Electric NYC

New York City.  If described in one word, it would be ELECTRIC.

My good friend Leah and I took a quick vacation over to the east coast,

for no reason in particular, but mostly because I've been itching to see 

the bright lights of the city.

I've posted a few of my favorite photos from the trip, enjoy!

xx

Lovely Leah accented with red.

New York pizza, nothing will ever compare.

A lovely little table setting at The Meatball Shop.  

These quaint and visually mouthwatering restaurants are everywhere in NYC!

My fellow scorpio, found in the subway station.

Never have I seen so many brilliant neon colors before!  And all from tulips.  

During our walk through Central Park, I realized that spring time must be the best season of NY.

>>> This kind of stuff makes my heart happy <<<

Strawberry Fields in Central Park, 

a living memorial to John 

Lennon and the music.

Levain Bakery:  

Home to the most delicious monster

/ hybrid cookies you'll ever drool over.

Loved their blue exterior too!

More subway buddies.

Ahhh this was The Butcher's Daughter- a FABULOUS vegetarian cafe that 

our Manhattan pure blood friend, Zoe, introduced us to.  I was visually 

feasting on their interior design the entire time: subway tile walls, huge 

rusty hooks hanging from the ceiling suspending metal baskets full of fruit, 

wood counter tops, plants everywhere, massive Edison light bulbs, 

sweet little outdoor seating, and OH! the bathroom. 

Nothing is overlooked in New York, they design every square inch.

Oh yes, and the food was superb.

So much love for NYC!

Until I traverse your cobble stone pathways 

and old brick buildings again,

I heart you, NY.

Mrs. Rolland

My twin sister Lauren is getting 

married this July, wwweeeeeeeee!

She'll be the first in our family to 

get hitched, needless to say we

are all THRILLED.

I threw her a lingerie / bridal shower 

in March at my house (I took only a 

very few photos of the event) and 

was so happy with the turn out! 

The day was beautiful and so was Lauren :)

Lauren's wild flower headdress hand made by yours truly. 

The brilliant banners and bunting created by our friends, 

Margo (Fly Love Jewelry) and Brittany.  

They are some of the most creative people I know.

Lauren's initial shock- the party was a surprise!

The delicious spread, 

with a happy thanks to Camille my littlest sister, 

and Rose, my best friend.

A raspberry bellini was thrust into Lauren's hand 

before she could even comprehend what was happening.  

These are the BEST lunch time cocktails, check out a 

recipe online if you've never heard of them.

>>> But first, notice the sexy lingerie decor!  I clothes pinned them

to a string of antique white lace, inspiration from Pinterest, thank you! <<<

The happiest (and my favorite) couple, Lauren and Russell Rolland.  

All my love to you!

xxo

Brighten My Day

Spring!

...Is that...YOU?!

I snapped a picture of these beautiful

blossoms while on a walk downtown.

It made my day so much brighter~

A Little Sugar

A little love on Valentine's Day.

I baked walnut lime shortbread 

cookies and cut them out in hearts

for Chris.  I found the recipe in

my Sunset Magazine; very much 

enjoyed making them for my 

sweetheart ~  xxo

This pretty little loaf came from a local baker named Christine.

She was having a trunk show at Saffron & Genevieve and 

Chris bought the heart shaped bread for dinner that night.

A beyond amazing baker, Christine's baked goods 

are inspired and wholesome creations.  

You can find her at www.surfmuffins.com 

Go find her!

Olive begs in the most discreet of ways.

The sound of the heart beat in 

{scientific} words is "lub dup."

  

I've always loved that.

Sea of Succulents

Last weekend Chris and I visited one of the largest succulent gardens
and distributors in California- Succulent Gardens, or S & G, nested in the
hills of Moss Landing.  It was the MOST inspired I've been to start our
own succulent garden.  A fan of Sunset Magazine?  S & G has been
featured many times- and most recently in the August 2012 issue.
I have my heart set on simulating an underwater world out of these unique
and slightly bizarre plants.  Spring time is around the corner- just about
time to start planting!  Stay updated for more photos~

xo Paige

Chris has teamed up with the owner, Robin Stockwell, and The Alibi now builds 

succulent boxes of all sizes for the company's retail component within the gardens.

  

Take a day trip to Moss Landing- wander the harbor, explore the knick-nacky antique shops and art stores, have lunch at Phil's Fish Market, and visit Succulent Gardens!  They're located at 2133 Elkhorn Road in Castroville.  It is an incredible sight to see... get garden motivated for the spring time!

I love this idea.  Its popular right now,
but for good reasons- it is such a
distinctive piece to add to your garden!
They carry crosses, heart, letters,
numbers, and so many other interesting bits.

Go explore and wander the sea of
succulent gardens!

Peaceful Place

Terrace in the winter time.

And a few other images.

Our peaceful place~

x P

The honeysuckles are in bloom and our yard is greener than ever- 

which compliments the red brick oh so nicely.  

Olive poses in the foreground, very aware that she is the model. 

Yet another shot of our headboard.  Except this time with a stunning handmade dreamcatcher from a good friend on Oahu.  The feathers came from peacocks and peahens and the twine is knotted intricately and beautifully.  The sticks are from grape vines.
And a sweet little string of hearts to add to our love nest.  I made them on a rainy day using {free} paint swatches and a heart shaped stamp cutter.  They're a SIMPLY perfect gift!

A dreamy postcard from my sister for our birthday- she said it reminded 

me of her.  It reminds ME of HER every time I look at it now.  

This is a small part of our hawk feather collection.  The redwood trees 

surrounding our house make for great hawk feather findings.  

And the little apothecary bottles that I can never have enough of...

Chris's collection- surfboards.  

Art pieces in themselves, they make for a pretty window display.

Knick Knacking

Slowly our home is being filled with both Chris's
and my knick knacks.  But I've realized that it is
these little found bits and pieces that make me so
happy.  Each object has a memory or story sewed
to it, and every time it catches my eye I am lost in
it's adventure again.

Buttons will always be of use to me, whether its for card making, gift wrapping, or pretty little displays, I will forever 

collect them!

I scored these pearly whites at Atillia's Antique's on Soquel, and they came with the jar too ooo.

This jar of vintage buttons came from an antique store in Monterey.  

I mixed and matched them so I could be picky {which I am} about what ones I wanted.

I saw a simple display like this at an antique store in Soquel Village.  I thought it was so lovely!
Chris dives for abalone and we have dozens of the shells in our garden.  I polished this
one with coconut oil and placed it on our coffee table for a visual display~

I also collect lace and ribbon and can't tell you how many times its come in handy... sewing a lace border onto new/old jean shorts, attaching it as the tail of my dream catcher, decorating a friend's card, tying a bow in my braid...

This whole roll was only $8-

I didn't even know I was looking for lace!

You're seeing the beginning of my vintage book collection-

Ideally I'd like to get an array of colors so that I can imitate the rainbow.  

I love the ROY G BIV color spectrum and find so much inspiration in the colors.

These are my mini still life creations and even though they're teeny, they bring our home so much life!  The top of the glass has a small opening for the plants to collect their oxygen, which is also how I water them- with a makeup brush dipped in distilled water.

This glass globe still life was a Christmas gift from my little sister.
She took a glass blowing glass last semester and found a
hidden talent of hers!  She fit river pebbles, string moss, and a hawk
feather into a small opening in the bottom, then epoxied it shut so
that the little bits wouldn't fall out.  Such a creative sister!  It is displayed
on a shelf in our dining room, and when the sun hits it it looks like
a brilliantly lit ornament.

Local Trunk Show

This past weekend Chris and I were apart of a holiday

trunk show, located at one of my favorite downtown

boutiques, Stripe.  It was great exposure, and even 

better getting to know other local designers within

our community.  

In case you missed the show...

Our latest business cards, magnified.

The Alibi had chalkboards, shadow boxes, picture frames, succulent boxes, and more- 

all for sale at the trunk show for a wholesale price.  We still have a few pieces left 

in stock if you're looking for the perfect {and creatively crafted local} gift!

The star of the show and the only star in my sky...
Christopher Curtis.
~ xxo

Great art, amazing crafts, innovative ideas, good people, fabulous conversations, support for our local community, holiday cheer, hot coco, spiced cider... this was truly an event you didn't want to miss!  

But if you did, I hope you enjoyed the photos, and make sure to come next year.  

Until then, The Alibi will continue to 

grow expand cultivate develop sprout flourish strengthen...

Holidays at Terrace

Tis' the season.
I've posted a few pictures of the holiday decorations
Chris and I put up the other night.  Maybe it'll inspire
some festive interior creations of your own!

There is nothing like stockings hanging

over the fireplace to bring Christmas

into your home ...and I'm a huge sucker 

for the old-fashioned-from-a-magazine look :)

The letters are from Pottery Barn and the lace was 

a vintage little touch~

We had left over glass ornaments that I couldn't bring myself to packing away, 

so I filled up old mason jars and placed them on our mantel for some added decoration.

The perfect string of adornment for our tree was a gift I received in the mail
from a friend in San Francisco.  Ten foot tiny little map cutouts for our tree
{my wanderlust is always surfacing somehow}!

Our finished driftmas tree!  

This year we wanted to create something instead of buying a tree, 

and were inspired by an image found.  We felt so proud of the turnout!  

We leave the lights on all day and all night to enjoy every last bit of our tree~

Collections

Weekends are for collecting...

And our flea market finds from this weekend

sent me into a happy daze:

We found he most beautiful dark teal antique ball jars

and

A piece I've been coveting for some time now,

an antique Mexican sarape- I'm in  l  o  v  e  e  e  !

Shout out to Figaro, my main subject of the photo.  Mew.

Forever extending my collection of seaglass, I always stop to stoop 

over the sand of the south side beaches when Chris and I take Olive for runs.  

These were the treasures I found.  Hard to see the color, but I was SO excited 

to uncover a rare piece of RED seaglass, shown in the middle left side of the image.

My seaglass in a bottle sits on our windowsill and collects sunlight, 

bringing in colorful light greens and browns to our home.