Split Personality Throwdown

Hi, my name is Erin, and I'm two people. Ok, well to be perfectly literal I do in fact have another person growing inside my belly (weird!), but what I'm talking about is the other person inside my brain -- her name is Stacy. You can blame this identity crisis on my mom, who called all three of her darling children by their middle names, thereby ensuring an uphill battle to maintain a consistent persona. Mostly I have learned to answer to any name by which I'm called, but still I cringe when I hear "STACY!" barked out at the Dr's office and know the clueless registrar means none other than Yours Truly. Let me tell you about Stacy -- she's a nutcase. She thought her name was really Anastasia and someone (talking to you, Mom) made a terrible spelling error. Stacy revealed herself in high school, tired of finally fighting the good fight to just be Erin, dammit. Stacy was kinda grungy, dyed her hair purple, got a nose ring, went on to college and did, ahem, the things college kids do -- namely pull in a near 4.0 in between partying. Hard.

She likes a lot of color and for you to feel slightly uncomfortable in her presence.

Because there is a special kind of cognitive dissonance that occurs in the push/pull between organization and entropy.

She's a wild child, but the floors better be clean or she will whip your ass.

And of course you know me, little ol' Erin. My last house was pretty much black, white and gray, with a hefty dose of brown, because that is where I feel safe and comfortable. I am a rational being, and I don't need any overly decorative crap chintzing up my life.

'

That's not to say that Erin, I, whomever, doesn't have a sense of humor.

She just thinks you might feel more comfortable if the lines are clearly drawn, if things are proper and orderly.

Nothing wrong with that, right?

Now, if you can't yet tell, there's a hole in my brain and I'm struggling to balance the two personalities within. For a long time, the neutral, sensible side has been in control. But lately the crazy party ho has been yearning to break free.

Don't worry -- no part of me is actually a ho. That was just a little poetic license.

Anyway, I learned long ago that it's better to balance Jeckyll and Hyde, lest a monster break free and run rampant all up in my house, or it get so dreary and overly polite in here that no one feels free to do other than take tea and eat crumpets.

Not that I would kick a crumpet out of bed.

And there you have it, I AM a ho -- a carbohydrate ho.

At least there are some things all my personalities can count on.

Stay tuned to see how the other issues resolve themselves. My house is a battleground.

Advice (both decor and mental health related) is always appreciated.

[little blue deer, Poppytalk, Kriste Michelini Interiors, NYTThe Aestate, NYT]

Please go to my Pinterest to visit all the wonderful friends I stole these images from.

Pinterinspirations

It's Pinterest day, which basically means I don't have two spare seconds to rub together and must, therefore, rely on the goodness of the internet to provide fodder for today's post. Thankfully I follow some fantastic pinners, so busting out the jams is easy breezy. Trust.

I have many takeaways from this image: I need to paint some supergraphics up in this joint, that sofa must be mine, and Acid Wasp is alive and well.

Still loving curtains, may have to throw some jade into the mix.

I know I am going to offend someone, but I loathe those chairs -- mostly because I had a similar set and they are so freaking hard to pull up to the table. But I do love that crazy antique lion paw table paired with fresh, clean chairs.

This is eerily similar to our office layout -- similar paint, couch, room size, etc. That's even where I plan to put the desk. Digging the french doors and garden stool cum coffee table. Want to burn the Union Jack (sorry, England -- it's not you, it's me).

Ike's new room. BOOM.

Or wait -- maybe this one? I mean... dayum.

I kind of let you down during Wallpaper Week, but can I make up for it by telling you my new secret wallpaper crush is Schumacher's tortoiseshell? I really hope the sample doesn't win my heart because it's $350/roll.

And finally, tomorrow I theoretically fly to Hawaii. With a two year old and a bleeding hole in my uterus. The doc has given me the ok to fly, but I go in for one more sonogram in a couple of hours to make sure the situation looks stable.

Cross your fingers for me because my mom is getting married to an awesome dude and I don't want to miss the wedding. Also I could really use a vacation from staring at these walls. I'm hoping the rental looks something like the picture above.

So maybe I'll be back tomorrow, but hopefully I'll be boarding the plane and I'll next see you all bright and early Monday, April 2, rife with reports of volcanoes and saltwater.

Kisses!

[Jay Jeffers, Katie Waddell's pinterest, AD via My Interior Life's pinterest, Albert Hadley, no source]

If it Weren't Friday I Might Murder Myself

After a relatively upbeat week I am heading into the weekend as a major grumpasaurus. Why, you ask? (Or maybe you didn't ask, but since I have control of this here convo I'ma gonna tell you.) It's because I went to the doctor yesterday expecting better news regarding my dumb pregnant problems, and instead they are worse. I am working really hard to be angry because anger trumps the wimpy weepies every day, and it is working. Sorry that you all should feel the flinty edge of my wrath -- you really don't deserve it. And we'd all been having so much fun lately.

So never mind bad things and let's take a quick look at entry hall ideas instead.

I could spend eternity attempting to transform our rather modest foyer into something as grandly delectable as this one, designed by Isabel Lopez Quesada. But good architecture is a lot like cheekbones: either you have it or you don't. And those of us that don't must resort to seedier means of coquetry, namely makeup.

In decorating terms we're talking wallpaper and paint and fabulous objects, and if anyone knows anything about dressing up a space, it's Tony Duquette's ex partner Hutton Wilkinson.

Our entry definitely falls into the "needs more makeup STAT" category. In the interest of moving that along, you may recall that I've been painstakingly collecting enough wallpaper samples to paper every house in the neighborhood, but I think I've finally narrowed my choices down significantly. I've yet to photograph the samples in situ, but here's a hint about one of them:

I called the nice folks at Twigs and they were kind enough to send me a sample in every colorway of their Pheasant wallpaper. It is bananas, people. INSANE. Maybe too insane. I don't know.

We'll talk about it next week. Until then, I hope you have a lovely weekend filled with donuts and down pillows... or whatever it is you're lusting after. Being pregnant does weird things to you.