Moutaineering

Mr. Fonty and I are off to his family's paradise in the mountains this weekend. I feel spoiled escaping the Athens heat for the second weekend in a row. I'm so looking forward to fishing with Mr. Fonty and our lure-fanatic dog. Being out on the lake is one of my favorite things to do together. It's just the two (er.. three) of us, and we can talk and laugh with no distractions (Bravo TV and iPhone games, anyone?). Mr. Fonty pretends not to be annoyed that I get my line caught in something ever 6 casts, and I try not to be jealous that his fish are always triple the size of mine.

It seems many of our friends had the same idea and will be in Highlands too. I foresee a lot of wine drinking in my future - post fish massacre of course.

 Mr. Fonty and Ryman have been in the mountains all week at Echo Mountain in Asheville, NC. Ponderosa is in the studio making their next album. Ryman has really taken to his role as studio dog:

What are your weekend plans?

Gems of Etsy: Jason LaFerrera

Of course the California Bear is my favorite.
30x20 $250


I saw a post on High Street Market the other day about Jason LaFerrera's prints, and it was love.

His animal prints are made from old maps referencing the species' home territory. I love the idea of using these prints as rustic art in a cabin. It can be a nice change from all that taxidermy. The designs remind me a little of one of my mom's favorite children's authors/artists Eric Carle
They could also be nusery decor that isn't too cutesy.

An Armadillo for Texas
24x20 $225

 

16x16 $125



How cute is the Tennessee Mockingbird?!
16x16 $125

When perusing LaFerrera's page, I stumbled upon Triple Studio. They make the cutest hand painted cards for about $6 each. Paired with an Ikea Ribba frame, you have inexpensive nursery decor.

Unchartered Terrain

I am not sure how this online gem escaped me seeing that it combines my three favorite things: online shopping, Urban Outfitters/Anthropologie, and home design. Terrain is the home store brain child of Urban Outfitters. It basically has every cute thing Anthropologie sells and then some.

The brick and mortar store is located in UO headquarter city, Philadelphia. It is in the former building of J. Franklin Styer Nurseries, an old garden center, and focuses on living plants and even has garden design coordinators on staff. Terrain retained many of the original nursery employees. How lovely is that?!?Shopping make you work up an appetite? Terrain has an onsite cafe! If anyone is in Philadelphia (I refuse to call it Philly), you must go and report back. See a Slideshow of the store HERE

The prices aren't cheap, but they aren't astronomical either. Some of my picks:

Eiffel Table, $1,400

Patterned Votive, $54

Potter's Work Table, $2,000



Nine Drawer Console, $2,800.
I have the perfect spot picked out for this puppy. if only...



Tunesday with George: Robert Ellis

Mr. Fonty is over at The Biscuit Blog today. Although it was released last week, Robert Ellis' album Photographs is a must purchase. He is out on tour with the Old 97's peddling his limited edition vinyl and cds. Go say "Hi", and tell him the Fonty's sent you.

Robert talks to the New York Times about the unique album featuring distinct sounds on Side A and Side B.

Robert Ellis and The Boys Tour

Spick and Span

I wouldn't call myself super clean or anal, but when it comes to my closet I can get a little Mark Sommers. I LOVE closet organization. I love clothes organized by style and color. I love matching hangers and everything having its place.
I travel a lot for work, so I often don't get to all my projects around the house.I realized this week that is was already July and 95+ outside and I hadn't switched my closet to summer yet. I had also let my closet go a bit. It was time for a revamp.

I've found that when everything has it's place, it is easy to keep it organized - and even easier to find exactly what you want to wear. Once you get your closet organized, it shouldn't be too hard to keep looking nice - even for the most disorganized.

My Tips for Organizing:

• Organize by article style and then color - Yes it sounds neurotic, but it is wonderful
• For example: Sleeveless: White - Black, Short Sleeve: White - Black
• Get matching hangers. I can't stress this enough. You can do all the organizing you want, but it will always look a mess if you have nasty dry cleaners hangers.
•  Have a "Holding Zone" - a open spot in the closet to hang clothes temporarily. Sometimes you just don't want to put something away immediately. Having a Holding Zone give you a place to set it for a bit rather than balling it up and throwing it in the corner of the closet
• If you have tall shelves, don't be afraid of the step stool. I know mine looks a little silly, but at 5'2", nothing would get put away correctly if I had to jump to get it there.

 Before:


I had a stack of clothes sitting on the floor and stacks of unfolded clothes. Please note the dry cleaning that had been hanging there for almost 2 weeks



   After:  

My step stool lets me get to my dresses and the luggage zone way up top.

 

My BIGGEST tip: get matching hangers. These white hangers are about $0.10/piece at Target. Some day when I get ambitious I want to switch to these hangers:



Under no circumstances should you have mis-matched or even worse WIRE HANGERS in your closet.



Here is my Holding Zone. Just don't let clothes stay here permanently.



* You may have noticed that Mr. Fonty's side (okay, corner) doesn't follow any of my rules. When we first moved in, despite Mr. Fonty telling me to keep my color coded fingers off his clothes, I organized all his plaid. I've rarely seen him get mad, and on this occasion, I didn't think he was going to forgive me. So today, he has his corner and I have mine, and I ignore the red next to the blue. At least the hangers match! (*sigh*).