Back online

So I've had my Etsy shop on vacation mode for the past couple months during the move, and I am pleased to say I'm now taking orders again!

I have lots of more interesting things I want to share, and I'm waiting at the car dealership with a bunch of time to spin some posts, but sadly I copied the wrong photo library to my computer before leaving the house, so I don't have any of my pictures to show. Oh well, another day!

Decorating with books

One thing we have a lot of (and I mean a lot) is books. I have my husband to thank/blame for that – he's a writer and he can't help himself. I'd say he brings home a couple new ones a week, on average.

Personally, I consider it an infinite supply of decorating material. I love to decorate with books. I am a big fan of this blog which has a Bookcase of the Day post about every week.

My mom was in town a couple weeks ago to help us unpack into our new (again) house, and we had fun creating a built-in bookshelf wall in the breakfast nook. (We simply removed the doors from the cabinets, and lined the shelves with about half of Mike's book collection.) I'm feeling too lazy to take pictures of it right now, so I'll post a before and after later. Maybe I'll submit it to be a bookcase of the day!

Jiggity-jig!

I just got the keys to our house today! I went by to visit her, and she doesn't look a day older...

(For anyone who doesn't keep up with every detail of my personal life for some reason: We moved from Dallas to LA two years ago, one month before the world got its economic panties in a wad, couldn't sell our house, had to rent it out, ended up moving back to Dallas right as our tenants were moving out, and tomorrow, we move back in! So it will be kind of like the old Steven Wright joke in reverse, or on a different scale, or something ... just click, he tells it better.)

I think it's safe to say I'll be obsessing about redecorating for the coming weeks. When I see a sight like this, my heart palpitates and I start to drool a little:

All that space that needs my love and attention!

I was especially excited to see the master bathroom again. Shortly after I moved in with my husband, we gutted it and I got to design it from scratch. Now I get to put my thumbprints over the whole place...

Mostly, this afternoon was sweet reunion, but there was a little bit of what every owner fears when they rent their home. Namely, that you walk in the kitchen to find one of the cabinet doors split from its hinges, and then discover the rest of it laying in the corner of the bedroom.

All in all, not bad, considering.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to clicking my heels three times some more.

Fiona Banner installation at the Tate

Yesterday during my morning skim of favorite blog feeds, this photograph stopped me dead in my scrolling, and I am not being dramatic, I had to catch my breath.

When I was little I would have these crazy dreams of being in an enormous, impossibly deep indoor swimming pool, and I would discover that there was a giant whale, a huge dark silent beast, gliding below the surface. That was the feeling I remembered.

Harrier and Jaguar 2010 by Fiona Banner (photo by the Tate); found via but does it float.

Hilarious: Catalog Living

I was just turned onto this hysterical blog called Catalog Living.

"A look into the exciting lives of the people who live in your catalogs." Brilliant!

Here's a sample post from the other day.


Elaine was not amused by Gary’s passive-aggressive response to her request to “garnish the cocktails.”

Visit the blog on tumblr, and prepare to waste some time. I hope they do a book!

Thanks, Jamie!