Beautiful Things | vmac+cheese

Style to Inspire: Amy Kuschel

Posted on May 10, 2012 by vmacandcheese

Oh, am I excited for today’s Style to Inspire. So excited in fact, that instead of waiting to share this with you on the regular Style to Inspire day of Monday, I couldn’t help but publish this right away! You guys are in for a treat. Let me introduce you to the fabulous Amy Kuschel, bridal designer extraordinaire — and, as it so happens, the designer of my own wedding gown. This week, Amy was kind enough to welcome me into her design studio, which (conveniently enough!) is located directly upstairs from the salon where brides stop in to browse her gorgeous selections of gowns. It is so special to me that my own dress will be made right here in SF, and I consider it an honor to be able to feature Amy here today. Read on to learn about how she got started in the business, what inspires her, where she thinks the wedding industry will be in five years, and her favorite restaurant in SF (which happens to to be one of my faves too)! (more…)

Filed under: Beautiful Things, Style to Inspire, The Wedding | 7 Comments »

Quite Mercurial

Posted on May 8, 2012 by vmacandcheese

West Elm Mercury Candleholders, $5, on sale for $4 right now | West Elm Mercury Glass vase, $19 | Anthropologie mercury glass melon knob, $8 | Ethan Allen mercury glass bottle, $69 | Capril Blue mercury glass jar candle, $28

Over the weekend, we made the trek over to West Elm to go purchase a new headboard for our bedroom. It’s been something we’ve been talking about doing FOREVER, and we finally bit the bullet and ordered it. Very excited (pictures will of course be taken when we receive it in 2+ months), but this post is not about the headboard. It’s about mercury glass.

West Elm was having a crazy good spring/mother’s day sale, with all of their pretty mercury glass votive holders on sale for $4. I’ve had a big love affair with mercury glass lately, because as on trend as it is, I also happen to think it’s pretty timeless. And in fact, you can find mercury glass pieces that date back to the late 19th century!

What the heck is mercury glass? Is there actually mercury in it? Wikipedia set me straight: (more…)

Filed under: Beautiful Things, Design | Tagged: mercury glass | 9 Comments »

Autumnal Dreamin’

Posted on May 7, 2012 by vmacandcheese

If you had told me five years ago that orange would end up being one of my favorite colors, there is no way I would’ve ever believed you. I wrote that sentence out then stopped for a second to try and remember when the love affair begin. I think I’ve got it:

Joe and I were on a flight somewhere several years ago that happened to be taking off at sunset. It was a gloomy, foggy day in SF, but luckily, that wasn’t deterring our flight plans. As the jet rose above the cloud cover, we were treated to the most spectacular sunset I’ve ever seen in my life. Something about the light reflecting off the fog just made it so, so unbelievable. The colors were incredibly saturated, and the sky was the most perfect gradient from deep red orange to light golden yellow. I was hooked on the colors.

I think Joe was mesmerized too, because it’s one of the only bright colors he actually likes having in our house. Naturally, orange has made its way into our wedding planning quite a bit, from tones on the save the dates, to the color of my engagement photo dress, to the floral direction, and more. I keep coming across images of orange hued pleats (the perfect combo, in my opinion…this pretty summer skirt is no exception), and each time, it’s like a nice little reminder of what’s to come later this autumn. I hope it brightens up your day as much as it does mine!

{Image Credits: Song of Style; Mango Spring/Summer 2012 Lookbook via Marie Claire UK; Vivaluxury; WhatsTrend}

Filed under: Beautiful Things, The Wedding | 7 Comments »

This and That

Posted on May 1, 2012 by vmacandcheese

I saw these funky nails last week and immediately thought of the perfect print to pair them with. What do you think? Too matchy matchy, or utterly brilliant? I don’t even really like painting my nails (I know, sacrilege), but this I could get behind.

And also — I’m still not over this gorgeous pastel geometric print from Tibi. Dubbed the Arizona print, those two pieces are actually separates – a maxi skirt and a tank. Hello, lovers!

{Image Credits: Tibi PR; nails via Born and Bread, original source unknown}

Filed under: Beautiful Things, Style Files | 12 Comments »

Petrified!

Posted on May 1, 2012 by vmacandcheese

On Sunday, we spent the late morning and afternoon hanging out in the gardens at Ma(i)sonry, a wine collective and art gallery in Yountville. I’m embarrassed to say that after passing the property many times over the years, we had never spent any time there. The stone building, which was originally a residence and dates to 1904, was redone several years ago and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Stately and welcoming, you kind of can’t miss it if you walk by. Sunday was the perfect introduction to Ma(i)sonry — an 80 degree day, slow crowds, a bottle of good rose, and prime seating in a corner nook of the garden, where we could be shaded by umbrellas and people watch to our heart’s content.

In our little corner of the garden, petrified wood stools served as side tables around the comfy bench seating. The tables had such beautiful patterns and markings in them — kind of like one would expect with marble. I snapped a few pics and came home daydreaming about how I could work a petrified wood side table into our house. Like this: (more…)

Filed under: Beautiful Things, Design, Travels | 12 Comments »

vmac+cheese

Style to Inspire: Amy Kuschel

Quite Mercurial

Autumnal Dreamin’

This and That

Petrified!

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