Interview with Kim at The Anecdotal Goat

I recently joined the SoCal Lady Bloggers group and was given the opportunity to interview Kim over at The Anecdotal Goat.  Kim is an interior design enthusiast with an interest in local artists, flea markets, and boutiques.  She writes about her adventures in the City of Angels, also known as, Los Angeles, CA.

Kim at The Anecdotal Goat

Name:  Kim P.
Blog Name and URL:  The Anecdotal Goat - http:/anecdotalgoat.com
Twitter Name: anecdotalgoat
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AnecdotalGoat
Instagram: n/a
Pinterest: Coming Soon!
Other: http://anecdotalgoat.tumblr.com


When did you first start blogging and why?

I just started my blog in January, so I'm a newbie! I was unhappy at work and needed a creative outlet to explore all of the thing I really love (interior design being the main one).

What do you wish you knew then that you know now?

I'm sure I will have a lot of "I wish I had known" as I get deeper into the process of building my brand, but for now I'm just happy I have readers!

What is your best blogging tip?

Check a post for spelling and grammar mistakes before sending it out there to the world.  I follow a lot of blogs, and I'm always so surprised at the number of simple spelling mistakes I come across.  I read and re-read and re-read everything I post before I hit that "Publish" button!

Additional Questions:

1. What was the last book you read?

I just finished reading The Night Circus, about a magical circus and a competition between two magicians' apprentices at the turn of the century.  It had love, mystery, suspense, and the supernatural.  It was a pretty easy read, and a lot of fun.  At the moment I'm in the middle of a book called, The Philosophy of Sustainable Design, the text book for my Ecology of Design class.  It's very interesting and has great information, but I prefer fiction!

2. If you could hop on a plane today and go anywhere in the world for a week alone, where would you go?

I have always dreamed of going to Thailand, so I'd probably go there.  Although, to me half the fun of traveling is being with the people I'm graveling with!  I have a trip coming up with my husband and some good friends of ours for a week in Turkey (Istanbul and Cappadocia) and I really am just about jumping out of my skin, I can't wait to get there!

3. If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?

I truly want to have my own interior design business, and that's what I'm working toward right now!  It's the thing that I've always said was my "back-up" career, but I've come to realize it may have been my first choice career all along!

4. If suddenly you woke up and money was no object, what is the first thing you would buy yourself? (Can't be for someone else).

I would do a full kitchen remodel, and add a bedroom and bathroom to my house.  Maybe most people would say they would buy a new house altogether, but I really love my house and my neighborhood!  Both are wonderfully cozy, and have all the best of that 1920's charm.  If the house were just a little bit bigger, I could stay here forever!

5.  If you could change one thing about your life and do it over again a different way, what would it be?

The first thing that comes to mind would be to have pursued an interior design career sooner, but the thing is I wouldn't be doing it now if I hadn't had all of the experiences that have led up to this moment.  I've always been very intentional about the decisions I make (or at least the major ones) and never want to regret having not tried something, so I believe that every big decision I've made has been the best decision I could have made with the information I had at the time.  You never know what curve balls life will throw you, but as long as you feel confident in the moment you won't have to regret having done (or not done) something later on.

Thanks Kim .. it's been a pleasure getting you know you.

Cheers,
Monica.

International Desert Flower, Fragrance & Garden Show in Palm Desert

Last weekend the spouse and I went to the International Desert Flower, Fragrance & Garden Show in Palm Desert.  It was quite a small show, but we wanted to check out what kind of plants grow best in a dry climate other than spiny cactus.  The show was sponsored by the El Paseo shopping district.  El Paseo is known as the "Rodeo Drive" of  Palm Desert.  This area has boutiques, art galleries, high end clothing stores and restaurants.  In fact a new Wolfgang Puck just opened on El Paseo.  My husband and I haven't checked it out, maybe next weekend.

Entrance to show

The small show was held in a parking lot and the inflatable dome tent provided a nice airy wall for the event.

Beautiful flower arrangement

The gorgeous flower arrangement above was located at the entrance to the show.  I love the cascading roses.  It was quite hot and I was surprised that the roses held up so well.

Desert adapted plants

I loved these garden pots filled with native and desert adapted plants.  Extra bonus for not having any spiny cactus in the arrangements!

Succulent plant garden

The photo above is a succulent garden.  These plants need very little water and do quite well in a dry climate.  These plants have the ability to store water in their leaves and efficiently drink up water quickly when it rains.  I may plant some of these around the house.

We went through the garden show in about 25 minutes.  Then we were off to run other errands.  No construction work was done on the house.  Luckily, we aren't in any hurry with the remodel and can take our time.

Cheers,
Monica.

Easter weekend at the desert house

My husband and I went out to the desert house for the Easter weekend.  I had great plans to make a nice ham dinner, but the weather was so lovely that I didn't want to be stuck in the house with a ham in the oven.

So we decided to try a new steak house that just opened called Mastro's Restaurant.  The web site calls the restaurant an "Unparalleled Dining Experience".  I'd say it was a good dinning experience, but I wouldn't rush back.  Both the food and service were quite good, but be prepared to have room on your credit card because it was expensive.  I will say that the crab cocktail appetizer was to die for.  My husband ordered a bone in rib-eye and I had the petite filet and both pieces of meat were excellent.  We ordered a side of brussel sprouts which were over cooked.  For dessert we selected their signature butter cake, which I'd pass on.  Overall, I think we would return to the bar for cocktails and small plate meals, but sadly not the restaurant dinning room.

In other news, it's a great time of year to visit the desert as the citrus fruit trees are bursting.

Our neighbors grapefruit tree by our fence

I picked a few that were on my side of the fence.  They are huge, juicy, sweet, and delicious. 

Juicy grapefruit

On Saturday, we ran a few errands and picked up an ottoman for the master bedroom closet.  I originally wanted a bench seat so that I would be able to sit down and put on a pair of shoes, but the closet is a bit too narrow.  So I opted for the Threshold Single Storage Ottoman Stool with Hinged Top in Espresso, purchased at Target.  It works just great.  I was tired of sitting on the floor to put on my shoes ;-)

Ottoman in master bedroom closet

We also purchased a desk chair for the desk in the master bedroom.  The desk came from Cost Plus World Market and is the Konrad Mahogany desk.  The chair came from Lamps Plus and my husband removed the arms so the chair would slide under the desk.  The master bedroom is a very bright and warm room so I will enjoy sitting at this desk to work.  

Desk and chair in the master bedroom

Of course the original plan for the weekend, besides cooking a ham, was for my husband to work on the desk in the man cave (office).  However, he could not find the plans that he drew up.  So we did our errands and shopping.  As we were packing up to leave, my husband discovers the plans under his back pack.  Oh, well, we will probably go out this weekend as well and he can work on getting the office back together.

Cheers,
Monica

TV Stand, Media Console by Lamont from Overstock.com

In our quest to replace some of the furniture at the desert house and to get one step further in completing the den (man cave), my husband purchased a TV Stand, Media Console from Overstock.com

We had looked in a few furniture stores (consignment and new) and we just couldn't find the right style or wood color.  My husband is the type of person who will scour the globe looking for the "perfect" item, but out of the blue, he ordered the TV stand from Overstock - site unseen!

So when it was delivered, I thought, "Oh, man this is going to be a pain in the butt to return".

Lamont TV Stand, Media Console boxed

The TV console was packaged very well and arrived undamaged, but due to the dryness of the desert and static cling, there was styro-foam packaging everywhere.

Lamont TV Stand, Media Console un-boxing

The console was easy to assemble.  Even Taylor wanted to help out.

Lamont TV Stand, Media Console glass doors

The picture below shows the assembled TV console.  We still need to adjust the cable box, network and wireless computer modem so these items sit properly in the TV console.

TV Console Finished.  Yes, we like the Pawn Stars TV show!

For approximately $300, this TV console is perfect for the desert house.  The wood color in espresso matches the Crown Pet Crate Table.  The quality of the TV console is quite nice, although the glass sliding doors do not slide with ease, but we don't plan on opening and closing the doors often. 

If you've purchased furniture items from Overstock.com, let us know how you liked the item(s).

Cheers,
Monica

Crown Pet Crate Table

As discussed in previous posts, my husband and I purchased our house in the desert furnished.  It's not quite our taste in furniture, but it's good enough and we've enjoyed having a house all set up that we can just take off and go to.

As we spend more time in the home, we are deciding which furniture items to replace.  This weekend we replaced two items.  First, we wanted to replace a rustic wood end table in the den (man cave) and second an over-sized dog pen that we had for Taylor, the cocker spaniel.  We thought that we would just get a regular metal pen for him, but since we wanted to replace the end table, we thought about an end table dog create.  Is there such a thing?

Well, yes!  We purchased the Crown Pet Crate Table at dog.com. The cost of the table was around $226.00 for a medium sized table/crate and it's what we would have paid to replace an end table anyway, so might as well get an item with a dual purpose.

Crown Pet Crate Table in Espresso (bedding not included)

Luckily, Taylor was crate trained when he was a puppy so he's more than happy to go into his new home.

Taylor in his new home

A relaxed Taylor in his Crown Pet Crate Table

When we come home after running errands, here is what Taylor normally does ..

Taylor running around pool

Taylor is never in the back yard alone as he has fallen in the pool chasing the pool cleaner.

Taylor chasing birdies and digging

Cheers,
Monica

Pre-column removal

One weekend my husband was out at the desert house and I stayed in San Diego. When we went out to the desert house this past weekend, I noticed that there was a picture hanging on one of the columns.  I thought that's an odd place to hang a picture.

The spouse informs me that he used the picture as a 'cover up' because he cut a hole in the column to see what the structure was like as this column will be removed in the near future.  This column is so large that I can hide behind it and you can't see me.  I've had quite a bit of fun running around the column playing hide and seek with the dog.  The column does obstruct the view from the dinning room to the living room.  I'm sure the column was put in to show separation between the dinning area from the living room without adding a wall, but we are looking for a more open floor plan, so this column's days are numbered.

All I can say is that I'm not looking forward to the mess.

Cheers,
Monica

Guest Bedroom, side by side paint color comparision

At our recent visit to the desert house, I was totally pleased with the wall in the guest bedroom that was initially painted with the Paper Lantern by Sherwin Williams and is now Watercress by Dunn Edwards.  The photo's look washed out, but I can see how the four prints sit against the green wall better than the pale yellow wall. 

BEFORE: Bedroom wall with prints against Paper Lantern paint

AFTER:  Bedroom wall with prints against Watercress paint

Left:  Before            |          Right: After

I like that the two colors add dimension to the room.  You can now see the architectural detail of the wall overhang and the wall with the four prints is now an accent wall.  

All of the paint samples that we selected had examples of rooms painted in two different complementary paint colors.  I guess this 18 year old house is finally starting to look trendy.

If you've added exciting complementary paint colors in your home, feel free to share in the comments below.

Cheers,
Monica.