LA DOLFINA

 It's a balancing act when it comes to deciding which treasures you are willing to part with and which you want to keep for yourself... Remember these large planters I found intending to use them at the shop?  Well in the end we decided not to use them so I picked them up last week and brought them home.  I thought I'd try them in my entryway. They actually fill in the wide expanse in front of the door nicely and raise the boxwood balls so they appear more prominent from the street. It makes the front entrance a bit grander yet still feel cozy.   I plan to paint the bamboo rod and medallions black and hem the striped panels so they fall neatly behind the planters. What do you think? Last week while out hunting for new treasures for the shop I almost walked into this beauty that sent my heart a pitter pattering!   Of course I snapped it right up!  The price was right.  Sure the mirror is missing along with one of the hooks but just l...

  Arrived in Oakland a few hours ago and finally we're on our way to San Francisco. We paid 25 cents at the Toll Plaza to enter this wonderful bridge that was opened four years ago. It took me awhile to get used to the traffic.   The Oakland Bay Bridge   The bridge has two decks. The top deck is for automobiles and the bottom deck for trucks and electric trains. You can see the tracks at left. The trains are run by the Key System and Southern Pacific. They can take you all over the East Bay to wonderful places like Neptune Beach in Alameda.   The Yerba Buena Tunnel  We have just passed through the Yerba Buena Tunnel and can finally see San Francisco in the distance. Notice that the traffic has thinned out. Many of the cars got off the bridge at the island to go to the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island . The fair opened last year and will close for good later in 1940. I'm going to try and go there. Right now we're heading for ...

After a very long Sunday, countless command strips and an extremely patient husband...  I can finally reveal the finished room I posted about here ! (My Inspiration)   I have been collecting these various treasures piece by piece over the past few years...     so it was a lot of fun to have so many things to work with in freshening up my college son's bedroom / new guest room. We have a fairly small home, just under 1800 sq. ft.,  so it made sense to have this room do double duty while giving it a more mature feel. It's interesting to think back over each find and how they all came together to create this "new space." I felt like a stylist working with so many great props! I guess subconsciously I had been creating this look in my head without really realizing it.   It's a pretty small room as room sizes go...   and even though I packed quite a bit into it I think it works. I found this antique Chinese tole tea bin from Englan...