swap meet sundays

(Rows and rows of fur jackets)

No, I’m not talking about Disneyland. I’m talking about the happiest place on earth for decorators: the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena. It is an understatement when people tell you this place is huge. It is gi-normous. I arrived at 7am to the Rose Bowl Stadium, and it was pretty quiet. I got one of the first parking spots and walked straight in to the flea market with no lines (but I had to pay double the regular admission since the gates technically open at 9am). Remember that feeling you use to get when you lost your mom in a crowded mall and had no idea which way to go or look? That’s how I felt at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. But 100 times more lost. There is so much stuff. Everywhere. I had no idea where to start, so I asked a lady (who looked like she knew what she was doing) what she recommended. Her response was that I probably wouldn’t get through it all in one day and to just zigzag through all of the vendors. And so I was off! I was able to get a good look at the vendors and their offerings early on, but once the clock hit 9, there were so many people (over 20,000 people to be exact) that it was hard to see. Here are a few things I saw at this marvelous flea market. Pictures of my treasures (and the funny stories that go along with them) will come soon :)      

(A pink velvet bench. She wanted $395. I told myself I could replicate something similar  for under $50...just wait and see!) 

(No idea what this is. Maybe a coffee table? But it's badass.)

(I was obsessed with this settee. The vendor wanted $160. If I had a truck and a bigger house, this would have been mine.)

(I love the way these different replicas of the Virgin Mary look together.)

(My much-sought-after elephant table. Too bad the man wanted $65 and wouldn't budge. I told myself there will be more elephant tables to come!)

(I love this. Just love.)

 (A sneak peak at one of my goodies. You won't recognize it after I'm done working some magic!)

obsessed with pink

(The pink chair that I want and need - via House Beautiful)

Ever since the last issue of House Beautiful hit newsstands I have been obsessed with finding a pink chair. The cover of the March issue features a beautiful, plush, pink velvet chair. Not only do I want the chair, I think I need the chair. I feel like adding the color pink to my living room would totally transform it.  So I am now searching for the perfect pink chair everywhere I go. I am having high hopes of finding one at the Rose Bowl Flea Market this Sunday. I am so eager to go! I feel like a little kid anxiously waiting for Christmas morning. The Rose Bowl Flea Market is held every second Sunday of the month and has over 900 vendors. 900 vendors? Shut the front door!! One of those vendors is bound to have a pink chair for sale.  Some may think the color pink is only for a little girl’s room. But as the cover of House Beautiful puts it, “The power of pink! It’s warm, flattering, sexy (and men love it!)”. Amen.   

(Perhaps I'll find a pink-patterned chair - via House Beautiful)

(Sex and The City author Candice Bushnell's pink chaise lounge - via Elle Decor)

white elephant sale

(Bear claw and ham&cheese croissants from La Coppa)

After finding out the Alameda Antique Faire was cancelled because of rain (and it was a drizzle by the way, totally tolerable!) we wanted to find something else to do on Sunday. After some googling, Shawn found the White Elephant Sale, a rummage sale benefiting the Oakland Museum of Art.  It is held once a year in a 96,000 square foot warehouse. We were down! So the next morning we jumped into our friend Megan’s SUV (just in case we needed to haul some furniture, which we did!), stopped for a quick bite at La Coppa bakery, and headed to Oakland. This place was insane! There were thousands of people inside. We instantly headed straight towards the furniture section where I found a great side table for my bedroom (pictures to come soon). While I was paying for my table, Shawn and Megan snagged some of the coolest chairs I have ever seen. A pair of vintage, orange velvet chairs! They decided to split the cost of the chairs and use them to decorate their soon-to-be apartment in San Francisco. After we packed up our purchases we headed to Sol Food restaurant in San Rafael. I had the best sandwich with flank steak, grilled onions, avocado and cheese. And the cool, Puerto Rican vibe of the restaurant made it that much better.

(Shawn and me looking fresh at 8am on Sunday morning)

(The prized vintage, orange velvet chairs)

( An elephant I was tempted to buy, even though I have no where to put it in my tiny apartment) 

(Thousands of people searching for that one have-to-have-it find)

(Packing up our treasures)

( Sol Food in San Rafael)

 (Deliciousness)

(A beautiful, mother-of-pearl inlay table at a home store in Mill Valley. Cost = $1200. I'm determined to find a look-a-like at the swap meet!)

mill valley

This past weekend I traveled to the small town of Mill Valley in Marin County, fifteen minutes outside of San Francisco. I went to visit my friend Shawn from college, and to go to the famous Alameda Antique Faire (one of the largest flea markets in California). Half way through my four-hour drive to the city I received an email that the flea market had been cancelled because of rain. Bummer! We decided to make the best out of the weekend and made plans to have dinner at D’ Angelos and drinks at Beerworks. I can’t wait to make another trip to Mill Valley. I loved everything about the town—from it’s chic nail salon to the streets of picture perfect houses straight from the pages of Pottery Barn (literally, one of the homes in Mill Valley hosts PB photo shoots).    

(The chic-est little nail salon where you can get Chanel polish at no extra cost)

(Two of my favorite houses)

(Gold-rimmed glasses from Beerworks)

obsessed

I received the new issue of J.crew the other day and almost had a heart attack when I came to page 9. Navy blue, sequin shorts. My heart literally skipped a beat. I started dreaming about all of the outfits I could put together with these amazing shorts—how fabulous would they be with my cropped Van Halen shirt and boyfriend blazer?! I then started thinking off all the different places and events I could wear them to—my upcoming Vegas trip, work, wine night at Novo; the possibilities are endless. I cannot wait for them to be hanging in my closet.

curtain call

 Idon't have a lot of patience. Period. Ever since I was little my mother would always tell me “patience is virtue”. Yeah yeah yeah. So when I decided to make curtains for my apartment my mom kind of laughed at me.  I thought sewing would be easy and fast.  I had last Friday off and it was raining. It was the perfect time to sew curtains! Little did I know that it would take me all day, plus another day to finish them. But I am in LOVE with the end result. 

So on my Friday off I drove to this amazing fabric store, The Cotton Ball, in Morro Bay. The owner is one of the coolest, craftiest men I have ever met. Yes, a man named Rob owns the fabric store. He is obviously a BAMF. I made my way through the hundreds of bolts of fabrics until I found the most beautiful print that matched my living room PERFECTLY. It was like the fabric-gods knew how I was decorating my apartment and made a fabric just for me. Problem was there was only 2 yards left on the bolt. But of course Rob (being the amazing fabric store owner he is) told me that he had another roll of the fabric in his warehouse and left that moment to get it for me. I seriously cannot get over the customer experience I had in this store. He returned a short while later with the desired fabric, along with other fabrics he thought I would like. Of course I loved them. They coordinated perfectly with the other fabric. So I got some to make pillows for my couch. 

I finished two of the three panels on that Friday. I completed the third panel and hung them all up this past Tuesday. The sewing wasn’t that bad, even though my patience was tested. Yes, it might have been faster and easier to order curtain panels off of anthrolpogie.com. But it is so much cooler to say that I made them :)   

(Before)

(Before)

(The other fabric for my pillows)

(Kalsee's sewing machine that she graciously let me borrow)

(Thank goodness there were instructions on how to thread this thing)

(The finished results) 

on the hunt

Ever since I started going to the swap meet, I have been obsessed with finding vintage, gold mirrors. We have a giant wall of mirrors at work, and I have wanted to replicate something similar for a long time. So after much hunting for unique, different shaped, gold mirrors, I finally have enough to make a mural on my living room wall. I love the way the mirrors make my tiny 11’x11’ living room look bigger than it really is. I wish I had room for more!

To start I bought butcher paper at my local craft store and traced each mirror, making a template. After, I cut out each template and taped them onto my living room wall, moving them around until I found the perfect arrangement. (Before, with my templates).

I love the finished result. I also love that no one else will have these mirrors in their living room. Each is a one-of-a-kind, swap meet find. 

(Before, with my templates).

(After)