get the place looking spiffy.  I've started on the opposite wall from the front door and I'm making a clean sweep of all closets, cabinets, and under-the-bed hiding places.  Nothing has felt better in weeks... just looking at my sweaters in a neat, color-coordinated stack makes me smile.  Is that dorky?  But honestly, I love finding new things to inspire my inner design maven (she lives in all of us, you just have to find her).  My latest being this beautiful orange blog shared with me by one of my best gal pals. It's just one picture after another of drool-worthy design ideas, and not just for the home.  Sparks will definitely fly as you browse.  For instance, not that I'll need a nursery any time soon... but when I'm lucky enough to have a sweet little one on the way, this is the nursery that would be on the top of my wish list. 
Note the chalkboard border... what little one would not love that! Here's a few other rooms that I flipped for...
I really dig bits of yellow in a room... yellow has a good energy to it. I have some old yellow wooden letters found in a NC outerbanks antique store that spell out "SUN Y" missing a "N" but I love it all the same.
Ah! what a perfect skirt for the tree... found at FLOR.  Very cute idea.  That's it from me... have fun browsing her site!  signed, me {ca}

The $24 bag-o-apples scam.....

So....I go to the grocery store yesterday....the regular grocery store, not gourmet, or high end, we are talking an Albertson's--generic all the way.  I went for Tylenol for Lulu who had a fever, and that was my main objective.  To get to the pharmacy I had to walk by a variety of other things and along the way I picked up a handful of things, among which was one of those small paper bags full of apples with the little paper handles.  There was a coupon stuck on the handle for $1 off when you bought the whole bag.  I thought, "sure, healthy bag of apples, that is always good, and a coupon too--cool."   We are in Oregon, the apple capital of the nation (I might be making this up, but we do grow a LOT of apples here), and it is prime apple season.  I had literally a handful of things, and I got through the checkout, Ava in tow, and the total bill is $42.  I walk out of the store (successfully dodging the begging for candy at the checkout and the request for the enormous stuffed toy also strategically placed at the checkout).   As I am walking out I start thinking, "yikes, how did that bill get to $42--seems high."  One glance at my bill and I see a large charge of $23.79 for apples.  FOR APPLES!!!  I swear to you there could not have been more than 8-9 large apples in that bag. 

So, I feel compelled to ask the cashmier nearest me if it is possible I really just spent almost $24 on apples and he sheepishly admitted that  yes, those bags added up like crazy and it was pretty deceptive.  The apples aparently were $3.00 a lb and those bags can eaily be 7 lbs.  I still find that hard to believe, but it must have been true.  This particular guy even said he usually warned people because it was always shocking--and they purposely put the most expensive apples into these cute little baggies.  You know what I did????  I RETURNED my apples....I actually RETURNED them.  I don't think I've ever returned anything grocery related in my life (even when I get stale banana bread for $6 a loaf and I'm super irritated).  But seriously, $24 for apples?  It felt good to return them too, I have to admit, and I got over the two seconds of embarassment that I started to feel when I considered that perhaps I was being cheap (but no....I mean, $6 or even $10 for a bagful of apples SURE, I get that, I just couldn't swallow $24).  Point of the story, they ALWAYS put the most expensive apples in those bags and stick them right in your face.... beware :-).  Signed, ME {lv}