COTTAGE {home office}

These past few days, I've been cleaning out my back house and sorting through bins and bins of clothes. I've been putting this off all summer because its just been too hot to work in there. Now that the weather is cooling off, I am so ready to get some real furniture and curtains and rug and call it a studio/office/boutique. But first, need to get rid of more stuff, make more space and drool over these inspirations. Doesn't this make you want a little cottage?

i wouldn't mind if this little cottage was my whole house

i wonder what the inside look like

i would take a nap in here

afternoon tea, why yes please!

i can work here all day

such a cute little sewing room

images via google

WITTY KNITTER

Fall is officially here as of Saturday, September 22nd. Although it still feels like summer in LA, I wont let that get in my way of knitting up a few cozy scarves. For those of you who frequent Joanns, you probably received a bunch of 50% off coupons in the mail. I went a little crazy and bought balls and balls of yarn. Yarn makes me happy :) I designed sweaters for many years but when it comes to hand knitting, I am just a beginner knitter. Paul's Mom got me a knifty knitter loom a few years ago and I have to say it makes me look like a pro knitter. It took a while to figure out how to get started as the instructions were a little confusing. I recommend just watching this video. I am currently knitting a chunky blue scarf for Paul, hope he will love it!

Feeding my black & white stripe obsession. Just one of the many things you can do with yarn

the cheapest yarn i could find. You can use any color you want and as many colors as you want

save your cans and bottles and start wrapping them with yarns. I find that it is easiest to use double sided tape instead of glue.

looking good so far. still have a looooong way to go!

STRIPES & GOLD

I have a little obsession with black and white stripes. In fact, i wish my house was all black and white but I know someone will be complaining and craving color. Just like bed sheets, curtains are ridiculously expensive as well. One of the things I love about my home is the bright and airy feeling. We have lots of windows and french doors but getting all the window coverings for them got very expensive. Ever since we moved in, I knew I wanted striped curtains (and rugs). We went curtain shopping almost every weekend. We bought and returned a bunch of curtains. Folding them back and getting it to fit back into the package was not easy! But finally saw these stripe fabric from Ikea and decided I should make my own. I liked the way it turned out and made 2 sets (4 panels) of these. With about a yard of left over fabric, I recently decided to make a table runner for the dining table. What do you think? I think stripes look good in any room. I will be making some stripe cushions for the chairs soon! My other obsession is with gold things, especially gold and white combo and particularly kitchen related items. Don't get me wrong, i love love love gold jewelry, i prefer it over silver but for the home, i particularly love gold things for the kitchen. If only I could just get a gold espresso machine and toaster I'd be a happy girl!
Here I show you my new little coffee corner setup in the kitchen.

pretty much looked for everything gold in my kitchen and put it on the tray

I Must thank Sean for saving the Hubert's lemonade bottle which I spray painted gold. Now I want to spray paint everything gold.

Ok, no one drinks coffee out of those teeny tiny gold cups. This is what I really drink coffee out of. Just keep'n it real guys!!

black white stripes + gold.... OH MY!

the curtains in guest room

BLOG BLOG BLOG

I must say blogging is a lot of work. Its like remembering to take your daily vitamins which I don't have a habit of doing that is why I have the same bottle of vitamins for 2 years.  I know its been 10 days since my last post and yes, I've done a lot of stuff, painted a few things and worn a few blog post worthy outfits but sadly, I forget to take photos. So sorry If for the last week and a half you keep seeing Ted on the front page of my blog.  I may need to get this poster framed and hung up on my wall to remind me everyday!

But for now, I leave you with delicious food from last Friday's dinner date with Paul. We had a lovely relaxing evening, sipping iced tea, hat shopping and just wondering around before our dinner reservation at Scarlet Tea Room. This place was so tiny, so definitely recommend making reservations. The food and tea was great and will definitely take Paul's Mom next time she comes to LA.

OMG...where do I begin? this pizza was deeeeeeeee-lish! I am one of those people that eat everything and leave half of the pie crust but the dough was just so good I ate the whole slice! See, we ate half of it and I was like SHOOT, need pictures! definitely not a habit of mine to snap photos of everything.

wild arugula salad- this place put rose petals in almost everything

sauteed gnocchi ... mmmmmm so good

parmesan and lemon sea salt fries- this was good but I'd get something else next time

Sicilian pistachio creme brulee. it was heavenly.

NEW FRIEND {TED}

Yesterday, Paul comes home from work and says "will you help me grab a few things out of my car its in the front seat?" I said "sure" since he had his hands full. I go out to his car, open the driver's side door and looked over and there was Ted sitting there all buckled in! AHHHHH too cute and funny!!! I have been wanting Ted since seeing the movie and now he's all mine!!! Ted was a miracle teddy bear in the movie but in real life, he is my miracle bear as well. Paul went through a lot of people to get it for me not knowing when it was going to arrive (or if it was ever going to arrive) and it just so happens to arrive on my birthday! He is actual size just like in the movie standing at 2 ft. tall. This is one of the best presents ever! Who would've thought my 30th bday present would be a teddy bear?! Thanks Pauly!

Warning: this toy contains language that is not suitable for children

looking for beer

no beer, settles for coke

trying to climb up and watch some TV

Afraid of heights

FIT FOR A QUEEN {diy duvet}

Hello everyone! Finally, a post! I will be stuck at home today so I thought it was about time to update the blog. Im excited to show you my new handmade duvet! I dont know about you but I find bedding (and curtains!) to be ridiculously expensive! Why spend hundreds of dollars when you can make it yourself for $50? Yes, $50 with enough fabric to make a few pillow cases! Here, I custom made a duvet for my queen comforter. I searched the internet for measurements but it turns out there is not standard size so I measured my comforter to ensure a perfect fit. I now know why my blanket use to always be lumpy! my old duvet (even though it was queen size) did not fit properly!!!
After a bunch of fabric and a few straight seams, I can now sleep soundly without lumps of blanket balled up on top of me.  I was going to sew ties on the inside to hold the comforter in place but after a few nights without it, the comforter did not shift at all so no ties needed! Truly a custom fit :)

I am not use to flat sheets so I made my duvet with solid white back. All I need to do is turn it down at the top for an instant made bed....GENIUS right? I just cant be bothered making the bed every morning

Hidden snap closures at the bottom seam with 1" facing

my fabric of choice: dove grey and white dot pattern and solid white. 100% cotton. These are my left overs, enough for a bunch of pillow cases!