happy 4th

we are off to hillside for 4 days and boy do we have some projects. i really do hope to have some progress to show you....

these photo's were taken last weekend at carmel by the sea. we had a little anniversary get away and had the best time ever. great food, great wine, great weather, great beaches and wonderful views.

i had to thrown in last years bmo 4th shot too.

image & envy

or should i just say done & done. this little dining space has everything a guy could ask for: great lighting, endless effortlessness, no frill and seemingly affordable/approachable..oh, and that chalk board wall i always steer away from (i now find it charming...i am loosing it)

i am in the mood for less is more again. it must come with age and the wanting to simplify everything. so, i work in a creative industry and there is so much talk about product, trend, what is new and next and the must have of the moment......it is exhausting at times and i often find myself in a state of material desire. YUCK & YUCK.

some days i want to run for the hills and build furniture out of dirt, twigs, weeds and anything from the earth that mother earth no longer needs.

this is how i feel on this sunny and warm thursday morning, hopefully i will come out of this and find that balance.

image from little blue deer blog

its the little things in life....and design

have you seen this "before" photo before? this was taken even before we had the keys to the front door of hillside. as you can see......um......hillside was not in best form at the time and thank god for a teenie tiny bit of vision. many people would probably run and never look back, and that may have been the route we should have taken too....kidding.

i have been promising a friend a photo of part of the exterior facelift (new window frame). all it took was some of our extra wood, a few tools and a very handy contractor to make the simplest and most important change to date on the exterior. i am holding onto some photo's for a true before and after (at the rate we are going the reveal will be 2 years from now).

happy wednesday.

......and breath

well, i had huge intentions of painting the bedroom this weekend...or at least getting started. didn't happen...i decided to kick back and breath a bit. instead there was a lot of puttering going on and a whole lot of nothing to memorable....except some delicious food consumption and early to bed and late to rise happening.

my "real" excuse was it was too hot to paint (hit 90 yesterday). so here is a photo of where it all went down...the food consumption.

hillside dining....in the tree's. (hillsides nickname is tree house and i think you can tell why from this photo). i know the image is dark, but if you click on it you can see the trees a bit better.

happy monday

and the winner is.....

woo hoo! congrats primjillie. i have a feeling you will be as charmed by this little piece of history as i have been.

leave me your email in the comments and i will ship her out early next week.

thanks for always visiting the blog..:)

give, give, GIVEAWAY

overdue and a bit of a peace offering for my poor posting ability of late.

this great little hotel creamer caught my eye many months ago. i bid...i won...and i want to give it to one of you.

let me be clear, it is not because it is not loved or unwanted, quite the contrary actually...i want to give it to one of you because i have a huge soft spot for my blogging friends. you bring that wink and magic and mystery that keeps me blogging.

i know many of you read and do not post a comment, do not let that hold you back from putting your name in the bowl.

this little guy is just under 4 inches tall, super heavy, the bottom stamp says "r.wallace, 0381, silver bordered, 4 oz, hotel olds"

just put a comment in that you are a winner and i will be sure to put your name in the drawing. i will do the drawing this friday and post end of day.

thanks for following my hodgepodge of blog. i really wish i had one of these for each of you.

t for two (twins that is)

i grew up sleeping on a twin bed and whenever i visited family and friends there always seemed to be a guest room with 2 twin beds. nostalgia takes over more often than not when i look at photo's of twins.

but, is it just me or have times changed? now everyone has a queen bed, king bed or anything but 2 twins. i guess "back in the day" we slept in separate beds just like lucy and desi. they did set the standard for the times. i guess it would be odd for a couple to sleep in seperate beds...but it could end up being a good night sleep :).

anyhow....i think this room evokes a restful and simple time and i would like to have a room just like it.

photo found on hemmahemma

massive (massey) attack

from the very first image of paul massey's i was hooked. i found my inspiration source...never failing. from his simple styling and choice of work, i could almost feel his heart beating (or was that mine from the adrenaline).

anyway, another tough week behind me and the mysterious future ahead. the fifth image, of course an expression of pure personal sentiment...but the balance of the images pure lovely.

have a great weekend...i hear the sun is shining upon our friends in seattle....well worth the wait indeed.

massive (massey) attack part duex