Philip Gorrivan - Old & New

Did you see Philip Gorrivan's apartment in the December Elle Decor? Did your eyes bug out? Did you drool? Did you want to pinch his button nose and say "Me next!! Me next!! Decorate my house next!" I liked it... I liked it a lot, so I had to track down some more of his work. His site is fabulous. Here.

I also found his old home at New York Social Diary.

It is so fun to go through and find the pieces he kept. Like this fabulous coffee table from his old living room.

That made the move to the new living room.

This mirror also made the move... (The blue vases show up in the new master bedroom)

To the new apartment.

If you take the old dining room chairs and..


Combine them with the brown stripes from the old home....


You get the new dining area.
(I wonder if he had fabric left over or just loved it so much he decided to use it again?)

Old master bedroom.

New master bedroom. Completely different look except for the brown headboard. See, there are those blue vases.

Daughter's room from the old apartment..

Got a total redo except for this LOVE pillow.

Loving the new bedroom.
Get me a bigger bed and I could be perfectly happy in here.

Want to see more of the old and new?
Old at NY Social Diary. New at Elle Decor.

Old or new I like them both. What about you?

What's in Your Bag?

While looking at Homemade Grits I found a cool series of photos from Jason Travis. He takes pictures of hip, attractive, young people in Atlanta. What makes these pictures special? He also photographs the contents of their bags.

I love getting the chance to see what people carry around with them all day.

It is the next best thing to peeping in their homes and you know how I love that.

I would love to show you the contents of my pocketbook, but my camera was recently broken. No names will be mentioned.

But I do have to point out that this girl has my exact camera in her bag....is she rubbing it in my face? Plus she has a small child and everything looks so neat and colorful.

They must throw out all the trash and arrange things perfectly to make the mundane look cool.
Want to see the whole series? Click here.
If you live in Atlanta, look out for Jason Travis. He may want to photograph your bag. Mine wouldn't be too interesting...a passy, wallet, phone, small notebook, tons of change, hand sanitizer...I need to get more exciting. What's in your bag? Anything interesting? Do you schlep everything or just the bare minimum?

pictures from: Homemade Grits, Emiry

Bah Hum Bug

Are you ready for the Holidays? Not me. I had a taste of what is to come Saturday at Butterball's Birthday Party and, frankly, I am scared. It was just family but still, that was 12 people. It all started with the egg free cake. I am not a baker but I can follow directions. All was well until I took it out of the cake pan to frost it.

It looked like a Birthday Pancake. So with an hour left before the guest arrived I decided to bake another layer. Two pancakes together almost equal a birthday cake. A little icing (actually a lot of icing to hide the dip on the side) and we were good to go.

All he really wanted was the icing. Next year he is getting a tub of icing and three candles.

Here he is blowing out the candles. Bill was also taping the excitement. Somehow during this time he got the video camera stuck in my hair. Evidently he didn't hear me saying "Bill, Bill, BILL!!!!" because he just kept yanking on the camera. Then it happened. The kind of warm, fuzzy moment we all hope to share with our children. I let one slip. It wasn't nice. And it is all on tape. Butterball, mama is sorry she said a bad word during your party, but I did have a video camera stuck to my head. One day we will laugh about this. Not today. Maybe when you are 18 and old enough to watch the video.

"What did you say?"

I wish I could show you more pictures, but shortly after this we had another incident. The twins were being extra rowdy and when I went to break it up, my camera was accidentally knocked out of my hands. Onto the floor. Where it broke. My NEW digital camera. No more bad words. There wasn't even any yelling. After all, we did have company. But there was some very angry whispering. About this time we broke out the beer and wine and laughed while Butterball blew out matches. At least he was happy.

Thankfully, the night ended on a happy note. The kids and I snuggled on the sofa and watched Willy Wonka. My hat is off to the costume designer. It must take a lot of work to make Johnny Depp look bad, but really, a bob? Disturbing.

Can you see why I am scared of Christmas? What about you? Ready to go or scared of a little HO HO HO?

John Oetgen

While reading Things That Inspire's post about The Atlanta Homes and Lifestyle Christmas House, I came across the name John Oetgen. I recognized his name from my days in Atlanta and decided to look him up.

Lucky me, I found a feature on his home in Atlanta Homes Magazine.

He shares the home with John Lineweaver and what a home it is.

Full of light, art ...

And fabulous one of a kind pieces.

What really stands out to me is that, although it is a beautiful home full of personal touches,

it doesn't fit into one decorating category. It looks timeless.

And really, isn't that the most any of us could ask for our homes?

Want to see more of his work? Check out the rest of this home that appeared in House Beautiful. The room above is my favorite. Gigantic plate wall, colorful pillows..who would have guessed.

Or how about this home? More good stuff here.

Late Night = Pretty Pictures

I was out late last night at a meeting..O.K. it wasn't that late, 9:00. But for me that is like 11:30. So for today's post all I have is some pretty pictures for you to look at.

But boy are they good. Do you love these lights or what? If you feel a strong need to get me something, two of these will do nicely.

The next 3 pictures are all from the same Flickr site and they have a similar crisp clean look that I like.

This looks like a grown up room, but not too stuffy.

A little more mod....love the blue and white especially the rug!

What did you think? Aren't they all great rooms? Which one did you like best?

Pictures from: High Street Market, 2-4 Xjavierx's

Butterball's Birthday

Today is Butterball's birthday. He is two!! Can you believe it? The past two years have flown...sort of.

We are going to have a small family party on Saturday.

Nothing big or fancy, but it is still fun to look at all the kiddie parties for ideas.

I guess I could spell out Butterball on cupcakes...but that is a lot of cupcakes. And a lot of temptation and I don't do well with sugar.

Speaking of sugar...this looks like a party my older two would love!!

If you are looking for party ideas, you have got to check out The Party Dress.

They have tons of great ideas. Click on this to get a bigger picture. The details are fabulous. Maybe next year....wonder if they have a Butterball themed party?

Butterball's party spread from last year. See that cake under the dome? We let him stuff himself with it. He loved it. We thought it was SO cute. Then he got all rashy and itchy and quite cranky. A month later we learned he was allergic to eggs. Live and learn. This year I am baking an egg free cake. I'm not a big baker...wish me luck!

Serious Boy
Where's my cake?

Happy Boy
Happy Birthday Butterball!! Mama loves you!!
Thank you for the outfit Gigi!!

pictures from: ?, Family Edmonton, Camille Style, Blue, Pink and Green, 5 & 6 The Party Dress

Awards & Trophies

I love big, old trophies and awards. I think they make great decorating accessories.

Engraved? All the better.

They give a room some personality. So what if it is someone else's personality? It still looks great.

Speaking of awards I want to thank Jeannine of Small & Chic in Cville

And Meggi at Chasing Davies for the Over The Top Blog Award.

It means a lot when other bloggers appreciate what you do.

Now if only these wonderful awards came with sterling silver trophies....

Instead I will have to be content with my kids soccer, basketball and swimming trophies. Maybe I'll paint them white like Jackie Terrell did. Think my kids would mind? Or even notice?

Thanks again to Small and Chic in Cville and Chasing Davies. Be sure to stop by their blogs and say "HI".

pictures from: Eddie Ross, 2 & 3 La Maison Fou, High Street Market, Heidi Claire, Design Editor, My Home Ideas