city dogs...

The city is full of dog lovers and I saw some adorable dogs this weekend:

This little lady is Ruby. She belongs to a friend of mine - isn't she cute?!

Ruby found some friends...

Look how little this puppy is!

I LOVE this chow chow! Don't you just want to give him a big hug?!!

desire to inspire

I've been a long time reader of Desire to Inspire - a blog that showcases designers and photographers and posts photos of really beautiful, interesting spaces. It's my go-to blog whenever I need some inspiration for a project I'm working on, so I'm extremely excited to have my home featured on their blog today! You can find the post on my house here. Thanks Kim and Jo!

farmer's markets + lunch

This past weekend I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and take a couple of nice long walks through the city. On Saturday we ended up at Fitler Square and checked out the farmer's market there and on Sunday we went to the market at Headhouse Square.

My boyfriend (Eric) and I are part of a CSA this year, so we're already loaded with veggies at home (although those tomatoes looked REALLY tempting!). We didn't get much produce but we did have an awesome lunch at Headhouse Square. Los Taquitos de Puebla is a Mexican restaurant on 9th Street and every Sunday they have a stand at the market selling tacos and quesadillas. I've been to their restaurant quite a few times and always get food at their stand when I'm at the farmer's market - and I get the same thing again and again: tacos al pastor. Its pork (roasted on an open spit), chunks of fresh pineapple, cilantro and fresh salsa. SOOO DELICIOUS.



There's also a lemonade stand called "Twisted Lemonade". No, they're not alcoholic, but they do offer different flavors (berry lemonade, basil lemonade, etc). I stick to the classic because its so tasty. I've also read that there's a new food truck called Renaissance Sausage that serves locally made sausages from 9:30am-2pm every Sunday, but we couldn't find them:( I guess I'll just have to make another trip back soon!

house love pt.2

I met Karen in grad school about 6 years ago and we bonded over our love for Tracy Reese (we both selected her as our client for one of our studio projects). We quickly realized how similar our tastes were - she is my favorite person to shop for because it's like picking out a gift for myself!- and have been friends ever since.

Karen lives in Wayne, a suburb just outside of Philly, and has turned her 1 bedroom apartment into a really charming, cozy home. I love how she is so easily able to mix vintage pieces with newer pieces, traditional with modern, and throw it together with a bunch of DIY projects and it all works beautifully. When I asked her to describe her style she said:

One of my favorite design books is Modern Glamour by Kelly Wearstler; my ideal design style would be described that way. But the apartment came equipped with a fireplace and wood paneling on the walls (painted over many times in builder's standard cream), and these unchangeable elements give it a cozy, cottage feel. So I incorporated mirrored furniture, some graphic, moden art and antique accessories to freshen it up.

See the side chair on the left (you can also see a portion of it in the picture below) - that is my favorite DIY project she took on. Someone was practically giving it away and she saw the potential in it. A little paint and some reupholstering turned it into a really lovely piece and one that works so well in this space.

I often get fireplace envy, and I'm definitely jealous of Karen's. It adds so much character to the room and I love how she styled it.

I asked Karen what her favorite element of her home was and she said:

My favorite accessory is the vintage typewriter I got from an Etsy store called Katie Armour Home. It's cute, it ties into my love of reading and writing, and it was produced in the same typewriter factory where my great-grandmother worked - when she worked there. I also have wanted a pink bedroom for a long time and figured this would be the best time to make that happen! Painting can make such a huge difference in a rental.

Karen said her favorite DIY project were her dining chairs:

I love getting furniture from Craigslist and refinishing them. My favorite project was my kitchen chairs. I had been drooling over the Anthropologie Antwerp chair in Bloom for a long time, but it's way out of my price range. After getting a set of four dining chairs from Craigslist for $65, i was able to find a similar fabric (Anna Maria Horner, Sketchbook from the Drawing Room Collection) and used it to reupholster the chair seats. Now I like my kitchen chairs better than the original that inspired them!

I wish I had gotten a full photo of one of her chairs, but only got the tops of them, see photo below.

This is the fabric that she used to cover the chair cushions with:

And this is the chair that inspired it all (she did an amazing job finding fabric so similar)!
I am a city girl through and through, but if I were to live in the 'burbs, Wayne would be the kind of town I'd want to live in. This is what Karen has to say about living in Wayne:

Wayne has a small downtown area with restaurants and coffee shops and a restored movie theater, and it’s only a block from my apartment! My favorite is a place called Teresa’s: one half of it is an Italian BYO, the other half is a bar that focuses on craft beers.

Thanks Karen for letting me take photos of your lovely home! Oh- and if you haven't already checked out her blog, you really should. It's one of my daily reads!

images: eric heidel

window boxes

I was at my friend Robin's house the other day (whose house has been beautifully renovated and will be featured in a post soon) and noticed how nice her window boxes were. I've been wanting to add some window boxes to my house since I moved in, but haven't gotten around to doing much to the exterior besides have it painted. Plus, I'm not really known to have a green thumb (I received about half a dozen or so plants when I first moved into my home and have sadly killed them all). However, seeing how pretty her window box makes her house really made me want my own! I decided to walk around the city and get some inspiration for my future window box.

This is a photo of Robin's- I really like how she lined her box with the burlap.

I did see a lot of fake flowers planted in window boxes, but I've never seen anything like this before:

capes!

Ah, capes - they're not just for superheroes! They've been really popular the past couple of seasons and I love them because they're loose and comfortable - it's like walking around with a blanket wrapped around you. My favorites came from Chloe's 2009 Autumn/Winter collection and their Spring/Summer 2010 collection:

Here are some beautiful options that are actually affordable:

Top Shop Fall 2010 (from their lookbook)

This camel cape is my favorite! Looks so good with the plaid mini skirt!

This little number is also from Top Shop and currently available on their site. A cute option for those rainy days.

I love the shape of this wool cape and where the slits for the arms are located. And I love that it's vintage...make a bid for it now and it could be yours!

Another cute Ebay option!

This option from Diane Von Furstenberg can be found on Net-A-Porter. I like the shorter shape and the belt - would work as a light jacket for fall or even as a sweater for those cold winter days.

What do you think? Will you guys be wearing a cape this year?