happy living Design

advent calendars

One of my strongest Christmas tradition memories from growing up are the years when my brother and I were young and we counted down the days until Christmas on the felt advent calendar that hung on the yellow door to our cellar.  I tried to get my mom to dig it out of storage to show you, but she can't find it.  Gotta get her organized!  Anyway, I can't remember what color the background was but I know it had a green felt Christmas tree sewn on it.  Each day was a different felt object that we pinned on the tree and read about the significance of that object, a star or dove or heart, etc...  We counted down the days until Jesus' birth and each object meant something special.

Here's a pretty good run down of the history of the advent calendar.

Whether you're counting down the days until Santa arrives, Jesus' birthday or for any other reason, there are a ton of great advent calendars available now.

from Pid.se to put small gifts or truffles in.

stocking from Pottery Barn Kids.   I think Cameron is giddy from too many gifts.

Cottage Kit from Martha Stewart, in the tudor style!

Countdown to Christmas from Garnet Hill.

patterns for felt pockets each holding a square of chocolate by Jenny B. Harris at allsorts.  So sweet!

This is similar to the advent calendar my mom made.  This one from CDK.

A cute nativity calendar for kids also from CDK.

And from Etsy seller doullina a Figgy Pudding Snowman Advent Calendar.

Find imported German wall-hung advent calendars here from traditional German towns to nativity scenes.

hidden places in a big city

"IMAGINE living on a quiet street lined with postcard-perfect historic houses, a street so secluded that it is unmarred by honking cars and casual pedestrians.

Now imagine being able to do that in the heart of New York City — just steps away from the bedlam of its sights and sounds, and yet at the same time worlds away from it in sense and sensibility.

Pockets of this tranquillity exist across the city in mews and alleys that can be easily missed by passers-by. Some are purposely hidden behind locked gates and some have nothing more imposing than a sign that reads “Dead-End Street".”

I want to live at the house with the red door!  Check out  the slide show for the article.

via ArchitectureWeek via NYTimes

images by Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

I am addicted to chai

so Archana's new blog a cup of chai comes just in the nick of time!

Lenkart, The Art of Decor

More handcrafted goodness by Lenkart...lovely decorative pillows.  Check out the monthly specials!

A few of my favorites...

 

 

designs by Ilan ... handmade and one of a kind jewelry

There is not much I can really write to add to Ilan's work because the pieces speak for themselves.  And if you ever have the chance, you have to meet Ilan and see her jewelry in person.  They are stunning and one of a kind.  Ilan is offering a 20% discount off any purchase of $200 or more.  Just mention the happy living Blog.  Each necklace, earring and bracelet is so unique so they make great gifts for the ladies in your life and for yourself.

#8770 sterling silver, swarovski crystals and Ilan's own handmade beads, 22 inches

#8838 A signature piece, sterling silver, swarovski crystals, precious stones, and Ilan's handmade beads, 36 inches

#0036 sterling silver

#0033 sterling silver, swarovski crystals, glass beads

We can also now find her jewelry at these locations...

Diamond Essence
Oxford Valley Mall, PA

Diamond Essence
Grant Shopping Plaza
1697 Grant Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19115

Farnsworth Gallery
134 Farnsworth Gallery Ave
Bordentown, NJ 08505

Pat Kings
Manayunk
4357 Main ST
Philadelphia, PA 19127

Yura Diche
1203 Kings Hwy North
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

Kazuma
1523 Newcastle St
Brunswick, GA 31520

Beautiful Wishes
Marketplace at Huntingdon Valley
2048 County Line Rd
Huntington Valley, PA 19006

Zimmerli Art Museum
76 Hamilton Ave.
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Bloomingdales King of Prussia, PA

Bloomingdales Soho, NY

The above offer is available only through Ilan's Studio.

 

 

 

sofa alert

I have been on the hunt for the perfect sofa.  On our way out of the mall on Sunday I dragged the boy through Macy's to check out the Corona Collection.

They had the sofa in Pear and the chair in Stone.  I am almost sold.  It seems like a solid piece and is comfy without being too oversized.  (I wish someone would tell the furniture stores to stop making sofas the size of twin beds.)  The Macy's website lists the price of the sofa as $899 but they had it in the store on Sunday for $699.  I hope it goes on sale again when we are ready to buy.  The salesperson told me that it is in stock in the three colors shown on the website, but there are also a half dozen other colors available for an extra charge and if you are willing to wait 3 to 4 months.

beyond red & green :: holiday color

Animal prints by West Elm

Fuschia and black with metallic gold from Living Etc.

Shades of green with white and clear glass from Living Etc.

Earthy palette of browns, greens and antique gold from Cottage Living

A muted palette with sparkly metallics from Blueprint

and pink from Blueprint

Royal blues with gold from Living Etc.

Primary colors from Martha Stewart

Shades of light wintry blues and snowy white from Martha Stewart

I can't believe eight days have gone by since I last posted.  I have been pretty busy at work the last several weeks and believe it or not I do a lot of my blog thinking and composing during my lunch hour and have not had that time lately.  And the last week or so I have been spending the evenings at home getting ready for Thanksgiving.

Every since we got back from Germany we have had 'events' every weekend so the house is coming along slowly, as it should be I guess.  There's a part of me that wants instant gratification and would like to plunk down a piece of plastic at the local furniture store and have them deliver me a truck load of stuff in three days or less and be done with it.  But the prevailing side of me knows that the satisfaction would not last.  We are better off making slow progress, developing our own style over time.  So I have been doing a lot of 'reading' (= looking at pretty pictures! and some real reading as well) instead of buying.

The paint swatches hang on the wall still.  I think I've decided on a color.  And after the holidays and our Utah trip, I see lots of painting in my future!

I am still reading and re-reading House Thinking and have been thinking a lot about this...

"When searching for ways to approach our experience of home, I often think of the theater.  After all, our houses and apartments are the stages on which much of the drama of daily life is enacted.  Beginning with the very important entry, the home's spaces are a series of sets that influence how we'll play our parts.  It only makes sense to ensure that our rooms cue the kinds of thoughts and feelings that help us to be happy and productive." -Winifred Gallagher in House Thinking

Is that putting too much emphasis on home and how it affects us?  I don't think so.  Whether you own a five bedroom farmhouse or rent a studio apartment it is home.  We all have our own set of circumstances that in some ways dictate where we can live whether it be money, family, work, physical limitations, etc.  How do we exist within those circumstances and instead of thinking of them as limitations treating them as opportunities to be creative about how we turn our homes into places that help us to be happy and productive?  Because unfortunately not all of us can afford a custom architect-designed home that addresses each of our needs.  We need to find ways around and through some of things about our 'spaces' that we can't change.

Is there something in your home that you can't change for any reason and you have found a creative way to deal with it and make it work for you?  For me right now, it is our kitchen.  Time and money won't allow us to make any major changes to it right way, so I have been editing, organizing and rearranging to try to make it a better functioning kitchen for us and they way we live.

I hope you're all well!

This truly has been a weekend of remembering.  Saturday we attended the funeral of my larger-than-life uncle (an army vet too).  The lives of my aunt, my five cousins and their many children will never be the same.  We didn't see him that often so I am glad that we got to spend an entire day with him this past spring riding around the Bohemia River.  At the cemetery we also visited a good friend that we lost a couple of years ago.  Lots of remembering there too.

In between doing things around the house and around town, we have been watching movies like We Were Soldiers and Saving Private Ryan.  Neither are on my list of favorite movies and I find both difficult to watch at times, but I feel a sense of responsibility to do so when I have the chance.

On a slightly lighter note, our new-to-us house is slowly starting to feel more like home.  I want to paint every room, but decided to start hanging pictures and art anyway.  It really helps to have those familiar things around.

I have started to forget not think about our 'old' house as much and have mixed feelings about that.  It was our first home together so I will never forget that aspect of it and the newlywed years we spent there.  But home is in a new house, so I put away the old familiar spaces and compose the new ones.  I file away the old memories, taking them out once in awhile like precious photos and make new ones here.

I think Fiona likes her new home.

remember

all the Veterans that have fought to make and keep this country a place of freedom.

To my favorite Veteran, my dad, my hero.

Vietnam, circa 1967