"I'm Grace Kelly"

I'm quite ashamed to say both the husband and I love to watch Gossip Girl. I have a girl crush on Blaire Waldorf, and the husband idolizes Chuck Bass.

While I try to keep our love of trashy younger-than-us-demographic television under wraps, I just had to share Blaire's outfit from last night. She looked so beautiful.


The ruffles! The plunging neckline.

But what caught my eye was her amazing hair & make-up. If I was getting married in 2009, I'd bring this picture straight to my stylist for inspiration.



In fact, I'm going to try to pull off Blaire's look for our Christmas card picture..

eBay Day

Today's post will be short and sweet - I've searched eBay for some amazing items that will hopefully inspire you to be frugal and buy used.

Have a happy Tuesday and I hope I helped you snag something great ;)


Real equestrian boots - Size 7.5
The seller's daughter wore them on a college equestrian team! - For the average gal, put on a huge sweater and tuck some skinny jeans into these beauties and you're good to go.


Louis Vuitton Petite Noe
I love this purse. It's probably my all time favorite purse - the older it gets, the better it looks. It goes with anything and you can throw anything into it. And even better - it's not one of the "trendy" styles, so you won't see every other girl carrying it. Since it's not as trendy, the price doesn't shoot up on eBay (but please only buy from sellers with a money back guarantee, lots of fakes on ebay!)


Vintage Secretary Dress
A great option for Thanksgiving Day - doesn't it look so cute with black tights and a black belt? You can't see her feet, but I'd pair this dress with some tan suede pumps.


80s Spanish Suede Pumps - Size 6
Speaking of tan suede pumps! These are perfection. I hope one of you, lucky enough to have tiny feet, snatches them up.


Vintage Westmoreland Milk Glass Vase
I imagine this on an entry table with some candies or mints in it for the holidays.

Idea Board: My First Client

As you know, I just love doing idea boards. The sweetest gal, Laurie, emailed me reaching out for my help - and offered to pay me! I asked a couple of my nest and blog friends what they thought, and they encouraged me to charge for my work and helped me determine a price. I came up with $10.

I wanted to share my first "client" idea board with you - it was quite a challenge since Laurie and her husband picked out quite an adventurous paint color and had most of the key pieces already. BUT I loved a challenge, and I loved their room!

Here are a couple images of her current space:









I first came back with this idea board with a slate blue accent color:



Laurie had already purchased these curtains below, so I did some tweaks and came up with this:




Details:

- Currently this room has a sort of "African" feel with the vases and colors. I wanted to add in some elegance and modern touches to transform this room into a more Contemporary space.

- The key part of this room re-design is to create interest and light above the sofa - to do this I added two large mirrors and two wall sconces to hang above the couch.

- Each window will feature four panels no matter what size the window is - a pair of the drapes and also a pair of the sheers. This will also include the window in the dining room. This will create drama in the space and make the windows look larger than they really are.

- I added a large art wall for the owners to display their art and their collection of vases. Instead of scattering the vases around the room, they now can decrease clutter and put them in vignettes on the shelves. (Depending on the space, they can put up up to three shelves).

- The Living Room is currently disconnected with the rest of the room - I told the owners to paint the living room the same pallet as the wall behind the tv.

- Baskets will add storage and soften the harsh lines of the ottoman.

- Two brown couches in a room can work - as long as they are different textures and extremely different colors. I found this very dark leather couch to offset the lighter sectional.

Items:
1. Smart Bargain Blue Drapes
2. Ikea White Sheers
3a. Steel Blue Velvet Couch - Z Gallerie
3b. Dark brown Leather Loveseat - JCP
4. Art Wall: Art from West Elm, Etsy sellers krisblues and AliciaBock,
5. Art Wall: Frames and Shelves from Ikea
6. Throw Pillow from Overstock.com
7. Throw Pillow from Overstock.com
8. Wall Sconces from West Elm
9. Mirrors from Z Gallerie
10. New wall colors for Living Room
11. Roman Shade for front door window
12. Boxes from Ikea

I had such a blast doing this board (especially since it's much more detailed than my normal boards). Please shoot me an email if you'd like me to do one for you! brynalexandra@gmail.com

Thanks, Laurie!