:: interpreting inspiration ::

remember this awesome door (and bathroom and bedroom and...)?

my sister just sent me this picture from a local mls listing. what great interpretation and implementation!

:: simon would love this ::

houseandhome.com

such a clever idea. i would probably pass on the chalkboard floors with the chalk rug, and maybe even forgo the chalkboard wall with chalk molding (even though it is pretty!), but the chalkboard headboard is just so neat. love the idea of switch up the style of your headboard with a new drawing whenever you feel like it.

:: blog likes ::

i've recently moved some blogs from the "to check out" folder to my subscription and favorites list. figured i'd share a few of them here. share the wealth and all.

one thing i look for in a "favorite" blog is the frequency of posting. i don't like to subscribe to a blog, check the feed each day or week, and not see anything new. sometimes it's nice not to have a post each day (makes the next one that much better!), but too infrequent just causes me to lose interest. (and i do keep that in mind when posting here - i try to be consistent, if not frequent. i fail sometimes, i know, but i do try.)

ishandchi.blogspot.com
igobykatie.blogspot.com
postgradhaircut.blogspot.com
from6th.blogspot.com



if you're looking for some other good reads, check out my favorites list on the right. those are the daily/weekly "musts."

:: well...obviously ::

the antoine dodson action figure. might be more awesome than i can handle.

:: dubyateeff ::

my 4 year old nephew calls snowglobes "snowgrubs" and we don't stop him because it's so cute.

i just came across this funny snowgrub.

urbanoutfitters.com
[click image for direct link]

:: hopscotch rug ::

i'm thinking about getting this rug after i get my hardwood floors installed. i love the color - and the sentiment. how fun for an entry hall. (goes great with wood grain, i'm sure.) i only wish it was larger so i could use it as the main rug in my living room!

cb2.com

:: love wood grain ::

i love how faux wood grain can feel sleek & modern, quirky, retro, tacky, funny, warm - depending on the use or setting. i'm planning on staying away from at least one of those descriptions, but am incorporating some nifty wood grain goodies into my house.

i recently got this stick lamp for target (on sale for $14.99 less the $5 i found in the parking lot on my way in!) and love it on my living room bookshelf. i had it for about a week before i even turned it on and i like it even more when it's illuminated.

i got some of this contact paper last year when i was thinking of doing a ceramic wood tile backsplash in my kitchen. i cut strips of the contact paper the size of hard-wood planks and put it up to see if i wanted to go with the wood tiles. (i decided to color-block paint the backsplash, instead. for now.) i'm thinking of using the leftover paper for some gift-wrapping ideas this Christmas.

this plate (an old urban outfitters find) hangs on my kitchen wall, combining my love of wood grain and cute little birds.

* i haven't actually spent the $5 i found. it's still in my back pocket, freshly laundered, and might not ever leave. feels like some sort of good luck charm to me now.

:: letters home - new years eve ::

[click to enlarge]

"SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND"
31 Dec 1944

Dear Mamma & Daddy
Well I am very happy to-day for I received quite a bit of mail. I had five letters from Lillie one from each of you, one from John Gantt and a $50.00 Bond from Eastman Kodak. That is enough to hold me for awhile, however I would stay awake all night if they would keep coming in.

I don't know of anything that I can use except a million pounds in English money, which would be just a little over four million dollars, and a discharge from the Army. Seriously though if you could send some v-mail stationary and some good air mail stationary. The condition of the packages that the fellows are receiving are in fair condition but they need more than just the mailing cartons. I believe that just a little wrapping paper would make the difference.

I have bought just a couple of presents so far but haven't found a suitable box to mail them in. I hope to get them off in the near future. One of them is a little dog for Margurite and it glows in the dark. I suppose that she'll be glad to get it. I'll have to close for now but I'll write again soon. Tell the rest "hello".

Lots of love
Arthur

:: marcel the shell ::

i just can't get enough of this adorable video. if anything could make me wish i had a little shell with shoes and a face, it'd be this.

ah! so cute!

:: dislike ::

terrible, chloe sevigny, just terrible.

peoplestylewatch.com

:: like ::

i love the rachel-bilson's-hair look that ashlee simpson has going on here! (i heart rachel bilson.)

peoplestylewatch.com

:: yep ::

:: mirror mirror ::

i doubt i'd get any wear out of these, but they make me smile. they'd go great (not really, but i was having trouble with a segue there) with this peacock compact that my sister picked up for me in rhode island last week. love it!

:: untitled ::

perspective.

:: cabinspiration ::

i don't know where this picture is originally from - i came across it via catalog living, one of my daily stops. love the colors, the mood and, especially, the paneled wall. this one's going into my inspiration file for my guest bedroom.

if anyone knows what catalog this is from, please share!

and (perhaps oddly) so is this picture. i love the feeling that this picture evokes in me. reminds me of the mountain houses of my youth. i want my guest room to feel like some of those houses, some of those rooms. and then, when i want to "get away" i can just go across the hall.

strange-eyes.tumblr.com via blog.freepeople.com

:: you still live on ::

"autumm" by paolo nutini

autumn leaves under frozen souls, hungry hands turning soft and old, my hero cried as we stood out their in the cold, like these autumn leaves i don't have nothing to hold.

handsome smile, wearing handsome shoes, too young to say, though i swear he knew, and i hear him singing while he sits there in his chair, while these autumn leaves float around everywhere.

and i look at you, and i see me, making noise so restlessly, but now it's quiet and i can hear you sing, 'my little fish don't cry, my little fish don't cry.'

autumn leaves have faded now, that smile i lost, well i've found somehow, because you still live on in my mother's eyes, these autumn leaves, all these autumn leave, all these autumn leaves are yours tonight

:: more from 'the anthropologist' ::

"....a story of immeasurable love and trust, of salvation and saviors, of best friends and companions..."

the anthropologist.net - donna demari

[click on images for direct links]

:: kindling creativity ::

"sharing sources of creativity in turn kindles it"

from, anthropologie's new project, the anthropologist.

theanthropologist.net - jim denevan

[click on images for direct links]

"you've got to support someone's grand scheme, whether it's yours or someone else's. you never know why until you're actually in it and doing it." - caleb coe

:: true ::

"when i was six and learned how to ride my bike, the next day i looked in the newspaper to see if there was an article about it," says oxford, laughing.

"and there are lots of people like me, who just want to be recognized. the internet is so amazing for that. andy warhol would've loved it; he never would have left his loft."

- kelly oxford

read this story

kelly on twitter
kelly's blog

:: perfect inspiration ::

i want to put a sliding door over my laundry closet. (right now i have a curtain - it feels so dorm room/first (second, really) apartment to me. i want something more grown up/permanent, but normal doors will not sit flush because of the front loading doors.)

this would be perfect. in fact, i'd take the door, the wall color, the comforter, the throw, the floors, the tub...

apartmenttherapy.com via youaremyfave.com

:: a pillow for good ::

bought this peacock pillow last week with a gift card i received for Christmas. a percentage of the purchase benefits creativity explored. can't wait to see it in person!

cb2.com

Exclusive new CB2 pillow represents a very special friendship with San Francisco's Creativity Explored, a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit and sell art (learn more at creativityexplored.org). Our "Peacock Pillow" features Creativity Explored artist Valerie Long's graphite, ink and marker peacock in vibrant blues and green on a washed eucalyptus background. 100% cotton with printed artist's signature. A percentage of each sale will go directly to Creativity Explored.