Travel

Old friends, my sister, and a moose

September 19, 2015

30 years ago, when I was fresh out of college and my sister had just graduated high school, we embarked on a month long, 11 country tour of Europe, with a group of about 40 other young explorers. It seems cliche to say that it was the trip of a lifetime- but it truly was! From London, Paris, Italy, Greece and points in between, there was so much to see, learn, and absorb. As magical as the trip was, it…

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Decorating Shopping

The Ever Expanding Gallery Wall

September 4, 2015

I love art. I love the thrill of finding a piece that speaks to you and I love the soul that it brings to a home. I was an art major in college and I’m now a sometimes-watercolorist.  I left most of my paintings at our home on the East Coast. I have a copious amount of paintings that couldn’t possibly all fit in The Little Glass House. One of the qualities I love most about our home in California is the abundance…

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Shopping

My love affair with a store

August 22, 2015

I spent all but the last few years of my life living on the East Coast. My last home that I shared with my husband and daughter was a traditional cottage that looked like it had been plucked straight from the English country side. It was stone and stucco with a cedar roof, complete with ivy strewn walls. In fact, we named it “Ivy Cottage”. I had always been drawn to older homes with charm and character.  Of course, older homes come…

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Decorating

White Out

August 8, 2015

Don’t get me wrong. I like color. I really do!  As an art major and a watercolorist, just using the color white isn’t really an option.  But when it comes to our home, there is something about a coat of fresh white paint that makes everything feel clean and makes accessories and art sing.…

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Travel

Northern California Road Trip

August 4, 2015

I grew up in a family of six. We took yearly vacations from our home in New Jersey, usually to Florida. We always drove and would often leave in the middle of the night and drive straight through. I still remember the excitement of laying out our new vacation outfits and waiting to be woken up to start our adventure. We would pile into the station wagon and sleep for the first part of the trip. Then there would be short…

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Decorating

step into the light

July 20, 2015

“Step into the Light” was the tag line on the brochure when we bought The Little Glass House. Unimposing from the street, the only reason I went to see it (after 9 long months of house hunting) was because the photos on the Internet looked intriguing.  When I first pulled into the driveway of The Little Glass House, my expectations were low.   However, once I stepped inside, I was greeted by brilliant sunshine and a delicious breeze as all of the doors…

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Decorating

Loving the new floors

July 12, 2015

I must admit, as excited as I was to replace the old flooring, the linoleum in the kitchen, and wall to wall carpeting in the bedrooms, I was dreading the actual process. What was going to be a 2 week project turned out to take almost a month. My husband who works bi-coastally (is that a word?), decided it would be best if he stayed back on the East Coast during the process.  As much as I would have loved…

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Landscape Design Outdoors

Bye bye lawn, hello gravel!

July 12, 2015

As the drought wears on, lawns are going from green to brown and water bills are rising. I decided that we definitely didn’t need a lawn in our front and side yards. Being from the East Coast where lawns are a homeowners pride and glory, it took a bit of convincing for my husband to trade gravel for grass. Having the yard torn up for weeks wasn’t a picnic, but the end result was certainly worth it. Neither of us miss the lawn one bit. And…

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