I See London, I See France...

JP and I are taking a trip to the London and Paris!  I'm so excited I can barely stand it!  I've been doing quite a bit of research on the two cities, but seem to have found more information on Paris vs. London.  I need the blogging community to help a gal out and give me some good recommendations on restaurants, shops, galleries etc to visit while in London.

Here are a few places I'm dying to visit while in Paris...please send more suggestions!

Hotel Thoumieux, Claus Paris, Derriere Resto, L'Hotel Restaurant, Repetto Paris,

{Paris & London map}

All I Want For Christmas Is...

1- Cava Piped PJ Top - Anthropologie, 2 -Tom Ford Perfume, 3 -Kelly Wearstler top, 4 -Black and White and a bit in between book, 5 -Rachel Roy "Lacina" shoe, 6 -Cafe leather purse - Ann Taylor,
7 Snake ipad cover, 8 -Josie Maran argan oil moisturiser, 9 -J. Crew earmuffs, 10 -Gold hexagon ring,
10 -Architectural ring, 11 -Iphone case, 12 -Malin and Goetz candle, 13 -J. Crew gloves, 14 -Kate Spade earrings

Art Meets Fashion

Painting by James Nares

JP and I took a trip to Vegas a couple of weeks ago.  It was my first time - what a crazy place!  I'm definitely glad I got to experience it.  Everything about it is loud and in your face.  Including the above painting that I discovered in the lobby of the hotel Aria.  I was memorized by it.  I love the large brush strokes and brilliant color.  I did a little research and the artist, James Nares, paints by suspending himself over the canvases hooked up to a harness - click here to get a visual - its pretty amazing! 

The other day I stumbled upon this photo pf SJP in a gorgeous Prabal Gurung spring 2012 frock.  I kind of gasped when I saw it because it reminded me so much of the painting I've been lusting over since Vegas. 

I'm wondering if I can try to create a similar painting...

Crave or Save

Crave: Mongolian vest - Calypso St. Barts, Save: Mongolian fur vest - Sabine

Crave: Fur Collar trench - Burberry, Save: Belted fur collar trench - Topshop

Crave: Green mongolian fur coat - DVF, Save: Motel Freya Faux Fur Cropped Coat - Asos

Pretty Notes

 

So remember those little paintings I did awhile back .  Well, my genius sister decided to take the designs and transfer them to printed note cards.  Aren't they stunning?!  Mine are the watercolor line drawings (top right and bottom middle).  Do you want to know the BEST part though??  The art on the "Catherine" series which consists of the top middle and bottom left card were done my my 3 year old niece!  One day after she was finished with a little painting project, my sister was cleaning up and notices how lovely the palette she used to mix her colors was.  She saved it and transferred the masterpieces to her note cards.  Again, genius!

If you want to purchase them, shoot me an e-mail.  Her Etsy shop is here.

From Drab to Fab

I like to see potential in everything whether it be a dirty old trunk - perfect for a chic coffee table accented with a luxe tray and eye catching books - or in this case a pair of boring old bar stools.  These bar stools were left to us by the previous owner of our house.  At first glance I was like - those are going in the trash ASAP, but when I began searching for stools online to replace them; I quickly realized how EXPENSIVE they can be!  Each one that caught my eye was at least $800 +.    That's when I decided maybe I could just give these stale stools a good face lift.

I picked up some high gloss white spray paint at Home Depot, purchased this gorgeous silk charmeuse ikat print fabric from Thai Silks, and found some great vintage drawer pulls at an antique mall in Saugatauck, MI to put on the back's for a little interest. 

I'm not in love with the traditional shape of them, but I think they turned out pretty cute for what I had to work with!  What do you think?

Black & Gold

image via, black and gold wallpaper

earrings, image via

image via, shoes

image via, image via