Island Issues

I felt called to go through my blog and delete old drafts that I had never posted. I stumbled upon this post (from 2011) that somehow never saw the light of day. I thought why not put this out into the world and show it some love.
 

I have looked through the pages of the latest Coastal Living magazine and it has so many features that I love. I feel like I could connect to this issue because it had so many different styles of Interiors, clothing and accessories for different styles. Usually I associate Coastal design with Nautical themes of navy, red and white.

Stray Dog Designs.  

stray dog designs

Canyon Beachwear 

CANYON BEACHWEAR

Spring Inspirations

The feelings of SADD are slowly leaving me as the weather creeps up past the 50 and 60 degree mark and daylight savings has made its way into my life.I live in So-Cal and I hate layering, I know I got So-Cal problems. During the long winter I usually hold my self over with a blast of my space heater while listening to Bossa nova and drinking a beer. This results in me congested and the possibility of hallucination! So awesome...why do I do this to myself? The sacrifices I make to pretend its warm and sunny! 

Below: All these photos have been taken during Spring 2012 because something about them brought great feelings of Spring and each one holds a memory to me. 

Top L-R: Pretty sandals I saw at my first Fullerton Farmers Market of the season, Laguna Beach Palm Trees blowing in the wind bring calmness to my mind, Patchwork signs mean the return of the Spring showcase. 

Bottom L-R: Drawing up window display idea's while sipping mint iced tea, reading Print Workshop book on a rainy day road Less Traveled, Taking a moment to myself at Newport Beach. 

What inspires you? 

Window shopping by the beach with mom

 Back in August I went on a little outing to the beach with my mom, Newport Beach/Corona Del Mar to be exact. I live relatively close to the beach in comparison to some of you that live in say, Iowa? So yeah I live like 25 mins away...but never seem to get down there because the traffic is always horri-bad and I have work or school everyday. But on one fateful afternoon my mom and I managed to make it down to the beach on my first day of vacation! We stopped by so many places including Anthropologie, Tommy Bahama, Bristol Farms and Bliss Home Design. I took alot of photos on the way, mostly for inspiration and to show you. So take a look at what I found. 

ANTHROPOLOGIE: FASHION ISLAND, NEWPORT BEACH CA

I came here in hopes of an out of this world window display but was a bit underwhelmed when I saw what they had in the window. Super simple and low key, not that it looked bad just not what I had expected. 

 Super simple window displays.

 Up close shot of the installation.

 Love the scarf and peach pants.

 Really digging the painted cinder block installation. Perfect for a garden. 

 Like the hanging ropes. 

 Saw this spoon napkin holder thought it could easily be recreated. 

 So so summer. Love the green blue and turquoise and fish netting.

 So many layers of merchandising.

 Thought this was a really intricate wicker bench. 

 All the glassware is nice but I'm drawn to the island more than anything. 

 Get it gurl! Visual design team working on installation art. 

 Now this is a whimsical door/cabinet. I would love to make on of these. 

 Love the bathtub. 

 The ruffle shower curtain is catching my attention. Liking the color scheme alot. 

 Flowy circle installation. 

 Everything has a mauve look to it. Makes me think of early morning when everything has that bluish purple glow. Cool Ikat chair and handwriting bedspread...Mhmmm. 

 Can you spot the chair on top of the canopy?

 Bold colors, Robes and light wood.

 Upon closer look there is a balcony. A kids dream come true. 

TOMMY BAHAMAS: CORONA DEL MAR, CA.

I always feel like Im on holiday time when i step into this store. Everything makes me want the weather to be hot and for my skin to be tight and tan. Their dresses are tdf but somehow never go on sale...? Do they and I just don't know it? Also love the sandals they sell here, very luxurious. 

 Sparkly sandals in silver and gold, perfectly paired with a french manicure. 

 This summer I was obsessed with the dip-dyed ombre look. This dress would have been my go to for summer date night. 

 I had to go around and touch everything, love the feel of soft sweaters while shopping in air conditioning. Love their visual merchandising. I feel like Im in a fancy walk in closet because of all the built in shelving that has decorative molding around it. 

 NEED those sandals, cute idea for displaying on faux grass. 

Relax is right.

BRISTOL FARMS: CORONA DEL MAR, CA

For those of you not in the know, Bristol farms is a fancy schmancy gourmet market. It's under nice in there and so are the prices :) But it's still fun to stop by when Im in the area and pretend that I'm a millionaire for the day. I walked by the soup bar and a most mouth watering scent passed my way. I had to find out the cause. Out came the camera and I snapped a photo of the savory artichoke soup, now I know whats in it and will be making it this fall, ahhh yes. 

BLISS LIVING HOME: CORONA DEL MAR, CA

I had heard of this store before and finally got a chance to see it in person for myself. I spent a while drooling over all of their very well curated designs. The girls working there were friendly, I did happen to see an interior designer and she was working away at her desk and said hi to me. I saw that she had some client boards near her desk and I looked at them because for some reason I wasn't sure if that's what I really saw. I love that their firm does boards because I heard it was a dying art form with everyone using programs on the computer for faster results. Even the drawings including the elevations and axio's were hand drawn, not by her but the girls working for her! Great job ladies @ Bliss Home Design! 

TIME TO GO HOME: 

While walking back to the car I spotted a vast collection of Adirondacks chairs! I'm obsessed with these damn chairs, one of my friends and I have an ongoing joke about these chairs. 

BUT NOT HOME FOR LONG

...the next day we left for Miami Florida! 

-Side note: To my mother if you're reading this...you're one of my favorite people to hang out with. You and I can have such fun pretending to be rich while window shopping at the beach. It never gets old. I love you :)

Hot Holiday

I have a riddle for you.

What do The U.S., Brazil, St. Bart's & Mexico have in common?

They were the top Holiday destinations for Celebs this last year.

Let's take not so if one day we become sickeningly rich we can go ahead and vacate to these top tier locations. If celebs are going to these locals to get away from the La-La-Land craziness then it must be good. I'm thinking that St. Bart's is sponsoring celebs because it was the most inhabited place these last few weeks with A list names.

Let's go ahead and see what everyone is up to in these hot holiday spots.

Salma Hayek-St. Barts

Demi Moore & Ashton Kutcher-St. Barts

Jessica Alba-Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Chloe Sevigny- South Beach Miami, Florida

Ellen DeGeneres & Portia De Rossi-St. Barts

Matthew McConaughey & Camila Alves-Trancoso Beach, Brazil

Jennifer Love Hewitt-Hawaii

Fergie-St. Barts

All photos from Justjared.com

If you could go on a Hot Holiday where would you go?

-I haven't been on a hot holiday, I usually go to Florida in the end of August and it's down season and super humid. I would like to go to Hawaii for a hot holiday, it just looks pretty in photo's, hope it's just as warm as it looks.

Just another day in paradise

Just North of Laguna Beach, CA