Happy Halloween

My Chia Pet
I originally saw this idea about a month ago on Pinterest and had to try it out.
I changed it up a bit but overall I thought it was pretty great.

The dog was a great sport :)
Happy Halloween!

Inspiration: Everyday Items

Lately I find myself a bit obsessed with the color combination of the items shown in this picture. I’ve apparently been in this place before. The picture of berries was taken last summer. 

Currently a few of my favorite things:

beaded necklace

amazon kindle and kate spade kindle case (I even love the kate spade box it came in)

essie nail polish (enuf is enuf & gerenium)

scarves. i love scarves all year long.

http://handyinteriors.tumblr.com/

Goodbye Summer and Hello Fall!

I’m a California girl and while some people might find this odd, my favorite time of year is on a cool and stormy day during fall or winter. I mean it is California so with our mild temperatures summer isn't bad but I’m excited to say goodbye to summer and hello to fall! Time to switch it up. *Today they forecasted in the 90s... not my idea of fall weather just yet.

Since we are now just a couple days into fall, I figured that today is the perfect day to update my summer bucket list and see how I did.  Not sure what I’m talking about, see my post “Summer Goals” back in June.

Unfortunately I didn’t get around to everything but I think we got pretty close! Here is a recap.

·      go on the architectural tour when we go to Chicago – we did it and it was so great. If you have the chance to do this while in Chicago I highly recommend it. Chicago is packed with some amazing architecture and design. *We also did the Sky Deck at the Willis Tower at night. Amazing!

·      take a funny face picture of the nieces when we go to Michigan – I forgot about this and they did it anyway :)

·      take a full family photo when we go to Michigan – Christmas present pre-planning ;)

·      dance at a summer wedding – we didn’t do this but we danced later on at home so sort of.

·      go to the dog beach (maybe a few times) – major fail, the one week I thought about heading to the Huntington Beach dog beach was the same weekend of the Open for surfing.

·      go to Disneyland just for the fireworks – loved it!

·      go to the animation class at California Adventure 5 times – so we went 3 times, Daisy Duck, Chip, and Dale. I don’t think I’ll be animating for Disneyland any time soon but it was a lot of fun. I drew the first one, the husband drew the second one. He got better with time ;)

·      save for a kayak – this is taking the back seat for now.

·      tweet up with Chicago Twitter friends – time got away from us, there is just so much to do there!

·      walk around the Queen Mary, possibly take a tour (beautiful Art Deco interiors)

·      host at least 2 game nights – okay so I hosted one and went to one…that sort of counts.

·      bike ride to Huntington Beach – we just rode bikes this past weekend and that was plenty, HB is still a goal.

·      ride the AquaBus and walk around Shoreline Village – walked around Shoreline but decided to bus home instead

·      ride a water bike – these things are a bit more expensive than we expected, while we thought about it but it didn’t happen.

·      go through our closet and find clothes and other items to donate – huge accomplishment! We got rid of a lot more than I expected.

·      go to the Belmont Brewery – I recommend the wings at happy hour. 

·      start refurbishing the alley chair – while it hasn’t happen yet, we have started shopping upholstery shops and fabrics. This is a current work in progress.

·      girls day at the spa – if you live near a Glen Ivy you should go! It’s like a mini vacation

·      have a sunset picnic at the beach – my lovely husband set up a picnic at the beach on our anniversary. We watched the sunset but the marine layer cut the sunset a bit short, but still beautiful.

·      make a summer mixed drink – I didn’t make it but my neighbor did. LOL

·      try at least 5 of the gazillion recipes I haven’t tried – fail, I tried approximately 2. One was a huge success. I tried the Lemon Chess Pie recipe that was posted on www.abcddesign.com and it was amazing! It’s become my favorite thing to bake. I’ve learned that I prefer baking over cooking. ;)

·      walk around downtown Fullerton – Maybe in the fall?

·      tour the Gamble House by Greene & Greene in Pasadena (Arts & Crafts) – Yes and it was awesome. If you have the opportunity, go check it out! Highlight: the door, it made for a gorgeous entrance inside.  Not only did we do this but we also drove to the Hollyhock House in Los Angeles by Frank Lloyd Wright and then drove by the Ennis House not far from there. This excursion is blog worthy and more details about this trip should appear in October.

·      walk up Signal Hill and back down it – I drove it but never got around to walking it. Maybe in the fall?

·      walk to the local farmers market – Yes we did and we even bought some fruit. The farmers market offered some beautiful color palettes for inspiration. Look at these gorgeous berries!

*Apologies, some of the photos are taken from my phone. 

*Sidenote: While in Chicago we found a little time to go explore Frank Lloyd Wright’s first home and studio and some neighborhood homes that he did as well. More detail later on.

Out of 25 goals we only missed 7! How did you guys do with your summer goals? Any exciting plans for fall?

Traveling Kimpton Style

I’ve recently had a few people tell me how much they love hearing about the hotels we stay at and often ask about them.  This blog is about those hotels and may seem a little like an ad but I really enjoy these hotels and decided to blog about it. So here it goes.

We recently took a trip to Chicago & Michigan. Ever since our honeymoon we have become huge fans of the Kimpton boutique hotel chain.

entry way to Hotel Allegro

We’ve stayed at 3 different Kimptons just in San Francisco, (Argonaut Hotel, Titan Hotel, and Hotel Palomar), Hotel Solamar in San Diego, and now Hotel Allegro in Chicago. Our honeymoon was at Pacific Palisades in Vancouver however they no longer own that location.  All future trips, if there is a Kimpton, you know we’ll be there.

Why do we love these hotels so much? To name a few….

·      A hosted wine hour every night  - we checked in after it had past and they gave us complimentary vouchers to take to their restaurant since we missed it.

·      In the morning there and coffee & iced coffee in the lobby

·      In the afternoon, there was lemonade and iced tea in the lobby

·      In San Francisco they had fresh baked cookies in the evening

·      Free high speed internet….I know most places have this but it’s still nice to have

·      Pet friendly…although we have never taken our lovely beagle on a trip, some of the hotels have an in house pet that seems to go along with the theme of the hotel.

·      The restaurants are delicious and beautiful.

·      Great concerge service

·      Every hotel is a little different and unique to the surrounding area

·      As "In Touch" members we have received snacks and drinks in our room upon arrival and received discounted rates on rooms

Most recently Kimpton has been doing a summer program to their twitter followers. If you follow them they gave a code word to say at check in. Each hotel gives out a different freebie. Last month in San Diego it was free appetizers at the restaurant. This month we received a free room upgrade we had signed up for as "In Touch" members. Instead of paying the discounted rate for the upgrade, they gave it to us for free! Our favorite perk so far!

All that listed above is quite wonderful however my absolute favorite thing about this chain of boutique hotels is the great design. These hotels are colorful and full of different textiles, patterns, shapes, and textures.  I’m always so excited to explore the details of these hotels.

For your viewing pleasure I have attached some photos from our most recent trip to Hotel Allegro. I highly recommend you check out their different hotels. One day I hope to visit the George in Washington DC, Sky Hotel in Aspen, and many more. 

lobby view

stairway

so much in the detail

elevator doors

double-sided fireplace

living room of hotel room

jacuzzi bath tub

bedroom chair 

Do you have a favorite chain or hotel we should check out? What do you love about it?

Wordless Wednesday - LACMA

Summer Goals

Summer

I’ve seen a few of my fellow blogger friends do this and it seems like a great idea. I’m one of those people that like to list things out so that I can check them off. That and the fact that I often forget the things I wanted to do. With today being the first day of summer, I thought this would be the perfect time to plan some fun events that I always talk about doing and never seem to get to..

The street view walking to our car from Disneyland

• go on the architectural tour when we go to Chicago
• take a funny face picture of the nieces when we go to Michigan
• take a full family photo when we go to Michigan
• dance at a summer wedding
• go to the dog beach (maybe a few times)
• go to Disneyland just for the fireworks
• go to the animation class at California Adventure 5 times
• save for a kayak
• tweet up with Chicago Twitter friends
• walk around the Queen Mary, possibly take a tour (beautiful Art Deco interiors)
• host at least 2 game nights
• bike ride to Huntington Beach
• ride the AquaBus and walk around Shoreline Village
• ride a water bike
• go through our closet and find clothes and other items to donate
• go to the Belmont Brewery
• start refurbishing the alley chair
• girls day at the spa
• have a sunset picnic at the beach
• make a summer mixed drink
• try at least 5 of the gazillion recipes I haven’t tried
• walk around downtown Fullerton
• tour the Gamble House by Greene & Greene in Pasadena (Arts & Crafts)
• walk up Signal Hill and back down it
• walk to the local farmers market

A lot of these things are local activities. So often we don’t get to experience the great things that are right in our backyards. Living in Southern California, we’ve been blessed with some pretty amazing weather. I want to take advantage of these blessings.

Do you have a similar list or any fun summer plans?

Wedding Memories 9.8.07

How fun is this blog hop? I love reading about other's weddings. It's such a joyful day in someones life. I love it. I could read about wedding for hours! I read about my twitter friends wedding and she told me about this blog hop. I loved the idea and here we are. Not exactly interior design related but possibly could be used for inspirations?

9.8.07

Our wedding was at 12:00 in the afternoon on a beautiful September day. My husband and I really enjoy cooler climates and a hot summer was not one of our desire so we went for September. We both love the beach and ocean and decided to have our wedding (with 100 of our closest friends and family) aboard a private yacht that went through the Newport Harbor. Some photos are from our photographer, some are from friends, and some are from the disposable cameras we had on all the tables for guests to take pictures from their view.

One of my favorite parts about having a wedding on a yacht....we didn't have to hire outside vendors or coordinate that stuff. We need with the yacht coordinator and just told her what we wanted within the vendors that they already partnered with. These vendors were great I might add. We met our DJ and photographer for the first time AT our wedding. Kinda crazy but it went so well, we loved them!

Cake - Cinderella Cake (who we now use for special events) www.cinderellacakes.com

Instead of freezing the top of our cake they gave us a brand new little wedding cake top for our anniversary just like the one we had :)

White roses, white calla lilies, and lavender calla lilies.

One of my amazing bridesmaids worked at a florist and did my bouquets and got me a great discount. How awesome is she?

We were married by a great guy, the pastor of Mike's old church that has been a mentor for Mike. His name is also Mike and did an awesome job. We're at a different church these days but still keep in contact with this guy and his great family :)

dress by Alfred Angelo

Mike felt like the Brad Paisley song "She's Everything" was written about me and I just happened to find this awesome pair of yellow running shoes and wore those during our first dance. If you don't understand the connection, go look up the lyrics.

I loved our photographer, he took these great shots of Mike and I love!

Photographer - Kip Roof www.kiproof.com

Sealed with a Kiss! A wonderful start to living life with my best friend who makes me laugh every single day through lifes ups and downs, I'm so happy to experience it all with him. I truely feel so blessed.