Neha Leela

The annual clamor to create resolutions has passed, but in lieu of resolutions I opted for reflection on the brightest parts of 2009.

I’m scribbling and sharing a few of the highlights here, with a new year’s wish that 2010 brings an equal amount of successes and learnings, adventure and leisure and spontanaeity and comfort.

Some of these will seem trivial, others much more fascinating, but each carried meaning and created a memory.  Cheers~

1.  Bought a house and began making it a home, on my own.

2. Strolled through the fresh markets in the south of France.

3. Cheered for the Patriots at Wembeley in London.

4. Re-started my blogging adventure after I quit the year before.

5.  Visited the Google HQ and felt instantly more intelligent.

6.  Watched one of my best friends walk down the aisle and marry the perfect person for her.

7.  Caught my first wave and surprisingly a few others during  surfing lessons.  Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

8.  Courted myself on weekly solo dates to Cafe L’Aroma.

9.  Attended my first blogger event (as a blogger).

10.  Built up my collection of old first edition books, including Vanity Fair, the Scarlet Letter and The Art of French Cooking.

11.  Overcame a fear of seafood and tried lobster, shrimp and tuna (by accident).

12.  Manned a grill for the first (and possibly last) time.

13.  Braved boeuf bourginion.

14.  Took on my first of many reupholstering projects.

15.  Asked for a stranger’s book recommendation in an airport and it changed my life (dramatic but true).

16.  Fell in love with turquoise damask wallpaper and covered my halls with it, against everyone’s reccomendation.

17.  Got a kitchen aid mixer and made more muffins than ever necessary.

18. Rode the T from one end to the other just because.

19. Survived Disney as an adult (and enjoyed it – see #6).

20. Accepted that a day spent with loved ones being lazy might be the furthest thing from unproductive.

Traveling for work until tomorrow night; hope everyone has a wonderful end to the week.  

image credit: Pink Loves Brown

I’m across the pond, in London, to cheer on the Patriots,  fill up on pub food & pimms cups, haggle (or try to) in Alfie’s market for charming curios and try to not do too much damage on Bond street.

Cheers ’til Wednesday!

After a year of store closings and barren storefronts on Newbury,  we were long over due for brightness and cheer to be restored to some of the gaping holes.   Anything would’ve been better than the crooked “retail space for sale” signs that hung over forgotten windows, but I coudn’t have asked for more with Jonathan Adler’s entry to our humble abode.  I’ve waited with the eagerness of a child, the week before Christmas, as I watched employees, prior to opening, stealthily lug in contemporary and chic home goods after hours.

From furniture to accessories, Adler’s geometric inspired gems are exactly what is needed to infuse a home with a happy and upbeat spirit.  You know where to find me this weekend.

When I mentioned I would come home with a find or two from my trip to connecticut this weekend, that was a gross understatement. My first stop itself, set a high standard for the rest of our circuit through antique centers, tea shops and home decor stores.

The first for us, early birds (pun-intended), was Nest in Millerton, NY. I’d visited them once before right after their opening and was amazed then by the sheer volume of pillows, prints and pieces that make a house a home. My favorites are the antiques, cleverly reconstructed with bold colors and patterned fabrics.

On my second visit, I was completely unprepared for the space to be refreshed with new goodies, a result from the fantastic eye and relentless scouring on the part of the three owners. I limited myself to things I could picture a discrete home for, and this was the yield.

The garden stool (complete with lion heads) is now home to stacked books next to my most comfortable reading chair and adds a “fiercely chic” element to the living room. The porcelain pair of pineapples that now bookends my mantle began a fixation on this fruit, that only continued with a burnished bronze pineapple knocker for my front door at the next stop. The aqua and gold threaded throw pillow needs no explanation beyond that it sits pretty against the peony pink wingback. And finally, a pair of wooden and brushed silver candlestick holders to sit atop my dining table.

A big thank you to Lisa Foster (co-owner of Nest) who was patient with my seemingly aimless pacing and pondering over everything in the store, and so sweet to share the story behind each of the pieces that feather Nest.

Autumn has long since held special meaning, as it illicits memories of waiting for the bus, too heavily bundled in new duds from back to school shopping, with butterflies wondering how your new teacher would be, who was in your class and what the new year held in store.  So that crisp air still brings back that eagerness.  

Now, in lieu of school buses and covering your textbooks (can you tell that was my favorite activity?), cider donuts, mums, squash, argyle and herringbone get me equally excited. Take a peek at my board for a dose of fall inspiration.

Credits: Bonnie Boden, photomato, AngelArt, Sara Remington