♥ GIVEAWAY WITH CANVAS FACTORY!

hold the phone, readers!! 

here is your chance to enhance your living space with a gorgeous 16 x 20" canvas print

 of your very own! i have teamed up with canvas factory to host a fantastic little giveaway, 

running this week until friday, august 2nd!

to enter- please leave a comment with your name and email address!

a winner will be announced monday, august 5th-

good luck!

Ps. Giveaway is now closed//  a winner has been chosen! Thank you for participating!

♥ PHOTOGRAPHY IS A LOVE AFFAIR WITH LIFE.

 as a visual stylist at bloomingdale's,  i am responsible for

 the overall look and feel of the store. this means that i spend my days 

going up and down ladders, stapling visual props to the wall or

 suspending them from the ceiling, etc.

oftentimes, when i am in the middle of a project, i get asked by customer 

and associates alike what my house must look like,

 since i make such colorful installations at the store- and the 

answer actually surprises people: 

some of the walls in my condo are completely white!

unlike at work, where i have the props at hand to transform a space,

and the tools necessary to restore the mess i made-- at home, 

i am afraid to make the commitment and ruin the blank canvas!

above, you can see one of the smaller- ie. more approachable walls in my condo- 

that has slowly become a gallery wall of family photos and colorful kids artwork.

i have been looking to re-vamp it, (rather than tackle one of the larger, scarier walls 

in my living room!)  and was so excited when canvas factory  reached out with an

 opportunity to add another beautiful canvas print to the collection!

(see my review from last year!)

canvas factory is committed to offering canvas prints that are not

only affordable for all, fast! and high quality. 

i decided to continue with the tradition of printing one of my favorite photos

of henry and sadie- and chose one from our christmas card because--

who doesn't want a cuteness overload every time they walk into their kitchen?

i tried choosing from a number of pictures on my phone (where i take nearly all of 

my pictures these days) and the website was able to let me know beforehand that these

photos were not eligible to be blown up onto canvas format due to blurry pixellation-

so make sure when you are choosing a photo for your canvas print that

you are choosing one that is taken by digital camera vs. your phone!

i am very happy with the speed and quality of this print- not only does it

act as an anchor to the other photos on this small gallery wall- creating a color

story of red and yellow tones, that play well with the smaller prints and drawings,

 but it also is just about the happiest picture i could ever imagine spending 

my days looking at :)

thank you, canvas factory, for another picture-perfect print!

(i was provided this canvas for review, but all opinions are my own!)

♥

like every basic chick with a blog, i love wes anderson-

so, when i heard that he designed a bar/restaurant in prada's 

newly opened arts & culture complex in milan 

(fondazione prada), i had to share.

the bar luce is inspired by 1950's italy-

complete with classic formica furniture in pastel colors,

the life aquatic- themed pinball machines, and trompe l'oiel wallpaper

that looks like it came right out of the grand budapest hotel.

just like his films, every little detail is delicious and decadent.

needless to say, i'm obsessed!

images via

♥ tips for making a gallery wall in your home!

over the weekend, nick helped me set up a little gallery wall in our bedroom.

we have a lot of artwork in our tiny apartment- like this wall in our living room,

but in our bedroom, i wanted to showcase a more personal collection

of prints and paintings that we have been assembling since our wedding. 

from left to right, this gallery wall includes: a painting that my best friend

made of a famous ee cummings quote, a canvas print of one of our favorite wedding 

photos, a custom print of a faux wedding program made by my cousin, jaimee, on etsy,

 a framed handkerchief invitation from our big day, and last (but not least!) -

 a new metal print of my two boys printed to perfection by tiny prints.

if you are looking to put together a gallery wall in your home,

here are a few tips:

1) don't be afraid to use varying size pieces and different colored frames. 

2) if you want to be real precise, you can block out the wall before hand using

painter's tape, a measuring tape, and a level. i like to eyeball it and call it a day.

3) using different sorts of media- be it photography, prints or paintings

also adds some variety and interest to the wall. another welcome

addition may be a small mirror or an oversized letter plaque 

like an "H" for henry or maybe a little chalkboard sign.

4) if you can,  try to pick a theme or color scheme so that the pieces 

in your mini collection make sense together. 

5) just find a weekend and get it done.

don't let your good prints go unframed or your favorite pictures

go unprinted. take action, and make your memories come to life!

♥ design your life!

i don't work in the interior design world anymore-

but that doesn't mean i can't appreciate a new collection of

colorful, luxurious fabrics every now and then.

like this new collaboration between my favorite designer,

diane von furstenberg and one of the best fabric houses in the

 business- kravet. don't you just want to wrap yourself

in those window treatments? LOVE!!!

♥ i have a heart on.

for mother's day, i got my hot pink heart-loving mama a few of 

these pieces from ban.do, and she adored them so much,

i thought i would spread the love!! 

(pssst: i bought the first two ;)

 tote

necklace

 bobbi pins

 brooch

and while i'm at it, i also love:

this print

and this pillow!

♥ rock n' roll.

for our teeny apartment/nursery, nick and i wanted a rocking chair, but not

 one of those obnoxious gliders with all of the unnecessary padding and

 matching footstools, or one of those uncomfortable granny rockers 

with the spindly backs and hard wooden seats.

 we wanted something a bit more modern-

something a bit more cool-- so we settled on the

  poang rocking chair from ikea. 

and as you can see, we are not the first parents- to-be

to think of using this contemporary piece in a nursery setting.

love it!!!!

via

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via

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via

♥ i'm dreaming...

it's supposed to be 70 degrees in boston today-

but i can't help but want to get ready for winter,

and what better way to daydream about holiday decor

than to drool over all the high priced, highly adorable

ornaments and baubles from anthropolgie?

someone needs to do a DIY of this

soiree bunny ornament! 

♥ there's no place like H&Me.

for those of you who aren't aware-- h & m's  website is finally 

open for online shopping!!! i am loving their home

offerings and the way that each little vignette

is styled. everything looks so lived in and 

well loved. exactly as it should be.

have you added anything from h & m to your home yet?

♥ 50th & forever.

for the past week, i have battling an annoying head cold that has left my throat 

completely dry and my normally loud voice unable to work without the  constant 

aid of a cough drop. i have drunk a box worth of tea bags in the past week, and

am starting my second as i write. 

for obvious reasons, i have had tea on my mind- 

but i am not the only one.

for their 50th anniversary, crate and barrel collaborated with twelve need-to-know artists

& designers to offer a collection of uniquely decorated arzberg teapots for a very limited run. 

available since the store's inception in 1962, the arzberg teapot is sleek,  round and simple 

and an absolutely perfect blank canvas for an international artist to work on. 

starting this past december 2012 and running until this november, each new month a new teapot 

will become available for purchase. numbered 1-200 and signed by each artist, these limited 

edition pieces are like mini works of art, for your kitchen! 

(and i bet they also make a mean cup of tea :)

here are a few of my favorites:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5