wood grain

i've always been a fan of a wood grain pattern.  so much so that i make jewelry that has it.

a.  madera throw pillow  $54.95  wrapables
b.  donna wilson wooly wood blanket  $390.00  safari living
c.  ibackwoods walnut iphone 4 backing  $20.00  ibackwoods
d.  organic wood grain towels  $6 - 19  west elm

abaca accessories

i fell in love with the woven abaca pendant light from west elm a while back.  i ended up finding a lot of other abaca accessories i liked as well.  i like when natural elements are incorporated into rooms.  and these items have amazing textures.

ps.  abaca is a plant originally from the philippines that produces leaves that are then made into stuff.  that's my watered down explanation and i'm sticking to it.

a.  woven abaca pendant  $79.00  west elm
b.  abaca ottoman  $129.00  crate & barrel
c.  abaca magazine holder  $34.50  amazon
d.  abaca squares doormat  $36.95  crate & barrel

i love a good tote

i love tote bags and large bags in general.

i have more than i technically have room for.

but that doesn't stop me from wanting more.

like these new jonathan adler totes.  they are pricey, but cute.

images via jonathan adler

i have several brooklyn industries bags and i love them.

they are much more reasonably priced and will last forever.

images via brooklyn industries

l.a.m.b canvas totes are on sale right now at zappos.

images via zappos

you can always find a plethora of other totes at zappos.

love it: infinity chair

i cannot stop staring at this inception chair by vivian chiu.

all images via vivian chiu

it's freakin' genius.

love it: toywatch

i found these toywatch jelly watches awhile back during one of my manic internet searching missions and today they were featured on the flash sale site, rue la la.

image via rue la la

you pick a watch face and then you can swap out any bands that you want.  the combinations are endless.

watch videos here for a better explanation.

even tough i'm a loyal swatch girl, i would totally cheat with these.

speaking of swatch, i'm digging the new swatch new gent collection.

love it: marc jacobs yellow dress

total style crush on this yellow silk dress from marc jacobs.

of course i would have nowhere to wear it but it's nice to look at.

xojane

i've been secretly excited about the recent launch of jane pratt's new website, xojane.com.

i admit it.

i was a reader of sassy magazine from the beginning and then jane magazine (until she left and it went to crap).

so apparently i like all things jane pratt.  and finally her newest venture is here.

check it out.

via xojane on facebook

love it: pantone iphone cases

having a longtime obsession with design, i've always loved all things pantone.

and now case scenario is coming out with pantone iphone and ipad cases.

check it:

via case scenario

dog cuteness

love it: marimekko

i'm loving crate & barrel's new marimekko shop.

they are a finnish company best know for bold graphic prints on fabrics and housewares.

crate & barrel is carrying a huge selection and i'm loving it.  so much so that i've been pinning stuff like crazy.

LINK:  siirtolapuutarha black and white bowl

LINK:  unikko red apron

LINK:  kaiku tray

LINK:  kurpitsa red pillow

LINK:  jatski dishtowels

LINK:  siirtolapuutarha rasymatto mug

carrie's wedding reception

one of my dearest friends, carrie, got married last week in the mountains of north carolina.

carrie on the wedding day (photo via carrie)

carrie and tad celebrated their marriage with friends and family this past sunday (april 24) at humble pie restaurant in raleigh.

tad, ayden (step son) & carrie at reception (photo via carrie)

unfortunately, i was having too much fun to take very many pics.  dammit.

dinner

tapas courses:  spinach tart and fried green tomatoes

l to r:  shellie, alisa and adair

danny and jenn

l to r:  kara, angie (bending down), carrie and shellie

first dance

overall it was a super fun night catching up with everyone.  the food was great and carrie and tad looked extremely happy.

so happy for them!

cuban heaven

last weekend i randomly picked this cuban restaurant out on yelp for lee and i to go to.

best.  pick.  ever.

it's called pambiche and you should run, not walk, there.

we were starving before we got there and happened to sit next to some nice people.

only in portland would the people at the next table insist that you try their food.

where else does that happen?!

my sister took this photo of me drinking my cuban bev.  hate the photo of myself but it's the only pic with the restaurant in the background.

and we were so hungry by the time the food arrived so this is all i got....  empty plates.

and then we had to take it over the top and get gelato.

love it: orla kiely spring 2011

orla kiely via black eiffel

loving orla kiely's spring/summer 2011 line, especially the dresses.

my cousin bridger

my beautiful cousin bridger's wedding was just featured on the blog, love and lavender.  check it out!

bridger and her dad rick

the photos are amazing and were shot by brent and amanda of millie holloman photography.

heartbreakingly beautiful...

wish list: tractor stool

love this tractor stool by craig bassam for BassamFellows.

*  DWR

my new favorite place

uwajimaya.

it's my new fave store.

it's all things japanese and it makes me happy.  i can't believe i haven't been in there before.  i could spend HOURS in there and probably will next time i go.  it totally felt like i was back in japan and i wanted to stay.

but...the place wasn't perfect.

my worst nightmare as i think mayonnaise is the spawn of the devil.

they also had grapefruits the size of my head.

they were seriously enormous.

i would totally work there if it didn't smell like fish.

here comes the sun

the sun came out this morning.

and luckily stayed out the entire day!

insert happy face here.

lee (sister) and i went to get lunch after she was on call at the hospital all night.

i took her to the people's sandwich of portland.

she's a people's sandwich virgin and luckily she loved it.

ps.  people's sandwich is now offering:

lee insisted on her usual post call froyo but this time we decided to keep it in the downtown area.

she wasn't loving it so we ended up at pudding on the rice where, you guessed it, they serve rice pudding.

lee loved it and sampled everything.  every single one of them.

i had tart froyo which was equally yum.

now back to the sunshine...

we walked around a little bit.  i mean, when the weather is nice you have to grab it by the balls.

and random dude sleeping on the bench.  his tag said "security".  hmmm...

after getting home later, there was the hottest hot pink sunset ever.   i couldn't get my camera till it was almost gone...