Deck the bed (no holly pls)

I think it's cool when people have "holiday bedding." You always see it in the catalogs -- the holiday-perfect guest room. But what's the point of that bedding if you're only going to use it one month out of the year? Must have money to burn. If I did, this would be mine:



It'd be a nice break from my simple white with blue ticking stripe quilt that's on my bed year round. In the winter I could bust out a down comforter and toss this on the bed. And the good news is all my sheets would still work with it since they're all white and blue.



Don't forget the euro sham. That's an essential. Plus it's not covered with holly berries and snow flakes and such, so it's cool if it stays on until March.



I dig the quilt too. The whole thing is the perfect mix of my color scheme but a little heavier on the red. Nothing wrong with that. I'd probably tame it down a bit with a white bedskirt and a few pastel blue throw pillows. Yeah. Oh, and all of this is John Robshaw for HSN (spotted on Elements of Style). HSN?? Um, yeah! Go figure.

Is everyone already all decorated for the holidays? I'm not there yet but I'll get there soon. I've been out of town a lot lately, and the apartment is super messy, but I'll get there. I heart the holidays. Except this is the only time of year I miss having a roommate. Decorating a tree alone is a bit of a drag.



My last roommate, ML, had a kitty who loved sleeping on my tree skirt. That's her cat Patton above. In fact all cats love sleeping on my tree skirt. I spend the holidays terrified that CJ might barf on it. I love that tree skirt. It's all knitted and has shaggy yarn trees on it. What's your favorite Christmas decoration?

The one where I jump on the Sex and the City bandwagon

Okay, I've got to throw my own $0.02 in on Carrie's redecorated apartment in the Sex and the City movie (which I finally got to see this weekend). My biggest takeaway - aside from the beautiful wall color (but then again, I've always loved blue walls) - is the wall behind the bed.


Swiped from CasaSugar, which had an enlightening interview with the designer.

I don't have a proper headboard and probably won't for the next couple of years (at which point my mom gets all her furniture out of storage and I reclaim my antique wooden one). I do however have a couple of big ol' euro pillows that make the absence of the headboard hard to notice. Still, it's always nice to have something anchoring the wall above your bed, and I don't have a regular standby for what I like to keep up there. When I was in my apartment in Astoria, I had four framed illustrations above the bed (my 60s ladies, as I call the set), which were hung to create a square. It worked, but I'd love to have something with a little more punch, like what Carrie's got going on.

Plus, I really miss my office/kitchen wall (my eat-in-kitchen was my office) from my old apartment...



I adored how it turned out. The only problem is that all of my prints are in frames that are exactly the same size. And I love how all of Carrie's are mixed. Hrm, something to keep in mind, I suppose, as I progress with my antiquing and print-buying.

Two more things - I saw my first gas station with $4 gas today. I was passing this gas station on 290 that always has the most expensive gas (probably because it's almost in the middle of nowhere), and there it was: $4.01. I know other parts of the country are way ahead of us, but this is Texas. And apparently, we're right about average.

Upon arriving home, I immediately calculated the gas mileage I've been getting. Awesome on the highway. Major suckage in the city. Plus the regular use of A/C over the past month has only made things worse. This is definitely giving me a proper excuse to skip my high school reunion in a couple of weeks - which is a three hour drive away in Fort Worth. Not that I was looking for one.

And the last thing: Thank you New York Times for giving Friday Night Lights and in particular Kyle Chandler such glowing kudos today. Not that critical acclaim has ever saved a TV show, but it's always nice to see it.

And with that, I shall now display a gratuitous and unnecessary photo of Kyle Chandler. Because I can. And because who doesn't want to see that?


Photo by Andy Ryan.

Yep, that's lovely.