Calendar time...

My closest friends know me too well. I received two planner/agendas in the mail this year, one from Kris (Linea Carta) and one from Rachael (little otsu). Like a true organizational freak, I'm planning to use both and highly recommend either one (or both!) if you're still looking for a calendar.

Man of the woods...

How gorgeous is this mirror??? It's particularly brilliant set against the faux bois wallpaper. Those delicate little lights are also perfect. Maybe my father-in-law (aka Mr. Woodsman) could craft something like this out of real wood and then I can defile nature with some gold spray paint.

*photo from more ways to waste time (still one of my faves)

Quick idea...

Please excuse another late morning. Kicky was up reeeeeaaaalllllyyyyy late last night and I'm just plain exhausted, so here's a quick little idea from our house. This vintage tray sits on our kitchen counter (it makes PRH c-r-a-z-y because I haven't fastened it anywhere and it keeps slipping). I use it as a magnet board and we put recipes there while cooking/baking. I have a few trays like this and figured that I could change them out with the seasons. I also see them in the thrift store all the time, so you'll definitely be able to find one.

Brush with fame...

You may remember our summer trip to the wooden boat show in upstate NY. The most clever boat name that I saw was 'Knit Wit' ('knot wood' was a close second). Last night I was flipping through back issues of domino and came across an article about Thom Filicia and his boat...the 'Knit Wit'! I saw Thom Filicia's boat! Apparently he lives in Skaneateles. You can see more photos of his lake house here. It obviously doesn't take much to make me happy, now does it?

Framed...

I don't love the couch in this room, but I do totally love the idea of giant, framed textiles. The rest of the house is pretty fabulous.

*photo from Canadian House & Home

Musical geniuses...

I don't normally post anything about music here, but PRH and I saw Arcade Fire on PBS the other night and they were seriously amazing. Check it out here.

Measured...

Now that I'm cooking and baking more often, I've found myself searching for fun kitchen utensils. These nesting doll measuring cups are cute and cheap. 12 dollars and 50 cents, baby!

Clinically speaking...

Stop the presses. It's official...our pantry is organized (what? you thought I was going to tell you something interesting?!). I've labeled the hell out of it, but now I need some containers. Here are some goodies that I found. The image above is from jess james lake and the images below are from kultur...



and vintage avacado...


I particularly like the styling going on at vintage avacado. I'm a sucker for good photos. There's something about putting vintage items in a clinical setting that makes them seem less *used* and more appealing.

Organize this...

These needed a post of their own. I'm in love with these cork organizers from Lucky Little Dot (both images above) and from adventures in vintage (below).

Tis the season...

...for organization. When the house or my studio is a mess, I feel like a train wreck. If things aren't put away or arranged properly it seems to throw off everything else and I'll obsess about it until it's fixed. My dad is the same way, so this may be some sort of genetic thing (let's just be nice and call it 'genetic neatness', shall we?). Anyways, I've been trolling etsy looking for storage containers and came across some things you may like. The office organizer above is from Lucky Little Dot and below are items from oodles...


stilettogirl vintage...
and happy day vintage...

Organized envy...

I'm in a cleaning frenzy here. The tree is down, the entry closet is cleaned and labeled, new toys have found a home, and now I'm organizing and labeling our pantry. Doesn't this photo make you want to scream? It's totally not realistic, but it does make me want to be more organized and only buy monochromatic dishes...and keep designer bottles around just because they look good.

*image from here

Eclectic...

When I'm feeling like our house is a bit too eclectic I head over to Living Etc and pretend that our rooms look this good. Yea right.

I'd like to know...

We're off to a late start around here this morning. Yes, today is Monday, so that means it's time for I'd like to know, a weekly post dedicated to talented artists, designers, etc...all people I'd like to know and who I thought you may like to know of too. Today I'd like to know...Rune Guneriussen. I saw his work on pink shirts and car wrecks (one of my faves) and immediately popped over to look at more. These light pieces are particularly brilliant. Check out his website to see more of his work.

Merry and bright...

We're taking today off to celebrate christmas with our babies. Merry christmas to those of you who celebrate that whole deal and happy day to those of you who don't. Have a great weekend!
xo,
Abbey

Window on the cheese...

EZ E (aka EZ ee cummings) said in the car yesterday:
"When I was an itchy thing I busted a window in the cheese."
Profoundly weird, right? I think we have a poet on our hands.

*mugs that have nothing to do with this post from LoucheLab

Entertaining...

Great centerpiece idea.
*photo found via party perfect

Collected...

A snowman from my mom's massive holiday collection. It's insane...in a good way.

Baby update...

One baby has finally found her smile and one baby refuses to take naps...and only does so when he's so exhausted that he can no longer stand.

Random...

Pattern, brown hair, snow...love it all.

*photo found via smile and wave (Hermes ad)

Poster size...

I like unfinished knitting and embroidery pieces....sometimes more than the final product. I am not a knitter (I don't know how to increase and decrease and refuse to take the time to learn even though I've heard it's pretty easy), but if I was I'd probably have unfinished pieces hanging all over the place. My newest obsession is photographing/scanning small things and having poster-sized prints made at the local copy shop. Old pieces of embroidery, photos of collections, etc...they all look awesome bigger. I'll show you the embroidery poster once it's hung up. Rad.

*photo from kelp!

A quick question...

...for my dear readers (because you're smart). My dad's side of the family is HUGE. Seriously. No less than 40 people will be attending our christmas dinner/gift exchange. Instead of purchasing gifts for everyone, we draw names, which is great. What we don't have is a good system for handing them out. We usually start with the oldest sibling (my dad) handing out their gifts first and then work our way down to the youngest sibling. By the time we reach my poor aunt everyone is exhausted, the kids are melting down, and the ooooo-ing and aahhh-ing is so o-v-e-r. Can you think of a better way to hand out gifts?

Poster child...

Our dear friend Rachael sent a wonderful package of goodies for the Aesthetic Outburst family. Included in the package was a print by hammerpress. PRH, Rachael, and I all went to school for printmaking, so we're total print dorks. The print is so rad and I've been perusing their site for more, more, more. These posters are two of my faves. Definitely go check them out if you haven't already. You won't be sorry. OK, I'm off to prepare a simple little dinner for my youngest brother's birthday (happy birthday, Johnny). See you tomorrow!

Says who...

I'm a little late to the game on these, but they're gorgeous. From says you (her shop is on hiatus for the holidays, but she'll be back).

Hung...

I've been meaning to make curtains for our bedroom, but haven't been able to find any fabric that I like. I wanted something quirky and yellow. I had seen Merrilee's fabulous idea and decided to give a shot at making my own fabric using paint markers. Super easy! It's coming along slowly, but we should have curtains by the new year.

Dreaming a little dream...

We've been looking at houses to buy for months now (actually, years because we were looking in Buffalo before we moved). We found one that we love, but it's a major fixer-upper that would require about a bajillion hours of work to bring it back to it's former glory (see photo below). The house is too big and too much work so I'm just dreaming, but I like to imagine it looking like the photo above that I found via desire to inspire.

Bigger...

I love these arrows from sweetshorn. Actual objects aside, wouldn't this look great as a large-scale print?

I'd like to know...

Today is Monday, so that means it's time for I'd like to know, a weekly post dedicated to talented artists, designers, etc...all people I'd like to know and who I thought you may like to know of too. Today I'd like to know...David Linneweh. It's no secret that I'm a sucker for virtually any artwork with buildings in it. These are smart and interesting and he has a good artists statement. Score. Anyways, see more of his work here and have a lovely start to your Monday.

This weekend...

A lazy weekend awaits us...for a nice change. Have a great one and I'll see you on Monday!

*photo from Candi Mandi

Mister Modesty...

Our friend Jim's calendar is totally gorgeous. PRH and I went to undergrad with Jim and he's always been one of those artists whose work we wished we had thought to make first. Super talented, super modest...that's Jim. If you're looking for a calendar or some prints this year, head over to his shop, carving my initials. All of the prints are from amazingly beautiful paintings, so be sure to ask him about originals too.

Not so slimming...

I've turned into some sort of cooking and baking fiend. I've seriously never been into cooking or baking, but now I own two aprons (EZ E insisted on wearing the other one like a cape)! This is doing nothing for the baby weight I still have to drop, but I'm OK with that for right now (although why don't they make aprons more slimming). Two favorite cookie recipes? Martha's Lemon Wreaths and Cranberry Thumbprints from this month's magazine. Sooooooooo good.

File under...

...want. Another goodie from my 'to make' folder...I'm an ass. Available now at Mr. Skona.