Lately, many of my friends have been jumping on the baby wagon and I couldn't be happier or more excited for them! I have also been buying lots of little tiny clothes and loving every minute of it, but for the first time just last week I actually bought from a baby registry. Maybe most people would think of this first, but I just love looking a baby-sized clothing, so I usually get pulled into Baby Gap before I ever even think to ask my friends what they might want or NEED. Point being, I was looking my friend's baby registry through Amazon and came across these:
And there are SO MANY MORE! You can buy lullaby renditions of Coldplay, Bjork, Radiohead and even Metallica! So for all of you folks out there with little people and taste that surpasses "Twinkle, twinkle little star..." these just might be for you. Check out all the options here.
Oh, how I have missed Domino Magazine. I used to love opening my mailbox and finding the newest issue, full of fabulous design and inspirational ideas. Well, today I happened upon Lonny:
This is 195 pages of gorgeous homes and great fashion. I still miss being able to actually flip the pages, but Lonny makes up for it by hyperlinking to various items on each page. For example, in their article featuring Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge (another one of my favorite design sites), they have 16 pages dedicated to her and on each of these you see artwork, furniture and fabric. If you like something, click on it and it links to where you can buy it! It is genius really. And I am hooked. Check it out and I'm sure you will be too!
Wow. I can't believe it has been 4 months since I posted to this blog. I will say that I have been a little busy getting ready for the biggest day of my life thus far, October 3rd, at which time I will officially become Mrs. Ashley Reader. Whoa! And October 4th will be the party to celebrate the name change. I have to give major props to my dear friend, Brad, who made us the most amazing wedding favors and for this I will be forever in his debt. (So please contact him and give him lots of money to make awesome things for you!) Just look at the invite he did for us:
He is truly amazing, right? There is more, but I can't figure out for the life of me how to make a PDF into a JPG so I can upload it. For now, this small taste of his greatness will have to do. I promise not to be gone so long next time and will put up loads of pics from the party of the century, aka my wedding.
Nobody likes cleaning out a litter box. Nobody. But I might not mind it as much, if I had one of these:
It is the ModKat Litter Box and it is kind of revolutionizing kitty poop boxes everywhere. The price is a little steep, but with all the money I will save on litter liners I should make my money back by the time Biscuit joins Nestor in that big litter box in the sky.
Available in a variety of colors, too. You can pre-order now and start saving your pennies!
Ok, I love bacon. I do. It is so delicious and breakfast just isn't the same without it. Do you know what IS good without it, though? Vodka. I'm sure of it. But if you aren't as convinced as I am, then this is for you:
That's right. Bacon flavored vodka. You can make cocktails with names as enticing as "Irish boar". Who wouldn't want to drink that? Oh yeah, me. And people with a gag reflex.
I have been buying new furniture, hanging pictures and organizing. Did I move again, you ask?!? No! I just decided to start making my house a home. I think I am so used to moving ever year and a half or so that I always set up house (paint, buy a few new items, but no big ticket purchases), but never actually settle in. Now that I own my own condo, I'm completely making it mine.
So what have I purchased? A new, lucite (or invisible, as my friend Ara likes to say) coffee table that looks super fab in my living room. By the way, this is not my living room, but I will be posting pictures of all my new purchases in their natural habitat very soon.
But buyer beware, if you have a super rambunctious kitty, you may want to equip him or her with protective headgear before introducing this coffee table. My cat almost knocked herself out after running through the living room at top speed!
I also bought a great shag rug that goes underneath my new coffee table. This replaces the flokati rug that my sweet Biscuit mistook as her litter box after she lost her lady parts.
And I got this awesome mirror for my bedroom. It is HUGE and I love it!
And then andTHEN and THENI finally bought a new duvet cover!
I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture just how beautiful it is, but trust me...it is beautiful!
I also finally framed some great prints that I have been keeping in a drawer for way too long. My mom bought me this awesome owl print for Christmas that has been desperately waiting to be hung. I ordered my frames online from American Frame and I have to recommend them. I was a little nervous about it at first because you have to assemble them yourself, but it is so easy and inexpensive that I may never buy frames from a walk-in store again!
I'll update with more pics soon and I may have an online poll to decide what wallpaper I'm going to put in my foyer!
I kind of love power tools. I put together almost an entire apartment's worth of IKEA furniture with a simple screwdriver and then a friend of mine lent me his power screwdriver and my life changed!
I love donuts. I don't eat them as much as I would like because I also like my pants to fit, but if they didn't have an immediate impact on my thighs I would eat them religiously. Since moving to Boston, I have been a regular patron at Dunkin' Donuts. Every morning and every afternoon I have my usual coffee: medium iced French Vanilla with milk and one sugar. Yum. And if I'm feeling just pre-menstrual enough I may indulge in a chocolate frosted donut. It's good, but not great. The coffee is great, the donut is mediocre. But I love donuts (not to mention chocolate), so I eat it and it's good.
I grew up in the south where Krispy Kreme is the donut king. There is nothing better than driving past a Krispy Kreme late-night and seeing the "hot donuts now" neon sign illuminated. Melt in your mouth deliciousness. I'm still surprised that every Krispy Kreme that was opened in Boston went out of business within a year. One thing I can say for the Bostonians, is that they are loyal. I respect that, but Krispy Kreme will always be my number one donut.
I was just introduced to the beautiful work of Paula Smail/Henry Road via Design Milk. She is based out of Los Angeles and designs the most gorgeous pillows, furniture, bags and textiles. My favorite item, that I am putting on my wishlist is this gorgeous chandelier (the largest one in the pic):
I hope this economic crisis ends soon so I can start buying more STUFF!
I just found some devastating news. Ok, no one died, I still have my job and my wonderful fiance, so I suppose I am being melodramatic, but WAHHH! My favorite of all favorite magazines is going kaput! Domino magazine is no longer. I have every issue! And, just because I'm whining...why did they just send me a renewal letter for 2 more years?! What a tease! I guess I should cancel my check, huh? Last time this happened, Blueprint magazine went under before my subscription was up and I was stuck with Martha Stewart Living for 9 months. Who knows what I will get in place of my beloved Domino. Sigh.
I'm back from my vacation and it was such a nice, relaxing break from the cold Boston winter. I had the good fortune to arrive in Arizona one week after my mom's miniature horse had her baby! A baby miniature horse! A tiny, tiny horse! Do you understand what I am telling you? No? Take a looksie:
So you can get a bit of perspective, I am 5'3". Not tall at all, but look at me compared to my mom:
It's like I'm a giant! So as you can tell from the previous video, my mom is taller than the momma horse who is taller than the teeny baby horse! Now check this out (and make sure your volume is up):
Can you believe how cute and tiny little Apache Tear is? I thought my head was going to explode on several different encounters, which explains this protective headgear:
After visiting with my mom, I got to spend some quality time with my sweet sister. We stayed at the super hip Mondrian hotel in Scottsdale for 2 nights.
We had such a great time and I definitely recommend the Mondrian (they have one in LA, too) if you are in the area and want to pamper yourself a bit.
Then I met up with my boo in sunny California where we spent time with his lovely family. Including his brand new niece, Laurel:
Again with the tiny!
And of course, we got to spend time with Joel's incredibly adorable nephew, Isaac, who is less tiny than last time I saw him, but still little and so, so cute!
All in all, it was a truly wonderful vacation and I loved getting to spend so much time with the ones that I love and don't get to see enough.
Where have I been?! Well, let's see. The holidays happened. I went to Alabama to visit the Southern side of my family for Thanksgiving. We went to a great flea market where I saw many unique, special and, at times, disturbing items...
...like these beautiful pheasant pelts, although I think they would have been prettier on the pheasant.
...and this poor turkey that is collecting dust. Just look at that face...
...only a mother turkey could love it, but doesn't he look so sad (and dusty!)?
But my dad found some preserves that he loved...
And I found a booth that appealed to the Elle Woods in me.
Then Christmas happened...
and I got engaged!
(yes this is my ring!!!)
Then New Year's, which brought about a nasty upper respiratory infection that has lasted until today. I am finally feeling better and am heading to the warm weather of the West tomorrow. When I return I will be back to posting and planning my future with my boo!
(the gold one!)
I ordered my frames online from American Frame and I have to recommend them. I was a little nervous about it at first because you have to assemble them yourself, but it is so easy and inexpensive that I may never buy frames from a walk-in store again! 
I hope this economic crisis ends soon so I can start buying more STUFF!
R.I.P.
It's like I'm a giant! So as you can tell from the previous video, my mom is taller than the momma horse who is taller than the teeny baby horse! Now check this out (and make sure your volume is up):
Again with the tiny!
...and this poor turkey that is collecting dust. Just look at that face...
...only a mother turkey could love it, but doesn't he look so sad (and dusty!)?
But my dad found some preserves that he loved...
And I found a booth that appealed to the Elle Woods in me.
(yes this is my ring!!!)
Ain't love grand?
