I have a little "daily quote" posted to the "wall" of my "office" at work (an open air cubicle pod). It is from an old "funny thoughts for women" daily calendar that a work friend of mine, Dana, gave me as a Secret Santa gift years ago. I dutifully ripped away each day's little piece of paper for a year (chuckling along the way) until December 29, 2009, when I happened upon the one that is still posted to my desk "wall" (and I am someone aggressively opposed to those "life imperative" posters that are so trendy right now, so you know it has to mean something to me): "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." I didn't think the quote was particularly funny, but it was certainly poignant -- poignant enough that, nearly four years later, I still have it tacked to my "office" "wall" (and not necessarily because I'm a hoarder, though my coworkers may beg to differ). The quote is so simple and yet, says so much. It's applicable to every facet of life, and I find myself looking at it daily, reminding myself to either make a change or adjust my attitude. With the daily grind weighing on us day in and day out, it is often easy to fall into a pattern of complaining and not appreciating the lives that we have and the people that have touched us. When bogged down with stress, the day-to-day can seem exhausting, and we often forget that we have the power to effect change - both in our own lives and in the lives of others. Whether things are going swimmingly or things could be going better, we have to remember to look around, to smell the roses, to be inspired - by others, by the world around us, and in particular by ourselves - and to appreciate the lives that we have, messy as they may be at times (after all, isn't there a certain beauty in chaos?). If we don't have the power to change certain circumstances within our current situation, we certainly have the power to change our attitude about those circumstances. We have the power to be grateful. Proust said: “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” Isn't that just the most fabulous imagery? As Thanksgiving is upon us and a Nor'easter is hitting the East Coast (as bad weather conveniently does so well during the holiday season), making travel to loved ones difficult, the time seems right to take a moment and give thanks to and for those around us who give us shelter from the storm, who make us happy and help our souls blossom.
I am grateful for family, for friends, for the kindness of strangers, and for the beauty of the world around us. For promo codes and Craigslist deals, for antique lamps and room diffusers. For Spotify, for sunsets, for slimming jeans and sleeping in. For ikats and iPhones and Tasti D-lite's Peanut Butter "ice cream." For color, color, everywhere. For sky, sun and smiles. For the warmth of summer and the bite of winter. For animals in general, for dogs in particular, and specifically for my parents' two big poodles and in-law's Norwich terrier, who greet me with the enthusiasm that only family dogs can. I am grateful for love, for lavender, for the lessons I have been taught. For Pinterest, for anticipation, and for putting pen to paper. For this kid who made me laugh today, for my brother-in-law for sending that link to me (and for everything else he does), for the joy that whatshouldwecallme inexplicably brings me, and for traveling the world one journey at a time. For the fact that every moment in New York reminds me of an episode of "Seinfeld" and that I really do feel like I'm friends with the friends on "Friends." For new friends and old friends and lifelong friends who are always there. For family here and there and near and far. For coworkers, who are their own type of family and who are there for us in good times and bad. For my husband, who has proven time and again that he's in this for better or for worse. For gold paint and miracles and throw pillows aplenty. For creativity and sympathy and, above all, for empathy. For the beauty in everything - for big things, for little things and for everything in between. For life as it is, messy as it is - though in some cases not. As you think about your own Thanksgiving, who you will or won't be spending it with and what you are grateful for, I hope that it brings a smile to your face, that life's joys outweigh life's burdens. Proust said to "always try to keep a patch of sky above your life." Let's remember to be grateful. To say thanks. To be inspired. To wait out the storm(s) and always to look for the patch of sky that may be hiding at times. It's there -- sometimes we just have to change our attitude to find it. Gratitude is the ultimate gift. And we can show our gratitude by doing something kind -- big or small -- for those around us, particularly for those who could use some shelter from the storm, whatever that storm may be. People don't always ask for help when they need it - and often they want to, but pride gets in the way. We can offer a helping hand and, together, weather any storm, keep a patch of sky visible, and, in the process, help one another's souls blossom. We can also take the time to capture our gratitude in writing. And what better way to capture our thoughts than in a beautiful notebook? One that beckons to you to bear your soul as much or as little as you dare. My mom recently told me about these Fortuny notebooks, $55-$105, at Gumps - expensive but seriously gorgeouso (and an excellent holiday gift). I also found this fabulous Nepali paper silk brocade notebook, $25, on Etsy - that color is another thing I'm grateful for (there's only one available, and if you don't buy it, I will!). If simple and to the point is your style, you can't go wrong with a classic Moleskine black softcover or hardcover notebook, $12.95, from Moleskine. Whatever your outlet of choice, it's fun and gratifying to capture and share life's happiness. To be grateful to ourselves for "showing up" and being present each day (something they teach in yoga) and to be grateful to and for those charming gardeners around us who make our lives beautiful. We can give new meaning to having a 'tude. Thank you everyone! And Happy Thanksgiving! KK
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Happy Tuesday! And Happy Last Day of 25%/30% Off At J.Crew Day! I love a good J.Crew sale. Through midnight Eastern Time tonight, J.Crew is offering 25% off all regular purchases (code: GETGIFTING) and 30% off all Cardmember purchases (code: CARDGIFTS). Yay! The discounts mentioned below assume you are not a Cardmember, but if you are, just think of that extra 5% savings you'll get. J.Crew's suiting can be hit or miss, but I've found a major hit recently in the J.Crew Seamed Crepe Dress, on sale for $139.99 + 25% off, down from $198. With the extra 25% off, the grand total of this gem comes to $105 plus tax and shipping. I own it in navy and wear it religiously, and I am very temped to get the modern red as well (you know my mom's rule of multiples!). The fabric has a matte silk quality that's drapey but weighty. It's not too thick and not too thin, with a bit of stretch. It's cut perfectly for pear-shaped gals (slim on top and generous on the bottom). And it is office-appropriately long enough, which is strangely hard to find at times. And the seaming (as the title suggests) is just dreamy in its body contouring magic making abilities. I also love the high neck and slim short sleeves. The dress itself is modest and body conscious all at once. I wore this dress through the fall in the pre-freezing days without tights, but it can easily be made a winter-wear staple if accessorized appropriately. Throw a pair of super-opaque dark navy tights or opaque dark navy control-top tights into your shopping cart for a clean and slimming "column." For heel wearers, complete the look with Everely Suede Pumps in black ($245 + 25% off) for a clean and minimalist look or consider adding a pop of jewel-toned color with the hedgerow (a lovely wintery green) version (on sale for $198 + 25% off). My friend Emily wore the black version this past weekend, and not only did I think they were $600+ Jimmy Choos, but also she said they were absurdly comfortable ("I walked, like, 30 blocks in them!"). Emily has an enviable ability to wear heels for impressive amounts of time, but even she couldn't 'make it 30 blocks in a pair of shoes that weren't dreamily comfortable, so I am certainly intrigued by the Everelys (and look forward to a day when I can wear heels again!). If you're a flats wearer, I like these Viv Metallic Flats in heather atlantic ($188 + 25% off) for a little pop that still reads blue. The pointy toe will elongate your silhouette and work nicely with the seamed lines fo the dress. (I also love the Cece Suede Ballet Flats for commuting and weekends.) And if comme moi you're destined for sturdy menswear inspired shoes, I like these Collection Biella glitter tassel loafers in glittler fog ($258 + 25% off) for a borrowed-from-the-boys look that's decidedly sassy, or the Darby Tassel Loafer ($188 + 25% off) in black for a tamer, but still killer, look. My office is set at a cool 55 degrees regardless of season, so I always like to keep a scarf and sweater around. For scarves, I like a pop of color, and this colorblock foulard scarf ($59.50 + 25% off) does just the trick (and it goes brilliantly with those shoes I mentioned before). For sweaters, you can't go wrong with cashmere: I love my Collection Cashmere Boyfriend Cardigan ($238 + 25% off) - black and navy are both safe bets to keep around the office. For jewelry, this dress can easily be worn with nothing (or simple earrings like the ones I mentioned on Friday) for a clean, minimalist look, or with a statement collar necklace or longer necklace. I tend to shy away from big necklaces at work because I find them distracting and heavy, but for a statement, I do like to wear longer necklaces on occasion. This Radiant Statement Pendant ($59.99 + 25% off) is quite wonderful and would be a nice way to step up your look from day to night. Help make the commute a little more tolerable in this Double Breasted Cocoon Coat in Wool-Cashmere ($350 + 25% Off) and this Cashmere Infinity Scarf ($258 + 25% off) in really any color (so cozy!) or, for a lower price point, the Chevron Checkered Snood in black/white ($59.50 + 25% off). Et voilà! You've got yourself a killer workwear outfit (that can be worn multiple ways) all because of a $105 dress that fits like a dream and gets you through the workday in style. (Do you realize I started this post out just intending to talk about that dress?? This is how J.Crew always gets me...)
Enjoy! And Happy Suiting Up! KK I have developed a healthy obsession with Eames or Eames-like molded chairs with sheepskin rugs artfully tossed on them. It's a mix of urban modern and rustic coziness. Love it. Especially as the weather gets colder and the days get shorter. My husband Matt and I are lucky to have a working fireplace, but we still have never outfitted the area with appropriate seating. I've been trying to find the right chair "mood" on a scale of antique/traditional to modern/non-traditional. We want something with some coziness to it but with a good deal of non-upholstery (e.g. wood or metal) to break up the seating experience in our living room (our living room is sectioned into "dining area," "TV-watching/living area" and "empty space around the fireplace area" - the dining area is all loaded up with wood and everything in the TV-watching area is heavily upholstered). So, how to achieve non-upholstered coziness? French antique Louis XIV/XV/XVI chairs with light upholstery? Or something more modern and bohemian involving wood or metal or - dare I say - plastic?? Mix in a little furriness for good measure? Because I have a lot of antique French and Italian going on in my apartment with a touch of Asian, I wanted to mix the overall aesthetic up with something a bit more modern but with the ability to blend into what I already have going on. The Eames chair achieves all that I was looking for: modern, but not glaringly so, and with a vintage throw-back quality; plus it's got plastic, wood and metal! It's all so very American! (Well, the originals were Fiberglass, but I digress.) Add in a cozy sheepskin throw (faux or real), and you're set for winter-time cozy fireplace lounging. Full disclosure: I would always prefer to own an original. I am not usually one to promote knockoffs. We could go over the pros and cons and IP issues, but at $500 a pop for the real deal, it's just not in the cards for me right now (if you want the real deal, go here at Design Within Reach - they have the rights and the original chair molds). But for you "chipper" chicken fans (go to 3:30 in the clip!), read on about my hunt for affordable Eames look-alikes and cozy furry throws. I found a pair of Eames-style Eiffel armchairs with wood legs on Craigslist on Sunday for $100 that I was pretty excited about, but I LOST THE SALE to an even more eager beaver Craigslist shopper than me (the horror). Sigh. Slight devastation, but obviously it wasn't meant to be. Fresh off of this loss, I decided that I need to own these chairs immediately and under mainstream, mass-produced conditions (I couldn't deal with the anticipation and high/low that comes from auction or Craigslist shopping) - so to established online retailers I went. After some Google searching and some helpful advice (and snobby comments) from Apartment Therapy, I settled on the Retro-classic White Accent Chairs (Set of 2) from Overstock.com for $166.99 (down from $219.91) with FREE SHIPPING (little in this world makes me happier than free shipping) and a DISCOUNT CODE that gave me an additional $20 off (the only thing better than free shipping is an additional discount code for extra savings!). (Note: White on White had good recs, but for $320 a pop, I'd rather splurge and buy the real thing.) Just for fun, let's compare the cost of purchasing the Overstock chairs v. the real deal from DWR (excluding tax). Overstock: Pair @ $166.99 (or $83.50 each) Shipping @ FREE Additional Discount: $20 off for spending $150+ Total: $146.99 DWR: Pair @ $998 (or $499 each) Shipping @ $79.84 Additional Discount: None Total: $1077.84 What do we save?? $930.85! Man, I love deal hunting. In addition to that sweet set of cheapo chairs, I am buying two lambskin rugs from a charming Canadian company called Southern Cross Sheepskins Inc. (website: Sheepskinstuff.com) to complete the look. The size (24"x42") runs a bit larger than the rugs I've seen on Joss & Main, Overstock, Pottery Barn, Ikea, etc. (all 24"x36"), which I think will work well with the chairs (I want some of the rug edges to hang over the chair edges). And the cost is reasonable ($67 on sale, plus $23 shipping in Canadian dollars, which is around $150 in total for two rugs plus shipping in USD). (All of the other rugs except Ikea ran in the $70-$80 range and become significantly more expensive when you add square footage. Ikea at $30 might have won my vote, but the items aren't sold online or at any store near me.) I also appreciate that 1) I'm ordering from an adorable, family-owned Canadian company; 2) it feels like the rugs are not terribly mass produced (and I have to offset the feel of my chair purchase), which means I can pretend that everything was done humanely; and 3) they showed me a photo of the backside of the rug, which is hard to come by online (and was stressing me out); and 4) upon checkout, I got a free pair of sheepskin mittens! Oh, Canada...! I can't wait to receive all of my loot and to try it out! Here is a mockup of what I think the chairs will look like in my living room! We shall see what really happens! 'Til then, here is some photo inspiration of cool modern chairs with sheepskin throws from Pinterest to get you in the mood! Happy shopping and fireplace lounging! KK Welcome to my blog "A La Recherche" and to Kate Kelly Design! This is something I've wanted to do for a verrrry long time, and I am so very excited to get started. A little bit about me and the inspiration for this blog: When I was growing up, I wanted to be many things -- an architect, a fashion designer, a psychologist, a writer and an editor (all at the same time, naturally). I have flirted with bits and pieces of each to varying degrees over time, but I eventually settled into a career in finance and just finished my MBA. While I love finance, I have always felt a strong pull towards design, and now, in my "old age," I have found that while I am none of those dreamy childhood aspirations per se, interior design, personal styling and helping others find the things they're searching for allows me to fulfill those childhood dreams. Design has been a hobby of mine forever, and I am so excited to get started in a more tangible and real way.
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Kate KellyI am an artist/designer and former financial professional with a background in comparative literature, business and design. I live in New York with my overworked lawyer husband and my two boys Michael and Theo and spend much of my free time dreaming about how to enhance the aesthetics of our little world. I am endlessly inspired and always in search of something new. This is a blog about my search, my inspiration and things I just really, really like or want. Archives
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