Thrifting: Original Bertoia at a STEAL

This is our latest baby.  NO, not the roly poly little girl messing around - I mean the Bertoia Bird she is sitting on.  We found this at a *relative* steal.  Most people will say we paid way too much for a pieces of wrought iron steel.  But, this is the Bird pre-shock mount.  This may have been made by Bertoia himself!  Lucky man...he designed a few now well-known pieces and cashed out.  He spent the rest of his life dabbling in random things.  Neat!

Yes, "WHAT are you thinking you crazy lady?!?!"...why did I put this cherished piece of history in Little A's room?  Because my home is a construction zone, and I have no other space.  My bedroom would be the logical place, however it is housing 2 Zenith Eames shell chairs, 2 Kodawood chairs, a red Eames Lounge Knockoff (affordable, easy on the eyes, and my black lab's chair of choice), a small desk with Bertoia chair, AND a bed...and nightstand.

It's a little cramped.  

So the Bird is in the baby's room.  

For now.  

Little A has already knocked the Bird over, gauging the cork in the process.  eeeek!  When I wisen up and find a better home in my home for Birdie, I will do a full post dedicated to him/her (?!)  Ideally, I would like it to be a humorous post full of sexy shots of the Bird.  Kinda like Brick House.  That girl has the BEST furniture posts ever.  I can only aspire to create (and maintain) a blog as impeccable as The Brick House.  sigh....

You can find a link to The Brick House on the right in my blog list  :-)

House: Kitchen in Progress

So...here it is.  My kitchen.  All torn up.  We are making progress...slowly.  It's much better than the puke-fest it started out as.  Notice the IKEA butcherblock countertop.  We bought the thickest piece, in oak.  We liked the birch better online, but in person the oak is amazing.  Also HARDER.  Once it is up and going, I will do a post on the butcherblock surface.

Yes, the kitchen is huge.  This means I can space out my Pyrex collection nicely.

I adore my vintage stove.  I cannot wait to see it in place...I'm still searching for the perfect vintage print to place above it...notice that the trim does not yet match.  All the wood/trim will be Dove White, while we chose Winter In Paris (the grey-blue on the far wall) for the walls.  They are Valspar colors, however we had them mixed in the Olympic Line at Lowe's.  I love the stuff, no smell whatsoever.  

My nose can tell the difference.

More cabinets.  This is where my coffee station will be.  Notice the painting on the far right (an Edward Hopper print snagged from a Honeywell office.  HAHA)  There were more cabinets here, and a built-in bookcase for recipe books.  My talented husband knocked it out and did the wall framing/drywalling himself.  Now you can see into the main/living room.  The shot below is a better view.  Our Tulip Table + Bertoia chairs are hanging out over there for the time being.  So is Little A!  The fridge is over here too, the big white thing on the side.

**Feel free, send any design/renovation advice my way**

Seattle Day Trip! (1.23.2011) *in POLADROID*

We rode the monorail from Pike Place to the Seattle Science Center.  Little A LOVED it!  She's been wanting to ride a train ever since we saw "Polar Express" at the theatre.  ;-)  I am LOVING the new Poladroid app by the way...available at Poladroid.  Check it out and tell your friends!

This is not such a great view, but outside is the blur that is Seattle...

Below are some shots of the lovely architecture at Pacific Science Center.  SOO midcentury!  But alas, badly in need of a renovation/refurbishment...

I want this fountain so bad!

The above shot is so simple, yet so beautiful.  Definitely frame-worthy.

Below is a view of an outdoor ceiling.  

We lunched on mussels, bread, and fancy French french fries at uber yummy Maximilien's.  In an attempt NOT to overload this post with photos, I opted to keep it simple by showing the decadent dessert plate (a sampler, because I am indecisive).  Enjoy.

Look at the froth on that espresso!  

(Actually, termed EXpresso on the menu...)

Yes, those are baby chubby hands in the background ;-)

Of course, no Seattle trip is complete without the mandatory stroll through Pike Place market.  I loved every crowded, cold, fishy-scented moment.  Although, I could without the fish smell...

This photo resulted in a very messy crab dinner at home later that night.

I am a sucker for a quaint bouquet of flowers.

I adore these paper stars.  I take pictures of them where ever I go.

The last time was a small corner market in Tucson.  

Oh Arizona, I miss you so...

Alrighty, that's it for now.  My next planned post is of my kitchen.  Not sure if I want to do it in Poladroid pics or not...

What do YOU think about Poladroid?  Have you used it?  Do you plan on trying it out?  Leave me a comment!

More Braids

This post is for my parents.  Little A really enjoys playing with barrettes.  She doesn't keep her braids in very long though  :-(  

Maybe when her hair grows out a little more  :-)  hehehe...her face makes me giggle...and NO that is NOT a new set of cat marks on her face.  This picture is actually from about a month ago.  I know, I'm a little slow on the whole camera-to-blog post process...my MAC doesn't have a good photo program so I have crack out the old college laptop...ugh.  I absolutely hate the process.  It is the BANE of my existence.