Leopard Love

So the rug I bought yesterday is full on leopard and at 9 x 12 it is huge!  Amid the grass, heat and fields of Brimfiled it can be really hard to decipher the the good stuff from the crap.  I must have deliberated for an hour about the rug before finally going back for it.  I am so glad I did.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE how it looks.  It isn’t an antique or vintage Persian but it is a good quality wool rug and did I mention…huge.  I did a little Pinterest searching for some inspiration on how to style it.  I think it is going to be perfect in my future dressing room/office/4th bedroom in our new place.  I am so lucky to have friends, Erin and Lindsay, with such good taste to help steer me to the right decision.

Leopard love via Pinterest.

Architectural Digest

Lonny

Here is my beauty rolled out.  It needs a good clean but I think it is awesome.  I love that is has the hide pattern stripping too.  P.S.  It is not going in that room, and we are planning on staining the floors a dark color.

Brimfield 2013

The famous fields of Brimfield, I always find the best stuff to photograph, and with our new house being renovated and lots more square feet to furnish this year I could be on the hunt for not just photographs.  Well, on the research hunt.  I need tiles, appliances, light fixtures, and some windows first.  But I found lots of inspiration.

Gorgeous iron work.

Baby Bertolli chair

Actually we saw tones of children’s furniture.  So cute.

More children’s goodies

My mother in law gave me a lovely piece of amethyst (my daughter’s birthstone) like these for Christmas last year.  Love it!

Great wall of suitcases!  Love this.

Brimfiled also boasts some of the best people watching.

And nerdy memorabilia.  Love it!

Oh I did by one thing…this huge 9 x 12 wool leopard rug for a steal!  Erin Gates must be rubbing off on me.  She totally convinced me to get it.  Such a big rug for such a deal.  I know I will find a place for it in our new place.  Love that is has the different hide print patterns.  So excited.

Boston Strong – Celeste-a-thon

Yesterday, my friend, client, and hair guru, Jeffrey Lyle participated in the Celeste-a-thon.  A fundraiser to benefit, Boston Marathon bombing victims and survivors Celeste Corcoran and her daughter Sydney.  (Celeste lost both of her legs from her knee down and Sydney suffered from shrapnel wounds and arterial damage in her legs.)  Celeste has been a stylist at EMERGE Spa & Salon on Newbury Street for 13 years and yesterday salons up and down the street participated in a day of cuts and blow-outs to help benefit and fund their recovery costs.  Jeffrey worked with Celeste for many years.  Great looking hair for a great cause…heck yeah!  It was a wonderful day.

Jeffrey and his pups, Rocco and Veronica.

The famous Nespresso maker at Jeffery’s Salon.  I love this thing.  The perfect cup every time.  I think I need one for my studio.

Rocco, ruling the salon for the day.

RENOVATION – update

We are just beginning to skim the surface on our big renovation.  With architectural drawings still being finalized and our contractor selection almost narrowed down, we are getting ready to get ready.  That said, as the proposal costs are rolling in we are hoping to do some of the smaller things on our own.  In preparation of that…I swear all I am doing is preparing…we spent the day on Saturday getting our hands dirty and getting a feel for the house.  Every time I go there it feels more and more like our home.  It is still 2 months before we move and longer before renovation is finished but I must have patience.  I know buying and old home is a labor of love.  I did find some lovely surprises including a beautiful little pink azalea bush in the back yard (needs some pruning love once the blooms are done.)  And as we took down some of the interior doors in preparation for sanding and painting we realized the original brass hinges are hiding under years and years of paint.  I have a trick to removing the paint that involves a crock pot and some liquid detergent.  I’ll do a whole blog post about that process.

For now here are some little snap shots of our Saturday.  Which of course included two trips to the hardware store.  Thank goodness the ACE we went to had free popcorn!  Yeee.

Oh J.Crew, You so Cool

I have resorted back to ripping things out of catalogues old school style, then photographing them with my iPhone.  A little ass backwards I realize, but sometimes it just works.  Especially for J.Crew.  They really seem to knock it out of the styling park when it comes to their catalogue, now called a style guide.  I usually do a quick flip through the print copy on the kitchen island as the hubs plops down the mail.  The most recent issue was chalk-full of styling ideas for shorts.  For some reason, outside of the athletic arena, shorts are always a challenge for me but I am loving these ideas.  Now bring on the beach!

Sneak Peek – Photo shoot with Shelter Interiors

Yesterday I had a photo shoot with Julie Richard of Shelter Interiors.  This is our second photo shoot together and I absolutely love working with her.  She has an amazing eye and I find myself learning so much as a photographer after each day with her.  Her style is perfectly imperfect, which I love.  Here are some Instagram sneak peeks from our shoot yesterday and check out her blog (if you don’t already).  Note: I have found myself starting to use Instagram the way photographers use to use polaroids.  A great way to frame and work on composition while while working on lighting with my SLR.

iPhone pic by me (composition by Julie)

iPhone pic by Julie

iPhone pic by Julie

Playing Tourist

We played tourist in our own city this weekend.  We walked around Beacon Hill, we picnicked in the Commons, and we rode the famous Sawn Boats in the Boston Public Garden.  The whole city seemed alive and kickin.  It was the perfect warm Spring weekend.

If you visit Boston, I highly recommend taking a ride on the old Swan Boats.  The whole experience harkens back to an age when one would simple promenade around the garden and take a ride.  The worn wooden benches have layer upon layer of lacquer and the aged iron still gleams.  It is a little step back in time.  And the price isn’t outrageous.

  

   

“Paris is always a good idea”

Audry Hepburn playing Sabrina said that and I of course agree.  Our big renovation project is already crazy amounts of work and we haven’t even made the first sledge hammer blow.  I know lots of more work is in store.  That is why the other day upon realizing I had almost 200,000 frequent flyer miles and my husband had almost the same in Marriott points, I started to concoct a plan for Paris.

Photos from our honeymoon there in 2009.

To Everything There Is a Season

Spring is FINALLY peeking it’s flower buds here in Boston, services are being held for the MIT police officer, the two young women and the young boy who were killed in the Boston Marathon bombings of last week, and the city seems to be healing.  I heard a quote on the radio the other day that really got me thinking.  After you have something like a bomb got off in your hometown, you realize “everytime a bomb goes off somewhere it is someone’s hometown.”  We do not live with daily scares as cities like Baghdad, Kandahar, Jerusalem or even New York do, but it was my hometown this time.  Last weekend we needed a mental and physical change of scenery so we went down to the beautiful coastal town of Duxbury, MA to stay with some friends, run in the grass and play with their crazy yellow labs, Olivia and George.

Photos with my iPhone

As we took a walk on the beach we saw some people clamming, right off the neighborhood.  How cool is that?

The Bee’s Knees

The urban Fort Point neighborhood in which my studio is located just keeps getting cooler and cooler.  When I found studio space here a few years ago there was virtually nothing down here.  Just a bunch of old warehouse buildings.  Now we seem to be getting one hip restaurant after another.  When I popped into newest kid on the block Bee’s Knee’s Supply Company, I went into visual stimulation overload.  I love love love the chic rustic look.  I love all the products and fancy sandwiches.  While it is not your cheep neighborhood deli, it is a gourmet wonderland pulling from the foodie shops of Napa.  I couldn’t help but return with my camera.

 

Eek!  They even carry my friend’s wine!!!!