happy thanksgiving!

wishing you all a great holiday filled with family, friends, fun, and FOOD!



image from epicurious.

simply awesome art

check out this pic from pottery barn. that awesome art looks like pages from a furniture catalog just pasted to a large canvas. even though some look older i bet you could get that same effect just by brushing new copies with tea or watered down brown paint. i love the BW and the scale. i bet this would translate well with any series of strong images - flowers, architecture, words...

it kind of reminds me something eddie ross did.

house no.8 ain't so great

this week has been crazy. i had a leak in my kitchen ceiling and they had to go through the bathroom to fix it - so drywall holes in 2 rooms.





then my garbage disposal decided to stop working so had to get a whole new one installed. and while the garbage disposal guy was here, the entire front of one of my kitchen drawers completely fell off, and the guy said that it was crap and i should just get a whole new kitchen. when he said he that, i felt like slapping my forehead, and saying, "yeah! my 401K is worth less than half of what it was, but a sparkly brand new $10K kitchen sounds great! jeez - why hadn't i thought of that?!"

argghhh.

-A gift of your time by visiting a loved one
-A gift of your labor by doing a chore for someone
-A donation to the person's favorite charity
-A ticket to a play, movie or sporting event
-A gift certificate to a grocer or retail store (or a gas station!)
-A gift to a service such as haircut, massage, nails
-Pay tuition for a continuing education class
-A photograph with a poem or story of a special time with the recipient
-Share your talent, such as music, tennis or language lesson
-Use your creative talents and make a gift
-Pay for a magazine subscription or some Itunes
-Plant a tree in honor of the person

thanks brenda!

adorable house!

check out this gorgeous little 900sf (!) schoolhouse turned cottage in the catskills. i think this is considered "modern country" style - and it suits me just fine. read more at country living.

easy to do and good for me too?!

according to an article at real age, a recent study showed that eating just 8 walnuts a day for 4 weeks caused subjects arteries to expand, resulting in increased blood flow. in other words - just 28 days to a healthier heart!



image from the bbc good food glossary.

not very timely but it's on sale!

check out this super cute laminated tote - i love the colors, the lady and the text.

if there's one thing i love

its jewelry from the east. anything indian, turkish, or persian - and i'm all over it. but it's hard to find refined and delicate pieces unless, like everything else in life, you're willing to pay. so i'm loving these two pendants which are about $40. the first one is made of brass and looks beautifully persian. and the 2nd one is made of porcelain(!) and echoes flourishes that could be found anywhere east of the mediterranean.

button card

how cute is this holiday card? if you can find the time - it looks easy enough to do :)

more sheets

i embellished another white sheet set with some grosgrain ribbon in my favorite color palette of blues and greens.

wreaths

how modern and pretty are these wreaths at williams sonoma? that first one is my fave - love the grays and greens.

you know how you have a certain doodle you do over and over -- like when you want to try out a new pen or you're really bored? these are mine since middle school, and i can do them in 5 seconds flat. i always thought they were weird b/c one doodle is kinda idyllic and the other is the opposite.

"friendship has no religion"

a few days ago i watched this wonderful movie about friendship, religion, women, marriage, and choices. i really liked it.

an arranged WHAT???

and for the sake of balance, here's a progressive twist on arranged introductions.

election night shenanigans

my sis and her new hubby - devoted obama supporters - were having a hardcore 2-person election party blowout at their place in va. and they kept texting me funny pix.



so last night i made her these earrings from some stuff i had laying around. like many grown women, we harbor a secret love for the goofy accoutrement, so i know she'll be all over these.

change is good and i am hopeful :)

this poster by scott hansen was my favorite of the election.

isn't it weird

that i finished this cross stitch the night before election day?!? hope it's a good omen for the day ahead! the design is from misofunky.

happy november!

hope the new month finds you in great spirits :)

more thrifting over the weekend - found these wooden bowls (teak?) made in thailand - 4 for 3.50 - one of them has a hairline crack. not sure what i'm going to do with them yet, but check out the awesome makeover that olga did with some bowls that she found.

cuteness overload

i don't normally do redundant posts (posting about other posts) and i'm not a pet person, though i have a fundamental eastern philosophy about the supreme and inherent value of all living things (which also drives my constant guilt for not having gone back to being a vegetarian yet) but i had to mention this really popular post on apartment therapy last week. it was about working from home and it had a pic of this puppy as its lead-in and even i (horrible non-pet person) was instantly charmed.