Saturday, July 31, 2010

A Wedding Gift?

It was BEAUTIFUL day in the Hudson Valley today, Chelsea's wedding day. HiHo is only a 35 minute drive from all of her festivities. Made me think....I wonder what the Bride & Groom would be receiving as gifts?
I Googled, "top 10 wedding gifts" and was completely uninspired. Some big box store lists came up and boring mentions like framing the invite, really? Now a days it is so expensive to have a wedding, if you are invited to one you are a close friend or family member, right? You should know what the taste of the new couple is. What their hobbies and preferred pass times are, basically what makes them tick.
Some say you should be sure to give a gift that at the very least covers the cost of your dinner....eeek, glad I wasn't invited.

Some of my favorite HiHo selected gifts that I have given in the past....a vintage Pyrex mixing bowl set, a set of vintage etched wine glasses, his and hers matching knit throws and even a vintage wine rack.
Not that I am an expert in this area but I tend to believe giving something that in the years to come they will remember as a gift from you, is the way to go.
What would you give the happy couple?

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Grandpa's House

My Dad's home has a strong sense of style and I had never viewed it that way before. He is an artist and continues to work in his studio on canvases in oil {even in his 80's}. Landscapes mostly.
This past week Mr. HiHo and I took the kids and our daughter's boyfriend to visit...their grandparents. Their house in the city of Buffalo and the cottage in Canada. I took lots of vacation pictures of all of us having summer time fun and many are wonderful flattering shots of family...these are NOT those shots, sorry guys. These photos are the best shots of just a few of the paintings hanging in both homes. They have people in the photos to show the scale of the works and how they relate to the living space.This is Cory seated at the cottage with one of a series of light house paintings done about four years ago. Grandma was serving up a picnic dinner featuring the largest bowl of macaroni salad ever made, with a panting done of the cottage gardens most recently. Mr. HiHo enjoys his morning cup of coffee in front of a hay field painted in the 1960's.Everett lounging under a mixed media piece named the Delicatessen Window.This is one of my favorites and has always hung in my parents homes. Humphrey seems to like it too. I have always said surround yourself with the things you love and your house will become a home. As a child and young adult my parents homes always seemed unfinished, in need of decorating, I was wrong. Dad's art defines the spaces and makes it home. Break the rules and be passionate!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Changing It Up

The Summer is slipping away and it shows in the amount of merchandise that has left the building. Summer color palettes are fading away and neutrals are staring to take over. Often changes in the shop layout are planned moves , however sometimes auction purchases dictate we move things before I even come up with a plan. I can't sell something if I don't get it off the truck. This is a dining set I purchased without space to display it in. Then I decided the best place was the front room where the hose display with pale chairs and the green table were featured was/is the best place to show off this large set.The table and chairs spent a few days just inside the door while I plotted a plan. The plan began with emptying the spot, which always means moving thirty items before the new display can begin. Here you see the loan library even had to be moved to make room. That's me on the ladder again.

All in all, a successful move, nothing broken, everything found a new home and it still looks a little bit like Summer.