new curtains

sam and i spent almost all saturday putting up these curtains. bless sam's soul. i've had a few icky-feel-insecure-why-am-i-cranky? days. i hate those feelings. i digress.

*three trips to lowes
*one trip to home depot
*3289423847 choice words
*two sets of blinds sitting in front of our house as a social experiment
*20 phone calls from lowes and home depot
*4 sales associates with no clue
*6 hours
*2 diaper changes
*2 bottles, 2 meals

i give you: the new, the improved windows chez graham!



we replaced the white, "wood" blinds with this layered creation. bamboo blinds, grommet holed green curtains, mustard and cream floral sheers, and a double curtain rod. voila!



it completely changes the feel of our living room. i love it so much. thanks to my darling sam!


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a kitchen shower for kate

our dear kate is getting married and today mama, rachel, and i threw her a kitchen themed shower. she had quite the turnout! it was such a lovely, albeit rainy afternoon. we are so excited about kate and andy's nuptials.

















our beautiful hostess gifts from cacao! yum.




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11 months

i seriously can't believe that in less than a month my baby girl will be a year old. what happened?

she loves holding her books and bottles and shaking them ferociously. favorite words are "uh-oh" and "thank you" it's the cutest thing ever. she says thank you and then tries to stick her paci in my mouth. she is scooting in circles and backwards, but not interested in crawling (can't say i blame her). she stands in her crib and will stand when i'm right there. she calls me and sam "dada":(. we are loving every second of her rasberry-blowing, paper loving (she loves to hold on to any kind of paper), electronic obsessed (you get that honestly), loving, sweet, adorable self. what a wonderful 11 months...

















-four teeth on the bottom, two coming in on the top. lots of waving, high fiving, and she can say she's "1", sometimes it's five and sometimes it looks like a vulcan sign, but darnit she can do it.
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DIY: "Antique" bird chandelier

i first saw this amazing chandelier in dwellstudio's fall catalog.



{ohdeedoh}

the exposed wire and bulbs are so industrial, then add the birds and you have a sophisticated, whimsical light fixture.

Danny Seo shares how to make your own in O Magazine.



{how-to antique bird chandelier}

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easy entertaining: warm artichoke and green onion dip

this is one of my favorite dips to serve or bring as a side. i usually slice a french baguette and bring along some wheat thins. enjoy!

{2 cans (14 oz each) water-packed artichoke hearts, well drained and chopped}

{1.5 cups mayonnaise}

{1.5 cups grated parmiagiano reggiano}

{1/3 cups + 2 T sliced green onion, green part only}

{2 t minced garlic}

{1.5 t chopped fresh thyme (i also leave this out...)}

{1/4 t kosher salt}

{1/4 t freshly ground pepper}

preheat oven to 400. combine the artichokes, mayo, 1 cup of cheese, 1/3 cup green onions, garlic, thyme, s+p. transfer to 8 in glass baking dish or ceramic dish. sprinkle with remaining cheese. cover and bake 10-15 min and then broil for 2 to get a golden brown bubbly goodness. garnish with remaining green onion and step back and watch it disappear.

if you have any left over (don't get your hopes up), you can dilute with water and pour over chicken, fish or pasta!

recipe taken from The Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook

for mary alice and erin

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daily inspiration: geninne

i come from a long line of creative people. my great grandfather taught me how to draw and my lynndaddy is a masterful watercolor artist. my mama is an extremely brilliant decorator, my sister is an incredible artist although she doesn't apply herself. my great uncle on my dad's side is a brilliant painter. my brother is a musical genius, my dad has an amazing eye for design and architecture, all of the women in my life are amazingly brilliant cooks. i'm blessed. i digress, this video is of an artist geninne who does the most beautiful paintings, often of birds and flora and fauna. here she is painting. it's lovely.

Geninne Watercolors Part 1 from Geninne D. Zlatkis on Vimeo.

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etsy favorite: down and out chic

many of you know christina from the ridiculously popular down and out chic, but may be you don't know that she has opened an etsy shop with a slew of beautiful, vintage-inspired costume jewelry. all of her things are super affordable, of course. christina teaches being chic on the cheap everyday and now she's bringing the goods to your front door. i just ordered these...aren't they fab?



i also love these.



{pigeon hair pins, $14}

and these...



{mini mum earrings, $6}

actually, come to think of it, there isn't one thing in her shop i don't like. go take a peek.

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boxy bag

for rachel's birthday i made her a travel bag of sorts, or cosmetics, or whatever. do you see i've been trying to make adult things too? when i got my bundle of fabric in i new i wanted to make rachel something, but i wasn't sure what. i found this tutorial and it was wonderfully easy to follow (i did get a little confused once or twice but what's new).





i made the handle a little differently.



i filled it with gifties from sephora. just a few favorite things:must have, love it, and rachel's fave scent



happy birthday rachel

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mad men party

my beautiful sister is turning another year older, in fact this is her golden year. sam and i were excited all week about her mid-afternoon mad men themed party. we were told to dress the part and we arrived with matilda in tow to plates of hor d'ourves, moscow mules, perfect tunes, and the beautiful birthday girl.

















matilda's dress was a gift from sweet fiona and her head band was my made by my dear friend christy.


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zipper bags

i love little pouches to keep my often harried life organized. i wanted to experiment with zippers, so i thought these would be an easy way to start. i made a 7x7 pouch with a 7" zipper using this. one thing i forgot to do was trim the zipper ends...just a little note. whip some of these up for make-up, pencils, or in this case baby food.





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Current Obsession: School house design

originally when i started decorating matilda's nursery, i began with a schoolhouse theme. it evolved in to it's own room, the theme getting lost in my wanting to include everything little thing that made me happy and felt like love to envelope my little til. i still love love school house elements and will one day incorporate them in some way. sam refuses to paint the office, but since we may be retiring here i may have to get him to change his tune...




{a merry mishap}

love these chairs.



{black dog salvadge}

to light the space...er office.



{poetic home}

the roll down maps are dripping with history and warmth. i love them. so jealous britt!



{14 feet}

and of course no school house would be complete without a chalkboard. love this frameless design.



{apartment therapy}


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pillowcase dress

i made my first pillowcase dress today. i've been wanting to make some dresses and i had some beautiful amy butler fabric (not so much a pillowcase) that i've been saving. unfortunately i made the dress a bit too big, but one day it will be enjoyed...



instead of making ribbon ties i made straps and then attached them to elastic, i was excited when i finally figured out how i wanted to make the straps. i had to really put on my thinking cap for that one.



next time we'll hope for the best and a dress that fits.


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Love this

i can't wait to show off matilda's art prowess. love this idea from the everfavorite ohdeedoh.



the wire curtain rods are from ikea. i think it's a beautiful way to display a rotating collection.


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blue polka dot blouse

when i saw christy's dress in the donation pile, i thought "ooh maybe i can squeeze in to that." yea, squeezing in to anything isn't the best idea, so the dress was donated to the matilda cause. because it was already lined, i cut both the lining and the fabric out of the pattern pieces and then saved the original dress hem (and some extra time). for interest i made a front panel with the same zig zag stitch.













scuba dog making a special appearance

in other news, matilda loves standing in her crib:





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