a nod to masculinity.

this is the first time ever i will be sharing a bedroom with someone (aside from two years in the dorm during undergrad), and DEFINITELY the first time i will be living with a boy. the original pitch, in which i thought i was compromising, ended up looking like this:

"that's not at all masculine," he said. but look!! blue! nautical touches! "those aren't masculine, those are nods to masculinity." touché, sir. it is a pretty girly room. the sisal rug, the green & ivory lamps, and the set of cane chairs will all stay, since i already own them. the pottery barn duvet cover is in the mail as well, and was agreed upon by both parties. it is also on sale.


something about crisp white bedding with an embroidered border feels really indulgent and grown up... like having my own personal hotel room. i'm going to get them monogrammed, but i didn't like any of the PB fonts. i think once it gets here, i'll take it to this shop called a little bit of this. i used them before to monogram a pillow sham and they did a nice job:


they have a big selection of fonts and colors. haven't decided yet what i'll go with this time! something more masculine, mais bien sûr.

i decided that if we were going to get a plain, masculine duvet cover, maybe i could still go a bit wild with the bedskirt. i got a bed bath & beyond flyer in the mail, saw that amy butler had a collection there, and BAM! this arrived in the mail a few days later:


i REALLY like it. yes, it is maybe a little girly, but it is indigo! and teal! i'm going to hold on to it for a bit before deciding whether or not it should go back. i'm not sure if it will fit with the overall look we're going for in the bedroom. here are the mutually agreed upon inspiration sources:

source unknown.

samantha reitmayer's amazing bedroom on d*s

after seeing jenny's post on little green notebook this morning, i headed straight over to target.com and put this little number in my cart:

the set (comforter, two standard shams, and a navy bedskirt) is on clearance for under thirty dollars, and also comes in a nice taupe color. we have a down comforter and will be using the PB duvet but we might use this, like jenny mentions, at the foot of the bed, in which case the amy bedskirt will be going back to the store. decisions, decisions. i just want everything to be DONE!

dear target,

if you keep this up, i may no longer have a need for j.crew.

that will never be true. but seriously, i have been getting some great things from the merona collection in the last few months. their sheath dresses were my savior on those hot june days in the classroom, and at $40 a pop, i've a well-stocked closet.

in other news, kevin and i decided to do a processed-food detox this week, which means we're eating not quite raw, but more whole (unprocessed) foods. so far today i've only had a few baby carrots, which means i'm off to the market!

i scream.

i wouldn't mess with her ice cream, if i were you. today is national ice cream day. enjoy!

all photos from magnum via slate

great heights.

i have been feeling inexplicably low this week, so here are some highs from the last two weekends to remind myself of the positives.

1) our first vacation together, riding a rooftop ferris wheel overlooking st. louis!

city museum

2) sky-high dinner for mom's fiftieth.

the ridiculously ostentatious signature room

some progress...

i moved the living room furniture into about fifty different configurations today, after cleaning that rug stripe by stripe with a handheld mini-vacuum. time for a target run and an upright vacuum.

i think we like it, but i'll have to sit on it for a few days. the cane chairs are getting painted glossy black, and upholstered in this raffia fabric

from frank's and inspired by this post:


that accent wall is painted ralph lauren salmon pink & was chosen because it's a very similar shade to the pink settee... but i'm not sure what to do with it now that the couch isn't up against it anymore. maybe a gallery wall?

or a console with the television, when kdubs brings his humongous one...

to be honest...

i am having a spectacularly hard time getting my apartment in order. it seems that, over the course of the roller coaster school year, with its thrilling ups and many, many downs i completely lost control of the space. (one more up: just received official word that i am no longer laid off). there are things everywhere, and now despite the vast swaths of time afforded by summer vacation, i feel too overwhelmed to begin anywhere. so instead i spend hours of my free time looking at blogs, gathering ideas, and eventually, feeling inadequate. feeling that i will never get my home to look like those i admire so much, that there is no use to even getting started because i will never achieve the desired outcome. waaaaah.

that whiny doomsday feeling is now compounded by the fact that my boyfriend is definitely moving in this fall, and we have drastically different taste. so now every improvement or change that i make, there is a little voice saying "he is going to HATE this... he is not going to want to live here." boy oh boy, it would be a real treat to get out of my wacko head and spend some time out there in the real world with the rest of you! so this is my attempt to do so.

internet, here is my mess:


it's time to clean it up.

wish me luck.

heartland.

i'd forgotten about this print, but i was happy to find it again tonight, especially since we just returned from our midwestern mini-road-trip (stop at cracker barrel and all!).

buy it here.

i'm also really liking this new and slightly creepy print from artist lisa golightly. it's called "night swimmers."


hooray for summer nights, board games, back yards, mosquito bites, & the sound of fireworks in the distance!

compromise.

since kevin and i are contemplating moving in together, there have been a lot of design and furniture related conversations lately (all initiated by me, of course). where i lean bright and eclectic, he tends toward american traditional. we've had our fair share of polite disagreements.

i took a break from cleaning today to throw this together as a starting point. i'll pitch it when he comes home from work. we'll see.

more outdoor spaces

both from apartment therapy.

summer...

is HERE.

after a lazy recovery weekend of reading on the couch interspersed with all-day naps, i'm ready to get back to life. i am already anxiously looking to september and missing my kids, but i am so relieved to be a normal, non-stressed person again.

new plants in the fireplace:


tomorrow, massive cleanup (a whole school year's worth of mess).

domestic vacations.

photography from the domestic vacations collection by julie blackmon

as absolutely insane as my twenties have been thusfar, i feel like this decade is the calm before the storm... i can't wait for porches, lemonade, sprinklers, and even more insanity.

score!

after a year of lusting after this:

jonathan adler, starting at $495

and this:
ballard designs, $249

i have finally found these:

salvation army, $45 for a set of five

AND we're having an ice cream social tonight. best weekend ever.

getting there

and a trip to west elm today...

can you hear the ice cream man?

gaga at lolla, 2007

summer is coming... today i got these:

two scoops of coconut ice cream & a perfect pink manicure.


last weekend i scored these pink depression glass treasures...


which i can't wait to dust off for a summery pancake breakfast, à la

pancake breakfast via design*sponge

...but i'll have to make it through the school year first.

as easy as falling asleep.

those who know me well know i have a thing for fireworks. watching them in the summer? totally dreamy. feeling them in the spring?


even better.

i wouldn't mind wearing these babies on a date night:

or...

crystal devoté and fireworks earrings, both from j.crew