Weekly Bunch: Orchids

My Valentine Flowers from Matt

Bright and cheery orchids to welcome in your weekend---

How about those dappled pink spots? I just love a flower with freckles!

Many tropically warm winds and wishes to you.

True DIY Love

I am so sick of winter and snow.

But, before I start putting up pics of daffodils and pretending it really is spring, I thought I would share some photos of the igloo my husband and I made a few weeks ago.

Now as you look at these photos, I want you to bear in mind, that my husband and I are twenty-eight years old. Twenty Eight.

We have no children of our own (yet).

And have ample amounts of spare time.

So when I tell you that we are Twenty-Eight, going on Eight....

I need to say no more.

Below you see Matt carefully shoveling around the base of our igloo. The bright orange bit you see is what we used to transport our snow blocks (made from Tupperware molds) from the snow packing station to the igloo. Can you guess who was the brick builder? That's right, I was.

Here you see Matt carefully making sure each brick is firmly on the foundation and doing major physics calculations to ensure each is perfectly staggered...

Here I am in front of our finished, slightly lopsided, igloo....

You can see here is plenty of head room inside (not so much legroom).

A view of the fantastic masonry....

Oh! And we had to bring out candles because it gets dark at night (duh!).

And my twenty-eight year old husband thought the coolest thing EVER would be to watch surfing videos while inside the igloo. (Rad!)

Now don't worry we didn't sleep in there.

But we could have.

Pretty cooooool right?

Ok, now that you've seen it I will go back to being the very sophisticated twenty-eight year old blogger that I am.

Maybe.

You know, they always say marry the one you can talk to. I say, marry the one you can make igloos with. Or whatever your igloo equivalent might be.

There's an Office in the Closet!

I've always loved the idea of keeping your office in the closet.

This one from the March issue of Country Living is especially attractive...

photo via Country Living

Of course you can make these little nooks pretty, and who doesn't love a pretty little nook?

photo via Flickr

So many ways to stay organized. Shelves, cups, hooks, and the holy grail of office organization:

Magazine Files!

photo via my home ideas

But if things get a little out of hand and your best intentions of an organized office go by the wayside.....

photo via apartment therapy

Shut the doors and...wha la! Out of sight out of mind!

photo via sunset

My only question is...who has an extra closet to spare???? 

Do you? 

If so I would love to slap you on the back and shake your hand! And perhaps interview you. 

"Are you a minimalist? Where does your other stuff...you know...go??? Is your house huge and blessed with many closets, and if so why do you need to have a closet office?"

Maybe I am tainted by my Boston days living in an apartment the size of a shoebox but I just can't imagine having an extra closet with space just waiting, begging, to be used. 

Seriously though, do you have an office nook? If so I would love to see and show it! Please send me a picture, or blog about it and link back. The photos above are darling, but I would love to see a collection of real. live. office nooks. Because they are creative, and cute, and  hey, they're nooks.

The Green Room

Ever been to western Massachusetts in February? It is cold, windy, and usually there is LOTS of snow. I spent four years trudging to class and letting my cheeks thaw for 90 minutes just to head back out into the cold. 

My place of solace during the cold months and treks to and from class was the Durfee Conservatory. This greenhouse was a warm, plant filled oasis in a world of gray, bleak, cold. There was always light classical music playing, complimented by the light trickle of the indoor waterfall. 

It's this time of year that I long for the little bamboo bench where I studied for my Art History exam though I'd gladly curl up on a couch with some tea in one of the rooms below. 

Photo Via Pretty Little World

Caldwell-Beebe

Sue Roher

Photo Via Country Living

Photo Via Desire to Inspire

Photo Via Love, Meghan

I love how the plants are wild, unruly, and seem to be taking over the room as if to say "You may think we belong outside, but we know better."

 I just seem to be able to live and breath better with a plant nearby, don't you?

Weekly Bunch: Florica by Helen James Design

Recently, I stumbled upon the most beautiful flower garden---so welcome during this last stretch of winter and I am so inspired by flowers of all kinds.

FLORICA by Helen James is beautiful collection of delightfully romantic floral head pieces.

Helen James creates each piece by hand using a teqnique that allows each flower to hold their shape and body so each bloom will stay perky long after nightfall. 

Take a look at their petals....

The detail crafted into each piece...

The pale and romantic choice of color...

Everything about them is just superb!

Just two year's ago I was searching high and low for a silk flower to wear in my hair as bridesmaid in a friends wedding much to no avail. My locks went flowerless.

Though many options have sprouted up since, these lovely works of art are sure to radiate their beauty long after the flower trend wilts and fades---whether displayed upon head, frock, or dresser top.

Helen James is a designer out of Ireland who set up own label in 2004 after working for Donna Karen in NYC.  Her favorite designers are Dries Van Noten, Alber Elbaz at Lanvin and Marni. You can view her artful and romantic designs can be viewed here.  After feeling inspired to create flowers for a long time, Helen developed a design process that brought her imagination to blossom and started the FLORICA label in late 2009.

Headpieces can be purchased at the FLORICA etsy shop.

I keep repeating my self: My obsession with Blue and White Stripes Part 1

I believe it started when I was dancing on my daddy's shoes and he had a shirt like this....

*it later became my art smock

In High school and College I was all about this....

Abercombie $58

All grown up, goin' to work and I bought a shirt (or two or three) like this...

J. Crew $54

I married a man who has about a dozen shirts like this...

Due to an unbelievable price tag I recently ended up with this...

Gap $7.49 yaaaay!

And now I really really really WANT this...

Anthropologie $ 88.00 boooo!

Even though I already have all this...

HELP!!!

Oh and I'm just talking about vertical blue and whites. Navy and white sailor stripes will have to be saved for another day.

Do you ever do this????

Something to tweet about...

Took the dog out this morning and what did I hear?

Spring.

Birds chirping and flitting about.

We have four feet of snow on the ground here, yet these little flit-a-bouts are putting up a protest. We want spring!

And we do.

These little birdies were painted by the lovely and talented Nina Schmidt. If fine feathered friends haven't quite made it your side of north yet, I suggest stopping by Nina's place for some light hearted fluttering. Isn't she lovely?

Happy Valentine's Day!

While you are swooning over fresh flowers or wishing you had some, check out Flower School. This blog is by a couple floral designers out of Brooklyn NY that give workshops on how to make beautiful arrangements like the ones above. If no one gives one to you, why not make one yourself!

Love. Love? Love!

Valentine Crush on Blush

Red is too loud, it says too much.

Black's visual vamp speaks too highly of lust.

 But together with white, 

they make me blush....

Photos via Martha Stewart, Florica by Helen James Design, Luisa Beccaria, Etsy, British Vogue,Tibi, Etsy, British Vogue, J. Crew, Essie, 

, Martha Stewart

Graham Cracker Love

Prior to the big storm, I mailed off Valentine treats to my parents. I made them "Salt Kissed Chocolate Grahams" tied the cellophane with a pink velvet ribbon and off it went through the snow and ice to make the long journey from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts.

As I stirred the chocolate on the stove it I enjoyed thinking about how lovely my parents made Valentine's Day for me when I was a child. Each Valentine morning I came downstairs to find little gift at my place setting. A box of chocolates, a small heart shaped box, a necklace, a beautiful valentine card, some home made fudge, these were some of the things that delighted my sister and I every year on February 14. They were never expensive gifts, but just little touches that showed a lot of love.

These tiny little gestures of affection made such an impact on me----and I'm just talking about Valentine's day. I don't have children of my own yet, but this is a small example of how impressionable children are and how much of a difference a good parent can make in a small person's life.

Parenting may not be easy, but I really do believe the more you love on your kids, the more it will come back to you. Even if it is just in the form of a chocolate covered Graham Cracker, it will be sweet nonetheless.

Happy Birthday Jillian: A Year of Mornings 3191 Miles Apart

I was out and about one day, doing my usual shopping without buying, when I came upon a delightful book sitting on a table waiting for me. 

You have probably seen this book by now, but it is new to me I am head over heals for it. 

The title is:

A Year of Mornings: 3191 Miles Apart

It's written by Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes, though I shouldn't really say that it is written at all since practically the only words in it are basically the title and copy write information at the front. 

This book is a compilation of photos. Maria and Stephanie, friends living on opposite sides of the united states took and sent photos to each other----of their mornings. Just little snippets of their separate days of their separate lives, very far apart. 

They are pictures of pretty ordinary every day things.

Coffee mugs and books and flowers and toast.

But the photos convey a commonality that these girls shared. A love for simple beauty. A love for all the little things.
 A love for art work that emerges from noticing.
And they share in each others lives in all these little moments, 3191 miles apart. 

I adore this book because I find the pictures sentimental and beautiful.

I also love it because it reminds me of my friend Jillian.

Not unlike Maria and Stephanie, Jillian and I live on opposite ends of the country.

Jillian and I have lived quite a distance apart since graduating from college where we met. And even though we don't get to chat as often as we'd like, I have no doubt that when we see each other next, we'll pick right back up...and we always will. Fact of the matter is we just play well together.

Do you remember, when you were little, there would be those friends you'd meet at the beach or playground sand box? And it didn't matter that you had never met and may never see each other again. You used her shovel and she used your pail and you chased gulls together and hung upside down on the swings. And you had a blast doing it. 

Jillian is that kind of friend...only we're all grown up and since grown ups have independence, and time and money and can fly on planes by themselves without parents...we'll see each other again and we'll have a blast doing it. If Maria and Stephanie hadn't thought of this photo project first, I bet we would have.

So, Happy Birthday to dear Jillian, and do tell me: 

Do you have a long distance photo friend?