House Beautiful

Tag Archive for 'julia hengel'

iPhone Stream (of Consciousness)

I was just flipping back through my iPhoto; ye know how when you hook your phone up to your computer, it dumps everything in there, and then you forget about it?  I just took a trip back through mine and found a few gems to share with you guys…

Did y’all know Ali Larter has a blog?  She’s a domestic goddess of sorts.  I screen shot the above from her site because (le sigh) it reminds me of Fall – which I am currently yearning for.  And it gave me some Thanksgiving dinner table inspiration for this year, and made me wanna haul off to a few antique stores + Anthro and pull something all deep jewel-and-earth-toned-with-tarnished-silver together.

Can I be weird for a sec?  I’ve hosted Thanksgiving the past 2 years in my – er, what was our – sweet little house in Columbus.  There are a slew of reasons I miss that house, and hosting a gaggle of family and friends for holidays was one of em.  But having a blank canvas of my own place to decorate as I please was another.  Moving along…

At least the things I love most made it out here with me, into this itty bitty 10 x 10 joint (?) #silverlining

One thing I love about Cali?  The Corepower Yoga down the street, and the Hot Power Fusion class every weekday at 7:30am.  It’s 105+ degrees, 1 hour long, and I sweat my ever-living BALLS off.  But it’s been incredible for my beat-to-h*ll-from-college-volleyball joints.  It’s the only class I take.

Any calories I burn in yoga, I replace with Twizzlers.  This is what my desk looks like. Every day.  Oosie.

Rapid subject change: never have I ever seen a floral wedding dress, and I wish I remember where I saw this…  and I might love the bouquet more than anything else in this picture, but I give her props for branching out from the white strapless uniform.

How fun is this malachite screen I saw at an antique shop in San Francisco over Labor Day?

I posted up at a little French restaurant when I first got there – and it was a chilly, breezy Fall-ish day, and I had this.  Salmon-à-la-something-something, but it was heaven.

Cafe de la Presse was good for Sunday brunch – all bustly and charming, with a wall of newspapers and magazines to grab from.

Stumbled on some new John Robshaw bedding at a little boutique in San Fran…  I’ll be checking the local John Robshaw Mothership – Bixby & Ball (Solana Beach) for that soon.  So pretty.

We made wine tasting rezzies at this place – Del Dotto… which I was super pumped about, because I thought I was going to be transported to the French countryside for 2 hours whilst I sipped Pinot Noirs.  But careful if you’re in Sonoma/Napa – this shot is of the Del Dotto location in ST. HELENA, not in Napa.  So, we ended up wine tasting in a cave.  Which was also lovely.  But not as lovely as the pretend France I was hoping for.

They did have some gorgeous Fortuny light fixtures though, so I’ll forgive them for the bait & switch.

Roses I bought at the market while fiddle-faddling a few Sundays back.

Had to add this to my “Nostalgia” playlist on Spotify.  Because the late 80’s / early 90’s are the soundtrack to my adolescence.  That playlist also has Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany’s on it, which makes me think of my Grandparents, which makes my heart ache – and smile – so much I can hardly stand it.

Went sailing with this big hooker in San Diego a few weeks back.  I’m REAL lucky I have her as a friend.  She is one of the sweetest, most hilarious, most real people you will ever meet.  If anybody needs a good b*tch slap in the face, or for someone to show up when you need them, Karrie’s your girl.

She sent me this care package last week.  Sniff sniff.

This is what she looked like as a kid.  Just kidding.  But not really.

My new Ted Baker cami I can’t stop wearing…  It goes with EVERYTHING – I wore it with jeans and heels to dinner the other night.  With that ballet pink pencil skirt to work last week.  It’s a gem.  I strolled into the Ted Baker store at Fashion Valley after seeing this chick’s get-up.

That pic before shows how amazing my black roots look with my blonde hair.  The jig is up.  I’m wondering if it’s not time to just go au naturel…  à la Julia Hengel.  But, my face doesn’t quite look like that, so I dunno… it might be about as smart as the time I wanted cut my hair into a Meg Ryan-esque pixie cut after I saw You’ve Got Mail, and forgot for a second that I have an afro.

Kristin and I saw this a few weeks ago at Bedrosians.  If you’ve spent a sniff of time on Pinterest, or ever wanted to renovate a kitchen or bathroom, then you’ve either seen or heard about Carrara Marble.  It’s the pretty white marble with grey veining popular the world over, and it’s in every French bistro and all-white kitchen from here to Kingdom Come.  It’s classic and it’s stunning – but it’s also supes expensive. The pic above is a gigantic porcelain panel engineered to look like Carrara… porcelain = much more forgiving/resilient than marble, and also much less expensive.  This isn’t the right application for a countertop because the edge profile would be jacked, but if you wanted to – say – panel your shower walls in Carrara marble, this would save you some serious moo.

Kristin – aka my boss lady – aka the Tile Yoda – just put this Skyline Polished 1-1/4″x6″ mosaic from Marble Systems in one of our clients’ kitchens as the backsplash, and it’s stunning.

I also helped her install a few things in a client’s home the other day and snapped this ditty.  Isn’t it pretty?

Beach shacks in Malibu I passed on a 7-mile trek down the beach (where I also passed Courtney Cox and Gabby Reece – neither are ugly in person).

Michael Kors score from TJ Maxx.

Helmut Lang mini sweater-skirt I tried on at Bloomies, which I would totally wear the Michael Kors kicks with.

Look at my sweet, jolly Poppa, Stevie B, playing with Gus (his favorite thing) while he was in town to help me pack up my C-bus house earlier this year.  This pic makes me so happy.  I miss home…  can you tell?

Hilarious texts – 2 of many – that I got almost immediately after the news broke that Ryan Gosling had knocked up Eva Mendes.

Subtle stunner of a rug on the right – or rugs, I should say – at the Kravet Showroom in San Diego.

Some REAL wise words…

The best white shirt I’ve ever owned (Vince from Nordstrom Rack) – I love it best paired with an itty bitty mini.  PS.  Again with the roots.  Fer *$#&’s sake.

I made Karrie’s BBQ meatballs last week, but instead of the cheesy-corn-quinoa, just made cauliflower rice (you grate a head of cauliflower with the grater, then sauté it in a pan…  I baked mine, though, with some butter, cilantro and cumin.  It was heaven.)

The prettiest little lace jumpsuit, ever, as seen on A Cup of Jo.  Joanna knows a good thing when she sees one.

Calligraphy I die over.  Why can’t this be a font on my computer?

Sunset in Del Mar last Friday.

Gus at that same beach during the day… (look at that majestical creature!)

Gus after.  Spent.  Don’t you just wanna spoon him?

xoxo!

Steph’s Lust List

Between magazines, Instagram, Pinterest and the blogosphere, there’s WAY too much out there to keep track of all the eye candy that blows up my shorts, so when I see it, I screen shot it.  And it usually gets swallowed up by the big black hole that is my phone, and then goes to die with thousands of its friends on the island of misfit photos.  But let’s resurrect some of those pretty little things, shall we?

I’ve never been able to keep my wits together around Adam + Viktoria pillows – sold through Mecox (view all the pretty pillows over on Lisa Fontanarosa’s website).  They are luscious and so exquisitely made – velvet appliques on linen.  #nomnomnom

No, I’m not in the market for a sparkler…  but I am totally loving Andee Layne’s OPI “Don’t Pretzel My Buttons” nude polish for summer.

Cursive “love” ring from Pigment – a sweet little gift-y shop in North Park (San Diego).  Hey.  It’s a place holder.

The aqua tile with the gold inlay from Exquisite Surfaces (Laguna Showroom, to the trade only).  Le sigh.

Best / easiest way, ever, to cook salmon:  wrap a salmon steak (tightly) in aluminum foil with a few lemon slices, a few pads of butter, and then I usually sprinkle a little fresh dill, salt & pepper on it.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Comes out perfect EVERY time.

The softest, prettiest linen I ever did see at the Becky Walker Showroom…  also to the trade only.  I’m a total slut for even putting it on here.

If you don’t follow her on Instagram, you should.  I mean.  I think she was a tickle in her mom’s drawers when I was graduating high school, but this little fashionista is wise and fashion-forward beyond her years.  Great daily dose of style.  She’s also so stunning it’ll make you wanna barf.

O&L’s Japonerie wallcovering, via Alex Kaehler’s Insta.  Love it.  I just ordered samples and they’re even lovelier in person.  Also comes in a pale silvery-and-white colorway that is TO DIE.

The best-smelling hairspray that ever lived, says my college bestie Mary.

Cassandra LaValle aka Coco Kelley couldn’t set an ugly table if she tried.

Karrie swears by this.  I *^%$ hate foundation.  But she put this on me, and then I didn’t hate foundation anymore.

Can’t wait to try it.

Dying to rent it.

Just scored this vintage Stroheim fabric on eBay.  I have no idea what I’m going to do with it, but I couldn’t help myself.  More yardage here.

Perfect little summertime staple for the pool.  No longer online but available in Zara stores.

Keeping the sun off my face with this happy hat I nabbed at Marshall’s for a song. It’s a nice pop of pigment since my wardrobe (including the bikini I’m living in this summer – not this one) is white, white and white.

I need Santa to bring these to me immediately.

Long live the 90’s!  These are amazing.

That’s all I got!  Happy Hump Day!  PS: I hate to brag, but my Pinterest boards are killer.  Are you following me yet?  …you should be.

xoxo,