And The Winner Is...

Sarah of the blog Just Getting Started. Congratulations! Just send me your mailing information and we'll get that Stag candle out to you right away.

I'd also like to thank those who stopped by the Boxwood Home website and made a purchase. Don't forget, the savings for blog readers continues until Christmas Day. Just use the code BLGD to get your 20% off.

A Gorgeous Giveaway! And 20% Off! And Free Shipping!

To get you in the mood for the holiday season, my good friends at Boxwood Home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, are offering a nice little giveaway: Patch NYC's festive holiday scented Stag candle - a beautiful combination of siberian fir, cilantro, citrus, raspberry, it smells like a lovely walk in the woods on a winter day (after having just overflown Florida!). Seriously, it's my favorite holiday scent and I have one burning as we speak. It's 100% soy with a 72-hour burn time.

If that weren't enough, Boxwood Home just opened its online shop and Hello Gorgeous readers will receive 20% off your entire purchase through Christmas and get free shipping for a limited time! Just punch in the coupon code BLGD and get 20% off your entire purchase through Christmas Day (while supplies last).

Here are some of the fine (my favorite!) things you'll find in (virtual) store:

The Iron Beaded Chandelier is so unique and makes quite an impressive statement at 46 inches high.

The Burlap X Screen, made of whitewashed mahogany, is great for hiding a mess or dividing space in a large room or small apartment. Here's a shot of it in the store:

The Isabelle chairs (also shown above in a gray wash with burlap fabric) fit in with so many styles of decor. Here's another shot of one in the store (taken with my phone):

If you look closely at the chair, you will see this Thomas Paul alpaca throw in gray. It's super soft - perfect for cuddling in front of the fire.

And a new favorite, the acid-washed cowhide in brown and white with gold. Looks great over a seagrass rug.

The Octavio Octopus print from Natural Curiosities has the appearance of an antique, hand-colored etching.

Here it is in the entryway of my beach house (again with the lamps stolen from my bedroom - still on the lookout for lamps!):

Those are just a few of my favorites. There's so much more from John Derian to Barbara Cosgrove. Just go to the Boxwood Home virtual store and tell me what your favorite thing is. Leave a comment below and I'll randomly select a winner on Cyber Monday (Nov. 29).

Happy Shopping! And have a great Thanksgiving.

Please Note: Some large items have limited delivery to the mid-Atlantic area.

Mo' Faux.

I saw this GORGEOUS faux fox throw on Laura Day Living (and thank you Laura Day for listing Hello Gorgeous as one of your favorite blogs!). I immediately went to Barney's to order it, held it in my shopping cart until the next morning and bam! It was out of stock, just like that.

I ended up ordering it directly from the company in the U.K. and while the order appeared to go through, I haven't received any other information about it and it's been about a week now. If that falls through, here's my backup:

It's from FabulousFurs.com and even more affordable than usual - there's a Buy One, Get One at 50% Off sale going on right now. If you have an even better resource, please let me know.

It's images like this that send me over into the land of make-believe fur (I just can't buy a real coyote or fox product but I don't have as much of a problem buying printed cow rugs; go figure):

The super lovely home of Derrick Miller and Jennifer Vaughn Miller on Long Island from this book:

I know, I am such a hipster.

Faux-Boo Deux.

A few more photos so you can see the finish more closely and the hardware and the rest of the room - and my man, double E. Any lamp advice for the dresser would make me so happy.

P.S. Nice job, Delaware! You had me worried there for a minute...

Faux-Boo!

Remember this?

Remember the faux-boo* Henry Link Bali Hai furniture set I scored from Craigslist to go with this?

(And, yes, I still have the skirted table - deal with it). Well, I painted it right before summer but I never completed the task of finding hardware so I just swiped some from a chest in the other room. I also grabbed the lamps from the dining room just so I could see what it would look like with lamps. And while I think it looks better painted black, it's just so...blah.

And so small! Compared with today's furniture, it looks child-sized. And with the mirror, there's TOO MUCH BOO!! (I guess you'd call that a faux-boo-boo.)

For those who asked, I did use a small Mikita power sander for the formica top and flat surfaces and I just used several coats of satin spray paint (beginning with primer) to coat it. The surface is super smooth and lovely. But if you're looking for a lacquer finish like this, I received an excellent tip from 1st Dibs shop owner Lewis Trimble (his chest is still for sale here):

"...the first tip I have for you is there's stuff called liquid sander... two coats of this and then there's an oil based paint called fine paints of europe brilliant. Use 2-3 thin coats as it runs easily with some light sanding in between... great stuff, not lacquer but for a diy'er it's almost better...
thanks for posting my chest!
Lewis Trimble"

Thanks, Lewis, for the tip! If anyone tries this lacquer technique, please let me know.

*faux-boo coined by David of Midwestern Malaise.

Wee Beasties.

I think I originally saw these on Hollister Hovey's blog and have loved them ever since. People think etsy only has doilies and the craft version of Sandra Lee's cooking but it's not true.

The Grand Ole Bestiary is an example of etsy at its best. And a great way to get original, unique art at a great price.

Wow.

I promised myself I wasn't going to post anything else about COD, but this is unreal. You can watch the whole thing (you should) or you can go to 2:48 and 6:50 where the meat is. This is, I believe, their third debate held this morning at Widener Law School in Wilmington.

So, maybe I won't have to make phone calls for Coons after all...

The Tea Party's Almost Over (Bring Liquor!).

Don't miss tonight's debate between U. S. Senate candidates Christine O'Donnell and Chris Coons. If you can't watch tonight, then you'll want to remember to watch Bill Maher on Friday and/or SNL on Saturday for the highlights.

It's on at 7:30 EST on your local PBS station... brought to you by the letter D (for Dumb Dangerous Disastrous Delaware).

You Must Pay Zee Rent...

This could amuse me for quite some time...

Bye Summer, I Had a Swell Time.

Love, HG

Getting My Magnum On.

Holy Guacamole.

I just discovered (accidentally) the most awesome thing ever.

Our beach house was hit by lightning several weeks ago. We had to get a new TV. We had to get a new Sony Bravia 46-inch TV (had. to. *wink*). The beauty of this TV is not only that it fills the space above the fireplace but that it has the ability to get Netflix DIRECTLY TO THE TV!!

You just need a little wireless doohickey (similar to a flash drive) that plugs into one of the USB ports (I know!! How far has TV come?!) and you can instantly stream movies and TV shows right to your television for $8.99 per month!! You can tell how excited I am by the number of exclamation points I am using. !!!

So, not only have I watched Steve McQueen sent instantly to my TV in the form of Bullitt (The Getaway was only available through mail and is on its way to me as we speak, as is Sex and Lucia, The Philadelphians and the original Thomas Crown Affair) and The Paper Chase (who remembers this movie which was subsequently made into a series?), Barry Lyndon (before Ryan O'Neal was loony), Amelie, It's Complicated...I have just streamed in two seasons worth of Magnum, P.I. God, I was in love with Tom Selleck in college and "dated" a guy who reminded me exactly of him. Sigh. Yes, dated in quotes. Don't judge.

Netflix should be paying me is how much I love this service. Check it out. The picture's so excellent, too.

Happy Mad Men Season 4 Day!

I've come out of my self-imposed exile to celebrate the Season 4 premiere of Mad Men. I know you're as excited as I am. Here's what I've been doing instead of blogging:

Okay, not sailing so much as cleaning the brightwork while she is docked.

Hanging out at the beach with my boyfriend, James Bond:

Making my dishes sparkling clean while smelling like a garden using this:

geranium

Having an Apple a day:

Day One

Day Two

Attending my hairdresser's drag show at the Purple Parrot:

Oh, hell yes, she is fine...

Occasionally working at my friend's store so I can be surrounded by beautiful!! things:

Deanna Wish Designs

Contemplating life's big questions:

1) Who the hell is Joy Bryant anyway and why should I care?

2) What is wrong with people who back into parking spaces?

3) Vinegar or ketchup? (Vinegar, definitely.)

3) Why is The Big Lebowski funny? Or John Goodman in general?

4) Does anybody really know what time it is; does anybody really care?

But mostly, I have been wildly anticipating Don Draper and the gang coming back into my life.

Hope you're having a fab summer. xo

My Sentiments Exactly.

New Yorker cartoon by Joe Dator 2008

Alex McCord =

Clutch Cargo.

Oh, don't tell me I'm the only one who's noticed. Actually, I like Alex this season which just goes to show how far the RHNYC has deteriorated. And I would happily have loaned her some balls for her little speech to Jill.

Oh, Jenna.

from the May Coastal Living

Yes, I still want to know everything about her. And if you're into J. Crew, you know it's the extra 20% off spring sale (through Friday). Shop on...

Beauty & the Beach: Boxwood Home.

Another gorgeous shop has opened on beautiful Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware: Boxwood Home at 39 Baltimore. Those chairs with the octopillows are meant for my family room. In addition to being beautiful, they are sooooooo comfy.

The Oly bed above about kills me with its raffia and nailhead upholstery.

An Oly sofa upholstered in a DDG (drop-dead gorgeous) fabric with white leather chairs.

The barrelback chair is upholstered in burlap with nailhead trim. The blue baby alpaca octopus throw is by Thomas Paul.

You can see one side of the Bungalow 5 Calista mirror and some of the John Derian collection of decoupage. It hasn't even been open two weeks yet so they're getting new things in all the time. They have a brand new blog here which you can keep checking for new info as well.

Say Hello to My Leetle Friend.

You've seen and admired and adored this chrome pig bank from the sidebar of Cococozy (read the story of her pig here). It was created by New York artist Harry Allen. Something you may not know about me is that I have a fondness for pigs and wee beasties in general (remember my guinea pig which lived to be 9 years old?) dating back to my birthplace of DeKalb, Illinois, home of Barbed Wire and Cindy Crawford (that's a whole separate post just like Texas is a whole other country).

Gold pig bank; photo James Merrell via Cococozy

An illustration of my love of pigs: When I worked in creative for Marshall Field's advertising department, I wore a Heinhold pig racing watch. (I know, how cool was I?)

Gold pig bank Elle Decor March 2010; Nate Berkus decor; photo by Mark Shaw

Now, to the point: I found this here ugly pig at Home Goods for $6.


I purchased this here chrome paint at the Farm & Fleet (actually, there is no Farm & Fleet here and I miss it so. I miss the sweet, slightly toxic smell of gasoline, fertilizer, Wrangler denim and new tires):


I sprayed that there pig like this here and voila:


Now you tell me that's not one handsome piece o' plasticized pork. It also only measures about 8 inches long and 4 1/2 inches high (whereas the original is quite large [18"Lx10"H] because it was cast using the remains of a naturally deceased* pig); perfect for my sideboard at the beach. Oh, and did I mention $6.50 + $4.50 for paint = $11.00 vs. $190.00 for Harry Allen pig bank. Now, mine's not a bank and I'm not trying to make a starving artist out of Harry, but you see my point...

*No pigs were harmed in the production of this post; however, some resin was wildly abused and spray painted into submission.