Design Mania

Lately I've been on an extreme home design kick. I've been mood boarding like crazy *I may post a few when they are finished but I'm trying to keep them secret until I actually can use them* and scouring Apartment Therapy.

I am in LOVE with these artsy/toylicious rooms

Not for this house, of course, but my Dream House!

Crazy...I know but that lovely house is always on my mind. I've also been watching alot of Emily Henderson not only on her show Secret from a Stylist but also on HGTV'd. At first I wasn't a huge fan. I tried to give her a shot but I found myself shouting at the TV, "Noo, don't add any more baskets or Boo, she should have kept that first rug!" Needless to say, many others must have been saying the same thing because about 6 episodes into the season her show discarded the 2 layer design approach and she now infuses the couple's style with one cohesive look. Now I'm smitten. I do find it incredulous how Emily finds gorgeous expensive-looking pieces and says Oh, I found this for just $50. I roll my eyes at people who can find trash and make it treasure *Anthony* However I've developed a design crush on her. So as I'm clearing out my DVR I've noticed I've been hoarding episodes of Secrets of a Stylist and Home by Novagratz *super FABulous design couple* so I decided to take a photo of my favorite rooms so I can get design ideas.

This is one of my favorite rooms, I adore the contrast of the blue sofa with the yellow rug.

This is a guest house design. I love the beachy feel and I want that Capriz hanging lamp.

Seeing the Pebble Rug from West Elm in this room has made me reconsider it on my wishlist. We saw it in person and thought it would shed too much but if we use it in a low traffic area like the living room, it would look much better than the overpriced Finnia rug from Anthropologie I was thinking of going with.

I am not a fan of leather couches but I do love this wall shelving!

I know these photos don't showcase the rooms as good as telly, but I find them inspirational. She does like to follow a formula for her designs. I like that most of the rugs she uses are under $1,000 and I am starting to like antiques more.

Check out J. Crew's Creative Director Jenna Lyon's classic and lovely home *I saw her rad nursery in Domino it made me want the Oeuf furniture for Liv's nursery* Her house is giving me goosebumps. Just goregous...

Her shoe collection *and they way she displays them* are sick

Now if only I can convince Antz to paint Olivia's closet like this

Happy Weekend! I'll be mood boarding to my heart's delight.

Missoni Accomplished!!

So yesterday Aimee came over and we had our weekly date. She treated Liv and me to lunch at her favorite restaurant, Kabuki. It was sooo yummy!

Then we had to go to our usual spot, Target. I was telling her the story about the Missoni Madness when I said, we should go see if they have any suitcases left. Clearly under the impression I wouldn't find one. Lo and behold what did we see??

JACKPOT!!! DING, DING, DING!!

No way, this could not the same Missoni suitcase that I saw people begging a woman to buy it for $500 last Tuesday!! I grabbed it so fast.

SO CUTE! I had to have it. It must have been my lucky day because not only did I get the suitcase but I found a Missoni travel bag too. Ideally, I really wanted the bright multi-colored version.

But I am not at all complaining about my treasure.

After years of buying luggage, I've never had such a cute bag. It came with 2 shoe bags *on our last trip, my shoes were filthy on the bottom and I didn't want to put them next to my clean clothes* and it came with a laundry bag *no more ziplock bags for me*. So chic!! Antz was like, SELL IT!! He was convinced I'd triple my money but I checked eBay and it seems like the craze has died down. There were many suitcases listed for $200 or more but the black and white version all had zero bids. The colorful one is selling better but they included a matching tote bag for the $325 price tag. Nah, this bag is all mine. Now I'm super excited for our next trip *fingers crossed it will be Hawaii for our 10 year wedding anniversary*

Holy Shoes!

So last week Olivia's feet decided to grow at a HULK-like rate. I just bought her 2 pair of  See Kai Run shoes in 12 - 18 months in confidence because this kid's feet are uniquely narrow and long *think skis*

I miss these tiny feet

so I figured she was good in the shoe department. Turns out during our date day with Aimee, Liv was wearing her new sandals

Aimee noticed Liv had a red mark on the back of her foot. D'oh! Her new sandals were already too tight and rubbing against the back of her foot. LAME! So now I need to get her some new kicks in a larger size. How did she go from fitting a comfortable size 5 to size 7 in less than a month? I've had my eye on these adorable Livie & Luca shoes for months but Liv's feet were too small.

Now they only have them in navy but I'm still ordering them. I really love these Birdie shoes but I am not sure what size to order them in, her current size or a size larger and wait a day for her to grow into them. I think these are perfect shoes for the fall.

I also need to replace her Converse

And her old Vans with these Hello Kitty Slip ons, still not sure if I want to get Yo Gabba Gabba! Vans

She outgrew her Saltwater sandals too. I really want these red ones but they are sold out in her size and Antz wants to stick with the tan color since it's more neutral.

and I also want to get her these rad turquoise Toms

While I'm at it I can't resist these metallic oxfords

The hard part is admitting that now her feet are growing at a much faster rate so it will be difficult buying so many shoes for her so often. She needs a new car seat too. I am pretty sure we are going with this Paul Frank seat but I'm bummed we'll have to transfer it from my car to Antz car all the time.

STOP GROWING LIV!!!

Mission Missoni for Target

At midnight last night I was actually in bed *surprise* but awake on my iphone checking the Target website to see if the Missoni stuff was available yet. Nothing so I went to sleepyland. This morning I stirred around 6:40 am so I checked again *I literally slept with my phone in my hand, you ever do that?* and the site was down. I did see an article online about how the Target pop up store Missoni launch in New York sold out in like minutes. Anyone who knows me knows that I only get up early *before 9* for the few following reasons: I have a flight to catch, I am going to Disneyland or Olivia has a pediatrician appt *which tomorrow she has* so I woke up around 9:15 and got straight out of bed because today is Missoni day! I had to go to the post office *which in retrospect, I regret going to first* to send an order of chalkboard signs *etsy shop plug* and mail Carlos & Stephanie's marriage license *IT'S OFFICIAL!*

So it was 9:59 am when I walked into my local Target. I knew it was a bad sign when there was no shopping carts in the front of the store. Women were literally running in the store. It felt like Black Friday when the crazy people try to buy that one flat screen tv at Walmart for $200. This is what I saw when walked in...

Believe it or not I was actually hopeful when I saw those fugly coats left because behind there were some sweaters. I should have known better cause they were all Mossimo

In the home furniture department...

NADA

There was a woman at the registers with a black and white Missoni suitcase and I heard people saying they would buy it from her in the parking lot. I saw about 8 women with their shopping carts filled to the top with Missoni stuff, shoes, clothes, rugs, pillows, frames. They gathered in a circle and were trading stuff among each other. I walked past them several times hoping they would set aside something for me to grab but they just grinned like Cheshire cats with pleasure. They know they hit the jackpot. They pretty much cleaned out the shelves and I heard one of them say, "I grabbed the last blanket out of the Target guys hand when he put them out" Bitch! It was so hard not to grab her cart and run away. I decided to go upstairs to and see what was going on in the childrens clothing section.

Well, hello there!

I know, Missoni cape jackpot right? however they were $43.99 each and all size large in big girl.

It may look like there's tons of stuff but it is all BIG girl sizes. Now normally I would've grabbed everything off those racks so fast and ebay them in a heartbeat, but I spoke to the woman who checked me out told me that even with all the looney business happening today, in a few weeks folks will start returning stuff and it will all go on clearance. That's when I will strike. Strike hard I shall! But don't think I walked away empty-handed. I found some treasures in Liv's size that I am very pleased with.

Liv seems to like her new clothes

I don't even know if I am ready to take the tags off. It's like the time when I took my Grandma's wedding ring when I was in middle school and accidently left my precious heirloom in a soap dish at a Coco's restaurant in Palm Springs.

Mommy did good?