The Green Room at the Oscars

Did you spend time an inordinate amount of time on the couch yesterday afternoon/evening, in sweats with your hair in a messy bun, drinking non-alcoholic beer due to being 7.5 months pregnant & critiquing some of the most glamourous people in the Hollywood while you yourself looked an absolute mess? If your name is Julia A.C. Smith you would raise your hand & proudly say, "yes, indeedie".

It was fun to see all that over-the-top glam & glitz. Here are a few of my faves:

{ Jennifer Hudson }

Jennifer was on some taste-makers' worst-dressed lists but I think the colour of her Versace dress suited her skin tone & the style showed off her new svelte curves PERFECTLY. Stunning.

{ Camilla Alves }

Camilla looked amazing. Well, she IS breathtakingly gorgeous so it's hard to imagine her looking anything but beautiful... but still!!! Classic black dress, simple jewelery, hair in a chignon... what's to argue with here?

{ Helen Mirren }

I loved Helen's dress & her banter with Russell Brand. HILARIOUS. I've never really checked out Vivienne Westwood but if Helen's dress is any indication it is lovely stuff.

I didn't love Gwyneth Paltrow's look or Reese Witherspoons's get-up:

{ Gwyneth Paltrow }

I thought Gwyneth looked too monochromatic. Her hair, skin, dress all kind of blended together too much for me. A lot of critics really liked her outfit, though.

{ Reese Witherspoon }

And Reese was appropriate in her dress but I didn't like that fake fall of 60's hair. Too muchy.

So, down to interior design. What did you think of the Green Room this year?

{ Green Room ~ 2010 Academy Awards }

The Green Room is where presenters & performers relax & rehearse prior to showtime. It was designed by Roger Thomas who is the designer for Stephen Wynn & his hotels. Apparently he wanted it to reflect a 1930's vibe & he combined traditional lines of the furniture with outdoor fabrics by Sunbrella & interior furnishings by Roche Bobois & exterior furniture by Restoration Hardware. I got a kick out of this day bed upholstered in Sumbrella & sketched on with a Sharpie:

{ Sharpie-sketched daybed }

I'm not sure how fond I am of the decor of the Green Room. It's a bit too formal for me. But I certainly wouldn't have turned down an invite to be a fly on the wall yesterday afternoon & evening!

Valentine's Day Craft Take II

I blogged about these wax crayon hearts in a previous post:

{ wax paper & crayon hearts from Martha Stewart }

Ok, so these were VERY time consuming {for impatient me} & ours ended up turning out kind of crackly & not nearly as nice as Martha's. But it was a creative, over-a-few-rainy-days craft project with the kids & I kind of like the imperfection of ours:

Happy Valentine's Day, blogworld!!!!

Easy Peasy Kids' Valentines

First of all, I must give credit where credit is due. These Valentines are the brainchild of SuperMom. The kids had a fun time doing them & they were completed in an hour or so one evening.

We picked up bouncy balls & small zipper-top plastic bags from the Dollar Store.

{ cookies kept us going when our energy lagged }

{ messy countertop mid-project }

The cardstock I had on hand wasn't super 'Valentinzy' but the kids loved the colours & it was reusing what we already had so I was happy.

We printed out this template {from SuperMom} on the cardstock. We cut out each card (the template prints out 4 per page), folded the card in half, put a bagged ball between each card & stapled.

{ Sebastian's "have a ball!" Valentines }

{ Paulina's "you make my heart bounce" Valentines }

HINTS:

*My kids found it easier to print their names on the card BEFORE it was stapled & attached to the bagged ball.

*Sebastian {as predicted by SuperMom} wasn't keen on the "you make my heart bounce" {too lovey-dovey} but was all over the "have a ball" so he kept all those & P used the heart bouncing ones.

As I said, EASY PEASY!

H&M Home

I didn't realize H&M has products for the home! Check these out:

Unfortunately these are not available in Canada... yet!

Valentine's Day Craft

The kids & I are making these today:

{ wax paper & crayon hearts }

You can find simple instructions here at Martha Stewart.