I'm definitely going to dream about Layla Grace's Bella Notte collection. Leave it to me to fall in love with a $242 cribskirt. Read that again. It said "cribskirt", not "cribset". One piece. The skirt.
I equally love this crib set as well:
{Source}
Monday, February 22, 2010
Layla Grace
Maybe I have just not been around long enough to have ever seen this store before, but now that I'm in "baby" mode, I'm looking around for ways to decorate our baby's room for it's arrival (I have about 8 months to work on it!). Well, late last night, in the wee hours...the hours when your eyes are stinging and every ounce of your body is telling you to go to bed...I came across this site and it is everything I could ever dream right now....dripping in linen and gorgeousness: Layla Grace
I'm definitely going to dream about Layla Grace's Bella Notte collection. Leave it to me to fall in love with a $242 cribskirt. Read that again. It said "cribskirt", not "cribset". One piece. The skirt.
I equally love this crib set as well:
{Source}
I'm definitely going to dream about Layla Grace's Bella Notte collection. Leave it to me to fall in love with a $242 cribskirt. Read that again. It said "cribskirt", not "cribset". One piece. The skirt.
I equally love this crib set as well:
{Source}
Weekend Treasures
I hope everyone had a relaxing and productive weekend. The only days I feel productive are Saturday and Sunday!
Yesterday, as Jason did some work on our bathroom, I took a run to a few stores, including the local antique market, Tuesday Mornings and Target.
Now that we will be redecorating one of the spare rooms into a baby room, I wanted to get some inspiration. At this early stage (just 5 weeks along), it doesn't seem "smart" to go buying anything yet (though it sure is tempting), but I found some really cute things...one of which is an armoire that matches the armoire in my bedroom. Jason thinks that at the price it is marked, I should just buy it, baby or not. We love the one in our bedroom and could certainly use the other in another room. Below are some of my finds.
I just loved these pressed flowers behind glass. I know I can find something to do with these. Jason thinks they look too "country" but God, it was so beautiful in person. The photo doesn't do it justice.
These wood finials (I think that's what they're called) would look lovely on a fireplace mantle:
When Jason saw this picture, he nearly did a backflip. Love, love love, but he wishes it was a bit less expensive:
I am seriously considering this for the bathroom, which Jason is doing a marvelous job on! I'm procrastinating on making the show curtains. Last night I tried my first hem job and stopped before I got to the sewing machine. I'm very afraid of the sewing maching. It has no manual and I can't figure out what setting is the "hem stitch".
This is the matching armoire to the one we have. It's going to be bought by us this week! $120. Great for the baby's room, but even if not, we can certainly repurpose it:
I loved the look of this recycle bin. There were two, but they were $$$:
I would probably have never given these a second glance, had I not been pregnant. But these vintage baby bottles were so interesting. It's hard to imagine that babies would have been able to hold these things themselves. They are so heavy! These glass bottles are probably good to have if you want to microwave breastmilk or formula since it's not healthy to microwave them in plastic.
I'm fairly sure these are going to make it into Villa Villa. I **love** them!:
I'm so in love with mercury glass lately. Stupid question but is mercury glass bad for me if I'm pregnant? Or do I have to eat it for it to be bad for me? LOL!:
Well, that's all for today. And I still have 6 minutes to kill before I have to get in the shower and head out to work!
Happy Monday!
Yesterday, as Jason did some work on our bathroom, I took a run to a few stores, including the local antique market, Tuesday Mornings and Target.
Now that we will be redecorating one of the spare rooms into a baby room, I wanted to get some inspiration. At this early stage (just 5 weeks along), it doesn't seem "smart" to go buying anything yet (though it sure is tempting), but I found some really cute things...one of which is an armoire that matches the armoire in my bedroom. Jason thinks that at the price it is marked, I should just buy it, baby or not. We love the one in our bedroom and could certainly use the other in another room. Below are some of my finds.
I just loved these pressed flowers behind glass. I know I can find something to do with these. Jason thinks they look too "country" but God, it was so beautiful in person. The photo doesn't do it justice.
These wood finials (I think that's what they're called) would look lovely on a fireplace mantle:
When Jason saw this picture, he nearly did a backflip. Love, love love, but he wishes it was a bit less expensive:
I am seriously considering this for the bathroom, which Jason is doing a marvelous job on! I'm procrastinating on making the show curtains. Last night I tried my first hem job and stopped before I got to the sewing machine. I'm very afraid of the sewing maching. It has no manual and I can't figure out what setting is the "hem stitch".
This is the matching armoire to the one we have. It's going to be bought by us this week! $120. Great for the baby's room, but even if not, we can certainly repurpose it:
I loved the look of this recycle bin. There were two, but they were $$$:
I would probably have never given these a second glance, had I not been pregnant. But these vintage baby bottles were so interesting. It's hard to imagine that babies would have been able to hold these things themselves. They are so heavy! These glass bottles are probably good to have if you want to microwave breastmilk or formula since it's not healthy to microwave them in plastic.
I'm fairly sure these are going to make it into Villa Villa. I **love** them!:
I'm so in love with mercury glass lately. Stupid question but is mercury glass bad for me if I'm pregnant? Or do I have to eat it for it to be bad for me? LOL!:
Well, that's all for today. And I still have 6 minutes to kill before I have to get in the shower and head out to work!
Happy Monday!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
**All Wedding Photos Copyrighted by Dana Hood and Jason Villanueva. Please do not republish without their written permission**
Well, now that we have another big announcement, I thought maybe it would be a good time to finally offer the well promised post about our wedding in Paris (back in November)!
I never dreamed I'd have a big or elaborate wedding. When I was a little girl, I didn't imagine who I'd marry, or the dress I'd wear, or the flowers I would use. I actually took that as a sign that I might never get married. But in November 2009, my fiance, Jason, and I, became husband and wife in Paris.
When he proposed, I started planning immediately and as we ladies know, the most important search is for our gown and accessories. After a great deal of searching and some disappointments, I finally found my dress (a Paloma Blanca), shoes and accessories. It looked something like this:
And my shrug, custom designed by Holly Stalder, which I ordered off etsy. Holly even incorporated the extra beads from my dress into the shrug:
All together, it looked something like this:
Prior to meeting Jason, I was leading a full life of independence, had a good career, and enjoyed fun travels. But something was missing. And I found that in January 2007. I found a man who was just as content by himself as I was by myself but together we made each other laugh, shared common interests and fell in love. He was a bit quirky and artistic (a graphic designer) and I've always been drawn to eclectic, artistic men. He had a very serious, almost hard, nature but he could totally throw you off guard with his childlike nature and wide smile that just makes you want to smile back, as well as his hearty laugh:
The two of us being goofy (in Paris):
And, like me, he revolved his world around his dog, Zac. Anyway, after a year of dating, we moved in together. And 8 months later, he proposed. :) As we discussed the type of wedding we would want, I said I really wanted to get married far away, just the two of us. Something simple. Neither of us are beach people, but both having traveled to Europe (me to Paris in 2004 and he to Italy to try out for the Italian street racing team), we both loved the idea of getting married in Paris. So we decided that Paris was it! Over the course of the next few months, we invited his mother and my mother and then our party grew to 9. So we rented an apartment in the St. Germain des Pres neighborhood of Paris for 7 days for our group and I planned an entire wedding at the American Church in Paris from 6,000 miles away with no help!
All in all, the distance did not prove to be an obstacle and with just 9 people, was still small enough to require little work and stay "simple". As a photographer, after the wedding, Jason wanted to focus more on taking photos of me (his model!) LOL! And I have to say, he certainly got several lovely ones:
And my favorite, as the weight of all the hard work melted away...in a tub...in a Paris bathroom:
A photo of Jason and Dana in the windows of our apartment, from down on the street:
And, now, for our big announcement. Seems we should both refocus our attention away from remodeling the bathrooms and instead remodel our spare "office" bedroom into another type of room:
This should be FUN! But we sure have alot to do before October!!
Well, now that we have another big announcement, I thought maybe it would be a good time to finally offer the well promised post about our wedding in Paris (back in November)!
I never dreamed I'd have a big or elaborate wedding. When I was a little girl, I didn't imagine who I'd marry, or the dress I'd wear, or the flowers I would use. I actually took that as a sign that I might never get married. But in November 2009, my fiance, Jason, and I, became husband and wife in Paris.
When he proposed, I started planning immediately and as we ladies know, the most important search is for our gown and accessories. After a great deal of searching and some disappointments, I finally found my dress (a Paloma Blanca), shoes and accessories. It looked something like this:
And my shrug, custom designed by Holly Stalder, which I ordered off etsy. Holly even incorporated the extra beads from my dress into the shrug:
All together, it looked something like this:
Prior to meeting Jason, I was leading a full life of independence, had a good career, and enjoyed fun travels. But something was missing. And I found that in January 2007. I found a man who was just as content by himself as I was by myself but together we made each other laugh, shared common interests and fell in love. He was a bit quirky and artistic (a graphic designer) and I've always been drawn to eclectic, artistic men. He had a very serious, almost hard, nature but he could totally throw you off guard with his childlike nature and wide smile that just makes you want to smile back, as well as his hearty laugh:
The two of us being goofy (in Paris):
And, like me, he revolved his world around his dog, Zac. Anyway, after a year of dating, we moved in together. And 8 months later, he proposed. :) As we discussed the type of wedding we would want, I said I really wanted to get married far away, just the two of us. Something simple. Neither of us are beach people, but both having traveled to Europe (me to Paris in 2004 and he to Italy to try out for the Italian street racing team), we both loved the idea of getting married in Paris. So we decided that Paris was it! Over the course of the next few months, we invited his mother and my mother and then our party grew to 9. So we rented an apartment in the St. Germain des Pres neighborhood of Paris for 7 days for our group and I planned an entire wedding at the American Church in Paris from 6,000 miles away with no help!
All in all, the distance did not prove to be an obstacle and with just 9 people, was still small enough to require little work and stay "simple". As a photographer, after the wedding, Jason wanted to focus more on taking photos of me (his model!) LOL! And I have to say, he certainly got several lovely ones:
And my favorite, as the weight of all the hard work melted away...in a tub...in a Paris bathroom:
A photo of Jason and Dana in the windows of our apartment, from down on the street:
And, now, for our big announcement. Seems we should both refocus our attention away from remodeling the bathrooms and instead remodel our spare "office" bedroom into another type of room:
This should be FUN! But we sure have alot to do before October!!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Best Blog Tips
I am so thrilled to have discovered the world of blogs. I cannot tell you how inspired and motivated I have become just reading everyone's contributions and tips. I'm much better organized now! My favorite tip so far comes from Adventures In Renovating a Brooklyn Limestone. I love reading her blog and not only does she offer amazing tips (like the one below), but she generously designs and provides lots of downloadable freebies to help those of us who are in need of saving when it comes to organization!
Best tip of the YEAR!: Organizing and storing your paint remnants. This has to be one of the best ideas I have seen so far and I'm sure I'm not the first to repost it, but I don't want anyone to miss out on it!
Adventures outlines this great idea and offers a beautiful downloadbale paint can label on its January 10, 2010 entry titled "Simplifying Our Stash". How would you like your garage stash of paint cans to look like this?:
Source: Adventures In Renovating A Brooklyn Limestone
And while I didn't think it could get any better than those, while looking for my own empty paint cans, I came across these two at www.emptypaintcans.com:
Black Cans ($2 each when bought as a case):
Source: www.emptypaintcans.com
Clear paint cans ($6 each when bought as a case)
Source www.emptypaintcans.com
These are both full gallon sized, but they offer numerous options in the quart and pint size! Both these options would look terrific with Adventures downloadable label.
I can't wait to get started! I may start this project this weekend when my husband leaves for 7 days on a business trip. Surprise him when he gets home!
Best tip of the YEAR!: Organizing and storing your paint remnants. This has to be one of the best ideas I have seen so far and I'm sure I'm not the first to repost it, but I don't want anyone to miss out on it!
Adventures outlines this great idea and offers a beautiful downloadbale paint can label on its January 10, 2010 entry titled "Simplifying Our Stash". How would you like your garage stash of paint cans to look like this?:
Source: Adventures In Renovating A Brooklyn Limestone
And while I didn't think it could get any better than those, while looking for my own empty paint cans, I came across these two at www.emptypaintcans.com:
Black Cans ($2 each when bought as a case):
Source: www.emptypaintcans.com
Clear paint cans ($6 each when bought as a case)
Source www.emptypaintcans.com
These are both full gallon sized, but they offer numerous options in the quart and pint size! Both these options would look terrific with Adventures downloadable label.
I can't wait to get started! I may start this project this weekend when my husband leaves for 7 days on a business trip. Surprise him when he gets home!
Fresh and Clean
We have been renovating our master bathroom. Loving all things French, I was intent on doing the bathroom linens in a black and beige toile fabric, but when at Joann's recently, I came upon two patterns of fabric far different that I really love and could see in our bathroom. So, last night I showed those fabric swatches to my husband and he loved them! So, now I just have to buy my fabric and start sewing my shower curtains and towels.
I'm also developing a great vision for the design I would like for the bedroom. It's all just flowing lately. So, that's next. Here's an example of what I have in mind. I'm really in love with the fresh and clean feel of this bedroom. I love the soft colors and the lighting:
Photo by Southern Living
I think the color palette I want to use in the house is coming together nicely and I am hoping it all flows well together from room to room.
On a different note, I love how the color pops in this room:
Photo by Southern Living
My roses are all cut down in preparation of the coming Spring renewal. I can't wait for them to grow! I love gardens and I love vibrant colors in my yard. I came across this photo this morning and it makes me so excited for Spring:
Photo by Southern Living
I'm also developing a great vision for the design I would like for the bedroom. It's all just flowing lately. So, that's next. Here's an example of what I have in mind. I'm really in love with the fresh and clean feel of this bedroom. I love the soft colors and the lighting:
I think the color palette I want to use in the house is coming together nicely and I am hoping it all flows well together from room to room.
On a different note, I love how the color pops in this room:
My roses are all cut down in preparation of the coming Spring renewal. I can't wait for them to grow! I love gardens and I love vibrant colors in my yard. I came across this photo this morning and it makes me so excited for Spring:
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Oh, Frances....
Yesterday, I went an another 1-hour lunch mission to one of my favorite stores in Phoenix, Frances. Frances offers a storeload of unique trinkets, clothing and stationary. I love their letterpress cards. I almost bought a Marie Antoinette stick doll keychain. Here are a couple of the things I admired in the store:
If I had a child, this would DEFINITELY be a part of our household. It's so Alice In Wonderland!
(And, no, I didn't bring my new camera to work with me!)
If I had a child, this would DEFINITELY be a part of our household. It's so Alice In Wonderland!
(And, no, I didn't bring my new camera to work with me!)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Work in Progress
I have a lot of work to do on this little blog. Will you bear with me while it does through some growing pains (i.e design changes)? Thanks. :)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Lunchcapades
Before I start this entry, let me start by saying that I realize that I desperately need a new camera. I'm taunting you with these horrible images taken on my blackberry because I've lost my digital camera somewhere. This week is my birthday. I'm hoping that the gift my hubby has been hinting about is a new camera for my blogging!!!
Well, this week I ventured out of my office twice for lunch...visiting some of my favorite stops in Phoenix and picked out some of my favorite finds. You will see some new stuff but you will recognize my lovely obsession with glass. These pieces were ideal for what I want to do, but $$$$$$$$$. Yes, that's 9 $ signs. Why do I have such expensive taste??
So, without further adieu, here are my favorite finds:
Willows - 40th Street and Indian School Road
Paris Envy - 7th Ave - south of Camelback
This is the cabinet we considered for the remodeled bath (in progress) but it's an old piece and has a musty smell, which I wouldn't normally mind but we intend to store our linens in it.
These letters spell out "PARIS". I :heart: them. Only $88!
I am so drawn to this sofa, made out of a vintage headboard. I can tell you that our bassett hound would definitely steal that seat from us every chance he could!
I also visited Melrose Vintage down on 7th Ave and Camelback, which has some gorgeous pieces, but didn't take any pics. I will save those for a new camera (crosses fingers)!
Well, this week I ventured out of my office twice for lunch...visiting some of my favorite stops in Phoenix and picked out some of my favorite finds. You will see some new stuff but you will recognize my lovely obsession with glass. These pieces were ideal for what I want to do, but $$$$$$$$$. Yes, that's 9 $ signs. Why do I have such expensive taste??
So, without further adieu, here are my favorite finds:
Willows - 40th Street and Indian School Road
Paris Envy - 7th Ave - south of Camelback
This is the cabinet we considered for the remodeled bath (in progress) but it's an old piece and has a musty smell, which I wouldn't normally mind but we intend to store our linens in it.
These letters spell out "PARIS". I :heart: them. Only $88!
I am so drawn to this sofa, made out of a vintage headboard. I can tell you that our bassett hound would definitely steal that seat from us every chance he could!
I also visited Melrose Vintage down on 7th Ave and Camelback, which has some gorgeous pieces, but didn't take any pics. I will save those for a new camera (crosses fingers)!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Help!
Since we, as a family, had just taken a trip to Paris together in November for my wedding (I know, I owe a post about the wedding), we decided not to go all-out crazy with our gift-giving for each other this year. So, our gift to my in-laws was 4 tickets to the local (Mesa) historic district home tour, here in Arizona.
We have toured the Willo Historic District in the past, so I knew this was something we all enjoyed. Well, the tour was this past weekend and while the tour was not as extensive as others I have been to, there were a few very interesting homes. One though, in particular, had me so thrilled and excited, I wish I could have bought the whole house, furniture and decor! Of course, it is a home in my favorite style: Tudor. I took photos with my blackberry, but God forgive me, they are horrible and blurry for the most part. (I knew, I knew, I KNEW we should have brought Jason's camera!) I will post a few though, because I love the decorating inspiration and because I need help finding where I can purchase something within the photo!
I absolutely loved the Wall of Clocks:
And the bedroom:
But I loved these bottles and must have them, but have no idea where to buy them! Please, if you know where I can get these, please comment me!
Here are some other beautiful features of the house. Check out this entertaining patio!:
That's my lovely mother-in-law, Dee, above. We call her Diva Dee. She's a great inspiration and extremely talented and artistic. I won the Golden Ticket when I got her for a mother-in-law!
Again, I apologize for my horrible photography, but one can't do much with a Blackberry camera.
Have you ever been on a historic home tour? What tours do you enjoy and in what cities?
Phoenix has some beautiful historic districts: Willo, Encanto-Palmcroft, Del Norte, Fairview, Story and FQ - to name a few. These homes have such character in a sprawled community of cookie-cutter developments.
We have toured the Willo Historic District in the past, so I knew this was something we all enjoyed. Well, the tour was this past weekend and while the tour was not as extensive as others I have been to, there were a few very interesting homes. One though, in particular, had me so thrilled and excited, I wish I could have bought the whole house, furniture and decor! Of course, it is a home in my favorite style: Tudor. I took photos with my blackberry, but God forgive me, they are horrible and blurry for the most part. (I knew, I knew, I KNEW we should have brought Jason's camera!) I will post a few though, because I love the decorating inspiration and because I need help finding where I can purchase something within the photo!
I absolutely loved the Wall of Clocks:
And the bedroom:
But I loved these bottles and must have them, but have no idea where to buy them! Please, if you know where I can get these, please comment me!
Here are some other beautiful features of the house. Check out this entertaining patio!:
That's my lovely mother-in-law, Dee, above. We call her Diva Dee. She's a great inspiration and extremely talented and artistic. I won the Golden Ticket when I got her for a mother-in-law!
Again, I apologize for my horrible photography, but one can't do much with a Blackberry camera.
Have you ever been on a historic home tour? What tours do you enjoy and in what cities?
Phoenix has some beautiful historic districts: Willo, Encanto-Palmcroft, Del Norte, Fairview, Story and FQ - to name a few. These homes have such character in a sprawled community of cookie-cutter developments.
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