Pike Place Market

My sister flew to Seattle to meet up with Mom and I for a 4 day girl getaway and of course Pike Place Market is on the must do list.  We all have our rituals and this is one of ours.  It’s the hustle bustle of it all, the charming vendors that lure you in with their perfectly arranged produce. There is a photo op in every direction so I easily took over a hundred so these are just a chosen few.  Did you spot the two models I hired in the third row of pictures?  Lucky for me they work for food!  Café Champagne anyone? Let’s do it again soon girls.

Alpaca Farm

 

While we were driving around this week I noticed many Alpaca farms have popped up in the area. Alpacas are known for their highly prized fleece and their touted to be a good livestock investment.  They’re really cute when their fleece is thick but look like a version of E.T. when they’re shaved especially from a distance.  But just look at that cute face!

 

The Garden of Eatin’

During my visit to Idaho we enjoyed the last of mom’s bountiful harvest from summer. So one evening while she was preparing chicken chili and cornbread for dinner (yum!), I decided to capture the beautiful fruit and veggies that were on her counter.  The wood and ceramic bowls are some of our “finds”, the burlap too.

Our dear family friends, Kathy and John who live just down the road from mom, are retired horticulturalists from New Jersey and have a serious garden. I wish we had time to go visit and take some photos of their garden to share with you…but maybe next year. Their squash is featured above. Thanks Kathy and John for always sharing!

Treasure hunting in Idaho

 

Mom and I wasted no time and set out early one morning for a day of treasure hunting. There is nothing we love more than scouring the local haunts for the perfect photography prop or antique piece for our homes or one of my clients. We started off by hitting a few thrift stores on our way into town and lucked up on a couple of kitchenware pieces.  By then it was approaching noon and when I’m visiting…it’s a given…lunch at Spud’s. A great local grill that serves up “THE” best sandwiches and homemade soups. Six to eight soups made from scratch are offered everyday and believe me…they don’t disappoint. In summer the outside deck overlooking the marina is lovely but it was chilly so we ate inside in the sailing inspired interior.

 

 

Fueled and ready to go…we headed to Marketplace Antiques. It’s a 4,000 square foot space with about 17 dealers. We found some great loot! We were very careful in deciding what to take home and some items were a bit pricy otherwise the Jeep would have been full. We must have spent two hours roaming up and down the artfully styled stalls. I just needed more money or more clients…maybe both!

 

 

Our next stop…Foster Crossing & Café. The building itself is a local landmark. Built in the 1930's, the massive three-story building began its life as a railroad freight house. Later, it became the Kist Root Beer Bottling plant. Now it’s chock full of antiques & salvaged pieces…truly something for everyone. They usually have larger pieces of furniture and big, old wooded doors too (Like the one you see in the picture above). Thanks to all the wonderful folks we met and worked with. We can’t wait to do it again.  Don’t worry…I will take photos of our fabulous finds so you can share in our treasures too!

 

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Road Trip to Idaho

I’m off to Idaho to visit my mother this week.  My parents retired in Northern Idaho near Sandpoint after spending years in Southern California.  Sandpoint is situated on Lake Pend Oreille, a huge lake.  In fact, it’s the second largest lake West of the Mississippi. (a bit of trivia for you) My visit is way over due but what a perfect week for a road trip.  The weather chilly and the leaves are turning.  The landscape is an artist canvas of yellow and orange.  Low clouds cling to the mountain sides like spider webs as I make my way along the winding roads.  So lovely!

We relish our girl time together.  Cooking in the kitchen with music playing, planning & plotting future adventures, rearranging furniture (we are always perfecting our spaces) and really just enjoying one another’s company.  This week we will be visiting a few dear friends along the way.  I’ve recruited momma to help me find some new styling props so we’ll be hitting some favorite haunts for vintage finds.  I will keep you posted of our adventures.  But what I look forward to the most…our morning coffee talks.

images: road trip, bridge, golf course, Idaho poster, home sweet home, coffee mug

An American in Paris

Ralph Lauren is a fashion and lifestyle icon but also a true American love story. One would think that Lauren attended fashion design school, but he actually studied business at City College in Manhattan and dropped out short of receiving his business degree. While working at a tie company, A. Rivetz & Co., Lauren began designing his own wide ties, which spawned his first entrepreneurial career. With his tie designs and a $50,000 loan, Lauren founded the company Polo in 1967.

In, 2010, Ralph Lauren opened his largest flagship store on the famed shopping district Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris. Housed in an historic limestone town home dating back to the 17th century, the 23,000-square-foot flagship took two years to complete. To ensure that every detail of the restoration was comme il faut, Lauren relied on local artisans to relay the Versailles-style parquet and restore the plaster moldings, oak paneling, and sweeping limestone staircase. While digging the restaurant's basement kitchen, workers discovered a Roman well. It would have been so interesting to document every step of the renovation.

When Lauren walked in through the carriage entrance and saw the cobblestone courtyard with the old stables behind, he says, "the first thing I thought was: a restaurant." The restaurant is classic RL club chic, with tables in the stables and in the warmer months there’s dining in the courtyard.  A cozy bar in the old tack room and loads of leather chairs, polished wood, and equestrian art. The menu features American classics such as Maine lobster, Maryland crab cakes, Southern fried chicken, and steaks from Lauren's ranch in Colorado ~ just the sort of cuisine you can't find in Paris.

Ralph Lauren give us a personal tour through his grand flagship store in Paris

It is Lauren's innovativeness, among many other traits of the model businessman, that has made him the founder, designer and chairman of a $5 billion dollar empire. Not only was he the first fashion designer to have his own store, but he was the first to sell the whole lifestyle image that consumers flock to worldwide. Lauren sells much more than clothes and home furnishings; he sells a lifestyle image of sophistication, class and taste. A world we’d love to live in.

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Coffee

I love coffee.  I love the aroma, the taste, the methodical and artistic process it takes to get our beloved bean from farm to table but most of all I love the morning ritual.  It puts a smile on my face and spring in my step. Some people are morning people but I am not and this morning brew eases me into my busy day. Coffee is seriously one of mans best inventions!

images: cup of coffee, café girl, morning has broken, beans

If the Stars were mine

      
In creating this blog I thought it would be fun to feature “A few of my favorite things” on the About Me page.  The Pandora radio station I’m currently listening to is Melody Gardot.  I switch up what I listen to quite often but the reason I chose to feature Melody has everything to do with her song “If the Stars were mine”.  It’s a sweet, melodic tune with lyrics so delightful you can’t help but hum along or recite the words to a loved one.  I recently sent this to my mother & sister as a gift via iTunes so every time they listen to it they are reminded how much they’re loved. I hope it brings you the same joy.

If the stars were mine
I'd give them all to you
I'd pluck them down right from the sky
and leave it only blue
I would never let the sun forget to shine upon your face
so when others would have rain clouds you'd have only sunny days
If the stars were mine
I'd tell you what I'd do
I'd put the stars right in a jar and give 'em all to you

If the birds were mine
I'd tell them when to sing
I'd make them sing a sonnet when your telephone would ring
I would put them there inside the square, whenever you went out
so there'd always be sweet music whenever you would walk about
If the birds were mine
I'd tell you what I'd do
I'd teach the birds such lovely words and make 'em sing for you
I'd teach the birds such lovely words and make 'em sing for you

If the world was mine
I'd paint it gold and green
I'd make the oceans orange for a brilliant color scheme
I would color all the mountains, make the sky forever blue
So the world would be a painting and I'd live inside with you
If the world was mine
I'd tell you what I'd do
I'd wrap the world in ribbons and then give it all to you
I'd teach the birds such lovely words and make 'em sing for you
I'd put those stars right in a jar...and..........
give them all...to you.......

 

image credits: star lights, illustration