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Up!

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This past weekend I saw the new Pixar movie, UP. WOW! You all have to see it; It may be the best Pixar movie yet! I wouldn't take very young children to it though, it has some very sad situations that were hard enough for me to take! The animation is superb and the writing is excellent. Even the small 'short' before the movie was really entertaining!Without giving too much away, the premise is an elderly widower who attaches 1,000s of helium balloons to his quirky Victorian house to fly to South America! Don't ask, just go; Let me know what you think!
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Blogger inspiration

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I feel a bit uninspired lately, I have to apologize for that. I want to thank the kind people who have emailed me to make sure I'm ok: I'm fine and just a bit pre-occupied! Hopefully the weekend will rejuvenate my blogging sensitibilites and 'think different' as this old Mac ad proclaims with the divine Callas. I hope her singing will inspire you this weekend!
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Fun weekend projects

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This past weekend, I went to the National Building Museum to check out some of the new, and very interesting, exhibits. They have the best gift shop in all of DC: Fun games, household items and every design book under the sun! I picked up a few postcards from Monkey Designs which contain parts to build models of some houses -you can see a few above.
I bought 7 and thought I might build 1 or 2 for some fun. I built 4, just couldn't stop myself! I started with the Georgian house you see to the far right, then progressed to the yellow Greek Revival style house which was a bit harder. I then moved onto the pagoda which, while it had a lot of steps -wasn't as hard as the French Styled house with lantern on the roof (a lot of swearing went into the creation of that TINY lantern). These houses stand about 1 1/2" high - TINY pieces to cut out with an exacto-knife!
But it was a lot of fun, I plan on digging up a miniature train set from micro-machines (do they still make those?) and putting them under my mini christmas tree this year!a blurry picture of my weekend projects. The 3 left are a Greek revival house, Buckingham Palace and Chartres Cathedral.
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Australian War Memorial

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In honor of Memorial Day here in the US, I've decided to focus on a monument most of us probably aren't familiar with -the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia's capital.The memorial was first conceived after WW I. However, a competition for the design of the structure wasn't completed until 1928. Because of the great depression, the monument then wasn't finished till 1941. The style remains Art Deco which was popular at the time. Housed in the building is also an Australian military museum.interior of the dome above the Hall of Memory. Stained glass depicting the virtues of soldiers surround the space, you can see one of them above. They were completed by Napier Waller, a 1-armed veteran who also did all of the mosiac work here in the hall.The central courtyard.
The cloisters around the pool contain rolls of honors to commemorate the 102,000 soldiers who died in the field throughout the numerous battles Australia has participated in. The rolls list name only, because, as it states, "all men are equal in death".
Top image courtesy of Les Butcher on Flickr.com. All others from wikipedia.org
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First rose of summer

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I was walking home the other day and noticed that the roses are coming out in full force. I guess summer is upon us! I hope everyone has a great weekend and takes some time to smell the roses!
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Architectural master 'pieces'

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Well you knew it was going to happen someday. Lego has started a new collection called 'Architecture'! You don't know how excited I am: as a kid lego's were just about the only toy I was interested in! Probably the most fun so far are the sets based on Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces. Released in conjuntion with a show at the Guggenheim (of which there is also a model, seen above) called 'From within Outward' with the help of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation these sets will help young budding architects learn a bit of American Architectural History piece by piece. The show at the Guggenheim looks pretty great too, I need to head up to New York to see it before it closes in August!Also in the series is a BEAUTIFUL (but expensive at $299) set of the Taj Mahal.The Empire state building above and the Seattle Space needle below are just as fantastic and a much more reasonable $20. For nieces, nephews, children -anyone? I can't wait to see what comes out next in the series!
Model at top of the post is of Fallingwater: the Kaufmann's summer home outside of Pittsburgh.
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Blogger Tea Party

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This past Saturday I hosted local design bloggers for a meet'n greet High Tea at my apartment. A few of us had met before, but it was so great to be in one room all together. We are trying to keep up our blogging social meeting once a month - power to the DC bloggers!Here you see Beth of Style Redux and Chinoiserie Chic serving champagne to the guests.
Only a blogger can know how fun these online friendships can be. We get to share our design passions and interests online daily with one another and it's fun to bring these into real life conversations!Michele from My Notting Hill poses by the drinks station. Champagne, lemonade, sparkling water, tea and coffee were the drinks of the day.
Allie from Summer is a verb took some artistic shots of the tea table, which she thinks are blurry but I think are more impressionist! Strawberry shortcake, croissants, tea sandwiches and some other snacks all proved popular!
The spread before....... And the spread afterwards -chaos and empty plates show that everyone had their fill! I used my Harebell by Coalport china for most of everything, but couldn't resist using a plate from my strawberry cream service by Royal Doulton for the tea sandwiches to go along with the strawberry theme!
Whats a sign of a good party? Empty champagne bottles and glasses litter the coffee table!
Also in attendance was Scott from Domicidal Maniac (who I've known since early college days and motivated me to start blogging),
Thomas from My White Shirt,
Janet from JCB
and last but not least, Abby from Semigloss Chic
The peonies even got some showtime in the bathroom - I put one single flower in a bud vase to liven up the sink.As little 'host' gifts, I gave away my favorite carrotcake cupcakes from Georgetown cupcake -a nice little treat for the ride home :-) Hopefully this will encourage you to meet some of your local blog buddies!
Participant in Tablescape Thursdays!
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Save La Ronda!

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Recently while reading the Elements of Style blog I came across the plea to save La Ronda. I have to admit I had no idea what La Ronda was, but I instantly recognized the building as one that was designed by Addison Mizner, the famous architect, as his last commission in 1929. The current owners, who wisely are remaining anonymous (trust me, they'd be getting numerous phone calls and emails from me otherwise!) wish to tear down this architectural treasure for something slightly smaller, more modern and 'with air conditioning'. Seriously - tear down a gem so you can get something as basic as air conditioning. With a little ingenuity and a good architect & mechanical engineer you could have AC anyway. NEWS FLASH -that is not an excuse to tear this place down. And I have to ask -why did you buy it in the first place?
image courtesy of 'road less trvled' on flickr.com
Admittedly the house is immense, measuring in at 14,000 sf and at one time had 27 servants to tend to it. That can't be easy to take care of I'm sure- but look at what you're taking care of!The house is filled with beautiful details that are painstaking to reproduce and rarely are. The house was $3,000,000 to build back in the 20s (more than what the current owner paid for it) -imagine what it would cost today? Tear it down? What?!
A grass roots effort has started to save the mansion through their local conservancy group, Lower Merion Conservancy and a cause that I support annually, The National Trust for Historic Preservation. I'll let you know if something comes through that we can help save this place. Currently it looks like the only way to save it is for a conservation minded purchaser to step forward. I've contacted numerous members of the local commission and they all say any buyer who intends to keep the mansion intact has their full support. The current owner paid only $2.5 million for the mansion, how much do you think it will take to make them release it from their deadly grasp?
Watch a video that sums up the mansions plight nicely HERE.
Learn more about Addison Mizner HERE
Images where not credited are from the Philly.com article which you can read HERE.
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A little supper

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This past Thursday I had some friends over for a little supper. Nothing fancy, just a little pasta and salad after work. I set the table the night before.I know you're not supposed to put flowers with a lot of fragrance on the dinner table, but I couldn't resist these pretty peonies!Easy as 1, 2,3 -I think it turned out ok. Beats pizza at the coffee table!
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Furniture re-do

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Lately everyone has been thinking about how to do updates to their home on the cheap, for obvious reasons. I found this great vintage sideboard on ebay made by Baker and decided to have some virtual fun with it. You can find it online HERE. A quality made piece like this is worth the investment. If you buy a vintage, dated-looking cabinet like this (the blonde ashen wood isn't very popular now, even if some readers do like it!) it's easy to update-especially if it has great lines like this! I would start by lightly sanding it, priming the exterior then spray painting it a glossy black with a few coats. I suppose a more adventurous decorator could go for a bold color, but thats not my style. I would leave the interiors and even the edges of doors and drawers the natural wood to prevent sticking. Next I would update the hardware. I love this Pirouette knob from Restoration Hardware and think the lines compliment the console. Nickel finish of course!
The Gilmore Knob, also from restoration hardware, would work nicely too -and is more masculine.
This would be a great chest for in a large bathroom or dressing area, painted white, for toiletries and odds and ends. The black paint would work nicely in a hallway or foyer as a catch-all. You might even consider leaving just the very top the natural wood. Dated looking, quality pieces like this are easy to find at tag sales, craigslist and your families basement -give it a try!
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Walsh Mansion

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While on the embassy tour a few weeks ago, I was able to tour the famous Walsh mansion which houses the Indonesian embassy. Located 2 blocks from Dupont Circle, the house was designed in 1903 by Henry Andersen for Thomas F. Walsh, a gold miner. Not just any gold miner, he found the largest gold mine in the world at the time! He and his wife, Carrie, moved to Washington DC to make their mark on its social scene. The house was built for the sum of $853,000.
While they inhabited the house until Carrie's death in 1932, the site is better known as the home of their daughter, Evalyn Walsh McLean - the last owner of the Hope diamond. She abandoned the house after her mother's death and it was occupied by various goverment agencies at her bequest until it was bought by the Ambassador of Indonesia in 1951 for $335,000. Small loggia over the front entry.
The current main entrance. You see the former Ritz Carlton hotel in the background.Statues from Bali flank the front entrance which ward off evil spirits and invite good spirits.You enter into a tiny vestibule with marble walls and an ornate ceiling.Looking back into the vestibule from the central hall.The most impressive space in the house is the central hall. You can see why! The skylight rises up 3 floors, letting in tons of light. Even with all of the dark finishes the room felt very bright.
Detail of a banister.The skylight.Sconce in the central hall.To the right of the stairway was a room with another prominent doorway. I wasn't sure if this was originally the main entrance or if this was a type of reception room.To the left of the main staircase is the salon. In honor of the day an Indonesian band was playing.
The ceiling in the Louis XIV styled room is incredible. I love the juxtoposition with the Indonesian parasols.More of the salon. The ubiquitous crystal chandelier.Above a doorway. Doesn't this remind you of a carousel?This doorway led to the Conservatory.
Sadly the conservatory has been stripped of most of its charm but with the addition of hideous curtains. Imagine this room filled with potted palms, orchids and trees!
The exterior of the conservatory.
Beyond the salon through a large opening is the music room. Here is a view back into the salon.While it is named the music room for the enormous organ in the corner, I questioned if this was originally a dining room of. It clearly is used as one now.The room is lined with these (china?) cupboards which now house Indonesian crafts.The fireplace in the music room.
Detail of the paneling.
The ceiling in the music room.
Sadly this was all we were able to see of the mansion, but it was so over the top and ornate I had my fill! What an amazing place!
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