What I'm Loving Right Now

I'm seriously digging this Union Jack Rug from Z Gallerie! Lonny Mag even used it in their newly decorated NYC office.

I live in a small studio apartment and have absolutely no space for this. As it is, I keep buying home design items that I have no room for and putting them in my parents' basement with the promise that "I will upgrade apartments soon and take everything back, Mom!" :) (Believe it or not, I already bought a rug months ago that is sitting rolled up and collecting dust in a corner of their basement!)
So can someone pleeeease buy this rug and invite me over so I can swoon over it????
I'll bring the wine (and I promise not to spill on your new carpet)!

Dear 16 Year Old Me

I spent every summer of my life until I was 22 years old at the Jersey Shore, which meant some serious sun exposure from June through August.  All the way from playing with my bucket and shovel in the sand to sunbathing with my girlfriends in our bikinis and tanning oil. Yeah, I caught some serious rays. Especially in my teens. My mom pleaded with me every day to put sunblock on. But let's face it.... when you're a teenager , it's just not cool.
It was probably only a few years ago when I started taking sun protection seriously. Probably because that's when I started to become hyper aware of my crow's feet, which I'd like to think are because I smile a lot. But deep down I know they're probably from too much sun exposure. And I don't even want to THINK about all of the sunburns that I've had! And we all know what can result from that....
I've already had two pre-cancerous moles removed and yesterday my Opthomologist told me that I have a condition in my left eye called Pinguecula, which is also a likely result of the sun (it's not as serious as it sounds though and is benign!). But if that's the worst of it, then I guess I should consider myself lucky!
Still...if only I could go back and tell my 16 year old me to lather the sunblock on...
Please watch this video! It's really powerful (you may even shed a tear). Put your sunblock on... and pass this along to any 16 year olds you may know, or anyone else for that matter!  :)

Balance and Symmetry

  

I'm obsessed with this photo from House Beautiful. I have it saved in my iPad photos along with several other design photos and every time I flip through them, I stop at this one. There's something about it that I find intriguing and almost mesmerizing.
So when I stumbled upon the picture again last night and said to my boyfriend for the 10th time, "I just love this picture," he asked me to explain what I loved so much about it. It made me think and I suddenly had a hard time putting my finger on it.
I thought about how the mirror draws me in and is really ornate and striking. And I love the color combo, which is pretty simple- white, steel blue, gold, tan, brown. And the flowers and throw add beautiful punches of purple. But there was more... and suddenly I realized why this room is so perfect to me-- because it appears to be practically symmetrical. Everything is balanced out. And so I realized, maybe it's not so much the room that I'm in love with, but the PICTURE of the room. For example, if I walked into this actual room from another angle and saw this area from a different perspective, would it still have the same affect on me?
Possibly not.

Here are some other strikingly balanced looking rooms....



{Houzz}



{Houzz}



{Lonny Mag}



{Lonny Mag}



{House Beautiful}




{Lonny Mag}



{Lonny Mag}

Love and a dog

Wish List

I'm starting a recurring entry in my blog called "wish list"... because, well, there are a lot of cool things out there that I wished I had! So here's one (hint hint, boyfriend). Actually, I wish for two of these bad boys. Because if I had just one, then everyone would want to share it with me, and I want one all to myself. But while I'm at it, I guess I need to also wish for a yard, and a tree to hang it from....

{Dedon}

EXCITING NEWS!!

It's about time! I suddenly wished I lived on the Upper West Side....

{HomeGoods}

Laughing in Puerto Rico

I went to Puerto Rico for four days last weekend with two of my girlfriends- Randee and Margot. It was the best and worst time for me to take a vacation. I had been working on a story at work that was pretty intense and required a lot of extra hours. Being absent for two days put me a little behind and required two of my colleagues to pick up some of my slack (which I doubt they were thrilled about). However, with all the stress and lack of sleep, I felt like I was on the verge of losing my mind, and so mentally, this getaway couldn't have been more perfectly timed.
We drove to the airport at 4am Thursday morning to catch a 5:45 flight. When we arrived in Aguadilla, Randee's friend, Doug, picked us up. It took a few minutes to shake off the sleepiness, the New York rainy chill, the work stress,  the blackberry emails, the climate change, and the culture shock. But then we settled in to the beach with a cold beer and some sunscreen. And it was about then when the laughter kicked in (and no it wasn't lack of sleep mixed with alcohol!). It was just pure happy girly laughter. And it didn't stop for four straight days.
Time away from the office mixed with some sunshine and the sound of crashing waves is soothing to just about anyone. But I don't think this trip would have been nearly as therapeutic (and obviously not as fun) if I didn't have two great friends to spend it with and laugh the whole way through.
So what was my favorite part of Puerto Rico? The beautiful beach at the bottom of a cliff? The delicious Arepas in Jobos? The amazing outdoor massage under the gazebo? Those were all great, but it was the moments we laughed so hard that tears ran down my cheeks that I'll remember and cherish the most. So, would I go back to Puerto Rico again? Sure.... But only if I can take Randee and Margot with me...