The holidays are here!

Halloween and Thanksgiving are right around the corner. As a new homeowner I am tempted to go a little silly with decorations. I think decorations can go three different ways - tacky, silly and chic. I'm hoping by using some of the goodies below I will avoid Tacky-town and be the mayor of Chic-and-Funny-ville...

Chic:


Cute white ceramic gourds and pumpkins from Williams Sonoma Home



Mercury glass pumpkin from Wisteria


Birch candles from Wisteria


Silly:


Glowing fat turkey from Williams Sonoma Home
Mini Turkeys (candles!) from Wisteria
More silly candles from WisteriaAnd the candles just get sillier and sillier... from Wisteria


I'm noticing a pattern - nature, fruits and vegetables = sophisticated. Turkeys, pilgrims and the like = silly.

I Love LA

I (heart) LA. I know, I say it all the time. But the design and architecture here is like nowhere else. Spanish style homes will always have a huge spot in my heart - See the picture below of Shiva Rose's house, profiled in C Magazine
Ahhhh. I LOVE my house, but this one makes me swoon too...

Rita likes Suzani, I like Suzani

Coincidence? I think not. Rita Konig in this month's Domino has a suzani pillow on her sofa. Love seeing the suzani in action!
See last month's posting for more Suzani goodness.

Little Goodies

This month's Domino also featured this beautiful black handsoap. Very unexpected and chic.

Topiary Glory

My parents both have fantastic decorating taste. My father and his wife have very awesome modern taste - Bertoia chairs, fun Pucci guest towels... My mother and her husband have beautiful classic style - beautiful vintage plates hung on the wall, gorgeous rugs... I somehow end up somewhere in the middle, having a real appreciation for both, but ending up with more of a whimsical, colorful, eclectic approach to decorating.

I'm not sure if my father will approve of this, but I have a serious love for the topiary. Maybe it's the many trips to Disneyland as a kid, seeing all the Mickey shaped shrubbery.

I think I'll be getting one of the great mini-desktop versions for the entry table.


From the Ballard Designs Catalogue.


Some sweet topiaries in Elle Decor




Topiaries from Crate and Barrel. I think I'll be getting one of these for my home.



A modern looking topiary from this month's Domino





From the Pottery Barn catalogue.

Technicolor Dream Rooms

I am still working out the final color scheme for my home (I plan on painting every room and wallpapering too). So until I get the painters moving, our house is all beige. I think the beige beige beige has me dreaming of bright and cheery colors.


Many of my fellow bloggers put this picture up immediately upon opening up this month's Domino Magazine. This is from editor Rita Konig's apartment - her ability to use bright and cheery colors without looking like she lives in Candyland is fantastic.




This image is from this month's Elle Decor. This is from their spotlight of local LA store, Henry Road. I haven't been in to visit recently, but I love the mix of pinks, greens, orange, black/white and the Union Jack. Hope to pop in soon!

Oh the places you'll go!

I've had the fortune of visiting some really spectacular places over the past few years -- here are some of my photos meant to inspire...



From the Viceroy Santa Monica



The bougainvillea flowers blown on our patio at the Parker in Palm Springs.




Colosseum photos from Rome taken by my husband on our honeymoon.




Sunflower fields in Tuscany




The gorgeous sky and incredible architecture of Venezia



The magical hillside of Positano




Home sweet home. A rare and beautiful grey sky day on my old street here in LA, Sycamore Avenue.

The Goods goes Hollywood!

I had the amazing fortune to attend the People Magazine/Entertainment Tonight Emmy Party this past Sunday (pays to have a husband in the biz.) The party was amazing - great food, more cupcakes in one room than I have ever seen, Billy Idol performing live... but the gift bag was truly epic.

Some of the gifts were over the top, like the Flip Mino video recorderSome were luxurious, like the weekend stay at the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, including a couples massage.

But two gifts were so cute they deserved some press on this blog.

First, was a pencil case by Koch Handbags. I got this cute blue and white one:

but I also liked these metallic ones from their website
My husband gave me the one from his gift bag - I think one will hold pens/pencils and the other will be for lip glosses on the go...

The other great design-y gift was from Carrot and Stick Press. I've long been a fan of their papers so I was over the moon to get some note cards from them! Here are some of my favorites from their website...

Cards:
Holiday time:
These are their ready-to-buy collections, but they also do custom.

If I got this kind of swag at the Emmy party, I can't even begin to imagine the decadence that is the Oscars (not that I'll be invited to that)!

Take time to stop and smell the roses

You can spend thousands of dollars on high end furnishings, but nothing makes a room feel more special than fresh flowers. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money - here are some floral images that might inspire you to freshen up your living room.

From C Magazine


These flowers below are from Birch SF - a gorgeous flower shop in San Francisco. I first read about them in Domino Magazine a few months ago and still can't get them out of my head...

I love that they wrap their bouquets in black butcher paper.




A wise woman (Susie!) once taught me that you can make anything beautiful by wrapping it in black leather or stingray - flowers, a portfolio, an ice bucket, a wrist, a busted pinky... Can I beautify my dented car by wrapping it in black leather?

Hello, My Name is FABulous

Vivre is an online shopping mecca for all things luxurious... Here are some of my top picks...


A chair made from welded coins. DEFINITELY something your friends and neighbors won't have.




Metallic cowhide pillows. Those must have been some fashion forward cows. They also make these as rugs, which I'd love to have in my home.

Woven leather throw. May not keep you super warm in the winter, but looks mighty fine trying.




Rocker glam chandelier


Petrified wood coasters. Mother nature can be so glam sometimes.






These teacups read your fortune in gold instead of tea leaves. I think your fortune is "You have WAY cooler teacups than grandma does."


Red zebra rug.


I want it all!