Vacation Post #1: DC Blogger Party with Eddie Ross!

I know I am absurdly late writing about this party, but hey...I just got back from two weeks vacation!

If you haven't read about it here or here or here (among other places!) you should know about the wonderful, astounding, lovely and altogether-perfect party that Michele of My Notting Hill threw on September 18th for Eddie Ross and Jaithan Kochar at her lovely home in Arlington!!

Here is the hostess with the mostest, Michele, with Eddie Ross himself (Jaithan was in the kitchen!):  

David and I just happened to be travelling to Washington DC the week of Michele's party and several months ago I happened to mention this to her in an email.  To my delight, she invited me to her DC blogger party, which was attended by an astounding array of talented DC-area designers, bloggers, writers, and decor-lovers. It was a total coup to attend this party!  And who wouldn't love meeting Eddie and Jaithan?

Here I am with Eddie, my new BFF: 

Eddie is positively delightful and witty, insanely talented, has wonderful opinions and is handsome and blonde and stylish!  Who could ask for more?!  I wish I'd had more time to pick his incredible brain about design and what he loves and hates.  He has amazing talent, wit, and wonderful opinions - I like nothing better than that combination in a person!

Next here I am with Michele, who is the most gracious hostess:  

Michele is a relaxed, easy-going and super smart lady with a great design mind.  She was so welcoming...I felt totally at home in her house, which she shares with her marvellous husband Dan (the amazing chef du jour) and two beautiful, well-mannered children!

Michele has a really beautiful house that she has not shown us nearly enough of!  I loved her style and wished I had stolen a few snaps of her exquisite decor.

One of the highlights of my evening was meeting Lauren from Pure Style Home.  Here she is with her good friend Eddie:  

Lauren was exactly as I expected.  Not only is she beautiful, but also funny and kind and charming and self-deprecating and oh-so-talented.  I felt like I've known her forever!  If I lived closer to Lauren I would say to heck with decorating and just hire her!  Her husband Dave was also soooo nice - smart, handsome, articulate, and a real DIY god!  They are a perfect pair!

Here we are, me and my decor hero:

Here's another handsome pair: Bob Murphy from the ever-fascinating blog Homer's Odd Isn't He and lovely Linda from Haven on Hanover.  

Bob is a fascinating fellow (and I didn't talk to him nearly long enough), and Linda is such a sweet and interesting lady.  She and her husband Dave (an engineer!) are renovating a great old home in Richmond, which she is currently documenting on her wonderful blog.   She also works for a great design firm and shares her talents on her blog!

Here is a photo of Linda's husband Dave and I having a rare engineering conversation:

(photo from Bob Murphy)

And here are a few more of the usual suspects:

From left to right are Jenn (Department of the Interior), Michele our hostesss, Linda, Bob, Eddie, and Pat from Pat's Addition. It was also great meeting Jenn, whose list of Georgetown shops I followed very closely while shopping that afternoon!

Here are a few more party-goers:  Eddie and Jaithan are next to Beth from Chinoserie Chic (who was so funny as she told me how much she hates the white, spare interiors I love!)  Beth was wearing a great dress but I have forgotten the designer!  To the right of Jaithan is Meg from Pigtown Design, with her sister-in-law Gabi (who was very sweet).  Meg is such an interesting lady and I wish I'd gotten to chat with her longer - she has such a sweet manner, a great mind for design, and a superb blog!

I actually had a great long chat with Jaithan, who is smart, handsome, stylish and also has talent to spare! He and Eddie are a real dynamic duo, and I was honoured that Jaithan took so much time to chat with me about their projects and perspectives.  He is a very sweet fellow. 

Here are the same folks, along with Thomas from My White Shirt (on the right) who was so nice!

Here is the talented Stefan from Architect Design (who I chatted with over asparagus and pork roast) and the ever-lovely Meg:

The redhead, blonde, brunette trio:  Jenn, moi, Michele:

Bob with his very funny friend, along with our Linda:

Trouble in the kitchen:  Jaithan, Beth, me and Meg

Jaithan and Eddie are a wonderful couple and I wish them great success with their endeavours!

I also loved meeting the beautiful and talented blogger Leila from In the Tweeds, and her Mom Sue who gave me some great sightseeing advice.  I wish I'd gotten a photo with them!

Michele and Dan threw a wonderful party and I cannot thank them enough. I had such fun and felt like I was with family.  I've never been in a room with so many people I already love!  I felt like everyone "got me" and it was such a treat to spend the evening with kindred spirits, brilliant talents, and to drink Michele and Dan's wine.

A perfect evening!

Style at Home Makeover Contest!

This office is just perfect:

But maybe yours isn't! 

If you need help, you should enter Style at Home's makeover contest!  Canada's Style at Home is a gorgeous Canadian decor magazine which happens to have a lovely website too!

Their sweet Senior Web Editor (and fellow blogger) Natalie (check out her blog These Are a Few of my Favorite Things) emailed me about the contest, which is soooooo very easy to enter.

All you have to do is post a photo of a room in your home that sorely needs some decor lovin'. There are two grand prizes (to the rooms with the most votes) of $2000 in Home Depot gift certificates, as well as 20 $50 Home Depot gift certificates available to be won by those who vote and/or comment!  So start clicking here!

The contest is only open to Canadians (sorry!) and the deadline for submissions is September 24th.  So get busy and take a picture of your ugliest room.  Or drop by to vote!

And if you're lucky, your front hallway could look like this:

 

Thanks Natalie for the heads up.  Now...where's my camera?  I have one uglissimo TV room that could use a little Home-Depot-style love...

All photos from Canada's Style at Home

Blogger Calling Cards!!

I'm in love (okay, serious like) with my pretty new blogger calling cards!  

A few weeks ago, I finally caved in to my egotistical desire for these light French Blue calling cards.  I've never felt entirely comfortable giving friends, family and acquaintances my corporate engineering business card for personal reasons, and if I did, I always scrawled my home email and number across the back.  So I've wanted an all-purpose calling card for a while.

While decorating the house over the past few years, I've met so many designers, shopkeepers, and sales people, and lots and lots of fellow decor lovers.  So I decided I would design a card just for them, my select new decorati friends, with my home email and phone number and my web address.

These cards are only for folks who I want to share my blog with (and my private information), people who I think will appreciate it.  I won't give out this card out often, but when I do, it will be done with style!

I purchased the cards from a talented designer, but had a couple of issues with the purchase, so I'd rather not advertise the name here.  If you're interested, email me.  Here are some samples that she made.  It was so hard to choose and I almost went with the dark French blue: 

There are lots of great card designers on the internet, so if you're currently a stay-at-home domestic god/goddess, a weekend decor warrior, or maybe a retired corporate type who likes to blog about your cat...you need calling cards!

They add a certain je ne sais quoi to your operation and make it look like the serious business it is!

Happy blogging (or whatever it is you specialize in)!

Windlost Goes to Washington (& Virginia!)

Jefferson Monument, Washington DC

In two weeks, Windlost & Co (David and I) will head off for vacation in DC and Virginia!  

How on earth, you may wonder, did we choose this destination? 

The answer is simple:  David is a Civil War buff and has always wanted to do a Civil War-inspired trip to the southern states. 

A Civil War re-enactment

 

As we began to plot our adventure, we thought about starting in Georgia (where I could visit Atlanta, surely one of the home décor capitals of the US).

But then Gettysburg (which is in southern Pennsylvania) came to mind.  The famous battle at Gettysburg is often described as the "turning point in the civil war".  

As we studied the map, David recognized many battle sites in Virginia (which saw more battles than any other state).

  Richmond, Virginia was the capital of the south, after all.  And nearby Washington, DC was the capital of the north.   Flights to Washington DC are frequent and affordable, and we thought it would be fun to visit the American capital. 

 

And that was how we chose our destination!

The Capitol Building, seat of US Congress (federal government), Washington DC

While in DC, we're planning to visit all the big monuments and memorials.   One of the highlights of our DC trip will be a visit to Arlington National Cemetery (where JFK is buried, and recently Ted Kennedy), and I'm excited to visit the National Gallery of Art and the Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian group of museums.  

Plus, for all you decorators, I plan to take a few hours to stroll through Georgetown and see the great home decor shops!!  Just for you...  

The Washington Monument, Washington DC

We've booked a gorgeous guest house for our 3 nights in DC, and I cannot wait to wake up in a lovely bed in a lovely room with a whole day of DC sightseeing ahead of me. 

And a top secret highlight of my trip will be meeting a couple of DC-area bloggers, but details of that adventure will have to wait.  There is a big story to come here!.

After leaving DC, the trip becomes a road trip.  We're renting a car and hitting the road for a true Civil War adventure.  

Historical parade, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

We hope to visit Gettysburg, see a Civil War re-enactment, visit Colonial Williamsburg, visit Richmond and various towns, see Monticello, and visit dozens of other historical sites.  

University of Virginia rotunda

I'm also hoping to hit the outlet malls in Leesburg (at your suggestion).  A girl needs to shop.

But before I close this post, a word of thanks is due:

I've received some wonderful travel suggestions from many of you. Jeannine in Charlottesville has been an invaluable source of perfect ideas.  Super sweet Jeannine has a great blog called Small & Chic in C'Ville that I highly recommend!!  I've also gotten tips from generous Jenn at Department of the Interior (isn't that a great name?), the always amazing Michele at My Notting Hill, and of course lovely Lauren at Pure Style Home.  

For anyone I've forgotten, thank you.  I truly appreciate your generous spirit and must admit that DC and Virginia seem to have the nicest people in the world!  I am thrilled to visit your towns and cities, if only for your kindness!

I am sure our trip will be perfect, thanks to you!

Any other suggestions?  We accept hot tips on restaurants, inns and B&B's, decor shops, outlet malls, historical sites, great BBQ shacks, pretty towns and must-see spots.