Small spaces

I live in a studio apartment and even though it is a great size, by most Boston studio apartment standards, I am always looking for ways to better utilize what room I have. So, when I saw this "sofa hanger" I became quite obsessed.



I don't have room on either side of my sofa for ends tables, so this seems like the perfect solution! Look at it in action:



Genius! But I have to say that the $245.00 price tag seems a bit steep. Does the fact that it's German make it any more reasonable? Probably not. Maybe IKEA will come out with a cheaper, yet still incredibly stylish version?

Check it out here along with alot of other cool German made stuff:
Berlin Design

Only 61 shopping days left!

How ridiculous is that? It isn't even Halloween yet and I am thinking about Christmas. It all started a few days ago when I got my subscription to Blueprint magazine (not a huge fan of Martha Stewart, but I do love this publication). It was the holiday issue, with an adorable pink Christmas tree and a beautiful model wearing a super chic cocktail dress on the cover. It gave me the fever and after reading it from cover to cover I actually made a list of the people for whom I need to buy gifts. If that wasn't forward-thinking enough of me, I went so far as to PURCHASE a few gifts as well. It's not even November yet! If I weren't cognizant of my surroundings, I might actually think that someone has body snatched me. Let me explain...

Every year, I transfer all of my friend's and family's birthdays from my old calendar to my new one. While I do this, I think about how THIS year I am going to send presents to all of my friends or at the VERY least a card. And I try, I really do. I think about it the weeks leading up to each occasion. I will even go online looking for the perfect gift, but it never fails that the birthday comes and goes and I will not have purchased one single thing. With any luck, I will remember to at least call the birthday boy/girl. If only they would realize how much thought goes into their lack of gift from me. Thus the reason for me being so surprised and proud of myself for actually buying Christmas gifts well ahead of time.

Anyhoo, some of you may know my obsession with a website called Etsy. It is a virtual cornucopia of handmade artwork, jewelry, clothing and accessories. This is where most of my shopping is currently happening. I love it because most of the items are unique and certainly not mass produced. Not to mention I like feeling like I am helping out independent arteests.

Here are few things that I have gotten from Etsy:



This is by one of my favorite Etsy artists, Matte Stephens. My lovely boyfriend bought me this mod print for my b'day. Now I just have to get it framed!

www.matteart.etsy.com



I love this necklace! It was one of my staples for the summer. You can find similar items at Nouveaux Jewels on Etsy.

www.nouveauxjewels.etsy.com



And these are my new favorite earrings from Foundling. I love the black and white vintage fabric that they are made from. Plus, they dangle!

www.foundling.etsy.com

Have I convinced you to go to Etsy.com yet? I hope you like it, because more than likely, if you get a present from me, it will be courtesy of one of the fine artists on this website. Happy shopping!

Every morning with my sweet INNOCENT kitty, Nestor

Furniture for the loo

I love furniture design. Well, let me clarify that, I love GOOD furniture design. Now let me ask you, what does this make you think of?



And this?



And this, if your dog ate your mom's beloved diamond necklace?



Seriously, who thinks this is good design? Who would want this in their home? And then, if feces-inspired furniture doesn't do it for you, this could be more to your liking...



I'm sorry if I have opened your eyes to new and unappealing options for your home. To cleanse your palette, I will leave you with this beautiful lamp...



Now, isn't that better?

Boot-i-licious

If you know me, or my shoe collection, you know that I have an affinity for boots. I am constantly on the look out for the perfect pair (or pairs...there are too many to choose just one, don't you know!). I was trying to remember where my love of knee-high footwear came from and I think I can trace it back to about 25 years ago. Egad, I'm old. Anyway, I grew up in the south, the deep south of Alabama, where it's 95 degrees and humid as a swamp for 8 months out of the year. Boots were just not something that the weather allowed, but my maternal relatives were from and lived in Wisconsin. In my mind, a winter wonderland. So when my aunt and uncle suggested that I come visit one winter when I was about 10, I couldn't wait! I wanted to build snowmen and make snow angels and throw snow balls. Just about anything you could do with snow, I wanted to do it! And of course, it was a necessity that I have a pair of boots. My mom took me shopping and I got a beautiful pair of knee-high leather boots, with just a tiny block heel. They were perfect. I wore them the day of my flight. The flight itself was uneventful and I don't really remember much of it, but I do remember stepping out of the airport, braced for the beauty that is a world covered in snow. And there it was, a small pile of dirty brown slush. That was it. For the entire trip. I wore my boots everyday, hoping that their presence would encourage God to drop a little white stuff on Wisconsin. I swear this was probably the only winter EVER that Wisconsin didn't get snow. Alas, I went home with my boots and no stories of snowball fights or blizzard like conditions, but with a distinct desire for more fashionable footwear.

Now, living in Boston, I have more than enough excuses to fulfill my boot fantasies. And boy do I. I think I have about 10 pairs currently and my most recent purchase is definitely one of my favorites.

Check out the color! I love it!!

You can find them here: www.camper.com

I was looking at one of my many daily blogs and came across a couple others that I may have to add to my collection.

This picture came out kind of small, but you get the gist.
I'm hoping by posting about the things that I want, it will actually keep me from going out and buying them. Or at least postpone it a little! And of course, it works like a little wishlist from me to you. *Nudge, nudge, wink, wink*

Hair ye, hair ye...

I get such a kick out of the names of strip mall hair salons. I haven't actually seen one like the title of this post, but I would imagine stylists of a salon named as such would be dressed in Elizabethan garb and would drink water from goblets. Here are some of my favorites:

The Hairport
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Curl Up and Dye
Hair and Now

I know there are more, but I can't think of them this late on a Friday night. Every time I drive past a "punny" salon name, I mean to write it down. Maybe this new endeavor into blogging will help me to keep track of them. If you know of any feel free to comment. :)

Speaking of all things hair-y, I'm getting a much needed haircut on Monday and, as I normally do when I have such an appointment, I am obsessing about which hairstyle will be the PERFECT one for me. During my daily web browse, I came across the ridiculous, yet utterly addictive, website through Instyle magazine where you can upload your face and pick any number of celebrity styles to cut and paste on your noggin. You can also change the color and give yourself incredibly realistic (ha!) highlights or lowlights depending on what you fancy. So during one of my busy days at work, I chose 3 celebrity styles that could be the new me...






It's hard to choose, right? I'm afraid I still have some hard choices to make.

I highly recommend this website though, if for nothing else than some serious laughs.
http://www.instyle.com/instyle/makeover/

So, so slow...

This time of the year for me is like torture. One of the reasons that real estate appealed to me is because I can't stand sitting behind a desk all day, but once the fall rolls around that is all that I do. Sit, drink coffee, sit, read my daily blogs, sit, eat lunch, sit, try to complete a crossword puzzle...By the way, NEVER buy the New York Times Sunday brunch crosswords unless you want to feel like one of the dumbest people on the planet. Seriously, who knows what Zoroastrian literature is? Or the state bird of Minnesota? I've resorted to looking up clues on Wikipedia in an attempt to fill in at least some of the blanks.

But I digress...all of this sitting, aside from making my butt sore, is allowing me the opportunity to peruse the web like never before. I came across these little guys while shopping for a friend's birthday gift and I think I may need to collect ALL of them. Cutest. things. ever.

Here are some of my faves:





You can check out all of them here:
http://www.kamibashi.com/dolls/stringdolls/index.html#sd1064

I want to go camping!

Well, not really, but I came across some Orla Kiely camping gear that is pretty hard to resist. Who wouldn't want to sleep in the great outdoors in one of these...

snuggled in one of these...

Telling ghost stories and lighting up your creepy, shadow face with one of these...


Ok, maybe I would rather set the tent up in my living room, turn all the lights off and PRETEND that I am camping outside...but that is only because I love indoor plumbing so much. If only Orla Kiely would make a fashionable outhouse.

Everybody's doing it...

And so am I! I'm following the Pied Piper of Blog-in and am going to wind up in a river of interior design, cute animals, the perfect hairstyles and whatever else strikes my fancy. To start off this adventure, I was thinking of some of my favorite things (a la Maria in the Sound of Music).

Today's favorites (in no particular order) start with F:

Felines:

This is my sweet kitty, Nestor.

Furniture:

I love this chair and ottoman set.

French Fries:

My weakness.

Friends:

Hi Linds!

Family:

My beautiful sister and adorable niece.

Follicles with fringe:

Give me a break...I'm trying to work with "f" here!

So, there's a taste of me, all smashed up. More to come...