Gold & White Wonderland

One of my very favorite color combinations is gold & white, whether it's this fantastic rug at the home of Catherine Sheppard, this elegant DIY wallpaper in the home of Rebekka Seale or this pretty vanity vignette featured on Cupcakes and Cashmere.

Something about this pairing makes me go gaga, and of course, I'm seeing a lot of it this time of year. In case you have the GW bug like I do, I thought I'd gather a collection of stand-out gold & white items found on Etsy (including something from my own little shop)...

Enjoy!

this pretty vintage soap holder from Summer Holiday Vintage, great for holding small jewelry 

these retro mugs from my shop, The Lucky Find Vintage, perfect for a cup of hot chocolate 

this elegant paper wreath by Tara Alexander Designs, beautiful for a winter wedding 

this stunning gold and amethyst ring by Illuminance Jewelry, that would look great on my finger ;)

this delicate paper mache bowl by Etco ... just for sitting there and looking good

this funky moose by White Faux Taxidermy - you'll need nothin' else on the walls!

Is this gold & white color combination something that you gravitate toward as well?

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He's Heeeeeere!

Jonathan. Adler. Has. Come. To. Portland!!!!!!!

He had me at "minimalism is a bummer." So when I was driving with my mom through Portland's Pearl District last Thursday, I almost crashed my car when I saw the kids from The Real World the glowing blue words "Jonathan Adler" at the corner of NW 12th and Everett. Whimsical humor, playful color and thoughtful details are my favorite kind of heaven and this store brings it by the derriere loads. I totally melted. But instead of going on and on about how amazing this place is (my mom heard enough for everyone), I'll let the photos I obsessively snapped speak for themselves. Here is a look inside the brand-new Jonathan Adler store in Portland, Oregon...

Are you a Jonathan Adler fan? Do you have one of his delightful stores in your neck of the woods?

awesome art that won't break yo bank!

For a while now I've been wanting to share a few of the artists I've fallen in love with as I've slowly started gathering pieces of art for the awkwardly blank wall above my bar table. It's a gradual process, but I finally feel like my money's going to something better than random things I don't need from Target or fedoras from Gilt Groupe that don't even end up fitting - final sale in fine print. (It was some kind of weird day when I thought a fedora was my style. Blessing in disguise.) Anyway, thanks to the wonderful world wide web, finding awesome art on the cheap has kind of fallen into my lap.

And there's really been no better time to do this post than now, because last Friday I received this super pretty watercolor print by the talented Laura Trevey of Bright Bold and Beautiful in the mail. This is the kind of art that makes me so happy to be a girl. It's elegant, colorful, and fun and has lotsa pink. The best part is that I actually won the print through a giveaway on Laura's blog, and included with it was a hot pink shade of Essie nail polish! Total score - thank you Laura! I can't wait to get this lovely piece of art framed and hung on the wall.


And some of the other artists I'm so happy to have discovered...

Alexandra Valenti Photography. (You may have heard me talk about this talented gem before.) After flipping out over Alexandra's work featured on Design*Sponge, I immediately purchased her "Rope Swing" print and began following her professional page on Facebook (slightly obsessed). I now find myself falling head over heels for every new photo series of hers that pops up on my minifeed. Girl does not disappoint! Her mysterious, bohemian, black and white portraits are shot in the most interesting locations, and the colorful "painting" on top makes them especially unique. Truly stunning stuff.

Another discovery via Design*Sponge (I'm soooo original), I found the perfect piece of modern art for my collection in "thepairabirds" work on Etsy. I was struck by their geometric designs of faceted gemstones created with colorful woodgrain. Funky right? I chose the amethyst print because it's my birthstone and I'm sentimental like that. I do hope to get a few more of the gemstones in the future - if I don't have them on my fingers, I want them on my wall!

And last but not least, an Ideal Bookshelf print by Jane Mount was another instant (midnight) purchase (for a baby gift!) after I stumbled upon some of her wonderful work featured in a Camille Styles post. Does seeing that top photo give you a really big smile like it gave me? Quite simply, she paints collections of books that one might find on any old bookshelf - everything from Goodnight Moon to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (however I did not see Fifty Shades of Grey so calm down). I got way too excited when I saw the bookshelf above - The Brothers K? My favorite book, and very few people have read it. I highly recommend it. If you are one of those cool people who has read it, you better leave a comment below.     ;)

Have you discovered any artwork that you couldn't live without on the web? 

fyi: all images are from the artists' websites 

Favorite Things: In My Apartment

In an effort to incorporate more of my own home's decor and design into this blog, this post is all about some of my favorite things currently out and about in my apartment. Since I've been into decor for a long time, and am the type to feel at home when surrounded by lots of clutter unusual/beautiful things, it was difficult to narrow it down to this little group. So in an effort to keep it interesting (okay actually that was never a thought in my head, it just turned out this way), all things are pre-owned, living, or once living. Yup, it's about to get weird.

We'll start off with something pretty: this Scandinavian floral kilim is the first thing I step onto in the morning as I zombie-walk my way out of bed. It was a very lucky find at an estate sale in NW Portland, and since this purchase I've been convinced that when I go estate saleing I'm in fact a modern day treasure hunter. (Career counselors recommend you revisit the interests you had as a kid, in order to discover your "dream job" as an adult. I remember getting a metal detector for Christmas when I was about 9, and I was stoked. No sarcasm. So this whole thing makes sense.) I'm obsessed with the colors in this rug, and the man who sold it to me said all of the flowers are local to the region it was made. Who knows if that's true, but I'm choosing to believe it. 

 And... guess what that is. Just guess. No, not the sunglasses, the thing that they're sitting in. Yes... it's a bone. An ostrich chest bone. Cool huh!? I blame my mom for raising me to think this is normal. See, this is what happens when you spend your weekends as a kid at your grandparents' farm and one of the most looked-forward to and encouraged activities is "hunting for cow bones" in the brush. Bonus points if you find a skull and it still has all of its teeth. So when my girl scout troop went on a weekend retreat to "the farm," you bet that was one of the activities on the schedule. That's Texas, y'all. Sunglasses from Nordstrom BP and Forever 21, beaded wrap bracelet from Ten Thousand Villages, coins from the bottom of my purse.

This is my little piñata friend (omg I just realized he doesn't have a name! not okay) that I found at a vintage shop here in Portland. "How has he survived all these years?" is my question. I love how he's neon colored, and he's Mexican so, duh, I like him. Plus there's that whole 4th grade birthday party vibe he brings to my apartment - I don't like to take things too seriously with my decor. (See above) Peter Max print from ebay, maracas from the Round Top antique festival, and Design Sponge and Decorate decor books from anywhere you can buy a book.

This vintage set of mirrored fuschia roly-poly tumblers is something I was very happy to stumble upon at the Etsy shop Relevant Vintage. So far I've made all of my friends drink out of the blue Ikea glasses instead, but one day I might let them hold the pink ones. When they're pregnant and drinking mocktails. Silver beaded mat from Pier 1 Imports, the Vintage Cocktails book in the background was a Christmas gift from my sister. 

And this is a gastropod fossil that I bought from a man in Texas who was like, 127 years old, and he said he'd been collecting them from the Red River since he was a little boy. Of course, I got all sentimental on him and ended up buying a few. I love this kinda thing. Rocks, fossils, shells, crystals ... bones apparently. I could totally be a witch. I'm not into taxidermy though - I will make that clear! And... since I'm honest on this blog... I've never been able to get past like, page 10 of Catch-22. I've tried three times and I just can't do it. Way too many unpronounceable characters.

Finally, we end with something living (always best to leave on a good note). This is a staghorn fern that I call Staghorn (I swear I'm creative I just felt weird naming a plant anything that seemed like I actually thought about it), and although he doesn't get a cool name I still show him love by talking to him like he's my pet. Yes, there is a special voice. I purchased him from Pistils Nursery after deciding I needed some kind of houseplant, and since my mom has always had staghorns (except they were in the backyard, massive, and hanging from giant oak trees) I thought I should get one after learning they do okay indoors. Hopefully he'll have a long and happy life. Ignore that ugly, brown area. I googled it and it's totally normal.

What are some of your favorite things in your home?

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estate salein'

This past Saturday I went estate saleing for the first time in a long time. I'm the type of person who always gets a little nervous before these sorts of things, so it was kind of an "event." If you've never been to an estate sale before, it often generates the same feeling you get when you are stuck with the job of hawking down a table at a super-trendy (and therefore super-crowded) happy hour spot for seven of your friends, and all of them have texted you saying they're stuck in traffic or can't find parking. Jerks. Disclaimer: I am the girl that was informed by a random observer that I looked terrified as I took on this task at a popular happy hour spot in downtown Portland, but they swore to me that they cheered amongst themselves when I finally managed to nab a table. Mortifying. At least now I make extra effort to not look like a total weirdo when in public. Playin' it cool... just playin' it cool...

But what if you end up scoring that giant table by the window? It's all worth it. Similarly, there's nothing like that rush of anxiously waiting in line with dozens of people who seem to know what they're doing way more than you do, having your name called from the list, and then scurrying around this house full of stuff, trying to find that treasure with your name on it before someone beats you to it. Phew.

Luckily, Saturday's estate sales were pretty fun and relaxed. Everyone was friendly (I may have waved goodbye to some people), the weather was perfect (sun's out in Portland!), and although I was always about the thirtieth person in line, I came away with three purchases that I'm happy about...

Do you ever make estate sales (or its cheap little sister, garage sales) a part of your weekend plans?

Hipster Holidays

Today my friend Hannah and I checked out the The Portland Bazaar holiday artisan fair, put on by a few wonderful people of Design Sponge, Antler & Co., and Wood and Faulk. It turned out to be the hipster holiday shopping event of 2011, in a really great way. While I'm too all over the place style-wise to be a hipster (I like sparkles and french manicures way too much.), I am inspired by the look most of the time. Especially when it comes to home decor and little handmade goods.

I attempted to capture the event on my iphone (and, so as always, sorry for the crappy photo quality):

I got a delicious Matcha Latte from Sip.

                                                                                                                                           

                                     

                

And some of my favorite companies/goods up close:

from Grove




from Haunt

from Heartwood




from Summerland




from Sketchbook 

from SSOS

from Shwood

from Between Wind + Water