Sense of Relief

I have to say overall it was a pretty stressful day. We were first notified of the Tsunami warning at 3am this morning by my mother. After finding out that it could possibly be here at around 11:30am late morning I went back to sleep. We again awakened at 6:00am with the sirens going off and they continued to go off every hour thereafter.

We decided to plan out what we were going to do and so we started with our local grocery store which was fortunately the only one left open in our area. Usually the store is pretty empty around this hour but was packed with people purchasing water and supplies. We then started thinking about what we should stick in the car. Obviously the cat had to go with us and I decided to bring a few photo albums, my file folder box with important documents, and my laptop.

I think what was so stressful was the feeling of uncertainty. All the possible scenarios running through my mind and trying not to think about it too hard. We decided to stay in our home which is located on top of the hill but not as high as I would have liked. My mother who lives on the water was forced to evacuate. We basically had 20 minutes from the time we would hear that Hilo would get hit.

The time that Hilo was supposed to be hit you could see no change in the water. About 20-30 minutes later you could see the water receding and going back in at a rapid rate more like a river. We started to see images of what was happening in the Kahului harbor which is on Maui and the water receded so much that you could see the coral reef and fish getting stuck. But fortunately that was about it. In a way its anti-climatic because you are all so prepared for something bigger but mostly its a sense of relief.

(photos by me)

Chile may seem like a world away but the impact of the earthquake hit us in 12 hours. I am very grateful that we are all okay and I thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers as we all went through this today. I can only hope that Chile recovers soon and my thoughts are most definitely with them.

Friday Mood Board: Springtime Lovelies

I think if I lived in a place that got really cold in the wintertime I would want pretty floral wallpaper to remind me of spring like this image below.

Row 1: beebs, 73_flickr

Row 2: meganpark, the cherry blossom girl

I know many of my blogging buddies are going through some treacherous cold and snowy weather so this post is for all of you! May spring be just around the corner and I will try to send some sun your way. :) Have a wonderful weekend!

Etsy Banner Inspiration 4

Last night I decided to change up my Lovely Clusters banner. I got tired of it and wanted a new look I guess. The new banner above is the best I came up with. I am not sure if I like it and may be changing it again. Since I am in the banner designing mode I thought I would share a few of my favorites from other sellers who definitely nailed it.

From top to bottom 1: FreyaArt 2: littleaviary 3: birdsofafeather 4: cicadastudio 5: telephoneghost

Featuring: Leifsdottir

I have just received an email from Anthropologie that they have a sister brand called Leifsdottir! Here is a bit from their about page: "Leifsdottir is a young designer collection by Finland native Johanna Uurasjarvi. Meaning “daughter of Leif,” Leifsdottir illuminates the Scandinavian custom of inheriting your father’s name as your surname at birth. It is this sense of tradition and authenticity that is reflected in each and every Leifsdottir collection. In the words of Uurasjarvi, “No matter how modern our designs, they are always in some way a reflection of the past.”

These are images from their lookbook. So beautiful and dreamy!

Gigi Styled Interiors

My mom and I are making progress on her new retail space and we have decided to go with a burgundy flocked brocade wallpaper for below the chair rail and a nice honey beige color for the walls throughout. We purchased some beautiful sheer gold drapery for the place to create a bit of contrast against the new wall color. My mother's style is different than mine but working with her has been fun. She loves romantic, gypsy, glamour, traditional, ornate. (see more of her style HERE>>)Whereas I also love that look but I like to mix in a bit of modern and cleaner lines into the mix so we are working on finding a happy medium. :) So anywho we were talking on the phone last night about the changes and while we were chatting she is watching this old movie Gigi and tells me to turn on the Time Warner classic movie channel. So I do and she says that the interiors in the movie are very inspirational to her. If you have seen the movie you will know that the interiors are very elegant and ornate throughout with a lot of gold and traditional pieces of furniture. So for my mother I have gathered up some of my favorite french inspired glamour traditional interiors. Ooooooh lala!

Row 1: thephotographicdictionary, inspacelocations Row 2: jeffandrews-design, roche-bobois Row 3: simonwatson, locationworks Row 4: roche-bobois, via parisatelier Row 5:via decorology, Anson Smart via This is Glamorous

I think what makes these rooms so great are the architectural elements and of course the textiles, beautifully crafted furniture and the glittery chandeliers! Wouldn't you agree? If your curious on our design process here are some preliminary renderings I did for her to get an idea on how it all will look! So fun!

I had a dream......

I had a dream last night that I was part of a talk show like The View but it was all focused on the handmade community! We were sitting in a conference room discussing what would be on the show and I had all these great ideas like interviewing different artists and designers. Having a DIY part of the show where we would show the viewers how to make pretty things. There were others but you know how dreams are, its hard to remember everything. :) I woke up thinking that that would be really fun ! I dont watch much TV so maybe there is already a show like this but I think if there isnt its about time there should be! I remember saying something like if TV is going to keep up with the internet we need to bring what people like about the internet to the TV. LOL Here are some very dreamy photos to go along with this post. :)

Row 1: gabrielagattaneo via Here Comes the Sun, sobinique Row 2: via Trust Your Style, via fleuravenue

Had any cool dreams lately?

Pretty Prizes for The Lovelies!

I wanted to take some time today to introduce to you some very lovely sellers that are generously giving an item from their shop to the winners on The Lovelies! The Lovelies would not be possible without these contributors and I greatly appreciate all of their support! I highly recommend taking a peak into some or all of these shops. I know you will definitely not be disappointed. A lot of these shops are etsy sellers and if you need to add a few more hearts to your etsy faves I bet this list will help. :) Have fun browsing!

Click on image for sellers shop.

What would you choose if you won?