#521...vinyl ice cream monster

On Vancouver's Granville Island, we stopped in a shop called Ainsworth Custom Design and I bought myself a vinyl plush ice cream cone monster by Sebastian Curadeau.

He's a lot meaner than the sweet ice cream plushie I made for Marin earlier this year. You don't want to run into him in a dark alley...he may eat you before you can get your first creamy lick of him. I hung him on my bedroom wall.

#520...chihuly garden of glass

In Seattle, we stumbled upon the newly open Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit, located at the base of the Space Needle. Dale Chihuly is a renowned American Glass artist, who hails from Tacoma, Washington. I first saw his work on the ceiling in the Bellagio in Vegas. It looks like this.......

I also once saw a 30 foot aquamarine blue glass Chihuly tree in the backyard of a home on River Oaks Golf Course here in Houston. The home was part of the Azalea trail a few years back. Part of the Chihuly exhibit is indoors, and part out. There is a huge glass pyramid that connects the two spaces that houses a huge glass floral garden suspended from the ceiling. 

Here are some other pictures I snapped inside and outside the exhibit. My favorite was this white glass drip forest that was lit from within in neon.

There was a huge collection of Pendelton blankets inside the Chihuly exhibit, as he has been influenced by their pattern and color in his work over the years. (I have a mild obsession with Pendelton, so I wanted my picture with the wall of blankets). If you find yourself wandering Seattle, I highly recommend checking out this exhibit in person. It's breathtaking.

#519...cascades border crossing

Last week, Tyler and I rode the Amtrak Cascades train from Vancouver, B.C. , through Seattle, to Portland. It was a really scenic ride, and an easy, no-line waiting option for crossing the Canadian border.

Near the border crossing, the US government commissioned a sculpture by Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo of Lead Pencil Studio. It is called "Ghost Billboard" and is made of twisted bits of metal. It is a commentary on the many billboards that clutter our landscape. It was surprising to see sculptural art at the border, and it was radically different than the giant metal fence with guard post border that runs along the Texas/Mexico border.

Above are pictures of the border crossing station from my seat on the train. In the lower picture you can see the Ghost Billboard behind the border booth (far right in the photo). Below are a few other pics I snapped from the train.

#518...round back sofas

I've been thinking about a rounded back sofa for my front entry room. I need the thrift store Gods to send one my way.

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#517...ombre hair

While perusing pinterest looking at hairstyles, I spontaneously decided to try the trendy ombre technique on my hair. After several bad dying attempts in my formative years, I knew better than to try this on my own, and went to a salon for the dip dye. I'm still getting used to it, but here's my new do.....

Here are some of the photos I found on pinterest that inspired my hair change....

#516...beer brew

This weekend, my sister Sarah and I brewed some beer. Our beer is currently fermenting and will be ready in a little over a month. It took us about 3 hours to Mash, Sparge and Boil the beer to get it to the fermentation stage. I don't like to drink beer, but brewing it was pretty fun!

Sarah gave the beer making kit to Tyler for his birthday last year, and after waiting several months for him to do the brew, we took it upon ourselves to brew his beer for him. The kit came from Brooklyn BrewShop and is the Everyday IPA variety.

#515...ergo ergo

For several years I have used a vintage Steelcase chair as my desk chair. It looked like this...

Since I started standing at my desk...(see my new standing desk here), the Steelcase chair seemed clunky, heavy and in my way. I decided I wanted a simple stool for my seated desk. I came across the ergo ergo stool, and was excited that it promotes good posture and core strength, which I am constantly working on to help keep my herniated neck discs feeling good.

It definitely gives the room some whimsy....it has a very "Pee-Wee's playhouse" vibe to it, but I am enjoying balancing on it while working on seated tasks.

#514...billy balls

I have a strong dislike for silk floral arrangements, but an unbridled love for live plants...(well those that actually thrive indoors). Dried Billy Balls fall somewhere in the middle, and I'm on the fence about whether they have a natural, easy vibe or whether they border on stodgy, staged arrangement. I recently picked up a bunch at my local Whole Foods, and am trying out a small dried arrangement in my laundry bath.

#513...quirky kitchen inspiration

I helped a friend work on a tiny cottage kitchen recently, and it got me searching for quirky, inexpensive kitchen ideas. Here are some creative kitchen pics that I found inspiring.

#512...thomas wold inspired

I really admire the work of furniture maker thomas wold. I love that he takes old, broken, discarded pieces of furniture and turns them into cabinet works of art. Inspired by his work, I decided to create a cabinet masterpiece of my own.

I scavenged around my house and decided to use this cabinet, two end tables (seen here as a bench), an embellished Ikea clock, and two wood Ikea planter boxes. I precariously set up my cabinet to figure out what else I needed to make it balance.

All I was really lacking was a leg on the right side (where the box is above). I painted the wooden planter boxes, and Tyler built a crate style box leg using reclaimed wood and some metal straps, and he attached the cabinet parts together for me.

Here's the leg.....

and the finished cabinet................