Lately

Lately I have felt a like this image. Like a black cloud is following me and C around. Sometimes I just look up in the air and think, seriously!?! Will anything ever just work out for us without a hitch?
On a good note, I am starting to feel like I am on the upswing after the craziness of the past two months (C's accident and surgery). Hopefully my instincts are right.
*Photo via here.

Store :: Black & Spiro

If you've never visited the blog Absolutely Beautiful Things, you are missing out. Adorable interior designer and Black & Spiro shop owner, Anna, has a colorful yet edited sense of style. Her shop in Brisbane, Australia, just opened a new store, and absolutely beautiful it is. I mean, a black tutu desk ... BRILLIANT! See more photos on her blog.
*Photos via Absolutely Beautiful Things

Travel :: The Coolest Caravan

This caravan is the definition of innovative. Design your very own, unique Mehrzeller. 

Beauty :: Jennifer Aniston Fragrance

As a former fragrance buyer, I am always interested when an actress who has never had a fragrance comes out with one. It's such a personal thing to design a fragrance and name it after yourself! Aniston's fragrance was potentially going to be named Lolavie, but was changed to simply Jennifer Aniston. It debuted at Harrod's on July 21. I am a little sad it didn't debut in the U.S. first, but I'm still very interested to smell it. I love perfume and wear it everyday!

Interiors :: Ikat Rug

This is probably one of the most gorgeous rugs I have ever seen.
*ABC Carpet

Interiors :: White + Pops of Color

*Livingetc.

Artist :: Joshua Petker

Contentment Smoking

Two Women Passing in Blue

Up in the Clouds

Early Works, Untitled

*Joshua Petker's website

Summertime & The Livin's Easy

Well, not exactly easy for me this summer, but I think I've got a girl's beach trip in the works and potentially might be gracing Cabo with my presence (which is making me really excited!), so naturally I'm swimsuit shopping. I am drawn to this chic yet simple Vix bikini. I'm loving the black & off white stripes with tan leather detail.

Interiors :: Midcentury Studio City Home

Home of Lynn Harris, executive VP of production at Warner Bros., and her husband, founder and CEO of branding company Protagonist, Matti Leshem. Their friend and L.A.-based designer, Sarah Walker, helped them with the design.
*Elle Decor, photographer Simon Upton

West Elm's Face Lift

Head over to West Elm and check out their redesigned site. You can peak behind-the-scenes on photo shoots and even peruse their city guides for Philadelphia, Chicago, and Portland.
*dog dessert plates

Blog I'm Loving :: The Jewels of New York

Okay, so it's more of a website but the "Recipes" portion is kinda like a blog. How gorgeous is this food photograpy!?! Diana and Lisel are the ladies behind The Jewels of New York. With their love of food and lifestyle design, they decided to open a catering service, out of Brooklyn, that specializes in custom menus. Um, YUM! 

*Photos via The Jewels of New York

Artist :: Barbara Bernrieder

German artist, Barbara Bernrieder's website.

Gorgeous Glass

Elizabeth Lyons hand blown glass.

Weekend Treats

While C is in town for a month after his surgery, we are catching up with friends and family, and it usually involves a meal. Here's a few places we went to this weekend:

(Left image) Dinner at Julian. I rarely eat meat, but I was scoping out the other tables and saw a woman with the roasted ribeye, and I was sold. It was fantastic.

Breakfast at Eggtc. My go-to: French Toast.

(Middle image) Afternoon pizza at Spin! I always get the Pizza Mia!

(Right image) Celebrated National Ice Cream day at Glacé. It was my first time there and I wanted to try EVERY FLAVOR! I had half mango-passion fruit, half strawberry-pomegranate sorbet. Perfect for a hot & steamy afternoon. Can't wait to try the rest of the flavors!

Color Around the World

These photos are amazing! I love this public color movement! The Let's Colour Project and another project called Favela Painting. Favela is the Brazilian Portuguese word for slum. Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn are the artists behind the Favela Painting (the duo goes by Haas&Hahn). Above is the central square of a favela in the heart of Rio de Janeiro. The Let's Colour Project (so far) is in the following countries: Turkey, Brazil, France, India and the UK.

Even the drop sheets from the painting are gorgeous!

*Images: Let's Colour Project, Favela Painting; Flickr

Eco :: Reusable Fabric Sandwich Bags!

If you are having one of those, "Damn, I should have thought of that" moments, I feel ya. These lunchskins are such a great idea. Every time I use a sandwich bag (which isn't often) I feel a tinge of guilt toward Mother Earth. For mom's who use new bags everyday for their children's lunch, this is a great way to Recycle, Reduce & Reuse, as your children have probably learned, not to mention the adorable patterns!

Artist :: Arturo Rodriguez Torija

Vórtice

Chispas Doradas

*Arturo Rodriguez Torija on UGallery

Fall Mountain Wedding

My adorable and inspiring friend Heidi on her wedding day. I unfortunately missed this gorgeous wedding in upstate New York because I was at another family wedding the same day. To get to the wedding you had to ride up a ski lift!
How awesome are her shoes!?!

*Check out Heidi's very funny blog: While My Husbnd Was Sleeping; photography by Wendy Mitchell

Interiors :: Burnham Design

I am IN LOVE with the patterns and colors going on here!

*Burnham Design; seen on Decor Demon

Home Sweet Home

We finally made it back home! C has 30 days at home to recover, then we'll go back down to San Antonio for follow-up appointments, etc. So weird that he hasn't been here since January. I had hoped that our house would have sold a lot faster, but now I'm glad it hasn't yet so we can spend this month in our home. I've never missed my shower, bed, DVR, my own kitchen & laundry room, and the peace and quiet of a home, as much as have the past month. I will never take it for granted again.

*Home Sweet Home print at JennSki Etsy shop

Dress Me :: Nurse Megan (+ Hubby Update)

Well I definitely haven't looked as stylish as these nurse models above over the past month at the hospital. I have pretty much worn the same thing everyday. Skinny jeans, flats, a V-neck tee, and a sweater. Similar to the two looks below. Hospitals are cold and uncomfortable. (Random: My eyelashes are loving me right now...I haven't worn mascara almost all month.)

*Images: Everyday: J Brand skinny-leg jeans & Marc (my it bag); Left Look: House of Harlow 1960 Horseshoe necklace; Burberry cardigan; J.Crew V-neck tee; Tassel T-strap flats; Right Look: Stella McCartney Chunky-knit cardigan; Marc by Marc Jacobs studs; J.Crew V-neck tee; Havaianas slim flip flops

Today my husband finally had surgery on his neck/spine/vertebrae (he was in a vehicle accident in June). The doctor was "pleased with the outcome." Meaning, nothing went wrong, etc. C is in pain and still in the hospital, but who wouldn't be after your neck was cut open, your throat and vocal cords shoved to the side, a disc removed, a replacement disc put in, and a plate and four screws put into two of the vertebrae in your neck? So he might set the metal detectors off at the airport once in a while, but in his words, "he'll have a cool scar."

My jaw hit the floor when I read this paragraph just a few days ago from a book that C & I picked up last week:

In my own experience, the period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life. If you go along in an easy way, with everything okay, you feel everything is just fine. Then one day when you encounter problems, you feel depressed and hopeless. Through a difficult period you can learn, you can develop inner strength, determination, and courage to face the problem. 

Kindness, Clarity, & Insight , The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

I must note that I never felt depressed in the past month. Sure, it hasn't been peaches, but I am a go-with-the-flow kind of person; adaptable or flexible as they like to say in corporateland. But after staying a month in this house (The Fisher House), for wounded soldiers and their families, which is basically in the parking lot of the hospital,  I have learned something that I always knew, but hadn't seen with my own eyes. Our freedom as United States citizens comes at a huge cost, (besides our tax money). Our freedom isn't free. The other soldiers staying in this house have severe burns, amputations, brain injuries...you name it. They are in the hospital for months and rehab for years. I know, some of you might be thinking, "They signed up for it!" Yes, they know in some jobs an injury or even death is a possibility, but no one signs up assuming they will get a leg blown up. They sign up to serve our country and protect our freedom. I didn't expect to come out of this month gaining something more than a deeper love and appreciation for my husband, but I did.

*Note to self: When searching for "nurse" photos, strange things come up on the Internet...
*Nurse image via weheartit