Inspiration and Imitation: Dining Tablescape

I love coming across decorating ideas that are attainable without requiring large sums of money for a showstopper piece of artwork or furniture.  One of my favorite things to mimic are tablescapes, since I have basic white dishes with silver rims (and Fiestaware for everyday) and they can easily be incorporated into most of the arrangements I'm drawn to.

Last week, I saw this table on Pinterest and can't wait to try and recreate it on my own dark wood table.   Here's how I'll do it:

table  |  glass urns  |  antler sculpture  |  candle holder  | white candle holder  |  lotus candle holder  |  geometric fabric  |  hydrangea arrangement 

tablescape originally featured here, and styled by Carissa of JL Designs in LA

Pretty fancy, eh?  I'm lucky that I can at least get some real antlers for free from my dad and that fabric is only $8 per yard!  I may not put that many things on my table (we need room to eat!) but I love the mix of gray and white with the glass and flowers. 

On a side note, I'm sad that I had to resort to a reverse image search (via Tineye) to find the source of this image.  It was pinned from a Tumbler, where it was snatched from a blog where the author didn't give credit.  I'm not calling for drastic measures like deleting 700 pins that you love, I think most of us need to be more careful about giving credit and NOT pinning images that don't link to the source unless you devote a few minutes of your life to figuring out where it came from.  /steps off of soapbox

So, do you have tons of stuff on your table or are you more of a vase with sticks in it type of gal?

Surprisingly Chic: Fossil Spring 2012

Happy Monday Tuesday!  Hopefully everyone had a nice weekend.  I spent lots of time just resting, reading, and running errands.  After two weekends away, I needed some unscheduled time to myself!  And since I had so much time to hang around, I flipped through my growing stack of catalogs (I hate mail and rarely look at it).

One retailer that caught me by surprise was Dallas-based brand Fossil.  Before this year, a lot of the collections were a bit too high school bohemian for my taste, but the current collection has some pieces that are on trend and a nice break from the riot of stripes that every other store is featuring for Spring.

Not bad, Fossil by cardiganjunkie featuring vintage handbags

I am going to check out that pin dot bow blouse at the store by my office, although I doubt I'll $78 like it.  Hopefully they do markdowns!

Are there any other brands surprising you this year?

My Future BFF: Clare Vivier

Every so often, I come across a designer who does everything so right (in my eyes) that I'd stalk them and try to hug if we ever crossed paths.  Clare Vivier is one of those people, but I would probably scare her.

She seems so cool (but not French, her husband is), and her effortlessly chic bags and leather goods are everything that I've ever hoped to find while shopping.  She also has a blog, where I discovered my next purse last Friday:

(in orange, please)

However, until the petite messenger is in stores, I'll drool over the rest of the collection.  Join me...

clare vivier totes by cardiganjunkie on polyvore.com

clare vivier 2 by cardiganjunkie featuring an envelope clutch bag

all items available at seevivier.com

P.S. You can also check out Clare's house on Apartment Therapy, her favorite places in Silverlake, and her closet via Closet Visit (scroll down)

Calling For Blogger Must-Haves: Travel

This week's Blogger Must-Haves theme is travel!  I'm looking for the one thing that you can't live without when you're on the road or on a plane.  It can be the perfect weekend bag, a super soft scarf, or even your favorite iPad app.  I want to know!

Source: Uploaded by user via VRogue on Pinterest

If you're not familiar with my weekly series, here's how it works:

1. You email me (cardiganjunkie at gmail dot com) your pick that corresponds with the theme of the week.  Include a link to the item (affiliate links are fine with me), an image, and the url of your blog.  Easy!
2. I create a post featuring your item, and those of other bloggers, using all submissions received by 7pm Central on Thursday
3. The post goes up Friday morning, you get a link back to your blog and a glimpse at what other bloggers can't live without.  Fun!

I hope to hear from you this week!

Blogger Must-Haves: Books

It's no secret that I love to read.  I can't think of anything I enjoy more than a good novel and a glass of wine.  I think my nightstand speaks for itelf:

photo by my friend Cassie at Chandler Imaging

This week I hoped to solicit some book recommendations from other bloggers, and share one of my own.  I just finished Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and LOVED it.  I found myself reading as fast I could so I could find out what happened next.  I highly recommend it - it was a combination of history, mystery and romance. 

Becky from Mommy's Guilty Pleasures recommends Something Blue by Emily Griffin

Chelle of Spangled Paraphernalia, my Texas Style Council roommate, recommends a Jane Austen classic, Pride & Prejudice.  I love the Penguin Classics version!

And finally, Rads from Rads Blogazine recommends the The Secret, a book I must say I'm curious about.

Hopefully everyone has a nice weekend!  I'm excited to get things done around my house and catch up on my shows.  See you next week!

Get out! How to pack for a long weekend in a small bag

Good morning!  As I've mentioned this week, N and I just spent a wonderful long weekend in San Francisco.  The weather was perfect, and I was so grateful for all the great recommendations I got from comments and emails.  I wish I had brought home more than one extra Tartine morning bun!

As I prepared to leave, I faced my usual packing dilemma and fought all impulses to bring more stuff than I needed since we don't check bags on trips.  This time, I think I did pretty well and wanted to share the mix of items that took me through 4 days of sightseeing and LOTS of walking (uphill).

what i packed: 4 days in san francisco by cardiganjunkie featuring a striped tee

As you can see, I basically picked a palette of black, denim, gray and leopard.  I was able to mix the pieces various ways and made about 6 outfits without wearing anything more than twice.  I didn't end up needing the black dress I brought, and never got my heels out of the bag. 

I think the key was being realistic about my activities (we're not often formal dinner people) and layering to stay warm.  The leopard scarf was super useful, and took up almost no room, so I think I'll be adding another patterned scarf to the rotation next time I travel.

What are your packing secrets? 

P.S. Don't forget to email me your favorite book tonight so that you'll be included in tomorrow's blogger must-haves post!  (cardiganjunkie at gmail dot com)