The Other Juicy House

I have a lot of readers who live outside the US so I thought they and others who don't read Bazaar might be interested to see the other Juicy abode. This one is a 1939 Georgian colonial in Beverly Hills that had more than a little help from interior designer Peter Dunham to pull it all together in a European style he calls "Duchess of Windsor meets Iron Maiden." Pamela Skaist-Levy are one lucky family. Both of the homes are different but are each are spectacular in their own way!

I especially love the green Jansen sofa mixed with the modern painting by Julian Schnabel! Tres chic!

The sitting room has pops of blue that echo the beach house collections of glass but in this case they sit next to an 18th-century Chinese lacquered screen.

The breakfast room is light and airy. I always think that pink flowers in blue and white Asian vases is a lovely contrast and very Anna of Absolutely Beautiful Things!

I'm obsessed with antique mirrors lately and this is an exceptionally beautiful one! The urns aren't too shabby either!

This is a much more expensive and ornate version of what I was going for at the Bachelor Pad!

The vintage mirrored desk is to die for looks fabulous with the French chairs and art and design books!

In this view from another magazine, they left the computer on the desk!

The bed came from Sotheby's in London but was rebuilt to accommodate a king size mattress.

I think every woman should have a vanity! It makes getting ready for a party an experience to be an enjoyed!

And of course the closet/dressing room wasn't forgotten. I love the antique settee and of course the Hermes bag. I guess those velor sweatsuits really did make a lot of money!

Umanonion's hacks

Umanonion sends me 2 hacks. I really like the checkerboard look on the armchair (name forgotten).

Umanonion says, "The chair was covered in a plain silver/grey fabric which I removed and replaced with black nylon for the seat and then wove black and white 4" wide strips of elastic. The white strips are closed loops as they just slid over the frame. The black strips have velcro closings at the bottom.

The other is a set of the Miriam lights (link no longer available) that came with a basic plastic sheet with the image of a flower, leaf or similar motif (yawn). I had squares of 1/4" thick plexi cut, covered them with white rice paper, and then floated squares of tin centered on the plexi (I used glue sticks cut to about 1/3" long to float the tin. On top of that, again using a piece of glue stick I put test tubes, held by a piece of wire.

In the test tubes I would put either real roses or ones that I made from ribbon and floral wire and tape. I also wired the units so that they worked together in a checkerboard pattern and put them on 2 dimmer switches. (I had removed the individual power switches from the lights before hanging them as they got in the way.)"

I feel like I just got named Homecoming Queen! Sniff!

And I'm riding around on the back of the convertible, flowers in hand...tissue dabbing a tear...(and I was shafted on Homecoming Court THREE YEARS in a ROW so don't think I never had that image in my mind!) But I'm not bitter. I digress...

You all are the BEST and I am so happy to have so many new visitors! I am so completely honored that Kim featured me and feel so fortunate to have you all checking in. I hope you will stick around!

I've been busy eating apples (DANG we got a lot) and finishing up fall around here this weekend. I'll post more tomorrow. But I leave you with a conversation between my husband and I this evening:

He went to the book store and I called him on the way:

Me: Hey honey, when you get there, if you see any fun Christmas magazines, can you grab one for me?

Husband: What?

Me: Magazines -- if you see any Christmas ones, grab one.

Husband: Christmas?? (In his but-it's-only-October-5th-and-it-looks-like-Halloween-threw-up-in-our-house-but-it's-not-even-here-yet-and-Christmas-is-three-months-away but loving tone.)

Me: Yeah! Christmas. (In my what-are-you-crazy-I'm-done-with-fall-and-done-with-Halloween-so-what-am-I-going-to-do-for-the-next-two-months,-learn-how-to-cook? but loving tone.)

Now, to most men, saying "Hey honey, can you pick out a Christmas magazine for me?" would strike fear in their hearts. But my man came through with flying colors. When I came up for bed, there it was waiting for me. And it's a beaut. I can't WAIT to share some of the fun ideas I've already found.

And will he ever be sorry. :)



P.S. While searching for that awesome homecoming picture, I found this. And I think it's real. Which makes it even funnier. I think I'll have a problem with No. 4.

The House that Juicy Built

I never quite get as much done as I think I will over the weekend which includes cleaning out my old magazines. I was trying to get rid of the ginormous September fashion mags to make room for the November issues that are already arriving but I only managed to go through a few. Luckily, one of them was Bazaar where I forgot there was a fashionable life feature on the Beverly Hills home of Pamela Skaist-Levy, one of the founders of Juicy Couture. It's funny how that house is so different from her Malibu beach house seen here. It was also featured in Bazaar in 2005 and was one of my favorite spreads. I especially love the blue and Murano glass that she has collected from all over including eBay. (A girl after my own heart.) I also like what she has to say on home design, "Creating interiors goes hand in hand with fashion. I love how colors affect each other. Turquoise is magic with the ocean." It may be turning cold in New York but this house definitely has me dreaming of the beach!

Apples, Pumpkins and Marching Band

That is what fall means to me. Apples because I can't get enough apple pie, cider, crisp, whatever, during the season. Pumpkins because of the pie (see a trend?) and, come on, they are pumpkins! And marching band because my hubby is a marching band director and for the past 16 years of my life (including when I was in the band), each fall has meant a competition every weekend.

I love all of it. Today, I schmushed all my loves for the season into one day. My Band Widow friend (our husband's work together) and I took our combined four boys (Yes, four boys!) to an orchard for an apple picking, horse riding, maze playing, pumpkin finding, hay riding, and spending-way-too-much-money day.

My Bub and I ended the day with a trip to watch the marching band, something he already enjoys (thank God!) and can't get enough of. It was a perfect, beautiful fall day and we had a blast.

In my opinion, the perfect end to a perfect day is homemade (kind of -- hey, I cut up the apples alright?) apple crisp and cider:

I'd love to hear what your favorites of the season are. Enjoy your weekend!

P.S. My Boy is on the right, on the left is one of his "older brothers." Cutie PATOOTS!

Habitually Chic: Balsamo Antiques

I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of interesting people at the Flair party including Ray Attanasio who is one of the owners of Balsamo Antiques in Pine Plains, NY near Hudson. At first I thought it was just a antiques shop but after checking out their website, I realized that they also practice interior design. The style is much different from Flair but still beautiful and inspiring "eclectic mix of European antiquities for home and garden." Enjoy!

I love nap time. ;)

My most favorite thing to do is to spend time with my Bub, but boy, do I love naptime. Look at what I got done today! Yippee!

Found these at the Dollar Store:

Touched them up with some white paint:

Stuck a dowel in them and they're done! I'm getting more tomorrow, the whole lawn will be covered with them! :)

Got an extra frame? Scrapbook paper? Here you go, with a Spooooky sparkly from Hobby Lobby for $2!

I actually got more done but the Bubby is awake! Here's one more project I can't wait to show you: Remember this? Well, I'm going to try to make it work with this...

I know you are waiting with baited breath!! Stay tuned my Chickees...