I'm inspired by other bloggers today. What beautiful, creative sites they keep! Since I tend to post like crazy for a day and then post nothing for months, I thought I'd share some of my recent good reading finds! Good blogs with good names, what more can you ask for?
Barefoot in the Orchard. If they made it in a magazine, I'd subscribe.
House in the Roses is lovely.
All Things Bright & Beautiful. The blog where I got my Harvey Wells pix. Lovely.
Beautiful blogs
Mr. Harvey Wells
I've always thought there was something rather special about making a little nest outside. Of course, when I say nest, I don't mean the avian type, but rather, something soft and inviting. These are just what I'm talking about.
I envision a little one room cottage, somewhere lost in the woods. Away from the hustle and bustle of the home. It could double as a guest sleeping area and a creative space. Maya Angelou rents an extra hotel room when she travels, so that she designates a special space to be creative. In the same vein, I think this place could serve the same purpose. Who knows if Maya's wisdom will flow out of me in the same way. As long as there are open windows and doors, creativity will come.
I met a homeless man yesterday who liked my Obama bumper stickers. His name was Harvey Wells and he came from the Pawnee tribe of Indians. He was a captain in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam war. He said his unit viewed him as Chief, the person to whom all his soldiers looked to for guidance, even during the worst of times. I asked him if he felt worthy of the title given that he had to follow orders that he disagreed with. He explained to me that though he was only human, he had a relationship with nature that allowed him use it's infinite resources. No matter how dangerous the task, he felt he could protect his unit by using the world around him and teaching them all he knew about it. That really stuck a chord with me.
I aspire to be like Harvey Wells, sustained by all the world around me.
Must do this
I'd slave in the kitchen for days to be invited to a party like this
In fact, I may just wise up and throw the party myself. I've got so many reasons: 1.) Our neighbor just moved out (he was a bit of a pill, whose antics kept us from using out outdoor patio often.) 2.) It's almost summer. 3.) Do I really need an excuse?
Someone please hold me to this. It's too darn easy to dream.
Spunky boudoir
Obsession. I need this. Need. Not want. David Hicks out did himself with this one. Hint: click on the photo to see a larger image. The gorgeous pink don't pop as much on my raspberry background.
Tub to Soak in
I have to admit, though I am nowhere near having my own home, I dream about bath tubs. Yes, bath tubs. Clawfoot tubs, pedestal tubs, warm, soapy goodness.
Vintage Tub has a bunch of beautiful tubs. These babies aren't cheap either, but a girls gotta dream.
Knitting
What's more fulfilling than making your own clothing? There are a bunch of beautiful books with detailed instructions on how to knit gorgeous things like camisoles, sweet sweaters and frilly socks.
Knitting Lingerie Style looks fabulous!
And Romantic Hand Knits looks awesome too! I mean with a subtitle of, "26 flirtatious designs that flatter your figure," how can you go wrong?!
My goal, make something from one of these books in the next month. I can dedicate my fingers to the trade while watching tv, or better yet, sitting out in the garden (really just a patio with flowers) and enjoying the sun!
Modular Homes
Ah. It's been a while. Sorry people. Anyway here I am, back and ready to rock.
I've spent the last couple days dreaming about building my home. Mr. Olden days and I will most certainly go modular when we do build, so I've been looking potential companies.
Deltec Homes has awesome modular "round" homes. Something about a house that opens itself to the outdoors and maximizes sunlight just tickles me the right way.
I do, however, normally like a more traditional look. Say perhaps my latest idea, a barn! Many green modular builders have great barn plans, but nothing exactly like what I have in mind.
A couch to faint on
Ooooh Mr. Olden Days would just be furious if I bought one of these. I've filled our tiny home to the brim with unnecessary furnishings. But how can I live without? To make the decision more difficult, Urban Outfitters is offering free shipping until Sunday the 20th! And my birthday is the 23rd! Hmmmm... But which color?
the Bathing Beauty of Old
As romantic as the olden days seem, life was hard and money was scarce. I was amazed to find that even a middle class family in Edwardian England (whose modern day equivalent would be closer to upper class) would only bathe one a week. Though many bathing and beauty products were bottled and available at the local store, they would have been seen a luxeries, and only affordable to the upper classes. For regular gals, like myself, homemade beauty products would have been the way to go.
Though beauty products are now cheap, and readily available in the US, many of them contain dangerous chemicals that have been banned by the European Union. Chemicals used for preservatives tend to be the biggest culprits - something we wouldn't have had to deal with in the olden days. Of course, that isn't to say that the products marketed back then didn't contain other nasty chemicals - like lead etc.
So, todays post is about making your own beauty products at home, using natural, safe and most importantly, beneficial ingredients! I got all these recipes from the Care2 website. Enjoy!
Salt of the Earth Body Scrub
Recommended for all skin types except for those with acne (use with care on sensitive and environmentally damaged skin)
Ingredients
*2 cups sea salt (preferably finely ground, but regular will do)
*¾ cup extra-virgin olive base oil or base oil of choice
*40-60 drops peppermint, spearmint, grapefruit, geranium, or rosemary (chemotype verbenon) essential oil
Directions
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the sea salt and the base oil. Using a whisk, stir to blend. Add the essential oil drop by drop, blending after each addition. Spoon into a storage container with a tight-fitting lid. No refrigeration is required, but for maximum freshness and fragrance, please use within 6 months.
Directions for Use
Massage approximately ¼ to ½ cup of scrub onto premoistened skin using circular motions. Rinse. Use 1-2 times per week
Follow with moisturizer if necessary
Facial Personalized for your Skin Type
Ingredients
*3 tablespoons of your herb of choice (see below)
*2/3 cup boiling water
*1 tablespoon ground oatmeal
Directions
Steep your chosen herb in boiling water, covered, for 15 minutes, then strain, reserving the liquid. Cool to room temperature. Add enough infusion to the oatmeal to make a smooth paste, saving the remaining infusion.
Directions for Use
Wash and dry your face, then smooth the paste over it and allow it to remain for 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water and pat dry. Apply the remaining infusion as a lotion and allow to dry.
Herb Choices
ANY SKIN TYPE: Lavender, basil, mint
BLEMISHED SKIN: Thyme, calendula, rosemary
DRY OR MATURE SKIN: Parsley, lemon balm, fennel seed
OILY SKIN: Sage, yarrow, lady's mantle
SENSITIVE SKIN: German chamomile
Mint Facial Toner
Ingredients
*1 generous tablespoon dried mint, crumbled
OR 3 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
Directions
Cover mint with 1 1/2 cups boiling water and steep for 10 minutes. Strain and reserve the liquid, and allow to cool before using (refrigerate for a real cooling treat!).
Directions for Use
Apply with cotton pads or use in a mister. Allow to dry on the skin naturally: no need to rinse off.
Natural Skin Peels
Alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) skin care products are easy to make at home because they are made of fruit and other ingredients we may have in the frig or kitchen cupboards. Fruit acids are great for the skin because they loosen the glue between dead skin cells, and the cells fall away, leaving the face very smooth and soft. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to produce fabulous results for your skin that you would imagine only the most expensive and sophisticated products you could buy could do. Not only that, but AHAs are found in fruit and vegetables you may already have in your kitchen or growing in your garden, so you don?t need to worry about any synthetic chemicals that may cause harm. The famed beauty Cleopatra unknowingly used the benefit of AHAs on her skin when she bathed in milk. Try any of the following fruit acids, but always take care to avoid your eyes. Avoid using these homemade peels if your skin is sunburned, and before going into the sun.
Malic acid: Apples, vinegar, applesauce, cider
Lactic acid: Buttermilk, yogurt, powdered skim milk, sour cream, blackberries, tomatoes
Tartaric Acid: Grapes, grape juice, wine, cream of tartar
Citric Acid: Citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, grapefruit, and orange
Glycolic acid: Sugar cane
Directions
All you need is about one half a teaspoon of liquid per face cleansing. You can freshly squeeze the juice of one lemon, for example, and refrigerate the leftovers for the rest of the week. Just dab some of the juice onto your fingers and pat on your face. Leave on for 10 minutes or so before rinsing. If you are in a rush, just cut a grape or strawberry in half-whatever you happen to have on hand-and rub it over your skin; let the juice set for a few minutes, and then rinse.
Silk, lace and frills
My fascination with the past has also been fueled by fashion. Though I sew, I'm not great, but I can't keep from checking Past Patterns daily to look at antique clothing patterns. Of course, you can pay someone to make historical clothing for you too. Recollections is one of my favorites!
Hand sewn or not, I want to incorporate older styles into my wardrobe. I'd start with the below, add a long stand of pearls, lace up black boots and an optional riding jacket if needed.
Healthy Wall Paper
Walls were meant for more than paint. I adore wallpaper. Not the awful 80's kind, but kind that's elegant, sophisticated and whimsical. Wallpaper adds texture to a room, and makes it cosy in a way nothing else can.
Textured, paintable wallpaper is so classy! FY Home has a bunch of great patterns!
I would love a repeat like this for my ceilings.
This border is so romantic! I'd love it in a bathroom, dining room or at the top of any living room.
Chandelier's kill me. I'd love this circular chandelier detail under a larger crystal chandelier above my dining room table! Of course, I'd also take on in the foyer, the living room, the bedrooom and the bathroom.
This would make a beautiful underlay for any of the colors I posted below, especially the lavender washroom.
I love Charles Rupert wallpaper! It's both eco and human friendly!
I love this one! "Bird Amemone," would be great in the foyer, but awesome in breakfast! 
The kids bathroom would be beautiful in this gorgeous blue "Pink Rose."
Our bathroom will be soft and comfortable. I'm not totally decided upon what sort of bathroom we shall have. For now I love this "Poppy Field."
"Wild Tulip," for the nursery, eventually we'll need one.
Los Colores de Mi Casa
Now that I've got all this great color inspiration, let's figure out where to buy these paints.
So, way back in Anne's day, paint was made with high amounts of lead and other dangerous ingredients. Even though we've progressed a bit since then, there are still many dangerous chemicals found in paints etc (I'll do a post about organic and eco-friendly products and lifesyles soon.) While helping re-model his last house, my Dad took my sister and I to Environmental Building Supplies in Portland. It was there I met zero VOC paint.
There are a million great companies that sell low and zero VOC paint. Yolo Colorhouse has a lot of cool paint & clay for walls. I'll be choosing paint made by Safe Paint since they offer more color options.
"Pacific Panorama," for the guest room. 
"Siberian Iris," for the powder room.
"Atta Girl," for the the master bedroom.
"Pink Prize," for the dining room.
"Country Garden," for the sitting/sun room.
"Simply Beautiful," for the billard room.
"Sunny At Heart," for the living room.
Martha Stewart
Long before I was engaged, I was obesssed with Martha Stewart's Wedding magazine. Now that I'm officially married, I still secretly read her weddings issue - for event design ideas. While looking at her newest weddings issue, I found pictures of her guest house in Maine. The walls are done in a beautiful light pink - almost reminiscient of cotton candy. Yum. 
This is my dream foyer; glass lustre candlesticks, pink walls and beautiful flowers. Magnifique.
Designer Gardens
Domino magazine has a spread on Oscar de la Renta's garden. I almost don't know what it say, it's so spectacular.
I wish I knew where I could get these lovely arched iron trellis' - I've never seen anything like them.
My Grandma grew apples, but I never saw it done like this. The way the plants grow up the trellis breaks my heart. It's so Secret Garden.
Bedroom meets boudoir
My quest for the most luxurious bed to dream in has ended. Horchow, how I adore thee. We spend most of our lives in bed, so why not make it a wonderful one?
Rebecca Thuss
For all you event design junkies out there, let me introduce you to Rebecca Thuss. This womans work is amazing. Frequently featured in Martha Stewart magazine, Rebecca's parties and events are superb. It's the tiny details that get me every time. What I wouldn't give to have a friend like her!
Romancing the home
House Beautiful, you will be the death of me. This French Country inspired home is just beautiful. From the wainscotting on the ceiling to the button tuffed sofas, every last detail is cozy and inviting. 
This living room floored me when I first saw it. The height of the celings threatens to de-intimize this space, but instead, it adds drama and elegance!
I cannot get over how gorgous yellow looks on walls and windows. Finding yellow home inspiration is my next task.
Windows & doors without corners just floor me. The beauty of this bathroom comes from that spectacular window through which the world is just an arms length away.
A Family Kitchen
Mr. Olden Days & I love food. We like to eat, we like to cook. There is nothing more "olden days" than cooking all your food from scratch. No boxed cakes, or pie crusts, that would be cheating. My Grandma Ginny made everything from scratch. She was born in 1915 and is the reason I love the past as much as I do. In addition to the fridge & feezer in her kitchen, she kept a full size freezer in her canning room. That room held all the bounty of the earth. Home grown tomatos, apples, pears peaches, beans, plums, you name it, she had it, we ate it.
Part of my desire to create a home for my family & I comes from what I saw in my Grandma. Our family always jokes that once breakfast had been eaten, she was onto planning lunch. Family lives around the kitchen, and having a well planned, well stocked kitchen is the best way to cook. Elle Decor has a beautiful country kitchen on their website. Neutral colors, storage, beautiful wood floors. I drool.
Pink & Gold
Did I say that I love pink & gold?
Martha Stewart Weddings made this spread and it embodies everything I love about these two beautiful colors. 
Tea. Love it.
This is Betsey Johnson's kitchen. Though I don't know that I would do this to my kitchen, I pretend I'm looking at a laundry room, and a beautiful one at that.
Dine Au Fresco
Ok, so I'm obsessed, yes. I just love the notion of dining outdoors, au fresco. Now that the wedding is over, I need to think of some clever ways to make that happen. Yves Delorme just about killed me with their online spreads. Not only are their linens superb, but the staging for their ad's just floor me. Impecable. Was I was a rich girl, Yves would rule my home.
These pictures are so similar, yet so different. Each seems to be in a different country, telling a different story. One day I'll come up with the menu that goes along with the linen.
This screams of the Italian countryside. We would dine on wine and figs, roasted chiken and proscuitto garden salad. We'd eat gelato out of hobnail glass bowls and watch the cypress trees blow in the wind. When the sun went down, we'd sip lemoncello from tiny glasses while the fireflies buzzed around us.
This screams England. Tea and crumpets my friends, tea and crumpets. Tea sandwiches, deviled eggs, and rum cake. We'd lounge on outdoor chaises, wearing white cotton tea dresses and large brimmed hats as the children played croquet.
This screams France. Framboise and brie... mmmm. What a lazy afternoon we'd have. Reading in the garden, picking flowers, telling stories.
Dress your table
My latest obsession is over my table. Cups and saucers, plates and bowls, I have china on the brain. I've never kept a set table, though they look nice. I'm far too concerned with my cats knocking them over the edge to their death on our tile floor.
Once I do figure a way out of that one, I want a bunch of mis-matched, layered china. Pinks, and blues, yellows and golds. I want lustre. 
I hesitate to post this picture because I don't do daisies. I do, however, love the layering of differently patterend plates.
Love it. The color, the simplicity, the beauty. I would happily eat grass off this setting. No joke.
Colored Walls
I love the use of color on these walls. There is something so magical about being a room full of color, it takes you somewhere else the instant you step in. And I'm not talking beige and eggshell here, though both work well in certian situations.
Of all the color schemes I adore, pink on gold is my favorite (for now.) I don't know if I can swing painting the living room pink what with my marital status and all, but I'm planning for a pink bathroom. The blue accents make the room pop. I love it.
I feel like I'm underwater, in the Beatles Octopus' garden when I look at this picture. I would love to have a turquoise bedroom. It's serene and fun.
I adore this room. The wall color, the decor, it would be a lovely place to entertain.
This blue is a lot more tame than the one above and I love it. It puts me to sleep. 
Lavender walls are mildly reminiscient of institution walls, not that I've experience that (yet!) Paired with the soft couch etc. it's wonderfully cosy.
This pink is beautiful. Not childish, or sticky sweet, but delectable and cosy.
Love Au Fresco
So, Mr. Olden Days and I got married November 3rd at a historic home in Goleta, with a beautiful garden tea party reception. There is something so special about bringing the indoors outside, especially to dine. I spent months looking online for design inspiration and finally found Style Me Pretty, a blog written by Abby of Abby Jean Press. Here are some of the many beautiful inspiration boards I used to help design our wedding, love au fresco. It would be my ultimate dream to have our children get married at our home, in our gardens and lawns.
This wedding was designed by Oh How Charming. It's just a superb blend of rustic and elegant.
I love the use of chandelier's outdoors and the asparagus & roses is beautiful!
This board, made from a wedding designed by Rebecca Thuss screams "Cold Mountian." It makes me want to cry.
Farmhouse chic gets me everytime! The bustles, the lavender, the barn; beautiful.
A night in Versailles
I adore any type of social event. Mix a fun costume party with classic French design and you get this - the most wonderful birthday party I've even seen. Decadant desserts, opulent decor and poofy dresses make me swoon. Ok, so sticks of celery & carrots aren't exactly historically accurate finger foods, but I love the idea. I want throw a bash like this for my sisters 21st birthday (she's a Francophile) once I do, I'll be sure to post pix.
The Olden Days
I have been enamored with the "olden days" since I was young. Anne of Green Gables was my heroine. As a young girl, I paraded around busy Berkeley sidewalks with lace up boots and hoop skirts. Now a recently married twenty-something, I struggle to find that happy medium between the modern world of underwire bras and curling irons, and the simplistic magic and romance that was the past. I'm not particular about time. The Edwardian era, "La Belle Epoque" is my favorite, followed closely by the Victorian era and the Roaring Twenties. This blog is my inspiration board, the vehicle in which I dream about and create my own Green Gables, my house of dreams.
This is my Grandparents wedding picture, taken in 1939. It was through them that my love for the past was nurtered.
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