Elle Decor Showhouse 2010



Elle Decor Showhouse Living Room by Gary Spain

 Yesterday, I had the pleasure of spending a wonderful day at the first Elle Decor Showhouse which is located in the historic St. Francis Woods neighborhood of San Francisco. Stellar lighting retailer and Showhouse sponsor, Lumens Light and Living, hosted an eventful day in San Francisco for a number of Interior and Lighting Designers from Sacramento. We started our day at the Showhouse!

It was a beautiful day and a spectacular Showhouse! I will start at the beginning with the Living Room which was designed by Gary Spain.

Gary used natural tones in charcoal, taupes and whites and lots of texture in this elegant, yet "put-your-feet-up" room. Sisal, lots of linen, wood, plaster and blackened steel all converge to make this a very industrial chic space that is also very livable.

        

Gary's expertise as an art director and photo stylist is front and center in this space. You may even feel like you know his work from some of your favorite catalogs. Be sure and visit his website to see what I mean. 

 This Living Room is just the beginning of a house full of ideas. There is much more to come!



Mr. Gary Spain



Have a wonderful weekend!

Monday's Music Lyrics -- Nature Boy, by Nat King Cole

My best friend Katie Mcgregor's favourite artist is Frank Sinatra, and while anyone who knows me KNOWS my favorite artist is Sting, another artist I love almost as much is Nat King Cole. So often, Katie and I will have a battle of Nat vs Frank (espically around Christmas time) as to which singer was better... I argue Frank had an unfair advantage since he lived much longer than Nat King Cole. The truth is they were both incredible artists.

There is one song in partiucular of Nat King Cole, which I've always enjoyed because of its simplicity and depth of truth in the final stanza:

"The greatest thing
You'll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved
In return"

I believe I've achieved a lot in my young life so far. I've stood on top of the podium, gone to the Olympic Games, pursued academic excellence, travelled the world, seen and met incredible people including celebrities, presidents and royalty. But, without a doubt all of that pales in comparison to 2 things many people have, yet fail to truly appreciate -- their health and love. I do not believe it is possible to exist happily in this world without knowing these 2 things intimately. It's all we really need in this life, and yet so often we take it for granted. The irony in this song is revealed in the fact that it is a wise BOY who enlightens this value of love to a MAN.... And perhaps that is why I've always loved this simple song... Enjoy! :)




Nature Boy -- Nat King Cole -- Words and Music by Eden Ahbez

There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far, very far
Over land and sea
A little shy
And sad of eye
But very wise
Was he

And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things, fools and kings
This he said to me
"The greatest thing
You'll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved
In return"

(instrumental interlude)

"The greatest thing
You'll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved
In return"

A SPECIAL THANK YOU ON THIS REMEMBERANCE DAY -- NOVEMBER 11

Novemember 11... Rememberance Day... Thank you to all those who have served for our country. Your efforts have not and will not be forgotten. For because of you, we've been able to know the Canada we know today and continue to know. Thank you to our troops... words can't say enough!!!

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.



We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Courtesy of Bee MacGuire
Obtained From TheMcCrae Museum of The Guelph Museum

KidsCAN Sports Day for AthletesCAN

For the last 2 years I've served as a Board of Directors with AthletesCAN and it has been an incredible experience. Part of the experience has allowed me to participate in KidsCAN School Day. Here I am in Gatineau, Quebec with other National Team Athletes and Olympians + 1000 kids for the annual KidsCAN School Day. This is an opportunity for school kids across Canada to try a variety of sports and learn the importance of physical actiivty, goal setting and healthy lifestyles. Completely a phenominal experience for both us athletes and the kids!

The coolest thing happened the other day. We're talking about anti-Vietnam War protests in one of my classes and my professor casually goes, "Oh so I brought the FBI's files on me." He reaches into his briefcase and extracts a thick folio of crusty old papers, pauses, and proceeds to pull out several more. Roughly a thousand pages, half blacked out and 240 more pages that the FBI wouldn't release to him (under the FOIA). He read some sections relevant to the class, including a special agent's observations of "caucasian long-haired hippie types." So good and I'm so glad that my ill-fitting jeans and corduroy blazer-donning, balding comb-over professor was once...long-haired.

Thank You Sacramento Magazine!

Breakfast Room

Things have bee a beehive of activity around here lately! I have barely had time to turn around. So I must apologize for not keeping up this week with the blog posting. It is something I enjoy so much, but duties (very wonderful duties!) have been a calling.

But I wanted to show you all a project I had worked on a bit ago that was just published in Sacramento Magazine this November. My client, Alberta, and I clicked on sight. A more wonderful client I couldn't ask for.

I must preface by saying my scanner is a bit clumsy, so things a a bit fuzzy. I am expecting images from the oh-so talented photographer, Keith Sutter, next week.

Very Fuzzy...Main Kitchen

But I couldn't wait! So they are from the magazine.

 For the full article by the delightful  and very kind Joan Waters, click HERE.

Farmhouse Sink and Rustic French Ivory Cabinets

Le Cornue Fe Range

Cook Book Nook - Shelves are arched like the Hallway Doorway

Jose Esteves Chandelier from Interieurs

 Have a wonderful weekend!

The Station

By Robert J. Hastings
Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We are traveling by train – out the windows, we drink in the passing scenes of children waving at a crossing, cattle grazing on a distant hillside, row upon row of corn and wheat, flatlands and valleys, mountains and rolling hillsides and city skylines.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, our dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. Restlessly we pace the aisles damning the minutes – waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

“When we reach the station that will be it!” we cry. “When I’m 18,” “When I buy a new 450sl Mecedes Benz!” “When I put the last kid through college,” “When I have paid off the mortgage!” “When I get a promotion.” “When I reach retirement, I shall live happily ever after!”

Sooner or later, we realize there is no station, no one place to arrive. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

“Relish the moment” is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” It isn’t the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.