The Beast with Bangs

This is Solomon, my brother-in-law's Old E, hanging out in our backyard showing off his new haircut.  He was whipping his head around, but usually they fall forward so you can't even see his eyes.  He has one brown one and one white-ish blue one.  After this series of pictures he attacked me.  We call him the Solomonster because he gets a little wild.  I think it's the crazy blue eye.  He's a good dog though.

Office Space

I was kind of waiting until completion, to do a full reveal of my home office.  However with my current budget, progress has been at a standstill. :(  So without further ado, here it is in all it's unfinished glory:

To-do list includes:

1. flat screen tv adjacent to desk

2. twin black chandeliers above desk

3. get hubby's organ out and put in narrow console table below window

4. hang art on floor

5. paint touch ups (BTW I used a Martha Steward shade: Hummingbird)

Meow

I'm definitely a dog person, but this recent Target run might have me turning into a crazy cat lady: Hello Kitty duct tape and Kitty Kitty nail polish strips (Yes, I finally found them and bought all 3 in stock!)  Now, off to find things in need of duct tape...

Happy Spring!

It has been a long winter here in the usually warm and sunny Los Angeles (and a long time since I've posted-sorry!)  I am so glad spring is here and summer is on it's way.  I decorated for easter with my chocolate bunny terrariums before a trip to Portland, and returned two weeks later to find the scene of JFK's assassination, due to a poor location choice with too much sun exposure.  If I only had involved a few Peeps (pink for Jackie?) I could have submitted it to Peeps Show IV.  Honestly, I wasn't to happy with the grassy knoll... the green M&M's alluded me this year, so I went with easter grass, the traditional plastic-y kind from my childhood easter baskets.  It didn't pack down well and anchor the bunnies, and it just looked awful.  So when presented with the opportunity to give it a second shot, I tried something new.

In my office (above) I filled the bottoms of the jars with pastel easter M&M's, then layered on paper easter grass, and then the chocolate bunnies surrounded by Whoppers eggs, and some faux robin eggs from Pottery Barn.  Putting the M&M's on the bottom was a smart move on my part because it made it impossible to get to them without ruining the whole display.

In the living room I did jars on our coffee table sans M&M's but used some more cartoony characterized bunnies, which my husband described as "scary".  I added some Lindt chocolate carrots, and a 3rd jar of just the Whoppers for guests to eat, though someone has been sneaking carrots.

xoxo Lux

A Pink Pony

Watered Down Fashion

As a designer myself, I have found that the best ideas never make it onto the sales floor.  There are so many obstacles to overcome.  The stores buyers have a good amount of control of what makes it into the market, based on their choices from designs offered, as well as the fact that many buyers have custom requests, which are more than often repugnant.  The other complication being that the general public is, well... boring.  And perhaps cheap, safe, and uninspired.  Harsh?  Case point:

I was so excited for Christian Siriano's spring 2011 Payless line, after seeing a runway sneak peek on the fashion blogs.  Sky high architectural heeled platforms fit for a stroll on Mars had me salivating and checking the Payless site often for their debut.

Needless to say I was very disappointed when I logged onto the site today and saw this degraded offering of the original concepts.

I know that this is how a lot of fashion lovers feel about all affordable designer collaborations.  And while I'll argue that I have found many of the designer collabs to be covetable, the sentiment is more than understood.  If I'm craving couture I need to save my pennies, because the commonplace shopper just doesn't get it. 

xoxo Lux

Apparently I Missed the Memo

I'm dying to try the new Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips!  I came across a completely ransacked display in Target the other day, and have been popping in every drugstore within a fifty mile radius ever since, only to find the same.

  

The strips are embedded with real nail polish and are applied by peeling off the protective layer, then fitting and filing the nail.  Like stickers for your nails (application wise) but these are real polish and will last around ten days. 

The strips retail just under 10 dollars if you are lucky enough to find them (much cheaper than a professional minx process manicure, made popular by Lady Gaga), and are currently listed on ebay with an average inflated price of 19 dollars.

I did manage to find a few of the less desirable varieties, but I am holding out until I find the most coveted styles: cheetah print, fishnet, and lace.  Catch them if you can!