Is a frugal Christmas a merry one?

I think it can be.

This year I have bought only two presents. One for my mom and one for my dad. The only thing that saddens me about not having bought any presents is the fact that I don't get to wrap much! And seriously, wrapping presents is one of my favorite things to do.

There is always next year...

Making memories into ghosts...

Simply Beautiful

GOD!!! I love this look! I mean I REALLY FREAKING LOVE IT!

Merry Christmas to Me...

I came so close the other day to buying a manzanita branch, spray painting it white, setting it in a little ceramic pot and making it my new place to hang my bangles and necklaces... glad I didn't... because now I know I want a candelabra!

Just like this one...

My dream room...

Green on the Inside

High maintenance but totally worth it!

. . .

Smitten for this Kitchen

I love everything about this adorably bizarre kitchen. The retro fridge is such a neat buy. If I lived in a small house with a cozy kitchen, I would get one for sure. All I need room for is my veggie burgers and wine…

What I also find intriguing is the dissimilar colors of “shaker style” cabinetry. It is weird, I don’t know if I would spring for that, but it is definitely interesting. I would use different hardware… maybe something from Anthropologie!

The stove and vent hood, although small, looks very high-end. Chrome is the ‘way to go’ for kitchen appliances, undoubtedly.

Everything about the kitchen deserves a mention… how about that chandelier? Once again, LOVE the idea… I would choose a different style (maybe something from here), but again, LOVE the idea! I am all about the ambiance. Imagine cooking by candle light and the glimmer of a chandelier… how pleasant.

Want to create the illusion of more space? Well, just simply lean a gilded mirror against the rear of your range! Effortlessly brilliant... and fancy!

Oh ya, and the birdcage… that was actually the first thing I noticed. I have one a little bit bigger than the one that is pictured in this kitchen. This photo has given me the idea to hang it in the kitchen (when I have my own) and use it as decorative storage.

And last but not least, the Kelly Green walls!!! My favorite color! Since the white subway tile covers half the wall as the back splash, Kelly Green serves as the perfect pop of color!

Love it all! Excellent find Marion!

Black Friday, please...

For the first time in 9 years we had a traditional Thanksgiving! It was my parents and my custom to go to Galveston and feast at Landry’s every year. My dad and I would devour as many oysters as our cravings would allow and then we would start to eat! Landry’s offers such an extensive spread (buffet style) and we love it, but this year we decided to go with the time-honored home cooked meal and it was lovely.

I was always too young to cook when we went the traditional route, but now that I am 25 (and enjoy cooking) I wanted to whip up a few sides myself!

I made a celery root and potato puree, maple-glazed carrots and parsnips, and fresh cranberry sauce with caramelized ginger and sugar (this recipe came out of Domino Magazine a few years ago). It all turned out delicious; however, my timing was a bit off. I believe that is the mark of a true chef, flawlessly timing every dish to where it is served piping hot on the table. I’ve got a lot of room for improvement. We were line up at the microwave, lol.

Nevertheless, we all gobbled till we wobbled and had a great time… and I am thankful for that.

. . .

Now it’s Black Friday and I could give a rat!!! I personally know a few loons (you know I love you guys) who braved the masses at 4am for the ‘door busters’ and ‘steel of a deals’. It’s true what they say, I was told people were wrapped around our local gargantuan shopping center waiting to get into Best Buy for their PS3’s and flat screens. I know we have a lousy economy and people are itching to save, but I find myself preferring to cough up the extra bucks to save myself from that mess!

I told my boss that I didn’t mind coming into work today just in case we had any traffic, and I don’t mind, I love my little world here, but I have only been visited by two people! We don’t have any door busters… any slashed prices… sorry! Black Friday is a day for massive retail conglomerates, not charming little antique stores – and so be it, that is fine by me.

I thought I would start pondering my Christmas list of what to give my loved ones and what to answer back when I am asked, “What do you want for Christmas?!?!?!”

This is fun. :)

As we all know, it is much easier to know what we want for ourselves than for others. I pretty much want everything from Jayson Home & Garden. This Quartz Votive is so me! I love the mix of nature and opulence. Like organic meets gilded glam...

It takes time and thoughtful effort to conjure up ideas of what to gift my friends and family. I'm sure none of them would appreciate this Phrenology Head as much as me. It's fantastically weird. I want it.

And this little guy, isn't he a hoot?? (lame, I know)

I think owls are so neat, and I think he would look great perched on the floating shelves that I don't have in my bed room. :) haha

Mmmm, and this lustrous Lancaster Tea Set.... a bit of whimsy never hurts anyone.

Perfect to display in the kitchen of the house that I don't have with the glass front kitchen cabinet doors that don't exist. One day my humble dreams will come true. Until then, I shall merrily collect these objects while working my way up in this world.

And now for furniture...

The Greta table... what a perfect little gilded accent piece. I also wouldn't mind Christopher Spitzmiller shedding a little light on it either!

And it would all look damn good next to this bad boy...

Greenwich chair, won't you be mine?

I am going to buy you, and reupholster you, (not that I don't like your Zenith-Moss Silk, I just want charcoal silk velvet) and sit in you, and read my magazines, and blog, and watch Dexter, and sip coffee, and nap... and love you forever and ever!

That chair, mark my words, will be my first big purchase once I fly the coup!



Palma Desk, your second. You, with your sexy sawhorse legs... that industrial, homemade allure gets me every time!

I would LOVE to post what I intend on buying a few people for Christmas, but I can't because some of the frequent this blog.

Until next time...

Cameo, Cameo, where art thou Cameo?

I was at Nordstroms last week shopping for a pair of earrings to wear with my lovely bridesmaid dress. I was torn between classic gold hoops (I had some from Stella and Dot but lost them, maybe they will come out of hiding one day) and these super cute Kate Spade grape clusters. I ended up going with the classic gold hoop, but anyway, I found this cameo ring while on the hunt and fell in love with it. It wasn't a splurge as far as cost goes, but it wasn't on my list and I always try not to stray from my list...but nevertheless, it was totally worth it. One should never feel guilty about pleasure! Of course the ring I bought from Nordstroms is a reproduction.... and that's ok, but I manage an antiques showroom and its only natural for me to want the real thing... so here it is. This is what I have my eyes set on now.

Coralie Bickford Smith's Penguin Classics

These books are a pretty much "must have" on my list. I bet my mom never thought she’d see the day where her daughter asked for books for her Birthday and Christmas. For the most part I request design books, ones that get read from cover to cover. However, Christmas is coming up and although there is a ton more design books that I want, I have found something else; books that you couldn’t pay me to read in school (I could barely get thru the Cliff Notes) and now I want them… not to read, but to put on show. Does that make me a classic literature poser? I don’t’ care. These are without a doubt the prettiest books I have ever seen! So Santa, I have been a good girl… will you get me these books for Christmas? I may even read one… maybe.

I always get so excited thinking about what I want to gift my friends and family for Christmas (and what I want for myself too! I like to think I’m giving, but I’m not totally selfless, who is?) All this Christmas talk has me giddy. Anyway, check out these books. Tell me how cool they are.

Buy them here!

A Quickie

I miss being able to write! I never thought I could be so busy at work, but these past two weeks is proof that I hadn’t a clue how demanding the antiques biz can be! I haven’t even had a minute to let my mind ponder a post. My thought have been besieged by chandeliers with faulty wiring, people who presume I have the ability to safely package antique pottery (uhhh duh, I will facilitate the process, NOT DO IT FOR YOU), Christmas staging, 1st Dibs, Urban Market, pillows, paintings with tears and tons more. Anyway, I am over it all… I am ready for Colorado! I figured I would post some pics of my favorite thing. Books arranged by color! Once I am in a less frenzied state of mind I can then get back into my groove. I just got home from the Houston, TX Nutcracker Market and found (thanks Michelle) the most amazing booth. I wish to bedeck my store in their Earthy, shabby chic (for lack of a better word) Christmas décor! Maybe I will!!!

Burlap, Baby

Sleepless Surfing

A taxicab to the Rockets game, leaving with a ‘W’, followed by being surrounded by friends in clever costumes with an extra hour to party at the Social, as expected, left me with fun memories and a tired body! How perfect for Halloween to have been on a crisp Saturday night and for DST to end too! After checking out of the Magnolia, Franks pizza, and the Texans game (with a ‘W’ might I add), I decided to make it an easy going, recuperative Sunday full of naps. Now it’s of the night and I am not sleepy! I have been lost in newly discovered blogs and websites and I thought it’d be rude not to share with you some of the neat inspirational photos I found! I love the power of the Right Click, Save Picture As, insert: preferred file name, -- it a beautiful thing.

. . .

So many friends are getting married so I have been looking at all the pictures they have been taking. This is how I want my ring (one day) to be photographed! I love it.

I think I just found the worlds most desirable vanity chair. And I love the fanciful approach with the wallpaper. It adds some life to a somewhat sterile bathroom.

On my Birthday post I commented on a pair of pretty wings mounted on a wall above a bed. I've been looking into more winged accents and I found this awesome art.

I am hung up on gray, a seemingly random neutral. I am about to make a room switch at home and I was going to paint my room a dark shade of grey by Benjamin Moore (something like Soot) but I am thinking I might go out on the limb and chose a lighter shade of gray with my tried and true favorite white, Chantilly Lace and spring for stripes! It would be a challenge and I think I'll love it.

* inspiration via here

Only though Halloween just passed it is time to start thinking about staging the windows of my store for Christmas and how I am going to lure in the passersby! I love the different colors and textures of these dazzling ornaments. The snowflake is pretty great too!

Spook-tacular Spaces

When I brood over a Halloween post, black walls pierced my thoughts instantly. I in no way knew black walls could be so alive! I envisioned a gloomy, dismal feel at the notion of pitch-black walls. I was considerably mistaken; these interiors are mysterious, sexy and totally fit for human habitation. The lustrous black walls of the bathroom with the sunshine yellow chair is nothing short of spectacular. Enjoy these extraordinary, out of the ordinary dwellings.

Can I take about a 2 hour bath in this tub, please?

Amazing.

Uber cool.

I thought I always wanted a white house with black shutters... scratch that, reverse it.



That mirror looks like several we've had at my store. That gilded ornateness with those sexy black walls is pure cultivated beauty. Soooooo sumptuous.



Mmmmm.

. . .

Happy Halloween you ghouls, I hope your Saturday night is frightfully fun and your booze, bountiful!