back and refreshed

i'm home from my 2 week vacation and promise this is my last sea shell post until my next beach adventure. here are a few of my favorite beach finds. can you believe the fun crab pincher....i promise he was already dead when i found this.

good to be home, but the sf weather is killing me. i have on every layer i own right now.....its 55 degree's and one would think it was below zero. my tan is melting quickly.....

sister love rock

a few day's before our journey to tulum, mexico, i received a package in the mail from my sister. in it was one of her new creations, what i like to call my sister love rock. this rock has really not left my pocket since i left san francisco and i believe has found a home there.

i know, you probably think it should be out displayed somewhere special at home, and it is..sort of (she sent me 2...1 for home and 1 for my pocket). these are handmade, about 1.5 inches and have this amazing crochet snuggly wrapped around it. i really don't know how she did it and will not ask her to give up her secret, but it is precious in person and the string she used looks and feels like something organic. i swear it looks and feels like something from days of past

a new, modern twist on the couture doily.

love it. thanks sis! you all must check out her mastery at her shop fringe. brilliant work.

daily catch

i'm not sure if it is legal to bring these conch shells home with me, but a photo is totally harmless...right? (i will find a way to get a few of them home) they are abundant on these vacant beaches and i am sure one or two should go unnoticed.

not a lot of anything going on right now other than trying to determine when the next combing begins.

cheers!!

the room

they must have taken their benjamin moore color chips and walked 50 yards to the beach to get that perfect color match, because all the doors and shutters are this turquoise that is identical to one of the layers of color in the ocean , and this as we all know is the color of the season. i could live with this season for many seasons to come.

above, the closet. a bamboo stick hanging from the thatched roof. adorable.

room with a view

2 days into mexico and i am finally able to pick up the computer and post. you know how it is...total decompression and lack of movement, just taking long walks on the beach, napping in the hammock's and swimming in the ocean and that is in no particular order.

a whole lot of nothing here. empty beaches for 5 miles on each side of this "off the grid" retreat. the weather is perfect, nice breeze all day long, warm & clear water and a room with a view.

on the short path to total relaxation.

when less was more

1958 Christmas Day edition of the Times of Cyprus newspaper. this is when sophistication was simple and pure.

i'll take the combo with fries please

i'm really liking the combo of that great mid-century chair and the sweet, little, white dresser. it works and especially in that montauk cottage look.

looks like the middle drawer may have had an early demise, but don't fret as this is still usable....shelving.

installation art

now you see it, now you don't. i love this kind of art.... it is so in the moment. some may not call this art, but i find it quite inspiring and off guard. whatever you call it, you have to admit it gives you a wink and a smile.

my friend, and now on location photographer, patti took this photo during one of those still moments in central park. you can almost hear the silence and smell the sunbeams. this was taken in central park, behind behind the metropolitan museum of art.

lets table this

check it out: great door (black), great windows, great painted plank wall, dark floors & that marble slab table in the center of the kitchen. overall A+

a happy upside-down heart

i still have an affinity for horns and i am going to cop out by saying my family is a family of hunters, although i'm not a hunter. i did have to get up at the butt crack of down, in freezing cold weather, get in my dad's truck, pick up my uncle....and on we went in search for the perfect spot.

anyway, the horns are in honor of nature and i will always have them in my home. these particular ones are in the back mud room and i walk by them at least a dozen times a day. today i was struggling with a post for all my special peeps out there. i wanted the "just right" image for you.

well, this is what you get. hope it was a great day of laughter and fond memories.

they don't make em like that anymore

the flooring that is. i'm passionate about flooring like this and WHY does it have to be so rare here in the US. too much demo 30 years ago.

there is a twinkle in my eye.

6 days...and trying to calm down

vacation is approaching and in the spirit of preparation and "chill", i decided to break out the bonnie doon pear brandy, called calvadoon (one of our fav santa cruz vinyards). i think it is 46% alcohol.....blv me it is for sipping and it is working as i type this.....

decanter = traded in south of france for a handmade v-neck sweater i was wearing and the crystal top i bought for $18.00 at that same flea market.

glasses = salvation army, $1.00 each.

Brandy = 75.00, but it has lasted 8 months.... you can only order this for shipping if you live in california. boo!!!