Hi all, hope you had a great weekend!  A few weeks ago, I mentioned that one of my home goals for this year was to take a bare patch of wall in my kids play space and turn it into an art and homework station.  Many many moons ago, before the little ones were born, I actually had a ‘formal’ dining room.  Ha!  Those were the days when we had an entire room dedicated to formal dining.  No point in that these days, so after those babies were born we decided to better use that square footage to store their toys, games, etc in a kid friendly space.  

There was a bare unused patch of wall in there, so over the weekend I created a little art desk and wall gallery for my daughter.  Art is her most favorite activity ~ drawing or painting is the first thing she wants to do when she wakes up, and the big excuse she uses to wiggle out of her looming homework.   I decided to encourage her talents and dedicate a little station to my budding artist. 

Her older sister gave her the desk from her bedroom, so that meant I didn’t have to buy one!  Yeehaw, gotta love shopping your house for the perfect solution!  I gave it some grosgrain ribbon trim around the edges for a fun pop of color.

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I just got back from the Big Apple very  late last night.  I’ve never been to New York City in January, and it was cold baby cold!  But not unbearable, in fact it was rather brisk.  Do people still use that word?  Brisk?  Anyway, I do a ton of walking when in NYC, and this trip was no exception.  I was staying on the upper west side.  In past trips, I haven’t had a chance to really explore it all that much, so this was the perfect opportunity!  The Upper West Side felt very "You’ve Got Mail” (minus the gorgeous weather in the film) and understandably so, since most of the movie was shot there.   

I was scheduled for the afternoon taping with Nate, so I spent the earlier hours walking around the upper west side.  Loved it!  Here’s a few scenes from my long morning walk, forgive the cloudiness of some of these photos, the lens kept getting foggy from the morning drizzle!

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Hi all!  Thanks so very much for your kind comments and well wishes from yesterday!  

Big thanks to a few readers who nominated this site for The Homies over at Apartment Therapy. 

Also, a few kind people let me know I was quoted in The Nest magazine, what a nice surprise!

“Have a place for everything. Whether it’s a basket, drawer, or file, it’s the key to keeping clutter at bay.”   I think this is especially true when it comes to the littlest things, which also relates to the ‘Junk Drawer Overhaul’ series I’m participating in with one of my favorite bloggers.  Hop on over to visit Mrs. Limestone to see my best tools for keeping all those teensy tiny yet necessary things in order! 

The winners of last week’s My Design Guide Giveaway are:  #53 Julie Long,  #201 Sara Tippet, and #718 Samantha Cleys.  Congratulations!   

Now for this weekend’s giveaway! 

Have you heard of WUSLU?  It’s a unique home decor site featuring finds from around the world for bargain prices.  There is one ultimate deal at a time until it’s either sold out or the clock hits 10 am EST.  

There’s a new fab find every day, just like these !

WUSLU is also running a “no boring home” contest.  You can post photos of your spaces, and others vote.  The person with highest votes wins $50 in WUSLU money !  Post your pictures and join in all the fun here. 

Here’s the giveaway: WUSLU is giving away two $75 dollar gift certificates to their online site for affordable and fun shopping. 

Eligibility to win one of two $75 gift certificates to WUSLU:

1) Simply leave a comment answering this question:  What piece of décor are you currently wanting for your home?

2) For a second chance to win, hop on over to WUSLU and pick a favorite item from their history tab, then name it in a comment.   

3)  For a third chance to win either “Like” WUSLU on Facebook, or follow WUSLU on Twitter, then leave a comment saying “I Like on FB” or “Following on Twitter!”.

Two winners chosen by Random.org.  US and Canada only.  Giveaway ends Monday January 24, 2011 at 8 p.m. PST. 

Good luck and have a fantastic weekend!

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Hi all!  I’m on an airplane across the country today, one of several trips I’m taking over the next few weeks.  Airplane travel always justifies a trip to the bookstore for some new books plus a handful of glossy magazines, so I picked up some new reads today. 

There’s a few great books on my nightstand right now that I’ve read lately, so I thought I’d share. 

Let’s start with the eye candy. I’m loving Suzanne Kasler’s Inspired Interiors*, 200 pages full of classic elegant spaces, just my style!

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