pillow talk

happy saturday everyone.  we are off for a wonderful few days in san diego.  i cannot wait to get there.  the temperatures here in redlands have been hovering in the 100's for the last few days with quite a bit of humidity too.  rare for us, thankfully.  but before i leave i want to share with you the completed pillows for my living room.  i absolutely love them.  for the last week i may have been quiet here on my blog but i've been cursing like a sailor while hunched over my sewing machine.  i am not a seamstress nor will i ever be.  i find sewing to be completely maddening.  if you do sew and enjoy it i really envy you.  i do have a little fabric left over and i'm going to make a pillow for the bedroom but it will be very basic with an envelope back.  no welting, no zippers - ever again! 

just as a reminder...what the dining room looks like (like you could ever forget) because when you enter the front door you are standing in one relatively big room that makes up the dining room to the right and the living room to the left.

i hope you likey.
i'm off and hopefully i will not be burned to a crisp or eaten by a great white shark. 

see you soon.  xo janet

stacked luggage

i love this photo

and this one too.

steve is doing it.



i think when an image speaks to you it is only polite to answer.

i've been trying to figure out where to put my turntable so that it is easily accessible.
it looks like a little suitcase so...



how about on a stack of vintage luggage?

and the luggage can hold the albums!

i'm not hating this.

yet.

have a beautiful weekend and above all...
 be yourself 

xo

janet

joining nita and her awesome mod mix monday.

the view from my kitchen sink

this is the first house i've ever lived in that does not have a window over the sink.  i really miss that because i spend an inordinate amount of time standing at the kitchen sink.  being vegan means i rarely put down a knife because i chop a mountain of fresh fruit and vegetables every day, all day long.   

but leslie, aka the hostess,  asked for a picture of my kitchen sink view and i gladly obliged.  after all she is the most polite blogger i've ever met.  nothing against the rest of you guys, but she really is.

up close and Boring.

looking to the left, a little more exciting because i can see my new drapes.

slightly behind me, to the left.

a close up of this little bamboo shelf from the 1890's.  and those peacock salt and pepper shakers, my very first  purchase from an antique store. 

i purchased this little bookcase/shelf from the same antiques dealer that i got the wicker table from that is in the dining room.  lovely pat closed her beautiful shop which was so sad but what a day it was for shopping.  something along the lines of disneyland for adults.

ok, now over my right shoulder.

this gateleg table is very, very old and was handed down to me.  which sounds so much nicer than the truth, which is that it was given to me by a woman that my dad dated after he and my mom divorced.  shortly after she gave it to me, he broke up with her.  see, handed down sounds so much nicer.

and my favorite view...slightly to my right, where i can keep an eye on him.

hopefully a beautiful view is in store for you this weekend.

we are going bowling saturday night with a bunch of friends so no such luck for us!

edited note:  HERE is a peek inside the pantry

xo

janet

i am in love with...

my new drapes.

i never play the lottery but i always tell my friends that if i ever won the lottery the first thing i would do would be to buy gorgeous drapes. 

well guess what?  i did not win the lottery.

but i did sell a ton of stuff on ebay and i made enough to order these drapes.

nob hill from pottery barn.
they are described as a chinoiserie pattern of irises, peonies and orange blossoms.

to some of you, spending $600 on drapes is not a lot.

to me it is a small fortune.

but they were worth every last penny.



they are perfect - for me.

they are linen and lined!

do you notice the wall sconces?

i've had these antique iron sconces (i paid a whopping $2 for both) for a long time and think they now look perfect here.

the colors and texture of the linen make me want to cry with joy.  i really can't believe they are mine.
we were out grocery shopping yesterday and i told larry we had to hurry up to get home so i could stare at my drapes.
i swear i said that.
and i meant it.



i'm linking this post to nita's mod vintage life today.
i hope that it's ok because i'm not sure there is anything mod about these.

i'm working on pillows for the sofa on the other side of the room.
when i'm done i'll post them too.


have an absolutely beautiful week.

xo
janet

pink and gray

have you seen the caftan from emersonmade?  take a look right here.   i love emerson, i first discovered her right after i started my own blog.  i wrote about her here in august of 2009.  she is irresistable and so is her clothing line.  well i fell in love with her caftan but it was out of my price range.  so i went looking around and found this pink and gray one at world market for $29.99, not as classy but not bad.  i originally thought i would just wear it to the beach and around the house but i've worn it a bunch of times out in public, which now that i've seen pictures of myself in it may have been a mistake, but oh well.  the pictures really do not do it justice.  it is so pretty and made of the softest cotton from india.  i feel a litte bohemian in it or like mrs roper.   i would love nothing better than to wear caftans everyday and never leave my garden. 

and speaking of gray...here's an update on that situation.

it's coming in all gray and wiry.
lovely.

i have no idea if i'll be able to do this or not but i'm going to try.

so apparently it's friday...

oh hell yes.

xo

janet

missing beauty

i apologize for neglecting this blog and yours.  i have been really busy, which is so unlike me.  i have been selling on ebay like a madwoman.  i've made enough money to purchase some drapes for the living room and i cannot wait to get them and see if i love them as much as i think i'm going to.  i've also been sewing which is also very unlike me.  the other day a gang of us girls took melinda shopping for a dress for her 40th high school reunion.  needless to say we had a blast and she is going to look stunning in her royal blue maxi dress with a great big turquoise necklace.  she really took my breath away.  she is undergoing chemo and her serenity is mind-blowing. 

the other day i happened upon this article/short story, have you read it?  i hope you take a moment to read it.  i sprinkled a few pictures of the garden in between. 

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007.

The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule. 4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk. 6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again. 10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time.

This action was repeated by several other children.. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.. 45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32. 1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: *In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context? One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made. How many other things are we missing?

xo

janet