One of my loyal readers, Molly, bartered with a friend of hers for this antique cabinet. Only Molly could have seen beneath its layers of chipped paint and cruddy wheels to see that this was a gem in the making. After coating it in polished black paint she used Snow & Graham paper to give it a pop of color for the finishing touch.  This is just the inspiration I needed to give my old bakers cabinet a much needed face-lift - stay tuned for that! You can purchase Snow& Graham paper through Paper Mojo.

Hello Beautiful People! Just sitting here on a sunny Thursday listening to the soothing tune-age of folk rocker Josh Ritter and classical violinist Hilary Hahn and peeping these Etsy items that struck my fancy this week and hopefully will strike yours too:

I wish I’d seen this Deco Sun banner earlier - it would have been perfect for the hubs birthday barbeque this weekend. Etsy seller Earmark Paperie creates their line of clever invites and personalized stationary from their beach view bungalow in San Diego:

I love this gorgeous, atmospheric photography from Under the Sugar, there is something very Summer of 1973 about them that I like (prints start at $35):

Fun Summer jewelry from Wiyomu, affordable too ($20 for these necklaces)!

I love the feather shape of these bird earrings by Lauren Elgee. Using illustrations out of vintage books she makes these lightweight one-of-kind earrings. I like the dipped in gold tips on the graphic black and white earrings. $55 from her Etsy store

I am in love with these rug designs by Irish lad Luke Irwin. All of the rugs are hand knotted in Nepal in the foothills of the Himalayas using a Tibetan weaving technique. This exoticness must be why they are way out of my price range; prices start at 300 euro a meter, that’s about $475 every 3 feet at the current exchange rate! I think my favorite is the geese (goose?) rug pattern, perfect for a sophisticated child’s room.

I way overbooked myself this past weekend and now I’m paying for it with a crappy head cold. Friday night was Phil & Friends at the Warfield, so long Bill Graham it’s been a great run. Then Saturday was spent gardening and cleaning house. Saturday night was dinner with friends at the new Cavallo Point restaurant Murray Circle. The consensus was that it was overpriced for the small portions but the food was delicious (out of this world butterscotch dessert), still it’s hard to recommend a place that leaves you wanting a slice of pizza because you’re still hungry. Sunday a.m. we were up and at em to watch Bay to Breakers which was by far the best people watching experience of my life, well except for the Castro during Halloween. Then it was off to Home Depot and more gardening. I hate that I’m sick now but it was all worth it.

Now on to some pretty things worth sharing. Brocade Home has all sorts of lovely boudoir items to shabby chic-ify your home. My favorite is this green bed frame for a fairly reasonable $399. They have a great selection of feminine laser cut furniture and colored chandeliers. I love this tufted lounge chair in my favorite shade of blue/grey, I feel better just looking at it.

Summer is here! It’s 88 degrees in San Francisco today. It always feels so good to finally be able to break out your happy summer skirts and dresses. These stunning pieces from London based stylist and artist Emma Cassi are the perfect jewelry designs to complete your summer look. I love the delicate tulle bracelets embroidered with vintage glass beads and stones, they are so incredibly feminine. Check out her website to purchase one of these beauties and visit her blog to spy some of her inspirations.

As kids, Haley and I used to escape to the backyard apple tree to hideout and make up songs or whisper swear words to each other over and over thinking that if we got them all out at once, we’d never swear again. True story: once after saying s**t Haley went and washed her own mouth out with soap and then told my Mom!

I’m too cautious now to go climb a tree so I’ll have to satisfy myself with a more grown up hideaway from Cocktail UK. The teepee swing would have been perfect for us as kids, we would have filled it with all of our stuffed animals and books. Nowadays I could sit happily in the GLOBO swing seat and swear away until my hearts content - no soap included.

Spotted this clutch on Bliss and now I’m obsessed! It’s so sweet and cheerful but still sophisticated. I would love to have something like this to pass down to my daughter someday. Designer Brooke Galardi has this clutch and many other lovely designs available on her Etsy store BeeGee Bags.

Check out these fun dress designs from MachineMachine all handmade in Hawaii. If you live in San Francisco you can find some of these designs at Mingle on Union Street. I like the simple tube dresses. They’re sexy but with pockets still practical and you can customize them with your choice of vintage fabric. Prices start at $65, not bad for a one-of-a-kind dress!

Wedding planning is a thing of the past for me and I have no regrets but I can’t help but stumble across things from time to time and wish they’d been around when I got married. Don’t even get me started on J.Crew, if their bridesmaids dresses had been around in 2002 I could have saved my BM’s a lot of agony by giving them more flattering options instead of a boring tank style (I stand by the color though, they all looked amazing in red).

I saw these adorable plastic wishbones from Etsy seller Somethings Hiding Here and thought they would make a memorable and sweet wedding favor. We did mini-daisy soaps and I think somewhere in my Moms garage there is a bag full of disintegrating soap. The cute cotton bag and the Best Wishes sentiment complete the package.

Then the other day I caught site of this fantastic sign over at blogger Chere Amie. Please somebody have this at your wedding and invite me!

Needs some inspiration for reupholstering your Sunday Flea Market finds? Head over to the incredible Lotus Bleu for designer Jeannie Fraise’s boldly reupholstered vintage furniture. Jeannie travels annually to France and Southeast Asia to gather her beautiful fabrics for custom upholstery, cushions and curtains. I’ve got my eye on some bedding from India and I’m definitely filing this place away for my next upholstery project. Bonus for me, Jeannie’s store is in San Francisco!

While I’m on the subject of type-art, check out these fun and funky typographic rugs from Sweden based John Pour Home. Made from felt and cut by hand they are available in several bold and bright colors with pre-fab sayings or you can customize your own. I’d like a big fat M for our last name for the entry or maybe 1973, the year we were born for the kitchen floor. What’s that noise, oh yeah the hubs saying NO, *sigh*.

I’ve been meaning to write about artist Jessica Gonacha’s newest work for a couple of weeks. Inspired by her love of “type-art”, Jessica’s latest experiment are these sweet gocco prints that provide a little reminder some of us need everyday. At $7 how can you not buy one for yourself or someone you love (this would be a perfect belated Mother’s Day Gift!). I have a certain very special and very LOVED relative who might benefit from her “You Are So Loved” print today. Check out Jessica’s Etsy shop or her fun blog Treasuring for more inspiration.

This baby sling from Serena & Lily is on my someday-baby wish list. I love the simple snap design and the pretty embroidery. It will be available in June but you can pre-order one of the three sizes now for $129.00.

Also peeped in Domino this month, Carolina Irving Textiles! Her gorgeous patterns are hand-printed on 100% hemp and have a casual Indian vibe. I definitely need to hit some flea markets for a hidden gem to upholster with these beauties. The Peak of Chic, another obsessed fan, wrote a post on how to find these fabrics until Carolina’s website is more complete. If you live in LA, you can find her prints at Hollywood At Home. (LA friends we’re going there on my next visit).

This has nothing to do with anything, except that it’s awesome! Delta has a new seat design, The Cozy Suite. I love the staggered design and the wrap around head, plus the extra 2 inches of leg room. With the cost of airfare getting higher and with fewer and fewer options for customers, I’m glad to hear about an airline making upgrades like this for passenger comfort. I guess the only downside would be if you luck out with your own row you wouldn’t have the luxury of stretching out. At this time they are only slated for International coach flights but if you plan to travel abroad, look for them in 2010.

(via Wired)

I spotted ceramic artist Mae Mougin’s hand made porcelain pieces in the most recent Domino and quickly added her monogrammed plates to my wish list. Summering in the Hampton’s? Yeah me neither, but if you were, you can find Mae working out of her Southampton converted garage/art studio making her whimsical and homey designs. Most of her items are available on commission. Check out her website on how to contact her directly to create your next family heirloom. Aren’t these child plates the sweetest!

I love bead shops. I love the millions of colors and the various textures and shapes of beads. I like the shiny glass beads, the smooth stones and the exotic names like amazonite, carnellian and tourmaline.

So it was easy for me to fall in love with Keri Starker’s Kayla Designs, a sophisticated collection of one-of-a-kind hand-beaded necklaces. With an elegant boho vibe Keri’s designs combine rare and unusual beads and stones that she has collected over the last fifteens years of traveling the world. Her passion for travel and individuality clearly inspire her chic designs. You can email Keri directly to purchase any one of her designs or for custom orders. If you live in the NY area she is also available for an intimate trunk show where you and your girlfriends can try on her designs and shop in your own living room.

Back to blogging, good causes and Mother’s Day. The always delightful jewelry designer Amy Bengtson is donating a portion of her jewelry sales to the Breast Cancer Three Day Walk during the month of May. In honor of Mother’s Day buy your Mom a sweet piece from Amy and a generous 20% will go towards the fight against breast cancer. Or treat yourself anytime this month!

Wow, we had a blast! There is truly no place like New Orleans, especially during Jazz Fest! We saw more music than I can remember. Not only did we have an incredibly talented and diverse musical smorgasbord to choose from at the festival but then at night we had a huge selection of music at the clubs. Standouts from the festival were Kermit Ruffins, Widespread Panic, the all female brass band The Pinettes, John Butler Trio (blew me away!), Stevie Wonder and local SF fave Michale Franti & Spearhead.

At night, The Howlin Wolf became home base mostly because the fierce musical showdowns they hosted every night. We saw a mash-up of musicians including Marco Benevento, Stanton Moore, Garage-A-Trois, Russell Batiste, Karl Denson, Paige McConnell and DJ Logic. We caught the late night show at the House of Blues - when I say late night I mean Greyboy Allstars didn’t take the stage until 2AM! We boogied to The Lee Boys at Chickie Wah Wah’s and lastly caught Galactic at Tipitina’s, a legendary music venue where my feet ached from dancing in flip flops for three days.

I made sure to hit Cafe Du Monde for amazing beignets and we grabbed a late night pulled pork po’boy that knocked my flops off. We dove right into a steaming hot bowl of crawfish Monica at the fairgrounds and ate our weight in gumbo. We didn’t tour around too much but we did spend time in the French Quarter - but avoided Bourbon Street, too many tourists in tacky t-shirts. One of our best meals of the trip was at the memorable Tujaques. The place is so old school, set menu, best Pimm’s cup in town, tons of celebrity photo’s on the wall, not a waiter under 45 years old. We couldn’t resist our own photo with the chef - hey Tubbs and Crockett were proudly featured, why not us!

New Orleans is still a beautiful city despite the wreckage Katrina brought. The people were really warm, the food is incredible, the music is like nowhere else on earth and the spirit of the city is very much alive. I can’t recommend enough a trip down there. We are definitely going back, there is still so much I need to see….and eat!