candy girl.

anyone who knows me well also knows that i am a FIEND for cotton candy. (in fact, a good friend even gave me a cotton candy machine for my birthday this year! *squee*)

i was surfing retronaut the other day and found these FANTASTIC photos by nina leen, one of life magazine's first female photojournalists.

i am most definitely going to have to print the whole series and put it up in the house somewhere.


















and here's one bonus picture for you. AMAZING, right?

paul mccartney and stella mccartney eating cotton candy at the
barnum & bailey circus at madison square garden, 1974.

wishing all of my readers lots of cotton candy fun today!

other people's places: sarah's bedroom.

welcome to a new type of post that i hope you'll all enjoy!

today's post is one of which i'll call "other people's places". lots of my friends have started to ask for my help in decorating their own homes (crazy fools, i know).

my primary goal is always to capture the person's personal style. and a pretty close second is to make the decorating plan affordable.

sarah came to me with an approximately $1000 budget for her bedroom. she had been using the same unfinished pine furniture since she was 19 and moved into her first college apartment. after turning 30 over the summer she wanted to move to a new place and to make it her own.

she ended up in a big apartment in a great neighborhood - though, as it was built in the 60s it lacked character. each room is essentially a big white box.

one room she loved.

when we talked about what she wanted, she noted that she loved the feel of a modern hotel or spa, but wanted some glamour too. i also noticed that, when we looked at inspiration photos, aside from symmetry (hence the love of hotel rooms) she is drawn to some rustic/ warm elements.

and another that inspired us.

in a word, she wanted something glamorclectic. :)

we're still working on the room, and accessories in particular (she was initially one of those folks who was terrified to collect anything other than vintage 80s vhs tapes - see her favorite below. AMAZING.)

here's what we have collected over the past few months, along with a pillow idea and wall hangings that we're considering for over her desk. (stay tuned for a cool mount that i have in mind.)

click image to see close ups.

i think it looks gorgeous and like it could have been collected more slowly over time (rather than in just a couple of months). and it was great that she was willing to put in some elbow grease. the ikea rast hack ($35 for a nightstand - yes, please!) in particular turned out fab.

we'll post pictures when it's done-ish, but what do you think?

trees! friends! tree friends!

a little late this year, but here's my tree. i used a new set of ornaments this year - indulged myself in my love of neon and sparkle.

if you want to get the look, you can click here for the staircase garland

here and here for these here ornaments

and walgreens carries an amazing silver tinsel with teeny hot pink and chartreuse ornaments.

as a christmas bonus, here are a few dorky photos of me and my best friends getting into the holiday spirit!

we found santa!

and a bit of christmas cheer in a glass (none for me, thanks)!

followed by spa day in hmb and some help picking a tree - thanks s.p. and v.b.!

"it's christmassssss... all oooover... again.

decorations are all hung by the fire.

everybody's singin'...

all the bells are ringin' out...

and it's christmassssss... all oooover... again.

yeah, again!"

oh, you fancy, huh? (an easy how-to for custom pillows)

my most recent "creations"

pillows are a great way to punch up a space with color, pattern, texture (and shine - OOH, SHINY!). they are also super easy, even if you don't know how to sew.

grab someone who has a machine and ask them (nicely - don't be so bossy, fancy!) to set it up and show you how to sew a straight line and you'll have a new pillow in no time!

here's what you need:

- a sewing machine
- fabric. 1 yard will do for most of you. throw pillows at 16x16 are pretty standard.
- thread to match your fabric
- pins
- pillow insert (i like west elm's feather/ down versions, but any poly version would work well too)

and here's your how-to...

1. measure your pillow. in this example, mine is 16"x16".

2. cut your fabric with a width equal to the shorter pillow dimension (in this case it does not matter since width and length are the same). cut the length to 2x the length of your pillow + 4 inches.

in my case, the fabric i need is 16"x36".
3. with the backside of the fabric facing up, fold over one inch on each edge of the fabric's length. pin and sew. your fabric will now be 2 inches shorter in length.
4. now, with the backside of the fabric still facing out, fold your fabric into a little envelope.

the length should be 1 inch smaller than the length of your pillow - in this case 15".

the width will remain the same as those sides remain "unfinished".

pin the unfinished sides and sew 1/2-inch in from each. this will give you a finished size 1 inch smaller than your pillow in each measured dimension.
5. turn your pillow cover finished side out and insert your pillow form. your pillow should be nice and full because the cover is just a tad tight.

now sit back and enjoy your handiwork!

maybe you even have time to make some festive pillows for the holidays. throw 'em on the sofa for a refresher before the family arrives, toss a couple on the guest bed for an update, or make one for your room to FANCY it up!

christmas, christmas time is here...

christmas has arrived at fog city sparkle!

and while the tree is not quite as tall as last year's (this year's is a lil' 10-footer), i hope you'll enjoy this sneak peek of the decorations that are going up.

can i just say how much i LOVE this garland? i really really do. it's shiny, has glitter, and is all sorts of wild colors. SO AWESOME.

hope your holiday season, whatever you celebrate, is filled with laughter and light. xx

the answer to a never ending story?

i've been thinking a lot about the dining room of late and decided to put together a (remedial) storyboard to represent how i'd like for it to come together -- though some existing pieces weren't included.

some of these items are on my wish list, most notably the aqua leather wingbacks. we'll just have to wait and see if i can snag some of this stuff on sale...

so, here we go with the list, from left-to-right by row:

1. "stormy monday" paint by benjamin moore.
   
2. poster-sized prints of two photos i took in iceland a few months ago
3. those crazy mirrors i just finished!
4. a black glass chandelier... or white... or clear... what do you think?
5. a mix of thonet chairs, which i am in the process of collecting, refinished in black
   
6. my duncan phyfe table that i FINALLY refinished. maybe adding a high-gloss black leaf so allow for more seats and to modernize the look
7. OMG a pair of these amazing wingbacks that i found at zgallerie. the photos don't come even close to doing them justice. i DIE when i look at them. perfect for unbuttoning your pants and relaxing.
8. a great graphic rug, like this one from anthro. diamond jungle dhurrie just sounds fun!
   
9. high gloss black doors with white casings

and not in the storyboard but definitely included:

• my grandmother's favorite side table - antique, round, leather topped. my dad's only request to keep when she passed. he thought it would be perfect for my little victorian home. i'd pair it with the wingbacks and place them in the bay window.
• an antique armoire from my dad. when they went mid-century with their house, i scored this hand-me-down. perfect for storing bar essentials.
• black and white patterned curtains with some fun detail. i'm on the hunt for fabric. got any suggestions?
• voile sheers to diffuse the light (and for privacy since the dining room is at the front of the house and on street level)
• fun tchotchkes in bright colors - because i am a magpie collecting shiny things, as you all know
  

are you scared? excited? what would you add or change?

if.. you... asked me to...

well, YOU DID if your name is sandra, elaine or kelly.

no real post today, just a quick update on the mirrors for the dining room. some of you may recall that i was playing with a few ideas for the finish (and blogged about it here).

so many friends liked the multi-colored graffiti look that i decided, "what the heck? we're only young once!" so here you go...

ignore the styrofoam up top - just testing different angles for the mirrors to hang at...

if you're curious:
- mirrors were a sale item at pier one
- used the following paints: rust-oleum in "white gloss" and "black gloss" and krylon x-metals in "anodized purple"

to thonet or not to thonet - that is the question.

er... well... really it's more of a degree-of-thonet question.

i'm finally getting my bum into gear on the dining room but i'm stuck again on chairs. i LOVELOVELOVE thonet chairs (yessireebob, i even picked up a couple this weekend) and was thinking i could surround the table with a variety of the cafe-style chairs...

à la these examples:

cafe des amis, san francisco

via apartment therapy

or if i should mix things up and scavenge for a variety of "significant" chair styles, like these rooms do.

via country living

sjp's hamptons house via elle decor

honestly, i am LOVING both options. what do YOU think?

i'll tell ya what i want. what i really, really want...

my favorite find of the day: a 1950s china girl bobblehead. she looks like me!

somedays all a girl wants is a nice day in the sun, all to herself. a day filled with shopping, hand-cut french fries, driving too fast on sun-dappled winding roads through ancient redwoods, and a good book on the beach.

well, that's how i spent my saturday and it was GLORIOUS.

i hopped in the car and headed over the golden gate bridge (for those of you not from here, no, i never do get tired of seeing it!) and up towards sonoma.

first stop was vintage bank antiques in petaluma, an old gold mine boom town. this place is AMAZING. a decomissioned bank filled with antiques top-to-toe. you can even walk through the old vaults.

i could have spent hours here, but i was itching to head a bit further north on the gravenstein highway (yup, we gots the apples!) to sebastopol, another ag and gold mine boom town just a few miles up the road.

first stop is always llano house. it's beautiful little cottage and barn filled with depression glass treasures and great vintage chairs.
no luck for me though so i headed to my favorite, ray's trading and salvage.
ray's is filled to the brim with vintage cast iron goodies and salvaged doors (which i plan to acquire a dozen of when i am ready to restore all of the doorways in my house). in his yard i found these lovelies, which came home with me.
click the photo to look closer - don't you love the *mustachioed lions' heads* in the centers?!

they will soon become a loveseat-sized park bench in my backyard - for lovers (in the victorian sense - get your mind out of the gutter!) to canoodle on when we have backyard parties.

with that success under my belt, i happily headed to fft and found a pair of these! *swoon*

if you've seen photos of the house exterior, you know it is DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. however, someone did a runner with our original doors. i'm thinking this pair might be the perfect replacement. what do you think?

then i headed to the big-daddy of sebastopol antiques, the antique society. i got lucky again and found a pair of embossed thonet-style chairs...
a great bottle opener to mount to the wall in the backyard...

well, this just about sums my style up in one picture, doesn't it?!

and a pretty little gilded bud vase for the guest room.
after all of that, i was famished and hit sequoia burger, a little mom-and-pop burger stand, for one of my all-time favorite burgers (and a SMALL side of their hand-cut cajuns).
fortified, i hit the bohemian highway (yes, that name is FOR REAL)...
and ended up here...
on the beach in monte rio. and i (finally) read water for elephants, cover-to-cover.
it was a GREAT day. just what i wanted.

i ain't sayin' she a gold digger...

well, due to laziness and because it seems it's impossible to book a contractor, i have made very little headway in the dining room. for months it has been a glorified storage locker-slash-project room and it is all so very sad.

well, while i can't empty it out until i find a contractor WHO RETURNS CALLS to fix up the basement, i can still plan for the day when i can decorate and entertain in there... (please, god, let that be SOON!)

the room is large, with our very high ceilings, so i've been looking for some high-impact items to fill the space. one thing that was absolutely necessary was to add at least one mirror - i love the way they reflect the candlelight during a long dinner party with friends - but it would have to be BIG.

i searched and searched antiques fairs, consignment and antique shops, craigslist, ebay, but i just could not find what i wanted. then, one day, at pier one i spotted this one. the finish is truly HIDEOUS but it is over 4 feet tall and has great bones.

close up of the original finish... yuck.

so i tried high-gloss black...

and high-gloss white...

and a fuschia metallic paint.

it's kind of a mess, but sort of fun too!

but i think i'm back to my original inspiration, so i have ordered some gold lustrgild paint in the hopes of creating something more like this:

so hopefully, sometime next week, these two lovelies will be finished and hung and i can finally say i have made some kind of progress in here!