Days 20 & 21... Exhaustion

Today, I wallpapered and painted my closet (see below), stood in line for Yoga at the Great Lawn in Central Park, and did some job research.


Yesterday? I slept. ALL. DAY. As in... alllll day. I woke up at 9 and went back to sleep. I woke up at 12 and went back to sleep. 4? Back to sleep. Then finally up at 6:30 because I heard my roomies coming home from work. Uh huh... I was WIPED. Apparently my weeks of nonstop activity and past few nights of only 5 hours of sleep (SO not enough for moi) caused my body to shut down. I'm glad I caught up on sleep, but I'm still having trouble falling asleep at night, despite waking up earlier and earlier every day. Annoying! Any tips?

Days 15-16... Food & Design

I've always had a big appetite (I blame my parents b/c I definitely get it from them, although I did not get my mother's naturally petite figure), but since I've been in the City, my appetite has been insatiable. I am constantly hungry because I am constantly on the go, walking here and there, running up and down the 3 flights of stairs to my apartment multiple times a day. On top of that, I've actually exercised twice this week (which is a rarity), so I'm even hungrier than normal! Luckily, the food here is fantastic and plentiful and EVERYONE delivers! It's crazy! It's amazing! It's seriously dangerous!! I LOVE IT.

Today I worked up my appetite running around town looking for a birthday present and then heading to Home Depot to get my paint and paint supplies (tres exciting!). Tomorrow is the big day! My goal is to wake up early and get started ASAP so that the paint will hopefully dry and not stink by the time I fall into bed. Design is on my mind once again, and I find myself dreaming up wild ideas of what to do in this petite room of mine. When you're only working with one room, you've got to give it all you've got, and that's what I plan to do! Stay tuned. :)

Beautiful Interiors

My love for design blogs waxes and wanes (mostly b/c the more I look, the more I want to redecorate, and that is baaaad), but when I stumbled across these images of the home of Jan Eleni on Holly's blog, I couldn't help but swoon.



I don't know why the pics are so small, but you can see bigger versions (and more!) here. I'm especially loving the daughter's room - twinkle lights on the ceiling and "Lola" spelled out behind the bed. And my fave? That heavenly white bed and the adjacent fireplace. *Sigh* One day...

{all images from decor8 / photographer Luc Roymans}

Have a Seat

I love everything about this image. The color of the couch, the stacks of books, the lucite coffee table, vintage bird print screen, the random throws. LOVE. I'm feeling the urge to redecorate... someone stop me.

{photo credit: design sponge}

Love is Everywhere!

Bonjour, mes amies!! I'm having the loveliest day - how about you? Maybe it's because the sun is shining here in beautiful Austin, TX, and I spent the morning at a symposium focusing on women in leadership. The panelists were all incredible, and i just find it so inspiring to hear from such accomplished, kickass women. Also ran into my own mentor (also a superwoman in her own right.. partner of one of the major law firms, mother to a five-year old and twin 2-year old girls, etc.) which was a pleasant surprise. :-)

I'm back in the office now, trying to catch up on lost time, but i took a petit break to take a peek around Etsy. As i was browsing, i noticed that i had feedback (frequent buyer.. have yet to sell!) from all the sellers from whom i've purchased. And WOW what nice feedback! "Lovely customer... lightning fast payment... wonderful transaction.." Even in my private conversations with some of the sellers, they are always the sweetest, most creative women, and i just can't help but smile. What a delightful space Etsy has become for individuals to expose their creative pursuits to the rest of the world.

On a much lower note, i'm saddened to hear that Conde Nast has officially closed its doors on Domino Magazine. Quelle nightmare!! I just can't imagine a world sans Domino.. where else can i turn for fresh, chic and fun design inspiration?? The only other publication that rivals Domino, in my opinion, is the British magazine Living etc. It's FABULOUS, but also a bit pricey for moi to buy on a regular basis here in the States (yet another reason i miss my London life). Don't get me wrong, i enjoy House Beautiful, Elle Decor, Metropolitan Living, etc., but they don't have the same pizazz as Domino and Ideal Home. Ah well... thank goodness i have the wonderful blogging community to turn to in times like these. ;-)

Ok - back 2 work!

Life is Good

Bonjour, friends. It's a lovely Sunday afternoon, and i'm taking a petit break from my BAR studying to muse a bit on some good things in life right now. First, my dear friend and Paris flea market partner-in-crime, Claudia of The Paris Apartment, has touched my heart once again. A little while ago I sent her a box of vintage French perfume label stickers that i found at Paper Place. When we were at the flea markets last September, she searched hi and low for some authentic vintage perfume labels, and so when i saw them i couldn't NOT get them for her. Anyway she was so sweet to give me a shout-out on her blog! It still THRILLS me to see my name on the blogs of these incredible women (Claudia, Kimberly..) b/c i just can't believe i actually KNOW them. Like have MET them and spent time with them. They're just so awesome! Anyway, here's the post - The Paris Apartment (Scroll to the bottom and ALSO check out her fabulous studded console table! Major lust.)

Speaking of furniture, i haven't done much at all with my apartment in the past month. This is a dramatic shift from the days of yore when i rearranged pretty much daily. And since i managed to make my bed this morning for the first time in quite awhile, i thought i'd give you a little glimpse into my bedroom transformation. I decided to "Anthropologize" my bedroom awhile back and the progress has been slow but still headed in the right direction. The duvet cover is from the Shabby Chic line @ Target, the LOVE pillow covers from LUSH design in the UK, and that's my crappy $9.99 lamp from IKEA stuck in the left corner (b/c i don't have the heart to throw it out... yet.). On the right wall is a fabric-covered bulletin board filled with cards and other correspondence from dear friends and family. I love to look at it when i go to bed at night and remember just how lucky i am to receive so much LOVE.


And here are some pics from my home office turned creative sanctuary. It's the most recent transformation in my apartment, and i just LOVE it. It's packed (literally) with creative posters, crafts, art supplies, stationary, books, scrapbooks, journals, etc. It's crazy and overwhelming and i LOVE IT!

I Can See The Light

Hello, dear friends! I'm happy to report that it's a GORGEOUS day in Austin. After yesterday's brutal humidity and heat, random rain and HAIL storm, today is much cooler, breezy, and sunny. Lovin' it! I've been up since 7 a.m. (went to bed at 10 p.m. last night - delish!) and have been busy doing laundry, hanging clothes to dry on the patio (seriously - way better than the dryer), and playing with my darling zoo. Also rode my bike to Bark N Purr to get the kitties some food (i promise i'm not starving them..). I love love LOVE my bike! Yesterday I biked to the Intramural tennis courts to play a set with my dearest M. Afterwards we biked to get snowcones, and then i biked home. What a fun workout! During our bike ride we decided to name our respective bicycles... hers is Anastasia and mine is Sylvie (French, but of course!). Anyway, buying Sylvie was the best idea ever.

This morning I also tackled a petit DIY project for my pink wall. Currently a collage of fun pictures, posters, frames, etc., I decided to put my new Alexander Henry fabric from Etsy to good use. I stretched it across a cheapie canvas (can be purchased at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc.), busted out the staple gun, and voila! New art! Lovin' it. Plan to purchase an array of canvases of all diff. sizes and cover them with fun new Amy Butler fabric (yet to be purchased.. waiting on that tax refund!) and put them around my room. Project Anthropologize is well on its way!

Still have one more final tomorrow morning, but after that, i'M DONE. This week is full of doctor's appointments (for me and my animals), a delectable end-of-finals massage, and preparing for my family's arrival next weekend for.. GRADUATION!!! Who knew the day that i graduated from law school would actually arrive?? I'm also tres excited for Friday b/c Pony and I are going to have our own private Graduation Tea at Chez Carolyn, aka The Pink Palace, where we will be exchanging graduation gifts and probably just lovin' on each other. ;-) I can't WAIT to give her the gift on which i've been working the past week (ya know, instead of studying for finals). Yay the end is near!!!!!!!!

Anthro Love

I LOVE Anthropologie. I use to DETEST it. When my girlfriends would gasp, "omg we HAVE to go to Anthropologie!", i would roll my eyes and make some snide comment about how overpriced and unoriginal the clothes are. I still mostly agree with regard to the clothing line. Yes, the items are cute, but they are ridiculously expensive and sometimes just a little too boring and "cute" pour moi. But their home decor stuff? Absolutely dreamy........

I love love LOVE it. These days i can't help but walk into every Anthro store i pass just to see what new, different, and innovative ways they've designed the store and arranged their furniture, bedding, kitchenware, etc. I would describe the style as.... boho chic i guess? It's definitely more bohemian and less modern than my apartment, but it's still full of color and eclectic charm. What i love most about it is that it's not minimalistic or TOO orderly. It's comfortable, lived-in, and charmingly cluttered. Seeing as how i will never be a clutter-free person i think that's why i love their design concepts so much.

I spent this afternoon at Mockingbird Station and NorthPark mall in Dallas. After perusing West Elm and scoring dining chairs for $9.99 at Urban Outfitters (woo hoo!!), i decided to kill some time at the mall in order to avoid traffic. That mall has an enormous Anthro, and lucky for me, they were in the midst of changing their home decor. Their current design theme places a lot of cute kitchenware in these mini, robin's egg blue, cardboard crates. The kind that holds berries and maybe even eggs. Anyway i asked one of the people working if they were for sale, and he laughed and said no, just for display. Later as i walked by he asked me if i really liked them that much. Yes, of COURSE i liked them! They were the most perfect shade of blue. He laughed, shook his head, and then handed me a few to keep. YAY! He wasn't quite convinced that i'd find good use for them, but i was in heaven. Free stuff from Anthropologie?! Score! I then chatted him up... apparently he's the regional design guy, and i asked, purely hypothetically of course, how one might get a job like that and if a law degree would be unfavorable. (DUH.) He said i really just needed experience in the arts or some way to demonstrate that i am creative. Interesting... Lawyer by day, design stylist for Anthropologie by... rest of the day?

New APT Pics

DONE painting!! (at least for now...) Enjoy the new pics below: newly painted hallway, bedroom, home office, vanity, dining nook, etc... (P.S. Can you tell i'm obsessed with hanging chandelier-esque light fixtures??)

Painter's Remorse?

I'm insane. I know it, my friends know it, and my family knows it although they try their hardest to ignore it. Yesterday was a loooooong afternoon/evening of painting, kicking myself, more painting, and scraping my paint-splattered floor with my fingernails. I finished painting the doors/trim in the hallway white, and then painted the hallway walls a gorgeous Benjamin Moore color, French Violet. It looks awesome against the yellow in the kitchen and the pink in the living room. I still need to do the very tops of the wall (no ladder right now) and hallway ceiling, and then (hopefully) i'll be done. My dreams to paint the long wall in my apartment are slowly fading as i'm exhausted and SICK of painting. My next project is to take my vanity stool (which i spraypainted silver last week) and add some batting and fabric and make it comfier on top. Note to self: Get staple gun.

I completely and totally regret not staying in bed an hour longer this morning and skipping this class. Oh well, at least i can catch up on my blogging and web-surfing. Blood donation people are here today, so i think i'll try to give blood after my 10:30 class. Hope it doesn't hurt TOO much...

Plans for the weekend (for me, starts this evening) are watching the Democratic Debate, morning walk at Town Lake, lots of Medley rehearsal, and mayyybe attending Casino Night festivities... We'll see.

Humptastic

Bonjour, mes amies. In a better mood this morning and made it to my 9:30 class (hooray) and plan on attending all, yes ALL, of my classes today. Very excited that i don't have any obligations this evening, and plan on doing more painting. On Monday i impulsively decided that i needed to paint my doors/doorframes white because the grey was just depressing, not to mention looked bad against my yellow accent wall in the kitchen. So despite a few mishaps, i sorta successfully painted the pantry door and then the laundry room doors in the hallway. White door looks fab against the yellow, but not so fab against the more muted grey in the hallway (where the laundry, bathroom, and bedroom doors all are). So of course then i decided i'd have to paint the hallway to make the white doors look good. Debated for a long time about the color (considered doing the pink again, but then i thought no, too much pink) and have decided on Benjamin Moore's French Violet. It's a really gorgeous kinda blue kinda purple kinda grey color that will look amazing against the white. And once i eventually replace the ugly dome light in the hallway with my crystal chandelier, it'll look fabulous and very very French. I also want to paint the looooong wall in my living room (aka the only wall left in my apartment sans the bathroom). This wall flanks my entryway/bookcase, dining nook, and home office. Ideally it'd be nice to do three big blocks so it's not just one neverending wall of color. But then i'd have to pick the perfect paints and obviously they can't be too jarring or contradictory. I'm thinking of a lovely blue, kind of like a robin egg blue or a greyish blue or maybe even a blue-green? Here are a few possibilities...


Also LOVING these rooms below... i mean how awesome is that fuschia lucite?? It's probably absurdly expensive.... sigh. (P.S. bottom collage is Betsey Johnson's apartment! pink pink everywhere!!)

Long Overdue

::Sigh:: Hello, friends. It's been quite some time, i'm aware, and i wish i could say it's because i've been so busy having the best time ever, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. The brutal truth is that these past couple weeks have been beyond rough, and a great deal of it culminated in the past couple of days in a horrible, horrible way. Suffice to say blogging has been the last thing i've wanted to do, even though it probably would've done me some good to write. I've also completely neglected my journal which i think has contributed to my emotional landslide. I'm trying to get back on track, really i am. I indulged in some creativity tonight, which has been fantastic for my mood and my apartment! I hope to make tomorrow productive and start this next week on the right foot. I guess you could say i'm trying my hardest to be upbeat.

In other news, i have become completely and 100% OBSESSED with interior design. There are a couple of design blogs that i've frequented in the past, but since i've moved into my new space, i've become an avid fan of several incredible design blogs. Love love LOVE IT. Want to paint every single inch of wall space in my house, not to mention wallpaper (don't think the Triangle would appreciate that), and i wish i had 3 more rooms to fill and decorate. Oh i also wish i would win the lottery so i could afford to do all of this. ;-)

This morning I helped out with a 6-year old girl's birthday party, and i couldn't imagine a better Saturday morning. Imagine sixteen DARLING kindergarten girls in pink and purple PJ's, eating popcorn and watching Barbie movies, getting their nails painted by yours truly, eating breakfast pizza and ice cream cones, running and giggling hysterically up and down the stairs, and throwing stuffed ponies EVERYWHERE. It was SO much fun, and the darling little birthday girl (whom i ADORE) loved her gift from moi. What more could i ask for? I'm so lucky to know this family.

Ok i must run and pursue even more creative endeavors, but i'll leave you with some of my *favorite* blogs... Enjoy, my darlings!

Apartment Therapy

decor8
Bloesem
Creature Comforts
At Home At Home
sfgirlbybay