The very first time I went to downtown LA, I was a bride. My seamstress took me to pick out bridesmaid dress fabric with my maid of honor. We strolled through store after store to find the perfect shade of cranberry-colored satin, organza, and thread. It was an intimidating and overwhelming but exciting experience for [...]
Tags: diy, Downtown LA, Fabric, Hotdogs, Michael Levine, Supplies
Unlike most people, I have two doorknobs on my front door. Only one works. Sometimes people get confused and think we’ve locked them inside our house when they reach for the wrong one. The original knob doesn’t turn properly and has long ago lost its functionality. Even though only one is “useful” in a utilitarian [...]
Tags: Doorknobs, Inspiration, My Old House, Vintage Hardware
Over the weekend, I attended a birthday celebration for my friend Carissa (talented owner of JL Designs). She is a florist and the party exuded her beautiful minimalist modern style. I wanted to put together a fun way to present her with a little gift. Check out my first-ever DIY Flowery Gift Wrap How-To Video. [...]
Tags: Dick Blick, diy, double-sided tape, Envelopments, Fullerton, gift wrap, JL Designs, McManus & Morgan, paper, Paper flowers, reuse, Roadkill, tape gun, ULINE
On Friday night, I became an inventor. As I stood in the aisles of Fresh & Easy an hour before Lauren’s arrival for dinner, it hit me. I had to make a pizza with dried apricots. I’m not one to invent things often. I’m creative and all but I consider myself more of a modifier [...]
Tags: Bacon, Chicken, Chocolate Cream Pie, Corn, Dried Apricots, Gouda, New Recipes, Parmesan, Pizza, Speed Scrabble, Zucchini
Do you ever want to be in two places at once? I have that feeling frequently. This week it happened on Wednesday night. I just kicked myself when I found out I couldn’t make it to the Utterly Engaged Spankin’ New Year’s Party. What a bummer! It sounds like it was a smashing success. First [...]
Tags: Contests, Simply Modern Weddings, Tabletop Design, Three Petals, Utterly Engaged, Wedding Industry
Over the weekend, Tim took me browsing (not shopping) for a Vespa. I really wanted to educate myself about these beauties I’ve always loved. We started at Fullerton Vintage, which is apparently going out of business. Despite their closing/reopening in Orange, the guys there were friendly and helpful. They were pretty emphatic that I should [...]
Tags: A Market, A Restaurant, Food Store, Mozzarella, Sandwich, Vespa
Last night as I was working on menus and place cards for the Utterly Engaged Tabletop Design Competition, I pondered what inspires me. In the past, most of my work has been commissioned so I definitely glean inspiration from my clients. Now that I am doing more self-motivated projects, I am getting bright ideas from [...]
Tags: Chenin Boutwell, Home Depot, Inspiration, Jasmine Star, Ready Made Magazine, The Uniform Project
If you missed it yesterday, I started to tell you about The Dinner Party That Almost Didn’t Happen and Tim’s fanatical love of lobster. Check it out. And now, on to the final installment of the saga. When Maine Lobster Direct called about our trapped lobsters, the best option was to reschedule. Thankfully, our gracious [...]
Tags: cooking, dinner cooking at home, dinner party, green beans, key lime pie, lobster, potato
Let’s face it, I’m sort of cheap. Don’t get me wrong. I like nice things. Especially excellent quality, superb service, or really pretty things. But I usually walk out of a store thinking “I should make that” rather than “I should buy that.” Sometimes this comes from brilliantly inspired creativity; sometimes from my uncanny ability [...]
Tags: baby shower, diy, invitations, kites, paper, reuse, scraps
