long weekend

 

will be back middle of next week. taking some time off to be with family for the long weekend. hope you are able to take a bike ride,  have a picnic and enjoy your first dose of summer.  

photo via reasons to breathe

i love this

striped staircase! wow! what a statement!

via white trash beautiful via erin ever after.

let's take a dip

photo by john gruen for new england home magazine

photo from reed hilderbrand associates

photo from keith leblanc landscape architecture

photo found via myfarmhouse.tumblr.com

photo by michael littlewood/ecodesignscape.co.uk via the daily green

so memorial day is this upcoming weekend and i remember growing up in ohio and everyone that was fortunate to have a swimming pool opened it for the summer this weekend. time for fun in the sun!

josh, my husband,  is a landscape architect and he has been collecting images of pools to help his brother design a pool for their backyard. these are some of my favorite images of residential swimming pools.

happy weekend!

wishing you a delightful weekend! i have plans to see bridesmaids this weekend-i can't wait to laugh until it hurts. and i think we're going to head to the st. philomena spring fair in portsmouth, ri. pony rides, snow cones, old-fashioned carnival games, and a flea market sale. count us in!

photo via blainepearson.tumblr.com

paris apartment

discovered this sophisticated paris apartment via solid frog. the owner is martin grant, an australian designer and you can see some of his designs right here. love the exposed wooden beams, the industrial large door and windows, and the beautiful and delicate lines of his choice in chairs. hope you enjoy as much as i do!

photo by birgitta wolfgang drejer via ‟vårt nya hem‟
via solid frog

polka dot toddler girls swimsuit

from target for only $8. i ordered one for both rory and karoline and they wore it already to their swim class at the ymca this week. find it right here.

greenhouse envy

photo by peter carlsson & gunnar nydrénfrom for skona hem.

some random things i love from the weekend...

1. homemade oatmeal cookies the girls and i made. recipe from smitten kitchen. i substituted chocolate chips for raisins. 

2. my new favorite lip stick. orange flip from revlon. i just put a nice layer on without any other makeup and it's an instant pick-me-up. add a bun on top of your head and voila your french. photo from here. 

3. moon chart print from AGC916 on etsy. i think this would look spectacular in a bathroom or bedroom. i'm eyeing this for josh for father's day.

4. a handmade card from a dear family friend, cathy cowden. she made this watercolor while she was vacationing on cape cod. i have it on the refrigerator so i can look at it every day.

4. black triple strap flats purchased from golden ponies on etsy.

 

5. one of my favorite gardens that proves you don't have to have a large space to make an outdoor impact. a carroll gardens garden designed by susan welti of foras studio for carin goldberg and jim biber of pentagram (originally published in Domino). via remodelista.

a modern scottish farmhouse

alex and seonaid maclean-bristol’s house in scotland was built in the ruins of a house abandoned 150 years earlier. what a feat of architecture and what a beautiful setting on the isle of coll.

image by michael harding for the new york times. 

recent favorites on etsy

 sources:
1. atomium ring by ulala-$26
2. vintage poppy red summer dress from vanilla grass- $29
3. letterpress gift tags by in haus press- $6
4. black and white asymetrical design disco dress from gypsy skirt- $35
5. large wooden cake stand by sunday hatch- $44 via liz stanley's post at babble
6. leather triangles bag by ulala-$38

the new general store

 

how charming is this pop-up general store by tricia foley in long island new york? i mean, that is the stuff i dream about at night if i had a vacant little garage or potting shed. the new general store now has an online presence where you can go shopping without leaving your nice cushy seat. check out their products here and see more pictures from past pop-up stores here. 

photos from the new general store via frolic.

black and white

   

 

what a dichotomy my design likes can be. on one hand i like decorating with black and white and on the other hand pops of color get me going. today i featured what my left brain desires. hope you enjoy!

sources:
1. bodie and fou
2. elle decoration via  bright bazarr
3. elleinterior.se via cherry blossom
4. photo by dan gordon for skona hem via from scandinavia with love
5. photo by douglas friedman via solid frog
6-7. ikea family live site via annaleenas hem
8. photo by iben & nils ahlberg via solid frog via lotta agaton's blog
9. lotta agaton via agent bauer

mother's day

 

 



















hope you had a delightful mother's day! i am very grateful to my mom and love her very much. with my recent miscarriage her presence and positive energy has brought me so much peace. she has helped me to see and realize God's warm embrace. i'm so happy we were able to celebrate mother's day a week early in newport.

with all our visiting family gone this weekend it was just the core 4. we had a last minute get together on friday with the neighbors. saturday was all about getting our cleaning groove on. there is something very therapeutic about doing 7 loads of laundry, vacuuming up dust bunnies, and scrubbing surfaces with method and mrs. meyers cleaning products and knowing they aren't killing brain cells. on sunday we took a relaxed stroll in newport and i had a realization that bear claws with almonds are my new favorite sweet treat and ice tea with sliced lemon is one of life's little pleasures. josh said we can go anywhere for dinner so i chose the beach. we got carry-out seafood and then took it to 2nd beach. the sound of the waves, seeing the horizon, and being with josh, rory + karoline made for a fabulous mother's day.

maps as wallpaper

i have always been a fan of maps. whether they are old a.a.a. maps used to wrap birthday presents, topographic maps used to decorate the walls, maps of national parks that bring back a special memory of a trip, ork poster maps that make a graphic presence in a room or national geographic maps that have a sense of history. i really appreciated this room with the blue, white and gray nautical maps used as wallpaper above the bead board. great idea to add a punch to a room.

image by lucas allen for country living.