*Wisteria Mirror Love*

To finish the week, I thought I'd end with what is clearly becoming my favorite subject. Mirrors! I received an email from Wisteria that made me drool. How can I cram more mirrors into my 2 bedroom house? HOW?! Please tell me. I need to know. It's a sickness. It's like more cowbell, but less noisy and more reflective...

(Wisteria mirrors, clockwise from top: French Honeycomb, French Gilded Urn, Round Faux Bois Harvest, Scalloped Edge)

Can I live here?

I mean seriously. This is EXACTLY what my dream room would look like. Funny thing is, I didn't quite know that until I saw it. But I'm in love. And if I ever move, or ever get enough ambition to redo my current house, it will look just like this.

Scratching the surface:
*The gold inside those lights above the table.
*The comfy yellow chair, which I imagine working in at that table all day in perfect happiness.
*The blue lamps. Swoon!
*The exposed beams and lots of plants.
*The giant mirror. I love mirrors. =)
And I could go on and on about the colors, the mix of wood and metal, and the pattern on that back wall (it reminds me of our hallway wallpaper. I wonder if it's paper or tile?)

Angie Hranowksy is the designer. Click on the image to see more of her work.

Made my first treasury...

Treasuries on Etsy always seemed a little mysterious to me. But Saturday night, when I heard over on Twitter, that the Treasury was opening in "mere minutes" I thought I'd go see what happens. Voila! I got a treasury! Having no plan I thought, I better get to it. It's filled with some of my all-time favorites and some of my good friends. And some of those titles overlap. ; )

I wish I could have fit everyone in it, so I'm letting you see the "alternates" as well! Please click and give these wonderful sellers some lovin'. =)

Oh! And p.s. Our postcards are up on TwoGirlsTwoPostcards. In all their yummy and chilly glory.

In lieu of a hood...

We've been planning to install a stainless steel range hood, but as home improvement projects go around here, it's been a year, and it's been put off and put off. Awwh, so it goes. ; ) Then I had a total *head slapping* moment of "Duh! I've blog about mirrors!" So, the temporary solution is now in place. It's Ikea. And I really really like it.

This spring I plan to paint the trim and all the cabinets white to match our shelves. Wonder how long I'll put THAT off? I mean, it is a skill set I know quite well, and there WILL be flowers to attend to in the garden...

{Styling Challenge}

{outtakes}
{final shot}
The awesome Holly started a new Flickr group for interior styling shots, and at first, even though I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, I just didn't think I had time to shoot more one thing. But the challenge she poses to the group every month sounded like the perfect opportunity for me to work on my styling. Do you have as much trouble as I do coming up with stylish merchandising shots? You'd think a photographer wouldn't have this trouble, but I find it so hard.

Here are Holly's instructions for the January challenge. They seemed so limiting, but the truth is, once I got going, I realized that I really needed those guidelines to get an arrangement that was pleasing and balanced. That sure says something, since I normally don't like following rules! =)

Favorite things:
Owl from Rabbitsmoon on Etsy.
Houseplants and found pine cones are always a personal fave.
Snowdrop perfume found here.
And a gorgeous smelling winter candle from Anthropologie, a present from my mother-in-law.

p.s. There's still plenty of time to join the group and take part in the January challenge. Especially if you like decorating or if you need a photography project to get you through the winter. See you there!

Sale Section

Because I accidentally overstocked a few photos, (customer faves at that!), I'd like to introduce you to a new SALE section in my shop. Supplies limited. Good stuff.

Globes & Postcards

Mmmm... Maggie Gyllenhaal. She always does it for me. Last year it took about 3 secs for this to grow on me, and now this year she makes me swoon again. I just love her style. Did you have any faves last night? Honestly, I didn't really watch much of it. I caught some peeks of the red carpet, and basically just check out the dresses online today. I'm such a cheater.

Did you know that Moa and I are in week 3 of our postcards project? It's a really cozy one this week. I hope you check it out.

Have a happy Monday and a happy MLK day.
=)

*sniff*

I had a goal for myself today, to shoot SOMETHING. Not a very detailed goal, no, but I need to set these simple goals sometimes. When I have these simple goals, it's best to come at them from the simplest place. So, I went in the kitchen, grabbed the first thing that caught my attention, and voila-- an onions photo! Then I noticed a little detail... all the hearts the bag makes! It reminded me of Moa's post. =)

Then the doorbell rang. I heard the UPS truck drive away. Hmmm... I didn't order anything, did I? So I scurried out to check. (By the way, UPS person, don't stick my packages in the little pile of snow by the door. That's seems unnecessary. Really.) It was a garden journal! A huge, gorgeous garden journal from two wonderful friends. You might think that's a crazy gift to give someone in the dead of winter, but I'm not joking, I was already sketching flowerbeds, and scouring the web for ideas just yesterday. It's stuff like this that gets me through the time after Christmas, until spring. So, this was the most thoughtful and sweet present. And yes, I'm a baby, it made me cry. =)

{Wednesday Offerings}

Happy Wednesday! That's all I've got. But I did bring some flowers and a bottle. Sort of a deconstructed centerpiece I suppose. =)

On a cold and snowy day...

On a cold and snowy day last week I made my way over to the Louvre exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I saw a Michelangelo, a Vermeer, and a da Vinci, oh my! And there was one piece that nearly made me cry, but I'll keep that to myself. ; )

I will share the postcard that I wrote to my friend Moa though. Go check it out at TwoGirlsTwoPostcards!

"Insert Title Here"

So. Where has the week gone? The first week of 2010. The new year. Have you done anything new so far? Kept up on any resolutions? I've stayed true to my goal of working out this week, and I'm in plenty of pain to prove it. Lunges are not my friend. Maybe I should look at them as my new BFF instead. One that believes in tough love. Yikes!

I finally developed the first roll of film from the Pentax K1000 that has been entrusted to me. I want to kidnap it and keep it forever just for it's "click" alone. Love! Here are some scans from the first roll. It's teaching me patience and forethought. I dropped of some film from the Holga on the same day, but it won't be done until next week. I can't wait to see those! The roll from the Penny was shot over a couple weeks, the one from the Holga has MONTHS of stuff on it. I've forgotten most of what I shot.

Anyway. Can I share something with you? Now that I'm thinking about postcard number two for this wonderful project, I can't help but not be as free with my posts here. I went somewhere yesterday and I thought I would save the photo for the postcard project, then again, I think I might shoot something else for it. It totally confuses me! I wanted to post some pics of what I did, but since I'm not sure if I'm using it for Monday I had to save it. I know I'll get a better rhythm down as I go, but it's a weird thing to deal with. Am I a total spaz or what? I'd say "don't answer that," haha, but feel free! =)

See you Monday!

Psst!

Hey! Did you see the new link on the right side?

It's a new project that I cooked up, after thinking about what would be fun for 2010. I asked my friend Moa if she'd like to join me in a project, and soon the idea of "postcards" worked it's way into my head.

Two Girls, Two Countries, Two Postcards.

I'm really looking forward to the year and seeing how things develop. And I'm selfish. I love Moa's photography and seeing shots of her life. So now that I've wrangled her into posting something for me once a week I couldn't be happier!

Yay!

His Potatoes and His Syrup

Happy January! Happy 2010!
We are back from our little New Year's trip and I have a few food photos to share. As you maybe can tell, I didn't shoot any of my own food. I scarfed it down so fast I forgot to break out the camera! And the only reason the hubs had any left was because he ordered more potatoes after he liked the ones that I had so much. We are so good at gluttony. ; )

Anyways. Here's a little story about where we ate...

In college, the hubs lived in a house with a bunch of guys near a place called Taran's Marketplace that had the best butcher. We'd always walk up there whenever we grilled, which was basically whenever the sun was shining. The butcher has since moved to a bigger location, and now the building is home to a delicious restaurant with a warm fire, books to the ceiling, tons of light, and awesome food. It's nice to still visit the site when we are in town, sans grill. And my favorite part is that they've kept the old Taran's Marketplace sign on the building, even though it's now called Sara's Table.

It's stuff like that that gets my heart.