Moving Day!

Today Ben, Berlin and I are moving...although it is only down 2 flights of stairs it is still a big deal. Wish us luck! (Hoping for interior photos in the next few days/weeks).


Berlin checking out our new entrance.

Paint Colors

Today is the day we get the keys to our new loft. I am sad to be leaving our loft of 2.5 years but I am excited about this new place for making our life easier with Berlin and mostly because I get to re-decorate! Always my favorite part about moving.

I am lucky to be married to a man who trusts my design taste...that being said I am painting the wall in our living room a bright magenta (pink:) and painting gray in the dinning room. Most of our walls are brick so these are just accent walls. I can't wait to see the finished walls..hoping it looks as good as it does in my head!


Picking a pink for the living room.


What we ended up with; Shining Armor and Cerise from Olympic.


I had so many beautiful swatches so I decided to make Valentine's decor instead of tossing them.

Favorite Four

It's rainy and balmy 61 deg here in Philly today. The best part about the rain is I get to wear my new Violet Hunters...one of my more recent favorite things. Today I am posting my four favorite things from this week. (clock wise from top left) 1)New earrings from Charming Charlie. 2)The first official winter snow fall here in Philly...Berlin wasn't to sure about it though. 3)Girl Scout cookie season is here...YUM! Thanks for checking in...see you Monday! 4)Ben's new espresso maker...because he makes me mochas quite often now.

The Pashmina

In January 2001, while traveling in Greece, I was introduced to the pashmina (knock off). My tour guide was wearing this beautiful scarf that was always tied in a fun new way. And that is where I bought my first pashmina...soon to start a small obsession. From then on every time I visited Europe I would buy a few. Now living only 90 minutes from NYC, and frequently visiting the city, I buy a pashmina almost every visit. So you can imagine I have quite a collection! My favorite part of this small obsession is that it is a reasonably priced accessory that will spice up any outfit from jeans and a t-shirt to a dress. When buying these I never pay over $5 a scarf and often you can get 5 for $20 in NYC !


Some of my collection.


Buying pashminas in NYC (with my friend Charis:).


A few ways to wear one.

Costume Jewelry

On a daily basis I enjoy wearing a little bling...mostly just costume jewelry. One of my favorite places to get costume jewelry is Forever 21. The inventory is constantly changing and you can get some really fun pieces for great prices ($1.50 - $8 on average:) Here are a few pics of some of my favorite pieces. If you are into costume jewelry I urge you to check them out here...happy shopping!

Sofa Search

With our move next week we have decided to get rid of our hand-me-down sofas and get a new one with some Christmas money. We were hoping to get a grey sofa for under a $1000...not the easiest task. The front runner is the Urban Outfitters Ava Tufted Sleeper Sofa in Charcoal but it is on pre-order until April! I don't think we will be able to live without seating for 3 months. So we are looking into one of these other great options. See sofa details below.



1) Urban Outfitters Ava Tufted Sleeper Sofa $699 2) Rockford Sofa $999 3) Benny Sofa $999 4)Adams Sofa $999 5)KARLSTAD Loveseat and Chaise Lounge $978

Our Loft

Happy Monday! Next week my husband, dog (Berlin) and I will be moving to another loft in our building. We will be on the first floor, so much easier with Berlin, and we will be saving money without losing too much space so we thought why not move. Here are a few pics of what we have done with the open space in our current loft that has been ours for the last 2.5 years. The things I love most about it are; the 12 skylights making it a light filled loft, the mix of brick, timber beams and 28 foot ceilings that add so much character, and most of all no walls, which the 3 of us make work. Enjoy...and I look forward to showing you our new space once it is decorated.


Entry


Bedroom


Office/Living


Dinning


Dresser

Nail Polish

It is a rare day that you will see me without nail polish on. Whether it is a neutral or something black, 90% of the time I will have painted nails.


Some of my nail polish collection.


My current favorites: Bobbing for Baubles, Adore-A-Ball & Bordeaux


What I'm wearing today. New York Color in Battery Park Purple $1.99 at drug stores

Valentine Accessories

As a former graphic designer I will use any excuse to send some fabulous stationary, Valentine's Day being one of my favorites. Some years I stock up on supplies and make my own Valentines but this year I found some really great stationary and Valentines accessories in Target's Dollar Spot. Check them out below.


(Clockwise from top left) Ceramic Vases - 3 Pack $2.50, Valentine Gift Bag - Hearts on White $1.00, Greeting Card - Be Mine $1.00, Paper Lace Hearts $1.00, Greeting Card - XOXO $1.00

Warby Parker

Ben (husband) and I discovered this great company while we were on the search for a new pair of glasses for him. It is only $95 for lenses, frames and shipping. Since we didn't have one of their stores by us we did the 'home try-on.' You get 5 pairs of glasses, that you have picked, shipped to you, you try them on and order the ones you want. For more info on this start up check out their site here.


Getting them in the mail.


My handsome model (a.k.a. husband)

Chandeliers

I have a love affair with chandeliers, it is something I have been in awe of since I can remember. We never had an opportunity to have one in our place since we have always been renters, however in our current loft (which we also rent) we have the freedom to do our own thing (love our landlord!)

We currently have 2 chandeliers in our loft, which has no walls, making it tricky to add any more to our space. Here are a few pics of ours and some others I have fallen in love with.


The bling over our kitchen island.


Over our dinning room table, from Urban Outfitters (old).


Grand Central Station, NYC.


The St. Paul Hotel, St. Paul, MN.


New York Public Library, NYC.