She's got an eye

like one of the best ones, seriously.

If there was only one person I could steal talent from it would be my friend Abby of Hi + Low. She is a graphic designer by profession but has amazing taste in decorating, collecting, and dressing. Just being around her is inspiring. But in addition to her impeccable taste, one of my favorite things about her is her modesty. For how talented she really is, she is one of the most unassuming people I know, and always gives credit to everyone around her.

This week, her apartment was featured on Design*Sponge. An honor that was rightly due. If I could hire her to decorate my apartment, or house I would. Every piece of furniture, art, or collectible is thoughtful, beautiful, and complimentary. I wish I had the vision to incorporate different design era's and elements the way she does.

And to top it all off, Abby is also very very thoughtful. Saturday night I came home to a package addressed from her, and inside was this beautiful ceramic pitcher.

Abby has a couple of these pitchers, and I have loved them since the first time I poured something out of one of them. I finally asked her where I could find one and found out they were made by Dansk, vintage, and very hard to come by. After losing a few bids on Ebay, I gave up. But now I have one of my very own, thanks to her, and now will probably start my obsession up again to find it a friend.

And another Abby gift, my own desk calendar. I love it and use it every day. It is designed by Abby for Kate Spade. I would really love to fill my life up with things made and picked out by Abby. 

*And for those that are anxious to see my hair, don't worry I will post. I just can't seem to take a decent picture of myself, darn camera.

well color me HAPPY!

As some of you know, I lost my precious hello kitty watch last summer, and I have been quite "unhappy" about it since. The thing about this watch is, it's not just any watch, it is a reproduction of the 80's watch that many of my friends had but I didn't. I really wanted it though, and I never stopped wanting it. I searched and searched for it, going in and out of every Sanrio store I saw, browsed Ebay weekly, and finally finally found one on Sanrio.com. Finding it really made me happy, I even considered buying two, I am still regretting not doing it.

I wore it proudly for almost two years. I was truly the envy of every girl between the ages of 4-10. But one day it was gone. I tore everything apart I owned, combed the apartment and even began searching ebay again. But no luck. I even thought that it would turn up as we packed up the place, but as the last box was taped, it hit me, it was really gone.

This morning for the first time since I have moved back here I decided to check ebay once again. (There is something about living here that has made me forget about shopping, which really, is a good thing). I typed in my usual searches: "Hello Kitty Vintage Watch", "Hello Kitty Flip Watch", and then on my last shot "Hello Kitty Retro Watch", it came up. HOORAY! And for only twenty dollars. I must also note that this was a great deal. I actually found one over a month ago, on ebay, went to my sometimes trusty auction sniper, and put in my bid at $26. For sure it would never go that high, I was the only one bidding on it. Well, I put too much trust in the sniper and lost, by twenty five dollars. Yep, the watch sold for fifty. So you can see how I thought twenty sounded great at a buy it now price, not to mention it comes with a calculator.

And this time, I bought two of them!

* Sorry about the photo quality of these, I couldn't wait until I got them in the mail to do a post, I am just way too excited!!

My recipe for a happy valentines

People I love 

I love a whole lot of people but last night I just couldn't help not narrowing it down to my family and my hubby.

+

Good Food

Because reservations are often an afterthought, we usually cook for Valentines. Since it was my turn this year, I made my favorite dinner and Tom's favorite desserts. Clockwise; Salmon, Asparagus, and Parmesan potatoes, Chocolate Molten Cake, Chai Cheese Pie, & Berry Cheesecake.

Combine these two ingredients together, talk & laugh for approximately 60-90 minutes, cool after too much dessert, and voilà, a wonderful holiday.

Cross your fingers...

for a feature length resurrection of our favorite family.

It's only in talks, but one can hope right?

Just to get us all pumped, what's your favorite AD quote/line?

Granny shoes anyone?

My mom never usually comments on anything I wear, unless I ask her for a compliment, which I am never shy about doing. But the night I flew in from the airport, mind you it was past midnight by the time we got to our house, she asked me to pull up my pant leg. I was actually wearing boot cut jeans which usually hide the shoes I wear, which is why most often I wear straight leg jeans. As I was pulling them up, she literally gasped and yelled out, "those are granny shoes Alysha, I can't believe you are wearing them". I tried to defend myself by explaining that no, these are classic Clark Wallabee's and are all over New York. But it didn't matter, her mind was set. My feet looked like a bigger version of her mother's.

But I knew what I was buying. I actually liked how they looked sort of
orthopedic in a hip way. It didn't help that my best friend was routing
me on. We are sort of bad for each other that way. So I bought them. I
wore them around Brooklyn the last few months I was there and really
fell in love with them. I have never owned such a comfortable pair of
shoes, and seeing them on the feet of other girls gave me a sort of
giddy feeling.

What she did make me realize  is that a lot of shoes I like right now have sort of a vintage/old lady feel to them. And yes, I too have these shoes, in black, although I really like them in this color. And  of course just to get a reaction, I asked my mom what she thought. She hated them. But if the snow would just let up, I could actually wear them, and show her how cute they are, especially with my new dress.

I also have been coveting flat derby shoes. These are a lovely pair from Impulse Seattle. I surf ebay once in a while searching for a less expensive pair, but haven't had any luck.

And on one of my last days in Brooklyn, I saw a girl wearing these shoes with skinny jeans. I am not kidding, they looked so cute together.

If you are really in the market for some old lady/vintage inspired shoes you should check out this website. I especially love their selection of candy colored pumps. Thank you Russ for pointing me to it.