Classic Traditional Family Home Design
Friday, August 6, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Decompressing
After 4 days of 6+ hours of driving per day, I'm in decompression mode. First home to Virginia from my dad's in Illinois... That took 2 days (we split up the drive for the kids' sake) and we delayed leaving because we were having such a good time SO that led us into 2 more days of straight driving up and back from NY to celebrate with some friends.
ps- This is so odd, but for the past 5-7 days or so, I haven't been able to type... I don't know what's up but it's worse than usual!! (I keep mixing up all the letters and leaving letters out.... ??hahaha .... ok only funny if it stops.)
{Justin "up-up-up-downing" at our McDonald's makeshift picnic on our roadtrip home}
Before we left though, we did get some fishing in at the lake...
I'm a terrible fisherman ("fisherwoman" just sounded odd there) but I love it now that Christian has so much fun doing it:
He kept reeling it in and seeing the minnow (for bait) on the hook and thinking he'd caught "a little fish!" (We didn't have the heart to tell him.)
Dave's learning too...
I love those cloudy days at the lake where you just relax. There's gray beauty everywhere...
{"One-two-three-four-five-six-seven... SEVEN snails" says Christian}
He was so excited to catch his very first bass with his Nanoo (my dad)... (It was definitely the smallest bass we'd ever seen ;)
My dad's an awesome fisherman and even mounted "my" very first bass that I caught at four years old. Here he is now in the playhouse:
I wasn't ready to leave for home but I guess it's always better to leave while you're still having fun. We're finally home from an amazing time in NY at Eddie & Jaithan's where we got to see & meet some amazing blogging friends in person. ...Debra of5th and State, Patricia of PVE Design, Michele of My Notting Hill, and the Vamp (Valorie of Visual Vamp) to name a few... it was like meeting old friends and they're just as amazing as you'd expect in 'real' life. As my usual I'm-having-too-much-fun-to-take-pictures-self, I didn't take any but in true Eddie & Jaithan fashion, you can bet it was beautiful. And when I got home, there was a beautiful package waiting for me from Patricia who had no idea we were even going to meet when she's sent it the week before:
She'd found an amazing book that she thought I'd love for $1 and sent it to me! (Now this is the kind of person I want to be. She's so incredibly thoughtful and generous!! And seriously chic- oh my goodness!) Anyway, It's called Found Style by Amy and David Butler and the photos are incredible:
I plan on taking some time this week to read it and another book (Living With What You Love) this week ad am attempting to decompress from our whirlwind of driving.
I've got a great week set up with clients to get back into the swing of things (if any of you are reading I missed you!! ;) ... tonight we had an awesome dinner- a Greek Salad with ground tukey (I swear it's good) and life is beautiful.
I hope you're having a great summer too& are enjoying any minute you can.
ps- This is so odd, but for the past 5-7 days or so, I haven't been able to type... I don't know what's up but it's worse than usual!! (I keep mixing up all the letters and leaving letters out.... ??hahaha .... ok only funny if it stops.)
1 year
today is my 1 year blogiversary!
starting this blog was one of the best things i could have ever done. i have met so many amazing people through blogging. i never thought that i would enjoy it near as much as i do, and i definitely never thought that blogging would open so many doors for me.
i am so thankful for all of my readers. i really enjoy hearing from each of you, whether by comment or by email. hearing that you’ve enjoyed a post makes my day, so THANK YOU so much!! i’m looking forward to another great year of blogging and i hope that all of you will stick around for it.
xo,
Cristi
LiveJournal Tags: blogiversary
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sneakity Peek: Rugs for Pure Style Home!
As I recently mentioned, we're working on getting an online store up & running for Pure Style Home. It's going to be filled with one-of-a-kind things I absolutely love and want to keep. (But because I'm not independently wealthy and don't have ten houses, must sell ;) I am SO INSANELY EXCITED over the rugs we just recently found to be sold in the shop!! (We were only able to buy 4 to start out with- rugs are a serious investment- eek!) All of the rugs chosen are hand-knotted, have an antique washed feel, and I want to keep every single one. I'm in the process of photographing them and was just too excited not to share with you. This one is a Mamluk rug, created in the style of rugs produced during the Mamluk Dynasty in 14th Century Egypt. It's full of golds and browns with splashes of pale blue-green:
It's approximately 8 x 11 and I'm seriously in love, Here's a close-up:
I'm really not a sales person but have started this venture out of my love for stuff. Yeah, there I said it, I LOVE STUFF. But I can't keep it all, and in my job, I see so many beautiful things that it's hard to walk away from them. It's hard for me to "sell" things to anyone, but if I don't, I'll end up with either a house smashed-full of beautiful things and an empty bank acoount or having to continue to walk away from all of these treasures. So, the new shop will be my outlet for making these items available to clients & others who love them as much as I do... a place for my "uncommon finds." I hope you never feel that posts like this are "salesy" and that I'm trying to push anything on you... I hope you see it as me being so excited that I want to share things with you because that's truly what it is.
{A bunch of the other items in the photos above will be for sale too, but I'm not sure which ones yet as I'm having trouble parting with them- ha!}
I'm adding inventory to the store daily and am trying to get it up and running as quickly as possible. I'll keep you posted!! Would love to know what you think of it!!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Searching for Inspiration
Girls Room
FLOWER & COLOUR POWER
Amanda Pratt Photography
Fabric@ vti
Holly Dyment Design
Jay Jeffers Design Group
vti
Love this colourway
all @ VT Interiors
my dream kitchen
if i could build my dream kitchen i would build one with very few or no upper cabinets. i like the look of shelving but think i could do without them completely. while i was browsing through my kitchen inspiration files i realized how many kitchens i have saved that don’t have upper cabinets.
i love the task lights above the sink in this kitchen.
so pretty. this one is neck and neck with my favorite one.
{lonny}
{living etc}
{unknown}
{unknown}
and my favorite…
The Tempel Lipizzan Legacy
A few miles from my dad's lake house (where we're visiting now) are the Tempel Lipizzan Stables which house Lipizzans, Europe's oldest domesticated horses, owned by the Tempel Smith family (of Tempel Steel). The grounds are incredible and we love going to see the shows.
{The Stables}
According to Lippizan.com, "Lipizzans are Europe's oldest domesticated breed of horse. They not only possess beauty and nobility, but also a rare combination of courage, strength, ability, temperament, and intelligence.
The Lipizzan breed had its beginning in 1580"... and was created by a combination of different breeds... They have been moved throughout the past 400 years numerous times to survive various wars including the Napoleanic Wars, and World Wars I & II. "In 1945 General patton executed a daring rescue of the Lippizzans, the story of which is told in Disney's The Miracle of the White Stallions."
{photo of a photo I saw in the stables}
"In 1955, millionaire Tempel Smith (Tempel Steel) of Chicago, imported 20 Lipizzans from Austria, 11 from Hungary, and 6 from Yugoslavia..."
{Me creepily taking photos of one of the riders who was resting between performances... he totally caught me- oops!}
..."Tempel Smith devoted 15 years, until his death in 1980, importing and breeding his herd to over 400 horses. Since Tempel Smith's death, much of the herd was disbursed. However, Tempel Farms still breeds a number of Lipizzans each year, and they still successfully compete Lipizzans for Tempel Farms."
{The Show... The woman above was so beautiful & poised... exactly what you would imagine. }
This year, the weather was perfect when we took Christian & Justin to see the show. The horses are just incredible:
I can't believe how high they jump!!!
The boys had so much fun and even 7-month-old Justin was into it...
{I loved this photo from the stables}
And Christian loved the old "fire truck"-
I'm apey over the Guest House, which sits high up on a hill overlooking the grounds:
It can be rented for private events and there's a pool in the back:
... which overlooks this:
And the stables house some of the best design I've ever seen:
The hallway was gorgeous.
They've kept everything as it was in the 50s:
Check out the heat lamps the horses use when being bathed:
...And of course I can't see all of this and not start to think about interiors. Oh my gosh, please someone call me with a horse fetish!!! (err passion ;) I'm dying to do a home for a horse-lover now!!
Check out these photos taken by Roger Davies for Elle Decor of Mark Badgley and James Mishcka’s home: Mmmmmm.. love it!
And this one from Nuevo Estilo Magazine via La Dolce Vita:
(I can't help but get a little bit excited for Fall when looking at all of these images but I'm holding it back because Summer's still in full force.)
And one last picture of the horses as we drove by another day on the way home to the house... You can see them right on Hunt Club Road:
{The Tempel Lipizzans}
If you're still in the mood for horse-inspired interiors, definitely check out these 2 posts full of equestrian eye candy: (so gorgeous!!!)
Chic Equestrian Style in Home Decor by Simplified Bee
Equestrian Chic by La Dolce Vita
