Anna Dello Russo



I can only hope my legs look this good at 47!!!!!



The 47-year-old ADR lives in Milan (she’s Italian), and helmed L’Uomo Vogue before joining the magazine’s Japanese title. She maintains a hilarious blog over at AnnaDelloRusso.com…. and is even the star of her very own manga (yeah, it’s even more awesome than it sounds). Other fun facts? She owns two apartments — one for herself and one for her clothes. But there’s a method to her madness: she’s cataloging her entire collection so it can one day be donated to fashion historians.

IT'S A BOY!!! ...............we hope.

BRANDY'S PREGNANT!!!!

She told me that this is it!  The last go 'round!  3rd times a charm, dammit! And since this is the case, we are all pulling out the heavy artillery!!!! 

Praying for a boy! 

Rosary beads, novenas for hours, lighting candles, getting a bag of chicken feathers from the Botanical on Broad Street.  Whatever it takes! This is serious business!!!!!

A boy! A boy! A boy!  Everyone, say it with me!  Geez, if it is a boy, that lil' sucka is gonna be smothered/eaten to death...by everybody!

But either way, we all just want it to be healthy. 

Even if it is a girl (crossing my fingers)....I suspect I can handle another five years of tutu's and plastic high heels. (lawd, geezus).

Nonetheless, this grand news has just given me a reason to post all things nursery!  Woohoo!

CONGRATS TO MY FRIEND!!!!!!

The Corbel

I first read about The Corbel in an article in Louisiana Homes & Gardens.  It's right there on Hwy 61 about 15 miles outside the city limits, so we ventured over there yesterday on our way to St. Francisville.

The store is amazing.  Although pricey, you can find great inspiration here.  Beautiful repurposed and refurbished finds and they do custom work as well. 

Our next project:  Making a headboard out of an old door.

Interior Barn Doors

I really love interior barn doors.  It's rustic without looking country.  I'd love to have one divide my family room from the dining room or my home office space.  I hope I can incorporate this look at some point.

What do you think about this look?

Spencer E. Toy

images via desire to inspire

Above: A San Francisco entry by Feldman Architecture.

Above: A bathroom door by the Brooklyn Home Company via Design Sponge.

Above: A bright red door by Los Angeles architect Barbara Bestor.

Above: A bathroom alcove with a sliding door by Max Levy Architect.

Above: A sliding barn door conceals an office in a project by Greene Partners, via Sunset Magazine.

Above: Barn-style doors conceal the laundry and a pantry in this kitchen via Sunset.

Drum roll please.....

It's not fabulous...but it's 300 times better than what it was.  It's our first completed room, so I'm proud of it.

I had fun doing the makeover but I am completely worn out!!!

I don't have any "before" photos from when Troy and I lived in this room but trust me it was AWFUL!!!!!

I'll give a little breakdown of where I purchased some of the items.

YUCK! YUCK! YUCK!  This room was awful.  Peep the gold and black curtains.  I can't believed Troy and I lived in this room for so long and never took down those curtains.  They were so disgusting.

We pulled up the carpet Halloween weekend.  The floor have some stains but nothing sanding can't fix.  Otherwise, a wipe down with Murphy's oil soap will suffice for now.

Let's get started!

Hmmm, which color?  London Coach (left) or Modest Silver (right)  (Valspar $26/gallon)

London Coach it is. 1 gallon, please (crossing my fingers).

Yes, you're not seeing things.  That's iron bars on the inside of the window...with a padlock no less,

which we don't have a key to.  Can we say FIRE HAZARD? 

What the previous owner was doing in this house, we can only speculate.

A new ceiling fan ($88 Lowe's).  Would love to get away from ceiling fans so I can put up more appealing light fixtures...maybe in my next project.  And, hey, we are in the south. 

Nothing like a good fan...and this one's remote control.

A DIY project wouldn't be the same if Troy wasn't dressed for the occasion.

Painter hat.  Check.  Painter shirt.  Check.  Painter pants.  Check.

Thank goodness for Leonard.  Our ubiquitous handyman.  He's done most of our projects for us, including the entire remodel of the condo.  He's great.  And he cooks the best white beans ever!

Gotta have the Fleur de Lis in the mix. I had Leonard install the rod half way between

the top of the window and the ceiling to give a more dramatic feel.

(Fleur de Lis curtain rod, $6.99 Home Depot for the 48 in-84 in.  I was shocked.)

Took us a whole day to paint.  I like the results.  And 1 gallon was enough. Woohoo!

Lamps, Marshall's $24.99 each.

Charcoal velvet curtains 96 inches (I wanted 108 in. so they could pool on the floor), World Market $32.99/ panel.  I fell in love with the curtains at Pottery Barn but at $149.00/panel...*wince*

Don't "sleep" on risers, no pun intended.  They add instant luxury to your bed.  I hate sleeping on low beds, the kind when your foot dangles over the edge it touches the floor, unless it's a low profile so it's meant to be...otherwise, I love a nice high bed.  Feels "richer".

Boudreaux's napping spot.  He slept like this for an hour.  Love them little chunky hind legs.

Duvet set, Target $34.99.  Down comforter with matching pillow shams, Marshall's $24.99.

Decorative bed pillows, World Market $19.  Throw blanket, Marshall's $14.99, iron bench (brother-in-law's), purple throw pillows, Marshall's $9.99.

Decorative mirror (Troy's), TV cabinet (brother-in-law's), Wood chair, World Market $49.00, Large decorative purple pillow, Marshall's $19.99.

Bedside floor mats, Bed, Bath & Beyond $14.00, Bed skirt, Target $9.00, Night stands, Target, $55/each (after I haggled the price with the manager, they were originally $79.00)

Hope you enjoyed our first completed home project.

Recent ETSY Purchase

By now most of y'all know how I feel about ETSY!  I love this site.  It saved me for my wedding and my sister's baby shower.  It truly is my favorite and most shopped site.

Last night I received my most recent ETSY purchase.  A vintage find, Steamboat Gothic by Frances Parkinson Keyes.  I purchased this beauty from the seller, Vintage Book Boutique.  I've been into locating any vintage books about Louisiana and this one was a great discovery, mainly because of its drawings.

Here's one description I found on the Internet:  "In Lucy he found a woman with passion to match his own and a love strong enough to tame him."

With a description like that, hell, who wouldn't want to read this book?!

The book itself is beautiful though.  The binding is in tack, the pages are discolored and yellow from wear and likely sitting on a library shelf somewhere.  And it smells heavenly...just like an old, quiet library.

I'm currently on the lookout for other Keyes novels, in particular, Once On Esplanade: A Cycle Between Two Creole Weddings is a fictionalized biography, originally written for teenage girls, of the Creole woman who provided Keyes with much of her understanding of Creole life between the Civil War and the First World War.

In case you're wondering, the guest bedroom is finito and ready for Justine Parker's (my grandmother) standards...I hope.  Will post pics soon.  Maybe today, if all goes well.