floral nappy bag...

i'm loving all the florals out there. i've always loved florals & lace. patty calls my style "granny chic." the awesome floral post over at city sage inspired me to check out one of my favorite designers, cath kitson. of course among all the gorgeous florals, i found a diaper bag {or a "nappy" bag, they say in the uk}. since a diaper bag is not something i would probably buy used, i immediately was going to hit purchase when i realized it was made of PVC, the poison plastic. oh, why do the super-cute things have to be so unhealthy?

living terrariums {kat geiger}

i may not be able to drive up to the bay area for mothers day, so i was thinking about something to get my mom other than cut flowers.  so predictable & they don't last...then i stumbled upon kat geiger's living terrariums.  aren't these amazing?  she is in the bay area and only does local orders {unfortunately for me she doesn't ship!}, so if you are in the bay area, check her out.  

i think these would also make amazing centerpieces...so dramatic, too.  something living and beautiful that you could give away after the ceremony to your bridal brigade or friends and family!

if you are in oakland, she's having a trunk show this saturday april 18 at a store called urban indigo.  

check out her etsy store and her blog.

{photos from koko studios on flickr}

new family member: {djuna belle}

we had a really great weekend...we welcomed a new family member:  djuna belle.  we named her djuna after my favorite writer, djuna barnes.  we actually rescued her last weekend, but this past weekend we were really able to get to know her and see her personality emerge.  she was very shy and withdrawn the first few days.  i don't blame the poor girl:  she was rescued from the kill list at the downey shelter by a rescue group called hearts for hounds.  hfh cleaned her up, fixed her and brought her to their adoption event, which is where we met her!  we brough our other dog, vinnie with us to the event, and they immediately hit it off, so we thought she was meant to come home with us!  she's really sweet and very calm.  i've already taken her to work with me and she's of course a big hit there.  this photo is of her in her bed at work.   yes, she has a pink nose.  yes, she has pink ears.  yes, she looks more like a little lamb.  yes, she's super cute.

is it a bit soon to get another dog after oona?  sure, but after both ruby and oona died, a good friend of ours told us, "maybe the universe is just making room for more dogs that need you."  of course i still miss oona terribly, but it sure is nice to have another sweet dog around.  

the flowers are from some friends we met on friday...aren't they sweet?  we put them in our bedroom, so this was what we woke up to all weekend.

how was your weekend?

{photos by me}

happy home-maker: {recycled container gardening}

i'm loving all of the innovative gardens and gardening i'm seeing out there in the world.  from the amazing raised veggie beds from adriana at victory home & garden to rachel's innovative use of old wine crates, transformed and repurposed into gardening items over at heart of light.  and of course it's old news now, but the veggie garden at the white house is such important news, what a great example to set for the rest of the country...i certainly don't have the space that they have, but that's where all of these cool containers and creative uses of objects are so inspirational. 

today over at vintage indie, i spotted these great recycled mobile gardens from etsy seller semper nova.  i love that they rescue old items and transform them into something living and beautiful.

{photo credit:  semper nova via vintage indie}

ps.  adriana at victory home & garden is working on a punk rock gardening podcast.  how cool is that?  go over there right now & ask her your burning edible garden questions.  {and i'm sure she'll field a question or two about the clash or the germs if you ask nicely.}

flowers {gilly flowers}

every morning when i walk to work, i see the folks at gilly flowers hard at work, up to their elbows in greenery and flowers.  gilly flowers has been in silver lake for years, but only recently did they move into their new shop.  when i was a photo stylist, the owner used to help me out with amazing arrangements.  the gorgeousness that oozes out of the store front is amazing...i love stopping by the store, petting the dogs and poking my head in to see what they are working on.  i've always wondered where those beautiful arrangements are going.  now i know...

{not that i'm a big fan of cut flowers, but they are so darn pretty...however, he does do living arrangements, i bet he could do some amazing living centerpieces.}

{photos from gillyflowers.com}

etsy love {peony}

the sweet and talented peony has opened her etsy shop--stop by for some beauty for your walls.

shower

well, it's post wedding & i have completely neglected the blog.  here's some highlights from the shower.  see more shower photos here.

dahlias

California Organic Flowers has a great flower calendar for flowers that are in bloom during certain months.  dahlias are in bloom during late august.  tuberose are also in bloom...sweet smelling, but maybe not since they are white, but could be nice accent flower.  i wonder about hydrangeas?

first photo from brides.com

second photo from bella fiore designs

third photo from easy to grow bulbs

fourth photo from penelope illustration

flowers in tea tins

another great diy flower idea from a $10,000 wedding.  i need to get better about crediting my photos...i'll work on it!! 

silk flowers

White Aisle is a really great site with lots of great wedding ideas.  but my favorite is their "daughters" program.  they offer beautiful silk items handmade by women in Cambodia & the profits all go back to them to start a better life.  beautiful.

diy flowers in a can

another sweet idea:  flowers in a can...

mismatched jars

i love this idea of the mismatched & "found" {read: recycled} jars for the flowers for table centerpieces.

flowers in the backyard

kate is really helping me out with the landscaping & the flowers for the wedding.  tomorrow we are going to get some lily-of-the niles (agapanthus).  i'm thinking of just planting the 2 beds full of agapantus & putting some other more exotic plants around in pots.