Moving Up in the World

It's Mooonnndaaaay! I hope everyone had a great weekend despite it probably going by way too fast. I finally got to see Silver Linings Playbook and went to a new Portland bar called The Tannery which was really cool. I also had one of these. :) The biggest event for me, however, was purchasing my first TV ever!  Now I don't have to watch all of my Netflix shows (currently House of Cards) on my little laptop... very exciting. So, I flipped my bookcase on its side, reorganized my books and then put the new TV on top. And I found myself a little overwhelmed. 

It's kind of weird how a television, especially a large one, can become such a presence in a room; just a Giant Black Rectangle hangin' out and stealing the show. Maybe it's because I'm not used to having one and I'm not someone who fawns over the "beauty" of technology, but I just want to hang a pretty textile over it or something when I'm not using it. Am I crazy? Perhaps.

I spent Sunday using things I already have to decorate my bookcase in an attempt to soften up the Giant Black Rectangle. It is a work in progress considering the artwork is hung with no thought whatsoever (the hooks were in the wall when I moved in) and those green ginger jars in front of the screen aren't in a practical location. But that's what I've got so far, and I like it way better than when I started.

Another thing I'm excited about? My sofa is arriving this week! But more to come on that later...

How was your weekend? Did you work on any projects at home?

I like old things

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I'm a little bit crazy for old things (antique, retro, that dusty stuff in your grandparents' garage) and like decorating my apartment with the eclectic "treasures" I've snagged at flea markets and antique fairs. I am unable to go home next month for my favorite thing in the whole entire world because of work commitments, so I convinced my mom to make a trip out to Oregon (two weeks ago) for the next best thing: the Coburg Antique Fair. The shopkeeper at one of my favorite Portland antique shops, Madison Park, insisted that we sign up for the early bird opening to scavenge for steals with the big dogs before the fair officially started. But this would have involved leaving the house at 3 am and wearing headlights to sort through piles of stuff in the dark so my mom and I decided to leave that amount of hardcorocity to the pros.

We did, however, drive two hours from Portland to Coburg and then walked for seven straight hours from antique booth to antique booth looking at everything from old Civil War rifles to Victorian hat pins to Roseville pottery. Twice we called it a day and went back to the car, started driving away and then decided to pull over and shop a little more. The apple does not fall far from the tree. In the end, I came away with a pretty set of silver plated serving utensils, an antique card table, some colorful vintage table cloths and a 1950s baby pink Sunbeam mixer.

Overall it was an incredible day and I'm so glad my mom was there to enjoy it as well. The pictures below were taken at a variety of booths at the fair, and although I've enjoyed fawning over them every night since I took them like a schoolgirl in love, I totally understand how to some people it just looks like old junk. I get it, I get it and I don't judge - it just means more for me! The last picture, however,  is the Sunbeam mixer I came home with and I think everyone can agree it's pretty dang cute.

Thanks for checking out my photos! 
What interests do you share with your mom or close family member?

Girl Talk

my own girly vignette

This post is pretty simple but I'm especially excited about it; it's a photo collection (from a variety of sources) of my favorite super-girly vignettes, composed of makeup, perfume, flowers, accessories, and the like - the kind of arrangements I love to just stare at. Okay wait, that sounds kinda ridic (unless we're decor soul mates - in that case we need to chat!) so please let me explain...

I'm not a crazy girly girl. Sure, I wear makeup and I get my hair done, but I swear I always volunteer to deal with scary, probably-black-widow spiders and I have my very own Black & Decker power drill (5.2 Amps).  Okay, okay, truth be told: the drill is most often used for annoying Ikea furniture that I end up going rogue on during the assembly process, but I really want to see that new movie Prometheus. That counts for something, doesn't it?

My point is, I think that everyone can value the beauty of these vignettes because they embody classic femininity in such a striking way. And don't men and women both have an affinity for the female essence? The objects themselves give us a feeling of sensual sentimentality and the colors, sparkle, and placement create something that's "easy on the eyes."  What's not to love? 

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Do you have something especially girly (or manly!) in your own home that you really love?