Month: November 2012

Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year? Can you believe that Thanksgiving is next week?? For the past 2-3 years, my husband and I have hosted Thanksgiving. It is a lovely tradition!

That being said…three members of my immediate family are currently in Kenya returning on Thanksgiving Day, so our normal traditions are out of whack this year. My husband and I are likely headed to his mother’s apartment and we’ll probably go out to dinner on Thanksgiving Day. We are still considering if we should host Thanksgiving on Friday or Saturday with my immediate family. Part of me will miss not celebrating the tradition, but part of me is wondering if this is a blessing in disguise and could give me a much needed break! Stay tuned for what we decide!

If you are hosting Thanksgiving or are looking to bring a hostess gift, I highly recommend taking a trip to the West Elm website or store. West Elm is my go-to for decorating items! Their style is organic yet modern mixed with beautiful patterns and textures. This season West Elm has collaborated with the caterers at Jewels of New York and Kinfolk to create oodles on table preparation inspiration and recipes. Check it out here.

Also, can we just soak in the beauty that the stylists at West Elm created in these photos for a second?! Super talented!

All photos by West Elm.

Recently, I have been inspired by quiet, peaceful winter images in Pinterest. These images are usually subdued with soft color palettes. I believe this all goes back to my post on Friday, where I expressed that I am reflecting on peace.

I look forward to peaceful days ahead snuggled up on the couch or at a coffee shop drinking a mug of coffee spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon. One of my daily rituals is making a double shot of espresso with my manual stovetop espresso maker I bought when I was in Italy, but recently I have been having these cravings to go to Starbucks, purchase a big cup of coffee in one of their beautiful, red holiday cups, and really savor the richness of the coffee. Now I just need to make time for this simple, peaceful craving!

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Winter Berry Invitation and Winter Frost Invitation is now available in the Hand-Painted Weddings Invitation shop.

I’m always inspired by Anthropologie. Dream job…work at the Anthropologie home office….or Anthropologie’s sister, BHLDN.

The November catalog has been hanging out on my dining room table for a couple of weeks now. It is very hard for me to get rid of Anthro catalogs…they are just so pretty!

What sparks my interest about this particular catalog are the fanciful elements that were sprinkled throughout the catalog, from a large apple to rabbits to a fox to a somewhat creepy kid with a rabbit mask (you’ll have to go through the online edition to see that). It is a totally unexpected and completely fascinating theme.

I also love the models teased, crazy hair. I mean who doesn’t feel like their hair is like this when they remove a winter hat after a long day outside in the snow? But Anthro makes the hair look so sexy!

The other element I love about this catalog are the handmade pieces. The paper trees interspersed with the pencil script writing. They are the perfect accents to this beautiful fantasy.