I just discovered Moth Design as I was reading through one of my favorite blogs; Turquoise. 
I love my front porch. I know it is not a big, fancy wrap-around one that has been rocked on for generations; but it is mine, and I have wanted one for as long as I can remember. When we first moved to our town, we built a home we were very happy with, but its one drawback was that we didn't have a porch. We realized that first summer that we are porch sitters. We spent every fine evening sitting on our front step, sipping tea, and watching the boys ride their bikes and scooters. We'd chat with whoever peeked their head out their door, and often they'd join us on our step, and we'd remark that if only we had a proper porch to host them in comfort! When Sophie came along, we'd put her in her exersaucer on the step and she'd shout out baby squeals as her brothers played road hockey and jumped faster when she saw a cat or dog in the distance. That step served us very well, considering...
This photo is from last year's Christmas card photo shoot. It didn't make the cut for the actual card, but it did get framed and placed in my living room. Speaking of which, I had better get going on this year's shoot...but that's a whole other post! Let's just say, it's never a stress-free scene...!!! 
Cheers!
For all Eames fanatics, who can't get enough of these mid-century pieces, check this out! This children's toy was never put into production before. LA Furniture Seen is producing a limited amount; also available in a natural color.
It is fair to say that I have a bit of an obsession with crows. Not necessarily the real kind, but the perfect faux variety lurking in shops at this wonderful time of year. I remember about five years ago, when I was on a desperate search for crows...after having seen them in Country Living (or Home...I buy both...), I had everyone on the hunt for me. My mum and sister scoured shops in my girlhood hometown, friends travelling to the U.S. were giving the assignment, and me...well of course I checked out every spot locally, to no avail. I was first able to get my hands on one a few years back in Walmart, and I was a very happy girl.
The pictures above are: Top lft: Glassman Shoemake Maldonado Architects. Bottom Lft. : MC2 Architects. Top Rt.: MDGI Architects. Center RT.: Robertson Design. Bottom Rt. : Allen Bianchi Architects. Top Center: Harrison Kornberg Architects. Bottom Center: Intexture Architects. Links to these architects can be found at the AIA site. 
I had the pleasure of assisting as a docent at the Allen Bianchi house. It consists of two units attached by a walkway on the second floor and on the first floor through the pool and garden area.
The main unit of the house has bedrooms on the first floor and the living areas on the second. The arrangement made for a tree house feel, with fantastic views of downtown and the surrounding neighborhood. I'd like to thank Allen Bianchi (pictured below) and the gracious homeowners for allowing me to photograph this lovely home.
On Saturday night, I threw a somewhat impromptu pumpkin carving party. I say somewhat impromptu because I was hemming and hah-ing as to whether I should continue what has become a tradition for my children each Halloween. As you know, I am a bit of a holiday nut, and 
Halloween is one of my favourites. I have thrown such a party for quite a few years now, and my kids have come to rather expect it. My hesitation stemmed to my fighting the feeling of "Can I be bothered?" and has it just become a habit... that now that the boys are getting older, is really worth the effort? Well, in a word, YES!! You see, I still have a happy-go-lucky little girl who has not experienced as many of these parties as her now somewhat disinterested brothers have. How fair is it to her to let their jaded-ness deprive her of some good, Halloween fun? Besides, making memories is always worth the effort!! How many times have we resisted entertaining, only to discover that once we are in the midst of it, we actually have a lot of fun ourselves??!! Well, Saturday night was just one of those nights as I hosted the friends I know to be easy, fun guests...ones who are always up for some of my cornball ideas, and who make me feel that hosting them is well worth the effort!!
kids, hubby and me. I always get my guests to bring their own, and most importantly, I have them clean out their pumpkins beforehand to cut down on the mess in my house, and so that we can get to the fun part of carving our masterpieces right away! I am also a big invitation girl. I absolutely love stationery of all kinds, so a great invitation to any event I host is very important to me. In this case, I used the finger invitations that I bought as a kit (see above) from Martha Stewart's collection at Michael's . I have always wanted these, and I figured they would be a great decoration for my guests to keep for years to come. On this occasion though, because I decided rather late in the game to have the party. Thus, I simply called my guests with the invite, and gave them the fingers as a souvenir of sorts...
which is the most delicious soup I have ever eaten. I also made Taco soup, which is Tina's recipe that I nabbed from her wonderful blog. It made a ton of soup, thus I have some leftovers frozen in my freezer for some busy week-night. I unabashedly accepted offers of food contributions from 
my guests; so one brought a delicious cajun dip for nachos and pretzels... along with drinks for the kids. Another guest brought rolls and an amazing gooey, buttery pumpkin cake with whipped cream (which we inhaled like vultures), and another friend brought a party-sized pizza for the kids. I simply (well, not that simply) prepared my soups the same day, and also managed to make the kids each their own white-chocolate ghosts on a stick (with some help from my two youngest) that I make each year from a Martha Stewart recipe....soooo easy and yummy!!! Add to that some roasted pumpkin seeds I made, and we all were left with full stomachs, ready to begin the "arduous" task of carving some fancy pumpkins.
Of course, I dragged out all my remaining Halloween decorations and even decorated the back deck in case the older kids wanted to hang out there...unpestered by the little ones. I decided we needed some Halloween lighting on the deck, so I removed the umbrella from the center of the table, and sunk a discarded birch tree into the hole and the kids and I decorated it. It was quite a feat to make it fit...Krissy helped me saw off the excess branches the night before, and while trying to break them off, she actually fell backwards onto her behind!! Of course, I could barely help her up for laughing, but luckily she is a good sport who recognizes the importance of sacrificing for great decor!!!! I am actually quite proud of this idea...I thought of doing it this summer, but never got around to it till now...
Here is the annual picture I take of the results of our carving efforts. I love looking back at the pictures from year to year to see how the kids have grown. They were quite proud to stand behind their works of art, and even happier when Krissy pulled out some sparklers to cap off the night!!! A good time was had by all, and even my friend Janet's baby tried to stay awake as long as he could...carving his own pumpkin earler in the evening tuckered him out!!!
Well, I am happy to say that I received such great and kind feedback for my first ever give-away. I so appreciate all the wonderful visits, comments and suggestions and I feel more inspired than ever! I tried to find one of those random number generators, but when I googled the term, the links all proved too complicated for me to figure out! So, like the backwards creature I am, I wrote everyone's names down (family members excluded...no nepotism allowed!) and tore them all into strips (are you getting irritated by the suspense yet?) and picked one from the pile! Without further adieu, the winner is.....................................................................................................................................................................
photo: Room Service Home
So, I have taken on the challenge for us all. I will begin writing weekly posts about planning and executing not the perfect Christmas, but one that is realistic, organized, festive, and enjoyable. I will provide a bit of a blueprint, so to speak. It may not work for all, and I am not calling myself a Christmas expert by any means; but I love Christmas and all the traditions and joy it brings...and I think I pull off a fairly enjoyable one for my family and me each year. I will offer up my best advice with regards to what has worked for me in the past, and give you some fun holiday entertaining ideas that are low-key, lower-pressure and family friendly. And what would my
She spent the first day packing her belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases. 
When she had finished, she went into each and every room and deposited a few half-eaten shrimp shells dipped in caviar into the hollow of the curtain rods.
Then slowly, the house began to smell.
The maid quit. 
Finally, they could not take the stench any longer and decided to move. A month later, even though they had cut their price in half, they could not find a buyer for their stinky house. Word got out and eventually even the local realtors refused to return their calls. 
He told her the saga of the rotting house. She listened politely and said that she missed her old home terribly and would be willing to reduce her divorce settlement in exchange for getting the house back.
She agreed and within the hour his lawyers delivered the paperwork.
And to spite the ex-wife, they even took the curtain rods !!!
Hope that gives you a good laugh!
Print this page