WORDS OF WISDOM FOR EXPECTANT PARENTS

I love reading words of wisdom from parents who’ve been here and gone through the experience (sometimes, more than once).

Any good thoughts you can share with me?

Any advice?

What was one thing that made life just a little easier for you?  Please share it with me. Just click on ADD A COMMENT below.

WHICH DESIGN IDEA IS YOUR FAVORITE?

Please share your thoughts with me.

Here are three ideas for my baby’s nursery.  And of course, I can’t seem to make up my mind.

What do you think?  Would you post your comments here.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Vita

Are you ready for Summer?

 

A Wonderful Evening in New York City

Click this link to view / hear an amazing musical feature.

Here are some candid shots of our excursion to New York City.

Creating Focal Point with Window Treatments ~ In the Making

I recently was involved in a wonderfully creative project, where we created a real focal point in the bedroom – with Window Treatments.  While I write about it in more detail in my March 31st e-zine, here I wanted to share some “in-the-making” photos.

RENDERING

DURING INSTALLATION -The Rod is up!  By the way, this was a motorized rod, so if the owner ever wanted to open up the curtains, he could do simply at a click of a button!  Very cool!

DURING INSTALLATION (Con’t) ~ the cornice is up and so is one of the panels!

FINAL RESULT!

FINAL RESULT – CLOSE-UP (check out the reading light inside the cornice)

My New Movie is Live!

I’m so excited today because my new movie is finally LIVE!  Check it out:  www.DreamHomeMovie.com

What kind of movie is it and why am I doing it? – you might ask.  I’ll start with the second question first.  You probably know that my business has been shifting from a pure 1-on-1 local service business to a broader and more exciting version which encompasses audiences all over the country, helps clients virtually, and even spreads my knowledge via a recent e-book on window treatments.  Much of this knowledge is also available FREE via my e-zine, my posts on various forums, and article writing. 

www.DreamHomeMovie.com is my way to spread my message even further and reach even more people.  You see, I know what a well-dressed, properly-covered window can do to your room, to your home, and to your overall well-being.  I also know how many frustrated people there are out there trying to get the finished look and that sense of peace and balance through their decor.  My FREE tips, advice, and design ideas are the missing link.

Can I ask you for help?  Would you forward this link www.DreamHomeMovie.com to your friends and family?  For sure, you know someone who is struggling with decorating their home.  Can they benefit from free advice and design ideas? And they can be anywhere in the country or even the world.  Please spread the word!  Just copy and paste link (if you prefer to use your own e-mail system) or forward this whole newsletter via the forward link below.

Because your time is valuable, I have a gift for you!  Just copy me on your e-mail (so I know you’re sharing it with your friends) and I’ll be happy to send you a FREE CD with 101 Unique Design Ideas for your Window Treatments!  Although behind the scenes, this has been in the making for the last few months and I am just so thrilled that it’s finally up and LIVE!  Please help me celebrate by spreading the word – ok?

Vita & Vitali’s Cruise Vacation 2009

Window Treatments at the White House

With the historical inauguration taking place tomorrow, I came across this article that has some interesting history about the White House Window Treatments.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Vita

West Wing Window Treatments

By Kate Phillips as published in the New York Times

We’ve often been struck by the cliche on the campaign trail, where a candidate bemoans an opponent who’s already “measuring the drapes” while en route to a bid for the White House or to another higher office. Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee has used it recently against his rival, Senator Barack Obama, to suggest a level of presumptuous ascension.

When President Bush uttered the phrase in 2006 to talk about Democratic leaders, including Representative Nancy Pelosi, before she became House speaker, we happened to be watching a rerun of the documentary “War Room” in which the president’s father, known as “41″ or “Poppy,” famously invoked it against his eventual successor, Bill Clinton, in 1992. We sat up in our chairs, listening. Ah-ha, this writer thought. That’s where it came from.

So, when The Washington Post’s Richard Leiby tried to mine the origins of the phrase earlier this week, with a headline about a “moth-eaten metaphor,” ears and eyes perked up. Especially those of linguists across the country. Our very own Bill Safire, who doggedly pursues the new and noteworthy in political lingo, came up blank when asked by Mr. Leiby about this particular locution. Mr. Safire hadn’t investigated the worn phrase.

But it does date back beyond Mr. Leiby’s search. He ended it at 1980. Then Benjamin Zimmer, a member of the Executive Council of the American Dialect Society and the executive producer of the Visual Thesaurus, took up the challenge, and traced it beyond that, if you included curtains as well as draperies. He offered a new post on the Language Log. There is a distinction between the two window adornments, and we’ll get back to that later.

Mr. Zimmer sent ’round a note or email to members of The American Dialect Society earlier this week, (courtesy of our very own crack researcher, Barclay Walsh). To wit:

From the Chicago Tribune on Jan. 4, 1976, in a profile of Donald Rumsfeld:

Kissinger had quipped that he found it necessary to announce that he was signing on with Ford through ‘76 because “Something had to be done. Mrs. (Elliott) Richardson and Mrs. Laird were running in and out of my office measuring it for curtains, and Rumsfeld too was coming in to measure.”

From the Hartford Courant, on Dec. 22, 1978, in a United Press International article about a Canadian political cartoon.

Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau sits scowling in an armchair at home as Conservative Party leader Joe Clark — his wife Maureen busying herself in the background — leans over and says, “We have come to measure the curtains.”

And then back to The Washington Post on April 21, 1974, when Art Buchwald (recently deceased) wrote of an imaginary conversation between Gerald and Betty Ford during Watergate:

“What are all those swatches on the floor?”
“I was just looking at drapery material. You know the drapes in the Lincoln room are so ugly.”

“Why are you looking at drapery material for the Lincoln room, Betty?”
“You have to order this stuff six months in advance. You can’t just get them by calling up Macy’s.”

“Betty, I don’t think you should be ordering drapes for the White House, even if it takes six months to get them. If I’ve told you once I’ve told you a hundred times, there is absolutely no way I will be President of the United States.”

“Then why do you keep standing in front of a mirror every night in a morning coat with your hand on a Bible repeating ‘So help me God.’ ”

Mr. Zimmer digs down even earlier in his Language Log post:

The expression turns up with drapes or curtains used interchangeably, which may offend interior decorators (”Drapes are pleated and are more formal, whereas curtains are informal and generally gathered,” says Well Dressed Windows), but the distinction matters not a stitch to most of us.

Putting up new drapes (or curtains) in the White House has traditionally been seen as an appropriate task for a new First Lady, along with picking out china patterns and other domestic busywork. (Jacqueline Kennedy was perhaps the most famous White House decorator, and on Jan. 17, 1961, Helen Thomas of the UPI noted that Mrs. Kennedy “brushed aside questions about fashion but said she already has ordered fabric for curtains and slipcovers at the White House and the Kennedy weekend home at Middleburg, Va.”).

An early example of a hubristic First Lady-in-waiting was Martha Taft, wife of Senator Robert Taft, the early favorite for the 1940 Republican presidential nomination. Martha spoke too soon in February 1940, since her husband didn’t even manage to get the party nod, losing out to Wendell Wilkie:

Martha Taft is sure that “Bob is going to get it.” She is ready to answer questions in regular stump style, though she refuses to say whether she will change the drawing-room drapes in the White House.
–(St. Petersburg, Fla.) Evening Independent, Feb 19, 1940.

Isn’t this grand? Yes there is a distinction between draperies and curtains, as someone once lectured us. In addition, it seems the metaphor is an outgrowth of an incredibly distinctive historical reference point for all first ladies-and-men in-waiting.

Of course, in this modern era, searches from here on out will have to include the term “window treatments,” presumably to include blinds and other dressings like valances.

 

 

 

 

Which Window Treatment Design Do You Prefer?

Here are two different designs for a sitting room.  It’s actually the room adjacent to the bedroom I showed you in this blog earlier (post on 12/8/2008).  We will be using the same floral fabric.  But the customer is not sure which way she would like to go on the window treatment panels here.  I, of course, have my very strong preference.  What about you?  Would love to hear what you think.  Or if you have a question, please feel free to post it as well!      

 

Sitting Room Option 1                                               

 Sitting Room Option 2

CHRISTMAS 2008

It’s hard to believe that Christmas was here and gone already!

Every year, it’s inevitable: we spend so much time preparing, anticipating, cooking, shopping, planning – and poof! and it’s gone. What we are left with are warm memories and colorful pictures capturing those great moments. So here’s ours.

A little spread of yummy hors d’oeuvres. My dad hailed my baked brie “Best, bar none” – ooohoooo!!!

Vitali being silly!

Cheers! Or as we say it in Ukraine: “Na Zdorov’e!”

2 Furry Visitors (there really ARE 2 squirrels there)

10 people at the Christmas Eve table!

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