NYC

New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Let's hear it for New York, New York,

                                                 New York ---  {Alicia Keys, Empire state of Mind}

New York City last week was Fabulous! Absolutely amazing. It was my first time ever visiting the Big Apple and I loved it. The lights, the shopping, the people on the street.  All gloriously wonderful. 

We spent a lot of time touring furniture stores and galleries. Fit in as much as possible touristy attractions and ate all sorts of wonderful food. 

We arrived to NYC via a large white bus. It wouldn't have been so bad if I wasn't 5'10 and I haven't self diagnosed myself with restless leg syndrome. Every 5 minutes my legs are a movin'. Left to right, up and down, crossed then un-crossed, in the aisle then under the seat. It drives me batty. Needless to say I felt sore, and old and was slightly grumpy when we disembarked the bus Sunday night at the hotel. 

We spent the rest of the week touring, shopping, snapping 1million+ photos, shopping, journal entires, eating, shopping and learning.

I loved having the opportunity to see Grand Central Station and Rockefeller etc... We checked out the pretty fancy Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Ralph Lauren Mansion  and visited a reportedly haunted Merchant Family Home. There was so much to take in both design wise with a history lesson on the side. 

I can't wait to go back! 

Thrifty Thursday

The job - less summer hours can get quite boring. At least mine did. There is only so much HGTV and TLC watching I can do before my restless leg syndrome kicks in. That's when I started scoping out garage sales and the thrift stores of Hamilton. It's also when I fell in love with Talize. I picked up various different sized and styles of frames this summer and tried my hand a spray-painting. I fell hard for a soft baby blue loved the way it looked on a light wood grain of frames. Add a little extra sanding after painting and they were oh-so-cute!  I didn't have an immediate usage for these pretty new frames and I even once offered to give them away, but I'm glad I kept them. I was able to use them in my mantel display project, and now that I have displayed on my new free dresser that I found earlier this month!  Needless to say this 99cent frames were quite the investment and I'm sure I'll have many more uses for them...

Mantels Galore!

A past assignment required us to complete a fireplace mantel design based on our own concepts. My partner LM and I decided to take the route of a rustic, vintage inspired fireplace mantel. Both of us had plenty of items at home that we were excited to share with each other and create something fabulous!
Many of the items that I brought to the mantel were things I have thrifted from Talize this past summer. Surprisingly enough creating the mantel wasn't as easy as we had thought, and the lack of an actual mantel added a different aspect of difficulty. But creating a mantel display upon a desk top drove our creativity to new heights! Sadly we didn't win the class competition for best mantel display but I'm pretty proud of what we came up with!

Thrifty Thursday

Not everyone supports my thrifty habits. Especially my mom. Apparently I spend a little too much time at these stores and come home with a little too much each time. However, my argument is, better a thrift store then the mall! The 99c vintage scarf hardly makes a dent in my budget compared to that denim shirt or infinity scarf I want from Forever 21. Plus, a lot of my purchases are practical. Like these 2 bathroom containers.  They were both $1 and come with cute chalkboard labels. And sure theres no room in the family bathroom, but one day I'm moving out. And with the great collection of practical household items I am collecting, I'll be able to receive the big, pricy, shiny housewarming gifts guilt free.