So I've got this rope...

I found it outside of Banana Republic the other day. Still haven't figured out exactly what I want to do with it, but in the mean time, I'll spruce up a pillow.

Materials: Miscellaneous rope and Ikea pillow

I tried a bow

And a knot concoction

But decided on a simple band of rope

I think this will do for now.

But I'm still brainstorming the perfect project to put this rope to use.

I'll keep you posted.

Kitchen Cues from 5 Napkin Burger

Last night, Roommates LA, Emily & I tried out the 5 Napkin Burger that just opened in our hood. With its crisp industrial interiors and whiff of char-grilled goodness, its one of those restaurants that beckons you in from the cold sidewalk. The burgers were, of course, delicious. And so were the onion rings and fries. Oh, and the root beer float and chocolate peanut butter milkshake was pretty fantastic too. Hm. Anyways.

Most impressive were the interiors! The place was lined with white subway tile (I know, its everywhere these days, but I still love it), lots of metal hardware, gigantic chalkboards, black leather details and lighting done in straight up Thomas Edison style.

It got me thinking. How great would grey subway tile look in a kitchen.

Gets me excited to live in a place, one day, where I can do major tweaking!

I'm tired of having a Snow Fro

It's snowing, again.

It's been snowing since yesterday morning. And when I say snowing, I really mean BLIZZARDING. I just new this morning would be a snow day. All my Brooklyn co-workers decided to work from home. Thats a good sign, right?

No.

Sweet boss lady tells me, "I'm leaving my house now! We might be the only 2 at work, but we'll see!" Ugh. If she's willing to traipse from her apartment, I guess I have to traipse from mine. These are little pictures roommate LA and I snapped amidst our struggle to work.

After parting with my spotter, I made my way, slipping, walking and sliding all the way to midtown. I was absolutely positive I'd be the ONLY person at work. I was sure of it. Who else would walk all this way in this weather? I began to feel ridiculous. And then I saw this person...

Please note the leather hand bag, the over sized fur coat and tight black leather pants. One would think this fashionista is a woman who doesn't take snow as an excuse to dress down. But now, this fashionista is a MAN who buys his snow wear in the form of pleather and faux fur.

Strangely, I don't feel ridiculous anymore.

The snow has made a valiant effort in trying to shut the city down.
But I'll tell you this, 15 inches of snow and sleet and mess won't ever be able to shut the crazy down.

Diaries of a Dog Walker

check out those crazy teeth!

I'd like to walk you through my most recent New York adventure. Dog Sitting. I've been watching a little dog named Jabu. He's an adorable black Pomeranian and has the sweetest demeanor.... when he's not barking. Surprisingly enough, I've loved the experience. But it did take some getting used to. May I walk you through a normal night for me and little Jabbers?

Take, for instance, last night. I was in my pajamas and it was raining winter, so I pulled on my Uggs and giant puffy jacket. I then reached for my keys, my phone, and doggy bags. Yes, doggy bags. They're blue. I crammed everything into my pockets. Then I strap Jab's into his harness, attach the leash and set out the front door.

We ride the elevator down to the first floor. (Just 2 days prior, I had ridden the elevator down with a nanny and 2 little boys. One of the little boys was screeeeaming because he was afraid of the little ball of preciousness at the end of my leash. Finally, after patiently smiling trying to convince the little boy that Jaberwalkie wasn't going to bite, I lean down and say "You know hun, the dog will bite if you continue to scream." Thankfully, we reached the first floor before we had the chance to find out. Funny thing is, I like children. These particular children wear on my last nerve, though.)

Anyways, we walk outside, where Jab's sets our walking pace. We round the corner, and stop at the left over pile of snow from last week. He sniffs. I watch. We move on. We walk down the street. We encounter a little old lady with a little old dog. "Oh my goodness, what a precious dog! How old is he!? What is his name!?", she says. I reply, "Thank you! His name is Jabu. I'm dog sitting. Not sure how old he is." My dog is clearly cuter than hers. So I feel obligated to ask how old her dog is, and what his name is. I drag little Jab's away from the old man dog and keep walking. These run ins happen often. We continue walking. Jabs does what he needs to do. 6 blocks later, we are back at my apartment emptying our pockets and shedding our winter wear. Oh the days of suburbia, when I'd (well, actually my dad) would say "Ok, Sally, I'll just open the side door and you can help yourself to the yard. Talk to you in a few minutes!"

What a process. I love little Jabs, but I'll be just fine once he leaves.

Oh, and roommate Emily wrote the most adorable post about him. You should probably read it.

Happy Birthday Gracie!

*Only Gracie would be a teacher with red lipstick and big hair in her glamor shot.

Little sister, Grace Kendall, is turning 23 today! I know she is cringing at that picture. But her 3rd grade glamor shot is just so darn cute, how could I NOT include it! I think it's only fitting to list the 23 things I love most about her:

1. your black and white honesty
2. your willingness to peruse garage & estate sales (with me)
3. your determination to have our own (now annual) garage sale
4. your love for big hair and the perfect revlon lipstick
5. your not so small obsession with our cats
6. your unbelievable knack for interiors and decorating
7. your sensibility for minimalism
8. your heart for others
9. your fierce independence
10. your healthy dependence
11. your liking to our West Texas grandmother's funny sayings
12. your drive to always work hard and finish strong (probably more than anyone else I know)
13. your consistent ability to put together darling outfits
14. your thriftyness (in clothes, decor and random target finds)
15. your sometimes trashy, always entertaining, love for reality tv
16. your love for the flora family - quirks and all
17. your decisive and bold nature
18. your savyness in the kitchen
19. your sweet faith
20. your hilarious and adorable college friends
21. your friendships with my college friends
22. our love for before and after 80's movies, you know like Overboard, Swiss Family Robinson, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, My Father the Hero....
23. And the thing that I love the most, is that I get to have you as a little sister.

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Dwell for Target

I feel like the Dwell line at Target is all the rage these days. I've read about on Design*Sponge and Apartment Therapy. Guess it makes me a bit of a poser for wanting to talk about it here... Oh well. It's adorable. Makes me want to redo my entire bed!

Nate Berkus for HSN

I'm having a small fit over Nate Berkus's line on HSN. I've heard about it for a while and see it pop up every now and then, but haven't experienced it for myself.

Until today.

After browsing through Colin Cowie's Home Decor section, I landed on Nate's area. My goodness, amazing! Not that I would expect anything less from Oprah's bff. The prices are completely reasonable for the high level of everyday chic. I love it all. Here are some of my favorites- just wait until you see the sheet sets at the bottom...

Williams Sonoma Home

Can you tell by all of my virtual window shopping that my funds are limited these days? Who cares! Shopping for inspiration is almost as fun as the real thing! Williams Sonoma is a place I stop by weekly (the one at Columbus Circle). Just browsing. I promise. But rarely do I venture upstairs to the HOME section. This past week I threw caution to the wind and traipsed upstairs. (It wasn't nearly as dramatic as I'm making it out to be.) Anyways, they had some of the neatest pieces!

They had classic and modern sofa's, arm chairs, curtains.... Who ever picks their fabric has GREAT taste. Not sure why I'm shocked by this.

F. Chan

"Be careful not to turn others’ lives into the model for your own. Allow God to be as creative with you as He is with each of us."

-francis chan

3 things:

1. I organized my desk drawer. Amazing how good that makes me feel.
I don't know why my stapler is labeled.

2. Walking home from the subway last night, I passed a heaping mound of stuff that Banana Repulic was getting rid of. This sounds weird, but this is a normal occurrence in New York. There was an entire clear bag filled with discarded ropes. Like big hearty 'I live on a sail boat' ropes. I don't know what craft I'm going to do with them, but it's going to be fun. I know it.

3. Boss lady just told me I could leave for the day because the snow is so out of control.
Peace Out!!

A Project

My mom, Cindy, came up with a fun blog project for the two of us to try out. Modeled after A Year of Mornings and then Nie Nie Dialogues, we've decided to photograph our mornings from our respective cities (Me in New York and Mom in Dallas) and compare them! We are a week in and our writing and photography skills sure aren't perfect, but we are loving it! It's fun to see even in our stark location differences, we hover around the same things in the morning.

You can follow along if you like. We'll be posting on
Texas Rise Manhattan Shine.

Lunch Break :: Ikea Online

I love Ikea. I do. Have since I was little.

I have memories of my family making the road trip down I45 to Houston to visit my dad's side of the family. After seeing them we would ALWAYS stop at 2 places on our way home: Woody's Smokehouse (to pick up beef jerky and cokes) and Ikea. My family of 5 would follow the dotted yellow line all over the store. An early personal favorite was the 500 square foot mock apartment. I think I knew then, that I would one day live in a petite and clever little space in the city. So today, on my lunch hour, I decided to peruse the virtual aisles of Ikea.

How cute and versatile is this? Use it in an entry way, by the bedside, in a bathroom...



This mirror is deceivingly large. Great over a bed. And that wood frame looks pretty paintable if you ask me.



Ok. Ignore the navy stripes. I think you could get major mileage out of this headboard. Seems really easy to recover.





Simple. Clean. Put this anywhere.



This is a Cindy Flora trick. My mom used rugs like this as window treatments in all the kids rooms growing up. She would fold over the top, sew a quick seam making one pocket tab across the top. Then she would use a tension rod to situate it at the top of the window. Using ribbon or fabric, she would fashion it into a roman shade or half moon valence thingy. Does that make any sense at all? I'll have to find a picture. But for $6.99, I can't think of a cuter/more affordable window treatment.




This is kind of crazy looking. But think of it as a boys headboard or giant message board or even a piece of art on the wall! Many possibilities.

No Way Snow Day

February 5, 2010

Dear Snow,

I write to inform you that you're presence will not be needed on Saturday. Fun and messy as you are, you have worn out your welcome. I think the rest of the North East agrees with me. Thank you for your willingness to coat the streets of Manhattan in white so we can slip and slide on the black ice the following morning. What would we (and our once straightened and now frizzy snow covered hair) do without you?

Until next winter,

Hannah Flora

Part II: Remember when I was on HGTV...

So we've made it through half way through the week.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

• Work Day and errand running with Rob (a production guy) and Daniela (a producer)
  
• I'm loving this whole process. I get the biggest kick out of the crew. They are so great and helpful. The teamwork is is unbelievable.
• Take a 5 Hour Engergy Shot with Rob and Daniela. It was my first. It does nothing but make us feel sick. Ha.
  
• Lots of errands. Which I'm eating up. Living in New York, you don't have the luxury of just jumping in the car and driving to Walmart or Ikea. But in LA, you do! We venture to Ikea. I make Rob and Daniela get hot dogs and cinnamon rolls at the Ikea Cafe. It makes me laugh to even type that. Finally the gross feeling from the 5 hour energy subsided.
  
• Stop by the house. Check out the fabulous progress and head back to the hotel!
  
• Ivy and I have a fun dinner across the street and process through EVERYTHING. I love having her here. It sounds corny, but it was the biggest blessing.
  

Friday, October 2, 2009

• What in the world. When did the week happen? How is it already Friday?
• Final day of shopping. Off camera. We hit up Home Depot, Home Goods, the Walmart... I even have room in the budget for a giant flat screen TV! woo woo.
  
• I feel like I hit my stride today. Everything is bought. The room is progressing so nicely! The crew and I are now friends, and not just co-workers. I'm getting really sad about the experience winding down!
  
• Lisa continues to pop out of no where with wonderful bits of advice. For instance, "Don't feel pressured to buy something at every store you go into. Sometimes, you need to just shop for inspiration!"
• Almost paint this beautiful piece of Danish wood furniture the homeowners have. What color? Lacquer royal blue. But I decide not to. You're welcome Shea Family.
  
• The day is dwindling. We make an ice cream run and wrap things up. I decompress and make a to do list with my 2 producers. While we are sitting at the kitchen table we start hearing very questionable noises coming from the empty upstairs. Surely its the cats... Or is it? We get creeped out. Time to go!
• Get back to the hotel and hear about Ivy's day. She was gallivanting all around the city! Such a big girl!
  

This is the only picture of us from the whole week. Ha.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

• It's the reveal day!
• For the first time, I'm stressed. It's a little chaotic. But we manage. Hope I wasn't too sassy with anyone.
• The next few hours are a bit of a blur. The weather was crisp and lovely. The reveal was exactly what I hoped for! Everyone was so kind and affirming. In my final end of day filming, I almost teared up! Which, if you know me, is a big deal. I'm not a crier. I was relieved everything came together. So full from this experience. It was ALL and more than I had hoped for. So thankful.
• I have the rest of the day with Ivy! We drive into Santa Monica and meet one of my crew friends for mexican. We walk around. Shop. Laugh. Talk. It was a perfect last chapter of my LA experience.
  

Sunday, October 4, 2009

• Ivy leaves at the crack of dawn.
• I leave around 11am.
  
• Goodbye for now HGTV experience! Hope to see you again!
  

Ok kids. I think I'm finally done talking about this experience. I'm sure you're relieved. If you missed the final product, although I don't know how you could with all of this constant blogging of mine, you can watch it right here.

Let me know if I missed anything!

Part I: Remember that time I was on HGTV...

View from the hotel room. The sky is exceptionally blue in LA.

The memory is sharp in my mind! Now. But will I remember all the details and quirks of the experience in a couple of months? Or a year? Probably not. Hence, why I'm going to jot down some of the details here. On the blog. Ha. Bless you for reading.

Check out those freshly painted nails. OPI - Let them eat rice cakes.

Monday, September 28, 2009

• Work half day. I'm jittery excited. Got my big girl suit case packed and my camera charged.
  
• Fly out of JFK and into LAX. Flying in and out of these huge airports, coast to coast, feels grand and epic. I feel small. But confident.
• Steve the PA picks me up from the airport. I trust he's actually from HGTV and not here to abduct me in his Honda Accord.
• We rendezvous with the producer at the studio where 'I Love Lucy' was filmed. I mean honestly....
• Jump in his car and drive out to the burbs where I'll be staying.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

• I get ready. Make sure my hair is extra TV big and my lips are extra Texas red. I expect the producer at noon.
• At 12:30, a full camera crew walks into my hotel room. Oh dear Lord.
• I get mic'd up and pretend like I know what I'm doing.
  
• They start filming. I start rambling. They film me getting into the car like 4 times. It's mildly awkward, but secretly, I'M LOVING THIS. We grab lunch. I trip over my gigantic wedge sandals. We get in the car and head to the homeowners house.
• Lots of hurrying and waiting.
• Practically get pushed out of the car and WHOA, I'm meeting Lisa. Wait, that is Lisa right....? "Hey you!!", I almost say. Hahaa. It's Lisa LaPorta. She's about a minute big and is darling and warm.
• I meet the family and present my plan. We chat. And walk around. Chat some more. And then its the end of Day 1. Whew.
  
• I go back to my hotel decompress with my mom and then film my "confessional style day wrap up" with the camera set up on a tripod in my hotel room. (See above picture) And that's not sketchy or questionable looking AT ALL.
  

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

• Game on. First day of on camera shopping.
  
• We hit up the paint store, carpet warehouse and a mod little furniture store. Lots of decision making. Going on instinct and internal processing.
  
• I think I could do this all day long...
• Did I mention my carpenters? Now, I was kind of hoping to get to LA and work with a ridiculously good looking single carpenter, fall in love, get married, and live happily after in our adorable house the he would build and I would decorate. Sadly, HGTV had other plans for me and my carpenter. I did, however, get to work with Eric and Rupert who were fantastic at their jobs but far from datable (married and a lot out of my age range).
  
• And guess who flew into LA....Ivy! She gets in late, rents a car and meets me at the hotel. We talk, decompress, laugh and sleep soundly like we were back in our loft beds in Auburn.

More to come tomorrow! Didn't want to overwhelm...