Jenny from the Block

Veranda magazine recently featured Jennifer Lopez's home on its pages.  I have to say, I was a bit surprised by the house.  It is a beautiful home, but I somehow expected her house to be a bit trendier, more glamorous.  That said, I do love the blues and grays used throughout:

 

I absolutely adore this staircase coupled with the lunette sofa.  I love the curves in this space - so feminine and elegant.

The living room is very elegant and soft, but a touch - cold?  Perhaps it's just the effect of staging the room to photograph it, but it lacks warmth in my view.

I love this dining nook!  I love the round table and white upholstered chairs.  I want that light fixture - it's so simple, elegant and brings old world charm to the space.  How awesome are those blue cabinets.  Love this room!

I don't know a lot about kitchens, but aesthetically speaking - this kitchen is perfect in my eyes. I love the black stove and the blue cabinets!

The one thing I found very J-Lo in the house was this:  

A pink gown set in the corner of a guest bedroom.  Swoon!!  So girly and chic.

Sexy Time

I am happy with the living room in my apartment, but my bedroom is not quite there yet.  The problem originates with the fact that I bought bedroom furniture with an eye for function and not style.  Ideally, it should be both.  You want something that serves its purpose but is also a reflection of how you want the room to look & feel.

I want my bedroom to feel warm and sexy. I found some inspiration at Elle Decor (of course! I love that magazine).

This bedroom feels tropical sexy to me, but only in an ideal world where I have a live-in house keeper.  Because that much white requires a lot of care.  I suppose that's what lends the room sexiness - it's breezy, yet luxurious.

 

What I love about this room is the combination of the very bright yellow with the stark metallics.  It feels very fresh and sophisticated.  The browns add warmth to the space.  It is a very NYC bedroom.

This room is very cozy, it does have a snooze factor to it (not the good kind of snooze), but the fireplace outweighs any blandness.  A roaring fire by the bed is the ultimate sexy.

I love, love, love this bedroom.  It is so young, fresh and colorful. The green tufted sofa adds some soft luxury to the room and the charcoal artwork adds a nice touch of edginess. I love the monogramming on the bedding.

How awesome is this room?  A bit over the top, yes; but a gigantic mirror as a headboard =  much sexiness. I love the bright red comfort and touch of zebra print on the bed.  I am not sure what's the thing at the top of the mirror.  It could be a projector or a lamp... hmmm.  I am also digging the nude artwork.  ;-)

{Images via Elle Decor}

So much inspiration and so limited by budget.  *Sigh*

Amor

It is the week before Valentine's Day - the cheesy, manufactured holiday of Hallmark, florists and jewelers the world over.

But in honor of love and the color pink, I found a few rooms that help shed some much needed warmth on the stark and ugly day that is Valentine's (bear with me, I am single):

I love that pink sofa!!  Love it.  And the curve of the windows made taller by the curtains hung from the ceiling.  Que romantico.

I love how the pink tones in the rug soften the room without making it too feminine.  Que classico.

What is it about crystal, black accents and pops of pink that feels so girly and so sexy?  Que delicioso. 

 {images via High Gloss Magazine}

I personally think a pink cashmere throw brings love to any room.  Que femenino.

{Image via Lonny Magazine}

Balance

Dear Readers,

Last month I did not do a good job of maintaining balance in my life.  Work kicked my butt for a solid four weeks.  I have never worked that intensely before and my entire life revolved around work.  The few hours I had off here and there I felt drained and exhausted.  Mercifully, I had a few days off last weekend and I flew down to Miami for a mini spa vacation.  It was awesome and I feel recharged and focused.

I missed this blog. I missed reading my favorite interior design blogs and magazines.  I had frequent dreams last month that I was designing people's homes.  

I wonder how hard it would be to transition my legal practice to a design themed career.  Could I be in-house counsel for a shelter magazine?  In house counsel for an interior design firm?  Start my own business? 

Before I start leaping from idea to idea, I should focus on simply maintaining some balance in my life.  Readers, a life that revolves around work 24 hours a day is not a life worth living.

While in Miami, I alternated my spa time between the Delano and the Ritz Carlton.  The decor at each place was delicious eye candy for me.

The Delano Hotel:

The Rose Bar.

Blue Door

This was my favorite - the spa terrace where you can lounge & drink champagne between spa appointments.

The very chic lobby.

The Ritz Carlton South Beach:


My favorite lunch place is the Di Lido at the Ritz.  It's ocean side and has gorgeous views.

 

 

 The gorgeous pool with views of the ocean.

The art deco lobby - there is a super classy art deco style bar in the lobby. I wish I could find pictures of it!! Maybe for another post.

London Calling

I am in love with this townhouse featured on Elle Decor.  The home was decorated by Steven Volpe, a designer based in San Francisco.

I love the layout in the room and especially that settee flanking one side.

Designing a small room or nook like the one below can be a challenge.  I like that the furniture is floated in the room.

How gorgeous is that banquette?  This is perfect for having cocktails before dinner.

I love the neutral, soft color palette of the house.  Those curtains are beautiful and so are the upholstered chairs.

I love the velvet sectional, coupled with the graphic rug and that curvy chair.  So elegant and chic.

I love the drama of this bathroom and the steps leading up to the tub.  So sexy! 

{Images via Elle Decor}

Adios 2010

This year has been one of introspection and quiet days.  After a few years of intense personal drama, I needed a year of peace.  In retrospect, I see how fitting it was that I tore a muscle and a ligament in my knee early this year.  It forced me to be still.

And it was good.  I rested. Took inventory of my life.  Recuperated from the roller coaster ride that was my life for a good 3 years. 

But now that is done.  I am ready for full on adventure and activity, minus drama. 

2011: Bring. It. On. 

I am not much of a champagne drinker, but when I do - it's Veuve Clicquot Rose.  Wine & Spirits described it best: "This has the bright savor of a strawberry dipped in sea salt." Love. 

There are two ways to drink champagne: the slow sip or the fast drink.  Tonight we drink fast.

Bienvenido, 2011 !!

Week of Joy - Days Four and Five

The holidays and work (f-ing work!) interfered with my blog posts.  I want to quickly wrap up the posts I had planned last week for my Week of Joy, before the last post of 2010.




The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears or the sea.  - Isak Dinesen

I love the ocean.  I love that feeling when you walk into the ocean and the water wraps around your legs.   I credit the sea for healing many of my own heart aches.

{Images from my vacation in New Zealand}

I love the way the ocean changes color depending on the sun.  I could happily live the rest of my life by the sea.

A couple of bedrooms with an oceanic color palette.  The one below is very soothing with shades of gray and white.

I love the sparkle and green tones in this room:

{Images via Elle Decor}

Another thing that brings me great joy is travel.  I love to visit new places and I especially love the challenge of visiting places where I don't know the spoken language. The ironic thing in my life is that I used to travel a lot more when I had less money.  Now that I have a nice salary, I work too much and don't have as much free time to travel.  I think some adjustments for 2011 are in order.

A place I hold dear to my heart is a little town in central Mexico called San Miguel de Allende.
 I spent a few months here before moving to New Orleans for law school.  I was in search of guidance and healing.  I found it in this little town of cobblestone streets and colonial architecture. 

 This is the church that flanks the main courtyard in town.  It is a lovely soft pink color.  It kinda looks like a teenage girl's birthday cake and I love it for that reason.

I would spend hours strolling the streets and stepping into unexpected shops and art galleries.  San Miguel de Allende is a big artist's community and has many expats from all over the world. It give this little town a cosmopolitan edge.

I rented a little apartment with a rooftop terrace and this was the view.

For years, I would dream about San Miguel de Allende. I would dream (in that way where dreams don't follow logic or reason) that the town would search for me and ask me to return.  After a while those dreams stopped. 

I think a return trip is in order for 2011.