high/low...decoupaged glass trays

i've long loved the idea of the decoupaged glass tray, especially as a gift for a lovely lady...whether a bridal shower, mother's day or a gift for a special friend. let's be serious, i like them for myself too, on a vanity, a key table, a desk...the possibilities are quite literally endless. but i've always been confounded by the price.

i've found the most expensive selection to be at cursive new york (not surprisingly) like the harvest apple,  spouting whale and the blue butterfly. i suppose being designed by john derian allows them to charge close to $200 for some of their trays. excuuuuuuuse me.

jayson home and garden has some at the same pricepoint as cursive like the brown butterfly (but john derian's nowhere to be found)...but then they also have some medium-priced options like the gypsy rectangular tray ($78) and the adorable elephant tray decoupaged glass tray ($55).

and then jayson home and garden has these lovely french letter trays in porcelain and ceramic and although they're smaller than the others, i rather like that about them and think it makes them very versatile and usable in any number of settings. and they're each under $25.

that's more like it.

but the absolute best deal around is the selection of trays by two's company i spotted at the tuesday morning that opened recently in port washington. they range from $2.99 to $7.99 each and they're perfectly lovely. to me, these beautifully convey the truth that you don't need to buy the most expensive version of something to get in on the concept and fully enjoy it.

bridal showers coming up? weekend visits that require thanks? guess who's getting a tray? EVERYONE!

 

they might not look all that special stacked like they are, that's where your vision has to come in...wrapped in simple clear cellophane with a raffia or satin ribbon, these will make the perfect gift this spring and summer.

you in?

holy tulips!

all weekend i was blown away by the huge, gorgeous tulips i was seeing everywhere. i tried to take some pictures to share, but i was going to be risking the lives of other motorists, so i had to lay off the camera. i did get this one and i just adore the vibrant, intense color combo of red and purple. another favorite combination i saw was red, yellow and orange. i'm going to do my best to take a picture of that display so i can post it here. so many color stories to love...

on the subject of tulips, martha's tip of the day is a particularly clever one. she puts the tulips stems in a narrow vase and places that vase inside a larger one. a turducken of tulips. obsessed.

fabulous pouf, part 2

i don't know if you remember this fabulous pouf i blogged about a while ago....well thanks to the calypso st. barth collection at target you and i might be able to score perfect poufs in silver and gold. the calypso collection hit stores yesterday and has some things worth checking out. aside from these poufs which are a no-brainer, i also love this pillow, this clutch, these pouches, this elephant teapot, and this bracelet. a bunch of the pieces are unavailable online, so going to the store is probably your best bet.

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the princess bride

so what do you think? i think waity katie looks totally stunning...a true princess, but a modern one. the dress is BEYOND and she looks at ease, confident and beautiful. my favorite part is the veil. i love the way it looked in front of her face, and most especially when it was just pushed back.

kate looks like herself, just as a beautiful bride, and isn't that what we'd all like to look like on our wedding days?

it looks kind of like a wedding at disney world, doesn't it? i bet their wedding sales are going through the roof this week...

and the prince's red jacket is pretty spiffy.

and despite all the pomp and circumstance, they look like any couple in love on their big day - humbled by all the kindness and well-wishing, surreal in the fact that it's all actually happening, and truly hopeful about what lies ahead.

mazel to will and kate. mazel.


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in tiny bloom

 i love little floral arrangements like this, if you could even really call them that. they're simple, inexpensive and surprisingly impactful in settings ranging from your desk at work to your dinner table at home to even a wedding.

i always think that a single bloom in a simple vase or even a drinking glass looks so charming and understated at restaurants, and really there's no reason we can't do that on our own, all the time. you can get a bouquet at the grocery store for around $5 and create a few single-bloom vases like these, or you could go into a florist and treat yourself to s single gorgeous specimen and put it in your prettiest glass.

i think a lot of times people shy away from doing things like this, especially for weddings and big events, because they don't want to look cheap, but really, if you do them tastefully and with confidence, i think they make a strong, classy statement. in some ways, their stark and subtle appearance speaks volumes. 

if i were doing this for a party, i'd probably go with mono-chromatic blooms (like i did here) and perhaps mix and match simple glass vases or glasses. for a wedding, the go-to would be white, but for a christmas dinner i'd use red, and for a spring brunch, definitely pink....i would split up the single blooms in these pictures and place them in a row down a long table or stagger three of them in the center of a round one.


playing with flowers is so cathartic and lovely feeling, isn't it? my favorite flower moment so far was when i got home from the hospital after my surgery, i reworked all the beautiful flowers that had been sent to me so i could have them all over and enjoy them for the weeks to come while i was home. they are a true moodlifter.


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speak up

good morning sweet readers! 

first, i want to share with you a good discovery from the weekend - dramatics nyc hair salons. it's a chain, and they have a deal where if you're willing to walk in for your appointment and walk out with wet hair, a cut is $19.99. works for me. so after meeting my lovely, pregnant college roommate for coffee and tea here, i popped in to the 74th and Columbus location of dramatics where lulu cut my hair. she did a great job and it was, sure enough, $19.99. greatest new nyc discovery ever.

but what i really want to talk about this morning is the temperature of the water when electra washed my hair (p.s. electra was a lovely girl who couldn't have been older than 17 or so, and she was wearing very thick rimmed glasses with no lenses in them. but i digress...)

it's not so much about the temperature of electra's water, per se, but more those moments we all encounter when the water is too hot or too cold or too whatever...and it takes strength and self-respect to speak up. my mind always goes back to a lesson my mom taught me a long time ago of never being afraid to speak up for yourself. the two examples she used are ones i'll always remember because, in one form or another, these situations arise day after day throughout our lives.

1. babysitting money - never be afraid to ask for money you worked for. when my mom said it, it was about being paid $5 an hour for watching a kid who never stopped crying or asking for soy milk. today, it's about any number of things and no matter how hard you know you work or how generously you know you lent, asking for money isn't easy, is it?

2. the water at the beauty parlor - my mom taught me not sit and wince through a too-hot shampoo...it's your head and your body and you need to make sure that you're being good to it. well, that lesson has a lot more history and baggage for me, and is something i'm still learning every day, and is even more complicated, to me, than the money one.

but this time when i sat down, i told little electra just what i needed. i said "i usually like the water pretty cool," and she made the water nice and cool, checking in with me so it was just the way i liked it.

i felt proud in that moment that i spoke up comfortably for what my head and my body needed and i felt thankful that my mom taught me that lesson good and young, even though i might first be learning it for myself now.

do you feel awkward speaking up in money or hot water situations?

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lean + laze

how fun is this lean + laze lounger from pb teen? i'm a full-fledged grown up and i love it. as is often the case, it's way less expensive than it would be if it were marketed towards adult spaces, so i think it's a great find.

this week i'm loving

loving so many things this week and want to share them with you. to name a few...

the better-than-ever sunglasses selection at old navy.

the most delicious smelling soap. EVER.the coconut scent is the most authentic vacation-in-a-bar i've ever experienced, thanks to my lovely aunt jackie.

i love this bag from banana because it's a rather serious bag in a very spring-ready color. love that combo, and LOVE the color. it also comes in a terrific grass green.

also in the world of colorful accessories, how much fun is this enamel watch? i'm actually rather fond of a few of the watches on hsn. and for only three easy payments....

and welcome to the world of this enamel bracelet. and this perfect set of mismatched bangles. 

okay i'm done.

ok wait, just one more. 

i can't help it! i'm a bracelet addict and all mine are too big on me now. good problem to have, i suppose. i'm loving that this week too.

have a great weekend full of things you love.

label whore

do product labels or packaging make you want to buy them? right now, my label crush is tammy fender's line which has caught my eye in a few mags and then this morning on goop. it's the opposite feeling i have when i want to peel off the labels (also a great visual effect).

the packaging itself is very simple...whiskey-bottle style vessels, clean white labels and a kick-ass typestyle.

 

some other favorites at the moment are my precious mrs. meyers labels...

and the vintagey feel of the organic lemon label at trader joe's.

it pays to notice the little things, don't you think? they're all around us!

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i want to go to there, novogratz edition

were you a fan of 9 by design on bravo last year? i was. i loved it and was so heartbroken when a second season wasn't ordered. luckily, the novogratz family will be back in an HGTV show soon (possibly this summer). here are some images of the house they lived in while the show was being shot, and i find them inspiring. nothing in the novogratz home is too perfect or precious - and with seven kids, that's probably wise.





i feel like their home conveys the same things their lifestyle does - unpredictable, stylish, funny and ever-changing. i love pretty much everything they do - here is a link to their site which has great and extensive pictures of all their projects. i want to go to there.




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hats off

there's something about sunhat collections that always gets me...they're so casual and seem to suggest a vacation or just a generally relaxed atmosphere.

i also love the feeling that they're there in case anyone needs one...it's a very sharing kind of display, especially in an entry way, don't you think?





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