Weekender Woes!

Last week while I was packing for a quick weekend work retreat, my trusty weekend bag busted. (insert sad face here). It was not a timely failure, but I had been thinking I needed a replacement/upgrade for a while now so it was not a complete surprise. My bag criteria is fairly simple: classic shape, large but carry-on friendly, and does not cost a million dollars. Unfortunately, my favorites satisfy all but the last criterion:

Proenza Schouler PS1 Large Travel Bag. Love the large armholes and the included shoulder strap.

L'Wren Scott Lula Weekend Bag. I love the construction of this one! Tres chic.

Mark Cross Madison Weekender Satchel. This one combines statement color with awesome capacity.

Now that I am done drooling, where should I look for a weekend bag that is not $2K? My last bag (RIP) was from Urban Outfitters and far from luxurious, but it was a simple design and got the job done. The current Urban weekend bag offering is cow-print, which is just not that exciting to me...no offense to cows! If anyone has any suggestion for where to look, I would appreciate it. Do you think I should look in stores, or stick to online browsing for the best options?

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am excited for time to be lazy, celebrate a birthday and wrap my head around the fact that it will be October next week!!!

DIY: Yarn Vases (Better than it sounds, trust me!)

***This post will start wedding-related, but don't worry, it is also an everyday DIY***

I don't want to become a Bridezilla so I constantly remind myself to keep things calm and simple. Weddings aren't cheap and I don't want my guests hungry and bored but I would rather save for our next house or have a fantastic honeymoon than a flashy wedding, so I think I will cancel the flying trapeze act. That being said, I like things the way I like them, so how am I going to reconcile my taste with my self-enforced budget? DIY projects! (Not too many or I will probably dream that I have gone to a hell where Martha Stewart forces me to make individual pieces of confetti from organic paper sourced from sustainable trees that were felled with butterfly sneezes instead of saws and each bit of confetti will have to be stamped with certification that no butterflies were harmed in the process of making said confetti. This is if I get to sleep the week prior to the wedding, which does not seem likely when I am planning long-distance.) A little crafting is relaxing in a zen-like, repetitive way, so I have dabbled a bit in crafts found on Pinterest:

This pin of bottles wrapped in twine made me think about different color options of yarn and since I had an empty wine bottle (it was empty from the night before, Mom, it was not breakfast) and an empty salsa jar, I thought I would start (w)rapping. hehe

All you need for this project is yarn/twine, a bottle or two willing to participate and some craft glue. I would also wash your jars thoroughly so your projects don't carry the faint odors of booze and onions, unless that's your thing...

Glue the end of your string to the bottom of the bottle and let it set for a few minutes so further wrapping doesn't tug it loose. I made zigzags of glue on the bottle's surface and then wrapped it. The wine bottle (left pic) turned out alright but I was not excited about the sporadic discolored blobs caused by my overzealous glue usage. For the salsa jar (below, right) I used the same process but I stuck my hand in a ziplock baggie and used my index finger to smooth out any glue bumps before wrapping the jar, so that one had much more even texture.

I love ranunculus flowers and envision them for the wedding, blah blah blah, so when I was at Trader Joe's, I picked up a bunch and viola, the jars are complete! (Ignore the TV and surround sound towers in the background, but not the coiled rope pot form Anthropologie that inspired my interest in textured vessels).

I left the wine bottle on the coffee table and moved the salsa jar to the dining table and added my brass cricket (from here) to make a quick centerpiece:

I am pretty sure I live in a cave because I had all the lights in the house on and my pictures still came out so dark! Anyway, what do you think of the vases? Any other variations I should know about? Is anyone else out there DIYing his/her little heart out?

Wednesday Whining and Online Finds!

The Midwest is trying to kill me. Kidding, it only hates me. "Whoa, lady," you say, "why would you say something like that?" I am sick again! I love making new friends, but I think I will pass on getting any more familiar with germs. I am sure I haven't been a good roommate to the fiancee (he's a brave soul to step foot in this house-of-illness after work everyday) and I have been slacking on doing anything creative or productive (ie, find a job! or spring cleaning!) but there are positives to being sick... umm.... I can't think of any except for being justified to waste time online all day (ahem, Pinterest and Bloglovin!), so let's go with that.

Here's a (germ-free) taste of what I've been ogling from my perch on the couch:

Summer haircuts are popping up all over the place and most of them involve sumptuous, Gisele-esque waves, but I am still a sucker for a short bob.Think choppier and funkier than Anna Wintour for a more modern look, like the one above...

I spotted this wedding dress and was ecstatic because it is a fun and funky take on lace and around $500, but they carry a very limited size range?! Is it worth looking into special ordering?

I want to live here. I don't know where this is, but I don't care. Gardens and glass doors = gorgeous!

I love these coiled pots at Anthro and now they are on sale! I got the little teal one and don't even care if I put a plant in it because it looks so cute. I was thinking these could be a great DIY project, too.


(I got the majority of these photos from my Pinterest boards, but you know I am big on crediting original sources, so you can get to the original sources from Pinterest quite easily... I might be spending too much time on there, perhaps?)

Today I'll be looking for gardening tips (I want a veggie and herb garden this summer-- wish me luck!) and searching craigslist for the perfect bar cart and maybe a bicycle! What have you been looking for online? Any gardening tips you'd like to share? Feel free to send me vitamins as well ;)
Happy Wednesday!

Back on the Chain Gang!

I have been wanting to make a new necklace for some time, but haven't been a fan of anything I have whipped up lately. In need of inspiration, I did a little searching and a little pinning (it's an addiction I fully admit to having) and found some great chain necklaces that I would love to DIY. Some aren't feasible projects for an amateur like me, but maybe they'll inspire me to up my game!

1. Lizzie Fortunato Jewels Cosmic View Necklace
2. Dannijo Galapagos Necklace
3. Maison Martin Margiela Twisted Necklace
4. Rachel Leigh Jewelry Estates Soiree Necklace

This isn't a DIY piece, but I loved the color and statement that this Tory Burch Resin Chain necklace makes:

 What have you been inspired to make lately? And where do you look for inspiration?

Seeing Chevrons

I openly admit that I am a shopaholic, but I rarely purchase anything online, much less make an impulse purchase online. But there it was, a black and white striped chevron rug staring at me from the Hautelook website. Its poor, woebegone self seemed to whimper, "Take me home with you"--- oh, wait, that was the price, nevermind! Even on a computer screen I can tell it isn't the quality of the Madeline Weinrib or West Elm chevron rug I have been pining for, but at $65 for a 5x8 rug, I couldn't pass up the deal and it will be perfect for my home office.

After (im)patiently refreshing the webpage until it came back in stock, (you have 15 min to purchase what you select for your shopping bag on Hautelook or it is removed from your bag and put back in stock--can you say "extreme sense of urgency""?), I snagged the size I want and purchased it, feeling triumphant. Until I realized I had purchased a black and white chevron rug... How on earth am I going to make that work with my decor of happy turquoises, organic wood accents and metallic odds and ends...? Panic set in, but then my sister (ever-so-chic and a pro decorator) told me to check Pinterest for inspiration.... Like I don't spend enough time on there to think of that myself! (But I didn't, it was panic time). Anyway, I was immediately relieved to see the awesome rooms people have created with chevron rugs and can't wait to get mine in the mail so I can start decorating my office!!! Here are some of the pictures I found:

I love the ornate style of the chair contrasted with the more modern, graphic rug. And the turquoise? Obviously a fav! I was relieved to see it incorporated with the black and white.


This rug looks to be about the size and scale of the one I purchased, and it doesn't make me cross-eyed, so I can stop hyperventilating ;)


I love this mix of print and color!


I found the picture of this home office last, and it will be of great inspiration to me-- I mean, it is simple, but who wouldn't want to work in a space like this?
Is anyone else out there an impulse shopper? Do you normally shop for home goods online or in 'brick and mortar' stores? Am I crazy for buying this rug?!?!?!?