Lilly Love

My friend just alerted me that Garnet Hill is now doing Lilly Pulitzer bedding. After spending 4 summers working for a Lilly boutique, I have more pink and green printed stuff than anyone ever needs and in fact already own a quilt and shams...  I'll be honest, I was feeling soooo over it.

But I'm totally wowed by this bedding set! I'm thinking the shams might just be the pops of pink I'm looking for for my new bedroom. They've done a great job merchandizing it too. I've been wanting a white upholstered headboard like the one here and the accessories on the night stand are fabulous off of the bright walls! I'm loving this more modern, sophisticated style of Lilly.

 I think the new bedding has re-awakened some of my Lilly love.  Although I know I won't be buying any printed apparel again, which I know for certain because the boyfriend has confirmed that hs is NOT a Lilly wearing guy, I'm just DYING over the paper products. 

 

I think the alligator plates, napkins and coasters would be just perfect for my housewarming party! I still get totally freaked out every time I see a gator now that I've moved south!

I don't know why, but I am just obsessed with the idea of Lilly playing cards! 

 

Although I may not be able to justify $20 on playing cards, this market bag is a lot cuter than the one I have from Whole Foods and I can save the environment at the same time!!  

 

And we spoil our dog with just about everything else, so how can I not get her a matching leash and collar?!

My dream of dressing in tennis whites has died...

After trying on a tennis dress today and wondering "why does this look so ridiculous on me?" I've come to the realization that I don't even know what a tennis dress is supposed to look like on much less what the tennis fashions are these days...  

Which led me to wonder, who do I want to be my tennis fashion icon? Anna Kournakova maybe a little too sexy, Serena Williams a little too wild.  And then I remembered -- Melanie Oudin and her amazing shoes at the US Open!

You can design your own pair like them at adidas.com!

but  first I'll give you a little background on my relationship with tennis..

I've never actually played.... but when I was college, I came across the CUTEST tennis skirt one summer when I was working in retail. I was looking for any excuse to justify its purchase. I considered wearing it as a running skirt - I mean what could be better than that - wear comfy spandex underneath but not feel so exposed!?!but my friends told me was a completely ridiculous idea...

Funny how now Lulu Lemon has 3 different styles of running skirts on their website...

I TOLD you it was a great idea!!

It was about that same time that my mom told me I was not allowed to start any sports simply because I liked the apparel associated with it.  (Bermuda's were kind of in that summer and I was also considering golf.) That kind of put the tennis thing on hold for awhile, but for Christmas 2 years ago, I asked for a racquet and some sneakers, but found that finding court time in NYC was more of a challenge than I was looking for. 

Now I live where it's warm most of the year and there are tennis courts a plenty! Thus the adventure today in tennis outfit shopping.  

It was just one of those commical things where I started trying dresses on and had to keep sizing up and sizing up until I realized I was never going to be comfortable playing tennis in what is effectively a bathing suit with a 2 inch skirt attached...

I finally ended up with a fairly simple skirt by Nike --- to bring it home and realize that it's labeled a GIRLS size medium, not a womens!? At this point, I'm beyond confused.. but it does explain why it was cheaper than the other ones I was considering! 

Ironic though -- the whole reason I got into tennis is now becoming my biggest obstable!  But regardless, I've got to hit the courts in my girls skirt and ugly sneaks, if only to give myself the reason to invest in a pretty pair like Melanie Oudins!

My amazing Palmetto Bluff adventure

On Martin Luther King Day, I found myself with a little extra free time.  The granite place that I had planned to visit with my Dad was closed for the holiday and the weather was just beyond beautiful.

We had driven past the sign for Palmetto Bluff, which has a fairly non-descript entrance from the main road.  I thought I remembered it being the location of the Tree House, but being new to the area and with the South Carolinian's over-use of the word "palmetto", I was no longer sure if this was the site for the Tree House or just one of the many developments down here.

We decided to chance it and I'm so glad we did!!! It ended up being the best afternoon!  The drive in is about a 4 mile long path between overhanging trees covered in spanish moss.  You pass a bridge overlooking the marsh and it's truly breath taking and immeadiately relaxing.

Although it's new construction, the architecture is done in true lowcountry style down to the gas lantern street lights and pavers on the road.  Pictured here is Buffalo's restaurant where I enjoyed a lunch of fried green tomatoes, roasted portabella flatbread and a chocolate chip cookie. I'm salivating just thinking about it, but besides the menu, the setting is just fantastic with fireplaces inside and a beautiful patio overlooking the water.

These are the awesome water views I'm talking about!!! And these are just the pictures that I took myself.. It's even more beautiful when you check out the photos done by the professionals.

The restaurant also looks over to this adorable chapel.  I could barely contain myself during lunch as I was declaring " Dad, THIS is where I want to get married!!!"

Isn't it just so cute?!!? I had always thought I'd end up getting married on Nantucket, but that's what's so great about this place, it really feels like the "Nantucket of the South." Beautiful with the historic charm, but with better weather and easier to get to!

Here's the adorable inside!! It will have to be a small wedding, but when my brother came to visit, he and I were already calculating how many people we can cram in a pew. (And amazingly I have not scared off the boyfriend yet with this wedding talk haha!)

But  don't worry, while I've started to pick up the southern use of"y'all,"  I'm still in the NYC dating mentality and in no rush to go down the aisle -- ALTHOUGH, The Inn at Palmetto Bluff  was just voted #1 Resort in the US by Travel and Leisure which I'm nervous will eventually lead to higher prices and limited availability as it becomes increasingly well known. I'm simply in love with this firepit/adirondack chair/palm trees combination.

The site once housed the Wilson mansion which was built in 1902 for a wealthy New York banker.  The structure burned down in 1926, but the stone stairs and columns remain.  I just find the ruins fascinating! There's just something about aged material and that connection to the past that I love.

As you can tell I'm kind of obsessed and I'm certain that I'll share more pictures of Palmetto Bluff in the future since I make sure to go there at least every time we have guests in town!! Above is a picture of some shops and I haven't even been into them yet, I still have so much to discover there!

You had me at The Treehouse

I've started dating a great guy here and in one of our early conversations he shared with me this amazing company, Reclamation By Design. Now, I don't often watch videos on the computer, but he recommended that I watch their Tree House video.

I was floored! I'd been loving the look of recycled building materials - all the wear adds so much character!! But this home is just so far above and beyond what I could have imagined. You  have to watch the entire video - it's awesome, I mean it's basically what made me fall for my boyfriend! ha ha

Here are a few pics of the house, but really they don't do it justice like the video does.

The doors leading into the library are handmade chestnut originally located in a 19th century New England goverment building

I just die over the ceiling in this kitchen.  I really wanted to add beams in my living room renovation, but just decided it wasn't really going to work in my 80's contempo space. (Hilton Head unfortunately had a big hit of development in the 80's so rather than gorgeous low country architecture, we're kind of stuck with a bit of a mess.)

Budget restrictions prevented me from having salvaged wood floors or beams on the ceilings, but I am going to have a beam for the mantel.  Reclamation By Design not only designs homes but they also sell reclaimed materials, so I'm very excited to check out what they have.  I love the piece they used above the fireplace in the tree house.

This picture is not from the tree house, but I just wanted to share it as my inspiration for my fireplace.  We ended up going with a limestone instead of concrete, but you can get the idea. I can't wait til it's complete!

It's grey and rainy outside and raining coffee on my grey walls inside

I'm trying to keep the blog from becoming a running list of my living through a renovation complaints...  

But I'm really wondering, what interior design god did I offend today that had me trip on the edge of the torn up flooring and spill my coffee all over my freshly painted bedroom wall???

I'll be completely honest though, I haven't fallen in love with the grey that I picked for the walls... (Sherwin Williams Grey Screen SW7071).

It's way too lavender.... is this a sign that I should repaint in a new shade!?

Shopping Sick

I realized yesterday, that I'm suffering from some shopper's malaise. I'm feeling a bit unfulfilled.  It's not that there aren't some fabulous places, which I've been dying to share with you... It's just that I'm realizing, in NYC, I walked everywhere I went.  Which meant that every single day was at least a window shopping adventure. Unless you consider Home Depot a shopping adventure (which I do not), I'm only getting a good shop in about once a week.

Shopping to me is less about actually spending money and buying things, I mean let's be real, I'm not a Rockefeller. But my thrill with shopping is seeing new objects, trends, colors and finding inspiration.

I also realized, to my shock and horror that it took so long to notice (that's what happens when your house is turned upside down with renovation construction) that I haven't signed up for any catalogs to my new address!!


Of course, straigh off to J.Crew I went and now in 2-3 weeks, I will have my catalog and all will be well again.

 

I can at least get to a J.Crew outlet store down here, but the one true void in my life --- West Elm. Just going to the website to sign up for the catalog made me swoon.

But now that I have diagnosed my problem, I'm working on ways to fix it! Another contributing factor was that I was missing the blog, but with the house design process there just wasn't the computer time to do it! But I think we're getting there!!

Best Wishes for 2010!

Cheers! I hope everyone's New Year has started off with happiness!

I started the year with some manual labor - my dad and I cleared out our VERY overgrown yard! (This is the first time in years that I've been productive on New Year's Day, but that's the plus side of this slower way of life.  Our 8:00 dinner reservations were considered on the "late" side for NYE!) Now we can actually see the property line markers which means.... we're having a landscaper friend come over tomorrow to talk some ideas!! Now the fun stuff really begins.

In my month or so off from blogging, we've had new plumbing and a hot water heater installed, exterminators, termite guys, chimney sweep, heating and air guys, and a handy man all do their maintenance and had 10 trees cut down.  Next week, we get a new roof.  So far, all of these things have been necessities that were just part of buying a foreclosure.  No fun before&after pics with these guys...

But, the next step is just about to get started... kitchen, floors and landscaping... and I'm just so excited to start sharing with you the spaces we've chosen for inspiration and the process and drama of going through the renovations... and finally some day, the before&afters.

I think it's going to be a good year!!

Photo Credits: G. Dela Cruz Photography via Flickr

I know I've dropped off the face of the earth...

I'm sure you all got concerned when I started missing Pink Wednesday posts! My past few weeks have been crazy; my computer went into a coma, I moved to South Carolina, and it took a VERY long time to get internet installed.

I've moved into a house that needs a lot of work, so I'm really excited for the before and afters!

My 8 year old computer has been revived. The IT people didn't really understand why I couldn't just accept that it was time for a new one, but I explained that I would rather spend money on shoes than a new comp! But I did end up buying a netbook as part of my Black Friday shopping (yes, I woke up at 3 am). So all of those pretty pics I've filed away can be transferred to the new computer!

I'm guessing that it might be a few weeks before I get back into the regular blogging routine. I'm still getting settled from the move, I left the old computer in Connecticut, so can't do any picture transfers til Christmas, and let's be honest, I'm still worn out from blogging on an 8 year old computer.

So I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and I look forward to being back soon!!!

Summer (and Fall) Reading

I'm sure you've noticed that I've cut back on my posts. I've been having an aversion to my computer. With nice fall weather, I've been more drawn to spending time outside and one of my favorite things is finding a warm spot in the sun to read! So I thought I would share a few of my recent reads I finished this one in like 2 days! When my mom started reading it, she was like umm, I know this family! And yes, it's just like Kelly writes, her dad and brothers knows just about everyone in the lacrosse world, including my dad!

I love the dog and the setting in this book!I've loved all of Malcolm Gladwell books that I've read including Outliers and Tipping Point. Now that I've read Blink I think I'll need to bring ever future boyfriend of mine to see that guy that can predict the outcome of relationships with a 95% accuracy!

I finally just read this one... I don't know what I was too busy doing when there was all the hoopla about it on Oprah. But regardless of it's accuracy, it's a great story and has helped many people deal with their addictions or their relationships with addicts.

WARNING: THIS BOOK IS HIGHLY OFFENSIVE, but also so ridiculously hilarious. It's essentially an out of control frat boy's tales. Don't read it if you are even a little bit conservative. But if you do read it, don't read it in public - it generally leads to laughing so hard that you're crying and then you draw attention to yourself and then people want to know what you're reading, but you're too embarrassed to tell them. They've made it into a movie too!

Photo Credits: Amazon, although honestly, I'm more of a library kind of girl, saving my money for shoes!

Gift Ideas

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by! It's actually almost time to start considering holiday gift lists... One of my college classmate's mom makes quilts and bags out of your old t-shirts. So if you're having a hard time parting with those t-shirts that really shouldn't be worn in public, take a peek at her website! Keeping these memories can make a great gift!

Ebay Insanity

For this pink Wednesday, I've been obsessing over these Asics sneakers. I know, how lame, right? But I finally thought I had found the perfect running shoe!!!Most people think any old sneaker will do, but I've finally realized it pays to shell out the money for the more expensive running shoe, because they do in fact have more support etc. I've found that this style Asics is a great fit for my "sensitive feet" - but the down side to finally finding my sneaker soulmate is that I never get to pick "pretty" shoes; I get stuck with whatever color is out that season. So I'm sure you can imagine how excited I was when I went onto the Asics website to find out that they had made this GORGEOUS color sneaker!

Now the shopping drama begins... I went straight to Foot Locker (where I buy my sneaks when its time for 30% OFF to friends and family). Ugh, not on the website, but I email asking if they will carry this style... basically their answer was NO. I check the Asics website but find that there aren't any stores locally that carry this color.

Off to Ebay I go, where there is a "buy it now" pair for $79.99 or an auction ending in 2 days that was at $50. So my plan is to watch the auction, and if it goes above $79.99 then go to the "buy it now" pair. Well obviously someone else has this idea too! So after a bit of yelling at the computer I find that I am hopelessly left with the option of buying them at $130 - which is still less than their $160 retail, but once I have that $79.99 in my head, I'm determined to get them for that price! (Does anyone else ever suffer from this ebay induced insanity?)

So for the past week, I've been furious with myself for not just buying them at $79.99 the first time, and then more recently, furious with "Joe Shoe Man" for not accepting my "best offer" of $79.99.
Which brings us to today, where thankfully, on the way home from dropping someone off at JFK airport, I needed to take a bathroom break. Fortunately, I was too grossed out to stop at a rest stop, and instead insisted on going at Saks on Greenwich Avenue, in Greenwich, CT. Obviously, I couldn't refrain from doing some light shopping which eventually lead me in to a shoe store where I wanted to see if they had my sneakers. They didn't have them on display, but I thought I would ask anyway... unfortunately they didn't have my size but brought out a size up... and OMG... EWWW they look nothing like the picture!!!!! What I saw in person was this horrifying florescent pink color, and that's just not what is showing up on my computer monitor. So just like that obsession over and done. I'll just get the red pair that are cheaper on ebay anyways!On the other hand - I saw these Hunter wellies at Saks - and they are 5 times more fabulous in person!!! but they still have that $395 price tag.

I've never been a huge fan of online shopping because I know how photos can skew things.. but ugh.. what a day of online pics vs reality!

Today's wish list

I'm kind of loving these 2 dressy things from J.Crew right now.. Maybe I could wear this silk taffeta bow monde dress to a February wedding?

I really really want these La Plume Satin Peep Toes, but I think they're a little out of my price range at the moment.. ugh.

Small spaces

I swoon over this woodwork..

but I know in reality I'd get a little claustrophobic in this darling space!

Photo Credit:Haven in Paris

Pink Wednesday

Here's one of David Hicks designs that I thought was cute for it's preppy pink and green!

Work Relationships?

My friend sent me this card... I think it's hilarious - I mean working in fashion and interior design, there's definitely a better selection of gay men!

Pink Mini

How cute is this Vintage Mini? It's new by Annechovie and available in her etsy shop!

Flipping Out

I believe I have mentioned how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE Flipping Out. But with the cannot miss reunion episode on at 10 pm tonight, I need to reiterate my obsession with Jeff Lewis and Jenni!Home design combined with the ridiculousness that is Jeff, makes for the best thing on tv! If you've missed any of the episodes this season, run to your DVR - Bravo is replaying episodes from 3-6 today and from 8-10 until the reunion starts.

Coincidentally, I am going out to get pumpkins today, which I am quite excited about!! I've refrained from having them in NYC for fear of attracting critters but yay for spending the weekend in the burbs! I want to do something fun for their design... I was thinking I would try to do Jeff's and Jenni's face on the pumpkins, but for some crazy reason I can't seem to find any "Flipping Out" pumpkin carving templates! I may have to go with this haunted house template - at least it has an architectural theme!

Photo Credits: Bravo and DLTK Kids

Thad Hayes

Thad Hayes was another celebrity sighting of mine at the D&D event. He was signing his new book and was part of a panel at Dakota Jackson showroom. Although I was a little disappointed that Thad wasn't chattier during the debate on 21st century style, I'm not at all disappointed with his designs. I love the soft neutrals in this Fifth Avenue Apartment. that pop of color above the couch is just perfect! stunning light fixture!

a beautiful Wainscott home