Category Archives: Our House

07.19.11

The Southern Recap.

Well, vacation is officially over.  We had such a great time.  Our time in Savannah was spent with a lot of golf cart rides to the pool.
When you ask the girls about their favorite part of our trip, it was hands down, the golf cart.  They would take morning rides with Pop-Pop to go see the dolphins.. what a great memory that they will carry with them forever.
 We spent time by the water…..
Although on this particular evening a storm was brewing, and by the time we left it was getting a little bit windy.
It was HOT, but we stayed cool with water balloon fights
and lots of Italian Ice at the pool (I think the girls had blue mouths the entire vacation.)
We spent an afternoon downtown and visited the Manolo Blahnik exhibit by SCAD.  (Savannah College of Art and Design) has brought so much culture and life to downtown Savannah.   The girls really enjoyed this exhibit (and why wouldn’t they— it’s SHOES!)
As we all know, Sex and the City put Manolos on the map- so it’s only natural to have a Sex and the City gallery of shoes.
We visited some of my favorite stores in Savannah
like the Paris Market.
These butterflies caught my eye.
Next was DC2 Design.
and finally Shop SCAD.
I loved spending time in this store.  So many interesting pieces, all created by SCAD students.
I bought some items to hang on the girls’ walls in their rooms… more on that later.
After the weekend, we were off to Charleston!  Just two Salmons, our Crown Victoria, and the open road.  Everyone on the highway thought we were a cop in our Crown Vic, so they moved on out of our way.  We made record time.
We stayed at the Market Pavillion Hotel, and could not have been happier.  The service was amazing!
Chillaxed at the rooftop pool.
and had a few frosted beverages.
Spent some time shopping on King Street.  One of my favorite stores was South of Market.
They fit so many amazing pieces in this tiny little space!
I bought one of these beautiful turquoise wool throws.
 Next, I stopped in a boutique called Worthwhile.  I fell in love with these Kcymaerxthaere folklore panels.  A little background:  Artist Eames Demetrios first shared his stories with the people of Penduka, a women’s group in Windhoek, Nambia.  The skilled embroiders began to render fragments of the three different stories told by Demetrios.  Only 151 of each story will be available as a limited edition.  Each story panel is embroidered by a member of the Penduka collective.  Proceeds of each sale go back to the women of Penduka.  I loved the one in the frame, but it was glued into the frame, and I didn’t want to pay $75 for a frame that I was going to trash.
So the lovely folks at Worthwhile put me in touch with Rebecca at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, who, might I add, opened the doors for me after closing time.  What an amazing exhibit!
I picked the story of Ellala Mei-Ning: the woman whose voice was too beautiful to be concealed.   I thought it was appropriate, given that I have a talker on my hands.
By far, my favorite find in Charleston was free… and came out of a dumpster.  That’s right!  Yours truly went dumpster diving on King Street.  It all happened when I was in Louis Vuitton, and I saw them putting THIS in the dumpster:
It was too beautiful to go to the dump and the trash guy told me I could take it, so.. I did.  The problem was, there was a heat index of 114 degrees and I had to haul it back to the hotel.  Now, she’s a lot heavier than she looks, I’d say about 60 lbs. heavy.  Part of me was wishing I had Mike with me, the other part of me knew that he would kill me, so I hauled it all the way back to the hotel… on my own.
Strangers were taking my picture, stopping to stare- it was a topic of conversation.  But it was just too good to pass up!  Of course, when I got back to the hotel, Mike said “Ummm, how do you plan on getting that home?”  I answered, “I always find a way!”  At one time, in her prime, she looked like this:
If she makes it home safely, I am thinking she would look delicious in my dining room over the green console.
Ahem, back to Charleston… Now for the food scene- Husk was probably the biggest disappointment.  (Wanh, Wanh!)  The atmosphere, the food, the cocktails… everything was just “OK.”
My two favorites were S.N.O.B.  (Conveniently located right across the street from our hotel.)
(Amazing drinks!)
 and Taco Boy.
After devouring some tacos, we (me, Mike and my new friend) hopped in the Crown Vic and headed back to Savannah.
We got back to Savannah just in time to celebrate Grammy’s birthday
and figure out how to ship my friend home.  After Lou and I spent an hour in the UPS Store she went from this:
to this:
I painstakingly had to bend each individual wire backwards and tie it up. Lord knows, I’m not a quitter!  Of course I have about 20 fallen soldiers in a bag.    I am not sure in what shape she will arrive, but I sure had to give it the old college try!
Now, before I wrap this extremely long-winded recap, I wanted to get an opinion on something that Mike and I debate over with each trip to Savannah.  On Grammy’s family picture wall is a picture of Mike’s paternal grandfather.  Tell me that he is not a dead ringer for Brad Pitt?
That is all.  Talk amongst yourselves.

07.14.11

You Say Tomato.

While our strawberries may not have fared the devious squirrel in our neighborhood, our tomatoes are thriving.  There is truly nothing better than picking ingredients for your dinner from your own garden.  Last week roasted tomatoes were on the menu.
 From the garden…  To a baking sheet.
 Drizzle with olive oil
and a little salt and pepper.  Roast at 300 degrees for 45 minutes and presto!
Italian chopped salad with grilled chicken and roasted tomatoes.

07.12.11

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.

If you don’t know by now, our house is in a constant state of “progress.”  It drives my poor husband crazy.  We have made some progress on little Lou’s room.  Here are some sneak peaks of the work in progress.

When I originally had the nursery painted six years ago, I had my amazingly talented artist Corinne Marlowe paint this Lion over the changing table and a laurel wreath around her chandelier.  (More of Corinne’s work on our house to come.) As you can see the big girl bed takes up a bit more room than a crib. 

That changing table has now been converted into a dresser, and between the new bed and the shelves that we were installing, the dresser had to be moved a few inches to the left.  Here’s the problem with that: 
As much as it killed me to paint over that little lion, he had to go.  Now the question was, what to put in his place.  I knew I wanted a mirror, but couldn’t find anything that was better than what I had in my head… so I took matters into my own hands.
 I found this guy at Home Goods.  On clearance for $25.
I primed him,

Painted him,
and had a mirror cut for inside.

I should also mention that Corinne replaced the laurel wreath with stripes on the ceiling.  
 Love them.

(I was actually in her closet taking this picture… You can see the door on the side.)
The left shelving unit is lacking as you can see.  We added more drawers to the shelving units than I expected, so I am waiting on more bin pulls. I would also like to work on the styling of the lefthand shelves.
Next up:  Pillows, pictures and a new chandelier!  Stay tuned.

07.08.11

Zad is Rad.

For many of you that have been following Kiki’s List from the beginning, you may remember my original headshot. (A sorry excuse for a picture.)  I had Mike take it on a random Saturday (notice the lack of a bra, hot pink nail polish, and little Lou in the corner.)  Last Summer, I received many emails as to where I bought the statement necklace that I am wearing in this picture.

You can get a better look in these pictures:

This was another great South Moon Under find.  I loved it so much, I bought a turquoise one for my bestie, MJ for her birthday.  Unfortunately, it was no longer available at SMU, but (one year later) I was able to finally hunt it down and redeem myself.  So here you are ladies… THE NECKLACE and it’s available in both coral and turquoise!

What’s better than that?  In my quest to find this piece, I came across some more amazing pieces by this company.  Check out what Zad has to offer at super-affordable prices:
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06.27.11

To Replace, Or Not to Replace….

We are soon refinishing the surround on our fireplace.  I am counting down the days to get rid of those hideous doors.  After several attempts of finding a suitable replacement, I realized… I actually like fireplaces better without the doors.  And to be honest, I can’t wrap my head around paying $1,200 plus for something that’s just “okay” So, my question is, how horrible would it be if we had no fireplace doors… Obviously we would have to close the flu when the fireplace is not in use.  Has anyone done this and regretted it?
 

06.21.11

My Very Own Butterfly Collection.

If you have been reading this blog for sometime, you are well aware of my love of butterflies.  You may also have known that I was working on a wall of butterflies for my (work in progress) living room.  Well, here they are:
 While I wanted a wall of butterflies, the whole idea of dead specimens creeped me out.. and ….. I wouldn’t want any of these beautiful creatures killed for my benefit.  Beleive it or not, these little guys are cut out of plastic.
After a long deliberation, I decided to arrange them by color.
I inherited this piano from my parents, and they inherited from my grandmother.  I took lessons on it as a little girl, and soon, E will be too.  We plan to move the piano on the wall to the left, and put these two chairs under the butterflies once they are reupolstered in turquoise linen.
They were so easy to put together… Here’s all it took:
6 of these cases from Michaels (I got them 50% off.)  They have a great grey linen backing.
16 Butterflies in each color.
And last but certainly not least, my trusty glue gun.
Because the cases are an irregular size I had to get custom mats.  I love the way the black inner mat finishes everything off.
And I also love that I now have my own collection of butterflies, and that not one single butterfly was harmed in the process.

06.15.11

Progress.

Remember this update on Lou’s big girl room?  Well, I was finally able to paint her bed.  This bed has special meaning, it was mine when I was a little girl.  I had to prime it first.  The bed was originally white, but my brother painted it black when he inherited it for his bachelor pad in Georgetown.   Gone are his bachelor days… He’s now living in the burbs with his wife, Milena and baby girl, Olivia.  They didn’t need the bed in their new house and I thought it would be so great for Lou to have it.
It took me almost an entire day to paint this baby.  Here is is (back to white) with the primer.
… And the finished product.  I used Duron’s Melon Shine.  I love the color!
I am somewhat embarrassed to show this picture as there is still so much left to do on “Project Big Girl Room.” But we’ve come a long way, baby.  Here’s a peek at what that poor little girl was sleeping on for two months until her Momma painted her bed.
So uncomfortable.  It was two mattresses stacked together.  No wonder why she wouldn’t stay in her bed!
As you can see, her room is pretty small. Here are some shots of it when we were awaiting the arrival of it’s original occupant. Perfect for a crib!
A little more crammed with a Big Girl Bed…
But we are making progress.   I just picked up the green pillows and coverlet at HomeGoods for a grand total of $80. God, I love that store.   The “Anna” letters will be 86’ed.  I’m in the process of designing her new bedskirt and a few other really exciting changes are in the works.  The bookshelves should be done this week.  I am sorry to say that most of the fabrics that I used (I originally designed the nursery 6 years ago) are now discontinued.
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Stay tuned.. This one’s gonna be GOOD.