Monday, June 30th, 2008
Lofty
memories
 I had a dream last night of a loft I used to live in
a long time ago.
I loved that old building so much I actually lived in two different lofts 5 years apart. It
was so cool living there, everyone was an artist and there was always something happening on any given day.
It used to be an old laundry building about 100 years old.
The
architecture was beautiful both inside and out.
My first loft was two stories with two old staircases, one
to my bedroom and one to my office.
The ceilings were 24 feet high with skylights to see the stars.
 It had a small kitchen, but that just made it all the more interesting, especially when I had parties...and I had lots of
parties.
My friends and I used to mix crazy martinis and order in exotic sushi by the platefuls.
 I still remember the security speaker and name directory at the front door to the street.
For about 6 months the
name on my loft was listed as "Carrie Bradshaw" ....this was at the start of the TV show Sex and the City
and my gay boyfriends in the building thought it would be funny to re-program my name. The funniest part was, I had no idea
they did it!
Sun, June 29, 2008 | link
Friday, June 27th, 2008
The
elusive Hermes Birkin
Knowing that I will probably never make it TO much less OFF the Hermes waiting
list for this world famous bag, my husband bought me the next best thing.....the new book chronicling one man's James
Bond like tactics to obtain not just one Birkin, but hundred's from every single Hermes store in the world.
What's
a Birkin you ask?
Well it's the outrageously priced, custom made to order, 4 year routinely closed waiting
list, every celebrity has at least one, if you have to ask you can't afford one....coveted bag.
And yes, I
did ask "how much" !
The starter bag is $8,000..!!! The most expensive bags START
at $20,000 with GOLD hardware!
So...
dream I will,
wish I shall,
buy, well probably not.
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Julia
Child
What do you get when you take 2 of these.....
Add a couple bags of this.....
Throw in a little Julia Child.....
No, not that one!
This one....
Presto......gorgeous climbing roses to frame our new yard.
Just before our wonderful American icon left us, she
selected this exceptional rose to bear her name. Julia loved the even butter gold color & the licorice candy fragrance.
I do hope the roses bloom as lovely as her recipes have!
Tue, June 24, 2008 | link
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
When
the unpacking gets tough....
......the tough get a tan?
Staying true to my promise, I got
started yesterday on my summer tan...and boy was it HOT!
Tomorrow it's back to unpacking and organizing....yuk!
Tue, June 24, 2008 | link
Sat, June 21, 2008 | link
Friday, June 20th, 2008
Cupcake
obsessed!
 What's a girl to do when all she can think about are cupcakes...red velvet cupcakes
with vanilla cream cheese icing to be exact.
It all started in London about 4 months ago at my favorite coffee
shop Raouls.
Fresh out of my usual chocolate croissant, my husband brought home a red velvet cupcake instead and
from then on I became obsessed!
Ohhhh let me tell you, once you try one you are determined to duplicate that unique
taste at home because being without has not been a pretty sight!
So, I went about finding the BEST recipes and bought these books on Amazon.
They all came highly recommended,
in fact the vegan one was a best seller....vegan...who would of thought?
Still not satisfied that I had the ultimate
recipe, I googled contest winning recipes and found this one that sounded like it could be the winner. Hopefully I can combine all the recipes together with some tweaking
of my own.
Now all I have to do is buy one of these (in orange of course) make a trip to Whole Foods organic grocer for the safe
red food coloring and I should be ready to go.
Stay tuned for the results.....but give me a couple weeks, I want
to be sure that my "spin" on the recipe is the BEST so I can share it with all of you.
Thu, June 19, 2008 | link
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
FISH!
 Can you see them?
This morning...real early... I decided to take my coffee
and step outside while my son was still fast asleep. As I walked past the fish pond I did a double take....5 big
healthy looking fish appeared!
Three solid orange, one orange & white and one super cute solid
yellow.
As I looked closer I could see about one hundred BABY fish too! Looks like Mr. and Mrs. fish
were quite busy over the last month!
I can't believe they survived not only the green slime and lack of food,
but they also made it through the winter.... and they had snow and ice here! As I mentioned before, the house was
vacant for about 8 mths before we bought it so the fish must have been hiding below all the slime.
The "fish
guy" is coming today to completely transform the pond. These fish are about to feel like they just won a trip to
Disney Land...fresh clean water, new plants and daily feedings from my son...yippee!
I guess we will have
to give them names soon too. I think in honor of Molly's Birthday earlier this week, we shall name the yellow one "Molly".
Oh and speaking of coffee, I successfully made my first cup of cappuccino this morning. It was a little tricky
at first, but once I read the book, it was smooth sailing.
Now that's what a real coffee should look like!
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Coffee
Shop?.....NOT!
Normally my blog is always a happy place with happy posts,
but unfortunately today is not one of those days.
I finally took a walk with my son down the block to our neighborhood
"coffee shop".
It was such a nice walk. Other moms said hello as we passed. One
little girl waved to my son from across the street and every car stopped for us when we crossed the street.
I was so excited to be in a "walking" neighborhood with what appeared to be a real coffee house just a block away,
and right next to the Post Office too....how convenient.
As I struggled to open the shop door with my son in the
pram and my wallet in the other hand, I noticed one of the workers standing near the door chatting up another employee.
They both looked at me, clearly unable to get in the very narrow door, turned around and continued to talk!
Neither one tried to hold the door for me!
As I approached the counter I noticed the cool atmosphere, very laid
back, distressed hardwood floors, vintage lighting and moody music. It really felt like a Seattle coffee shop
the ones I used to frequent when I made the weekly commute to the west coast for work years ago.
The first thing
I noticed was no cupcakes in the glass case. That's OK, lots of coffee shops don't have cupcakes, so let's
see what else they have. As I looked around the ONLY thing that sounded good or looked good was a cinnamon roll.
I really don't like these but I really wanted something sweet.
As I approached the register, the girl behind
it was just finishing up with another woman. I immediately got a vibe that she was NOT in a good mood. She was
rude and just plain unhappy to be alive. She asked me, without even looking up at me, "what do you want?"
I said a latte please. She then said, "do I have to guess what size?" I was shocked. It was an
honest mistake on my part. So I said medium please. She then said...... "ahhh that would be called "two
shots".
Well excuse me....I've ordered a latte in like 4 different countries and 20 different cities
and I have never heard someone order by number of shot. In fact, I am often asked if I want an "extra" shot
in a small cup. I then said, I'll have the cinnamon roll too. She replied...."point", directing
me to point into the cabinet at what I wanted, like she was too lazy to figure it out herself.
You have to understand,
the look on her face and the faces of all the employees there was "I hate my job, I wish I were somewhere else, don't
bother me". In fact I would say that everyone there needed about 100 double shots!
Not one person in
the shop said hello, thank you, goodbye......nothing!
Oh, and the cinnamon roll, well it was stuffed into a brown
bag with NO paper or wrapping to protect it. It was like a hard hockey puck with icing that I would have had to lick
off the paper, totally gross!
Thankfully...sooooo thankfully, I have a brand new espresso machine in my kitchen that I unpacked yesterday. I
will now study the directions front to back (it has a 40 page instruction manual) to be sure that tomorrow morning
I have the best darn latte in the neighborhood!
Tue, June 17, 2008 | link
Saturday, June 14th, 2008
Tagged!
Molly over at Molly's Knitted Teddy Bears tagged me yesterday with these great questions: so here goes....
What was I doing
10 years ago?
Let's see, it was 1998, I was single, but in a serious relationship with an architect and living
in a loft apartment in Atlanta.
Things on my "To Do" list
1)
Move into our new house this weekend
2) Find a babysitter - my son's first....I'm nervous!
3)
Throw 4 house warming parties in the month of July.
4) Get a tan on my new patio!
5) Get started (again)
on my WIP list (8 projects).
5 snacks I enjoy:
1) Red velvet
cupcakes
2) Espresso....vanilla lattes to be exact
3)
Strawberries
4) Atkins health bars
5) Baked Lays
potato chips
Things I would do if I were a millionaire
1) Pay off
all our debts including our new mortgage
2) Buy a downtown loft in Manhattan and a Hermes Birkin bag
3) Give absurd
amounts of money to family and my best friends Mary & Carol
4) Seek out local families in need and hook them up with
a new apartment, car and living essentials for one year, while securing them a meaningful job to support their new lifestyle.
5) Contact local cancer treatment centers to provide terminal patients and their families with dream vacations.
Places I've lived:
1) Boyds, Maryland - It was a really small town
2) Tucson Arizona - I went to high school there
3) Atlanta, Georgia - I lived here the longest
4)
Manhattan, NYC - My favorite city and favorite job
5) Singapore - I had my son here
6) London, England
- I started my blog here
7) Atlanta, Georgia - Just moved back!
Fri, June 13, 2008 | link
Wednesday, June 12th, 2008
Pond
potential
I don't think I mentioned before that we have a fish pond in our backyard.
It's currently in bad shape, as the previous owner let it deteriorate to the point of green slime!
Amazingly, these beautiful lily pond flowers have started to bloom in the midst of all the muck.
We are in the process of researching the possibility of having Koi fish in the pond which I
know my son will love.
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
It's
hot!
 Very hot....today is supposed to be 100 degrees F with the humidity at 80%!
Luckily, I planned ahead and ordered from the Victoria's Secret online sale last week.
I picked up these
2 sundresses on sale and I found a coupon for an additional 20% off with free shipping!
 These are the most comfortable dresses and so easy to wear....just throw it on with a pair of flip flops and you're good
to go.
I bought the burgundy version of this dress last year for my trip back to Singapore (Carol this is
the one you loved) so now I have all three colors.
Judging by the rising temperature here "down south", I
will be living in these dresses all summer!
Monday, June 9th, 2008
Organic
Bear
Last week I ordered some Blue Sky Organic cotton that I was coveting for months.
During the checkout process they suggested the
Baby Bobbi Bear pattern to go along with the yarn.
I was intrigued by the way it is knit...completely in the round so I thought I'd
give it a try.
The best part....the hubby is off to work in Copenhagen this week and the house is holding
it's own, so I may actually be able to finish Monsieur Bear!
Sat, June 7, 2008 | link
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
Sleek
or Sassy?
 Friday is my first hair cut since arriving
in the U.S.
I always have a cut in mind but this time.....I am totally on the fence about which one.
I love BOTH these cuts and yet they are so vastly different. Although the Ellen Barkin cut looks easy to style, it
does take some time to get that smooth finish. The other style (Lisa Rinna and Mary Beth Evans) is really easy to style....it's
all about the messy just "out of bed" look.
I'll let you know which one I choose, and if I really
really love it, I might just post a photo!
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
Sidekick
 Check out what the hubby got me last weekend.
It's the new T-Mobile Sidekick.
It does everything...in fact it does so much I can't figure out how to use most of it yet!
The
best part....I can read all my favorite blogs, surf the internet, send emails and IM's and listen to music all
while talking on the phone from ANYWHERE in the world.
Oh and it has this "blue tooth" thing that allows
me to talk hands-free and wireless....I don't know how to use this yet either!
Now that's multi-tasking!
Tue, June 3, 2008 | link
Saturday, May 31st, 2008
Progress
made
 My husband's office is almost complete, but I did have to change the plan a little.
As usual, my ideas are bigger than my available time.
Originally I planned to add "books"
to the entire room, but now I've decided to add some "space" between groups of books to save time.
After about 5 days of stenciling, I learned "space" = time saved!
Next up, a French spin on the
dining room.
Enjoy your weekend!
Sat, May 31, 2008 | link
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
Deal!
 Ohhh ahhh, look what I got from a very sweet guy just north of the city.
It's
a Pottery Barn steel top table and 4 chairs. The best part, it was only $300! The price tags are still on each piece,
retailing for $1,475!
I have been looking (drooling) at this table set for about 8 years. It
seemed to be in every catalog they put out. I think I still have the page clippings from when we lived in Manhattan.
Without the rest of my furniture, it is hard to tell how it will look in the kitchen -vs- the dining room. It's
bar/buffet height and will also look very cool outside with drinks and appetizers. My husband will love how it matches
the new stainless steel grill.....'opps now he knows what he's getting for Father's Day!
Tue, May 27, 2008 | link
Friday, May 23, 2008
Stairway
to heaven
The house is coming together fast.
The painters have finished, the carpenter
is gone, the plumber, electrician and security company said their goodbyes yesterday.
It's just amazing how only a week ago I had my doubts that the inside would ever look like a "home"....but
it does!
Here's just a peak up the stairs to my new attic studio, complete with mini kitchen, bathroom, huge
closet and cool playroom for my son.
I saved the decorating in this room for last so I could rummage through
magazine clippings, internet pics and of course the Pottery Barn outlet store to gather great ideas and inspiration.
I'll be posting before and after pics of some other rooms soon.
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Books
The stenciling is getting crazy over here!
This will be my husband's
office in the new house. I decided to paint the picture rail brown and stencil books around the entire border of the
room.
As you can see, I didn't get very far!
I think it will take about 3 more days to complete the whole room.
I'm hoping it will resemble a library shelf when complete.
The stencil comes in three parts and
6 overlays so you can vary the repeat if you want and never have the same color pattern or book.
The "books" stencil is available at walltowallstencils .
Thu, May 22, 2008 | link
Monday, May 19, 2008
Roses
We have a 15 foot long wall of climbing pink roses! It's
by far the best part of the backyard.
 They are even growing through the trees and into the gutters! Now that's what I call climbing!
The second
best part of the backyard unfortunately was destroyed by one of our painters hired to do the outside of the house while
we were away last weekend. It's the gorgeous old tree in the corner of the yard right outside my son's
room. It was perfectly shaped, provided the ultimate privacy and according to our landscape architect, was in the best
condition he has seen in 20 years in the business.
The "story" I got from the painter was....."I
needed to cut the tree in half in order to paint that side of the house". Have you EVER heard such a thing!
Did this guy even think about tying the branches back or at the very least CALL ME to ask! He literally cut every branch
off one side of the tree making it look like it could fall over at any moment.
I am heartsick over what
happened and am not looking forward to spending the next 3 days at the house while they finish up the work.
Hopefully the other plants we are adding to the yard, one of which is gardenias (my favorite) will perk up my spirits.
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I purchased only 2 cupcakes from Julie's shop sale last month, but look what beautiful extra delights were
inside. 
The new kitchen is pale blue similar to 
