forty, 40, forte....

someone in the household celebrated one of those milestone b-days.... and with it came some crafty gift idea's. one of those milestones you want to mark with memories, laced with a bit of sentiment.

so, we have a "family" friend in seattle who is one of those mind blowing talents. she is an apparel designer, hand bag designer, singer song writer (with several albumns), she is a painter. basically....she is a gift from the heavens.

every year, dawn smithson, sends a hand painted christmas card. a highlight of the season. when i was pulling out the christmas garb this year, and i uncovered her painting from 2010 and when i saw it a birthday idea sparked right out of my head....a dawn smithson commissioned painting of b-mo. i couldn't imagine a better b-day gift for loopy. then when it arrived at work earlier this week....i almost dropped a few tears on my desk. so touching..the soul and spirit of this little stinker couldn't have been captured better. thank you dawn.

so, i have included last years painting of the tree with the mystic own at the top and of course the b-day painting of b-mo.

if you would like a commissioned piece of work by dawn...please let me know and i will be happy to connect you.

luxury.....

in our little cabin on a country road. who would have thunk? during our montauk vaction this summer, we stumbled upon a store that carried the la labo products and that is where the trouble began.

i'm of that age where i do not long or obsess over wanting things...i appreciate fine things, but am able to find practicality and editing more relaxing. but i must say, the la labo fragrances put all practicality aside and the obsession began. i forced myself to pass on the purchase and that is when the angels decended, one in particular..by the name of patti was particularly forceful, and that angel demanded she was sent to gift hillside with this fragrance.

thank you angel....you make life much sweeter and your generosity overwhelms at times. this fragrance is the signature hillside fragrance and i hope it last forever.

notice that this label is custom for hillside. boy do we feel blessed and the cabin smells dreamy...like heaven.

adult christmas

as some of you know, i had a visitor last weekend. one of those friends that you consider family. we had a blast at hillside, along with a few side visits to antique malls, farms and eateries.

as usual, she came with a little bag of treasures from red ticking..and boy was she kind this year. i must have done something right this year :).

this handmade mermaid will have a good life and always carry the memories of december 2011 and she might even get a new blouse for christmas this year.

you too can find this great treasure at red ticking...hurry, time is running out.

more weekend photo's to follow soon.

monday moves

lets just say i am not moving that fast today. the sun is shining, coffee downed, but i cannot seem to get past that.

this image keeps me very focused on keeping that one wall in the "big" bedroom original redwood, no painting, just rustic and raw wood. this old redwood was part of the original 1 room cabin that hillside used to be, build in 1915. i think the original cabin was around 350 square feet, now just a bit bigger..not much.

there was a window on this wall, and our contractor did an amazing job filling in that hole with detailed precision and now all it needs is some staining....i'm working on it, but definitely not in a rush. i kinda have to do it right the first time.

i hope the start to your week is not quite as relaxing as mine.....

table time

running around like my usual "madman" self this weekend, but wanted to post a few images from the turkey day table.

i did my usual last minute scramble for the decor. i snatched up all the leftover herbs from all the cooking (thyme, rosemary, sage), then sent someone out to pick some local "white berries", grabbed some bay leaves from the yard, as well as some baby ferns..... a bit of Eucalyptus and fruit and i was done. Snappy indeed.

i used to spend a few moment's thinking about the table and setting it, but with the out of town company and other distractions, the importance of presentation took a backseat this year...which was perfect for 2011.