SWAP!

Holy Calamity! That is all I can say about the swap I did with Carolyn [www.mizutamago.typepad.com] She really out did herself with all the little papers, Kiehls samples, kitchen towel, super cute shirts she scored at the thrift shop and down to the sweet ribbons she used to tie up all the packages!! Ive got a lot to learn from this lady! :) p.s. she made the little seersucker striped pouch with the darling rabbit on it! :[)

Redecorating - update 2.

I went to Ikea this Saturday to get a couple things for our little apartment. I was mainly going to get their super cute stool with the doily print design ontop [only $12.99!!!] It is such a great addition to the little corner next to our bookshelf, plus the books ontop of it look so sweet I think! Beyond surprise I found these aluminum shelves there in the office section and thought them perfect for displaying my vintage children's books and also little small tchotchkes [$10.00 each] Then I got a shelf to go above our computer to put our scanner on and other digital equipment, and lastly two little metal brass bookends with lovely flower motifs stamped through. [shelf $20.00 which includes the brackets & bookends $1.99 each] That's all for now, hopefully I can get some for stuff done before school starts next week!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH <- yes that is me screaming! :) lol

Helpful Book

For those of us trying to simplify - here is a good looking book I saw on CB2.com [crate&barrel] Katherin Sorrell - How to Minimize the Potential of Your Home. Does anyone have this, and if so is it worth getting?

Redecorating - update 1.

So I confess - I don't know a lot when it comes to decorating. Especially especially merging two individuals different styles together. Hiro and I have completely different styles but sometimes were able to meet in the middle with our love for modern design..... However, he has a more modern modern taste and mine is vintage modern, so it can still be kinda hard. Luckily though we both have been able to agree on the same thing for redecorating our apartment. Replace our big colorful furnished pieces with more simple colors - whom some might call boring colors [I tend to be one of those people from time to time] but then accessorize with color. So below are some before and after pictures of how ive slowly been doing this. Our "faux" mantel/dvd holder above the tv has super bright orange sliding doors, so I painted some white bars on craft paper and with double sided tape slapped that on there. Also I spray painted the pink candle holders white, which I LOVE so much more now! The curtains, well for the longest time we had two different panels up, and it was driving me CRAZY!!! So made some new ones, all matching of course, white linen with stitching of poppies throughout, though your not able to see in the photo and I put a nice border of silk duponi <- correct spelling] at the bottom with a velvet cream piping between the silk and linen, so cute I think. :) Then since the exposed curtains bothered Hiro and immensely, I thought the cheapest way to cover those up [I am on a strict budget here] was to cut out scallops from that kindergarten paper that we as kids had to practice writing on - remember? So I rubber cemented that onto cardstock and tacked those up there, and now I just need to find some simple flat wood or metal buttons to glue gun ontop of. Lastly I Spray painted our pink and orange Ikea mirror and relocated it between the windows...So if anyone has any tips/ideas for creating an inviting uncluttered/effortless environment, please fire away! :)

I want a pony....... and a bag!

With school just around the corner, all I can think about is school supplies and clothes shopping! How pathetic I am at the age of 25 and still excited about that! ahaha lol I know im not the ONLY one out there who still gets excited about it too. So over at merimekko.com designer Mika Piirainen has a SUPER SUPER cute fall collection that is so crush worthy im already selling stuff on craigslist to buy that pony coat - j/k but I came close! Also the bags there are soo cute, especially for being very basic, which I really like - A+ in my book!

Anything but a sleepy spread!

So one of my biggest pet pieves about American Vogue is its constant lack in creativity in the fashion spreads [please note how I didn't say ALL the time] but they constantly bore me with the staging of the models placed in modern looking homes holding a screwdriver in their silk gloved hands, or their constant bouncing up in the air in the latest trend with a white backdrop!!! PLEASE STOP THE BOUNCING!!! So in one of my Japanese fashion magazines [ yet again :) ] they did a spread of Princess Aurora of Sleeping Beauty [my FAVORITE animated Walt Disney movie] doesn't this make you want to dress up now!?

Science + Sweet + Salty = Smarty Pants?

I tried to post something earlier this morning but it tweaked out on me, so here is my second try. 1. My friend Kiasa just started teaching science classes to little kids here in the city, now how could I not post pictures of that! She is such a bubbly person and very educated that one would be lucky to take a class from her, very memorable indeed it would be! 2. Saltwater is having a summer sale but I think these pieces are good enough to born clear through fall as some new back to school outfits! [www.saltwater.net] 3. Cruising through etsy last night, I came upon this super cute t-shirt with skeleton keys printed on it! Made by Amy of Bondgirl [hi amy! :) and I also saw this cute plate made by a little girl in England who is trying to save some money to come to the states on holiday, her mom's plates are just as cool! :) So another good day on the inspiration train, making all local stops folks! :)

Hear this!

Okay this is my new favorite song!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Go to this link and watch the video, it will make you smile & hopefully get up and DANCE!!!! http://www.blumpy.org/videos/_etc/yuki-joy.mpg Yuki.tiff

How cute is this!?

When we were in Bellingham, Wa a couple weeks ago visiting my stepdad's brothers, I couldn't help but notice all the cute little things his wife had through out their house. 1. a little collection of keys hung on the wall!!!!! I LOVE it! 2. They had this old antique dress with words on it that looked like twigs stuck on it [that is a bad explanation but you can get the idea from the photo] and there lots of other little things here and there. Then in one of my Japanese catalogues I saw these two book ends, that totally looked handmade and easy to make! So cute!

Placement

This Summer ive been working on redecorating our apartment little by little, I finally made new curtains after 3 years of thinking about it! *Geesh* I really really like color, especially bright color, and our apartment has lots of it but it has just been making my eyes CRAZY, so slowly ive been replacing color with neutrals and have been really studying Scandinavian, Japanese, and French design simplicity for inspiration, and my new task that im working on for our apartment this week is placement and display of books. Here are some photos with great ideas! I do have to say though that the top picture of the children's room uses a good amount of color without feeling bombarded. :) Hope these photos will inspire you too!

Camp Liahona

Hiro and I just got back from an overnight camp trip that we went on with a group of friends up to our church's camp [Camp Liahona] it is in Dutchess county, New York and it was just beautiful!!! We ate good food and stayed up really late, woke up early to see the steam coming off of the lake [this is correct no?] went canoeing and then got some awesome homemade ice cream on the drive back to the city. There was a huge sunflower field right behind the ice cream shop, it was fantastic! :) Hope you all had a great weekend!

Road Trippin

Well 2 fantastic things have happened. 1. Our precious Mac just got back from Tekserve today, it had been down for a month and a half, I basically was going crazy using hiro's computer that is windows and in Japanese!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE MACS!!!!!!!!!! and 2. I get to blog again! Yahooey :) *smiles* So I spent my summer vacation in Utah, I just got back two weeks ago. I was gone for 3 weeks, half in Utah and the other half on a road trip that my mom, sister Sarah and I took. It was a blast! I can't wait to do another one. Basically we went and revisited all the places that we had been to over and over again when growing up in Washington State. We started towards Boise, Idaho -> Pendleton, Oregon [and went through their woolen mills tour, AWESOME!] the to Kennewick, Washington [where I grew up..... :/ ] to Levenworth, Washington -> Bellingham [stayed with my Stepdad Rich's brothers] over to the San Juan islands [we stayed in an Victorian Italianate Bed and Breakfast in Coupeville & then took the ferry over to Lopez island and biked] then drover clear across Washington State through Winthrop, Spokane etc. till we got to Sandpoint, Idaho [we spent our summers and winters there growing up] then drove to Missoula, Montana and spent the night there, then drove to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to visit my brother - then drove back to Utah but first we stopped by Bear Lake in Utah for their famous Rasberry Shakes! It was a great week and a half of traveling, and below are some of my pictures from the trip, except the top one which is at Timanogos Cave in Utah just up above where my mom and Stepdad live.