I am

To thine own self be true, they say.  I am having so much fun on Polyvore! It's important for artists to explore all sides of their creative selves. I started out my design journey by wanting to be a fashion designer, and this site lets me enjoy fashion design as something of a late night hobby. 

Have you tried polyvore.com yet?

want it, need it, have to have it!!!!

Part of the fun of blogging is just writting about whatever the heck I want to. Today, since the as yet un-named foot injury is beggggging me to sit down and shut up, I am doing a little armchair shoppin'. Window shoppin' that is.
I really want a big orange handbag. Not just because of Mike's beloved Illini either. Orange is the new neutral, I've heard, and I'm starting to believe it. Everything looked great on the walls in my orange laundry room. Now that I've painted it 'camelback', which is a fancy word for 'beige'....everything looks pretty much 'meh'.... I swear, I am going to need therapy soon, having a hard time dealing with all the newly neutral walls in my getting- ready- to- be- sold house.
These 3 selections on these 3 celebrities probably cost more than I make in a month, so ima have to wait until 'orange is the new neutral handbag' comes to Target. (via Instyle.com)

I am CRAZY about these gift stickers from theplaidpen.com. Since I try to keep a few rolls of black and white polka dot wrapping paper around at all times, these would be absolutely perfect. I wonder if it would be too vague to have this printed "Especially for your from a VanHoutan " since it's a revolving door of birthday parties around here. One of my best childhood friends is the creator of The Plaid Pen....do be a dear and check out the site. It's loaded with adorable personalized paper goods.
Okay. I think we have a winner! This chevron rug is from rugsusa.com and right now they are offering 20 % off and no shipping! Sweet!!!! In my dreams I would get a Madeleine Weinrib wool dhurrie, but in my reality I have 4 kids and 3 dogs, one of which is a yorkie, so ....yeah. Polypropylene.
Damn you La Mer and your addictive FREE SAMPLES!!!!!!! A few weeks ago, my bestie Sherry and I went to St. Louis for the day and spent at least an hour at the La Mer counter in Nieman's where Sherry managed to get a whole bunch of free stuff for the both of us. (She has mad skills!). One of those free samples was for La Mer Moisturizing cream. In the space of the last couple weeks, I have turned back into a baby zygote. Upon further investigation, I cannot afford to buy an actual jar of this.
Jonathan Adler. Potter. Genius. Must. Have. 39.99 at the Welldressedhome-store.com


Spring is coming, followed by the best time of year, Summer!!!! In the fall and winter, I am the queen of the statement necklace, but warmer temperatures call for something lighter, that I can just put on and leave on until Labor Day. Ever since I saw a Roberto Coin tiny tiny tiny cross on a friend at a party, I have been trying to find one tiny enough to appease me. This one, at etsy, has THREE tiny crosses! I wonder if I could get her to make me one with FOUR tiny crosses? allisonwindsor1@ etsy.com


Now that I am staring 'sensible shoes' at eye level, I am reconsidering a collection of flats. Being a shortie, I do so love a heel. My darling boyfriend informed me last weekend that he doesn't even care if the heel is high enough to make me taller than him!!! My God, could you have sent anyone more perfect???? I think not. But I've also been sent a foot injury, so..... Anyway....this snazzy little collection here is exactly what I'm after. I feel like I've been looking for a yellow shoe for 2 years. I have a pair of yellow gladiator sandals, that I love love love, but I need a dressy flat to mix with dark denim. The sparkley silver in the middle would be so fun for date night and the print would be great to mix with other prints, like a polka dot skirt or cardigan.
via Instyle.com

Another great thing about blogging, now that I've found all these great things and included them in a blog post, I kind of feel like they're mine!

ChEvRoN

The chevron pattern has been around most likely since man could draw a slanted line,but the first documented chevron pattern was dated to 1800BC , found on a piece of pottery in modern day Greece. Later, the Navajo Indians embraced this design, which is where I come in. I started out my design life as a textile designer for a rug company. I landed this job because I had two things: a 'background' in Navajo textiles (read: I wrote a paper on them) and a willingness to work full time for 15,000 a year and no benefits. One of my favorite rugs I ever created was based on this design, but alas due to problems with our the dye process in our factory in China, few of my rugs ever made production. It was a short lived job because our factory workers couldn't figure out 'hunter green'. (It was 1993). But my fascination with Navajo designs has never waned and I am thrilled that the Chevron is making a huge comeback! It's such a great alternative to stripes or diamonds,which...ugh, I am sick to death of diamonds.
I keep going back to this room shot, by Blount Architectural and Interior Design. The boldness of the stripes would make the room exciting enough, but the addition of the Chevron pattern at the window makes it almost too much to bear. I MUST recreate this, someday, somewhere.

While we're on the topic of chevrons I COVET...this dress by Vionet on Carey Mulligan is divine. (getty images) Carey Mulligan's stylist is genius and I think she looks amazing and adorable all the time. I'm so glad Shia LaBeouf has chosen this classy and unpredictable beauty who can act her butt off over someone more...um....Megan Foxy. Sorry guys, predictible is just so....done. But I have digressed.

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Maybe black and white chevrons on a red and white striped wall is a bit much for you. Chevrons are interesting as well in a tone on tone colorway. The wall in this photo via designsponge.com was created using contact paper! That sounds too much like wallpapering for me, but hey power to ya if you want to figure that one out. ( OMG another faux animal head)

Let's get back to what the Navajo knew....a little chevron can really ground a space! Perhaps a marble chevrone'd floor is a bit of a commitment (via cococozy.com) ....how about a painted floor? (via houseoftourquoise.com)







Feeling a little groovy in a 70s kind of way? This is may be more stock market chart, than chevron, but still pretty fun. (via monobluedesign.com)

A painted floor is a bit of work actually, I'm not going to lie. Especially if you have any issues in the lumbar region of your spine (like someone I know!)

So maybe we just do like the Navajo did and get a really good rug. (via potterybarn.com) Click here to learn how to make your own from adventuresindressmaking.com