Reality?

I have to admit I am a bit obsessed with Bethenny Ever After. Who's with me? I watched a few of the episodes from Bethenny Getting Married and fell in love with her and her now husband Mr. Hoppy. Her witty sense of humor and tell-it-how-it-is personality make me laugh. Also, there is a part of me that relates to her. She is always looking for the best way to balance her marriage, work load, extended family and being a mom. And her baby nurse is completely inappropriate and hilarious!  

I also wish they would get Skinny Girl margaritas in Raleigh! 

Gubbins House - Bridle Road Residence

This unassuming house is all about its integration into the rugged landscape in Cape Town, South Africa. 

It was designed by Antonio Zaninovic who practices in Madrid, Spain. This house is perfectly integrated into the hillside at the base of Table Mountain and has an amazing view of the city and harbour. I love the clean lines and simplicity of this house. The interiors of the residence are by Lucien Rees of New York City-based Rees Roberts + Partners and the landscape by David Kelly of Rees Roberts + Partners. It expresses a nice combination of modern, Scandinavian & Japanese architecture. There was an attention to sustainability by use of local materials such as poured finish concrete and balau wood.

The design allows the home to open out into the natural landscape and blurs the lines between interior and exterior, providing amazing outdoor living spaces. Much deserved, the house was awarded an American Society of Landscape Architects  2010 Honor Award .

 

Room of the Week

Check out this amazing reading nook from kara paslay.I love the soft color palette and what a perfect place to display a large map.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone, especially my sweet husband who I couldn't live without!

*

Superbowling

I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed watching the superbowl commercials game on Sunday. We had a bunch of people over for chili and football viewing. It was a blast! I had to add a little decoration to the party. I got this awesome idea from here and here. It was really easy - just tread string through the pom-pom of your choice, make a tiny knot and repeat. Then I just made the team logos out of scrapbooking paper and threaded them on the end. Do you like the astroturf table runner? Quite festive if I do say so myself!

Few more petals ...

I bought these for my little cousins for Christmas. They are so cute and very well-made. Check out PetitCalla's etsy shop for these adorable accessories for you or your little girl.

Ready for some color

We've had a burst of warm weather in NC this weekend. It makes me ready for Spring.

These colorful cards design from Artecnia will probably tide me over until the weather warms up for good. They also make a unique Valentine for someone you love. So add a little color to your life this winter until the real flowers start blooming.

How cool is this gadget

This little gadget is great and cheapo. Only 10 bucks and fits pretty much any bottle top. Definitely solves the problem of trying to carry a tripod with you or try to extend your arm far enough to get everyone in the shot.

Find on Amazon

Whale of a story ...

I was at anthro today and I must have this.

*

You will be mine ...

bird cushion in blue by roddy & ginger

I just ordered fabric from Tonic Living to recover two chairs that I bought of craigslist (6 months ago) and I think Mr. birdie would look great with it.

Christmas already ...

by Hello Little One

by Oh Joy

by Dwell Studio

I can't believe that it is already November. Where did the year go! This means it's almost December - which means I need to get a move on with my Christmas cards. Holy Moly!!!
This year I am going to send out a photo card with our "child" all dressed up. Bo is super excited about his holiday sweater (sarcasm). So I spent the evening looking through the MANY sites with holiday photo cards. I love so many of the ones on tiny prints that I just posted a few of my favorites. I will post the "real one" closer to Christmas.

Friday goodies ...

These are all the amazing work of Lisa Leonard. Check out her site here.

Also jump over to Centsational Girl and check out her awesome giveaway she is having right now. The winner of the giveaway wins a $100 dollar gift certificate to shop Lisa's store. So you could buy any of the above and more for just about anyone. (or just yourself!)

Branches ...

How great would these look in a nursery!

Eye candy to show off the family tree from my tree & me. (spotted on Design*Sponge)

I love tracing my family tree. I am so intriged to see where "I came from" and feel some kind of connection to my past. My great-great grandfather was in the civil war (he carried ice for the soldiers). How cool is that! Also my mom's family has lived in North Carolina for at least 6 generations. That's what I would calls some roots.

What's in a name ...

How beautiful are these vintage inspired peices from Sumiko. I love vintage pieces - new or old (oh the irony)! Sumiko is run by Evelyn and run out of Italy. She is very inspired by the colors and spirit of her seaside town in Italy but she loves Japan hence the shop name.

Happy Halloween ...

I love Halloween!

Not for all the scary, gruesome movies or the ghouls and goblins, but for the excitement that it brings. How it allows all ages to be imaginative for one night. For how it brings out all the great elements of fall, like pumpkins & scarecrows & and a few fake spiders in fake webs.

All images from Martha Stewart

I have such great memories of going out on chilly evenings in my not-so-awesome costumes (one year I was a ballerina church mouse - go figure) with my friends to gather all the candy we could carry. I think that is what makes me so excited about waiting at the door to hand out candy to all the adorably dresses kids in our neighborhood. It makes me remember all my neighbors - the cool one that gave out whole candy bars and the not so cool one that gave out key chains for his company (but for some reason we went to his house every year holding out hope). My real aspiration is to be the neighbor that has awesome decorations and possibly a haunted attraction like a casket or something in the front yard every year - but for now I will stick with the spider web and plastic skeleton. Whatever kind of neighbor or trick-or-treater you are I hope you have an exciting Halloween full of ridiculous costumes and great memories!And remember all those pumpkins can go to good use in a yummy pumpkin bread later!

Balance ...

It has been almost 2 months since I posted. As I sat here getting ready to type - I realized that sometimes life gets in the way. It can get in the way of the things you love to do, need to do, have to do ... And the reality is - it is all about balance.
I am a person that stresses. I stress about the big stuff and the little stuff - it's the way of cope. But in the end I have come to understand that everything balances out. No matter how much time I stress about a project at work, it still gets done. I might have to work a few (or a lot) extra hours, but I accomplish nothing when I am pulling my hair out.
So I need to balance better. I need to know that things are going to get done. And that I need to focus more on the things that make me happy! (including blogging)

So today I bring you a poster that flat out makes me smile.

by Studio Mela

Friday treat ...

Amy's Bike Blind Drawing - 1 [Oil Pastel on Paper]

Cranks -18 [Acrylic on Paper]
Goldie on Gray [Screenprint]

These beatiful pieces are all done by Taliah Lempert. All in different mediums and all so amazing. Taliah has a deep love for bikes and cycling and I think all of that is expressed in her work. Take a look at her website and fall in love with this alternative form of transportation too.

Bags galore ...

I am not much of a clothes-horse but I do love accessories, especially bags. I have a bunch - they have their own closet. I have very few designer bags but I do love to drool over them and dream about them. Marc Jacobs is one of my favorite designers. Check out these two bags from him. I love the whimsy of his new line "Flights of Fancy". 'Pretty Nylon - Little Tat' Tote -$158

'Flights of Fancy - Applique Shopper' - $428

Weekend wrap-up ...

S and I headed to the mountains to see family this weekend. On our way back we stopped at the Biltmore House in Asheville. It had been forever since either of us had been and surprisingly we had never been together.It is such an amazing place and if you have never visited I would highly recommend it. You aren't allowed to take picture inside but the rooms are breathtaking. They just opened 4 new rooms to the public in the Louis IV suite. The detail and lavishness that is put into these rooms just astounds me. They also had this really beautiful flower carpet on the South Terrace. It only last 15 days so I am so glad we got to see it. A great way to wrap up the weekend!

Cooking in style ...

How can you not be inspired to cook by this stylish apron? Designed by SaraSmedley, the butcher's apron is designed in honor of Julia Child. Has anyone seen that movie yet? I really want to go see it but doubt I can drag S along. Guess that means a girls night!