There is just no way that it's already July! I can not believe how fast this year is flying by. I've been working non-stop with new clients and developing new product (wallpaper!) so excited about it, as well as finishing up my new book; a fully illustrated book about the Art of Home and in between it all, I've continued to be a contributing writer & illustrator for Living Lavishly magazine and the Tolosa Press. Anyone else tired?
This is the link to my recent article in the Home & Garden section of the Tolosa Press. You can check out my 10 Tips for entertaining outdoors here.
I hope you'll stay tuned for what will be a very exciting Fall! For now I'm buckling down on all my projects that need to get done but come Fall... so so much fun! I can't wait! Happy Summer!
With all the parties happening this time of year I always make sure I'm stocked up on Hostess Gifts! When in doubt, you can always give flowers! Everyone loves to get flowers! This year I've been wrapping my flowers with my New Pineapple Party Tea Towels! We all know it wouldn't be a party without them, right? So let your host or hostess know their appreciated!
Pineapples mean "Welcome" & "Hospitality". They used to be quite rare, once only seen among royalty. Bloggers, at TwoChums have a super explanation of the history of the Pineapple in Home Decor. I'll be posting this week about all the fun things you can do with a Tea Towel! You can stock up on ours here.
Fewwww...where to begin? It's been a whirlwind around here! Between Mother's Day and Graduation and design projects left and right, it certainly feels like the candle has been burning at both ends for a while now! I have to say, I love it that way though. I'm not one who knows how to rest and relax. So why not add something new to the mix of projects? For Mother's Day I wanted to give my mom something special and personalized so I came up with the idea to paint her home. We built Pepper Tree Cottage for my parents five years ago. We call it that because during construction the Pepper Tree we thought was destroyed, but low and behold, as soon as the dust settled, it started to grow...and grow...and grow. I painted the name above the front door and that was that. Now their garden blooms with lucious roses and lavender. The wild bunnies, hummingbirds, and quail making it their home as well. I enjoyed this project so much, that I thought it would be fun to offer the same thing to you! Just contact me if you would like your own personalized house painting and note cards!
Just for today I decided to take a break from Monday’s Mood Boards and post something a little different, Mother’s Day!
This past weekend was so much fun. It kicked of with my daughter’s last soccer game of spring league. They won 3-0 and I’m happy to say my Raquel (Rocky) scored in every game of the season, which never looses its excitement for me. Then it was off to my friend’s hair salon, The Bladerunner in San Luis Obispo, so Serena and her friend could get their hair done for Prom!! Back to the house to cook and get ready for a fun Prom Party! We had lots of friends and family visiting along with my other daughter’s little friends spending the night. I just love it when my house is full of life and laughter. I went to sleep one proud momma. But the joy kept coming when I woke up to many really lovely Mother’s Day treats!!!
If you’ve followed my blog you would know that we built a second house on our property for my parents almost five years ago. It has been one of the greatest decisions we ever made. Amongst all the terrific benefits, is the fact that my mother has the magic touch in our garden. Our roses look amazing! So in honor of the beautiful garden she has created and her love for the greatest Mother of all, The Blessed Mary…I painted this for her. And so sweet, my youngest daughter made a crown for Mary to honor her on Mother’s Day too.
It was a beautiful weekend. I couldn’t have asked for more. I hope you all had a lovely weekend as well!
I feel really fortunate to have graduated from a college in an area that I have fallen in love with, San Luis Obispo, CA. I feel even more fortunate that I can live and work here. A few years ago I watched the corner of Marsh and Higuera St. in downtown, San Luis Obispo, transform from a dirt lot into a beautiful park. Cheng Park is the creation of retired Cal Poly Landscape Architecture professor, Alice Loh. The Chinese Park sits across the street from an Asian inspired home designed by one of our greatest architects, Frank Lloyd Wright. (Another great reason to live here.) You can read more about Cheng Park here.
I drive by the park on a regular basis and the wood pavilion as well as the grand entrance to the park, inspire me. The odd thing is, I don’t know if it’s selective focus, but I’m seeing Asian inspired home décor goods everywhere and I’m in love with them all. Photograph of Cheng Park from SLOCity.org.
A very dear mentor of mine once told me that she believed a home is not fully appointed until it has at least one piece of Asian Décor. I’ve kept that philosophy in mind when designing for my clients and now I’m sharing a few of those ideas with you.
For more ideas on Asian inspired décor, these blogs are great: http://blog.thepinkpagoda.us/ http://chinoiseriechic.blogspot.com/
1 Seda France Mini Pagoda Candle 2 Thomas Paul Pillow 3 Tangerine Pagoda Giclee (Love all the art on this site!) 4 Pixie Dust Decor Pink Pagoda Toile Fabric (Other colors available - great products!) 5 Chinoiserie Toile Pagoda Fuchsia Napkin 6 Red Thibaut Oriental Toile Fabric (Other colors available as well as wall paper) 7 Vaughan Design Chinese Fretwork Lantern (Beautiful lighting on this site)
Some of you may know that I have two daughters that play Club Soccer. As much as I love being a soccer mom, the traveling can be exhausting. Recently we spent two weekends traveling to San Diego for State Cup. It’s a long drive from the Central Coast but we were lucky enough to be able to stay with my brother and his lovely wife instead of a hotel. After five hours of driving late at night we walked into their charming home with candles flickering and hugs all around. It made me realize how much I love candles and why don’t I light them more often? So when we got back I purchased some yummy candles for my home. Of course you need something pretty to put the candles in and I love lanterns. Places like Pottery Barn and World Market carry a large selection or you could be like Ohdeedoh contributor and DIY expert Katie Steuernagle (Courtesy of Design Sponge) and make your own out of spaghetti jars! Clever!! You can check it out here. It can also be as simple as making your own with a little sand and a tea light. Whatever your fancy, I recommend lighting a delicious candle or two this week and watch the atmosphere change in your home! You can buy delicious candles, I favor these by Zensual, at Stephen Patrick Design on Monterey St., downtown San Luis Obispo, right next door to the Bladerunner Salon & Spa.
1 Lantern available at Pottery Barn 2 Lantern available at Pottery Barn 3 DIY Sapghetti Jar Lanterns by Katie Steuernagle 4 Zensual Candles available at Stephen Patrick Design 5 DIY Mason Jar Candle holders
I love entertaining and decorating for a party...any day! So when my husband asked if I would do the table decorations for an office retirement party, I was all on board. It's going to be at one of our favorite local wineries too, so yes, very excited! But then he said, "It's for 10 tables...you only have $50." ummmmmmmm, Ok...let's see what I can do. Eeesh! Of course I went to my favorite inspiration website, Pinterest, to get ideas. Here are some of my favorites. I'm hoping the dollar store will have some vases and candles that will work for me. The party is this Saturday. I'll let you know if I meet his challenge!
First image is from SouthernHospitalityBlog. I figure, I have hydrangeas in my garden and they like to be submerged in water...just have to find the vases and the candles....
I love the simple elegance of both of these. Courtesy of Busybeemn.com and StemFloral.com
Last of all I really liked this table setting for a winery. I have tons of pine cones on our property...hmmm my wheels are ticking. Table setting from 100LayerCake.com
I'm open to your ideas too! Please share!
Wow….this is the longest blogging break I’ve taken in a long time, ever, actually…with due reason. All kinds of things have been happening at the Robeson household….Sweet 16 Birthdays, summer time schedules, graduations, mini vacations, and design, design, design…I’ve been working on a new restaurant, several homes, and refining the details on my new textiles, all sandwiched in between weekends of soccer tournaments….so to say the least…it’s been a bit crazy here!!!
But hey, through it all, we still have to eat right? I was on Twitter (you can follow me @MariRDesign) when I got the idea from the Oh So Inspirational Bellalimento to make some lightly fried and stuffed squash blossoms for Father’s Day. Since my volunteer pumpkins have decided to take over my garden, what better idea but to pinch off the blossoms and cook them up with some delicious homemade marinara sauce.
Well, I could barely take a picture! As fast as I was plating them they were gobbled up. So this isn’t any beautiful photo, it’s the real plate 2 seconds before it disappeared! I stuffed mine with a mix of ricotta and marinara cheese, add a few Italian herbs, and mmmmmmmmmm……. Yummmmmmmmy!!!!
Staircase to my studio...
Spring in California is a little unusual this year…with lots of rain, then days of sunshine, I think the flowers and the animals are a bit confused! Personally, I’ve been really enjoying the rain. I’ve been spending lots of time in my studio creating new designs for my table top collections. Sooooo excited to share this all soon!!!!
Fresh carrots from our garden...made the most delicious soup!
A birthday pedi for Chyna...flip flop time or rain boots...Crazy California Spring!
And a baby deer in my front yard looking for roses that haven't bloomed yet...
All week I worked, went grocery shopping, did laundry, drove kids to soccer practices, paid bills, talked with friends, and tried to even get a little work out in here and there… the days go by so fast. They are so full of stuff to check off the list. It’s no wonder I couldn’t wait to get back to the garden on Sunday. I really had to think about that, especially as I trimmed back an overgrown potato bush by my fountain. I was so proud of myself as I swept up the clippings, sweat dripping under my baseball cap. This is hard work I thought…why do I enjoy it so much?
As I took in a deep breath of crisp clean air, I knew why. I heard my daughters laughing as they approached me with a new little friend that took quite a liking to Chyna. The neighbor’s dogs must have heard us and they all came down to be part of the action. Soon Bill and I went over to Tom’s house who let us borrow his mule to bring down some dirt. I’m so thankful for those men. That’s the kind of stuff I’m not sure I could physically do.
As we, well Bill, shoveled away, everyone visited and talked about what’s the best thing to plant right now. I think we’ll try some squash and beans, maybe lettuce too.
What I learned is that nature has many stories to tell if we are quiet enough to listen. Gazing upon my roses sparks a part of some inner joy I appreciate. So simple, so perfectly designed. I guess it’s that connection with nature that I’m drawn to at the end of a busy week.
This is Hanna, my neighbors rescue dog, with her pretty painted nails she couldn’t wait to show off.
When we bought some land in the canyons 8 years ago, I always had this fantasy of growing my own flowers and vegetables. I had some luck in our San Luis home but that was waaaaaay smaller and fenced in. The only critters we had were a few squirrels and an occasional raccoon. Out here it’s just nutty! There are so many wild little creatures, frankly it can be a little scary. The dreaded three would be; the deer, the gofers, and yes, those cute little bunnies! Grrrrrr….So after planting hundreds of dollars worth of landscaping, apparently to feed all these guys, Bill and I just took a break from it all. On top of the fact that we had quite a large lawn that required a lot of water, which we soon saw wasn’t very environmentally conscious of us. So we let the lawn die off….but that’s another entry on my To Do list, to create some meandering paths.
So here is the beginning of our raised planter bed. We planted 3 bare root trees we got from Costco last weekend. Next step is to lay some chicken wire and get some dirt. My neighbor told me you can sometimes get free dirt on Craigs List so I’m going to check that out.
What I’ve learned so far.
Building a garden is a great way to get your children out of the house. It’s a wonderful setting for a conversation with the one you love and it’s a great teacher of patience.
These are seeds I've collected over the years...they're probably no good anymore, but the possibility of them makes me happy!
I received a call the other day from my Master Gardener neighbor, Marylou, that it's time to plant those pumpkin seeds! Every year I seem to be behind on this, but this year, thanks to Marylou, I will hopefully have pumpkins in time for Halloween! I'm going to do a little pre-carving on my pumpkins. To do this you'll want to wait until they are a few weeks old (the fuzz is gone) then carve your word or drawing into your pumpkin (only about 1/8")...it will bleed a little bit, but then it will heal and your image/word will be permanent. Remember lots of of sun (at least 6 hours a day) and water makes for a very happy pumpkin!
Today I met two lovely ladies at my showroom. One was Judy Dana-Powers. She owns a beautiful Victorian close by. She's been doing weddings and special occasions there for over two decades. I was fortunate to be a guest at one of those weddings and it was truly magical! The gardens are divine! http://www.danapowershouse.com
I'm so excited! I just received a phone call from my neighbor, Marylou. She and her husband are master gardeners and she grows the most magnificent dahlias you could ever imagine! Well, together we placed our catalog order a few months ago and my dahlia bulbs are finally here! If you haven't guessed by now, I'm a total workaholic....gardening is one of my most favorite, quiet pleasures and ultimate way to unwind. There is something so magical about planting things in the earth and nurturing them into full bloom. Not only that, but once these dahlias bloom they make the most divine centerpieces. I don't know, they just make me smile! We had a big freeze a few weeks back and everything looks pathetic. I can't wait to get into my garden and start creating! Here is a very helpful website on planting dahlias and much more. Have a great weekend everyone... http://www.backyardgardener.com
