Monday, August 29, 2011

One Year

David and I snuck away last weekend to celebrate our first year married. As cliche as it sounds - I can't wrap my head around the fact that a year has already slipped by. In May we actually celebrated 11 years together - and he still manages to give me butterflies. This time last year we had grand dreams of spending our anniversary in Paris (in our dreams!) Instead we went to one of our favorite places. We drove up to Mammoth where my family has a cabin and spent the weekend, just the two of us. It was heaven.

{Twin Lake, Mammoth Lakes}

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We spent an entire day biking around all of the lakes, went on a sunset horseback ride, and had a lakeside dinner. I couldn't think of anywhere I would have rather been.

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On our way home we drove off the highway to the Bristlecone Forest. It's the home of some of the world's oldest trees. Some even argue that the Methuselah Tree is actually the oldest tree in the world. The best part about our detour is that there wasn't a single person around. We stopped on the side of one of the dirt roads and had sandwiches for two.

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While we're on the subject of anniversaries, I had to share these two gifts we received. Both are so incredibly thoughtful and are a great idea for anyone special you may know with an important anniversary coming up.
The first is from our dear, dear friends Kathy and Micky. They were the one's that gave us our very first wedding gift here. Micky was the officiant at our wedding that married us. To say they are important people in our lives would be an understatement. On the morning of our wedding, Kathy snatched up the paper from the day. She's been saving it and wrapped it up for us for our anniversary. It's such a simple, thoughtful gift. I love knowing that I'll be able to look back and read about what else was going on that day.

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Our second gift was from my Mom & Dad and has a little bit of a back-story. Growing up , probably starting at the age of 7, my Mom pulled out an old demijohn bottle as a place to throw extra change. Over the years it slowly filled. It's where hot lunch money in elementary school, quarters for arcade games in Jr.High, and laundry change in college all came from. We always talked about what we were going to do with the money once it was filled. The jar is finally a few weeks away from being completely filled and my mom has decided that whoever is closest to guessing the correct amount in the jar gets to choose an activity the entire family can do.

The Friday we left for Mammoth we had a jar with a small pile of change in the bottom waiting on our doorstep. David and I now have our own change jar to fill.

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David - Happy Anniversary. I love you always. zo

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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

New York Gift Show

Betsy and I just got back from a week of buying in New York at the New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF.) We had such a fun time (probably a little too much fun!) I'm back though and will be back up and posting soon!


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{image via Conde Nast}

Monday, August 1, 2011

French Bistro Chairs

I have French Bistro chairs on the brain right now! I've gone into full-on house sprucing mode lately and I'm thinking these may be joining our household. I have been doing a lot of research on bar stools lately and French Bistros are quickly becoming the front runner.

{via Trad Home}
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I was thinking about upholstered bar stools for a little while, but I feel like I need something to break up all of our upholstered seating. Our downstairs is essentially one open space where all of the seating except for our side dining chairs (the head and foot of the table are upholstered wing-back chairs)are upholstered. French Bistro's will break that up and add a new texture. However, the best part is, they're indoor outdoor. In other words THEY'RE DURABLE!! Which is a HUGE necessity in our house. Even though we don't have kids yet, I know in the future durability will only continue to be important.

{California Home Magazine, via Maison Gatti}
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{via Elle Decor}
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{House Beautiful}
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{via Ashley Whittaker Design}
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I'm doing a little bit of last minute price comparison and then I'm ordering!

**In other news - we finished painting and I've been trying to get a good shot of the paint, but our weather and my schedule has been a little funky this last week and I haven't been able to catch good light. Will post soon though!