Striped Dining Room

In our tiny one bedroom apartment, the dining room gets a lot of use; it's part dining room, part office, and often an extension of the living room when we have people over for TV watching events like the super bowl or the oscars.

When we first moved in, a dining room table was one of the first things we bought.  Kyle's bachelor-pad style table that you can see in the "before"  was a. definitely not my style and b.  too small for our formal dining space.   Thankfully, we picked up a fun farm-house style table from cost plus (this one is similar)  and a variety of upholstered chairs from Sears (yes, so random-never thought I'd buy furniture from Sears).

Here is the before and after:

 

Balloons

Have you seen this real life attempt at lifting a house with balloons like the movie "Up"

I guess National Geographic did this for a new show called "How Hard Can It Be?" -- its cool to see that it's actually possible, but what made me happy is that they used a rainbow of balloons just like in the movie.

It's a reminder of how pretty a colorful bunch of balloons can be...

To dress up a house:

For a really festive party:

Or, just for an awesome picnic:

People were angry over a balloon stunt in San Francisco last week. Some game company let go thousands of red balloons to promote a video game.  While it probably wasn't the best stunt for the environment,  I saw it out my office window and it was beatiful!  I couldn't get a good picture from my office but here is what it looked like:

(Not my photos - click on photos for sources)

Update on Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 6:08PM by Meagan @ Style-Edition

Another awesome balloon photo via the Matchbook Magazine Tumblr

Stocking Up for Spring at H&M

H&M has so much constantly changing inventory that keeping up on on what they have to offer usually involves a  trip to the store.  When I go, sometimes I get lucky and there are fun, quality pieces, but other times I walk away with nothing (or a stack of cheap jewelry I probably didn't need.)

Its tough to know what will be in the stores because their online lookbooks are usually pretty sparse, only highlighting a few random pieces.  But, I've seen a couple of sneaks at their spring collection online and I've already built up a virtual list of the not so basic pieces that I want for spring 2011.

I'm sure I won't find them all when I get into the store but here is what I will be looking for:

On top of my list are these high waisted lace, scallop shorts. (Probably because they remind me of this Chloe pair from 09 which I was never able to find a good copy of)

I think they would look perfect with a simple striped t-shirt durring the day or with a breezy blouse and summer platforms for a night out.

A fun printed dress in one of my favoirte colors.  Assming the volume in this dress isn't quite that heavy in person I could see myself  getting a ton of wear out of it.  They only have a picture of the front but I would love it even more if it had a low open back.. we'll see...Finally- a lace dress that's not black or white!  I have picked out a bunch of dresses similar to this over the past year or two but they always seem to be in white. So, I end up stopping myself becausea white lace dress isn't the most practical thing in the world.  I think this green is much more wearable. Plus, it's lined (ie. no see-through problems) and, I love the little pockets!

These sandals have everything I want in my summer shoe: they're a bit 70's/retros, they have tons of height, and they're a casual color that will work with almost anything (including the dresses and shorts above)

This fun dress has the stripes that were all over the runways.  I think it would work great with a simple pair of flat sandals or even as a bathing suite cover-up.

Now I just have to figure out when I can get to the store and start spending...

Retro Floral Prints

Florals? For spring? Ground breaking. (So said Miranda Priestly, Devil Wears Prada)  Yeah, I know it's not ground breaking, but I am totally craving a vintage-y floral print skirt. But, I'm on top of it because it's not even spring yet, right?  How can you not love a colorful flowery print? I understand it's a total cliche, but I've seen a bunch of fun floral skirts out there and I think pairing them with a simple button down or striped t-shirt would look totally fresh.  And, what's doubly exciting, is that  I think one of these almost antique looking floral prints will look just as great at the office (especially the pencil shapes) as they will when I'm  headed out to brunch on the weekend.

1- J.Crew Watercolor floral pastiche pencil skirt - $110,

2- LOFT Antique Floral Skirt - $69.50

3- ModCloth Blooming on the Horizon Skirt - $29.99

4- Gap Floral Skirt - $49.50

5- Vero Moda Winter Floral Tulip Skirt - $53.79

6- Madewell Flea Market Floral Skirt - $98

7- Talbots Tuileries floral skirt - $99

Like I need more TV to watch.

Well, regardless of whether I watch too much TV, I'm excited to see Emily Henderson's new show tomorrow. In case you're not familiar with her,  Emily was the winner of the Design Star  show on HGTV last year. Emily was my favorite contestant on the show from the beginning--she won my heart with her adorable style and love for vintage pieces.   Eventually,  the judges agreed. And, winning the design star contest means Emily now has her own show!  It will be such a breath of fresh air to have a young, likeable star of a design show.   Secrets of a Stylist premiers tomorrow, and I can't wait to see it!

Check out these pictures from her portfolio to see how talented she is:

I love how she always manages to work in the perfect bit of royal blue!