I'm Mad About...

• This beautiful pendant lets you look good and do good; $10 from each one sold goes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
• I'm mesmerized by these beautiful paintings by artist Hyun-Hee Lee.
• Another book to add to my wish list—Open Studios With Lotta Jansdotter!

Animal House

By VII Custom Design

Love dogs and design? Check out these amazing doghouses from Barkitecture 2011. The Austin show featured canine cottages from Dog Whisperer Cesar Milan and custom home builders.

P.S.: October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. It's a great time—before the rush and crush of the holidays—to add a loving animal in need of a home to your family!

Amazing, Ephemeral Art

This weekend was the annual Via Arte Italian street-painting festival. It's one of my favorite festivals of the year (even though it doesn't revolve around food!).

Dozens of supremely talented people (professionals and amateurs of all ages) create intricate chalk designs on the asphalt in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center. It's dirty, hot, backbreaking work, I'm sure, and the results are temporary—the chalk washes away after the festivities end.

But for those us lucky enough to see it, all that work is worth the effort. The weather was nearly perfect Sunday, and we brought Bitsy along. She did plenty of sniffing and made a few friends.

The artists end up covered in chalk and dirt. And I can only imagine how sore their knees and backs must get.

Animals were a common theme:

And beloved cartoon characters:

There were plenty of tributes to Steve Jobs:

I'm Mad About...

                                                    Source: brooklynlimestone.com via Beth on Pinterest

• Fans of Edgar Allan Poe (that's me!) will love this project. (Also can't wait for John Cusack's Poe movie!)
• Continuing the eerie theme, these are some awesome ideas for DIY Halloween costumes.
• Need a place to store those plates and get-ups? These storage boxes are colorful and stylish. 

RIP

                                  Source: lockerz.com via Ez on Pinterest

Evolving and Collecting

I came across these two quotes on the same day, and they really sum up my experience:

"Now, I love my home. But if I had to create a new one, it would excite me because I continue to evolve, and the things I gather around me exhibit that evolution."

—designer Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzatti in the September issue of Lonny

"It would be wonderful to design a room by going out and purchasing everything in just a few stores, but in order to have your home feel personal it needs to be collected. Add in treasures you found while traveling or frame a quote your grandma would always tell you – it’s all about personality and you want it to shine in your home."

—Sacramento Street blogger Caitlin Flemming,
interviewed on Interior Connector

Everyone's a Decorator

Have you noticed the proliferation of virtual decorating services? From Anthropologie to Ethan Allen, it seems every retail furniture site wants to show you how to pull a room together (with their products, natch).

I think it's a great idea. While some of the advice is pretty simplistic, it's a great way to get inspiration from your favorite furniture stores. Maybe I can't afford that gorgeous chandelier, but perhaps I can find ways to bring some Anthro style into my home.

Pottery Barn's Design Studio offers tips on furniture arrangement and entertaining, complete with recipes and iTunes playlists! Its advice on accessorizing doesn't give a novice much to work with ("Shelves offer opportunities to present interesting vignettes." Really? I had no idea!), but its room-planning feature is fun and easy to use:

Everything these days is about socializing online, and Pottery Barn is no exception. It has a place where people can post questions, and galleries where budding Candice Olsons can upload pictures of their own rooms.