Treasure Hunting

image via

At the beginning of the month, we went to L.A. to celebrate Alli's great grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary.  Afterwards, we stayed the night in Venice and then went shopping in Santa Monica.  The Cat wanted to go to Zara, and I wanted to go to J. Crew.  Before heading to 3rd Street, we stopped and had breakfast.  Lucky for me, it was right next to the Wertz Brothers Antique Mart.  I love antique marts because you get such a range of merchandise from the many different vendors.

I stepped inside the building, and quietly squealed (you can squeal quietly, trust me) in delight.  The place is huge, and the first display right up front was gorgeous.  The kind of display where your eye doesn't know quite where to land first because there is so much to look at.  I was in Heaven walking around this store.  Unfortunately, we were crunched for time; this is the kind of place where you can literally spend all day perusing and finding treasure after treasure.  Being in Santa Monica, some of the vendors do have higher price points, but that doesn't mean that there aren't some deals to be found.  The curation and display of items was really gorgeously done and definitely worth the trip if you are ever in the area.

There are 190 dealers in the 20,000 square foot (!) showroom.  

What you see when you first walk in ( of course, in order to see
it like this, I guess you'd have to be either flying or super tall).
image via Wertz Brothers Antique Mart

I love that gold clock.

Vintage trophies.  Swoon.

I'm a sucker for vintage suitcases.

Beautiful collection of silver trays.

I squealed again when I came upon this booth.

Gorgeous.

Love.

From their website:
1607 Lincoln Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA
(310) 452-1800
Mon - Sat: 10 to 6 • Sun: 12 - 6
All major credit cards accepted
Complimentary Valet Parking
Like I said, if you are ever in the Santa Monica area and have a couple of hours (at least!) to kill, you should definitely check out the Wertz Brothers Antique Mart.  They also have an antique furniture store that I would love to check out some day.  Good thing West Los Angeles isn't too far away!

~Lori

Summer Mantle Display

Now that Gwenna's birthday is over I have been re-doing my displays and accents around the house to reflect summer.  I decided I needed a little inspiration for my mantle.  How about you?


Colored glass: via free people

How about a model sail boat? via country living

How about a large wooden crest like Sarah Richardson found for her farmhouse mantle? via heel foot in the door

I am loving these simple galvanized vases with greenery. via cote de texas

How about some large, green glass vases and a round mirror...via house beautiful

eclectic and collected via apartment therapy

Gorgeous mirror, white vases and purple flowers: simply lovely. via free people

 Dark wood candle holders against the white mantle are classic. via nell hills

 

I like the apothecary bottles:  via the paris apartment

 

Like everything, I believe simplicity reigns.  Your mantle should welcome the seasons as well as your family and friends.  I hope you found some of these images inspiring!  Bring on Summer...

My Own Summer Mantle:

 Two of my favorite things together--milk glass and lavender roses.  My mom got most of these pieces for me.  Thanks Mom!

The effect of white on white never gets old.  Add a pop of color, any color, and there you have it!

Quote of the Week

I really like this quote by Teddy Roosevelt- the grass is not
always greener on the other side, and it is important to realize what you have and to be thankful for it and to enjoy it while it is here.  I feel that, as I write post after post on things I want and things that I am obsessed with, that I may sometimes come off as greedy or ungrateful.  I would like to say that I hope I am not.  I fully realize that I have a wonderful life, full of family that I love, friends whom I adore, and times that I treasure.
This does not stop me from wanting new clothes, though!  

~Lori

Backyard Boutique

 My beautiful friends Elizabeth and Kaley came up with a great idea:  they love garage sales and thrift stores and would always find more great things than they needed or could use, so they thought they would give their friends an opportunity to get in on the goods.  Ingenious.  

 There were even some yummy snacks to munch as I enjoyed catching up with my friends and meeting a few new ones.

They made these cute little bidding paddles.

 Looking through the racks of goodies.

 Look at how well organized it all is.  The table in this picture was "buy it now." I liked how they mixed methods of silent auction, buy it now and bidding; it kept things moving.

We browsed the tables of items that would later be auctioned (I had my eye on the straw bag).

 The clothes on the lines all had cards which we could write our paddle number and our bid on.  At the end we all went over to see the things we bid on and find out if we got to take them home.

I bid on this cute vintage dress!

 The bidding was fun and went quickly.  Everyone had a great attitude and there was even some friendly competition.

Look at my great new outfit!  Thanks ladies--can't wait for the next one!

Parisian Chic

Parisian Chic
by the beautiful Ines de la Fressange
image via Chic Trek

Rebecca was over at my house the other day picking up a couple of things to take on her weekend getaway with Ty, when I made a couple of outfit suggestions a la Parisian Chic.  I showed Rebecca the look of an outfit I had chosen, as I had modeled it after a beautifully put together look from the guide.  She had never seen the book!  What's this?!  How could I have managed to let my friend go for all this time without showing her this fantastic guide?  I have failed as a friend.  I was certain that I had done a post on the book already, but looking back, I found that I have only ever mentioned it in passing.  For shame!  This book deserves an entire post, it is that inspirational!

The face of Chanel for many years, Ines de  la Fressange proves that
you can be both beautiful, clever, and artistically inclined.
image via Vogue

The book itself is very chic; it is soft red leather with a drawing by Ines embossed on the cover in gold.  You open it up to find a plethora of great, easy tips that will help you achieve that sometimes elusive chic French style. To prove my point, here is another picture from the book that combines simple pieces brilliantly. This one, as does all the photos from the book, features Ines' gorgeous daughter, Nine.

To me, this is perfection!  I love that cardigan thrown casually over
a short, simple dress.  It grounds the whole look and pulls it together, making
just a simple dress look completely, effortlessly chic.
And that shade of green?  You might not think so at first, but that shade
of green is perfect.  I mean it.  After I read this book (devoured it!), I rushed out
to find a cardigan like the one in the picture.  I finally lucked out and found one at
Forever 21 (I ended up buying another one, just to have a spare, I love it that much!).  This
army green cardigan is so versatile- the color, though you may not think it, really is a fantastic
neutral.  My version is light weight, stashes easily into a purse, and goes with a ton of stuff in my closet.
image via Vogue

.

Does that outfit look familiar?!  Another example of perfection.
image via the simply luxurious life

I definitely recommend adding this style guide to your library.  Have a great weekend!

~Lori

Thrifted: Day to Evening Summer Dress

Day Look

I got this great black and white cotton dress at the goodwill a few days ago ($6).  It has such a great shape and the fit is perfect.  For a hot summer day I paired it with brown and black beads (I also got from the goodwill, $1) and black and cream flats (Tahari).  It is a no-fail, flattering, summer day look.

Chain and rattan bag from Forever 21

Evening Look

 For an evening out, all I have to do is switch out the jewelry and bag to something with a bit of sparkle and add a pair of black heels.  

 

 The beaded, vintage bag was $5 at the goodwill and has the most beautiful pastel pattern under the beads.  The necklace was a gift from my husband from Anthropologie and it is one of my favorites

Liberty of London, Part Two

Taupe Leather Shoulder Bag
Marni

Small Notebook
Cavallini & Co

Orange Bi-Color flared Skirt
Marni

Shown in orange above
Yellow Cotton Knot Front Dress
Carven

Passive-Aggressive Nifty Notes
Knock Knock

Royal Peacock Mouse Mat Notepad
Alexa Pulitzer

Liberty Thorpe Print Medium Notebook
Liberty of London

~Lori