Happy Happy

Happy Birthday to my oh so fabulous cousin, Ashley. She is the definition of awesome sauce and I love her to the moon and back.  We've been through a lot together and I thank God everyday for such a wonderful cousin and best friend.  Love you lady!!!

Now, since she strictly abides by drinking only champagne when she does choose to partake in the alcoholic beverages I thought I would share a recipe from watermelon.org (yes that's a real site, crazy I know).

What you will need:
1 cup of watermelon juice (puree, strained)
1/2 cup light champagne (preferably not Brut)
Champagne flutes

What you do:
Divide watermelon juice among 2 to 3 champagne flutes ( I would say 2 but that's just me) Fill with champagne and enjoy!!!

Sputnik...

Happy Monday folks, it was a great warm weekend here and now we're back at it starting another work week.  I am really digging the sputnik light and and working to convince Paul to change out the light fixture in the dining room for a sputnik light.  Fingers crossed!!!  What do you think sputnik light, too mid-century trendy or classically retro?

Here's a few to think on...

 I love this pop of red in the neutral  room and the suzani bedspread is right up my alley.

I absolutely love this dining room, the rich neutrals, the mid-century furnishing mixed with the traditional built-ins and that art work is amaze balls.  

This one is a diy from Little Green Notebook.  She used an ikea chandelier and created this beauty. (link below)

What a fun way to introduce the playful vibe to home, sputnik in the entry.

This dining room is capital D-ramatic.  The rich colors and bold choice for wall covering works well in the space.

So fun and playful... nuff said.

I love how traditional this space is and that the light fixture is the show stopper.  Absolutely love.

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The streets of Baltimore...

Sorry for the MIA status as of late.  I spent a long weekend up in Baltimore and before that suffered with a bout of vertigo.  It was the first time I have ever had vertigo, it lasted about a week and it was zero fun.  If anyone out there as had it, you know it makes day to day activity very difficult.  Well, any who I was feeling well enough last weekend to make a journey up to Baltimore and enjoy the city.  We watched two baseball games at Camden Yards (the whole reason we were there, Paul is a huge Detroit Tigers fan) and well Baltimore is a heck of a lot closer than Detroit.  

We stayed at the Tremont Plaza and it was great.  Great location, easy access parking, and a wonderfully comfortable bed that made it very difficult to motivate myself in the morning to get out of it.  We spent our days wandering the streets, taking in the "touristy" sites of the inner harbor, making a couple of trips to the Fell's Point neighborhood (highly recommend) and obviously made our way to the stadium.  

We had a great time, I love being in a big city and the people of Baltimore are fantastic.  

The view from our hotel room on the 37th floor, thank goodness for vertigo medicine.

Inner Harbor

Dragon spotting at the inner harbor

The ballpark prior to game time

Elvis watched over me while we at a delicious breakfast at Blue Moon Cafe.  

We heard about this place on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives and it did not disappoint.  The wait was long, but that's to be expected on a Saturday morning, the service was fantastic and the food was delicious.  They are known for their cinnamon rolls and Captain Crunch French toast.  I didn't get either because I had already eaten a delicious almond pastry at the Eastern European Bakery down the street so I thought it was best to not make my second breakfast of the day a sugary one.  So I was oh so responsible and got an Italian omelet. :)  All in all it was a wonderful mini-vacation and I thoroughly enjoy the people and places in Baltimore.  

Have a Happy 4th

4th of July is literally right around the corner and I know many of you have some fabulous beach or pool plans in your future.  I myself will stay away from the beach tomorrow, strictly for the sake of my sanity.  I might however venture to my friend's pool and relax and escape the summer heat there.  What are your holiday plans?

In honor of America's Birthday I thought I would showcase an American Photographer from back in the day that did an insanely good job at capturing beautiful people in beautiful locations living the good life.  Enjoy these photos by Slim Aarons.  I love how retro glam they are.

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It's a hot one...

Happy Friday folks, we are in for a very hot weekend in these parts so I have plans to stay cool in the comfort of my home.  Perhaps whip up some non-oven using dishes like this garden salad from Laylita.  It looks amazing and I have most of the ingredients already growing in the yard.

And perhaps, enjoying this refreshing cocktail from Fresh 365.  Champagne, lemon sorbet, mint... what's not to love.  I hope you all enjoy your pre-holiday weekend if you are located somewhere in the heat wave please be safe.  ENJOY!!!!

Zinc

I'm seeing zinc top tables and counter tops a lot more lately and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with what I see.  I love the how it provides an "industrial" feel without reading as sterile as say, stainless steel.  It's not for everyone I know, and some may be turned off by the fact that it oxidizes but I think that's what makes it interesting and adds more character to a space.  What do you think of zinc?

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You know I have a thing for stripes...

I love stripes, I think they are the perfect way to add some interest to a room without being too trendy.  I posted about painting stripes on my walls here. So, I wanted to share some stripey (is that a word?) inspiration for you all this fine Friday.  What do you think about stripes in design?

This is from Lonny Mag, and if you aren't peeping that online mag monthly, you should.  It's chalk full of beautiful, eclectic spaces.

This beautiful bathroom from Sarah Richardson Design has a subtle, yet creative way to inject stripes into the space and I love it.

This living space is glamorous times 10.  I love everything about it. The graphic stripes, the Lucite table, the convex mirror, the list goes on and on.

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This outdoor room is awesome sauce.  How could you not want to enjoy every moment outside in this beautifully designed space?

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This bedroom is so peaceful and chic.  I love the tone on tone combo for the stripes and the injection of gold finishes to up the fab factor.

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