Land of Nod Grand Opening

June 4, 2013

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Land of Nod, but all my opinions are my own. #PMedia #NODinCA http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

I am one lucky girl. Last week I got to attend the Land of Nod VIP Grand Opening party in Costa Mesa. What I fun evening. There was food and shopping and HGTV celebs and my best friend was by my side – seriously, what could be better? You may have seen some of the fun on my Instagram and there’s even more on Nod’s Instagram.

So, can I start by saying, I love the Nod staff. Seriously, they are the sweetest, most down to earth, fun loving, and creative group of folks. Can I somehow work for The Land of Nod? DREAM JOB friends! Everything about this company fits so well with my taste and aspirations. I’m just putting that out there.

The brand new store is amazing! I wish I could have brought one of everything home with me. I know, from personal experience, that their products are absolutely adorable and of great quality, because I used a lot of Nod touches in my girl’s shared bedroom. But, it was so much fun to touch and see everything up close and personal. Yes, I do love flipping through the pages of their catalogue and their online store is fabulous. But, being able walk through rooms of their totally stylish, yet quirky and eclectic products is the BEST!

Every surface had been thoughtfully arranged and styled. The Land of Nod does such a great job of pairing vintage finds with modern and practical pieces.

Oh my, the OCD in me was so pleased with this wall of rainbow storage. Can you image your child’s room organized with some of these fabulous bins and baskets? My clean freak heart be still.

My little nerdy son would totally dig this robot bedding. I am highly tempted to order theses fabulous gears sheets pictured here.

And who doesn’t need a set of mini suitcases for storing all of life’s little treasures?

They do have amazing furniture pieces, but really any space can be totally spiced up with just a few tiny details. Details like this triangle garland and these hot air balloons give a room a playful and fun vibe.

And my favorite furniture piece of the evening, this fabulous retro style rocker. Oh my, when can I own you my precious. I’ll rock you and love you, well you’ll rock me, but either way, it will be divine.

I did buy a couple really fun items. I brought home the little squirrel nightlight, it’s going to find it’s home in Riley, my vintage trailer. And I also bought this gorgeous gold lamp, it’s coming in a couple weeks. And when it arrives, I will share a whole post about how much a love this lamp, just you wait and see. It’s going to be a part of my new living room, I’m going to be using Nod pieces in a grown up space.

So, all my SoCal friends the store is now open at the South Coast Plaza (3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, CA 92626). And if you can’t make it to the store, be sure to check out their online store or if you just need a good dose of inspiration, I love following Nod on pinterest.

etc. / Travel

New York City – here we come!

June 3, 2013

You guys, I don’t even know what to do with myself, I’m just sooooo excited. This Friday, Lon and I are headed to New York City for FIVE days, by ourselves! This summer is our 15th anniversary, and we’re celebrating with this trip.

We’ve been planning out what we’d like to do, see and eat while we are there. To be honest, I may be most excited about the food. After years of faithfully watching Martha Stewart and the food network, now I can visit all those amazing places that they talked about. We plan to walk a tone, so I figure I can eat anything.

But, we would love some suggestions of what is a must-see, must -do, or must-eat while in NYC. I’d love to know where your favorite shops are or your favorite hole-in-the-wall pizza or coffee spot. Help me out! We want to pack it in and see as much of the city as possible. Please leave a comment with your favorite suggestions.

Food & Drink

Stuffed Turkish Apricots

May 31, 2013

Earlier this week I shared pictures from the Modern Orange and Grey Baby Shower I threw. I promised to share a few of the treat recipes with you. So, here’s the Stuffed Turkish Apricots.

This is my version of a yummy dessert I ate at a fantastic Turkish restaurant in London about 9 years ago. Then when I went back to London about 5 years ago I had to eat them again. It was such a simple and dare I say healthy dessert. It’s the perfect combination of sweet, salty and creamy. I believe the original ones were stuffed with clotted cream, but that’s a little hard to come by here in the states. I think cream cheese is a good substitute.

Stuffed Turkish Apricots
2 dozen good quality Turkish Apricots
2 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
1 tsp. honey
1/4 cup chopped pistachios

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and honey until it is a smooth consistency. Find the hole in the apricots, where the pit has been removed, and insert your thumb to open up the apricot. Then using knife fill each apricot with about 1/2 – 1 tsp. of the cream cheese mixture. Then roll the top of the apricot, where the cream cheese is, in the chopped pistachios. And ta-da, you’re done! Store these in the refrigerator.

Design / Find

House Plants

May 29, 2013

Well, I have to admit, I’m not the best with house plants. Truthfully, I haven’t invested in any that are very big, because I’m afraid they just won’t last. But, I really like plants and would love to have some in our living room or dining room. I’ve been doing a little research and I’ve found a few that I really like in the homes of some of my favorite bloggers and designers.

photo source: Making it Lovely

This first one is a Bird’s Nest Fern in Nichole’s (of Making it Lovely) living room. It’s a nice size and I like that it’s not terribly tall. It could be nice on a table or bench against a wall.

photo source: Making it Lovely

This tall, handsome plant is a Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree also in Nicole’s home. I’d love one of these beside the windows in my dining room.

photo source: Emily Henderson

And this last group of well styled plants is in the home of Bri Emery (of Design Love Fest). Emily Henderson recently teamed up with Bri to makeover her living room. It is a fabulous space with beautiful splashes of color. But, I think it’s the plants that brought the room to life.

Are you a house plant kind of person? Can you recommend any plants that are easy to care for and look beautiful all year long?

I’ll be going to my favorite local nursery this afternoon, and I better be on the look out for some stylish pots as well.

etc. / Food & Drink / Style

Modern Grey and Orange Baby Shower

May 28, 2013

I had the pleasure of throwing my sweet friend a baby shower recently (you may have seen bit and pieces of it on instagram). I was a really fun party to put together, and the whole day turned out to be really lovely. It was one of those very relaxed, easy going parties, where everyone seemed comfortable.

Before Baby Reuben arrives we needed to have a little celebration for his Mama. I took the color inspiration from the nursery colors. I sent out Minted‘s Urban Baby Invitations , nothing sets the mood for a party like a beautiful invite. These invites a clean, crisp and elegantly modern. Decorating for this party was a piece of cake, I simply used Minted’s Urban Baby Party Decor as well. With the customizable buntings, I was able to make one to welcome Baby Reuben (and how much fun will this be in his nursery later?).

You’ve probably heard me say it before, but I really believe great parties are all in the details. And these party decorations have the perfect details. I not only used the straws and flags for the drinks, but I also cut them in half and used with as cupcake toppers and I also used them in my party favors (which I will share soon).

Minted also sells beautiful party serving pieces. I use my large and small modern white cake plates from there all the time. Varying heights of treats on a party table adds interest and movement.

I was really smart with this party and when friends offered to help, I gladly delegated. I love the decorating and treat making part of parties, so I gratefully gave over the task of organizing games to a friend. She did a great job, and it was one big weight off my shoulders. And I also gave another fantastic friend the job of making the savory treats (the REAL food). She is a fabulous cook, so I could trust that she would make something yummy and elegant. That left me with the fun stuff. I kept my treats in the orange and grey color scheme. Here’s what I served:

The Menu
Iced Coffee
Cucumber Orange Water
Blood Orange Sodas

Veggies and Hummus
Curried Chicken and Egg Salad Sandwiches

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
Honied Apricot Marshmallows
Turkish Apricots
London Fog Shortbread Cookies

And a mini treat bar with Cutie Oranges, Hershey Kisses and Junior mints.

The Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes were a Vanilla Bean Cupcake, filled with Orange Curd and then topped with Orange Butter Cream Frosting (I’ll share the recipe soon). I love serving unique homemade marshmallows at parties, I got the Honeyed Apricot recipe from this cook book. And the Turkish Apricots are a copy cat of a dessert I had in London at a Turkish restaurant years ago (I’ll share that recipe soon as well).

Design

Opposites Attract – His and Hers Nightstands

May 24, 2013

Yesterday I shared my thrifted dresser makeover. Today I’m sharing how the finished piece looks in our bedroom (I need to update the home tour pictures now). I ended up painting the new nightstand the opposite of the other one in our room.

The truth is Lonnie and I are really opposites. If you know us in real life, you would agree. I am a total extrovert and Lon is an introvert. I am the emotional roller coster and he is the straight, steady and stable rock I need. He truly is a person who is intrinsically motivated, I really don’t know anyone else like him. But, we do have a lot in common and have very similar interests. We are both adventurous and like to take risks and we have similar senses of humor, but our personalities couldn’t be more different. And yes, I do most of the talking, but Lon wouldn’t be a good listener if he didn’t have anyone to listen to. So, these nightstand are really symbolic pieces of furniture. They have things in common and are really quite similar when you break down the parts, but they also stand alone as unique pieces with their own personalities. Ha, that was fun (and kind of corny).

I didn’t need to shop for any new accessories for styling the top of his nightstand, we have plenty of those from our world adventures. I bought these antique spice jars in Yemen, when we lived there. They probably originally came from India, but through trading, have ended up in the Middle East. The framed insect is from Papua New Guinea (where I grew up and we lived when we were first married) and the little elephant is from Sri Lanka (where my parents lived and we visited).

When I got new bedding (from West Elm, no longer available), some of my living room pillows made their way to my bedroom. I made the Deer Pillow and the one with the quote, and the graphic one was a Target clearance purchase.

So, there it is, two thrifted nightstands, now with their own personalities.

DIY / Find

Thrifting Thursday – a nightstand in need of a makeover

May 23, 2013

Well, I finally found a little dresser to use as a nightstand for the hubbies side of the bed. Ever since I found and fixed up the one on my side of the bed, I’ve been on the hunt for another piece. I kind of thought I wanted something round or a different shape, but when I came upon this piece, the storage element won me over. That’s the adventure of Thrifting, you never know what you’ll find and you have to be ready to change your plan when something great is spotted.

This was definitely a little spendy for me, I paid almost $50 for this little dresser. But, it is solid oak and really a new piece of wood furniture is going to cost me at least $200. And after I gave it a makeover, I have no regrets at all. I think it looks more like a $300 piece of furniture now, and it’s one-of-a-kind. No one else owns this piece of furniture!

I used my How to Paint Laminate Furniture method, even though this piece was wood, and it worked really well. From start to finish, I had this piece sanded, painted and moved into the room in 24 hours.

I debated on what to do to the piece, what color to paint it or stain it. It wasn’t going to stay that yucky oaky color, that was for sure. I didn’t want to paint it the same as the other dresser, trying to make them look like a set, when they weren’t. Plus, I think that’s just too matchy matchy for me. So, I turned to my Instagram friends for help and advice. They had some great ideas and I actually ended up going with my stylish friend Julia’s idea and did the opposite paint job of my bedside table. I also gave the old hardware a good sanding and then sprayed them with a metallic gold spray paint. This grey, white and gold combo is really quite sophisticated.

Come back tomorrow and I’ll share pictures of it in our bedroom. Are you working on any furniture projects? Do you own some pieces that could use a makeover? I’d love to hear what you have in the works.

DIY / Style

Geometric Heart Tote Bag

May 22, 2013

I can’t stop! Maybe I have a problem, but I just keep coming up with ways to use my geometric heart pattern over and over. This little tote bag took no time at all to paint.

I used my Cricut to cut a freezer paper stencil out. To start, I worked in Cricut Craftroom to create the stencil. I simply used a right angle triangle image repeatedly to make my heart. Then I cut it out on a 12’x12′ square of freezer paper. I ironed on my stencil onto a pre-made bag I purchases at Joannes and painted white and metallic gold randomly in the triangles. Then I let it dry completely and set the paint with a hot iron.

This is going to be my go to bag this summer. It’s a great size for Olivia’s stuff, like a diaper, wipes and a sippy cup, or I can just stylishly bag my groceries.

Do you find yourself drawn to the same colors, pattern or shapes? What’s designs are on your favorite list currently?

DIY / etc.

Science Themed Party in the Making

View the whole party here.

This weekend we are celebrating my baby boy turning 10 with a Science Themed Party. Each day this week I’ve given myself of list of things I need to complete so that I can be ready for the party. This theme seemed like a natural choice for my mini nerd (I’m married to a real life Science geek). My inspiration for the colors and decorations came from Minted. I used Minted’s fantastic invitations and also their Blackboard bunting.

I ordered some beakers and flasks from amazon to display candy in. I’ve also found some great nerdy Science fabric that I’m sewing into goody bags (it’s kind of a tradition for my kiddo’s parties). And to fill the bags I have some fun treats like candy and slime in test tubes, nerdy glasses, and magnifying glasses.

I think it’s going to be a fun party with lots of yummy treats and Science Experiments galore. My Biology teacher hubby is bringing his classroom to our backyard.

etc.

The Land of Nod is coming to SoCal

May 20, 2013

I am beyond excited friends. Yes, I do love a good online window shopping session, but real life window shopping is soooo much better. And now if you are living in Southern Cali, you get shop at a REAL LIFE Land of Nod shop. Eeeeek, I can’t wait to see everything up close and in person. The Land of Nod is opening a brick and mortar shop at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA on May 31th. If you live near by, you are going to want to be there for the Grand Opening, there will be lots of free goodies for everyone who arrives early to shop.

You probably know that I am a HUGE Nod fan. I share their products here often and when I gave my daughter’s shared bedroom a makeover, I turned to The Land of Nod for the fun, funky, and fresh look I was looking for. I’m still so jealous of Denali’s new gold dot sheets, Nod bedding is amazing.

Deer // Lamp // Metal Letter

Walnut Dresser // Pillow

Feather Print // Gold Dot Wall Decal // Rocking Chair

I’m heading to the new SoCal Land of Nod shop at the end of the month. I’ve got my eye on some great “grown-up” pieces. Although The Land of Nod is really a shop for children’s furniture and accessories, I’ve found some great pieces that would be fantastic in any space or room in my home. But specifically, I would love to have these pieces for my living room. I’m working on trying to make the space a little more modern and although it’s technically a grown-up space, I really want to keep it playful and family friendly. I can’t wait to share with you what I come home with.

You may want to follow The Land of Nod on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram to find out what’s new or what creative adventures they are on. I love following their Instagram, it’s great place for inspiration.

You might also want to enter The Land of Nod Win A Room Sweepstakes. The Grand prize is a room designed by The Land of Nod (a $4000 value). The winner with receive a design consultation with a the Nod design team, a room makeover with selected products from The Land of Nod, and then be featured in the The Land of Nod Real Families section of an upcoming catalog. The sweepstakes runs till June 17th.

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Land of Nod, but all my opinions are my own. #PMedia #NODinCA http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.”