T.G.I.F.

T.G.I.F.

The weeks have just been flying by. Yet another weekend has arrived and taking a cue from my many blog loves out there I am posting something pretty in honor Saturdays & Sundays. May they be utterly charming & relaxed.

Thanks That Unreliable Girl :) Always great stuff over there

Apartment Covetry, Alexis Mabille

Apartment Covetry, Alexis Mabille

In honor of Fashion Week (of which I am so ignorant and far removed that it's ridiculous) I decided to do this post. I was doing a little research on it since I've been seeing the buzz everywhere.  The first thing I ran into was Alexis Mabilles Spring Collection. Of course this was because I clicked on "Spring 2010 Couture". I might not be a very learned fashionista but I can definitely appreciate the art form that is haute couture.

I immediately remembered him, I had coveted his French apartment in an issue of French Elle Decor.  During my lunch I often go to Barnes & Noble and ogle gracefully peruse the pretty interiors to be found in their many home decor magazines. His perfect combination of glamour, disorder and of course mirrory made me swoon.

Can I please go to France and design couture in my fabulous apartment, please universe, pretty please?

Pictures courtesy of Elle Decor

Inspiration.

Inspiration.

Ah how I love inspiration for projects both BIG & small

I prefer the smaller inspirations as they are more likely to be executed. I have the perfect tray to copy this in my home and my DIY Wine Shelf to place it on.

Courtesy of A Cup of Jo

DIY Love, Metallic Molding

DIY Love, Metallic Molding

My love of shiny things exists on two levels.  One is figurative, anything amazing, pretty, fabulous or gorgeous I deem shiny & I embrace.  On the other hand I literally like shiny things. I wish my house could be a mirrored box with metallic accents.

When I saw this InStyle DIY project on A Sweet Concoction I fell in love. With foil tape and a yard stick ( I checked & it's 4.99 @ Ace Hardware) you can make some very chic molding.

I've dragged the bf into this project as I cannot get things level to save my life. You can imagine what picture hanging is like for me (I will tell you it's not pretty). The bf said this looks like a pretty princess room and I said um, obviously I am a pretty princess! I'm going to try and convince him we should do it this weekend, well see.  I will post the results.  Until then check out this great project for yourself.

O.M.G. Love, Art.

O.M.G. Love, Art.

In my imagination I am a lot of things. Some of these are true to reality and some are well, imaginary. For example, I often find myself shocked when I hear that I'm short.  I mean of course I face this obstacle daily.  Like when I can't find something and it's because my boyfriend placed it in a cabinet above my head that I can't see into. But in my head that doesn't happen. In my head I swear I'm a towering Amazonian. I'm the Chihuahua who barks at the Great Dane. Sometimes it's just embarrassing.

In my imagination I'm also an art connoisseur.  There I attend many swanky art shows, schmooze with the in crowd, and inhabit a great metropolitan apartment where I entertain nightly. In reality I go online trying to find something that isn't cheesy in my price range. Don't feel bad for me though, I do alright.  And when I don't I drown my sorrows in a nice vodka tonic. Life is good.

Lately I've been making some really great discoveries. Below is one of them. Fashion illustrator Sandra Suy combines two of my passions, art & design.  Her illustrations make me want to wear the clothes & hang them on the wall.

Her art makes me wish I could be any one of these women. Playing dress up, imagining myself taller. 

While I have seen Sandra Suy on quite a few sites, my introduction is courtesy of A Life More Fabulous

It's Like Your in My Head

It's Like Your in My Head

And you can see my innermost desires.

I've made a dangerous new discovery, A Sweet Concoction where they seem to know the way to a girl's heart is through shoes & sweets.

If You Ever Leave Me, I Plan on Going with You

If You Ever Leave Me, I Plan on Going with You

This is what I wrote on the inside of my boyfriend's Valentine. I found that quote somewhere (in my hours of searching for online inspiration) and I thought it was just great. It's also very true and I do not mind if this makes me a creepy stalker. Much to my relief I haven't been pushed to that extremity yet and I was able to enjoy Valentine's Day with my boyfriend instead of following him. I even mustered up a plan for Valentine's Day that I could get on board with; a plan that didn't involve pink & red hearts, chocolates, champagne or roses illuminated by candlelight.

How, pray tell, did we manage to celebrate without such V-Day staples? We went on a picnic to the beautiful Shoreline Park. This park runs parallel to the coast line downtown. We had a hard time choosing because apparently Santa Barbara is just a treasure trove for park lovers. I definitely know how I will be spending my Sundays from now on. We settled on Shoreline because Sunday was gorgeous and relaxing at a park while staring at the waves sounded too good to pass up.

I packed up my new picnic tote bag similar to this one with goodies. . .

We stopped at the awesome C'est Cheese for sandwiches & drinks. . .

We parked the car, opened the wine & proceeded to have a ridiculously relaxing & nice time.

  We got a really great spot right by the cliffs  & the entryway to the beach below (kind of the only one like it).The only downside was this creepy guy who was literally looking through bushes & stuff right by us for a little bit. We thought he may be treasure hunting? I don't know. lol

Like I said it was a gorgeous day. This is the view from the picnic table. . .

 Off to the left there must have been some sort of sailing event look at all the sailboats out!

 One of the best parts (besides the wine I brought) was the copious amounts of dog watching to be had. We both agreed that dog watching is infinitesimally better than people watching.

 I just could not get over what a pretty view we had.

  It was such a great day, and that was only half of it!
I would definitely suggest a picnic as a great way to celebrate any event for any age group. We saw parents with their toddlers & teenagers, plenty of couples young and old, and that lone creeper by the bushes :) With all the crazy things that we can do now you kind of forget how great simple things can be. 
Valentine's Evening exploits to be posted ASAP.