peace out

boots, originally uploaded by simply photo.

I'm outta here until after the new year.

Happy and safe travels, fun, parties, etc. mmmmmmwah! *M

...::H A P P Y * H O L I D A Y S::...

hoping your holidays are warm, filled with laughter, fresh baked cookies and surrounded by those you love.

saul leiter:: street scenes

Saul Leiter's vintage photography of urban winter streets, always seem to look warm and romantic from this beach, vantage point.

Having no formal training in photography, Leiter began shooting New York street scenes in the 1940s.

He once noted his love for using expired colored film for its result of surprising and odd shift in color.

Saul Leiter's work was the subject of a major 2008 exhibition at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris.

christmas at the white house

Christmas at the White House 2009 from White House on Vimeo.

we need to talk to them about using at least one living tree next year.

rizzle for the sizzle

I just came back from standing in a 45 minute line at the post office. A bit remiss in my gift sending {per usual} vowing to, next year, get my act together by October. As I stood in a line of octogenarian surfers, off duty lifegaurds and flip flop wearing beach moms, frantically filling out mailing slips as their little surf-grommit kids swung from the edge of the counter, I took comfort in knowing that I'm not alone in my slacker christmas spirit. In this spirit, I share with you a few last minute gift giving ideas.

Holiday cards on the fly have made it all so easy you can wait until the week of! forget about mailing them out, some of use haven't even created our cards yet. I like minted.com's easy turn around and great looking designs.

I bet Santa uses something like this. Originally meant to haul around bricks and mortar I suppose, the Heritage Leather Co.'s Mason bag is sturdy as all get out and cool looking too. found here for $70.00

Fabric originally from Kojima Japan, the kyoto selvedge chambray scarf. Great for those of us in mild temps in a beautiful 'violet' colorway. found here for 80 bones.

Using old perfume recipes from the 1920s and 1930s, these exquisite and unique scents contain essential oils of cedar, hiba, patchouli, vetiver and vanilla with a twist of lime and spruce. Beautifully masculine in scent, definitely unisex for you gals who don't like to smell too sweet and perfumy. Found at the Portland General Store for as little as $10.00

I love the work of I'm Smitten {and they have the rare site with music playing, that doesn't make you scramble for the mute button} . I've especially had my eye on this lovely piece for some time. "Foxes in Trees" print - $40.00 found here

Tom's shoes. LOVE these. I was in line {as opposed to on line} the other day, the women in front of me had a pair of flats with the ubiquitous {around here at least} TB logo across the toe. I, then, looked at my own casually canvased, espadrilled foot and wondered if TB gives a pair of shoes to a needy child with every purchase of a pair of her shoes. Tom's "One for One" plan only makes these shoes that much more awesome. And now they come in all kinds of groovy colors and designs. I take mine solid- but the above are kind of sail-club worthy.

And finally, while we're on the, gift for a gift idea, check out Walk With Sally's- shopping cart. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to this non-profit mentoring program {started by my husband} helping children and families dealing with cancer. The Skarf is the newest edition to their growing line of product. The site also, offers One Hope Wine as well as various tshirts {one of which I designed}.

So, that's all I got for you all today. Now, excuse me as I must go deal with one case of strep throat and a dead opposum under the house. Oh, and I need to order those holiday cards.

Keepin' in mind, through it all:

peace out

belted galo :: grass doe

Beach bungalow 8- The Skirted Round Table, Holiday gift giveaway

The "real" beachbungalow8 as seen in the New York Times today.

Michal Czerwonka for The New York Times

Almost a year ago, my friend and fellow blogger Joni {cote de texas} asked if I'd be interested in joining herself and Linda Merrill { ::suroundings:: } to create a design podcast. Sure! why not. I was so flattered to be asked. I figured we chat, create a few of these podcasts and the whole thing would be short lived. I had no idea, that it would turn into what it has become. Almost a year later The Skirted Round Table has far exceeded, clearly, my own expectations.

I had never thought that one day I'd be chatting it up with people like Margaret Russell, Charlotte Moss, Alessandra Branca! The list goes on. Wow. I'm truly blown away by our good fortune. As we cruise into next year, our show focuses, once again on Holiday decorating. Unlike our last stab at it, this time we're a little more up beat about it all! We have some great blogs to talk about with beautiful holiday decorating. And to thank our listeners, from the bottoms of our hearts, we are offering a gift give away. Actually, each of us is having a giveaway: there will be three First Place winners in all. One winner will receive a gift from Linda, one will receive a gift from Joni and the third will receive a gift from me! Your choice: either this yummy candle by English Eccentrics or this sweet little sugar bowl.

To enter – go to The Skirted Roundtable blog page HERE and leave a comment. That’s it! We’ll pick the three winners Thursday night. So hurry and leave a comment – and go ahead and listen to the newest podcast while you are there. BTW: After this week, The Skirted Roundtable will be on vacation until the first week in January when we welcome Stephen Drucker, editor in chief of House Beautiful magazine as our first guest of 2010.

holiday

I'm cutting outta here, and heading up to the mountains. I leave you with these sunny & charming, holiday shots.

Vogue UK, May 2008 Photography:: Patrick Demarchelier.

pencils of promise ~

In an effort to use the power of blogging as a philanthropic vehicle, this holiday season, Paloma Contreras of La Dolce Vita blog has enrolled and inspired fellow bloggers to assist her in spreading the awareness of an amazing non-profit benefiting young women in developing countries.

Pencils of Promise, a wonderful 501(c)(3) organization based in New York, that partners with local communities and organizations to build schools of early-stage education in developing nations for some of the world’s most impoverished and undereducated children. There are more than 75 million children in this situation worldwide.

How we can help:

Our Blogger Collaborative Project will benefit the females students of Champet, a village in Laos that is home to the only high school in the area for surrounding villages. In order to attend this high school, the students must leave their families and homes to live in dormitories. However these dormitories are worlds away from what comes to mind when we think of Western boarding schools. Most importantly, PoP wants to point out that girls are moving and living in these unsafe dormitories which consists of make shift bamboo huts in order to get an education. It is heartbreaking but so courageous at the same time.

For more information and photos please visit Paloma's blog, La Dolce Vita or go directly here to make a donation to this worthy cause today.

forvever knocking it off

Last spring I posted some photos of a baby shower I threw for a friend and received loads of emails requesting the source for her beautiful necklace. Unfortunately, the beloved 'Stormy Sea Necklace' is no longer available at Anthroplogie.

But look what I found at forever 21 ..... not a bad fake for $40.00 less.

We're planning a  quick trip to NYC. Having very little in the way of warm clothing other than snowboarding coats. and inspired by this shot of a young Robert Redford, I've thrown together a few things we may be needing  before leaving town {I can already tell you he'll ix-nay the purse}

 boots -red wing

duffle coat- source unknown

 pea coat- army/navy surplus

mailbag-  barneys

 flask- j.crew

 scarf-J.press

peace out

I know not where I found this image. If you do, please drop me a note.

get your christmas on

this week on the skirted round table we discuss decorating for the holidays, some of our favorite christmas posts from other blogs, and great christmas resource sites. But before you pop over there, check out my friend, designer, Scot Wood's beautiful video that he made of his San Francisco home decked out for the holidays:

the brain

I'm so intrigued and drawn to this project by the OSKA architecture firm: A think tank for a film maker created out of poured concrete and nestled into a wooded area.

When done well like this, to me there's something so beautiful about the juxtaposition of industrial elements like these with 'nature'. Those windows both bring in and frame the verdant surroundings, making them every part of space and creating a warmth to something that would otherwise be cold.

and check out the interior, who wouldn't want a fireman's pole in their idea lab, not to mention a window the perfect height and size for a dog face to peer from.

those floors, the piano, the pulleys, the BOOKS! I could spend some serious, Sunday afternoon alone time in here.

you know, sometimes it's all about a wall of those damn mullioned windows. check out that light streaming in.

This team is so incredibly talented, be sure to check out more of their work on their site. I've found myself stuck on it for a good hour perusing and dreaming. Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen "The Brain is a 14,280 cubic-foot cinematic laboratory where the client, a filmmaker, can work out ideas. Physically, that neighborhood birthplace of invention, the garage, provides the conceptual model. The form is essentially a cast-in-place concrete box, intended to be a strong yet neutral background that provides complete flexibility to adapt the space at will. Inserted into the box along the north wall is a steel mezzanine. All interior structures are made using raw, hot-rolled steel sheets."

thank you, thank you.

One of the great things about blogging are the connections made. I think all of us know that. Whether you're a reader or a blogger......it's all communal. It's a great and friendly neighborhood of like minded people, who in this case, love all things design and creative. And it only gets better when you're able to meet each other in person.

Along these lines, I'm so happy to have met Timothy Dahl and his beautiful wife, clothing designer, Laura Dahl. Timothy has the super, you-need-to-bookmark-it-now site called 'Charles and Hudson'. Dahl has grown to become the leading voice among independent home improvement websites and has been featured in Real Simple, the Washington Post, and Martha Stewart's Sirius radio show.

I'm so flattered, as Timothy included me this week on his 'interview' segment. So if you want to know a little bit more about me, check it out. But mostly, check out this great site filled with all kinds of design introspection and inspiration. thanks Timothy, you rock , and when can we hang out next?

..: unique L.A. :..

downtown L.A. , on an unusually gray day

the line was lllooonnngg this year.

Over the past weekend I took the fam. to Unique L.A. and can I tell you, I LOVE this gift show. Imagine etsy, 'live'. It's quirky, it's cool, it's alt.... it's alive with creativity.

The girls with the beautiful Erika Kemp of oshii handknits. If her vibrant energy is knit into each of these pieces, that alone is worth every penny. She was just mentioned on Daily Candy last week too. Great baby gifts here, we bought hats:

My podcast pardner, Joni, said to me the other night that 'handmade and artsy' is so me. She's right. I'm all about it. It makes me giddy with excitement, takes me back to my years at the Art & Design building.

do you love this sofa? I almost want to marry it I love it so much.

moniker's booth. LOVE their tshirts!

This is the 2nd year {and so they can officially call it an 'annual' event } it takes place right before the Holidays, just in time for gift buying.

Hey! round the corner and there was Sharon Montrose. She's the one that does those CRAZY precious photographs of knuckle biting cuteness. Baby animals.

h is for Hannah, is even better in person.

If a Saturday afternoon of letterpress, great t-shirts, beautiful photography, artwork, clothing, DJ spinning tunes and great food is 'so you' you should go next year.

oh, and of course, no Unique L.A. experience is complete without a whacky photo op.

C. wearing her Unique L.A. purchases- a cape and a hat.... thing. She hasn't taken it off yet {yes, even sleeps in it}

Here's who we loved/bought from :

oishii handmade- natural fiber, hand knit, SOFT adorable wearables. Sharon Montrose- the painfully cute photography of baby animals from the super talented photographer.

moniker- the place to meet all your groovy T needs.

H is for Hannah- pearly and simple. lovely contemporary, porcelain pieces.

twitter me that- give away

Join me over on twitter @beachbungalow8 and find out how you can win these beautiful Mercury Glass Chalice votives from RianRae.

Hint: do you know the derivation of the boutique's name?

Must be in the U.S. one winner only.