Newest furniture addition to the house!

My husband likes to joke with me that when I like to go for "exercise" walks they usually mean "shopping" walks. I remember when we lived in NYC we would walk to work out but I always insisted on walking down Madison Avenue over Central Park! I mean come on! There's way more great people watching and clothes watching happening there than in the park ;)

 So, fast forward to my new "shopping" walks which include walking through the French Quarter and up to the river - well, on a walk with my mom we just HAD to pop into one of our favorite down low furniture shops - Greg's Antiques on Decatur. Greg's has been good to me through the years and it yet again came through! I spotted this Louis Phillipe commode just after I spotted the "Everything 50% OFF!" sign... yeah you know where this is going... 

Now you may be thinking, Boo, what the F are you gonna do with that big antique piece of furniture!? Well, this particular piece has been on my MUST BUY list for my house for years. We use Louis Phillipe commodes often in clients homes and they really are a classic, beautiful piece. I don't think they would make much sense in a low ceiling ranch style home but in a traditional New Orleans home with high ceilings and over 150 years of history these beauties fit right in! We mix it up by putting an amazing lamp on one with maybe a contemporary piece of art just to update it a little more. 

Well, I have never seen one for under $1,400. (and let me tell ya, I shop A LOT for clients!) This bad boy was on sale for $600!! I couldn't believe it. Now it may still seem expensive but I'm past the point in my life of buying Ikea and big box furniture (unless it's a knowingly quick fix to hold me over til the right thing comes). I don't mean that to sound snooty - I just loooove furniture and know I have limited wall space so I must love everything that comes in!

OK, back to Louis Phillipe - I had been kinda wanting to buy a dresser for Gibson's room that could double as a changing table because I was using this hideous contraption:

I mean who designs this shit!? After having a baby (because I had no clue about this world before) there are the most hideous baby gear things out there!!! Do people think that once you produce all your taste for nice things leaves your brain!? blegh. Oh, unless you're a millionaire and can afford the insanely $$$$ chic baby gear! Anyhoot, I got rid of the pack n' play to make room for Louis Phillipe. Why, yes, I am insane and got rid of a perfectly good changing table, baby cage thing in order to fit my gorgeous Louis. And proud of it!! Now it is such a please wiping a dirty booty I tell ya.

Here's my newest baby!!

How YOU doorin'?! This beauty has brought me much joy this week... and how cute is this - I needed a key tassel and we had this old tie from my father in law (whom Gibson is named after) so I just tied it on. I love it though!! Preppy boys changing table! SO cute. 

Ohhhh and when we were cleaning it out I discovered a secret drawer! I had no clue these had a secret drawer - on the very bottom where it looks like a solid piece of wood is another drawer - so cool! 

Here's a glimpse of what his room looked like before Louis joined in... Yeah, to the right is a Pinterest/Ikea hack gone wonky ;) We took that down, moved that tall dresser there and Louis is now to the left. SO much better!

I'll try and get some better nursery shots soon to show. There's a sofa on the opposite wall which is why the crib kinda floats like that. His room is not his forever room so I have never put much time into it. We will all be living upstairs in about 6 months once the attic gets finished so this room doesn't have much personality or love put into it. 

Mr. Louis Phillipe will stay put in here though and look fabulous doing so! He makes a wonderful changing table for us tall people and I'm so excited he has joined our home. 

Hope you liked the rambling post about a piece of furniture I'm obsessed with! What about you?? Any MUST BUYS that you've been waiting to pounce on!? I'd love to hear.

PS here's this weeks favorite picture of Gibson! He cracks me up. (yes, he's with The Hubs and why yes, this is what we do on weekends - SLEEP because this dude is not letting us!)

My art collection is growing!

Let's see my new art!! Wait, I have to tell you where it came from first! The estate sale of famed New Orleans socialite Mickey Easterling. 

This woman was amazing! I became totally intrigued by her after she passed away a few months ago and caused quite a stir. See, Mickey was a partier. She was very wealthy and supported the arts but was very over the top. So over the top that at her funeral (held at the Saenger Theatre) she requested to be embalmed and positioned on a bench with a cocktail in one hand and a cigarette in the other! Only in New Orleans folks... only in New Orleans. 

I really went to the estate sale in search of awesome vintage clothes (which I got but that's a whole other post!) and happened upon a few awesome pieces of art. Oops! 

The first one is a classic nude line drawing. Signed but can't make out who the artist is but reminds me of Matisse. i love drawings like this. It's in our bedroom over the mantle and I love looking at it. I'd never get sick of this gal! It's about 36" x 24" so it's a good size. Framed and matted too. 

The above one was a no brainer to me but then I noticed this interesting black and white painting shoved in a corner turned around so people wouldn't notice it. I was on the fence on whether I liked it or not... then I googled the artist and was sold! It's by the Japanese artist Toko Shinoda.  She's 101 years old and her art merges traditional calligraphy with modern abstract expression. Her art has been shown at museums throughout the world. 

Here it is in our living room. I love it!! I had tried it in our dining room first but didn't like it at all - I thought oh no, why did I buy this!? I don't think I like it! BUT I moved it here to the living room and it looks so good in there. Funny how the placement of certain pieces can change whether you like them or not.

Speaking of living room - here's another shot of the art but also check out my new curtains I made!! (sorry for dark crap picture but you get the idea) FINALLY!!! Simple white linen drapes that were super easy to make and not sure why it took me over 3 years to finally get this done!?

And last but certainly not least, I bought this massive totally 80's ink and watercolor portrait of Mickey Easterling! This thing is huge. Now, I know this is not for everyone but it spoke to me. I saw it at the estate sale on the first day and thought it was cool then that night I started reading more about Miss Easterling and thought it would be neat to have a portrait of this true bon vivant! A great conversation piece and a part of New Orleans history as well. 

By the way, this is the temporary dining room when looking over the sink -before real renovations begin on the new kitchen/dining area - that will take place in 2025 ;)

OMG I almost forgot - notice that burn mark on her shoulder in the above picture?? Yes, that's right - the plexiglass frame has a burn mark!! The burn mark almost makes the painting even better in a weird way because that Mickey liked to party and I envision some fabulous party at her house where everyone was wasted and a candle tipped over onto the painting! 

I know she liked to party because 90% of her amazing clothes had stains, burn marks, etc. and I'm fairly certain she only wore each piece once - there were hundreds of gowns and dresses. Kinda makes her even cooler to me. From what I read she always had a champagne glass in hand and even brought her on glass to restaurants incase they didn't have the type of glass she liked! 

 The painting is very well done and has a lot of detail. I'm trying to make out the artists signature still. The entire thing is mostly done with cross hatching which I thought was cool. You can kind of see it in these pictures.

Hope you liked my new art!! 

Ummmm... I have a problem... oh and landscaping is FINALLY happening!

OK, I have a problem here. Every since Mr. Gibson arrived I CAN'T STOP TAKING PICTURES OF HIM!! I've become one of those moms!? I'm finally in a writing mood so I just searched through my phone pictures to see what I could blog about.  99% of my pictures are of this baby! He's super cute and fun but lordy I need to get out more! ;) 

Anyway, about a month ago we kinda started getting our shit together and sorta started some landscaping. We got some boxwoods along the side of the house! I wanted a bunch more so that when we planted them they would be all perfect and touch - cheapo hubby wasn't having it :( They're slooowwwly almost touching and we've gotta trim them but I love the way boxwoods look! 

I even planted a random assortment of plants across from the boxwoods. A mix of herbs and flowers that are growing like crazy. It's my first attempt at gardening and I'm learning as I go. I'm taking note of what grows like crazy and what I'll avoid next season. 

Oh and we planted some Japanese Yew along the fence that will slowly yet surely become a wonderful privacy hedge. We'll probably be 62 by the time they fill out enough to even give us privacy from our neighbors 14' high windows... but hey, one day we will get that privacy! 

Oh and it took me about 2 days to plant everything because this little guy kept crying after I'd plant just one thing! 

Which led me to resort to this...

I digress... 

Now we're working towards making the back of the house somewhat presentable - it's AWFUL! I mean awful! 

Ughhhh... another reason I haven't been bloggin much is that my new stupid phone is an Android and it automatically makes my pictures all tiny and pixilated when I email them to myself. I'm still trying to figure out how to stop this. I need to really show off my awful backyard here and it's preventing me from doing so! Dammit! 

We will return to disgusting yard at a later date. I still need to fill y'all in on our complete kitchen reno (that I already want to rearrange. yes - I have a sickness! ) and some new art I bought... and all kinda good blog worthy stuff! Now let me google how to get better quality images... 

Anyone out there have a green thumb and recommend any plants/trees/hedges for privacy?? That preferably grow somewhat fast and don't require much room? I'm leaning towards Holly trees. My moms got some that grew fast and look good. Open to other plants as well! Oh and we get about 4 hours of direct sun right there. I think. 

Introducing John Gibson Hazard III... (yes I'm still alive and blogging!)

Hi!!! I just came to my blog and noticed I haven't blogged since DECEMBER!!! wow. Time flies when you're having a baby huh!? Without further ado...

Here's Mr. John Gibson Hazard III!! We are calling him Gibson.

Oh I had to put that one first! Is it bad that when he cries I kinda laugh and think it's the cutest cry ever!? Yeah, I won't be saying that too much longer I'm sure!

He was born February 17th. Let's make a long story short (and too bad if this is too much detail for you!) in my hippy state I had planned a natural birth - midwife, doula, prenatal yoga, raspberry fucking tea for my uterus to be all ready for the big day... blah blah you get the idea. WELL. I found out a week before he was born that this guy was breech! Yep!! So scheduled C-Section was planned. Whaaa whaaa whaaaaa.... planned for February 19th. Yea - he was born the 17th. Mr. Man decided he wanted to be an Aquarius like his momma so I went into labor on the 16th and an emergency c-section was had after 15 hours of labor. No fun! Oh and I lost lotsa blood so I then had a blood transfusion 3 days later. blegh.

I am grateful for a very easy pregnancy and so far a pretty easy and healthy baby so that whole yucky birth & recovery I'll hopefully forget with my awful memory ;)

Let's see more pictures of this crazy guy!

The faces he makes crack me up. 

I need to fix my camera - these are all really pixelated but below is how we think he was positioned inside me. He lays on me like a tree frog!!! His legs fold up like that. When he was born for some reason the name that came to me was Old Man River Frog. Maybe it was the drugs!? 

And how about one more cry shot!? 

He's 5 weeks old today and it's been quite an adventure so far. I don't feel like adding him to our lives has become this crazy drastic life changing event, it feels natural and normal. And I am not a baby person at all! I knew with my own I'd feel different and I do. 

Don't worry though - this won't become a baby blog! Although it is a nice place to log these life events as well as our money pit house ;)

Oh speaking of our money pit house - we gutted the kitchen while I was 9 months pregnant. Yeahhhh.... more on that to come!!