Academy Awards 2013...OH HAPPY DAY!!

     I love, love, love the Academy Awards, even though most of the show is so boring beyond words, but my fave part is the pre-show fashion and once again just like during the Golden Globes, I've been camped out folding laundry, cleaning baseboards, and swiffering all day while watching E's multi-hour lead up to the big show!  Then a quick switch to ABC to watch a munchkin...I mean Kristen Chenowith interview all the stars walking the red carpet.  Seriously, she is like 43 pounds and 3 feet tall.  Here are my fashion faves for the night...

It's a toss up between Charlize Theron and Naomi Watts for best dressed people with Jessica Chastain coming in for a strong third...

Charlize Theron...SNA-AAAAPPP!  In some serious Dior Haute Couture and rockin the short hair people...
I am so not a white person, well probably because I look like holy hell in it with my pasty Irish skin situation, and Charlize has that golden hue thing, that is soooo not fair...
The peplum thing is all sequined out in gorgeousness!


Naomi Watts in Armani Prive the color is to die for!  She is so beautiful!
Jessica Chastain in Armani, love it, and she totally made up for the hot mess that was the Golden Globes this year...
Sexy award goes to Samantha Barks from Les Miserables in a stunning Valentino...Black and boob again people just like at the Golden Globes, so very right now!
Luke warm for me, but still quite pretty was Jennifer Lawrence in another Dior Haute Couture...
Amy Adams in a romantic gray Oscar De La Renta...OK, she's always stunning, just not quite a SHAZAM moment...
Because ya know, I feel like I've seen this look before...hmm, where prey tell...Maybe 2007 Oscar De La Renta and Penelope Cruz!  THAT'S IT!...oh Oscar D, it's all a bit shady if you ask me...well at least you changed the color up a bit, but I must say this was soooo very amazing back then, I'm surprised Amy decided to go there for 2013...
And Anne Hathaway in pink classic Prada and Tiffany jewels, which is weird because she was supposed to be wearing Valentino allegedly, so what happened with that?  Did Rachel Zoe flake out last minute?  Was the dress not bananas?!  Was the Valentino a hideous hot mess, because even Valentino can have a bad day...like here back when somebody talked Sela Ward into this belly exposing Britney disaster that was in fact Valentino at the Golden Globes circa 2005...oy vey what in the world, I mean really...
Was it really awful and Anne said "Hell to the NO!"  We may never know, we can only speculate, spread scandalous rumor and innuendo, and imagine  the Rachel vs. Anne moment of OH SHIT, because you know there was one with dialogue like "Um, Rache, What the f**kity f*%k is this?  This isn't working, I mean at all..." and Rachel is all "OMG, we have to shut it down, I'm having a f*&ing heart attack...like right now, Babe, where's my VENTE STARBUCKS?!"  

But she looked quite pretty in pink Prada, just not show stopping like I thought she would!
Kerry Washington in a poppy colored Miu Miu...
Not really feeling this Alexander McQueen on Amanda Seyfried...but I heart you in Les Mis!
And Bradley Cooper...Will you be my boyfriend, pretty pretty please?

Just don't tell Ryan...

Pillow talk...to splurge or not to splurge...that is the question?

     What is it about pillows that get us all excited about decorating the house?  They come in so many different price points, colors, styles, and patterns so it makes it easy to change up the look of your house and give it a little pick me up.  Pillows are kind of like shoes.  You can get a trendy not so expensive pair of shoes for a bargain that you may only wear a couple of times, or spend a bundle on something really crazy expensive and hope that you will wear them enough to make up for the cost.  I'm so bad about making decisions on pillows not unlike my sad little lampless house, because I get all caught up in the need for a great pillow or lamp, but I'm kind of cheap, and yet I really like the rather pricey ones!  So I never dive in!  I mean pillows can be crazy expensive and it seems rather silly.  I can sew...sort of, not great, but enough to make a pillow, but they never turn out as fab as the really professional ones in the store, so what to do?

Here are some that I'm loving, and may actually bite the bullet on...

Number Four Eleven in Savannah, GA have the most gorgeous ones I've seen in a while.  This would be great in Beach Cheeky, but this one is on the pricey side at $150...
Love monograms, so very classic, also from Number Four Eleven, not too shabby for $75...
How great is this, I have no idea how much this is, but the silk pillows on the day bed are to die for, I love all of it!  Well, minus that zebra situation on the chairs...yikes

These wee little chevron were from Blue Print in Dallas, while adorable, they were it bit pricy at 155 bones!

These are beautiful and great for the beach from Les Indiennes Shop...
only $66...


and gorgeous quilted ones that are sadly sold out...I can see why!

Really want to splurge?  How about some crazy expensive yet always fabulous Fortuny pillows...


In blue, or orange...
Source: ebay.com via Sarah on Pinterest


Yes, and yes...

A case for Velvet...

     Walking around Casa Cheeky for more than a few moments and you will inevitably run into one of our three 65 pound bundles of fur that have taken over our house, or trip over the endless amount of dog toys that have infiltrated our abode.  I am the biggest pushover when it comes to my dogs and let them sleep on any couch, chair, or bed that they want.  This is a problem for my cream linen wingback chair in my bedroom which looks not so great covered daily in every color of fur.  I spend an inordinate amount of time with my handy little tape roller whisking away the bit that I can, swiffer and sweep non stop, but their fur never goes away!  Great fabric choices for dogs seem to be nonexistent other than slipcovers, and I'm not sure I want to go that direction for a couch that is in desperate need of recovering thanks to Blue who destroyed it last spring during what clearly was some kind of deranged puppy acting out moment.

I came home to this...
And the next day he did it again, and I caught him in the act... 

What to do?  Besides locking him up in perpetuity there aren't a lot of options.  Thankfully, he's outgrown his horrible eating couch phase and has now moved onto a sadistic killing sweet little squirrels stage...so there's that...
  

But I still have the couch to contend with, and for the moment it sits in my garage like one of those hoarders from A & E...whilst I deliberate my options...

What I love, what I am crazy over at the moment is velvet...It's so perfectly gorgeous!
Love this mixed with linen...
Great color for the ottoman, and love the couch...
Source: houzz.com via Jenesis on Pinterest

Grey velvet with pink Chanel...yes please!
Source: indulgy.com via Janice on Pinterest

Beautiful on a chair...

Found this at Blue Print in Dallas, gorgeous...

Gorgeous in green...






A little pink on Valentines Day...

     Happy Valentines Day!  Nothing says Valentines Day like a giant whatever of chocolate and a bit of pink...here's to both of them...

So adorable...
Love the paper with the pink...

Tasty Chocolate Fondue!


Glam...
Source: piccsy.com via Theresa on Pinterest

I have no idea what this is, but if it has alcohol in it I want one!

Pink damask wing chairs...

Source: horchow.com via Christi on Pinterest

Salted Carmel Six Layer Chocolate Cake!


Very glamorous pink and red...


Pink fluffy velvet...

A delicious chocolate gateau...mais oui!



Yes please...

Happy Valentines Day!




Fabulous headboards, and not so fab trips to the hospital!

      There is nothing like spending way too much time in a hospital and around really awful hospital beds to make you appreciate your very own cozy one that you are desperately missing out on!  We had a rather exciting past few days with an emergency trip to the hospital, gallstones, and very little sleep for all involved, well unless you were jacked up on morphine that is (sadly I was not), and then you are sleeping quite well indeed...and how was your weekend?  Big D ended up in the hospital with a very angry gall bladder, but the good news is that all is well.  I had a solid five hours of sleep last night, which was like being at a spa compared to what's been going on the last few days!  So it got me thinking about how much I love my bed.  I mean it is my own little piece of heaven that I love to melt away in, snuggle with the pups, and watch Downton Abbey or Real Housewives...and sleep like a baby because it's so very comfy.  I have a four poster heavy wood situation, lightened up by white linen and white sheer drapes, because I love the contrast of dark and light, but I was thinking about what I want to do at Beach Cheeky, and I really love the look of upholstered headboards.  They are kind of lighter, less serious, a bit more fun don't you think?

Here are some that I'm loving...

This velvet is gorgeous, by Tracery Interiors and just up the road in Alys Beach from Beach Cheeky...



       Love the thickness of this great headboard in natural linen...
Great design and color...

Gorgeous blue...

Love this...

Simple, love the silhouette pillow...
Source: bhg.com via Crystal on Pinterest

So serene and blue!

Perfectly beachy...


Houston, we have a problem...

   Do you ever have a hankering (hank-er-ing ; a longing, craving; to have an restless or incessant longing)  for something way too much? 

    For me the problem tends to be a craving some kind of delicious chocolate situation, but as of last week I was in the throws of devouring nearly a half gallon of Blue Bell Vanilla Bean ice cream and it hit me about 3 o'clock every afternoon like a back alley junky and like clockwork I had to have some kind sugar fix which happened to be Vanilla Bean Ice Cream!..., and I did it whilst scooping it up with pretzels...what?!  Take a couple of preztels and dip away in heavenly vanilla bean...again, and again, and again!   Yes, it's addictive so buyer beware, but it's also crazy delish.  It's that whole sweet/salty thing that's got me hooked...

Curse you delicious creamy vanilla concoction!



and my ass has has enough of this nonsense, thank you very much, therefore I'm payin for my sins in overtime on the stair master from hell on level 8,  and then I found this on You Tube to torture me too, holy shiznips this hurts, and not in a good way...Yes, that Czechoslovakian accent should scare you for real...she's about to kick your sad little ice cream eaten ass...



Ugg her body, so depressing, not a muffin in sight...and 50 reps WTH?  I died at 20...just saying...

Good bye Vanilla Bean...It was fun while it lasted...

Currently reading...and reading...and reading...and reading...

     I love, love, love a good book, and one of my favorite things to do is go hang out at the book store and peruse the little lovelies in person.  I am old school all the way when it comes to books.  I want the real deal and if possible, in hard back, but they're getting harder and harder to find unless you buy them immediately, and even then some come out in paperback.  Sadly, I've gotten into a bad habit about buying a book and getting about half way through it, and then find myself in the bookstore cheating on my current book and upgrading to a shinier newer more exciting livre du moment and forget about my sad little half read novel waitin to be attended to!  I do this all the time, and it must stop I tell you.

So currently reading and reading and then switched...

Quiet by Susan Cain
The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Good book, well at least the part that I read, I probably got distracted by talking to people at the book store about the latest must have's and can't live without literature of the moment!  I am one of those people who can't stop talking, especially if I'm talking about books!

to this...

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

A book about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley (love the name Hadley) where Hadley who was practically a cougar at the age of 28 and gets all romantical with Ernest who is cray, cray, but this is early Ernest, just back from the war Ernest, so he's sexy cray cray, like you want to take care of him and go to Paris with him, and just watch him write, and go listen to some smooth jazzzzzzz...

and got distracted by this crazy summer read
Gone Girl by Gilliian Flynn, which by the way I actually finished...
on to...
Monkey Mind by Daniel Smith
a memoir of anxiety...

This book is a hoot and a memoir which is my personal favorite kind of guilty pleasure, well I have only read 100 pages of it, but this is what hooked me...if you have anxiety, or know someone who does, you can totally relate...

I am anxious.  The anxiety makes it impossible to concentrate, I will make an unforgivable mistake at work.  Because I will make an unforgivable mistake at work, I will be fired.  Because I will be fired, I will not be able to pay my rent.  Because I will not be able to pay my rent, I will be forced to have sex for money in an alley behind Fenway Park, I will contract HIV.  Because I will contract HIV, I will develop full-blown AIDS.  Because I will develop full-blown AIDS, I will die disgraced and alone...From freeform anxiety to death-by-prostitution in eight short steps...


and onto more serious stuff that I was compelled to finish before the movie came out...
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

It's basically difficult russian names...dancing, vodka, vodka, vodka...riding on trains, dancing, vodka, vodka, vodka...people speaking french yet they are Russian...what? Naughty rebellious Anna, sexy Vronsky, dancing, vodka, vodka, vodka...well you get the picture, and I was only 131 pages in...
but, it's 953 flippin pages...and I went to see the movie anyway


then distracted by and currently reading 
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes...
Source: bilbary.com via Caitlin on Pinterest

I'm still reading this, and love the writing, really gorgeous stuff, but I'm desperate to get this one

Going Clear by Lawrence Wright

It's about the hot mess that is the Church of Scientiology and all their wackadoos, and I love a great non fiction, especially when it involves wackadoos and famous people involved with said wacky behavior!


I really need to by a book about finishing what I started!