Farewell, 2010

 

It's my last chance to post before 2010 slips away.  We spent today in sunny, gorgeous LA climbing the Hollywood hills and we're cozily ensconced in a hotel before our early AM flight back home to North Carolina tomorrow.  Then life begins all over again, full of promise and possibility.

Things I Love in LA

Despite planting roots in North Carolina, I'm a California girl at heart.  Born and bred in northern CA, I have close ties to southern CA, too. We're heading out there for Christmas this year so I thought I'd showcase some of my favorite places and things to do in Los Angeles:

Bob's Big Boy in Burbank.  One of the last original restaurants, this place is the OG diner experience:

See's Candy is my favorite sweets shop.  Sure, you can get it out here at the holidays, but it's not the same. The black and white shops are always a highlight of a visit back to California. My favorites are too numerous to mention -- I love scotchmallows, bourdeauxs and anything with nougat and nuts!

The LA Farmers Market (adjacent to the Grove shopping center) has a great donut shop. Jake was taken with this pink iced number.

The hike in the hills of Los Feliz and the Griffith Observatory is great. Views of the city and the Hollywood sign make it a fun way to get some exercise.

Beachy Keen

I'm still so very charmed by these prints on 20X200 by Christian Chaize.  I've been drooling over them for a year and they still make me smile.

Of course, the affordable sizes are all sold out but one day, one day they will be mine.

Drum Shades

I'm thinking of adapting the current dining room light to accept a drum shade. I'm wondering it is as easy as I think it may be. Probably not!  I would take off the black disks and attach a drum shade to cover most of the lights. How to do this is the mystery.

Here's what I would love to end up with.  This is the Jonathan Adler Ventana chandy.

These awesome shades from Shades of Light would all be delightful. Though, I really think a 20" diameter shade would be ideal and those are harder to come by. These are all 16" diameter:

Aren't they pretty? All are under $100 which is pricey but cheaper than new light fixture.  I will think about this and decide what to do.  It may be easier to replace the whole darn thing.

Family Photo

Every year I like to support the Wake County SPCA through their Santa Paws photo fundraiser. We take Burt and leave Mouse at home. I can't imagine getting a dog + cat in the same photo at once.

 

The folks ahead of us had 2 people, 2 dogs, 2 turtles and a lizard in their photo.  Talk about a menagerie! 

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been kinda busy with offline stuff lately.  Hopefully I'll be back to it soon.

Cowhide in Dining Room

I scored a killer deal on a new cowhide for my dining room. After stalking a million auctions, I logged on this weekend to see this light brindle colored hide with an auction ending in 10 mins! I think I ended up paying less than $120!

Patience, patience is the key to eBay. I am TERRIBLE at being patient, it's one of my worst character flaws.

I'm thinking a darker natural fiber rug under the hide will make it pop and add some dimension to this room. I'm also considering dressing up the plain canvas curtains as well. With what, I don't know.

Christmas has come to Casa HV

We finally finished our tree over the weekend. After several attempts to buy white lights at multiple stores, we finally found what we were looking for at Walgreens.



Most of the ornaments are vintage glass inherited from my mom (thanks, Mom!) I don't think I'll ever need to buy any decorations for the rest of my life. My favorites are the rubber elves.  I don't know how old they are but they have the "made in Japan" sticker on the back so perhaps the 60s?

Have you folks finished decorating?

Python Upholstered Headboard

My headboard came back from the upholsterer last week:

Pretty swank.

Martha Stewart Cabinets

Our darling Martha Stewart seems to have switched her allegiance from Lowes to Home Depot. (I loved her Lowes paint line and the colors at Home Depot are great, too. I just started repainting the hall bath in Love-In-A-Mist) She also hawks hardware, flooring, window panels, etc. But most intriguing is her cabinetry line.

There are several styles and colors and coordinating hardware and countertops. It's practically idiot-proof, perfect for me! The prices seem to be in line with other brands.

Now, to find $20k to redo the kitchen...