Toe Pick!

It's official, the holidays and their aftermath have passed..  now, we are left with:

S N O W .

It is MID-JAN.
Lucky for me, my philosophy has always been
~ if it's going to be this cold, it might as well be pretty & white!

The past week has been perfectly lethargic, dawned with robes.

THE ROBE:

..and its Tyranny..

Phase 1. --Starts off funny! Hey, it’s nostalgic, paired with the wondrous realization that there is more to this robe biz than "just" posing like Hugh Heff  e v e r y   time you sit down!

~Or traipsing about the house like a JC Penney's catalog model in an item you once could not comprehend the true efficiency of.

Phase 2. --From there, it Becomes mildly comical.

The remaining smirks are deluded by your grOwing fondness for the warmth and comfort.

Phase 3. --All of the sudden, it becomes alarmingly apparent that it is an addictively adapted way of life! 

 Serious Stuff! 

And there’s nO nicotine patch for this one!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Robes sported throughout the weekend after painting walls galore.

Robes on Monday and Tuesday when I took some un-used vacation days to Continue painting with my husband

---(until we discovered the hilarious show "Millionaire Matchmatcher" and got sucked into a day-depleting series of episodes in which we *normal populace get the reassuring opportunity to laugh at all the CRazY rich people out there.. like we aren't sitting in our robes midday on a Tuesday and pointing fingers??)--

...Robes when we finished shoveling,
Robes cooking dinner,
RoBEs after a long day at work in stuffy business clothes...
------------------------------------------------------------------------

But there's a point in which you truly start to feel, slobby?  ha! 

The once warming nature of lounging about in a cozy garb, has now disturbingly over-stayed its welcome.

It’s called  m o t i v a t i o n ..

and in January – we *might need to diG a little for some!

Good riddance to a 1.5 week hiatus in holiday recharge... it's time to dO something!

*and painting does not count

..with all my heart i love this collage :}

Skating Party??

this makes me gush with pride for MINNESOTA :}

We are a hearty brood,

the kind that find jOy and solace in the blustery days of Winter

I love that i can smell the cold by looking at this, hear that distinct skates-on-ice sound, feel the chunky-knit scandanavian sweaters.
The pain in your hands from the sawing-laces of getting your skates tight!

Runny red noses, too-hot swiss miss, & skating through duskfall-to-dark losing track of time :)

..helping to melt your fear of frostbite yet?

Or the sorrow in losing that ever-growing / perfected cast of your body in the sofa cushion?

I had the BriLLiaNt idea to flood our backyard into a rink!

Jeff assures me we can, *when* we have little hockey kids.. but opting to save the grass until then.

haha, so off to a local rink we must go!

..then we can crawl back into our cozy "igloo" (closer to "bungalo" i suppose)

Hot Apple Cider [spiked?] + Warm Pretzel Twists

and fall asleep watching Mystery Alaska or Miracle with Herb Brooks and all our Gopher hockey boys shining across the screen, defeating the Soviets & defying all odds to win the 1980 Olympics.

the Actor:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwpTj_Z9v-c
& the Prodigy!:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CdJTfGiRCI [wOw, hA!]
~a legacy in our blood! 

-->WAIT?! am i digressing again? -this sounds like a potential "Robe" scene?! 

;)    full circle i guess!

Lets..

 ..Like PAiNT?! 

It is our self-proclaimed "YEAR OF RENOVATION"!  So, not to fall behind or cheat our our little 'diet plan' of sorts already.. we are beginning this weekend.  

MISSION:  Paint the Dora the Explora room!

ha :)  Quite embarrassing you say?

Well, just ask my most manly, hunting, meat-eating husband who has been sleeping with a smile on his face in a Pepto-Bismol Pink and Bachman's Floral Lavender bedroom for the past 4 months.  Yessir, he smiles not because his tummy feels better, but because we are still the incandescantly proud owners of our very first home. 

Obviously, you are now privy to some* details of the existing purchase of our 1920's Craftsman Style house. 

True: the upstairs bedroom was previously shared by two whimsical twin girls, ripe in their age of 3 years, and no doubt dutiful in their nap-taking when life-size Dora decals were plastered about the room.  Shame they took all the Doras with them when they moved... but luckily we are still blessed with their exuberant choice in wall color ;)

What color shall we choose?? I think it can only improve!

Hmm, something tells me it will not be an organic mural schlacked upon some beautifully moody-teal paneling.  Next year?

Nor, will it be the ornate confessions of an Italianate Renaissance junky (myself)...

Low Dado's are the chicest way to imitate Euro proportion

I fear, that for the first time in my life, we may very well paint a room

W H I T E !

AHH! I know! Don't panic yet--- although, it's not for sake of selling, or being afraid of a color, because Lord knows I think we're sleeping with tOo much color now!  

Should White be feared?  Shall it forever fall synonomous with the mundane and beige visionaries?   Afterall, white can be one of the greatest palettes for which to manipulate the varieties of texture, temperature, and all your ever-changing accessories!   

However, I must confess that the stirring of this Elusive -White- first entered my thoughts by only the source of knowing in the next *1-2yrs, we will be sledge-hammering OUT the walls and reconfiguring the entire layout of the bathroom and master bedroom. 

So, pilgrim in the venture back to white? - hardly, no.  I am willing to dabble with the notion because I know it will only be an experimental hypocrisy against my eternal advocacy for color!

Start with the basics. White is not a shameful choice! It can be extremely crisp and clarifying.

Can it be, that I am potentially getting excited over the challenge of painting a room white?  --With the means to make it look like we actually chose white; DesigneD around it -rather than because of it? 

The hardwood floors and exposed radiators are very reminiscent of our bedroom-to-be

Can you push the envelope with  " w h i t e " ??

I think, white can be uLtiMately "edgier" than any beige you can throw-down!

Here are two snapshots that prove white can be trendy, modern, and "designed around" with focused purpose.

Will we be doing any blocking or striping in our painting schematics?? 
If it were up to me, and my never-ending additions of ideas..
hecK yes! 
But, this is where the better part of marriage steps in and suggests, that perhaps* we'd like to redeem our bedroom for it's purpose of actual sLeeping (not non-sensical projects!)... and that pulling couch duty for weeks on end while I       marvel / ponder / marvel / add /    ...amongst paint toxins, is simply not a plausible plot.

But, as you may have seen in my previous post on Black Lacquered doors... I have an itching idea inspired by none other than the cousin to my Favorite childhood species~

Large Wall Print from IKEA

Black and white stripes.  Vertical is the best way to make this a classy statement. 

Below are two 'trippy' rooms that I leave dually as a warning and in admiration for pushing barriers.  

The small room on the right is simply too BEETLEJUICEy for (probaby anyone?!) me. 

The room on the left, however, gives a much greater Ralph Lauren-esque aura.  The wider stripes mean it is less busy; the refined touches of brass and gold metallics in the symmetrical sconces, umbrella stand, and the heavy banquet bench help to anchor the room.  Also note, this scheme is best applicated if it is in a small space or accent wall and not overtaking a large room!



Here is the same concept again - in a fabulous area rug for this Guest Bedroom.  The lush Red suede twin headboards are -believe it or not- from Target! -and priced reasonably for less than $300!  Knowing how much stripe to add and where to place it is the defining balance in this bold pattern.

---Wouldn't you just die to have a guest room like these in your house to welcome Friends into? 

The symmetry takes away all the anxious unknowns of how to arrange and decorate the room!



Another example of my mini thesis that stripes can be elegant!

This is the picture I am going to dangle about my husband's face, in hopes that he will understand my desires to transform the  small landing  at the top of our stairwell.

I found thE Perfect mirrored chest at  Home Goods  that would nestle right in and allow us to add some dimension to that currently  wasTed  space... but, while the cost of paint is easy to 'swing' with the current Moral+Obligatory overseer of our finances, not so sure I could sneak a giant *Mirrored* chest

1.-successfully into the back of my MiNi Cooper

2.-up the narrow stairs by myself

3.-PAST hiM without catching some sort of blinding glint from the reflective beauty!

:)

oh, and then there is, of course, seeing it plainly set (perfectly) at the top of the stairs.

Statement Landing. Large appeal in a small space.



I digress..

 as you see--- I have already wandered FaR, FAR off my central focus of simply painting the Dora Room.

One Last quick peak to share with you~  please disregard the tacky seashell fabric, as I forgot to crop it! ha.

HOW great is it, that this bedroom is dim, moody, and prevalently easy to sleep in?!

Accomplished by the use of painting a *non-Gothic black scheme. 

There is nothing tricky, nor intricate about the design, and yet it is simply ingenious that the bed is a shining beacon of softness and Light after a long day! 

I love this idea of the bed being aglow, warm, even summoning.  The calming dimness elsewhere allows your mind & body to transition into letting-go of all your day's stressors... along with your jewelry, and trail of clothing!

 

On that note~   I bid you Adieu

...and a "PS" addition:

Life is full of those "Should-a, Could-a, Would-a" moments that inescapably absorb our thoughts when there is something beyond our grasp.  Like, how I still wish that I could have surprised my dear enthusiast husband with a sweet Vintage ride out front of the church to rumble off in on our wedding day..

Or when we are too afraid to take a Leap of faith for something so positively enticing, albeit unknown..

well, I'm taking that leap ~ and will have something Positively Exciting to share with you next week!!

til then,

 enjoy your Weekend and wish us luck with the January paint toxins!

...Some day, m'love  ;)



& the "Elephant"

Tonight, we are dining like kings... well, the Kings of Egypt, that is!




Mirage of our time in the desert Sand, dodging camel spit.. Krista - is that you?!

 

It's January-- are you finding yourself dreaming of a far-away (temperate) land!?
Lately I've been thinking back to the extraordinary adventure I had in Egypt with some dear friends, and felt what better way to sink myself in the smells and flavor of a long-lost excursion, than to cook some food we ate!

No, this is not a picture of my prepared meal --but yes! it shall look just this pretty tonight at 6!
               MENU:  Kosher Salt & Cracked Pepper + Rosemary
                                      rubbed chicken breast
                           * roasted on a fillet of carrot coins,
                              sprinkling of chives,
                              topped with thin lemon-slices
                         ~allow melding-to-perfection for 3hrs
                              then add the Olive oil CousCous!

It doesn't feel like 6 years have passed since we boarded a windy aeroplane~

Of course, I would like to believe myself that our time spent it Egypt was just as glamorous as the first picture.. a dessert beauty in a gauzy white dress and the simmering sun of foreign appeal...
but alas - we were broke college kids just bursting at the chance to see the culture and explore a new place. 

Imagine a bumpy little cream van, no doubt from the 80's and of quirky-questionable make, screaching up to the *outdoor airport in Marsa Alam to speed us away to our resort. 
The vast spans of desert along the Red Sea were littered with mini establishments (cannot quite call them towns or even neighborhoods?).  They conjured up enough resemblance to a bomb site that we were all secretly second-guessing our destination choice?  Until, there, lay our gem in the desert!  The strings of resorts began to sew the coastline and we reassuringly whizzed down the chubby-palmed drive of Hotel Cinderella.

Small-statured cabana boys were enthralled with their First American guests, let alone 3 unchaperoned women.  We were treated like queens, eleborate flowers displayed in oragami-like art across our freshly made beds each day ..never mind that they invited the fierce and GNaWing RED AnTs into our beds!  We traded English lessons for free 4wheeling excursions through the sands. 

There is definitely something profoundly appealing about Egypt.
The rawness in the winds and sands, the poverty, the beauty in their culture and oasis, the endless history and mysteries --- everything eludes to this genuine sense of being alive.

I feel such deep gratitude for being able to visit, especially in times like this when my spare laundry money is not going to send me abroad like some free spirited Indiana Jones.. then again, the utility bills can be staved off a little longer right??
Well, you know the answer to that ;)  Next thought, food! Second to traveling, we can pretend and replay instead!

We stood in marvel, walked, and marveled more amongst the halls of ancient Egyptian temples where over 30 Pharaohs held their reign

Temple of Karnak.  16th Century B.C.



Had the spectacular fortune of journeying through the boiling Valley of the Kings,
and down into King Tut's famous tomb. 

Valley of the Kings



Where the echoes of the corridors send goosebumps scaling across your body with hindsight thoughts of all the evil curses that were cast to fall upon those whom dare enter the sacred burial tombs. 
Your mind starts to trail off into frenzied thoughts of un-tripped booby traps waiting to spring their millennia-awaited consequences!
..Luckily, that's about when the tour guide jolts you back to Reality and burbles
"nO picturrres puhLeeeeaze"
...so mundanely brayed to we tourists that it can only be described as such that his manner of "authority" and self-belief in the importance of this request had already lost foreground in the race for his awareness that he will soon be on his 15min break and able to smoke a cig.!



King Tut



I still own the scar, 6 years later, from the metal stirrup that cut my bare-footed ankle while galloping an Arabian along the Red Sea, ..but i will Smile every time I see it!

We three ladies were promised an eternity of great fertility for walking 3x around this Scarab Stone...
lookout honey!

Sacred Scarab Stone at Karnak

souvenier sacred scarab beads, a tradition to carry for good luck

= lots of luck!

Sailing across the Nile in Luxor is such an invigorating experience... I'd watched countless National Geographic and History Channel episodes on Egypt and it's princess Nile before, ...but they cannot relay the feeling of the slight desert breeze rustling at the sides of your hair, just enough to send a few lost strands dancing in the perfect taunting of your nose as you tickle and try to catch the playful tangles.  The harsh squint in your eyes from the high / hot sun and reflections off the riverway, cannot be portrayed through a mere documentary.
The river is alive with people earning their living, teaming with boats and crocodile, "taxi" services of camels awaiting your dry-land transportation needs along the shoreline, the bleeding haze of warm beige spread across the lands.. truly other-worldly!

So, while we might have been on a Smelly, one-tooth Captained boat, it was a priceless moment-in-time I have to *remind myself was ReaL. 

Sphinxes were everywhere we looked!  There's an ancient following tingling at the hairs on your skin (no, not just the rolling sweat-beads from the 110 degree temps!).  Awe-inspiring artwork and Empires. 
And the juxtoposition of cosmopolitan life weaving about these ruins is boggling.

It feels only like a dream now, but we will never forget our dusty, dirty, eye-opening travels to the land of Pharaohs~

Karine in the chilly pool at our Red Sea-side resort in Marsa Alam, Egypt

So, tonight ~ we dine!   

..what will you feast on?!  Turn on the Travel Channel and try something new!

A Charmed Reminder..

That we are half way through the work-week, hold on!!

2011* ~The Year of Renovation!

My husband woke me up in the lazy sunlight of New Years Day (nevermind that we were in our guest bed?), to giddily-ask "What are we going to do thiS year?!"

2010 was a wholloping adventure of buying our first house, having our dream wedding, getting a zippy new car (had since been a decade!), traveled abroad, and a long list of other major mile-markers.

My immediate and pouring-response, as if I had to think twice about it,

"THE Year of RENOVATION!"

:)

It's time to sit down, come up with a month-to-month [realistic] plan, and sort out a priority list of all the amazing things we're chomping to do!  I have to pinch myself and remember that sanding, grinding, sealing, and all the prep dirty work comes 1st and drags out, but the result is Definingly Worthwhile.

For starters - here are some amazing photographs of design-inspiration I'm entranced by.

----> Despite my inescapable zest for color,  I can't shed this gravitation for Black-trimmed windows and doors!  It's so classically European, yet Georgian-formal meets posh-NY. 

Perhaps too much black for me, but the front door and flooring are decadant!

Black Window Trim is not a new trend, yet it is somewhat trend-setting.  I believe the root of the statement these lacquered beauties make, is due to the fact that there's a gothic-fear of merry people painting things black.  Rarely does a homeowner have the bravado to schlack their "pretty" wood trim!
 It can be can be the most alluring, eye-grabbing essence of a window, however! The panes of these vintage windows would otherwise disspear into the mundane files of Suburbia.

Just the right amount of black, dashed into a room, adds a crisp appeal!

Imagine this room with large 24"x24" diagonal diamond flooring! ..Add a colorful lamp, play with the ceiling slate, reupholster a chair, and wha-lah!

Now, for the Carrera.
No, not the 1980's iconic porsche, rather - the Marble! 

Oooh, how I could gush over these cool-touched counters all day! 
--For you granite enthusiasts out there telling me marble is more porous, susceptable to acidic damages, tarnishing, etc... withold your good-hearted warnings and let me bask in my happiness! 

Notice the chic black range-hood? The contrast of a more dramatic slab of carrera for a backsplash creates instant drama*

Here the marble is more subtle on the counters, but amped-up with a more electrifying veining as the backsplash.

Carrera + black window trimming? Yes please.  Note: this kitchen is probably the size of our entire main-floor!

This one may not fit in with my "blacks", but I am simply *smitten with the minty mullions and exposed brick.
Couldn't pass showing the possibilities of another zippy trim!

 Our house is Stucco; I would LOVe to add some of these architectural proportions and details to the facade!

Quite possibly the most architecturally-alluring example of how clean lines, paired with white-shades and black-tones can be stunning.   *note: disregard the Grapes of Wrath car!

Albeit being solid black and something I could not live with for longer than a month...
the way this designer used a *High-Gloss black to coat an entire apartment, makes all her other items pop wonderfully!





The free-form layout of this black and white bathroom pleases me.

Again, High-Gloss black, cannot be beat.

Rustic meats Euro-polish



Formal, chic, Playful. Genious.