Rise and shine, morning glory! 🙂 I hope you slept well. I’m heading out to the East Bay today to visit my family and wish Mom a happy Mother’s Day.
We’re taking her out to brunch, and then just hanging out at the house. My folks are leaving for a three-month trip to the Philippines soon, so this will be the last time I see them before they go.
It’ll be weird with them away for so long…not that I’m a 36-year-old woman or anything, LOL! No matter how old I get, I still feel like a kid whenever I talk about my parents.
On the home front, I’ve resolved, yet again, to finally decorate my dining room.
I know, I know, I’ve said that before, but things are starting to reach critical mass. We’ve been living here for three years, and I’m still staring at moving boxes. So over it!
El Hub has no absolutely home decorating skills or interest in the project whatsoever, and I’m not naturally good at home décor either, so it keeps getting put off.
Mark my words (oh, boy…), by the end of summer, it’s getting done!
I started by bookmarking a whole bunch of room pics I found on potterybarn.com last night. I never knew this before, but they have this neat online tool where you can browse for decorating ideas by style and room.
I think my style’s somewhere between “Mediterranean” and “Global Chic.”
They also have some decorating how-to articles and a room planner that looks pretty neat.
Inspiration. I sure could use some, so if you have any ideas, send ’em my way!
All kinds of inspiration, too. Not strictly home décor. Anything that gets your creative juices flowing, like this picture of 83-year old model Daphne Selfe does for me.
She’s been gracing runways and magazine spreads since the 1950s… Isn’t that incredible?
“I’ve never had anything done to my face,” Selfe recently told the Daily Mail. “Not that poison, not a face-lift. I think it’s a waste of money. Anyway, I couldn’t afford it!”
I was just checking out some of the pictures on makeup artist Troy Jensen’s website when I found her.
While I was there, I also drooled over this look he did on model Crystial Graham pairing blue mascara with a deep cherry lip stain and gloss, and bookmarked Makeup Makeovers in 5, 10, 15, 20 by makeup artist Robert Jones; photographer Veronique De Viguerie’s series, Women Around the World (be sure to turn on the captions to read the story behind the pics); and fashion photographer Melissa Rodwell’s very touching story (it made me cry) about losing her pet companion of 13 years, Lulu the dog.
On a lighter note, kittens! Have you heard? A litter of kittens was recently adopted by a Yorkie mom. And in other kitten news, did you know that there’s a a secret kitten ? Yup, it’s almost as enlightening as this gang of kittens discovering a tortoise for the very first time. 🙂
A few other things I’ve been using or thinking about lately…
- iCloud’s Find My Phone feature is beyond cool! I actually used it to find my iPhone this week, which I’d lost. Saw where it was on a map (it was at home; left it under a blanket). You can even remote lock, remote erase, and send messages to your phone from icloud.com. — icloud.com
- Evernote is like my day planner now. Best thing about it is that the phone app syncs with their website, so I can type long notes and lists quickly on the website using a regular keyboard that then appear automatically on my phone. I have to-do lists for home stuff, blogging stuff, trip planning, my grocery list, home furnishing ideas… Also, it’s totally free. — evernote.com (and various app stores)
- When I travel to the tropics, I like bringing a rugged waterproof camera with me, one that I can take swimming, snorkeling, hiking and kayaking. Not only can they take pics and video where regular cameras can’t, but they just make vacation more fun. I brought the Canon PowerShot D10 with me to Kauai last month (there’s also the brand new D20 now, which adds full HD video), and it did a great job. I used it for most of my outdoor pics. — Canon PowerShot D10
Smashbox Shades of Fame High Shine Lip Gloss Set
Milani Shadow Eyez 12HR Wear Eyeshadow Pencils
Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronzing Powders
Tips to Solve 5 Common Spring Beauty Bothers
Chanel Ombres Contrastes Duo in Sable-Emouvant
Outfit of the Day, Vol. 9: Romper Madness (Continued)
Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Lipstick in En Vogue
Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Lipstick in Empriente
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Have a great day!
I highly suggest joining Pinterest for your decor inspiration. They have a whole section dedicated to people pinning their home decor pins. It has been a very motivational site for me.
Hi Kim,
I’m on Pinterest, but I don’t really spend a lot of time on it … thanks for reminding me to surf around! What’s your design style like? Are you more edgy or traditional?
eclectic, bohemian both best describe my style. I don’t like boring!
Thanks for the link to Evernote!
You’re welcome, Eight. It’s life changing, I kid you not. 🙂
Hope you had a nice weekend!
Karen, one of the reasons besides your great makeup product photography and engaging writing style that I keep coming to your blog for is that you often share intriguing stuff that would otherwise never cross my radar. We can add Daphne Selfe and Robert Jones beauty to the pile of “Things I Found Out About or Began to Like Because of MakeupandBeautyBlog.com” which already includes MAC 224, the movie Drive and large Tokidoki bags that can carry a lot of stuff. PS, hey girl–never would have fully appreciated the glory of Gosling if not for you!
Hi Nai,
Thank you for this. I’m going to file this comment away for the days when I need an extra boost. 🙂
Hope you had a wonderful weekend … did you do anything fun?
Oh, and WOO HOO, Ryan Gosling!
Wow, look at how beautiful she is! If at 83 I look only half as good as she does, I’ll consider myself lucky. I totally agree with Nai. 🙂
Hi Evelyn,
She’s a beauty! I love that pic so much.
Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
I agree with the Pinterest – if you like crafts there’s lots of crafty and/or cheap home solutions there. But I came here to suggest Houzz (app for ipad, and website). Lots of beautiful photos.
As for practical advice I have this. Pick a paint color, paint your walls, buy some curtains for the windows and a few large photo frames, get big prints (8×10 or bigger( of wedding/travel/flowers etc and your living room will be beauuutiful 🙂 If you still have stuff in boxes it means you need more places to put things, so hit up ikea / cb2 / pottery barn /container store / whatever and solve the problem. Having a tidy and attractive living room will make you feel good! You totally have the design chops to do something you and your husband will be very happy with.
We need to do over our house. Because were both nerds, we are overrun with books and gadgets and all those things. Dont get me wrong – its really organized, since me and my OCD tendencies cannot stand clutter. However, the entire house needs a theme and some style. 🙂
I’ve been using Evernote since last year and I agree 100%. It’s such a great organizational tool. I don’t know what I’d do without it.
That’s a really gorgeous photo – Women who have really lived have a certain elegance about them, don’t they?