From the category archives:

The Sweet Life

Happy Friday, my sweets! I just have to start by saying thank you for coming to this space to spend a bit of your time. I really try to create a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere here, so I hope you feel that. If I could offer you tea and cookies when you came by, I certainly would! Today I would like to share a few colorful and inspiring images, links you will definitely want to check out over the weekend, and yes, a bit of news.

Stylist Selina Lake

First off, isn’t this image splendid? It comes from Stylist Selina Lake’s new book, Homespun Style, which I am dying to get my hands on. I find everything Selina does flat out amazing, don’t you? I am just barely beginning to get my feet wet with styling, and this really makes my heart flutter!

Lotta Anderson of Lotta Jansdotter studio tour on Design Sponge

More from Lotta’s studio tour on Design Sponge

Another favorite lady of mine, Lotta Anderson, shared a peek into her studio over on Design Sponge the other day. What a great idea to use one of those industrial style laundry baskets to organize supplies in the studio! Plus, I am short on book shelves at the moment, I have stacks in the basement just lying around, and my one bookcase on the main floor is overflowing. I am pining for floating shelving to hang above my desk, and I love Lotta’s seen here in her studio.

The French home of Myriam Balaÿ-Devidal on Design Songe

For more color inspiration, did you catch this home tour (linked above)? So vibrant – much more brave color-wise than I tend to be, but I love it! And if you haven’t done so yet, be sure to check out Nicole’s redesign of Making it Lovely, it is so, well, so lovely. ;)

Stylist Selina Lake

And now the news: I am officially a contributor on Houzz! I have been pulling together product picks for the site monthly for some time now, but they recently contacted me to ask if I would be interested in doing more, and I accepted! This really is a bit of a dream come true for me, because I am making money doing something I love. Wow. So, now you can find me there twice a week, writing two columns – “Decorate with Intention” (see the first one here) and another looking at international interiors. I hope you will come pay me a visit and leave a comment if you like what you see. : )

Looking for something to listen to over the weekend as you knit or work on a craft project around the house? I recently discovered the Electric Sheep podcast from Hoxton Handmade, based in the UK, and I am completely charmed. I’ve been putting it on in the afternoons while Bixby naps and it transports me to the loveliest places in London and beyond, discusses knitting, handmade goodness, and other creative topics. If you have a listen, watch out – it is habit forming!

Well, that wraps up another week here on Lolalina, I am off to thoroughly enjoy my weekend – a fresh haircut, date night, and also lots of new work – a good mix, if you ask me! Happy weekend, xo Laura

(images: linked to sources above)

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Bon Weekend!

January 28, 2012

in The Sweet Life

Let’s pretend we are taking off to Paris for the weekend, okay?

{via hooray}

We can get inspired by watching this film on the plane.

{Little Brown Pen}

When we arrive, perhaps we can convince Nichole to point us to a superb café for breakfast. After, we could check in to a hotel…

{Paul Ferney}

…but wouldn’t it be even better if we were apartment swapping with Jordan and Paul?

We would definitely laze around in striped tops, lounge shorts, and other perfectly simple things from Chance.

{Little Brown Pen}

 And at night we can walk through the city, and count our lucky stars.

Bon weekend à tous! I will see you on Monday, xo Laura

(images: linked to sources above)

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Good morning, my dear ones! We had our first real snowfall over the weekend (finally) and everything suddenly feels a bit more quiet. This month I have been doing a lot of thinking about what my intentions are – for my home, my work, my life – I feel more peaceful than ever, and I am so amazed to see many things already clicking into place. I have to warn you, I am feeling chatty and this may run a little long, so if you want to take a moment to fix yourself a warm drink please do that and I’ll meet you back here!

Okay, are we all settled in now? Good. : ) For whatever reason, this past month or two I have felt my vision for the life I want coming more clearly into focus. Instead of vague wants and wishes, I can feel much more deeply what I want and need in my life. In a way, I feel like the hard work I’ve been putting in – to my self, my home, my work – is finally beginning to come together. I’ve found myself easily losing weight and adopting healthy habits like drinking green juice and practicing yoga daily, and then an opportunity that I have dreamed of landed in my lap. For now, I will be taking on just a little more work, but there is the potential to add much more as I have the time, and it has me dreaming of so much more. I can share all of the details with you later, but for now let’s just say that my dream of making a living from my writing is this much closer to coming true. Wow.

Coming from the San Francisco Bay Area, I am not naturally a winter person. But the value of a real winter is finally beginning to sink in – it is a perfect time to dream and make plans. And it helps to have a little boy who loves snow – pure joy is infectious! I have been taking this quiet of winter as an opportunity to do a lot of journaling and reading, planning for the year ahead. A few things bubbling in my mind: backyard chickens, redoing our front porch, white floors, a vegetable garden, events with the Alliance Française, weekend trips.

Another thing I have found myself rethinking is my e-decorating biz, which (I thought) I was all ready to launch soon. But now I feel I have a much clearer view of my own personal strengths and passions, and I realize I will need to take a different approach to really make use of that. So, it’s back to the drawing boards. But I’m really, really insanely happy about it because I know what comes to fruition in the end will be in line with my intentions, and it will be sure to be even more successful and rewarding because of it. I am so grateful to my “tester”, for putting up with many months of practice, all of the time spent and lessons learned were invaluable.

Whew, well I have rambled on for far long enough. What about you? It’s been feeling a little quiet around here lately (were all of you at Alt??) and I would love, love, L O V E to have you chime in. What is happening in your life? What are your intentions for this year? Thoughts?

Oh, and if you are seeking more visual inspiration, look no further than the gorgeous and creative Norwegian blog Loppelilla. All of the images in this post come from her inspiring blog, are you familiar? If not, go have a look – you won’t be disappointed! (Thanks to Holly for finding her!)

(all images: Loppelilla)

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Happy new week, my dears! How was your weekend? I enjoyed a lovely (though cold) long weekend at home with my little family. Did you do anything fun? I am trying my best to keep my jealousy at bay: Alt Design Summit starts tomorrow, and many dear friends will be attending. Are you going? And have you seen everyone who’s speaking? Oh my. To counteract a bad case of Alt Envy, I had to find some truly lovely inspiration to soak in…

And I found just what I was looking for in Jennifer Causey’s photography and the Little Flower School – utter gorgeousness, yes?

I just adore Jennifer Causey, I get a little flutter whenever I see her credited as the photographer. :) And this month she shot a stunning story on the Little Flower School in Brooklyn for Martha Stewart Living. I think I drooled all over the magazine. Have you heard of Little Flower School? I hope so, because I know if you have you already love these talented ladies and their innovative business – and if not, you will!

Of course there is so much more beauty to be found in Jennifer’s portfolio, it really is breathtaking. Corners of the home, luscious food styling, flowers and friends and all sorts of inspiration. What is inspiring you today? I would love to hear. xo Laura

(all images: Jennifer Causey Photography)

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Hello lovelies! Can you believe that New Year’s Eve is upon us? I absolutely love the New Year and all it represents. And while I have enjoyed some splendid parties on that night, if I am honest I prefer being a homebody, sipping a cocktail (this one looks good!) by the fire, chatting with close friends, and ending the night curled up with my journal thinking about the past year and what lies ahead. This year I thought it would be fun to create a few printable pages to share – my small gift to you. I hope you enjoy them! :)

There are two PDF files available to download. The first is a Birthday Calendar (top), which I created because I am terrible at remembering birthdays and I am hoping to improve my record this year! The second is a New Year Intentions Journal which includes two pages – a blank “Letter to future me”, inspired by this annual tradition, and a fun journaling page (shown below) to get your ideas flowing.

I am off now to start my long weekend, and I will see you back here on Tuesday to kick off 2012 feeling fresh and inspired. Happy New Year everyone! xoxo Laura

(Printables created by me for the Lolalina blog, feel free to share but please link to this post – thanks!)

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