Another Boy in the House

If I were living in China a few hundred years ago, I'd be a revered wife for having so many boys. Another boy is making his debut soon into our abode. He's healthy and pretty darn cute, so far, I must say. The boys in the house are excited for this one. They think one more male will change the tides and create a democracy that swings their way. They have no idea the house is going to be a monarchy! With moi as the Queen Bee. As a mommy, you have to love your boys. They take care of you, those little lovelies of puppy dog tails. Can't wait to meet our newest little one!

Cowhide Chair Redo

I'm thinking of taking on a new project, peeps. A girlfriend has dubbed me the "most productive pregnant lady" she knows. I guess it's a nesting phase, but it's got me in its clutches pretty bad. With that being said, let's unveil the idea!

The Inspiration: Le Corbusier Cowhide, metal and leather chair. A great homage to the original is on Room&Board for $749. I say, we can do this with what we have!

The Victim: Mid Century Modern metal and leather chair found on Craigslist for a deal. Sure, it's got some rust on the bottom stand. That I can fix and clean up. But the leather cushions are showing their wear, and they need to be recovered.

Why not recover them in cowhide? & worst of all, I have a cowhide folded up nicely in my storage closet. Good 'ol Bessie... she was supposed to be a great floor cover. She should be seen!

What do you all think? I'd keep the leather on the arms, which would continue the look in the inspiration piece. It wouldn't be an exact replica of the Le Corbusier chair, but it would look pretty darn cute!

P.S. - The Travel link is now up! Hope you like the photos there!

The Photography link is up!

Hope you enjoy going through some of the photos I've shared on the blog! Click on the photography tab above to check them out!

Feeling Organized and Fancy Free!

Organization is a good feeling, peeps, especially when it involves making sure that 10,000 tiny lego pieces are all picked up and put out of the way. Little Guy's closet system is in, and with a few touches via storage bins from my favorite French store, Tar-jhey, a little boy's crazy mess is now contained.

I have to admit there was some level of drama, most likely due to pregnancy induced hormones, where I panicked when the wall of shelves I thought would be on the right ended up on the left. Luckily Hubs swooped in, with his cool, level-headedness, to snap me out of my perfectionist paranoia. After some obsessing, I've decided the closet worked out well and happy with its ability to hold ALL -- literally -- of Little Guy's things. You have no idea how much space is in the bedroom now.

Close Up: Hot Wheels and Bakugan can live harmoniously with storage bins from Target.

On the opposite end of the closet, Little Guy's existing bookshelf was organized for books, sketch pads, and art supplies. Little Guy keeps his most prized possessions in that beat up shoe box. No amount of Mommy pleading to toss it would be heard by the boy. New closets were in no way a reason to dump his beloved old shoe box. Oh well. Pick your battles, Mama.

Above the bookshelf, legos find a home on shelves in primary colored bins next to some hanging clothes. Below, the rest of Little Guy's surf-themed room.

We went with Potterybarn Kids a while ago for the bedding. Little Guy's pint-sized surfboard can be seen in the background, below. & yes, I guess there's no real reason anymore to call him Little Guy, is there? & so, Kelly makes his debut in the blogosphere!

Last photo from today... The remnants of a loverly springtime brunch with the extended family. Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa omelets, cheese danishes, and fruit salads with vanilla yogurt were served up this morning alongside some bellinis for the non-preggers women in the audience. What a perfect Sunday!

An Organized Life!

Peeps, this Type-A mom needs organization in her life, and I find where I need it most is my son's room. The younger they are, peeps, it seems the more stuff they have to put away. Especially if yours, like mine, loves toys with little, tiny pieces. So we are organizing, peeps. We've gone with a company called Organized Hawaii to put together a custom closet system for all of Little Guy's little stuff. It's sort of a cross between this:

& this (but a boy version, of course):

Something that will hold school uniforms, clothes, Legos, Beyblades, Bakugan and all the other accoutrements that surround my 7 year old. Photos of the final version forthcoming!

Exciting Upcoming Changes

Peeps as the blog changes its look, the content will change with it! I can't really call this a fashion blog or even a J.Crew related blog when I haven't talked about that in about 4 months. I've become really involved in putting the house together, finding perfect pieces for the house within my budget, and doing it all creatively. In the meantime, I'd like to post random photos I like, talk about what's going on with the family... I hope you like it! It's a move in the right direction for me and I'm excited about what's coming up!

Excuse the Blogger changes

I'm in the middle of a transition, peeps. Please pardon the construction mess!

My Very First DIY: 1930's Norman Bel Geddes Vintage Metal Dresser

Scrolling through my new favorite, Cracklist -- oh my bad... Craigslist, I found an awesome, two-toned, rather beat up metal dresser. The guy wanted $20. I had to have it. It had these rounded edges and good genes. I knew it had potential.

I primed and repainted the bad boy in a hammered metallic black finish, and threw on some spanking glass knobs to give it a little something. & I love how it turned out. :0) Those girly glass knobs really look cool against that industrial, utilitarian dresser. & the best part is if I get tired of the look, I'll just change them out!

Next time, I'll take lots of photos of the process. I wish I had kept photos of what the bad boy looked like originally. It wasn't pretty.

What I did find, is a manufacturer's sticker with company name and found similar dressers online... those rounded corner edges really gave it away. The dresser was designed by a man named Normal Bel Geddes in the 1930's - 1940's. Geddes was an industrial designer who brought the streamlined metal look to fruition. He believed in form following function and perfect aerodynamics. I also found dressers that are in original condition selling for more than MacBook Air.

Well, I spent $20, invested in a few cans of paint and glass knobs, and I love what I have. It makes the entry way look amazing and I feel like I have a piece of history! But now... this DIY thing is catchy. Looking for something else to restore and repurpose!

Fine & Well, Feeling the Blogosphere Love

Peeps, I want to thank you all for checking on me. A few of you asked how we were during this week's earthquake & tsunami after effects and I want to tell you how much it meant that you all had my back in the blogosphere.

First, we are all fine. Oahu was spared with some minor damage and everyone has the feeling that we dodged a huge bullet. Parts of Kauai, Maui and the Big Island weren't as lucky and sustained some real damage to roads, harbors, boats, and some near-shore spots. No one suffered a loss of power, though cell phone reception was basically nil for 24 hours.

Most of you know the Hubs and I just bought and finished building a new house. Well, the house is also about 5 blocks from the ocean and we're at sea level, so when the emergency response system alarms went off at 10pm, we packed our things and evacuated our area and spent the night with the in-laws who live about 30 minutes away up hill.

It was definitely sleepless worrying about family elsewhere on the island, friends in Japan who also had to evacuate, and this house we just invested in. Spent the night between watching the tsunami effects in Japan and our local news coverage. At around 3:30am, I caught footage of the ocean near Waikiki pull back and saw the exposed reef. The generated wave and water level was minimal, but you can't imagine how freaked out we were watching that usual placid and beautiful beach scene get sucked back like that.

We got the All Clear at about 8am the next morning and can I tell you how beautiful that Friday morning was? Clear skies and shining sun. Our family was fine, friends in Japan were spared and safe, and there was zero damage to the house. You would have never thought the night before was such a freak fest.

My heart goes out to the people of Japan in Sendai. I can't imagine what they're going through right now.

Travel is Good For the Soul - Seattle