very pinteresting: olivia palermo

Having a huge style crush {& a decent sized lady crush} on Olivia Palermo is nothing new, but she consistently kills it. Obviously, it's nice to have unfettered access to every designer - for free most likely, but she is never afraid to mix in some lower price point labels like Zara and H & M.

Now, I'm now sure why you would ever wear anything but tibi if you could afford it, but she does provide some daily inspiration. I have basically an entire board dedicated to her style & even though we have no where near the same budget she can always be used for style reference. Many of her looks can be recreated with more affordable options and her hair is also gorgeous and simply styled. This equation just can't be beat - plus who doesn't love a fashionista that isn't afraid to wear flats!

Here are some of my favorite inspiration pics & you can find even more here.

the chic curator loves OneFortyThree

Good Morning!

It's safe to assume we all have a case of the Mondays, but thankfully this is short week for me. We are leaving for Lollapalooza on Friday morning {be sure to follow along on Instagram}. After a long weekend of house projects & more effing rain I'm excited to share a little love today.

OneFortyThree is my new favorite shopping destination for all things home. The aesthetic is right up my alley - a perfect balance of vintage style with an industrial twist. And you truly cannot find craftsmanship & design like this at a better price point.

Here are a few of my favorites, but you can see these and more at OneFortyThree.

swing arm wall lamp

color pendant light

tripod desk lamp

emerson

all brass wall sconce

Pretty amazing, right?

We took this trip to garden grove

Good Morning!

I am so excited to be sharing our garden today. It has finally stopped raining long enough to get out & take some pictures. Obviously, I've been channelling my energy and free time into house projects & the garden is one of my favorites.

                            

We have a pretty large yard, but it's shaped oddly and has a slope in it. It's great for the dogs, but the shape plus the large trees aren't ideal for gardening. As a result we ended up cutting a bed into the corner for maximum space and sun. 

For those of you with dogs, I'm sure you can imagine what it's like to keep them off of your veggies. Thankfully, Tucker only frequents the raspberry bush these days, but we still wanted it to look like a clean, clearly designated space. There are lots of "build a bed" products out there, but we decided to make our own. Just some wood, a few screws and a coat of paint - it wasn't supposed to be permanent but they've last about 4-5 years now. Eventually we will have to replace them with new wood and maybe a new color, but for now they're doing a pretty great job.

These picture would have been much pretty if we actually had some red  tomatoes, but since we've been lacking in sunshine as of late we just have a whole bunch of green tomatoes. We also have a ton of jalapeños {above} & other hot peppers - like a TON. Way too many to eat, so we decided to make some infused tequila for spicy margaritas {fear not, a post on that is coming!}

We usually stick the basics - tomatoes, a few kinds of peppers & herbs, but we always try and throw something new into the mix. This year we did watermelons - if you look close smack dab in the middle of the pic above you can see our first lil watermelon. It looks small now, but that sucker is growing fast. I can't wait to taste some fresh from the garden melon - ya know assuming it doesn't drown first.

Here's a peek from the other angle & what would a picture of my home be without a dog butt in it! I'm hoping the tomatoes will ripen soon, but haven't decided what I'll do when all one million of them are ready to go at the same time. Definitely some salsa, tomato sauce & caprese salads in my future. 

What are your favorite things to make with your garden goodies?

Have a great weekend!

Sparkly Signage

Good Morning!

Today I'm very excited to share one of my recent custom orders from the etsy shop and provide a few tips on how to create your own. The sign was for a bridal shower with a pink and candy theme. The maid of honor requested a sign to hang above the candy bar. I've been waiting forever to share a few peeks, but had to hold off so I wouldn't ruin the bride-to-be's surprise.

The first step was choosing a font, I used "Lobster". This font was playful and classic and was substantial enough to make each letter clearly visible from across the room. I used a homemade template for the flags to ensure each was the same size. I use Pages for most of my templates, so I was always able to put circles on my template to mark where the holes would be punched. Again, this helps keep you consistent and avoid some silly errors. 

The sign has  an ombre effect so I chose shades of the same color but only used 5 different colors so some did repeat - I preferred this look to having to continue with the darker shades of pink. Once each letter banner was cut, I sized up the letters to choose the font size that fit best and printed each letter. The great thing about this banner is you don't need to cut out each letter because you are tracing over it. For some of the darker colored banners I needed to use a light box in order to trace the letter underneath. By light box - I mean I put a flashlight in a tupperware, flipped it upside down and traced it that way. 

After each letter was traced I painted on a thin coat of modge podge and sprinkled away. I ended up need 2 coats of glitter and once that was completely dry and excess cleared off I added an extra coat of the clear modge podge to keep the glitter in place. I added a pink satin ribbon and threw on a few gold tinsel tassels for some extra sparkle.

The banner was a perfect way to elevate the theme & color palette for the party - no child's play here!

last week, what a nightmare

image

Sorry for the radio silence, last week was just delightful. As you know we had no internet for a whole week! Thankfully we switched providers so we are go to go. 

Other things that happened last week - our A/C broke & cost a pretty penny to repair (boo) - during a crazy heat wave, we lost our cable TV connection when we had the internet "fixed" and I dropped my phone in a sink full of water.  On the flip side, there was major progress on the new cork floors (thanks, dad!) & the new ceiling fan went in. 

We also had million appointments, meetings & Frank's first obedience lesson - he was a rock star and I'm one proud mama.  I was a busy bee and am now looking for some things to slow down and catch up on the house projects before we leave for Lollapalloza. Stay tuned for details of our house projects & plenty of DIYs.

Here's to a better week!