mini face lift

for my blog...not me... but i got your attention didnt i! i decided it was time to spiff up the design of my blog a little. this is not something i could do on my own and i knew just the girl for the job. elizabeth from the mustard ceiling. she is a blogger and a very talented blog designer. i love her clean designs. she was so easy to work with, and patient with me:) the best part is that elizabeth will do anything from a few small changes to a complete re-design. i am so happy with the outcome...it just looks more professional and easier to navigate. with these changes and my new photo from desi...i feel legit!

i cant do a post without a photo...so here is one that puts me in the mood for spring. i took it on a trip to assisi with my mom and the kids while we lived in italy. isnt it amazing? those colors! i think they were having a garden show at the time...that is what the #16 is for.

ok...stay tuned. i am going to try to post some more progress photos of the party room i am working on later this week...really i am!

jodie

big wall idea

i have been meaning to post about this for a while becuase i think it is a good alternative for a gallery wall when you have a big wall to fill. kevin made the first version of this shelf (not sure what to call it) about 8 years ago. we originally used it in our foyer in our old house...and it had a bunch of his black and white photos on it. when we moved to this house we waited until the basement was finished to break it out again. as usual, after we put it up, kevin thought it needed a little tweaking. it was only the inside frame at first, then he decided to add the outside frame. it looks so much better and sturdy!  now we call it "the flange".

you can see i used more of my gas station numbers here...i cant seem to get enough of them!

i am thinking of starting a new series called "take aways", for quick little tips and ideas like this that you can use in your home in some way. thank you janice for this great suggestion and name:) whaddya think? should i?

ps. feel free to comment:) i like to know people are reading!

jodie

good excuse

i have one for not blogging...i went on a quick trip to florida and spent time staring at this view.

a huge highlight of my trip was getting to surprise one of my closest friends! we lived in italy together and havent seen each other in a very long time. it was so much fun to hang out again...it was as if no time had passed. it went by way too fast though:(

we even managed to squeeze in a little shopping (of course) while i was there. megan lives near a ballard design store and i have never been in one before. i was a little under-whelmed by the merchandising of the store ...but the over all design was pretty. it was nice to see a lot of their products in person and i definitely fell in love with their metal trumpet lights.

then look what we found a little beach shop

mmm hmmm....the bottom of a green bottle made into a bowl...love it!! then we looked up and saw this

i love this too. cut in half and trimmed with metal!

but that's not all. last night i was looking through the ballard catalogue and looky here....a new item for them. "demijohn bowl" trimmed with silver tin.

just when i thought i had stumbled on something unique! i love the idea though. i dont know that i would sacrifice any of my good demijohns to do this...but what a great idea for one that is already broken.

last but not least...no vacation would be complete without coming home with a new addition to my growing collection. i love the shape of this little guy.

wait! as i am writing this i realized i never showed a photo of another recent addition (i just ran over an took a photo:)) to my collection. it was given to me by my sweet client for christmas...thanks michelle! i love this..it even has an old ceramic top on it!

i definitely have an obsession with green glass. i dont see it coming to an end anytime soon...sorry kev:)

ok...now i have some serious catching up to do!

jodie