School Vacation Week

Hey all!  I am back from a little spontaneous vacation with the family.  We kind of do everything spontaneously around these parts.  The kids had off this past week, so we headed south to Florida's Gulf Coast (same place we always go) to soak up a little sun and palm trees and thaw out.  


We hung out with some friends we have down there, 
went fishing...


My youngest was so mad that none of his fish were big enough to keep,
 that he tossed the fish his brother had caught overboard when no one was watching.  
We got back to the docks and found an empty cooler, and had no idea what happened to the fish.  
He later confessed, but OMG I am not looking forward to the rivalry between these two!

Joe was also very excited to find a coconut.
Kept asking me to buy him a ladder all vacation so he could pick some.
Lost interest in them once he realized how hard they were to open.

We also did some water slides, and I even went down the big scary one.
I convinced myself I was getting old & chicken and needed to hit my reset button.
Scary water slides are a great reset button by the way. Feel much younger now.
My husband even jumped on board and did it.

...and we got a Christmas card worthy family shot at the beach.
It was a great week & went way too fast!

So, beside chillin' with my homeboys, I also found some new design love 
while reading mags at the airport.

Love everything about this one by Nam Dang-Mitchell, especially the details on the island:



and these two feel relaxed, more realistic for my life and just about perfect:
(scanner not working, excuse the pics)




I also discovered Tiffany Pratt and all her super cool awesomeness.
She is a highly creative artist & stylist,  founder of Glitter Pie, and has great hair.
Super inspiring, my kind of girl.


and I started reading this book:
...a little slow on the draw, being its been on the Best Seller List for 100 weeks now.
Hey, I don't get that much time for reading in my life.

I will keep you posted, only on chapter 3- but it all makes sense.  
I have been on a "revamping my life mission" for a while now, wanting to refocus my priorities.  
I am in the midst of a 30-something balancing act crisis.
My kids and family have gotten neglected these past 2 years as I have been more business focused, 
so I have been making big changes to fix that.   I won't wax too deeply here, but I have felt something was missing- I always felt that I didn't have any time... always busy, busy.  I needed to make changes.  Things I thought were important at first were really so not,  
and time is all we have so I am trying to make the most of it.  My kids are only going to be little for a short time, and I have to be here, present, now. am I making any sense?
Also my creativity has been in a slump for a while, so I am working on that- along with my neglected saddlebags.  Project Danika underway, should be interesting.

Thanks for the mini vent. 
I hope you all are having a great weekend!
xo Danika












home-work

My head is about ready to pop!   I really don't enjoy making decisions for myself when it comes to design, and suddenly I am bombarded with questions from electricians, contractors and my husband as to what goes where.  I have been so busy the past few weeks, that I haven't been able to give it my focus, so I am just making snap decisions and hoping I am right.  This is definitely one of the downsides to just jumping into a renovation without a real plan.  Truly "intuitive decorating".

One thing that I am contemplating is the area in front of our fireplace.  It is tight, (9' x 12') with doors or passageways on every side, so I am thinking maybe making it a cozy study area.  I would love to stick a desk out there and be able to work "outside" my office when I feel like it, and feeling more connected to everyone else.  I can always go hide in my regular office when things get loud or crazy. 
The light is also so nice out there. 

so here is a lil' montage of cozy work/study areas I am dreaming about







 these two aren't so little:




I also wanted to show you guys the miracle/updates that happened during BLIZZARD week/weekend!

It was a long crazy weekend, book-ended by two days off from school, so the kids though it pretty much rocked.  Have to agree with them.  The only time I appreciate the word "hunkering" is when it refers to parking myself next to a fireplace in a snowstorm with lots of supplies (magazines and wine).

This is what went down:

First off, the window miracle.
My house underwent a bit of cosmetic surgery and successfully received some new "enhancements".
This happened less than 24 hours hours before the blizzard...
it was cut wide open in 20 degree weather. my house was all "brrrrrr" and I was all "what happens if you guys can't get the windows in?" 

But they were superstars and finished by 7 pm.
After...
(seriously, there is nothing like an impending blizzard to get shit done)

So, the area I am thinking for my desk is in front of the french doors.
What do you think?


Oh, and here was the before... 
house of big sliders
The rest of the house will be getting new windows in  a few days, 
so I will be wearing long underwear and ear muffs.

Things that get my husband real excited... this window... 
he unwrapped it, caressed it and I think he might have named it too.
It is sitting in our living room, and I pray the kid's don't break it.

Besides that nonsense, blizzard fun was had.
We sledded outdoors...

and indoors, 
we can call this one schlizzard fun ...


My sister and I taught our kid's how to floor slide on blankets at my parent's house.
Bourbon Old Fashioneds were involved,
 and my sister and I might need knee replacements sooner than we hoped.
Good times, and no one was injured that bad.














Weekend Update from Bed


We've succumbed to the plague- think its the mother of head colds, not the flu- so I have been laying low in bed. So far I watched Groundhog Day way more than once, and finally got a chance to watch Downton Abbey and bawl my brains out.  
(So not good with a head cold, kind of feels like I could suffocate.) 

I've also read all my online mags & I picked up new bad habits on my iPad.
like this app:
 

 drawing, sketching virtually, happiness

and of course this one:
right now it is mostly just my kids doing goofy stuff (they REALLY like Vine), 
but I hope to start using it for before and afters & how to's...

On other fronts, we have new patterns at O'verlays and a new website that will be launching soon.
The current one is impossible to navigate with all the patterns/sizes, and we realized we started this company not expecting it to grow so quickly and with no knowledge of websites (just a blog)- so thank you for your patience while we have been mucking through it.

This is the new Bubbles design. 
Over on the blog, we are showing her off and doing a "How to Mirror your Malm" tutorial.
Very easy.  
(and we finally released the thick Greek Key Brackets, check em out on the Lack table in the background or on Sanity Fair's Vittsjo etagere.)


And one last nugget for the "Pickers" out there planning to be in the Portsmouth area.
Last weekend my husband and I did a "date day".  We hit up a couple of salvage yards and found a great little gem of a store that specializes in vintage lighting.

First the lighting.
You must go here:

 Knew it would be good by the sign outside the door...
And when I walked in there truly were no words, I just had to remember to breathe.
Overhead was more vintage lighting than I have ever seen in one room.
It was like Ebay and Craigslist in person...
 (sadly what heaven would look like for me, but with out price tags of course)
 worth the trip for the "after-life" sensation alone.

Now lets talk salvage yards...
Right next door to the above lighting utopia in Exeter, NH is this place:
its a bit of a dig through and it was VERY cold inside, so bundle up, but the shop owner was really nice and helpful.
I scored this brass lantern, which I plan to use in the remodel somewhere...

The next salvage shop is not to far away in South Hampton, NH.

This place was more organized and better laid out.
It had tons of lighting, old built ins and knobs & bits:

 how cool would this piece be in a (big) kitchen?


 They also make reclaimed wood tables...
and here is the  #1 contender for our laundry room door:

 and they have a barn and a yard filled with more:

There is also a good salvage yard in Portland, ME we keep meaning to get to... 
next date day.

See you on the flip side of tissues and NyQuil soon!







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