june 27 lunch

Although I'm pretty jealous, I'm also excited that my husband got an iPhone for his birthday... because now I can upload pictures very easily to my blog from his camera phone! (My phone doesn't have a camera... I still live in the stone age).



I'm currently enjoing a summer lunch of meat, cheese, crackers and berries with some oldies but goodies magazines (while hubby is watching golf). Not the healthiest of lunches, but soooo good!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

you've come a long way

Matt took this adorable video of Char* while I was still at work today.



Remember this video? You've come such a long way, Char, from your awful surgery in January! I'm so glad to see her back to normal. It assures us that the surgery was well worth it; we love her like she's our own little child.

And yes, I often have my shoes lying around. It's one of many bad habits I have. You'll see not one, but two pair in this video.

*you can hear the MJ news in the background. So much has already been said, but I will say that one of my top favorite cd's of all time is Best of Jackson 5... when I was in my tweens I was obsessed with everything Motown.

A not-pregnant-yet-but-want-someday Item

Nope, we're not pregnant nor will we be for a while, but I found this on some other blogs and I'm in love with it!



Not only is it neutral and modern, but the free movement actually helps baby's development and equilibrium. Stolen from the website:

"The benefit of suspending it in this manner is that the cradle doesn't rock in one direction only, but allows soft rhythmical movements familiar to the baby from conception. It also makes it easier to start the cradle moving. Experiencing its ability to control the movement of the cradle contributes greatly to the baby developing awareness of its own body."

You can find it here.

$400 less

I still am in love with this sofa from Z Gallerie and still plan to purchase it someday:



But I was pleasently surprised when I found this new item at Ikea:


Clean lines, similar fabric, seats more people and $400 less. Definitely a worthy runner up! With the extra $400, I could purchase a great accent chair or ottoman, or both. I'm definitely filing this one away for the future...

right now I'm loving..

Right now I'm loving..... wallpaper! I've never been able to add it in any homes I've lived in (we're renters), but I'm so excited that a client agreed to let me add it to her home!

[Anyone know which one this is??]

If you are a renter like me, you could always do a wall of patterned or striped curtains to mimic a wallpaper wall:

{almost all images found here}

Head on Over!

One of my favorite bloggers, jeune marie, is on vacation (lucky girl!) and asked a couple of her favorite bloggers to keep things goin' while she was away. Today was my day to be guest blogger...



Head on over to her blog to check out my post - I searched Sarah's local Austin, Texas Craigslist to find some furniture with great potential. Thanks, jeune marie!

Flat Rates

I've decided to offer [very inexpensive] flat rates for my interior design services to help build my portfolio instead of an hourly rate.



I'm still looking for clients local to Orange County, California [I will travel to Inland Empire & Los Angeles]



Please help a girl out! I'm looking to build my portfolio, and I promise to leave you with a beautiful room.



Email me at brynalexandra at gmail dot com for more info!



Thank you!! :)



{all rooms in this post were found via Home Sweet Home}

I heart hepplewhite.

I am so so in love with Hepplewhite bow front dressers. No, they are not particularly uncommon or rare, and I do plan on being a proud owner of one someday. They are a little out of my price range though :(

Here are some of my favorite American Federal style dressers in action...

{via Eddie Ross}

{via Elements of Style}

{via Newlywed Diaries}

Does anyone have any other photos of my favorite dresser? I'd love to see!

Thank you to everyone who answered my question from yesterday... I decided against it thanks to you very knowledgeable readers.

I may be presenting some REAL design boards to one of my clients this weekend... I'm super excited... brings me back to my school days playing with poster boards and glue :)

Question?

Question for everyone!

Do you think this rattan pouf....



will hold up to some glossy spray paint? Or perhaps paint on a sponge roller? I'd love to see it in light blue.

Hmm.....

Ikea hearts Domino?

Check out what I just discovered...

Remember back in Feb I blogged that Domino mag painted Ikea's yellow Hemnes bed white? And how much I was in love with it?

Well I must have not been the only one! Ikea now offers this beauty...


It's called Edland and available for $279. I wonder if they are paying homage to the fallen and dearly missed Domino mag?

I'm crossing my fingers that one of my clients will let me put this beautiful bed in their homes so I can covet it in person :D

a closer look...

I wanted to zoom in and take a closer look at the bird prints I posted below. Aren't they perfect?

First, I'll share a little confession - I'm not usually a fan of bird prints. This is because I'm not entirely a fan of birds.. they creep me out a little. Maybe it's because we often have birds fall down the shoot of our chimney and fly around our house. Sure some birds are beautiful but most often they are a little bit scary. This winter I also had a bad experience with a bird... well the experience was worse for the bird than it was for me. We had our shoot closed and I didn't realize it before I turned on the fire. Well, there was a bird in there and it didn't end well for the bird. It was traumatizing... I felt terrible the rest of the weekend :(

Sorry for the morbid story, but let's move on to something a bit lighter - beautiful bird prints! I stumbled upon these and they are so beautiful.


The use of color, and the juxtaposition of the flower, the bird and the vintage paper goods. Ah! Genius.






Okay, this blackbird is so cute, no? Definitely not scary.

All the above prints are done by Etsy artist, Geninne. Check out the rest of her bird collage series.

Weekend Work.. wait no.. Play!

I thought I'd share the two idea boards I did this weekend with you! They are both bedrooms and I love how they turned out. Here they are...

feminine, elegant & grown-up bedroom

Sources:
wallpaper - Madison & Grow Eleanor in Moonbeam on Cream
wallcolor - Benjamin Moore Icicle
bed- Crate & Barrel
linens - smartbargains.com
chandelier - Lamps Plus
nightstand - Pottery Barn (purchased by owner)
lamp - Pottery Barn
pillow - Etsy.com seller marleyandlockyer
frames - Ikea
art - vintage NYC maps
mirror - Wisteria
dresser - WS Home
white cabinets - owner's item
shelving - Target

white, eclectic guest room

Sources:
wallcolor: Benjamin Moore White Dove
headboard/wooden screen: owner's item
floating bedside cabinet: Ikea
bedside lamp: Overstock.com
art frames: Ikea
art: Etsy.com seller Geninne
drapery: Ikea
woven shade: owner's item
floral quilt: Overstock.com
gray color for painting of doors/moulding: Benjamin Moore Stone Harbor
chair: Ikea
armoire: Craigslist
vintage glasses: Etsy.com seller bluebellbazaar
eye pillow: Etsy.com seller naturalhome

As always, feel free to email me if you ever need assistance with a room and would like an Idea Board!

New York City - June 2009

Finally! Pictures [and a recap] of the trip! I'll jump right in...

Let's start with saying that I love food. Probably one of the things I was most excited about was the food in NY. We flew in Sat night red eye, got to the hotel and slept for a couple hours. Around 9 am, we left the hotel and headed straight to the local NY bagel place...



It was really really good. Everything bagel + egg + cheese. When we walked out of the tiny bagel shop we looked for a bench to sit and eat. Umm.... NO benches in NYC. It's funny how New Yorker's don't sit and just enjoy their breakfast ;) [little did we know we could have walked just a couple blocks to eat on the steps of the library]. We found a Starbucks with a window view to sit down and eat.

After breakfast we walked to Hell's Kitchen for a little flea market perusing.





There was so much great stuff...





but I didn't buy anything.

After the flea market we headed over to the history museum for an amazing astronomy exhibit/movie called Cosmic Collisions. I love astronomy and it was so fun! We also checked out the dinosaurs..




That's one scary face! (me not the dinosaur)

Are you still with me? Can you believe the first day isn't over yet? Next up we headed over to the famous Shake Shack. We were expecting something earth shaking.... I'm sorry to say it disappointed.



I have to admit, it looks pretty freaking amazing in the picture. But I'm still an In n Out girl at heart.


The shake was pretty good.


We were pretty hungry, so we filled up and headed on over to Central Park for a much needed afternoon of R&R


It was one of the most beautiful days ever... the temperature was absolutely perfect and I took an amazing nap on the grass. Matt took a picture of me napping but I am definitely not showing that one ;)

After our lovely afternoon, we headed back to the hotel to relax some more (we did take the red eye after all!) and decided on dinner. We picked Di Fara's. I saw on Yelp and other sites that it's the best pizza in all of New York. We hopped on the Q subway and headed for Brooklyn.




This old man makes all the pizza and has been for 40 years. He pulls the pizza out of the oven with his bare hands (!!!)



Ohh my gosh it was amazing. BUT here's the catch - we waited two and a half hours for it!



Remember I said I love food? Matt got a little crabby after the second hour had passed, but the second we got it, it was all worth it.

Phew! It was a long first day but we had such a great time doing so many things. What an amazing city!

The next two days the husband had his work meetings (did I tell you? The entire trip, minus my airfare, was free thanks to my husband's meetings! Hence why it was so last minute). On Monday morning I met up with Jessica from What I Wore. She took me to one of the best thrift stops I've ever been to! (Beacon's Closet). It was so amazing and I got some great stuff. Unfortunately I completely forgot to take pictures (I even hauled my heavy DLR to Brooklyn.. bummer!). She is so sweet and I had a great time. Thanks, Jessica!

We spent the rest of the day walking, walking and walking from Chinatown to Soho to NYU. During the walk I found some great paint colors...





I got some great little Chinatown items (earrings and sunglasses) and we sat in the park by NYU. A great afternoon. We then ate in Little Italy with my husband's cousin who lives in the city.

On the way home we did finally pull out the camera to snap some pictures.


I loved those benches! Probably only tourists use them, eh?



The last day was really low key. The husband went to his final meeting and I headed over to the Met art museum. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to check out the exhibits before our flight, but I did a little walking around.


See those rain clouds in the background?


Right when we got back to the hotel it started pouring. I LOVED it and the hotel employees thought I was crazy for getting excited about rain. I told them how it rarely rains in California, especially never that hard. It reminded me of home (I grew up in tornado alley).

After the showers passed, we walked to an awesome deli that had pretty much everything. I ended the trip with an amazing bowl of hot ramen.



Sorry the post is so long winded!

We had SUCH a great time full of beautiful sites, amazing food and great company. We've decided that whenever my husband has meetings in NY I'll tag along with him (it's usually once or twice a year).

To be super cliche... I heart NY :D