The last several days have been a bit insane, so I'm glad it's Friday! Hope everyone has a fun weekend planned! A few lovely things I saw this week (click images for purchasing/details): This 14" diameter bowl ($40, Horchow) is made of recycled metal and jute rope. The pattern reminds me of dream catchers without the feathers and it's always nice to have natural materials mixed in with your decor. I have an oval dining table, and it seems so hard to find placemats that I like and will fit well all next to each other. But regardless of fit, I love the colors of these ($36 each, ABC Home) and the metallic thread woven throughout the raw hemp. I also like that they're handcrafted at an economically sustainable embroidery co-op in Vietnam. I know, I know. These have been around a while, but I do truly love the color combos and the space-saving quality of these nylon whisks ($18 each, Gretel). And I never got to feature them when I wanted to, so let me get it out of my system. There. I'm curious to know how they stand up under regular use. Has anyone used one? This is one of those cases where something functional has been made beautiful. Looking at this piece you almost don't realize it's meant to put flies and other pests down ($14, Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co.). It's handcrafted in Germany and made from leather and beechwood. Little Sun ($28, MoMA Store) is a solar-powered LED lamp developed by artist Olafur Eliasson and solar engineer Frederik Ottesen. Every purchase makes it possible for Little Suns, which provide clean reliable light, to be sold at locally affordable prices to the 1.6 billion people worldwide living in communities without access to the electrical grid.
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I've always thought FLOR was a genius product, particularly for klutzy, spill-prone people and those with kids or pets. I may fit into one or more of those categories. Something spilled? Just pick up the square, clean it, and put it back, or worst-case scenario—replace a square, but at least you're not replacing the whole thing or having to cut a random piece out and replace it as with a wall-to-wall situation.
And, I'm sure it goes without saying, but the extremely customizable nature is a huge draw. Rugs can be any size you wish, all the way up to wall-to-wall and design-wise, there are dozens of colors and an array of patterns that appeal whether you lean toward solids, graphic patterns, or traditional motifs. My style has changed a lot since I first realized I was passionate about decor and it has been a long time since something like a patchwork of big, bright colored squares appealed to me. So I will admit, I hadn't checked out FLOR thoroughly in a while. I am really excited about their fall collection. The patterns are sophisticated but approachable and very much fit in with my current aesthetic. And when you figure that it's going to cost somewhere between $450-$870 (give or take) for a rug slightly larger than 8'x10', it's also extremely affordable. Well, it's officially fall now. The boots have been broken out, and I've had my first hot cider and cider donut, so I'm a happy camper. We went apple picking yesterday at Beak & Skiff, one of the many amazing orchards in Central New York, and had a great time even though it was freezing. I felt like a terrible mom for not being prepared with mittens and hats (I did have a thick blanket for the baby), but they both loved the tractor ride to the u-pick section. And Sunshine got to eat some apple herself and Cupcake got a cider donut, so they were both happy. We picked McIntosh, which are my favorite, and checked out the brand new outdoor kids' area and completely new barn housing a cafe and all their distillery products. If it hadn't been so cold, we might have stayed longer to explore everything, but we still enjoyed ourselves. Some people were picking pumpkins as well, but I like to save that for October. Don't rush me, fall! I do hope the weather warms up again soon and lasts for a few more weeks at least.
I'm not sure what it is about this season in particular, but I feel as though we have so many more family traditions in autumn than we do in any other season, in addition to the girls' birthdays and our wedding/anniversary. I love the fruit picking, but also corn mazes, and soon, everything to do with Halloween, my most favorite of holidays. But again, I don't want to rush it. Yesterday was cold enough; I'm not ready for the S-word most associated with Syracuse. How about you? Do you go apple picking or have other family traditions during fall? Anything good we should try? I have done some minimal fashion and beauty coverage here and there, but it's not my forte. With all the spring 14 runway shows happening though, I thought I'd give fashion a nod with my under $50 picks for this week. The upshot of suburban life? The new designer collections at Target aren't totally decimated when you stroll in there at 8pm on launch day. I scored this pullover ($35, above), a skirt, and another top. I love coats with funnel collars; whenever I wear them it makes me feel like some sort of undercover operative. For this baby ($49.95) from H&M, it's a toss-up between the gray and the black version, which has imitation leather sleeves. I don't wear tons of jewelry because I'm sensitive to metals (not real gold or platinum, lucky for my husband), but I like the matte finish and style of this cuff ($48) available at Macy's, so I would wear it as regularly as I could. For some reason I don't usually go for cap toe shoes, but I do like the blue and black pairing here ($49.50) from Loft.
Well, today was a lot of things, but let's just say today was a Monday. One thing did go well, which was a quick meeting with the event coordinator regarding our vow renewal. I looked at some options for where we can have the brief ceremony if the weather is nice enough to hold it outside. I also chose the tablecloth and napkin colors, now that I have a tentative plan in place for the decorations. It's going to be pretty low key, because I am going to try and do it myself (party decor I tend to do DIY, that's about the only thing). Since I'm still going to be really busy between now and October fourth, I'm getting a little stressed about fitting it all in. Some days I catch myself calling it "the wedding" and I'm trying to find a balance between having enough decoration that it looks pretty and not so many that it looks like I am trying to recreate the big day. I am using a slightly more grown up version of our original color palette and I modeled the invitation after our original. But most of our wedding decor was floral, and we just don't have the budget for that. So I'm going to try a few things and hope they work out. If they do, I'll post them. Here is a 10-year vow renewal I came across today from Green Wedding Shoes. It's more "done" than ours will be; of course, they had an event planner and photographer. I can't afford to rent the fancy chairs or put up a big backdrop but I do want to make sure it feels special and pretty. And apparently, this site is like a secret weapon for engaged girls: Cloud Parade, which is probably the most dangerous thing to happen to me right now. Someone hide my wallet. Yesterday we spent a lovely afternoon at our friends' wedding. The ceremony and reception were intimate, rustic, and sweet. And the dessert table featured insanely delicious homemade biscotti, brownies, s'mores treats (with from-scratch marshmallows), and caramel corn. Mmmm. In just under a month, my husband and I will be celebrating our 10-year anniversary. We are renewing our vows and having a very small dinner party at the place where our wedding reception was held (the zoo!). So now, even though I have a lot of work due over the next two weeks, I'm also looking for small-and-simple decoration ideas for the dinner. These richly colored bouquets are a beautiful place to start getting inspired. images via saipua, martha stewart weddings, brides, bridal guide, snippet & ink, style unveiled, every last detail, the knot Xx a |
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