gingham walls, update.

so do you remember, way back when, me saying i was going to paint our vestibule gingham?  it's finally happened.  there was a lot of thinking and researching and painting and repainting.  and after, um, ten coats of paint i think we've got it, and more importantly, i think we LOVE it.  we are toying with the idea of taking the almost black down to the light grey, to be actual gingham, but i'm not sure.  thoughts? 

also, fucking gingham painted walls.  i cannot tell you what a hassle they were.  i mean, seriously.  at first i was certain that one made such a pattern by adding glaze to half of your paint and then subtly layer one coat over the next.  boy was that WRONG.  it turns out that if you use glaze you get this horrible consistency that shows every last brush stroke.  it took four coats of the glazed black paint to start looking decent, and at that point it was no longer a glaze.  it was a straight up solid - waste of time.  

but then, it was magic, while eating with our friends (at their new and beyond wonderful eating establishment, bell street farm, in los alamos) one of them let me in on a little secret.  a little secret that made me want to bang my head on the most perfect farm house table.  that layering technique is really just a third, or in our case fourth, color.  so simple, so smart, so easy.   i'm such an idiot.  

why don't we have two of these?

we tend to live in small places in small towns.  we don't like for things to get too big, it leaves too much to clean and too much that is never lived in.  so, what is the point?  that being said we also have four bikes between us, and if i had it my way it would be at least five*.  anyhow they all live out in the shed because we have nowhere inside to put them.  that could change.  our pretty bikes could be hanging on our walls under our pretty books or pretty flowers or pretty sculptures.  i like this very much. 

*two mountain bikes, two road bikes and i long for one of those cruisers everyone is talking about these days, unfortunately our small towns are not very bike lifestyle friendly.  they tend to be 20 miles from the grocery or in the south where people seem to want to kill you (just don't see you) if you are exercising in public.

{bike shelf by knife & saw via cool hunting}

haircut.

i need one, badly. it really is unfortunate that i'm on the opposite coast as my hair-cutter for the foreseeable future. that should change, like now.

{image by sandra freij via lund lund}

the 48 dollar dress.

it's turning back into summer. over night our lovely, moderately humid, not very hot weather has disappeared and i've once again shelved my jeans. so now, in august, i'm toying with the idea of adding a slew of light airy dresses to the wardrobe because darlings, i just can't take it any more.

{48 dollar dresses all from need supply co. and ok the last one is 52 dollars, but that is close enough, no? 1, 2, 3, 4}

dear summer ... go away.

i've tried to be quiet, to keep my mouth shut because the west coast is in some sort of extended winter these days, but i just can't take it anymore. the summers in the south suck. 100 degrees with a heat index of something ridiculous like 115 due to this shit humidity, thanks but no thanks. i want shades of grey and sweaters and HOT CHOCOLATE. i also want to be able to walk outside without immediately wanting to throw up or rip my skin off.

{the clothing i want to be wearing by claer via notcouture}

pretty pictures of cevd.

yeah, i know i swooning madly over here. to see the rest of the shoot that goes along with the save the date swing on by once wed.

{image by jose villa}

and here we go again.

it was bound to happen i suppose. i couldn't live an entire county away from my one and only little outpost. so, yes, i've another shop ... really a studio ... i'm not selling anything but custom paper goods here as it is solely appointment only.


so, if you were to swing by west asheville (508 haywood rd to be exact) you would see that inside the bloom room there is quite a bit of beautiful paper goodness. that is right i've teamed up with stacey who is simply amazing (and no, not just because she did the flowers for our wedding). there will be a party early summer to celebrate but for now asheville brides and paper people call/email/stop by to make an appointment.

{i'm very excited about this}

cows.

today i am missing the cows we used to see every day. they used to eat our grass and let us know that it was time to wake up (even if we didn't want to).

today i am happy that we have the most perfect spot for a perfect garden that will be perfect for growing scrumptious tomatoes.

{image}

could it be?

last week esb and i were walking about venice when we came across some amazing shoes that we couldn't really afford (they are still making appearances in my dreams). it took us a few long minutes to pry ourselves away from the goodness, but eventually we just had to leave, we were drooling, it was bad. anyway after soothing our pain with hot chocolate and cheesy twisty bread we headed south (by foot) and into steven alan annex. DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE FOUND THERE?

yup, that's right. we found keds. we also found a charming young man who gave an affirmative response to esb's question ... "are keds the new bensimon's?" i'm not sure i agree, but i do find myself putting them on the summer shoe list (after my gold toms but before a replacement pair of chucks...).

it's been a good week.

between the food and the weather and the shop and the playing with fancy hair things, i would say, maybe i don't want to leave?

so yeah, i ate my way through california

and it was WONDERFUL. more to come once i've settled back in to my v. disorganized north carolina life. much, much, much, more to come.

{image taken at babycakes ... in la}