Love. Love. Love. Relics Home

Everyone who knows me knows I love funky little retail shops. Who doesn't? Particularly those with fabulous displays and daring assortments.  It all comes down to having a vision and adding a little personality.  One loverly shop that has all of this in spades is Abilene's own Relics Home.  Some of you might also know I'm from a small town near Abilene (Baird, TX) - so I'm always very excited to go home and see what shop owner extraordinaire and designer Rebecca Allen is up to at Relics.

When I was home during the summer her displays were so bright and colorful and lively!  But oh!  These brown leather chairs in the style of the Barcelona Chair are on my "obsession list". 











 Beautiful linens through the window!  The shop is in a restored building in downtown Abilene and is so charming.

Still dying over the owl rug you see hanging on the wall. . . The picture doesn't do it justice.  Rebecca does design out of her shop and has a super cool work space in the back where she'll consult with you while you are surrounded by fabulous fabrics and sit on a calfskin stool.  SO my kind of place.

Candles on an old door hang above a dining room table - LOVE it!  And if anything - that they serve free margaritas on Saturdays - well, it will put the experience through the roof!  It's so fun, and it is retail done well, which I admire and enjoy.  Kudos to Relics Home - See you soon!

Where we will be. . .

This weekend.  That's right.  It's only Tuesday - BUT I'm already dreaming of Friday and Saturday - a lovely late September weekend in Texas - Love it.  Mainly because we have such fun plans. 

Friday at UTA to hear Ken Burns speak.  So thrilled. . .

 

Then Saturday to see the great stuff going on at Red's Pop Shop on Greenville!

And maybe, just maybe swing by the Texas State Fair. . . ?  I don't know.  That is a weekend in and of itself. . . but we will see!  Happy Fall in Tejas!

Cyber obsession: Alabama Chanin & Refueled Mag

I follow Chris Brown of Refueled Magazine on twitter - and through his blog/twitter/online mag I came across fashion genius Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin - and am completely obsessed with, and inspired by, her approach and the so-called "slow clothing" movement.  She utilizes local and regional, as well as sustainable suppliers and was drawn home to her roots in Alabama after school/work/travel around the world.  She takes time.  Yet another thing I'm obsessing over these days.  She seems to genuinely love the beauty in the "mundane" (quoters, because I hate to even use that word, if that is even the word for it).  I think it's beauty in living for real.  And I just love the story and her vibe.  The below video is from Refueled's "automatic buzz".  Check out more there - and have a fabulous weekend!

ABC in NYC

South African Beaded Animal - Doss would love!

So I'm in NYC on an overnight  for work - had a good night at the US Weekly 25 Most Stylish New Yorkers event.  It was fun!  Lots of fun sitings from Adrien Grenier to Mary J Blige to. . . wait for it, Wendy Williams.  That's right.  BUT my most exciting moment of this trip might be my [tentative] visit to ABC Carpet & Home - I hope to stop by tomorrow before my meetings, and can't be held responsible for my actions once there. . . which might include the purchase of the products showcased in this post. Don't you love, too?

local artisan wood bark vases - LOVE

Vintage Fu Dogs believed to be property protectors

Type on-Trend

I mentioned that we have had some very creative, supportive friends involved with Momofandango and the work toward launching at The Dallas Flea - one in particular creative, Peter Henry (the graphic designer of the hilarious, uber hip J-Dig Cards - more on them in the near future!), helped me develop the new Smmidge logo (debuting right here very soon).  Don't you love that super retro, refrigerator from the fifties feel?  So cool.  We then needed to integrate it into the darling Momofandango logo that some friends at MoHouse Design developed over two years ago.  Who knew how super on-trend we were - because today, a crazy thing happened. A print magazine launched!  That's right.  I said PRINT.  You know how I adore anything paper. . .even if it isn't the greenest approach (but it's only 4 issues per year!), I still love it.  AND - the creative geniuses at Anthology Magazine look like they might be using the same font as our own Momofandango.  See the comparison with the gorgeous cover below.  I'm taking it as a very good sign.  I feel like Momo deserves a spread in the new mag on the coincidence alone!  Don't you agree?!  Hey, a girl can always dream!  Check out more of the wonderful Anthology here but you'll have to get the print version to get the full scoop!