MORE COLOR LOVE - ISLAND DREAMS

Just wanted to post my most recent color love.  I'm dreaming of a tropical vacation and ran across this color combo.  The flora and fauna (not to mention the cocktails) found in the Caribbean are all represented here.  Yum!  Oh how I wish was in the tropics right now!  Dreaming of island living.... sigh.

MUSIC MONDAYS vol 7

I know it's Tuesday, but as yesterday was a holiday, I thought I would make an exception.

If you haven't "officially" heard this band before, they may still sound familiar.  I first ran across "Explosions In The Sky" in 2004 while watching the movie Friday Night Lights and they were also featured pretty heavily in following TV series. They now appear to be Hollywood's go to band to bring the emotion to the pivotal "big game" or other sports related sequence in general as I've been hearing them all over the place lately.  Rightfully so, as they truly do evoke some pretty powerful emotions with their beautiful compositions.

Those emotions don't have to stop at sports either as I even used this song during a portion of my wedding ceremony.  It was played live by my string quartet and it was just magical.

It's long, clocking in at just over 8 minutes, but worth every second.

Enjoy!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

I WISH I HAD A SITE TO REFERENCE, BUT NOTHING CAME UP WITH THIS BEAUTIFUL PIC FROM GOOGLE

Even though it is not officially summer, the barbecues will be in full swing to celebrate Memorial Day this weekend.  It's a perfect time to get together with family and friends to honor our Veterans and to do it with style! Better Homes & Gardens gathered together some beautiful and patriotic projects for 4th of July parties, but I think it works just as well for Memorial Day.  How fun would it be to use some of these centerpiece ideas for your weekend gatherings?  The pinwheels are my favorite!  BH&G suggested you place these beauties on your porch to decorate, but I think they will work just as well on your table top.  You can find a ton of DIY pinwheel instructions online.  If I'm very adventurous, that in store this weekend...

Have a safe and happy weekend all!

ALL FROM BH&G ONLINE FOUND HERE 

HOW TO :: COLOR PALETTE GENERATOR

I have been falling head over heals in love with all the beautiful color palettes I've seen others create out there. I even have an entire Pinterest board called color love dedicated to them.  So much so that I went on a search for a way to recreate these beauties on my own.  I started out trying to visually match each of the stand out colors in a photo.  Whoa, what a time consuming mistake that was!  I also discovered that I clearly don't have a eye for tiny color nuances. Who knew? 

I also know that there is an eyedropper tool built within Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop that could help me out but as my free trial has expired (and I'm still trying to convince Mr. Squareview that it actually is a necessity to my health to have my very own version J) that avenue was closed to me.  I can't tell you how pleased I was when, by complete accident, I literally stumbled upon this website

The DeGraeve site allows you to submit a link of a picture and it will generate the palette in both a dull and vibrant version.  How wonderful is that?  I couldn't wait to get started... Here is what I was able to create.

STEP ONE ::
Click on the image that you would like to use and choose copy image URL (this is on a PC, it may work differently on a Mac).

STEP TWO ::
Go to the site and  paste the link into the URL of image space.  Hit Color-Palette-ify button and up pops the codes for all colors.

STEP THREE ::  
Now that you have the codes, you can plug them in to recreate the color using either or both the RGB or CMYK color templates.  My favorite site is ColorHexa and you can find it here.  I've put a red dot next to both color template codes below.  You'll see that it indicates for RGB a code of  Red 170, Green 204, Blue 170 to recreate  #aaccaa.  What I also love is it supplies complementary, analogous, split complementary, & triadic color scheme options at the bottom of the page as well.  How awesome would that be for weddings, party planning, etc if you were using a photo or object to build your theme around.  So fun!

Voila! Here is my palette.

WHAT TO DO WITH A SMALL OUTDOOR SPACE? Part 1

Lounging outdoors this time of year is one of my favorite things to do. There is literally nothing better than being able to relax under a gorgeous big umbrella with a yummy refreshment of choice in hand.  Look at these absolutely gorgeous spaces, can't you feel the heat of the sun with just the right amount of cool breeze?  Can you feel yourself beginning to relax?  All the stress of the day melting away like the ice in that previously mentioned cocktail? Ahhhhh - there is nothing better.  I'll go as far as saying it's perfection!

PHOTO: BETTER HOMES & GARDENS - ONLINE

PHOTO: ELLE DECOR - APRIL 2012

PHOTO: ROOM & BOARD - LAGUNA OUTDOOR SECTIONAL

PHOTO: APARTMENT THERAPY 

tropical patio design by los angeles architect Rockefeller Partners Architects

PHOTO: HOME DEPOT BLOG

Now, back to the real world.  I live in Chicago. Not in the suburbs where there may be enough space at hand to build yourself a little corner of outdoor perfection, but in the city where you are lucky to have any outdoor space of your own.  

It seems to me that the average outdoor space in Chicago is shared and it's sole purpose is a fire exit.  Not too much to work with as far as decorating goes as doing so would basically be a fire hazard!   Even though this pic wasn't taken in Chicago, these multi-colored beauties represent a good example of what a real estate agent might describe as 'great outdoor space' in a listing.  J

Now, I'm not complaining. I adore living in the city, wouldn't trade it for the world but as I dreamily gaze at these pictures, I'm thinking there has to be something I can do.  I went back to the trusty interwebs to look for some ideas of ways to achieve my lounging goal even though I'm only working with a 5'x8' space (which is actually quite large in my neck of the woods).  I found a ton of photos, and even though they looked gorgeous, the same thing was missing from each.... no huge lovely umbrella to park myself under. 

PHOTO: APARTMENT THERAPY

PHOTO:  HOME REDESIGN

APARTMENT THERAPY - 66 Sq Ft in Philly

PHOTO: HGTV

The challenge in most cases is that the space isn't wide enough for the standard 6' round umbrella and the standard 15" round stand that comes with most simply takes up too much precious floor space.  The only option I've seen which I tossed out immediately was one of those 1/2 umbrellas you mount to a wall.  No thanks!

Now what is a girl to do, you might ask?  Funnily enough, it was reference my own vacation photos.  Mr. Squareview and I love to travel, and one of our favorite spots to get away is New Orleans.   NOLA holds a special place in our heart and we get there as often as we can.  If you've never been, go.  It's like a whole other country inside the US.  The French Quarter is full of gorgeous wrought iron balconies and on many, you'll find umbrellas (like this photo).  After walking up and down the gorgeous streets, I finally began to notice that the umbrellas were actually hanging out past the balcony itself.  EUREKA!  This is how I can fit a standard 6' umbrella on my 5' balcony!

Now how do I secure it?  You can't really see from the photo, but these are secured with your standard zip cords.  Great idea, but while the Windy City is a nickname for Chicago that has origins that have nothing to do with the weather, it's still pretty windy here.  I had images of my beautiful umbrella taking flight faster than you can say mild gust.

Then Mr. Squareview comes to the rescue!  Stay tuned... more on that next time.

MUSIC MONDAYS vol 6

I can't help it, I feel like I'm a character in a hip, moody, international spy -type movie each time I hear this.  Hope it whisks you away to somewhere cool and exciting!

FIRST PARTY OF THE SUMMER SEASON!

 I'll be hosting my first summer party soon and I've been scouring the interwebs for some fun fresh ideas.  I decided to end my work week by spending too much a resonable amount of time on my one of my favorite places, Pinterest, to gather some ideas.  Here are the goodies I came across.  It's sunny and the perfect tempature today and all I have to say is... 

 Yea! Summer is here 

Source: goo.gl via shelia on Pinterest

Source: potterybarn.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via SquareView on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via SquareView on Pinterest

Source: sfgirlbybay.com via SquareView on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via SquareView on Pinterest