{in the mirror}

first of all I want to say hello to everyone who reads this blog so I took a few self portraits as I was cleaning and ripping apart (and organizing) my living/dining room today. ta-dah! it's me, the person behind the blog. I'm a real girl, truly, a real human being. No blog-bot!

A little self portrait action taken today.

and a booty shot for ya. just 'cuz I love ya so much! :) Smack!

okay so enough holly photos. now you see me, now you don't! on with decorating! i'm starting to get a feel for my apartment after nearly 8 weeks here. i finally know how we will use the space and what i need to do at this point to make it feel like home. for one, the living room needs roman blinds, which i've ordered and they should arrive in 3 weeks. next, i want to paint the wall behind the sofa and china cabinet and i'm thinking in a warmish grey or a medium plum to add some depth and feeling to the room. i've also decided to put my standing mirror over the sofa and run a slim picture shelf below it so i can rotate in/out artwork. that will look pretty and the mirror over the sofa against a painted wall will give the illusion of space -- without the mirror the room could look a bit narrow or like it's closing in otherwise, especially since I do not plan to paint the other walls. of course my sofa table is not staying, it's just a basket flipped on its head! I'm still trying to find a coffee table that is not square or rectangular -- I'm looking for a triangular shape with round edges, oval, or a round table in wood or with a black base and a hammered metal top. Still looking for the perfect coffee table! I do not want square or rectangular because I need to soften up the space a bit and as I look around I see too many hard edges (table, carpet, cabinet, sofa, tv, windows, room shape, etc.). This is exactly why I purchased such an expensive rice paper globe for my living room - this extremely expensive pendant cost around 5- Euros total (ha ha) but it gives me exactly the look that I want... ROUND. SOFT. And slightly feminine without causing my husband's heart to burst from over exposure to girly stuff. I can't wait to paint the wall, find a coffee table, hang the mirror, my artwork, the ledge over the sofa... And I'm dying to find the right lounge chair and a stool for my square cushion to place at the end of my dining room table. I'm also going to hang a round metal pendant over my table (already have it and love it), paint my dining room chairs and reupholster them, and add a bright fun rug beneath my table from India -- I'm on the hunt for a flat weave rug and I have budgeted the money to splurge a little on one so I'm going to visit this Persian man I know here tomorrow... Wish me luck! And a little something special to add... Thorsten's oma gave us this china in 2001 when we got married but we didn't want to send it to America so we kept it here in Germany in her china cabinet until we eventually lived here. We told her when we moved over we'd invite her over for tea on it. She passed away last Fall so the china was left to us. Now we are in our apartment, which was once her apartment, and the china is in a cabinet on the same wall where the china was kept for 23 years before we moved in. Sweet huh? I set the table (above) so that it looks somewhat presentable over here as tomorrow night is girls night - my close friend and newly adopted little sister (he he) anne is coming over for wine, snacks, a movie -- and lots of crafts and messy paint! yay!!! this is the table where the magic will happen... want to join us? xo, Holly