have you every wonder how you really pronounce hermes?

Harper's Bazaar has done it again and for the second day in a row none the less! They have wowed me with yet another great article; this time how to pronounce those ever famous designers that we have come to know and love. Here is a list of some famous designer names with helpful pronunciation. FINALLY someone came up with this! Now when we are refereeing to a fabulous bag we saw; we can now be confident in how we say it. 

Anna Sui: anna swee

Ann Demeulemeester: ann de-mule-eh-meester

Azzedine Alaia: azz-eh-deen ah-lie-ah

Badgley Mischka: badge-lee meesh-kah

Balenciaga: bah-len-see-ah-gah

Balmain: bahl-mahhhhn

Bottega Veneta: bow-tay-guh vah-netta

Christian Lacroix: christian luh-kwa

Christian Louboutin: christian loo-boo-tan

Comme des Garçons: comb dey gah-sown

Dolce & Gabbana: dol-chey and gab-ana

Dries Van Noten: drees van know-ten

Gareth Pugh: gareth pew

Giambattista Valli: gee-am-bah-tease-ta vah-lee

Gianfranco Ferre: gee-ahn-franco feh-ray

Givenchy: zjee-von-shee

Hermès: er-mez

Hervé Léger: air-vay lay-jah

Hussein Chalayan: hoo-sane sha-lion

Issey Miyake: iss-ee mee-yah-key

Jean Paul Gaultier: zhon paul go-tee-ay

Junya Watanabe: jun-yah wat-an-ah-bey

Kinder Aggugini: kinder ag-ooh-gee-nee

Lanvin: lahn-vahn

Loewe: loh-wev-eh

Louis Vuitton: loo-wee vwee-tahn

L'Wren Scott: la-ren scott

Maison Martin Margiela: may-sohn martin mar-jhell-ah

Marchesa: mar-kay-sah

Mary Katrantzou: mary cat-trant-zoo

Miu Miu: mew-mew

Monique Lhuillier: monique le-hu-lee-ay

Moschino: mos-key-no

Olivier Theyskens: oh-liv-ee-ay tay-skins

Proenza Schouler: pro-en-zuh skool-er

Rochas: row-shahs

Rodarte: row-dar-tay

Roksanda Ilincic: roksanda ill-in-chik

Salvatore Ferragamo: sal-vah-tor-re fer-ra-gah-moh

Sonia Rykiel: sewn-yah ree-key-el

Thakoon: tah-koon

Versace: vur-sah-chee

Yves Saint Laurent: eve san lau-ron

Yohji Yamamoto: yoh-jee yam-ah-mo-to

Also find additional designers here:How to pronounce Moschino, Hermes, Miu Miu and more designer names - Harper's BAZAAR Magazine 

Last night A and I went out for sushi and came home after some hot saki and sat down to tackle the list of designers! We had fun with it; that is one of my favorite qualities about A he gets just as excited as I do about these things and jumps right in!

With valentine's day just around the corner this could make for a fun night in with your sweetie over wine, or your best girl friends. I hope you enjoy as much as we did! 

most fashionable for the mind

Happy hump day dolls!

As I was getting my daily dose of fashion updates; I came across something that I thought was worth sharing.

I do not know about you all but I am not one for reading novels but I do love myself a good fashion, or home decor book and or magazine. So here it is: #TheList of the best fashion novels to read from Harpers Bazaar! I know that I will most definitely be picking up myself a copy of  "The Dud Avocado" by Elaine Dundy and the "Beautiful Fall" by Alicia Drake . 

#TheList

I found this just in time; this weekend we are heading out of town to a cabin in the middle of no where with friends to eat, drink, snow shoe, read, and play board games. You can bet that you will find me snuggled up on the couch with one of these fab finds! 

Enjoy!

xx, eb 

a little anrtho run

This past Saturday night I ran out for a much need manicure and pedicure. I went to the shopping center by my new place with the intention of getting my nails done and going straight home. I have been trying my best to avoid shopping but I soon found myself at anthropologie with a handful of goodies to try on! They were having one of their big sales 25% off apparel and 50% off home. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to score some things for myself and the new place! 

for the home: 

since we just ordered our counter tops for our kitchen remodel I found some beautiful coasters to prevent wine stains on my new marble counter tops. 

I chose to mix and match pastels to create a light and airy color palette

herringbone bundle (six in a bundle)

and a little something for myself... 

super cozy sweater

only in stores click for similar item

link to hat

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and wishing you a happy, healthy and fashionably fabulous new year! 

xoxo

- e

blue velvet

Recently I have been obsessed with velvet more specifically blue velvet sofas and sectionals and have been scouring houzz.com, fashion blogs and pinterest. I am currently searching for the perfect blue velvet sectional or sofa for my new place. Looking at all the beautiful color options: blues, gray's and purple's is the easy part. Finding one to purchase turns out to be a little more difficult. Many of the photos I have encountered are found at vintage stores or custom made. I was able to find a couple through west elm, crate & barrel but nothing I am thrilled with yet. As I begin my search for a blue velvet sectional I wanted to share my inspiration!

I love the idea of having such a beautiful piece as the center focal point in my home. I would love to hear your thoughts on favorite fabrications and colors!

xx
-eb

snow gets me thinking about christmas

I know that we have not celebrated thanks giving yet, but yesterday we had our first snowfall of the season. Yes I said it snow in November; this is not uncommon when you live in Wisconsin. It was minimal accumulation but non the less it is snow and today it is a whopping 25 degrees. As I write this post in my cozy vince sweater that I snatched up at marshalls, drinking a hot earl gray tea with milk and sugar I am definitely beginning to think of holidays and getting in the spirit. Yesterday I started searching for decorations to get my new home in the holiday spirit!

Here are some of my favorite holiday items for around the house.

Pillows are a great way to add chic holiday decor to the home;check out these metallic pillows from Ballard Designs pair these back to a faux fur pillow for a wonderful winter wonderland look. 

metallic

Frosted tree with lights!

Love this for an outdoor decoration Ballard Designs

These super cute pine cone candles are a great way to decorate the dinner table, coffee table or mantel. 

find them here

I am absolutely loving this vintage garland, I purchased this from West Elm, I  plan to hang on my stone fireplace.

vintage garland

How cute is this guy?!

owl ornament

great traditional stocking

felt stocking

I hope I am not too early for everyone by jumping on the christmas wagon; it was the snow that got me in the mood! 

xx

eb 

just in time for halloween

Happy Halloween!

I am even more excited about halloween this year and all the wonderful holidays that follow. Now that I am in the bungalow I have lots of decorating and dyi projects to look forward to.  In the neighborhood there are lot of kids so I am looking forward to all the little trick or treaters tonight. But what is halloween and trick or treating with out pumpkins! 

This year I wanted to make sure that my pumpkins would have a fighting chance and maybe last through Thanks Giving (I know this might be a little optimistic of me but I'm going for it). I decided I wanted to paint my pumpkins I also did some experimenting with spray painting a couple that I gave away as gifts.  

the process: 

To be honest there was not much prepping I did, I made sure I had a drop cloth, paint, paint brushes and paper towel for any mistakes. The timing however did take a couple of days; I first painted the pumpkins the color of my choice, let them dry then painted on a second coat. The following evening I hand painted on the metallic dots and the stems. 

materials: off white and black paint, copper and gold metallic paint and paint brushes all from micheal's. For the spray painted pumpkins I did I used a copper metallic spray paint from home depo (I actually prefer spray painting they looked great and they were super easy).

tip: when painting make sure you are painting on the first coat of paint lightly to keep the pumpkins from chipping. 

lastly: enjoy!

xx 

-eb

new beginnings in the bungalow

Hello loves ~ Sorry I have been absent but I promise I have a good excuse. I have purchased a new home and have been working away on perfecting it to share with all of you!

I am so excited to be sharing this news with you and all of the upcoming fun home projects that I have been and will be working on over the next couple of months.

Since moving to the Madison area, I have wanted to purchase a home. Over the past couple of years I have been going to open houses and looking at homes in search of the perfect home. I went through many homes, and town homes but was never thrilled about any of them. There was always something that I did not like about the places I had looked at (which is common in the house hunting process). None the less nothing jumped out at me as amazing. The ideal home would not be an apartment or a condo but a smaller quaint home with lots of character, a screened in porch, small fenced in yard for the pups to run around in and a great location within walking distance to coffee shops and restaurants.

In the end I am glad that I took my time finding the perfect place, and I just happen to stumble upon it.
One Sunday A and I were out driving around and looking for open houses and came across this great street in Madison where they happened to be having an open house. We both absolutely feel in love with the area, we walked the bike/walking path all the way down to the coffee shop where we grabbed latte's and walked the lake. Everything about the area was full of great vibes.

reasons why I am glad I waited:

1.) it spoke to me:
I truly believe that when you find the right place that it will speak to you; which this home definitely did! The location, neighborhood, home, and everything about it was perfect. I get great vibes walking into my new place.

2.) the wait was well worth it:
I am the first person to admit when I want something; I wanted it yesterday. With that said I am glad I waited the biggest reason being  that my opinion has changed over the past couple of years of what I really wanted out of a home. Meaning what I used to think I wanted was a newer, "perfect" home with everything done for me, a "cookie cutter" sort of home if you will. A couple of years ago I would have also said that I didn't really care much about the location as long as it was within 10 minuets of Target of course.

Since then my vision of what I call home has changed. I was really looking for a place to call home in a great area where I could make friends with neighbors and throw great chic swaray's for friends, family and neighbors.

I am happy to say that I have found the perfect home in a desirable Madison neighborhood called Dudgeon-Monroe.

 the bungalow

Hope I did not loose many of you! I will be back with more post about the bungalow and all the fun transformations its going through with before and after pictures!

xx 

-eb