Glamorous work

If the weather cooperates, I'm moving to my own home office in California today. I'm not going to lie, I was planning to wear my pajamas to work tomorrow, but if this mirrored-beauty were my desk, I think I'd have to get dressed in my best just to log online. So glamorous!


Found via Design*Sponge.


P.S. This desk is actually in a home "dressing room." How jealous are you now!?

Ming me!

I am drooling over the cupcakes that Ming is making on her blog, Ming Makes Cupcakes. I love the simple, single cake photography on her blog but the ones I'm most dying to make are the gingerbread cupcakes with fluffy cream cheese frosting and the vanilla almond with maple cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Harp on me

Not that it would ever happen, but if I could be photographed for any magazine, it would have to be Harper's Bazaar. The historic magazine has been hitting it out of the park lately, making gorgeous ladies look like ethereal beauties in fun and fabulous shoots. I can't get enough! Here are some of my faves...

Drew Barrymore looks perfection...



Best smile goes to Katherine Heigl...



Timeless stunner Gwyneth Paltrow...



Beauty-next-door Sandra Bullock...



The ageless Demi Moore ...

Suburban fashion

In just four days I leave the big city behind to start my new life in San Diego. While there are many things I'm going to miss about New York, I must confess that one thing I'm excited to acquire is some of my favorite shopping.

I know, I know, some of the world's best shopping is in the Big Apple, but I can hardly afford to window shop at some of the city's swankier boutiques and designer outposts. But what I do love in more suburban areas than my current home, is the accessibility of stores where designers house some of their more affordable items.

Take for example, Kohls. I remember thinking as a tween that Kohls was just a giant maze my mom used to drag me around in middle school. But it turns out my savvy shopping momma was onto something. Kohls is now one of my favorite stops for everything from fashion and shoes to home decor. With brands like Simply Vera by Vera Wang, ELLE (Elle MacPherson), LC by Lauren Conrad, and more, they are making fashion affordable.

Below are some of my current top picks at the store and believe it or not, everything you see below is under $45! A major bonus of Kohls is that they almost always have coupon codes for in-store and online shopping (sign up for their email newsletter for the best deals) to save you even more. If you don't live near a Kohls, fear not, use the coupon code SHIPFREE to get free shipping no matter where you're located.




Clockwise from top left: Boots, top, pillow, hourglass, wristlet, candle holder, necklace, heels, jeans, mug, dress, sweater, pillow, cuff, clogs.

Happy Weekend!

I hope everyone has exciting weekend plans. I'm wrapping up my last weekend in NYC with some fall-fun with friends...a football game, brunch, a goodbye party and the movies! I'm also on the hunt to find an inexpensive beginner's sewing machine so I can start to make pretty projects like this bow pillow from say Yes! to hoboken.






Have a lovely weekend!

At your service

My boyfriend and I are converting his old coffee table into a chic new oversized ottoman (photos to come) that will still serve as the centerpiece of our living room furniture. Because we still want to be able to set things on it, we need a nice large tray to place at one end. The problem is all the cutest trays I find are over $50 and some up in the several hundreds! Here are a few of my wishful thoughts...



Clockwise from upper left: Ethan Allen;Cooking.com ; Bloomingdale's; Jayson; Saks Fifth Avenue; Crate & Barrel.

As an alternative, I found a few within my under $25 price range, but they don't quite fit the bill. They're cute, but I'm afraid they aren't quite large enough to fill the space and they don't quite go with our look. Maybe they'll work for you...


From left: Crate & Barrel; Ikea; Velocity.

So I was just delighted today when I came across this gorgeous tray on Craftynest. It's a DIY project.



Can you guess what it was before?



A salvaged cabinet door! How creative! See how it was done here. With this, I'll be able to follow the color/look we want and have something big enough to cover one end of the ottoman. Can't wait to see how it turns out! Off to the "Free" section of Craiglist to look for my blank canvas....

BFF

And just because ... here is that very best friend doing the skinny arm and side tilt leg with me on the beach in Maine.

Married to style

My very best friend in the world is headed to an end-of-summer outdoor wedding this weekend and while I can't be her date, I'll be there in spirit by helping to choose her ensemble for the affair. I'm looking for something that is daytime and weather appropriate, budget but easy to wear again, and perfect for showing off her blonde-hair/blue-eyed beauty. She also has to be able to run out to the mall and pick it up, since the wedding is fast approaching. Here are a few of my ideas:



Dress, Old Navy; Shoes, Gap; Necklace, Forever 21


Dress, J.Crew; Sweater, Old Navy;Shoes, Gap; Earrings, Forever 21.


Dress, Macys; Wrap, Macys; Shoes, Gap.

What would you wear?

Somewhere over the rainbow

Oh so cute ...


At a wedding ...


Breakfast plate ...


Reading rainbow...


Rainbow al dente...


Filled with air...


At the end of the rainbow...


Smelling good...


Rainbows to share...

Take a seat

This weekend, my boyfriend and I did our first home improvement projects together and while one (a chair reupholster) turned out great, the other (painting the desk he so kindly sanded and primed for us) didn't become the exact vision we had in our heads.

We're going to reconvene on a new color scheme for the desk, and once the project is complete, I'll share photos of it in our apartment. For now, here are some of my top before and after chair makeovers from one of my favorite design sites, Design Sponge.

A double dose with pretty stencils ...




Making broken, beautiful ...




A creative color scheme ...



Major overhaul ...



Simply perfection ...

Leavin' on a jet plane

Still at the airport ... and surrounded by clunky, ugly, heavy luggage. And since I've got not much else to do for the next few hours, I've been searching around for some creative ways to make vintage suitcases, which are so much more attractive yet less functional than our luggage today, useful again.

Some crafty DIYers have figured out a few adorable ways to turn vintage luggage into gorgeous side tables.

All you have to do is paint it up and add a few legs ...


Image found here.


Or just go with the legs ...




Images found here and here.

Or even just the paint ...


Image found here.

And you can even skip that all together and just stack 'em up!






Images found here, here, and here.

And because this is just too sweet to not throw it in ... you can even turn it into a pet bed!


And this one here.

As soon as my luggage is safely to its destination, I'm off to look for some vintage pieces to DIY revamp!