{the art} of crocheting...

i used to know how to knit and crochet like 30 years ago,  and have been yearning to take lessons for ages. but there's a little small thing called time which lately i haven't seemed to have much of.  omg! that sounds so lame doesn't it?  seriously, i could've crocheted like five of these yarn room installations with as much time as i've spent sitting on my wiggly tush watching real housewives of almost every state in america...

anyway, ms. olek's yarn obsession via new york home design is seriously contagious which is why i've just looked up this neat little beginner's tutorial on crocheting via youtube.  don'tcha just love youtube???  now all i need is a needle, some bright-colored yarn, an enormous class of pinot noir and of course the bravo channel....

{i'm back!} sort of...

well, well.  if it isn't little miss. veda deciding to show up here again after oh, i don't know: 60 days or so?  yep, that be about right.  blame my blogging absence on being born an aquarius.  that's my defense and i'm sticking to it since we (the aquarian) sometimes have a tendency to poof! turn in a different direction only to show up again some odd 10,000 minutes later.  anywho. i'm happy to be back here.  am slowly dipping my toes into the friendly waves of a vast blog-esphere; one i must say i've missed terribly since not only did i abruptly stop blogging - i also stopped visiting my absolute favorite blogs in the whole wide web.  needless to say, i've got loads to catch up on. in the meantime i'm delirious to report my kids are squared away in school on their second day (k &1st grades) after a glorious summer off filled with plenty of beach days, junky fun foods and beautifully clever visits with family and friends.

ok, so quickly.  about today's fitness-related inspirational post. as i was driving home from school drop off, i swear i had every intention of walking along the lakefront for no less than an hour today as i am in serious need of exercise, but since the streets were being cleaned and i couldn't find free parking i somehow or another found myself at the dunkin doughnuts counter ordering a huge coffee roll and a large caramel latte  with skim. can you believe that?  am so mad because i could really go for another coffee roll.  must be hormones, is all i can think.   i'll try exercising again tomorrow especially after finding these beautiful archival pics of venus and serena williams via vogue.  i bet there isn't an inch of flesh that wiggles on these sister's bodies, and that is totally my goal for the next 3 months - ok, make it 6.  not to wiggle, jiggle or rub (am so LOL at that last word-rub).  seriously. my thighs don't rub, but they will if i don't stop goofing around, eating coffee rolls bigger than my kid's heads.

 
am so glad to be back blogging again!!!  woo-hoo!  cheers to a glorious hump day everyone!!!

{art} in the streets...

view more here...

{really?} did i just do that?

we all have those moments in life when we're like, "did i really just do that?"  well i've had more than my share of omph! moments these past few days beginning with eating something really greasy and against my own personal dietary standards, which resulted in my insides feeling as if they'd been smushed to the outside with a cleaver.  no need to get more graphic than that. hopefully you get my drift.   i'll never eat another pizza puff as long as i live.  i did however, lose six pounds, mostly water, but who cares! i'll take it. 

yesterday however, was definitely a mind fart moment.  made a quick grocery run with the kids in tow, only to get to the check out counter and discover i no longer had my car keys in hand.  panicked, i darted back to grapes section, and a few other aisles with kids chanting behind me, "i knew we should've walked."  as my blood pressure soared and my stomach growled (remember i haven't been eating) we dash to the car to discover it's still running, with the keys inside, and locked (with three ounces of gas left).  so with grocery bags and chanting kids in hands (literally) i dart across 75th street fully aware there's no way in hell i'm going to be able to run the entire 8 or so blocks home and back (to grab spare set) when like an shimmering oasis there stands king's auto repair!  breathless, sweating, ok, and panting i run into the garage and squeal my dilemna (to no one in particular) coupled with whimpering pleas for help.  well this marvelous man looks at me like i'm mad, closes the hood of the car he's working on and yells, "run back to your car!"  (remember i live in chicago) so off we go, the kids and i, back to where the car hopefully still is. 

mere minutes later, the same man (who has now reached god-like status) finds us in the parking lot, jimmies the lock (with latest jimmy contraption that works on newer car model power lock systems) and gets us back inside our vehicle (which still has enough gas to get home).  it literally took him like 4 minutes.  and the contraption was pink!  i actually considered asking him where i could get one for myself, you know like a purse edition...

sheer disaster averted i drove away bursting with the happiness of a lottery winner; grateful for a bustling southside neighborhood that sometimes gets a bad rap and for the beautiful kindness of complete strangers which doesn't get talked about enough...

like andy warhol's picture above.  totally bananas, in a sweet, healthy kind of way...

{my dream} dining room...

i've had this picture (minus the photoshop exhibit) tacked to my kitchen to-do-list/inspiration board since 2007.  i'm not kidding.  this is my ideal dining space. i adore the traditional yet totally inviting style and soothing color scheme.  and don't even get me started on the chandelier and grass cloth walls...

btw - the dining room image is from an O home magazine issue (no longer in circulation~whimper) and belongs to jennifer ehrhard (at time of publication).  the decorator is anne coyle.  walls are covered in grass cloth dyed a rich orange (love) and the romantic chandelier is from pavillion antiques.  the chairs are covered in porcupine, a printed fabric from lulu dk. 

and can i just be completely honest?  putting this spread together in photoshop elements 7 took me bloody forever!  i am getting the hang of it though (slowly), which just goes to show how persistence (in anything that means something to you) does eventually pay off, even if only slightly!  lol!

1) louis xvi gilded mirror, tara shaw maison
2) antique plum chandelier
3) turks and caicos yarn dyed raffia, phillip jeffries
4) porcupine fabric, lulu dk
5) louis chair, ballard desings
6) tibetan rug, rug studio
7) table, 1st dibs