underground.

Check out this beautiful underground home in a small Swiss Village. I can't get over the texture and lighting.... and the architectural lines and shapes. {sigh} The natural, muted pallet makes the space feel so earthy & raw, however it still somehow maintains a sophisticated, homey sense. I am so impressed. How great would that be to walk out, sipping your coffee, grab some firewood, sit on the perch to catch a quick view, and slip back inside for a spell to sit by the hearth & read? {double sigh.}

Read more here.

{via here.}

paparazzi.

I snuck in these pics over the past week while they were catching some Zzzz's together. They are my best friends, pretty much my favorite, and the perfect way to end my day. I feel pretty blessed.

Cutie how-to on homemade gift bows... the map one is by far my favorite. Such a perfect, chic detail for all you little recessionistas out there.

{via how about orange.}

NY 2010.

How perfect are these for a New Years party? I found them on UO a couple of weeks ago, and then soon discovered them all over the blogosphere. {I guess I am obviously not the only stalker of their web goodies.} Fabulous, simple designs with such a festive sensibility... I can't get enough. Confetti System partnered with Urban for this fabulous line... and all I have to say is "thank you. thank you. thank you."

goodies.

Sweet, thoughtful friends started off the holiday cheer just perfectly & dropped off these beautiful little ditties... I stole the last pics from her blog, but the cookies were received were just as pretty! Thank you L & S... they were just devine.

"extra, extra, read all about it..."

The December issue of Lonny Magazine is out! Yipppeee... it is just oozing with fabulous design & inspiration.

Christmas time.

Its Christmas time at the Fraziers! This is my favorite time of year... no matter where you go, everywhere just feels cozier and more inviting... even work. Even still, all I want to do is rush home and start a fire, turn on the tree, and just be. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

{excuse the yellow photos, Ry needs to teach me the white balance on our camera apparently.}

K.S.

Oh Kate, you did good this season... real good. I want it all.

fav. blog.

Imagine my delight when one of my favorite blogs, STYLE/swoon, featured a really, really special, near & dear project to my heart on her blog. A lot of my team's blood, sweat, & tears went into this. She is the owner of the Dallas based design firm, Swoon, who's responsible for the event planning & some interior of the Winspear & Wyly, among many others. So proud! :)

Check it out here.

DIY.

I saw some book page wreaths in one of the recent Pottery Barn catalogues and thought, "humph, I am not paying that much for that, " so I put glue gun to paper and figured out how to do it myself. I took pics a long the way to share. Enjoy! I spent $0.00... and I while I know that there is "no such thing as a free lunch," (thank you BU macro economics) I think I can at least chalk it up to a pretty thrifty Christmas decoration.

Supplies:
- Cardboard Scraps (I cut up a corrugated cardboard box from Sam's)
- Paperback novel (Grabbed an unneeded one off the bookshelf)
- Brown craft paint
- Glue gun & glue sticks
- Small strip of ribbon

1. Get together all your supplies... find a book with "yellowed pages" to create a vintage feel.
2. Using a stiff paintbrush, I applied the brown paint to the edges of the book. I simply squirted some paint onto brush and painted it on the edges of the book. Set aside to dry.

3. Instead of buying a wreath, I just cut up some scraps of cardboard and glued them together in a square wreath shape. (It worked just as well.)

4. After the pages were dry, I cut a page out of the book and you can either fan or roll it. Remember to roll the paper and not actually fold or crease it. Only fold the bottom of each page up after fanning, created a tab to glue on. Make sure that the painted edges are facing up and you only glue on the tab.

5) To fill in the wreath, you'll simply roll a page, apply glue to the ends, and just stick it to the cardboard. After covering the whole wreath, you will want to add some filler pages for the sparse areas. The filler pages don't necessarily need to touch the cardboard; they can stick to the pages already glued to the wreath, if need be. Use the filler pages to fill in holes & add some height and visual interest to your wreath. I also cut the pages at different lengths to create dimension, as well.

8. After I was finished filling in, I flipped my wreath over and glued some red ribbon on the back to serve as a hanger.

9. Hang in desired location... here she is, my free, thrifty, recessionista wreath...

{and this was the look I received from Senga as I destructively tore the novel apart... she's a bit confused that I can do this and she can't.}

Enjoy!

fine strokes.

images via laura hooper. {one of my favs.}

I love the sophisticated look that calligraphy creates on an invitation or a piece of correspondence... I just adore it. I have saved some of my favorites I have received on my inspiration board at home and stare at them longingly. About 2.5 months ago, I decided I would meander over to the library and check out some "How to Books" on Calligraphy. I went through cycles of practicing very diligently, getting frustrated, burying the books, and then attempting to try again. It is such a beautiful, albeit lucrative, talent. I love the free flowing, romantic feel of calligraphic script, but it sure takes practice. I have done my research & bought my supplies, all I need is to get focused. Imagine my excitement when I saw these quick, simple tips Jordan posted on Oh Happy Day. Sheer giddiness.

It's true, anything looks better with the calligraphic juxtaposition of the dainty fine line with the bold, thick strokes. Oh, I just love it.

I feel like I should be donning one of these feminine gowns while I practice, sitting at my creamy white secretary's desk, sipping on a glass of raspberry champagne. {sigh.}

image via White Chocolate Label by Scott Corridan

{Don't worry, I tried making one of these skirts out of black taffeta one Christmas, and my friends can attest, it was an failure! - however, I wore it anyways.- oh dear! I just think the shape is so flattering, no?}

first guest blogger.

So last night, Haley & I {along with our Saintly husbands} ventured over to Borders to go meet Ree Drummond, THE Pioneer Woman, in the flesh. {Dear Ryan went earlier that day to pick up my wristband.} H & I stood in line with fellow readers {while our husbands wandered} for a 2 & half hours and only got about halfway through the line. It was nuts... people everywhere, devoted followers, and basically the world wide web blogosphere.

So now, I have a confession, I am ashamed to say, we left. {gasp.} After truckin' through it for almost 3 hours, we gave our combined 7 cookbooks to one of my bestest, dearest friends, Sarah, to get our cookbooks signed & booked it outta there. I know. I know. Ree would have been awesome to chat it up with, but Mrs. P-dub herself was talking forever.

So, in lieu of not getting to speak personally with her { I took pics of her though & will load later} I thought I would get Mrs. Stone to be my first guest blogger on fff and give you the run down: { I do love her dearly for doing this.} Take it away Sar.

"Last night Mrs. Frazier and I were at the same place. We both stood in line for a long, long time. But only the most patient (and slightly crazy) one of us got the prize!! Let me back up. I read blogs. I don’t have a blog, but I read blogs. Some of them are written by people I’ve known forever, some are written by acquaintances, and some are written by complete strangers. Yet somehow, in the alter universe of bloggy world, they have all become my friends. My husband thinks it’s silly when I try to tell him stories about people I have never met. But that all changed last night.

If you don’t know about the Pioneer Woman, stop reading this blog and go read hers (sorry Mrs. Frazier). You’ll probably need to pretend to get sick at work and go home so you can read, cry, and laugh hysterically in private. She is so real, and so funny, and an AMAZING home cook. But the best part about her is that she signed books in Dallas last night at Borders, and waiting almost 4 hours to meet her was completely worth it.

I went by myself due to a shortage of available husbands, mom, and friends. The people in line passed the time chatting and laughing and comparing knowledge of Pioneer Woman lore. Now, to be honest, there were some major crazies there. People drove from hours away, and spoke OPENLY about this woman’s life as if they were her BFF. They took pictures of her, her daughters, and her random nephew. But the craziness just gave us more to laugh about. A certain blog/real life friend (who shall remain nameless) couldn’t take the heat and had to go home. I graciously took her books to get signed with mine, much to the dismay of the hundreds of people waiting behind me. That turned out to be perfect for me cause PW and I got to chat the entire time she signed my mountain of books! She seems honest, genuine. The reason it took so long is because she talked to everyone. She saw my wedding ring and asked how long I had been married. She told me how special these early years are. We took a picture together that I may or may not be thinking about framing.

As stupid as this may seem, last night was a great reminder that people really are good. I stood around with a group of strangers for hours, talking about our lives, laughing, and making connections. We were all there because we appreciate the recipes and laughs and pictures that the Pioneer Woman provides for us. To sum it up, the first words I said to my husband when I left the store were, “I feel like I just met THE Santa Clause.” Merry Christmas!"

Love you P-dub & Sarah. Thank you.

first snow.

In snow thou comest --

Thou shalt go with the resuming ground,

The sweet derision of the crow,

And Glee's advancing sound.

In fear thou comest --

Thou shalt go at such a gait of joy

That man anew embark to live

Upon the depth of thee.
- Emily Dickinson

Our first snow of the season drifted on us in Dallas this morning... I woke up late, opened the windows, crawled back in bed and laid there to soak it up for a few minutes. It seemed so peaceful outside... so quiet and unintrusive. I then proceeded turn on the Christmas tree lights, sit on the floor to stare outside while eating my breakfast & sipping on my eggnog coffee. It was nice to just be before the morning got away from me... granted, I missed my train, but you don't look back on life & remember the times you were on time to work, right? Oh, it was so glorious to just sit & ponder for a few.

{side not: If you can tell above, Senga was flipping out at the unknown white coldness on the ground... I tried to catch it with my iphone cam.}

d-town.

Has anyone seen this {fairly new} art installation in Deep Ellum? I am usually not a fan of modern or contemporary art, but these little tweety birds & traveling robot man just happen to strike my fancy.

These are a series of three installations called “The Traveling Man” for the new DART Greenline station {shout out DART!} off of Good Latimer. It is a collaboration by Brad Oldham and Brandon Oldenburg.

The traveling man story, in short, is because Deep Ellum is home to so much history. The birds are an interpretation of the beautiful sounds of all the musician & "songbirds" who have been a part of this past. {form meets function as these birds are also seatbacks on their backsides.} And, the materials, design and execution were selected to look towards the future of Deep Ellum. Full story here.

What a fun sight for Dallasites to enjoy. I'm really am so proud, Dallas. Pat on the back...

loving...

I just finished reading Firefly Lane, by Kristin Hannah, & have not read a book this good in a very long time. It is probably the most beautiful story of friendship & love that I have ever read. I tore through over 500 pages in 4 days, it was just that good. Again, I am not big on recommendations because I know people have so many different literary tastes, but this really is such a lovely, perfectly executed story that I had to share. Enjoy... and be prepared to shed some tears.