air plants

while out on one of our mini adventures i traipsed into a sweet little shop. i spotted a bunch of gorgeous glass containers all scattered along a raw brick wall. in a few lay these little, naked, green plants, just floating in air. the girl behind the counter told me they were air plants; they require no soil, just misting and the occasional dunk in water and happily sit alone or in one of these glass pods. 

how perfect! they sounded so easy which sounds especially great as i am 1) currently trying to dust off my green thumb and 2) are in-between houses. 

i picked a smallish plant, which i was assured would be ready to bloom soon, and a rounded globe. 

the globes really are exceptional pretty as you can tell by the imperfections that they are hand blown and have really fat edges. 

i watered it in the bathroom sink as soon as we got home and it is already brightening up the bedroom. i mean, really, how great are these little guys?!

here's ours 

(other photos from west elm + vivaterra)

chalk board obsession

all my recent house day dreams are just pilling up in my brain. rapidly.

one huge obsession lately is chalkboards. where should we have one in our house, if any? on the back of a door? in nia's room? just a small chalk board in a frame in the kitchen or some cozy corner tucked away?

on a piece of furniture? or an entire wall? 

or do i just stick with the original + classic board easel? 

so much to debate + consider! 

(*photos borrowed from design mom, tinyk, and (one of my fav's) thebooandtheboy)

LOVE! proposal @ cafe mogador

we were out in manhattan yesterday, wandering about, escaping the heat and meeting up with friends in the afternoon. we went out for a beyond delicious dinner at one of my top 3 favorite places in all of NY, cafe mogador. YUM!

as we're sipping our cucumber martinis (also beyond delicious) and reminiscing over our old 5th floor walk-ups with no A/C, the man of a cute couple a table over from us suddenly got down on one knee, the old fashioned way, and proposed. his declaration of love was very quiet, to keep some sort of intimacy of the crowd-filled moment and within seconds the entire restaurant was cheering + clapping. i had goosebumps! it was just so sweet. the girl (said "yes!") was completely taken by surprise and seemed overjoyed.

the couple stayed a bit longer. when they left the restaurant, the entire place filled up with clapping again. they continued along, moseying across east 8th street both with giant smiles.

i couldn't help thinking about the freshly engaged couple; was he stressed before (stuart definitely was) + felt a little wave of relief that she said yes, who would she call first to share the news, where would they think about get married, would they get a bottle of champagne on their way home or go out somewhere after to celebrate some more?

don't you just love hearing about romantic moments? and witnessing it was really wonderful and felt almost magical.

white envy

since i'm becoming sliiiightly obsessed with design ideas, furniture hunting, decorating and all house things in general, i've really been focusing on my "inspiration" folder. as i took a closer look at photos i really love, spaces i envy and color schemes i think we could pull off in our soon-to-be-new home, i'm noticing there is a lot of white; walls, floors, furniture, etc. i just love it!

all the whites take on a different shade all their own depending on what white they are up against. and the white walls really make everything hanging on them or furniture along them really pop.

i'm sure i've mentioned we're going for a general house mood of whites, warm woods, fauna greens, and punches of pastels, so the white walls look is definitely going full steam ahead.

and i'm so excited to try it. we have a lot of fun, great + loud pieces that i think will just add more character and warmth to the whole space. 

(*photos from thesweetestdigs, decor pad, and fancy house road)

wales love + welsh things

because stuart is welsh, i'm always trying to find little things for our home that are from, well, his home, so he doesn't feel too homesick. have you even been to wales? it's gorgeously green, quiet, sheep on every corner (and very rainy)

i would obviously love a huge + gorgeous welsh kitchen cupboard, but since that is next-to-impossible, here are some sweet finds that we may try to incorporate...

the welsh alphabet print so nia can learn allllll of her letters

the perfect razor, hand made in wales, for a welsh gentleman

a vintage map of the south of wales to put on a nice large frame

the sweetest little hand stamped vintage teaspoon for sugar, tea or ice cream. stuart calls nia 'cariad' all of the time. ("cariad" means love)

a beautiful yet simple painting of the welsh countryside. (yup, this is pretty much what it looks like; hilly and tons of green)

or a more whimsical map, perfect to tell you where to go for an adventure