Thursday, December 2, 2010

White Christmas

First of all let me start by saying I've never, ever, had a fake Christmas tree before.  I've always turned my nose up at them, having been raised in a home allowing only the real deal.  However for the past three years or so, I have been longing for a fake pink Christmas tree.  I saw one in a magazine once and fell in love.  Someday it will be mine, but it's not in the budget this year.  And also, I think it might clash with my pink walls.  So I got settled on this pretty white number here. 
One of my major Christmas tree dilemmas was always to pick out ornaments that didn't blend in with the green tree.  Now I don't have to worry about that -- everything looks good on white!  I love the way the colors pop.  (p.s., like how bright and sunny it is?  Gotta love San Diego.)
Notice those owls nestled in there?  Well today I came home to a bunch of turned down branches and a missing owl.  I have sneaking suspicion as to who took it.  It's not this one below, but her sister.  She is a little mischief maker.
So, I'm not turning my nose up at fake Christmas trees anymore, but I do miss that wonderful fresh pine Christmas tree smell.  Life's tough... you can't have it all ;)

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Time for "New" Things

Sheesh It's been a while since I've posted anything new.  I don't know if that is because I'm boring or busy ... or busy with boring stuff.  I think that's probably it.  Well whatever it is, it has really cut into my fun weekend activities.  I did get out to a thrift store a couple of weeks ago and found this lovely mid-century dresser. 

Which, by the way was like meant to be.  I saw it, then went to go find Aaron to show him; he saw it, then went go find me.  He did a quick search to see what mid-century dressers were going for and he found the exact same dresser online for $350.  This one cost us $130.  It's in pretty good condition.  Also, my Ikea dresser was on its last leg.  The drawers were so stuffed that the bottoms kept falling out and the drawers wouldn't close all the way.  There is a down side to this dresser though - small drawers.  People must not have had many clothes back in the day.  Or maybe not so many band t-shirts that they were emotionally attached to, that they never wear, but can't let go of ... ?  Anyway, the dresser sat at the end of our bed for a couple of weeks until we couldn't take it anymore and made the switch.  It was a nightmare condensing all of my clothing, and sadly there were a lot of casualties.  But it's pretty.  And our mid-century furniture collection is growing.  Slowly. 

Sunday, November 7, 2010

So much time, and so little to do. (Strike that, reverse it.)

Do you ever have so many things that you want to do, that you sort of end up doing nothing?  Recently I've noticed that I spend a lot of time preparing to do things, and not actually doing them, or once I get started on a project it takes me a while to finish.  This dress for example, took me two weeks to finish - and it was a really easy dress!  Well, it was supposed to be at least.  I took the sleeves off three - yeah, three!- times.  That is like super unheard of in Nicole's world.  Then I re-did the hems on the bottom and sleeves twice. 

I'm really getting good at this patience thing.  I know now that when I rush to finish something just because I want it to be done, it will be mediocre and I'll probably never use it.  Now that I've finished this one, that's two wearable dresses down! 

Sunday, October 24, 2010

I Made It!


Lately I've been inspired to try and make my own clothes.  I think it was our trip to a certain antique mall with vintage clothing that got me going.  I saw a pretty little cream and gold shift dress and I fell in love.  I could just envision myself going to my firm's holiday party in it.  I'm on the party planning committee and pretty much the "creative" department for the party, which has an "old hollywood" theme.  It would have been perfect.  The problem:  Well, like I said, it was a pretty "little" dress.  Like three sizes too small.  I didn't even attempt to try it on. (Oh, and thanks to everyone who suggested I just buy it and lose weight!)   Since then I've been feeling the need to find a vintage party dress - and spending time looking at dresses made me realize that I could probably actually make the kind of dresses that I like.  A simple shift dress is all I need in life.  I started thinking about the things I have made in the past, why they didn't work, and what I could have done to make them better.  And my mind opened up. 

This weekend I went to the fabric store to get some patterns and material to practice on.  So this is what I ended up with.  It's a cute little purple tweed work dress that- what do you know - I can actually wear!  And a bonus, it only cost me about $12 to make!  There were a couple of times when something wasn't quite right and, when I normally would have been like "whatever!" and kept going, I stopped and went back to make things perfect.  I still want to find a vintage dress for the holiday party, but I'm very happy with the outcome and proud of myself for actually learning and growing.  I can't wait to make more pieces.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

It's About Time

We bought this vintage starburst clock in an antique mall in Bellingham, Washington. My family finally mailed it to me and I couldn't be happier to have it in my possession.  (Along with my favorite pair of flats that I also left there...boo!)  The clock is so beautiful, we love it so much. 
We hung it in our living room, next to our tribute to Disneyland.
We also made a trip on Saturday to some antique malls in the North County.  They didn't have a ton of mid-century stuff, but I did find a couple of neat things.  These canisters are pretty awesome.  Bummer we couldn't get a whole set.
A set of three super cute little deer figures that I've already distributed around the house.   It's not much, but I guess it's good enough for one weekend. 

Monday, October 11, 2010

First of Fall

 Aside from being the BEST season for clothes shopping, Fall is also the best season for food! Don't you think?  I guess each season has its foods it brings with it, but I love Fall the most.  Everything is warm and toasty and spicy.  Pumpkin spice and everything nice and all that.  So when I got the Everyday Food mail with spice cake recipes it made me very happy!  I was bored and at work and therefore hungry, so I wanted a piece of every cake like right that minute.  My boss's birthday is coming up and I know she loves pumpkin too, so I sent her a couple of options in a very important email.  She chose this Pumpkin Spice Cake with Honey Frosting.  Well, I can't just make a cake for someone's birthday that I've never made before, so I tested it out on my family this weekend.  The cake was more bread-like, but it was still delicious and I think it could even stand alone as a bread, without the frosting, but the frosting was also very good.  It has gotten my stamp of approval.
On a side note, my Halloween decorations are totally lacking this year.  And last week my friend expressed her disappointment in me for not having done any Halloween crafts.  I don't know what is going on.  For some reason it crept up on me this year.  When I got down my boxes of decorations there didn't seem to be much there. In addition to the skulls that sit around my house all year long, I have a few pumpkins and spiderwebs and I guess I'm calling it a day.   Or a season. 

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Maiden Braids


I just wanted to share a picture of my hair up in maiden braids.  I've been obsessed with braids for a while now, ever since my hair has gotten long enough to actually braid.  I rock the single braid "headband" look (a la Zooey Deschanel, my fave!) all the time and I've been desperately trying to learn how to french braid my own hair.  It's pretty hard.  I'm getting better and I'm actually good at french braiding other people's hair, but that doesn't help me out at all!  I've seen people wear their hair like this before and I always thought you had to have really long hair to make one braid and pull it all the way across.  But on the last episode of Project Runway I saw Gretchen wearing her hair like this and I noticed she had it separated like pigtail style, with both braids coming up to meet at the top.  Yay!  My hair is just barely long enough to meet and there are like a million bobby pins holding it in place, but I love it and I think the longer it gets the easier it will be to hide the ends. 

Oh yeah, today is 10-10-10!  That's kind of fun, huh!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Some More

Here is some fun stuff I got while I was in Washington.  This super cute bag is made from recycled material.  It's my new lunch bag. 

Yes, this is cat food scented soap.  How gross would it be if I really used it?  I wonder if anyone would say anything?  I just thought it was really funny.  I haven't let my cats smell it yet.  I wonder if they will like it.
LOTS of owls from the antique mall!  I had to fight my aunt for some. I got a couple "new" enamel brooches too, but they were still in my shoes at the time of this photo.  And two doggy PBNs.  OH, and a really super neat vintage sunburst clock.  It was too big to bring back in my carry-on so my uncle is mailing it.  I hope it gets here soon - I can't wait!
My mom bought me this cute little vintage globe bank.
Some of my favorite souvenirs are free.  Ticket stubs, napkins, bar coasters... they will always remind me of my trip and the places I went and the sights I saw.
A picture I forgot to post last time.  SPRINKLE CAKE.  I don't remember what it was really called, but I wish we would have gotten one.  My aunt Theresa and I were crying sprinkle cake for the rest of the trip. Dang it. It just looks so awesome!

It was a pretty lazy weekend.  Trying to catch up on all the tv shows I missed, ugh.  And spending some much needed quality time with the kitties and pup.  Aaron and I had a movie date on Friday night.  We saw Catfish.  A documentary to remind you there are some creepy people out there.  Or just super bored.  

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Washington

I just got back from a lovely trip to Washington state.  Here are a few photos.  Mount Baker:
My Uncle Larry and Aunt Becky's beautiful home that they built:
The gorgeous view they wake up to every day.  How would you like this in your backyard?
I'm not sure, but I think I might be the first person to ever take a picture of this sign...
Downtown Vancouver:
Downtown Bellingham.  I was in heaven and hell at the same time.  The BEST antique mall I've ever been to.  Total overload.  $60 for a set of mid-century end tables?  What's that?  $195 for a set of four danish modern chairs?  Why did I have to fly? I did get a whole lotta other knick knacks that I was able to bring home though, so it wasn't all torture. 
And right across the street was a place called Rocket Donuts.  The most awesome donut shop I've ever seen, that's for sure! 

Sunlight filtering through a walking trail.
A waterfall that has claimed many a person.
And just because.
Aside from San Diego's loss to Seattle, it was a good trip.  Beautiful weather - and I come home to hot/muggy/rainy San Diego.  What happened to my city?  Can't I leave for five days? Apparently not.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Mid Century Magazines

I found a whole stack of vintage magazines at the swap meet this weekend.  The guy was selling them for .75 cents each.  FYI - that's only .25 cents more than they originally cost.  I can never get over how the overall design of the mid-century was so much better.  Maybe it's just novel to me because I'm not from that era.  But regardless, I love it, and it's very inspiring to me.  


Oh, how the life of a housewife could be excited by a refrigerator!   (But this wall cabinet refrigerator is actually pretty neat!)


Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Just Because

I took this picture this past weekend and I kind of really like it. Who knows why I like things.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Weekend Finds

The swap meet wasn't that great this weekend, but I did manage to find a couple of things.  We also visited the La Mesa Antique Mall.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It wasn't super over-priced like the antique mall in Ocean Beach.  There was a really loud, but nice man in the shop who Aaron and I fooled into thinking we could speak French.  That was kind of fun.  Anyway, I found this Scandinavian wall hanging.  I liked the colors and I just think Scandinavian art is really cool.
 
I also picked up a pretty collection of vintage thread.
I got two more brooches at the swap meet.  They seem to be harder to find now than they used to be...
And, last but not least, I found this recipe book: The New Joys of Jell-O.  It is from the seventies, so it has some fun pictures in it.  I'll share some later. I love that people used to show up for a party with a big jiggly Jell-O mold.  It has helpful tips and even a section on serving your Jell-O in style.  Luckily, I have a lot of my Grandma's serving dishes so I can be as authentic as possible.  I can't wait to try a new Jell-O dessert!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Wishy-washy

That's me.  Blogger to Wordpress and back to Blogger.  You know what - Wordpress just never felt right to me.  It was all wordy and sophisticated.  So thanks to blog2blog, I got all my posts moved back over to Blogger.  It's like I'm starting from scratch, but oh well.  I got a pretty new blog and I think I'm happy now and I'll stay here for a while.

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Prettiest Thing I Ever Did See



I made this amazing Jell-O mold for a family Labor Day bbq.  And let me tell you.  It was worth the four hours it took to make it.  I just can't get over its beauty.  I've been wanting to make one for a while because of its mid-century qualities, and then I saw this on my Craft Magazine Daily e-mail and I knew I had to make one, like, NOW.



Behold its stripey amazingness!



Want to make  a jello mold? Well, first you have to have patience.  Second you have to have 9 or 10 boxes of Jell-O.  Mix each box with 1 1/4 cup boiling water. Pour your first  layer in the bundt pan, stick it in the refrigerator, and wait 15 to 20 minutes.  Gently pour your next layer of room-temperature Jell-O on top of that.  Repeat with each layer.  Yes, you have to wait 15 minutes between each layer.  For the opaque layers, add 2 tbs sour cream; or 1 tbs if you want to split up a color (half regular/half opaque).

A couple of tips:  I was really worried about it getting stuck in the pan.  You're supposed to put it in a bowl of warm water for 10 seconds to loosen/melt the outer layer a bit.  Mine slipped right out, along with quite a bit of melted Jell-O. Oops!  I'd say maybe 5 to 10 seconds next time.  And you can see it pulling away from the edge of the pan, while it is in the bowl.  Another thing, don't make all your flavors at one time.  I'd say maybe three at a time, making your next batch with enough time to cool completely before you pour it on the previous layer.

Now I know better for next time ... and there will be a next time.  Oh, and it was delicious.  There's always room for Jell-O!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Before and After

Out with the old, in with the new.  I was getting tired of our damask wallpaper, as it didn't match anything else in our home.  I meant to decorate around it, but that didn't work out too well.  I still think it was super pretty, but it had to go.  I've always heard taking down wallpaper is a nightmare and I was happy we only had half a wall to de-wallpaper.  But it actually wasn't so bad.  We just sprayed some wallpaper remover stuff on there, waited 15 minutes and peeled away.  Sure, there are a few spots on the wall that have a little extra texture now, but it's a textured wall anyway so you can't really tell.  This picture was taken after Aaron ripped off the chair rail and we peeled back a little wallpaper just to see what it was like.

We painted a pretty new color ("aqua bay"), added some paintings, and presto change-o, dining room makeover.  We finally put up our paint by number paintings.  There was some debate (mostly with myself) about the framing of the paintings.  I thought all the different frames would be cute and eclectic - but then again, our home isn't really the most eclectic place.  In the end I decided the paintings themselves were kitschy enough and stuck with the same black frames that house every other picture on our walls.  Gotta keep it consistent girl.  We have a few more paintings to frame, and lots of wall space to expand.  Now that I can compare the before and after, I think the damask looked a little boring.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Fan Love

How awesome and beautiful is my "new" vintage fan?  We found it at the swap meet and Aaron was wonderful enough to snatch it up for me for only $25.  It's in super good condition and it works too!  It's small and I love the color; it's perfect.  The color is inspiring us.  We might paint our newly de-wallpapered dining room wall the same color.  I also got an enamel brooch that is in perfect condition and Aaron got another camera, of course, to add to his ever-growing collection.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Quilt? Check.

Sunday was a good day for a catnap.

Or an afternoon dognap.

It's light and pretty and kinda kitschy.  I love it.