Well hello there!

Finally! We're pretty much settled in our new space, although I'm searching frantically for wall hooks that I swear are buried somewhere in our cabinet of hardware goodies. We're hoping to move into a permanent home this summer. I swear! We never sit still. I guess it takes two feet of snow to slow me down recently. But, we have six months to put our touches on a space, and the challenge is how much do you change in six months? What do you simply live with?

In the meantime, I'm really going to need your help for a project. More about that will come later this week. Trust me, it's going to be a good fixer-upper.

Oh, and I'm trying out a new look on the blog. Bear with me while I make the tweaks.

So what have I been doing for the better part of two months?

- I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these little guys from glassybaby will find a way onto our wedding reception tables. For several shades, the company donates 10% to various cancer research centers and other organizations.

- I've been saving pennies for an Elva Fields necklace (the owner is a former Hollins alum!!).

- Other than that, I've been sitting at work staring at the cubicle walls because I still have no computer!

Thanks for the patience. I promise this year's finds, projects, stories, etc. will be as exciting as ever.

P.S. My pre-holiday wish list item finally made it into my hands. Good things come to those who wait!

What's taking so long?!

Geez, it's been a month since I've visited on here! Do bloggers ever have phases when life steps up a notch and something's gotta give? I don't mean to leave anyone hanging while Jon and I adjust to a new schedule. . .I have just felt utterly overwhelmed and displaced the past month. Although I'm thankful to have a job again, it's going to be so odd to go from road warrior (as Jon likes to call it) to rigid schedule follower. It's freaking me out a little bit. On top of all the adjustment, the interwebs in Roanoke, VA are a tad too slow for my patience. It would have taken hours to post all the new finds.

So let's make a promise. Once we're all situated in a couple of weeks, I promise to pick things up where I left off.

In the meantime, here's a video that our dear friend Anna Lisa sent me at the most appropriate time. This song will always be particularly special.

This Blog has Been HIJACKED!!!!

Julie hasn't posted anything for several weeks, and since our road trip adventure is complete, we have been living on friends' couches and spare bedrooms. I can see why Julie is on hiatus - it's hard to be inspired by design when there is nowhere to make your mark. I see her rearranging cabinets and organizing refrigerators. Has she told you about the refrigerator obsession? Her stickie note of things to buy is growing by the minute, and wherever we end up is going to be filled to the brim with cool gadgets. So what happens when you don't have a permanent place to call your own? You find another home away from home. That's right, it's become the coveted Land Cruiser.



People always are shocked that our dream car is 22 years old. Julie and I have obsessed over this truck since we first met almost 7 years ago. Please excuse me if you've heard us talk about them a million times in the past, but it suits us both. I like the 4 X 4 Off Road capabilities and the fact that if you take care of them, they will last forever in any environment. Julie loves the boxy design, the chrome grill and highlights, and a simple interior that refuses to go out of style. These trucks are used and abused all over the globe, and its hard going anywhere in town without someone admiring your truck and asking you lots of questions.

Instead of keeping house, we've been keeping truck - diligently running codes to make sure everything under the hood is up to snuff, testing her out on the Blue Ridge Parkway, driving over snowbanks and curbs. We've cleaned out the interior and updated our survival/zombie kit, including reggae music 24/7, a new christmas tree air freshener, altoids, gallons of water and an axe.



This Cruiser had only 40,000 miles put on it in the last decade. Since she spent her whole life in the desert, there is not a spot of rust on her body or frame. She is intended as a daily driver, not so much for the activities seen below:



Simply put, the Cruiser blends a rough and tumble off-road heritage with a sleek and sophisticated design, and yes, that's pretty much the combination of any home we've ever inhabited. It's another project to modify over time and focus our attention towards until we have four walls of our own.



If you dig these Cruisers, check out www.ih8mud.com to learn more.

Happy Holidays

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Who am I kidding? There's no way I'll have time to post anything substantial for the next week or so. I hope everyone has safe travels and a relaxing holiday season. I'll try to pop in, but if not, see you soon!

Swamped

I was trying to find some clever picture that indicated I am up to my eyeballs in paperwork for a new position, but somehow I was distracted by PubliQue Living's pop-up placemats. Made of recycled paper, each pack includes 10 mats (19"x13") for approximately 26.00. Not bad for unique table decoration. And yes, I must live in a cave at times because I realize these have graced design blogs galore, but I dig them enough to share again.

Now back to all that paper!

Pony express

We're off to Philly for the weekend, but I was just checking out Pony Rider cushions and linens in Australia and wanted to share. I liked their bio so much, I'm reprinting the entire thing here. I couldn't possibly try to describe their aesthetic better myself.

Pony Rider is about celebrating the beauty in the ordinary everyday things biting into an overripe plum and in need of a soft tea towel cracking the top of a creme brulee with a hand printed napkin in your lap wrapping a pot of freshly brewed tea in a tea towel to stay warm curling up on cushions on the lounge to read the weekend papers using the 'good' linen for the everyday

In addition to the Antler, Ribbons, and Flowerbomb (the Flowerbomb Teakin is currently sold out, but the detail in that pattern is killer) patterns, Pony Rider is expanding to include poster walls in the near future. I'm keeping an eye out!

P.S. Check out Pony Rider's blog too.

Daily Drool: Kyle Bunting

Thank goodness for the secret santa who turned me on to Kyle Bunting. Ever since we first traveled through Texas and the Southwest, I've been particularly smitten with cowhide rugs but came to the conclusion they wouldn't look quite right in an Edwardian apartment or a cookie-cutter split level. It would just seem too forced and out of place with the natural surroundings of where I live.

Oh, I was wrong because in waltzes Kyle Bunting with his modern rawhide and my world has turned upside down (how could I guess that he and his design colleagues are based outside of Austin?). The pewters, creams, roses and patterns in the 11.09 idea book pushed me into the holiday spirit a tad more. The cross-mirrored greek key design on the rose rawhide below is unbelievable, as well as Bunting's take on a modern moorish pattern. Even the simplicity of the tiled rawhide is absolutely praiseworthy in my book and probably my favorite.

This fauteuil chair in rose hide. . .definite inspiration for my director's chairs. My poor vegan friends will have nowhere to sit other than a throw pillow when they come to visit! Maybe I should research faux hide for the animal conscious designers?

I spy. . .

anthropologie baking dishes

Something purple that I actually love. Why is it always so easy to shop for yourself during the holiday season? Yet another thing that's made it on the list.

Lost in a good read

Thank goodness I've found time to read three books in the past week: Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Hejinian's Happily and New Stories from the South 2009. I'm not going to overly divulge on the aforementioned books. They were quick, entertaining and intellectual reads. It's that simple. My mom has replaced the old rocker that I would read in and rock until I wore out a spring. She always knew where to find me because it squeaked a bit. Today's post is all about rooms I wouldn't mind reading a good book in. Short and sweet. Even though it's a sunny 60 degrees in Virginia, winter is fast approaching, and there's nothing like curling up in a chair with a good book. . .and a blanket. . .and maybe some tea or cocoa.

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A little green

It all started with my friend Anna Lisa's shower curtain. DwellStudio for Target has done it again. If I didn't lean towards the gender neutral, I would have stuffed that Pansy shower curtain in my bag as a souvenir. Just kidding, I would buy my own.

I had a moment this morning and realized that I'm really loving green right now. This is a big step for me because green can go horribly wrong. It seems like everyone had rooms the color of mint chocolate chip ice cream when I was a wee tween, and even then, it didn't sit well with me. Maybe because winter is fast approaching and everything is slowly browning, I'm subconsciously hanging on to a green patch of grass. Give me a lovely pistachio, olive or kelly green and I'm sold.

I've had my eye on Daina Ceramic's avocado salt and pepper shaker for months. Jon actually showed me the monochrome originals, and it's been on the to-buy list since.

Oh Kartell Panier Basket in dark green, you would make a lovely magazine rack. You are just lovely in general.

A year or two ago, my friend Debbie sauntered into town wearing the most beautiful cowl by the ladies of Rose and Pony. I've been waiting to live somewhere chilly again so I could hide behind a cowl of my own.

Pantone never steers you wrong, especially when it's pea green.

The brighter the better (Margot Napkins from Sprout Home).