dorothy draper- iconic classics

I LOVE Dorothy Draper. She is one of my design idols and definitely a classic. I was poking around online and found that Kindel- a furniture designer makes Dorothy Draper inspired pieces! I love finding things like this, only because they are usually classics and are styles that never really go out of date. 

Here are few things that I found: 

I love these Draper Cafè Side Chairs! They are simple, classic, and come in cute color schemes! This one is the White finish with F870-16 Fabric. 

Here it is in Black Finish with Zebra fabric and nail head trim! Very fun to spice up your room!

Even though I'm usually a modern girl, I love wingbacked chairs. I don't know why but I love the idea of a wood paneled library with big wingbacked chairs, having my tea and reading a good book! Oh the life! This is the Varney Wingback chair in Dorothy Draper Upholstery, which I think is a neutral classic. 

The Varney bed is very classic, but modern at the same time. Dorothy Draper was a big fan of the Chinese Chippendale and I have to 2nd that! The clean lines and the nice finishes make it a simple piece with a big impact. 

The last piece is a chest, which I love! It's big and chunky and would be a great piece for a dining room, living room, or even a bedroom, or office! It's that versatile. I love the neutral colors and the fact that they are doors masked as drawers. It makes the functionality even better! 

refreshing cupcakes

Where I live, it's about 100-115 degrees during the summer and refreshing drinks and treats are a must! These cupcakes are my favorite and I learned from one of my friends, Sofia! They are super simple, or you can make them from scratch as well. I like the simple way! :) 

All you need is 1 box of Strawberry Cake Mix and 2 cans of Lemon Frosting. (I only had 1 and ran out quick!) All you have to do is follow the directions on the box, put cute liners in your cupcake tins! I used pastel colors because they're summery. I also made 12 normal cupcakes and 16 mini cupcakes, for those who don't want a whole cupcake. Or if they're like me have a couple mini ones with my coffee or tea. 

Idea for kids: Put Fruity Pebbles on top for a more fun, colorful cupcake! 

Note: Sorry my frosting isn't as great as it should be! I was running out fast and realized that they are going to be little dolups rather than all the way around the edging! Also- tip for making it stand up in a little mound- put a dolup in the center and then spiral around the dolup to make it stand up and make it look fluffy! 

Oh and to have a make-shift icing bag: Put a plastic ziplock bag in a tall tupperware and spoon the frosting into the bag. Make sure it all goes towards 1 corner of the bag and squeeze out all of the air. Then cut at an angle a small portion of the corner and voila! you have an icing bag without spending much money! 

Have a nice and cool day on in this summer heat! 

some things i love

Thanks for your comments! It was definitely a happy surprise when I woke up this morning. Today I thought I would post some things I love in life. Just little things! I feel like the little things make me happiest because they're small, cute, and functional. 

First is stationary. I love sending thank you notes to whoever I can! I have a couple of sets of stationary- one is the brand Letter Impress from Target. I graduated recently and needed a bunch of thank you notes and I found these at a great price! They were $9.99 +tax. These are just great to have a box laying around just incase you have a thank you moment. 

I LOVE agendas. I loved getting a new one every year! I would stalk the store until the one I wanted came in. Of course I had to look online every day to make sure the release date wouldn't change. It's just one of my quirks, ha! So the first agenda is the one I used to use. It's called Time.Mine and they are sold on Amazon and at Borders and a couple designs are available on the Time.Mine website. ($14) These are perfect for College kids who need A LOT of room to write. And it doesn't hurt that the covers are adorable! 

Now that I've graduated and on my way to grad school, I needed a little more grown-up agenda. This one is Patent and Plum, which is a win-win for me! It's a COACH Tribeca (#60469) agenda that was out for 2009/2010 and was $198 retail. What's great about them is that you only have to buy the refills every year, instead of buying a whole new agenda. I am going to love this feature because I always felt bad throwing away my whole agenda, but now I can keep it for years to come. (I'm also a COACH addict, which probably isn't so good on my bank account!)

Sticky notes are my FAVORITE! They are super cute and come in a bunch of designs and colors. I use them for everything! Notes on my computer for products or dimensions, in my agenda when I don't know if a date is permanent or tentative. I just love them! 

Here are some cute ones from Cavallini available on Amazon for $13.

If you don't want to spend $13 dollars on a pack, I also find them in the $1 dollar section at Michael's or Target, depending on the time of year. Now might be a good time since school is back in session. 

If I can, tomorrow I will post about one of my favorite Cupcakes, which is a recipe my friend gave me in college and is loved by everyone! 

POPPY!

I signed up for the Coach Poppy contest! You can tweet my hashtag #cupcake688 and visit my pages to make my poppies grow! Surprises will be hidden among the trail and possibly on my page! 

my first post

Since I'm trying to figure this blog out, I thought I would post about some of the things that I would want in my future apartment! My philosophy is I have my "pod" (apartment, house, whatever it may be) and my "pod" has to be exactly the way I want it for we are creatures of comfort and habit. It usually takes me a few tries to get it right and I'm constantly on the hunt for new accessories, bed coverings, and carpet tiles to make my "pod" feel as comfortable as possible. Here are some things that I would love to have for my future apartment: 

First is a Pouf by CB2, which is a less expensive brand of Crate and Barrel. These Poufs come in Grey or Red and run about $80 USD. They used to have a lime green Pouf (which I loved most) but grey is just as adorable! 

Next is my favorite collection of books. They are the Penguin Classics in clothbound and I'm pretty positive this set is a must have on every designers' list.  I have a deal with myself where I read everything by paperback or on my eReader and when I'm finished I put the book in my "Read" box and go buy a copy in leather-bound or cloth-bound, such as these books. It's a win-win-win situation because I'm reading my books, I'm making my room/apartment beautiful, and I'm recycling my old books when taking them back to the 1/2 price book for a credit! 

Lastly, I chose a set of bone china (which I probably won't be able to afford until I'm 50!) by Wedgwood. It is a collection by Barbra Barry and it's called Musical Chairs. There are four different chair silhouettes with numbers. I'm also a tea fanatic and this set has a Tea serving set! They are about $35/per plate, $29/per dessert plate, and $55/per teacup and saucer. 

So here, is my first post! I hope it's not too terrible! I really like the idea of blogging and I'm hoping to get my portfolio up so people can see what I can do as well!  Have a great day!