Monday, September 30, 2013

Finishing Touch




 I am dreaming of adding another layer to our house. 

My last layer would include- some busy wallpaper, a vintage runner(an old eSale rug that sold out), pretty frames, new flush mounts, a roman shade for the kitchen and a huge ginger jar(to the trade only).

Weekend Recap | Feels Like Fall


Took a trip to the Farmer's Market and came back with pretty flowers. 
Enjoyed our porch with some good friends. 
I have been on a serious hunt to find yall the most affordable, decent looking antelope I can find. I promise to report back.

Luckily, I scooped these before they sold out.

My attempt at Mark D. Sikes. Told you this Furbish pillow was good looking. Pictures online do not do it justice.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Extra Ooomph


| Clare Vivier Clutch | I consider this fold over a neutral. It goes with anything. 
| Karen Walker Sunnies | Secretly hoping mine go missing so I can scoop these. 
| Loren Hope Perla Earrings | The best party earrings I have seen in a long time. 
| Stila Foil Eyeshadow | Before you ask if I am a street walker at night, watch this video
| Triangle Cosmetic Bag | It's under $10. 
| Tortoise Earrings | Tortoise + sale. 
| Tom Ford Lipstick | I am trying to find the perfect shade of grown up lipstick. 
| Tasmin Classic Pump | Kind of like the clutch, these go with EVERYTHING. Except the clutch. 

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Organs for Sale

I am just going to throw this out there. I try and post things that are attainable. There is nothing more annoying than looking at an outfit round up and realizing everything is from Net-a-Porter.

This dress is worth breaking the rule. This sucker is $1300. Totally out of my price range. It might be the most insane dress I have ever seen. I need to put it on here so I can stalk it if it ever goes on sale. I only need them to drop the price $1100. Is that too much to ask?


Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Feeling Inspired

For the past couple of months I have really been struggling with the blog. I started blogging because I had a lot of exciting things happening in my life. I had just got engaged and we bought a house in the same month. I had so many ideas running through my head I needed to get them all out. When I first started reading blogs, EVERYTHING was so new and exciting. I felt like everyone was speaking directly to me. I really do not know what changed. Maybe I am in a different phase where I am not as interested or maybe all blogs are starting to look the same. I feel like everyone complains, but at the same time no one is really putting a lot out there that is mind blowing, including me. We are all so over exposed.  My little corner of the Internet was turning into a chore.

I had a "day date" with a new friend who I find very inspiring. She is a budding interior designer. She is really smart and creative. (I promise to share some of her projects when she gets her portfolio together, until then follow @meredith_26.) We started talking about blogs, trends, copying and basically trying to figure out "your style". Personally, it took a lot of trial and error to figure out what I like. Making mistakes helped my style evolve.  There is no right and no wrong. I think with all the "dos" and "don'ts" bloggers are  playing it so safe.  Everyone is so afraid to make a mistake because the lurking anonymous a holes.  I am guilty of this myself.

It is amazing how a little travel can put everything into perspective. I just needed a little reminder of how insignificant my life is.  We all need a reminder that the things we worry about are not important. And there you have it, my dramatic rant. Now we can get back to pretty pictures and funny gifs.

Sometimes all it takes is a trip to Paris(because that is totally normal), some interesting friends and of course Alex Chung's bangs to get your mojo back. Hopefully I can keep it going. No promises.


Style icon | Unexpected fall palate | Pretty Packaging | The new neutral





Don't Be Basic


Loanthony (Lohan + Anthony) wants to remind us all, just because it is Wednesday does not mean you have to be basic.

 

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Antelope for Less

Our house is filled with any animal you can think of. There is a tortoise, leopard, zebra and dogs.
The only thing missing is an antelope. The Stark beauty you see in all of the design mags is going to run you anywhere from 2k-5k. In our house, we try to ball on a budget. There is an affordable version by Karastan.  Have you seen any good looking antelopes, that will not break the bank?


1 | 2 | 3

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Raleigh Weekend

I cannot remember the last time I spent a weekend in Raleigh. We have had a summer full of weddings. I really needed a weekend to get my life together. 

I got lucky and scooped up a last minute ticket to  the Alabama Shakes concert Friday night. 

Saturday morning my friend Meredith came to visit.  She is an interior designer in Charlotte and I wanted to take her to some of my favorite home decor spots in Raleigh. 
Really loving e noel at Hunt and Gather. There was a malachite lamp that I really wanted to come live with me. 

Our next stop was Finds. Not only does Evie have a great eye for vintage furniture, she has the most amazing vintage clothes I have ever seen. We had a mini fashion show. Also debuting, my new bangs. After having the same hair style for 8 years now I am feeling all sorts of weird about my new wig. 

Of course, I took her to Furbish. They had my favorite Nest candles, Pumpkin Chai.  I also treated myself to a new pillow. Pictures do not do it justice. It is attractive. 

Our house currently looks like an episode of hoarders. I have extra sofas and chairs laying around everywhere while I am trying to redecorate. I found this crazy burl wood mirror at an estate sale and finally finished my entry. One room down, five to go. 

Forget the humble brag, I am just going to go ahead and tell y'all that I am an really proud of myself. I made dinner. This does not happen often. I am more of a "I will make the sides" wife. I picked up some of the White Bean and Kale ravioli at Cotsco. I made the sauce on the back of the box with olive oil, garlic, parsley, oregano and chili flakes.  I do not know if anyone hates cooking as much as I do, if so you should try this. It is easy. 

In not so happy news, our pets heads are falling off. Really. We have had a streak of bad luck in the Short household. Roy Bear has been sick for the past month. After a week long hospitalization, he is now taking medicine for his liver and can only eat wet dog food. I do not know if there is anything worse than wet dog food. Small price to pay to have our sweet pup with us. Now Hank has decided that he is not getting enough attention so he is limping and has some sort of ulcer on his foot. He has been sentenced to "the collar of shame" until he stops trying to chew his foot off. For some reason, this collar leaves him completely immobile. He is able to walk, but chooses not to. There was one time this weekend I left, showed up an hour later and he had not moved. At all. 




Thursday, September 19, 2013

This Should be Titled: Why Bloggers are Unhappy

Before you quit your job to be an interior designer/social media consultant/stylist/professional blogger/photographer with zero experience or formal education...

Read this.

*Disclaimer: I know this is a touchy subject.   I personally know people who have quit their jobs, started their own thing and are able to pay the bills. Those people are few and far between.  We see everyone quitting their jobs, but we never really follow up. Are you bringing in an income?  No judging, just really curious.





Tuesday, September 17, 2013

A Tuscan Wedding

From Paris we headed over to Italy. Doug's brother got married at a small vineyard in Tuscany, Villa Petrolo. I did not take that many pictures. I blame it on too much food and never ending wine. After going back through my pictures I realized I did not have one picture of the bride and groom together.

The pictures are pretty self explanatory(except the unicorn head) . Everything was magical and I am so excited to have a sister-in -law.
 






















Monday, September 16, 2013

On my Radar

Stanbury- Raleigh people. Check it out. Great atmosphere. Steak tartare and legit cocktails.


Bangs- I have been running my mouth about getting bangs for the last 2 years. By the end of the week you can just refer to me as Alexa. Thanks. Please do not share your horror stories at this time.

[BLANKNYC]- I currently own two of their jackets and they are my favorite. They have a ton of faux leather jackets under $150.
Look what is back! Hurry before it sells out again. 

Haim- This might be the 10th time I have blogged about Haim in the last month. Truth is, they are good and that is pretty much all I listen to these days.

Black and White art- I am always looking for affordable original art. I think I am going to try and create my own. I am thinking about trying some do it yourself ink blots.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

A Paris Weekend


First of all, I have never been to Paris. I did quite a bit of research prior to our trip, but a couple weeks before we left Roy got really sick. He was hospitalized for a while. We still really do not know what exactly caused his sudden illness. I feel like I dropped the ball on making plans before. I got a ton of recommendations from this post

I got some other great recommendations from some close real life friends and blogger friends. 
My friend Rachel sent this guide from Oh Happy Day, which was really helpful. 


Day #1
As soon as we got in town we stopped for lunch at Ralph's. I have always admired the classic courtyard. Everything is blue and white, go figure. The food was nothing to write home about, classic American food. The atmosphere was very chic and I honestly could have sat there all day. 

We took Jordan's advice and took a boat tour that goes along the Seine at night. It was one of my favorite things we did. While it was a little cheesy, it helped us see a lot of the main attractions from a distance. 


We stopped in the park and had a bottle of Rose before the tour. 


We set up shop at Hotel Bonaparte. It was one of the only affordable hotels in Saint- Germaine. My favorite part of the trip, other than people watching was our neighborhood. It was off the beaten path enough to feel really authentic but still really close to everything I wanted to see. 

The first night we had dinner at the Le Petit PrinceIt was tucked away in an alley and the food was really authentic. If you cannot tell, Doug use to work in the food service industry and loves to present wine. Tourist, I cannot take him anywhere. 


Our walk home from dinner. 

Day #2
We squeezed a lot into our second day. We took a trip to Musee d'Orsay.  We decided to skip the Louve after reading tons of comments. We had such a short timeframe I really did not want to waste any time dealing with crowds or lines. 

We strolled to Champs Elysees. Had an espresso, some proseco and a cheese plate at Deux Magots, which ended up being perfect for people watching. 

Thanks to Alex's recommendation, we grabbed dinner at La Societe. I am still thinking about the tuna tartare. After dinner, we walked across the street to a small cafe that had underground French karaoke. 



Our last day we got brave and made the trek to Les Puces, the flea market. It seemed so intimidating that I was planning on getting a guide. My sweet friend is an interior designer who knew someone who takes you to the flea market and will help you negotiate. We were so consumed with Roy being sick I didn't make it a priority to plan it before we left, so we decided to wing it. Getting to Les Puces was so much easier than I anticipated. We took the metro. Again, Jordan had a great post getting to Les Puces.
The flea market was so huge I have a feeling we only made a small dent. This is not your normal flea market. You are not going to find any steals here. I was lucky enough to come across an original painting and some vintage fabric remnants that were in my very limited shopping budget 

Our last night we decided to grab a bottle of wine and eat dinner on the lawn at the Eiffel Tower. Great way to see the Eiffel Tower without having to deal with lines. They have tons of little take away shops around and even sell crepes in the park. I was in heaven. Again, Doug presenting wine. 


I do not want to be a weirdo, but it is too late for that. I literally fell in love with Paris, as cliche blogger as it sounds. I have never been anywhere that was so inspiring. We tried to fit as much as we could in a couple of days. I would do anything to go back and have more time to explore the city.