Happy 10th Birthday Love.

We are celebrating another milestone in our home today.

My eldest daughter, our original baby is now 10 years old!

No fancy Martha Stewart planned party. Just an intimate dinner with family over the weekend, Sunday Brunch with friends who might as well be family, and today, on the birthday proper, we have a fun filled day planned out that begins this morning with pancakes made by Little Sister to be followed by an afternoon of pampering with some of her closest friends.

My Style Goddess. My Fashion Guru. Our Queen of Culinary Cool.

Happy Birthday Love... I Love You Forever.

A Vanity Parade

From the time our tots are born, we parents are besieged with comments on how our little ones are miniature versions of ourselves. Rightly or wrongly, we decide that those observations are in fact compliments. We relish knowing that out there exists someone so familiar , somebody that resembles us in so many ways, that we hold onto the idea of the "mini me" for as long as we can.

And then one day, BAM!

That same little person, the so-called extension of ourself, says or does something completely out of character, (well out of your character at least) that you are left stunned by the sudden realization at how different they really are. You look at them in bewilderment , and as if meeting them for the first time, pause for a moment and find yourself muttering "whose child are you anyway?!" In a split second they become strangers to ourselves.

As was the case when both my daughters requested that they each be allowed to have vanities in their room to primp and preen.

"Primp and preen", where the hell did they get that one?

This coming from the offspring of a woman who barely looks at herself in the mirror before she walks out of the house and puts what little makeup she does standing over the bathroom sink! Oh, and did I mention they were both under the age of 10? My BAM was louder than most people's I assume.

After the initial shock, and a quick consultation with my extremely talented Interior Designer, we opted to have mirrored vanities made in true hollywood glamour girl fashion for both of them.

My starting point of course was the internet. Here are some of the images I found.

Instantly my favorite of the bunch but possibly too mature and elaborate for my daughter's rooms. This would be just fabulous for me if ever I found the time to actually sit down and fix myself!

Or maybe if I looked a bit more like her to begin with, my personality would warrant one of its very own.

This was one of the nicer vanities I thought , but as much as I like it , I think I love that chair a wee bit more. And the billowing rose colored silk drapes- yum!

How lovely to be able to look out the window, especially when what you see in the mirror is less inspiring -haha! The shape of the apron is different, but will it allow for drawers?

Hmmm... still not sure.

Cabriole legs? Perhaps. Am not sure about this bench/stool though. Proportions are off and am thinking it is missing it's Elton John mirrored piano. But I think I must get them one of those white furry rugs to complete the ultra-glam look!

Not sure about this one either, although I do like those lamps. I think it's having an identity crisis. The table looks more like a fabulous place to sit down and write a check then a delicate area to pamper and perm. The pouf seat, on the other hand , might work nicely. Let's see.

Now this is a great simple silhouette. Just need to add a little more oomph- it needs embellishments and detail that will make it truly fab.I love the matte gilded gold accents on this one. And the rope trim is very appealing as well.

I really like the slats (those tiny pieces of mirror stuck to each other side by side) is the single detail I love the most about mirrored pieces. A gold frame on the tapered legs is a must as well. Some simple etching might be nice too.

And I have always been partial to the kidney shape for a vanity.

Perfect!

And I know just the place to have them made! Will share photos of the finished products soon.

Click here for a great mirrored furniture resource!

They're Finally Here!

Indulge me if you will and I'll release a less self serving post tomorrow.

I promise!

Remember those Elkin's chairs I was obsessing about here? And then, struck in a moment of my own genius, I came up with the idea of having a few made as barstools for my kitchen counter possibly covering them in pen shell to simulate the horn covered chairs I so coveted?

Well, I ended up taking that idea further and they finally arrived last night. I'm ecstatic!

Aren't they gorgeous?

They came out exactly as I had imagined. Thank you Gerly and Daniel for all your efforts and to everyone else at Skyshine Designs.

And a last note for those of you who may be concerned, tiger pen shells, which are indigenous to the Philippine waters, are not endangered species . This was something I verified before ordering them.

What do you think?