i want a mirror like this...

i scour flea markets & antique shows for a great mirror to lean against an open wall. only problem is i'm running out of walls to lean much of anything on...time for a house...

image courtesy solid frog

speaking of graduate school friends...

another graduate school friend, amanda, just started her own design business, hark + osborne interiors....

i know this bachelorette...

did you all get the new copy of the improper bostonian yet? mine was delivered to my front step this morning, and i was thrilled to see my graduate school friend jen featured in the february 2-15 2011 bachelor/bachelorette issue! i sort of knew that she was in it because i was one of the people who wrote in a nomination for her and she secretly told me she was one of the lucky ones picked...still pretty awesome to see someone you know in these local publications though...

i wonder how many dates she'll get??? i'm actually sort of shocked she doesn't have a boyfriend, she's quite a catch!

re-post monday...

because i am totally unoriginal today and envy many, many blogs, i thought i would re-post a few of my favorites from today...

elements of style... i have died and gone to heaven with this daybed vignette...

and i'll take this bag to go with...
lake jane... i'm loving these adorable prints from beauchamping's etsy site...

classic bride... every girl loves some good bling, especially these vintage engagement rings from weston fine jewelry...

little green notebook (pearl street interiors)... i'm usually a strictly white everything; white sheets, white towels, white underwear, white matted frames. but i am really diggin' these colorful mats, the wallpaper not so much; maybe she should have gone with white walls instead to make the mats pop...
vermont cottage... someday i will have stairs in my home, and when i do i will paint all the treads a lovely black color like this (or maybe i'll do a classic striped stair runner, either one)...
belle maison ... a little quote to start your week off right...

date night, fight night...

the boyfriend and i finally got around to seeing the fighter last night at the movie theatre (followed by a glutenous meal at grill 23's bar). it's rare that we find a movie we both want to watch, especially one about fighting.

i have to admit i really, really liked this movie. and while fighting in not my favorite thing to watch (and the boyfriend even said the fight scenes sucked), i am obviously a fan of mark wahlberg (more his abs than him) who played micky ward. but it was christian bale who really stole the show as far as i'm concerned. his acting was spot on, he totally looked the part and embodied his character. and i could not get enough of him or his character, dicky eklund. he should definitely win an oscar for this performance.

on a side note, most people don't do an authentic boston accent, but these guys hit lowell just right.


amy adams was also a great tough chick girlfriend in this movie with a wicked fresh mouth on her...


the mother & the sisters in the movie were great too, i loved the scenese that these broads were in...and i loved their outfits & hair...


after the movie the boyfriend said he was only going to watch massachusetts based movies in the theatre from now on. i do sort of agree with him, it's fun to watch movies that take place around where you live or grew up. and then i read this interesting article about a new sub-genre of movies, boston based working class...

"A film micro-genre has sprung up suddenly in the past few years, dedicated to portraying the lives of working class white people in Massachusetts. The hat trick of Mystic River (Clint Eastwood), The Departed (Martin Scorsese), and Gone Baby Gone (Ben Affleck) was followed by Affleck's sophomore effort The Town and now David O. Russell's The Fighter. Everything about the genre caters to a a strangely conservative nostalgia for "simple times" and "common people." When Hollywood tries to depict regular working class folks and their slummy worlds it's often kind of a drag ball." -blue collar irish catholic population, molly lambert


i wish i could find more about the actual characters, here are a few photos of the real deal brothers...


check out micky wards website too, love the bagpipes playing.

playing for change...

my boss is obsessed with playing for change, he plays their songs almost every day that he's in the office...it's kind of infectious...

"Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world."

twelve chairs...

i've got a future date to 319 a street, the home of twelve chairs, a hip home furnishings & interior design shop in the fort point district of boston. check out their blog too...

my hua heart attack...

i've been having nightmares/ severe heart palpitations lately about a clients house i am working on, more specifically, about a $300/sf hand carved chinese white marble tile; robert kuo's hua stone for ann sacks...


i've ordered JUST enough to face the formal living room fireplace surround, which will be a stunning vertical application of the stone when soft shadows are cast by the low relief carvings, but one false cut and i'll have to wait another 16 weeks for a replacement tile to come from china, time i do not have (and the client might decapitate me). we're also trying to match the fireplace hearth with the perfect marble slab to match. our 16"x8" tiles are a softer white/grey (rather than the yellowish tint in the photo above) so i'm thinking a honed white carrarra might work well....


we'll see...photos of the finished product to come...pending my head is not cut off first...

childhood toy...

i can distinctively remember going to my grandparents house and playing with this wooden block building set. at the time i thought it was a relic, but i saw them today on one kings lane and memories of stacking these blocks back into their box perfectly came flooding back... it made me miss being a child playing at their house...

re-designing woman...

finally made some time for magazine reading tonight and discovered spruce in austin, tx in the current issue of southern living. i really wish there was a place like this around here, hmm, maybe there is? if so, my apartment would be filled to the brim with recovered chairs. what a wonderful idea to offer classes too! dang, i should really start a business like that here, i'd be rolling in the dough...i'll have to learn how to sew better i guess...

oh baby...

janna is in full on search mode for her baby nursery. we email each other back and forth all the adorable things we find for babies, but at least she has an excuse... she's due in 5 weeks! she sent me an emailing last night saying 'i hope my baby is as cute as this one'...



umm, janna is sort of adorable, as is her husband, so i have no doubt they will have a little cutie, i just can't wait to meet her! while i searched around the website with her today she showed me the crib she likes, and i also loved it, but in my favorite color...grey...

week one with hank...

hank has officially been here for one week. he really is a sweet dog, and although he arrived with barely any discipline, the boyfriend (whom i consider the east coast dog whisperer) has started 'bootcamp' with hank and i'm happy to report he's doing well. he's also been very well behaved at work each day too, which i am thankful for, i don't want to abuse the generosity of my bosses allowing us to bring our pets. he's a gentle giant who doesn't know his own strength just yet, but he's adjusting to city life just fine...


penny was less than thrilled with the arrival of her new brother. she was a little standoffish at first, but she's quickly getting used to the idea of him and they have started to do a little playful wrestling in the snow the past few days. i've been giving her a little extra attention but she's still hoarding all her toys from hank regardless (like the 'rat' and the 'duck', her favorites)...


and with a new dog comes a lot of new bills, but some have been fun purchases. like these new dog tags i had custom made for all three (maple too...and they all have winter matching collars, i am THAT mother) from the copper poppy. i have to say, i have never made a bad purchase from etsy, and alyssa from the copper poppy was wonderful to work with...i just can't say enough about the artist on etsy! she was able to stamp our phone numbers (which i blurred out for privacy) on the front with the dogs name and then our addresses on the rear, they are perfect...and affordable which i love too...

snow dogs...

the boyfriend sent me this last night, which i thought was wonderfully adorable...




so then of course i asked my sister if she could teach her dog to do this, since they live in colorado and go skiing pretty much every weekend anyway. and of course she replies 'give us a month' since brisby is the ultimate trick master dog. just to show you, brisby already has the form down pat (he is so stinkin' cute)...

1950's housewife...on drugs...

my favorite and my best posted this on her blog the other day. i thought it was quite comical, certainly not something you'd expect June Cleaver, Harriet Nelson, and Margaret Anderson to be doing.

my favorite line (and my brother-in-laws) from this 1950's housewife tripping on lsd while she's trying to explain what it is she's seeing to the interviewer, "i wish i could talk in technicolor"...

cooking for fido...

since i'm not the worlds best chef, and have only recently been cooking more for myself, it's highly unlikely i'll be cooking for my dogs any time soon. but i did like the idea of this article in the nytimes; pets are a part of the family, why cook yourself a well balanced meal and only give your dog/cat something out a bag/can?


“We know processed foods are wrong for us,” Ms. Laino said, scratching behind Orion’s ears as he licked his nose and paws clean. “It has to be wrong for them. If you can feed yourself healthily and your children, then you can feed your pets healthily, too. It really isn’t that hard.”


i might have to start looking into a few dog food recipes and this book recommended in the article. anyone have any dog food/treat recipes they've used?

preppy as it comes...

holy-preppy-collars-popped, i am in love love love with these bracelets from kiel james patrick i just saw on the love list. i need two or three for this spring/summer asap...