Accessorize Your Space

I have a friend who is looking to spruce up her place a bit.  She has the basics - a neutral color sofa, dark brown coffee table and media storage console, hardwood floor, etc.  But she needs to accessorize her place to make it look a bit lighter, modern, young, and more personalized.  Here are some things I came up with.   I kinda want all of these in my living room instead of hers now! 

a. (I have this and it's really cute.)  b. c. d. e. (I love this rug!!)  f. g. 

Election Art

So how 'bout it?! Another presidential election behind us.  I could not take my eyes off the tv screen last night until the final result was announced. If you are wondering, I am a VERY happy citizen this morning 

In honor and celebration of our right to vote, I want to share the following designs I found on the American Institute of Graphic Arts ("AIGA"). It looks like AIGA held an election art/design contest!  Aren't these so cool?

a. b. c. d. e. f.  

Cute & Posh

I am now in a full countdown mode to my favorite holidays of the year:  Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I always have a couple of work parties to go to, so I'm already thinking about what to wear.  Here are some cute & posh accessories that can easily match any of your LBD or LRD. 

a. b. c. d. e. f. 

p.s. Excuse the prices on some of these - I took another online "window shopping" to Barneys.  

Monday Stuff

Good Monday friends! Hope you had a wonderful weekend~

I had a really fun weekend visiting my friends, N & G at their lovely home in West Chester.  I baked the squash, potato and goat cheese gratin I mentioned here last Friday for dinner.  It was truly one of the easiest dishes I've ever made and luckily, everyone really liked it.  I did have one issue with the dish - I don't have a mandolin - I'm scared of using one because I've heard so much about people slicing their fingers. So, I ended up cutting every single slice of the squash and potato in this dish. Yeah, that took some patience and time.  This is how the dish came out. If I may say so myself, I was very pleased with the presentation and taste.  

I also got to do a lot of cleaning up around the house and took pictures of the goodies I picked up from Marshalls last week (see here).   

A little bird dish on my night table.

I love owls and this one sits on top of a small armoire in our bedroom.

A new shower curtain.  This trellis patterned one is PERFECT for what is otherwise a pretty bare bathroom.

I also purchased something... to be revealed later this week. Hehe. 

There you have it - a little pictorial summary of my weekend! Oh - btw, don't forget to turn your clock backward an hour if you haven't done so already. An extra hour of sleep is something I'd never want to lose!   

Saturday Random Message - Girl Power

I came across this video of Madeleine Albright. I actually met her once in person, of all places, at a spa.  

I have always admired Madeleine Albright and this video makes me like her even more.  This video also confirms that there's still that old traditional sexism remaining in today's society.  Girls, let's stay strong, stay true to our voices, which are unique and diverse, and support each other!  OK - I'm getting of my soapbox!   

TGIF - Whatcha Up To?

TGIF!  This weekend, Randy and I are going to take it easy. Stay local, get a good long run in, and just rest up a bit for another month ahead of us.  We are also going to visit a couple we haven't met up in awhile. They have a lovely home about 25 minutes from our place and we will get to see it for the first time. Sometimes I get tired of choosing a restaurant.  So, it's very refreshing for us to be invited to a home and forego dining out.  I am planning on making this down-home comforting dish for the dinner: 

  
The recipe is seriously simple.  Check out this short list of ingredients: 

2 medium yellow squash, about 1/2 pound
4 small to medium red potatoes, about 1 pound
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces goat cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon thinly sliced basil or thyme leaves

I cannot wait to see how this turns out!  

After the dinner, I want to go to sleep listening to this: 

(See Elephantine for one of my favorite pieces to play). 

Have a great weekend, friends!!

Thursday Art - Jeff Koons

Hi friends~sorry for the radio silence yesterday.  I was off from work again due to the storm and ended up spending the day doing things around the house and finally getting my phone working again.  Yeah, my old Droid gave up on me on Saturday night.  Luckily, I inherited my dad's Iphone4, so guess what I was doing for a couple of hours?  Off to Verizon, transferring the data from my old to new phone (I am finally an Iphone owner and man, do I love this phone!  I now see what all the hoopla & hype was about!)  Instead of waiting in the store, I broke my cabin fever by going to the Marshalls around the corner.  And did I walk out of there with some amazing goodies or what!! I haven't been to Marshalls in ages and they had some really amazing bargains. 

So, did you miss my Wednesday Art? Here it is, a day late (sorry!) - I present to you Jeff Koons.  Until I started doing  the research, I did not know that he was a PA native.  Yup, from York, PA. Who is he?  He's the artist who makes those HUGE ballon puppies, flowers, and a giant heart.  

   
People either LOVE or HATE Koons work.  Actually, that's not true. I don't LOVE or HATE his work, I'm just seriously amused. I find it incredible that Koons' work, in essence stem from a very simple and childlike concept of gigantifying (yup, just made this word up!) easy cutout objects such as hearts, puppies, and flowers.  But these huge installations lead our eyes to wonder aimlessly, and the reflections created by all angles of the objects themselves also capture our eyes and thoughts.  And the colors of Koons work are always bright and brilliant, enhanced by the magnification of the objects.  Who doesn't love a big suspended inflatable heart? Or a building size topiary of a Westie?  I am of course, biased as I have two adorable Westies! As inflatable and weightless as they seem, these objects are made out of chromium stainless steel and rather heavy (see here for more pictures and descriptions). 

Like many artists, Koons has his share of controversies (lawsuits, critics, a disgruntled ex-assistant, etc.).  And his personal life is, um, pretty wild - he was once married to a Hungarian-born naturalized Italian pornography star, Cicciolina (Ilona Staller). Yep. No commment.

Koons remains one of the most marketable living U.S.artists ever.  In 2008, his balloon flower (in magenta) was sold for a cool $25.7 mil. Now, why did our parents discourage us from becoming an artist??!!  Happy Thursday - we are one day closer to TGIF. 

(Sources:  here; here; here)

p.s. A little update on how people are doing here in the Philly area post Storm Sandy - While I went totally unscathed, a lot of my friends and colleagues are still without power and dealing with damages to their homes and cars. So, please keep sending your positive thoughts and prayers to the east coast folks affected by the storm~