Punahoa Penthouse

Last weeks trip to Maui was business with a side of pleasure. The pleasure for me being phase 1 of a remodel for our property there.

Love him!

The big project was in the bedroom closet but unfortunately it wasn't complete before we left the island.

The other work will take place over the course of the next year so I placated myself in the meantime with some surface upgrades.

Shoji doors original to the unit

New linens and lamps....

I love this collage wall. Do you recognize the print in the top right corner? We scanned and enlarged a fabric favorite.....

More photos here.

Flowers and Elephants

A pick me up for a long, gray, rainy day

Sifting through a stack of old magazine pages torn from their original issues I came across the above Scouting article from Domino. I must have fallen for the cute ceramic vintage Elephant planter and its no wonder because at some point between then and now I found it. And not one but two! They greet me like little soldiers when I come up my front steps.


Love.

My Valentine

2e made me the best valentines gift this year. From scratch!

I love how creative and thoughtful it is.

And he came bearing a sweet paper bouquet card in his trunk to boot... awe.

A Spirited Weekend: The Home Bar

When I was rearranging our furniture last week I switched out the bookcase that doubled as our bar for the long storage credenza. I wanted to move the bar out into the living area anyway so this just gave me a little push to find the right piece.


Space was a factor in me choosing this new metal dresser but its 30" width sealed the deal. The drawers house the majority of our bar accessories and the bottles of booze are on high shelves in the kitchen but a few special pieces were left out on display.

look reallll close, our very subtle monogrammed elephant napkins

a tiny blown glass nip perched in our captains mirror

My absolute favorite bar accessory is our silver Ralph Lauren wine cradle. A hostess gift from fellow wino's, The Wilsons. I can't find any info on this piece so I imagine it was discontinued but I treasure it.

This weekend I have put aside some time to let go of work and travel to see friends. A long overdue adventure....... Bottoms up!

Ringling Bro's Disgusting Behavior

This video makes me sick to my stomach and it will turn yours too. I am fascinated by the magic of a circus but after seeing this my heart is heavy. I beg you to share this is and of course not support these sick people.

Elie's

When I was just a new born peanut my {two year old} brother Ben realized quickly that things were not going to be the same around our house. He packed a bag and announced that he was "running away to Bensimable Animal Farms". Not having the authority to cross the street, they knew he wouldn't get far. The only thing that would have made it cuter is if this was the little suitcase under his arm. Bensons Animal Farm was a NH park that closed in the early 80's.

Africa by Andrew Offerman (thanks Bella).



An adorable desk accessory.

IT'S JUST THE SUN, LAMB, ANYONE CAN LAY IN IT

The following rants are from my new favorite way to waste an entire afternoon in bed, Fuck You Penguin. I'm sure I am the last person to know about this hysterical genius but in the off chance I am not, enjoy....

Bunny, what the hell do you think you are doing? Those people out there are just trying have a nice walk in the woods, and here you are waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on them and tear their insides out, hop by excruciating hop. STOP TRYING TO CAUSE A SPONTANEOUSLY CUTE INCIDENT. Did you think I wouldn't see you? Did you think you could just go around, hiding in the dark corners of the world, working to undermine everything that holds civilized society together? You disgust me, Bunny.

LESSON: Never walk through a garden or a jungle without being aware of the distinct possibility that there could be some ridiculously cute asshole bunny crouched in the shadows, ready to pounce and violate your sacred sense of decency.

What's that, Elephant? You have a large trunk? I had no idea, because it's not like you are putting it DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF MY FUCKING FACE. You know, I'm pretty tall, too. I can reach the top shelf in my kitchen. I also spray water out of my nose to bathe myself practically every day. So please, stop pretending that just because you can do math and recognize your buddies you should get a fucking Presidential Medal of Honor. Hey, there's Jim, with four other friends whom I recognize, which makes five people total. NOT THAT HARD ELEPHANT, STEP YOUR GAME UP.


This egotistical little jerk was basically like "Check me out, eh? EH?" and then when people didn't respond he was all "Okay, maybe you don't understand, I AM ONLY ONE AND A HALF INCHES TALL" and stood next to a fucking ruler to illustrate his point.

Well, first of all, Quail, I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO IS ALLOWED TO USE CAPS LOCK ON THIS BLOG. And second, just because you are an impossibly small version of a bird doesn't make it okay to show it off. I know you grow up to be a bit of a dandy, so you have to go for it while you still got it, but you are going full court press at the moment. I need you to slow down or face the consequences, you miniature bastard.

ha. hahaha. hahahahahaha. Leslie, thank you for making my Sunday with this.

Histoire de Babar

This childhood favorite, first published in 1931, is still at the top of my list. See a portfolio of charming illustrations, courtesy of the New Yorker, here.


New Yorkers can also visit the Morgan Library & Museum’s exhibition, "Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors." running through January 4th.

Hermes Stunner

Heather said this reminded her of me.

Which caused me to immediately click on the Hermes link and window shop. Within seconds I had set my gaze on this.

From the higher end china pattern we registered for. Hey, a girl can dream!

For jewelry on my dresser. Keys by the front door. Matches on a side table... aahhh. A sample from our current collection of ashtrays is worth taking a peak.





And I think that Hermes stunner would fit right in!

Its a jungle out there!

It is not every day you find a fleet of elephant topiaries on tour for a good cause. If you have the time pop into their site and check it out. A few more photos...

Pig Town Designs, Thanks for the heads up!

The fleet of 13 is so beautiful, it fills me with an unexplained happiness and it got me thinking; "could I be happier with one of these little guys in my very own backyard"?

Hmmm. The yard is heavy on my mind this week. We used to spend most of our summer evenings entertaining on our patio and days lounging in chairs on the lawn. When the time came to convert our downstairs warehouse into a second showroom the only realistic option was to put 2 (TWO!!) 20' shipping containers in our backyard. For approx 6 months that is where they both remained, eye sores but very useful eyesores.

Well, we're down to just one and as you can kind of see in the photo below, we hung a large circus banner on the side to disguise the beast. With work being busy and the wedding to plan I don't think either of us had the energy this past year to deal. Then came August. We haven't had one evening with friends on the patio (which is not visible in this shot) and the walls inside our place are getting closer and closer. This in conjunction with Gorgi accidentally getting locked inside for an over night which could have resulted in his sad fluffy death if not for me finding him in the nick of time was all the motivation we needed.


2E busted a move to empty it and on Friday life will resume to normal when it goes back from where it came! Hopefully this weekend we will be grilling and handstanding and backyarding (a sport in my inner circle) to our hearts content!!!! I will save the photos of the yard in its worst state for a Before and After in the near future but rest assured, elephant topiary or not, I will once again find happiness in our backyard.

Elephants

via Flickr

Maximus

This adorable African elephant was thoughtfully adopted for me as a wedding gift. The bigger gift here though is of knowledge because Maximus resides at a sanctuary in Arkansas along with other abandoned elephants in need. If someone can give me one other reason to go to Arkansas I will visit them in person but in the meantime this gift will be the one that keeps on giving. I look forward to sponsoring many elephants and learning more about this wonderful place and others like it!

My baby!