1 month Blog hiatus... OVER! & my #febphotoaday challenge

It started by me being busy, then manifested into days and days going by with no posts. So about halfway through the month, I decided to keep going with my non-posting. It was kinda refreshing and I feel like I am a little more inspired. You could however, have found me over on Instagram everyday because I was doing the #febphotoaday challenge (via FatMumSlim). So, here you go. Here is my month of February in 29 photos.

Above going clockwise from top left: 1: Your view today-Oak Cliff; 2: words- White Rock Lake; 3: Hands- HID; 4: A "fabulous" stranger

clockwise from top left:: 5: 10 am; 6: dinner; 7: button; 8: sun- downtown Dallas

clockwise from top left:: 9: front door; 10: self portrait; 11: something that makes you happy-Buddy; 12: inside your closet

 clockwise from top left:: 13: blue; 14: heart; 15: phone; 16: something new

 clockwise from top left:: 17: time- party "time"!; 18: drink; 19: something I hate to do- dishes; 20: something I ate

 clockwise from top left:: 21: a fave photo of me- and Callie; 22: where I work; 23: my shoes; 24:inside my bathroom closet

top left:: 25: green; bottom left 26: night;  top middle: 27: something I ate; top right 28: money; bottom left 29:  something I am listening to- fans at the Stars game

There you go! I promise March will be better. AND I am so looking forward to The Texas Style Council in Austin next weekend!! woot!

Ever wonder what we mean when we say "market"?

Well I break it down for my girl Lisa for Bleep Magazine. Starts on page 79. Check it out!

Interior use of concrete block

We had lunch at Alma in downtown Atlanta today and i couldn't stop staring at this amazing collection of patterned Concrete block. Clearly I have an obsession

Home Improvement: Starring the Davis crew!

My Dad (Robin), brother (Keynan) and Mom (Sharon) came into town last friday and man, when I rattle off the list that these fabulous home improvement mavens (my family!!) did, your jaw will drop. Are you ready??

• Hung a chandelier over our dining table
• Helped me hang the "together" pendant
• Repaired BOTH umbrellas that the wind broke
• Ripped out an unsightly (and unsuable) light post in the front yard and replaced it with an outdoor outlet on our carport
• Added an outlet on the kitchen island
• Cleaned our gutters
• Organized 3 of our closets
• BUILT TWO 6' outdoor tables
• Cut down a tree and made it into a bench
• Installed lighting in our garage

Jaw dropped yet?? So, what did I do to deserve this awesome treatment?!?!
I HAVE NO IDEA.
They are just that awesome and I can not tell you how grateful I am to them. :)
Have a Happy Weekend! I am headed off to China tomorrow.

Together... and a cool DIY lamp

 

Ben and my Mom did a pretty fun craft together yesterday.  A wooden veneer light fixture spotted originally over on Poppytalk. I just sat back and watched the cooperation between these two. It was a great moment, given the first time my Mom met Ben 4 years ago, she said: "so Ben, what skills do you have to bring to the table?" It has been a running joke ever since. Needless to say, she cut him some slack and I love the lamp that they made!!

Together!!

Photoshoot fun

Day 4 on location of photoshoot for our 2012 catalog and we are getting a lot done! From top going clockwise: Daniel with one of our new ceramic plates, Seth having a Katniss Hunger Games moment, Gregg polishing up a hurricane for a shot and Erin removing our new friend Alfred to set up a new shot.
Stay tuned tomorrow for a few excellent recipes Frederick has been making while we are on location!

A reupholstery project

My mom is in town next week, and I am super excited for some QT. One of the things we are going to do while she is here, is reupholster a chair from my grandmother. My mom taught me how to upholster about 7 years ago and since then I have done a few smaller things, including this project on D*S

So, I was challenged to get the whole chair stripped, numbered, photographed and painted (I am allowed to paint this one albeit an heirloom) so Sharon can ride in and help me with the easy part. I literally stabbed myself with the screwdriver tonight trying to get the staples out.

And since I am documenting this photographically step by step, I will post a DIY guide when I am finished. :)

Oh and here is the fabric I am using:

Wallpaper

I've made the decision to wallpaper our guest room/office. Now to narrow it down...

The top runners are from Lucy Rose by Miss Print.

I definitely want yellow. Which brought me to this Saplings print:



With the front runner being Muscat:


I also really liked this Karim Rashid Embossed paper:



What do ya think?

I wish I lived in LA... and a great Philosophy

Emily Henderson had an awesome source guide on her Blog today... but it is all in LA. Soooo if you are there, check out her awesome list.
BUT:
My favorite thing about her post was her philosophy on sharing sources. It's genius and something that I believe as well. In fact, I just had this conversation with Sam the other day.

Here it is:

"A lot of people are secretive with their sources, but when it comes to mainly vintage the more business they do the more they can buy, its not like they will run out of vintage, they will just be able to turn over more, and charge less.  And its a recession people.  A lot of these stores have suffered, so the more you help them the better. Let's put good design in the hands of the people.  It's like i want to be the Trader Joe's of design." 

Agree? Disagree?

You know I love a good 50's throwback

And this month's Covet Garden will do the trick.

 And this Hepburn Chaise is the icing on the cake.

Yellow

Yellow is obviously making me happy right now, as I have posted here, here and here. To add to the yellow obssesion I picked up these tulips this morning.  And if you want more... my friend Kelley sent me this link to a pretty fun Blog: {BlackWhiteYellow}. Have a good Saturday!

Mod Monday- South Beach Inspiration

Have you seen the new TRADHome yet?! If you have, then you have already seen the awesomeness of the Lords hotel in South Beach. It is bright and colorful and slightly kitschy with a bit of humor and class...... and it is the color scheme of our house. So, as I was going to scrap and save and get some groovy new wallpaper for our office/guest room, I am instead using Lord's as my inspiration.

SUPER WIDE YELLOW CABANA STRIPES... enter here. It's going to take a bit of math, and a super long level. But friends, since the fence is done(!!!!) I am on to my next challenge.

**both images from TRADHome**

Love my 2 new pieces of Art!!

I bought some art last weekend that just got hung. I picked up the little Marfa watertower painting at the White Rock Local Market. It is by S H E D P R I N T S T U D I O.  Then after our Thrift adventure wrapped up, Callie, Sandra and I went by the Belmont to Check out The Suite Art Fair. There were some pretty AWESOME things there. I walked away with a "Let the Sunshine in" print from We Are 1976.
That print, may or may not have spawned the inspiration for the yellow door. Just sayin...

How's this for a map in our Library?

Or the Library is the map. I have been looking for a non-cheesy map for our office space. This one from LIBRISSIME is custom, but would fit the ticket! Spotted in Interiors magazine. It is pretty kick-ass! want.

Opposite House and Sanlitun

One of the more "westernized" areas of Beijing is Sanlitun. It has some really neat architecture, lots of high end shops and restaurants and a few hotels. It has one of the coolest boutique hotels that I have ever seen... the Opposite House. We had lunch there a couple times. It is the green building above. The inside has a very modern museum feel to it and there is no reception desk... someone walks up to you with an iPad to check you in.

Green T. House

The other night, we went to this SPECTACULAR restaurant called the Green T. House. The interior was all black and white, stark, clean, and very beautifully sculptural. There is one long table down the center. We sat at the end where it "T"ed (was perpendicular) to another table (the one with the black deer. The food was amazingly presented for each course and the grand finally was when they brought out the dessert of 2 ice creams piled up with a giant stick coming out with a silk butterfly (it almost knocked Gregg in the head). I couldn't get a photo because they asked me to put away my camera (and iPhone) at the beginning of the meal. If you are ever in Beijing… put this on your list.

Ps… this whole no FB, twitter thing really is no fun. Please email me friends!! Xoxo e

Dragon Fruit

I could make a whole room with the color scheme of my breakfast this morning. I love the hot pink and black and white of the dragonfruit, then with a splash of arrange an pink of the grapefruit would make a very cheerful room.

Tip of the ACEberg

We had dinner tonight at The Breslin @the ACE hotel in NYC. And let me tell ya, once I got past the initial shock of bone marrow and pigs feet being on the menu, I thoroughly enjoyed my seafood sausage and gin and Lavender cocktail.
The vibe was very cool, and I wanted to stay all night and hang out in the happening hotel lobby. It had a fun Hogwarts feel to it all with books and beakers, but a lot more funky with a DJ spinning and graffiti on the wall. So, Harry Potter meets NY subway in Manchester, yes, that about sums it up! The food at the Breslin was seriously delicious.
If this is the awesomeness of just a couple hours spent... it is the tip of the ACEberg, I want to stay in one of the rooms to complete the experience. I bet they are pretty rad too.

**please excuse my corny-references** thanks.

How you (we) Dwell!

I was pretty excited this morning to get an email, that our bedroom was put on the DwellStudio Blog! They spotted me on our Apartment Therapy house tour. The Dwell girls always have the best stuff!!

Killer light fixture

Aside from this killer light fixture, this is a pretty awesome issue of Interior Design. But back to the light fixture... I am scheming a way to make it for over our dining room table. A little DIY... if you will. But a rectangular version. Let me know if you have any bright ideas!