Top Five Tuesday:: Drinking Glasses

I don't know why I'm choosing drinking glasses as the topic of adoration for this week's Top Five Tuesday, except that maybe I'm just feeling really thirsty.  Also I like snazzy glasses.  Note: this list does not include tea and coffee cups, as I believe they are each so special that they deserve their own category.  Anyhow, here are a few nifty picks that I've come across on my online travels:

 

(1)  Mr. B's Glassworks (2) John Marie (3) Pretty My Drink (4) Vintage Chicago (5) Klinker

Psssssst!  Hop on over HERE for your chance to win our April Giveaway!

Word for the Week:: GIVEAWAY!

The sun is shining.  The air is warm.  The possibilities are pretty much wide open.  I love Spring, don't you?

In honor of this, the awesomest (<~ spell check gets angry over that one) time of year, Ciara Obscura is giving away a pair of  your choice of these Dream World bobby pins.   Want in?  Here's how...

Giveaway Rules: (Deadline: Friday, April 29th at 11:59pm PST)

* In the comments below, hop on over to Ciara Obscura and tell us what your favorite item is.

* Extra credit:  Become a fan of Ciara Obscura on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ciara-Obscura/72466409533

* Extra Extra credit: feel free to comment on other posts here on this blog... I'd love to hear your thoughts! (And no need to notify me that you commented, I get automatic notification)

* Extra Extra EXTRA credit: Stop and smell the roses.  Really. Do it.  It'll bliss you out.

The winner will be chosen on Saturday, April 30th and announced on Monday, May 2nd.

Lots of luck!

Love,

Cath

Into the weekend...

 Yummies from Terrain.  Dress by Love June.

PoP POW!

I'm shaking things up a little bit today.  Been in need of a drastic attitude adjustment and these bright colors should do the trick.  I've also been playing around with an editing program and may have gotten carried away with the graphics.  Too much?

 

(by Zak)

(Taschen publishes the most stellar books.  This one is from the book Alex Steinweiss: Inventor of the Modern Album Cover)

Now... to change out of my black...

Mother's Day treats...

Mother's Day is two weeks away... are you ready?  I'm taking orders now for designs to be made and delivered in time for this sweet holiday.  And for an extra treat take 10% off your order with this discount code: LoveMoms.  Yay!

Top Five Tuesday: Blogs

(from DesignLoveFest)

For one thing, I never thought I'd love having a blog as much as I do these days. I was so damn hesitant to go this route, but even if I'm the only one reading it, it'll still be worth it to me because, man, it's been uplifting and cathartic for this girl over here.  So I continue.  But I do so with a heaping dose of love and inspiration from the following design/lifestyle blogs.

1. Cup of Jo:  Joanna Goddard is the loveliness behind the always super sweet, beautifully simple, and never overdone positive tone of this blog.  It's what draws me in daily.  In fact, when I read too much of the news and feel dejected by the state of people and the world, I hop on over to her blog and the weight is lifted.  I welcome anything kind and she's a giver of this kindness.

2. DesignLoveFest: This one is the pop of style and cute that I adore (tag line: "Where type & images totally make out.").  The incredibly talented graphic designer Bri Emery, art director of the cool Rue Magazine, gives up daily visual punches of vibrance and energy.  Besides she's so animated and dynamic and a lover of the fun things in life.  How can you not love?

3.Wit + Delight: This one is kind of new to me, but I instantly fell into the feast of bits of everything contained in this little big blog.  It reminds me of reading Sassy way back when it first came out... my friend, Karen, and I used to consume every little detail of each issue, from binding text to editing credits.  It's sort of like that with Wit + Delight.

4. Miss Moss:  She kicks ass.  I love her humor and her sharp wit and her impeccable eye for spot on artistic aesthetics.  There's not much else to say about this blog except that it's totally worth ignoring all else- including work- to read it. 

5.You are the River: What I most swoon over here is the purity of this blog.  I either crave overly embellished for no good reason or minimalist and simple.  Each extreme helps to balance the other.  It's as if I am sitting in , say, Georgia O'Keefe's home of solitude in New Mexico or alone in a cottage on the sand dunes in Cape Cod... peaceful and calm.  Beautiful.

More from a post I did a couple of years back... Here.

Do you have favorite blogs you can't get enough of?

Word for the Week: Blah

I think it's funny how my chosen words for the week are often the opposite of what actually ends up unfolding in the days that follow.  Funny and frustrating and then back to comical.  What's that saying?  "Life happens when you are busy making other plans."  So it's just one more lesson for me to stop over thinking and to just dive into the awesomeness of possibility.  Blah works here.  It reminds me to just empty the brain and move along.  It's a lazy person's meditation.  I'm going to try this out and see where it takes me.

(These beautiful images- the word "blah" maybe not being worthy of them- are from Ephemera and More)

Into the weekend...

It's a good book and some sunshine for me this weekend.  That's it.  Nothing else.  I hope.

 (photos by Lola's Room)

Enjoy a relaxing one...

p.s. Lovely Mother's Day gifts (like Things Behind the Sun  and Sarafina earrings and charms and these sweet Dream World bobby pins) are  now available.

Oh, Kitchen.

I love our home.  I love that it's a manageable size.  I love that we are in walking and biking distance to most anywhere we want to get to.  I love that I have a space for my work. I love that we have way more books everywhere than we will ever need (and I'd still welcome more). And I love that the dog has his favorite patch of sunshine on our back patio.  That said, I am so craving a revamped kitchen.  I've been wanting this for what has turned into years now and can't seem to shut up about it.  It's an expensive job even for our small space, as in, a $25,000 job to do what we are really wanting- which is to also remodel the bathroom and washer/dryer space attached to the kitchen.  So, until that day comes, I will still be "researching" kitchen designs.

This what I am wanting.... (sort of a mix of all of these!)

(House Beautiful- The white and that wonderful blue with a hint of silvery stainless and the pops of yellow is incredible.  Makes me feel like I'm hanging out on a cloud.))

 (I found this one on a local real estate site. I love that it's somewhere near my home...  It has the best yard filled with raised garden beds piled up with vegetables and fruits.)

 (The stove is pure perfection and the brick wall behind it with the built in nooks for utensils and a wall of spice jars is just awesome.  Also from House Beautiful)

 (I 'm digging the light coming in from the window, the linen white and the mural work...serene.)

(and I somehow need to add this breakfast nook in the layout.)

Also this one and this one from past posts.

And this is more of what Sebastian is wanting...

(How cool is this?! I love the storage and the beam right smack in the center of it all.)

(Cute stove and open shelves)

So probably more tricky of a task than generating that $25,000 for the build is the task of melding together a design that works perfectly for both of us.  Will keep you posted!

Artist Profile (Mini) Documentary

Dear Readers,
A few months back, Modern Day Films contacted me about filming an artist profile on my creative process as a designer.  My initial reaction was to say, "Oh hell no."  I can hardly handle getting a normal picture taken, never mind being filmed for hours on end.  But ... but I agreed.  And the MDF crew was totally professional, encouraging and super good humored (this, combined with chocolate soy milk and then a whammy of a caffeinated latte, got me through the nervousness and the many many hours of shooting.).
When I first saw this last night, all I could think was, "Wait.  That's what I look like?!" and ,"Oh god, that's what I sound like?!"  It really messes with a person's perception of themselves, that's for sure.  But I am now breathing and really doing my very best to embrace this new experience.
So a huge thank you to the gang at Modern Day Films and to Hilary White, lead Video Producer and Editor, for approaching me with this opportunity and, subsequently, encouraging me to expand my potential.
To view , please click on the photo below ( *or for Facebook users*, please view it through Modern Day Film's fan page by clicking ,"Like" on their landing page)

Top Five Tuesday: Road Trip:: Picnic

I'm a road trip and picnic lover.  Are you?  I definitely don't have the opportunities to take part in them as much as I'd like.  But we did the other day and it was wonderful.  We explored, relaxed and generally did what we don't normally let ourselves do- which is to not work.  Baby steps.  This was a kind of bigger and much welcomed baby step.  Here are my top five things (in no particular order) about this adventure...

* We live along the coast of California and are used to seeing the ocean.  We are also pretty lucky to have the mountains, as well.  But we traveled inland and really got to delve into the awesomeness of the valleys and nooks within these mountain ranges.  We saw everything from lush wildflower mountainsides to rugged rock formations. I've seen these before, but I'm never desensitized to the beauty.  Stunning.  I had my mouth gaping open the entire ride and way too many of this: "Oh my gosh!" and "Oh my goodness!" and ," Look!  LOOK!!!!!"

 

* Mars the Dog had a blast.  This dog just likes to run but, like his mom and dad, only short distances.  He's a dopey runner.  His hind legs and butt appear to be completely separate from his front half of his body.  So that the back just bounces up and down, always off the ground.  And his front half is just his huge square head and slobbering mouth, gargantuan tongue hyper focused on the possibility of extreme fun before him.  He mostly loves running between his peeps- like monkey in the middle, but less cruel/more blissed out.
Here he's running up the hill to Sebastian:

and then down the hill back toward me (check out his ears!):

* We set up our picnic on a field along a hillside and enjoyed the pure goodness of it all (Mars assumed all the food was for him. He came at it from every angle.  See him here trying to figure out how to attack.  He thinks he's a ninja, of course, but he really is just a -well loved-clumsy goofball):

* The hubs and the dog went off exploring...

and returned with this sweet wildflower (which I put in a little blue vase.  Also note the flask- filled with port.  I was ambitious and thought, for sure, I'd kick back with it, but really just ended up taking a sip and drank water instead.  All those cheese and crackers make a person thirsty.)

* Sunshine on my toes!

It also totally made my day when the few cars that did pass, along the tiny road in the distance, waved to us... just further proof that picnics make everyone happy.

p.s. The hillside we were on kept reminding me of Little House on the Prairie- especially that scene in the beginning song where Carrie eats it after running down the hill and stumbling.  So great.

Word for the Week: Bring (it.)

Okay, "Bring it." is more of a Sentence for the Week, but a very short and concise and proactive sentence-ish word.  This week, I have plans and scheduled happenings, but really have no idea how any of it will unfold... which, I guess, is just life in general, but still.  Big things are underfoot and I'm hopeful that if I just welcome them all and embrace it with huge warm, blissed out mental hugs, then they'll all turn out better than I had envisioned.
Here's to hoping for the very best and actually letting it happen...

(Image: Sweet card by Here My Dear. )

Into the Weekend...

Want in on some things that got me through this nutty and befuddled week?  Here ya go...

This blog feature on Royal Wedding combos... stunning! Ciara Obscura's Stars in Your Eyes has an appearance!

How crazy awesome are these lingerie for toes?!  Voet Hosiery is as darling as can be.  Spring is here and I'm finally getting my butt over to their shop to buy myself some.  Look how darn sweet (and so sexy) they are:

This bathing suit from Anthropologie has my name on it...

 

And these shoes from Chie Mihara say this to me, they say,"Cath, you really really should have these."

(p.s. I think that Talula the bicycle would also agree.)

And let's conclude this post on this fine Friday with something that is free and simple and so SO beautiful...

California wildflowers (photographer unknown)

The hubs and I are taking a day off next week to head out to a field very similar to this one to have a picnic to celebrate our anniversary.  This makes me very happy.

Tonight I'm hitting' the town with pal, Steph.  And I'm also mentally preparing myself for the launch of a mini documentary artist profile on me... nail biting nervous.  More to come on that.

Enjoy a lovely weekend, dear peeps. 

Neeeeeeeed.

Ah... Yes, please!

(Manostiles boxes as seen on Decor8)

What we do on a half day off...

Me and the hubs, we don't get much time off.  So when we have an afternoon... or a few hours... to unwind, we do something like this.  Which is to take Mars the Dog for a free for all in one of our favorite spots (Sebastian calls it Doggie Vegas because the beasts go nutty with each other there and then resume their normal lives when they have to go home.).  It's pretty much the best place ever.

Mars is ready to take off on his adventure with his peeps:

 

And then he misses Dad, so they hang out for a while:

 

Until he gets distracted with a passerby...

And then more... PARTAY!

While I enjoy the flowers and tall grass and lady bugs:

Mars keeps going (he totally wiped out right before I took this shot, but it obviously didn't phase him.):

 

And he's done.  Back by Dad's side:

 And one more visit with the wildflowers for me makes this a perfect few hours away from working:

What do you do with a day off (or a half day or an hour off?)