Cabin Fever

Posted on 01/30/2011 by Slim Paley

We’re having our first cloudy and very windy day here in almost two weeks- oh! I just looked out the window and it has started to pour! Still, not complaining- compared to what’s going on in other parts of the country, we are blessed indeed. In any case, it’s the perfect day to take a visit to some snowy scenes and cozy hearths, I’d say. (and may we have just a moment here? There is NO FOOTBALL today!! I don’t know what happened, but I’m not saying anything…the peace is heavenly )

Something beautiful to listen to while you stroll;

(Is that a voice, or what?!)

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My kitchen is Sun Valley

One counter is zinc with an integrated sink, the others are Absolute Black granite honed. The lower cabinetry and floors are all reclaimed wood. The island is 3/4 wood and 1/4 granite for chopping by the stove. I always like to put a hidden plug on kitchen islands to place a lamp- it feels homey Also, please note my “Butler’s Bells” above the zinc counter, a la “Downton Abbey”!

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There is only one small overhead cabinet in the kitchen, which you see to the right of the fireplace- and I don’t even fill it. All our dishes are kept in the antique armoire to the left of the fridge. Now that TV’s are flat, there’s a lot of armoires out there out of a job! The dish towel rack is a vintage heated towel bar that mounts to the floor and the wall. Don’t look at how messy my pots are.

Inside the armoire

Who does ” Chic Rustic Cabin” better than Ralph Lauren?

Fendi, Dolce & Gabanna, and Max Mara

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Sun Valley

Nothing better than a fireplace in the bedroom- although now I’m looking at this photo, I’m wondering who stole the ottoman…

photo Mercia De Vries

From one of my son’s old books “Teddy’s World”

Mandatory Cabin Libation

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The metal fireplace surround in the Sun Valley dining room my genius Iron monger made (he made all the log holders too)

Fireplace by AK-47

I think this is so cool! When not being used, it has a cover so it can also be a coffee table.

via Marie-Claire

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A cozy lean-to at The Point, in the Adirondacks

The Point

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Sunlight streams in over one of the built in beds in the boy’s room, Sun Valley

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The boy’s bathroom in Sun Valley. It was hard to take a good photo as the skylight was covered in snow

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Junya Watanbe Men’s Fall 2011

My Front Door, Sun Valley

Chanel Boots

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My friend brought me this from a shop in Paris. She said she saw it and instantly thought of me. It’s a pre-measured rice pudding with caramel and hazelnut concoction. If you’re ever in Paris, you must look for this shop- she said it’s beautiful and amazing.

Note to self; Make sure to remove all the wraps from caramels before dumping into milk next time

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Yum!!

A wonderful Christmas present- a set of these adorable mini Le Creuset crock pots in aubergine.

D & G and Martin Margiela

A Definite on MY BUCKET LIST:

WHITE POD, Switzerland

All photos via White Pod. Please check out the video link at the bottom of the page.

and now, back to Sun Valley;

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a nice afternoon walk in the ‘garden’

J.W. Anderson SS11 “Festival Boots” with Swarovski crystal toes. Made in England.

The Ultimate Snow Boots!! I can’t help it- I love them!!

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Then a nice long bath

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Grab a book from the mezzanine

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and curl up to watch the sun go down…

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Happiness is a pile of old books

Recording of Robert Frost reciting his poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”;

WHITE POD LINK

Cheers!

The Homies 2011

Posted on 01/20/2011 by Slim Paley

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The Kitchen Fireplace, Sun Valley

It’s that time again!

I know we’re just fresh off the flush of the Golden Globes and all, but THE HOMIES are ON over at Apartment Therapy.

What’s that you say?? Hey-I didn’t know either, until one of my readers was sweet enough to nominate me today, but it’s already been going for 3 days!

Nothing like arriving at the Beauty Pageant late, with your wig all askew and pantyhose on backwards, but there you go…

SO….

I’m asking for my very first shameless favour from you since I started Slim Paley – If you wouldn’t mind taking the time to register a vote for me, I would be ever so appreciative. I won’t pretend it’s easy (OK, maybe it’s easier if you haven’t had a glass of wine)

This is what you have to do (to be my best friend forever…or, until the most popular boy in class likes you better than me )

First go here:http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/the-homies-best-home-design-blog-of-2011-submit-your-nominations-137078

Scroll down to the bottom of the page (WAY DOWN – cause Helloooo- alot of other people got here first) and click “register to leave a comment” (or Sign In if you are already registered at Apartment Therapy).

After you have registered (and confirmed your email) OR signed in, please leave the following comment EXACTLY as it appears below:

Name: Slim Paley
URL: http://slimpaley.com/

Click Submit Comment.

DONE! YAY!!

I realize this takes a few steps and a few minutes out of your precious free time, so I THANK YOU IN ADVANCE so much!!

xx Slim

PS. Most of those other contestants- they stuffed their bras…I’m just sayin’

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Roses & Apples from my garden

Tartan Around With Plaid

Posted on 01/05/2011 by Slim Paley

.Max Doyle

Louis Vuitton Winter

Happy New Year Everyone! I’m back from Cold Mountain. Expecting my frozen feet to warm up again any day now. I actually invested in an electric foot warmer, which just arrived today, but I’ll save that for Friday Favourites if it works well. For some reason (possibly that I haven’t made any yet) I’m not ready to talk about New Year’s Resolutions, new starts or becoming a better human in 2011 yet. I don’t want to suggest that my New Year began inauspiciously but when I removed the fur slippers I’d been wearing in Sun Valley all day, there was a mouse turd stuck to my foot.

I think I read somewhere that’s a Scottish sign for Good Luck.

How’s that for a smooth segue into a post about Tartan?!

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Sunlight streams in over vintage wool blankets, Sun Valley

British Homes & Gardens

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A corner of our mudroom, Sun Valley

Photo Roland Bello

Vivienne Westwood rug

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Vintage chaise, Ralph Lauren olive green corduroy & plaid blanket, Sun Valley

Dior Winter

A gift from the Highlands

MAC

MAC Winter/Holiday collection

Commes des Garcons on the runway…

and…uh…~~camping~~ glamping (sometimes I worry I don’t make enough of an effort )

Lynn Yaeger – She always makes the effort

This is one of my most favourite pieces in my closet- a layered tartan kilt by Jean Paul Gaultier. Had it forever and a day.

Ruffled tartan wallpaper by Vivienne Westwood

Karlie Kloss wearing Celine jacket, Carolina Herrera dress

Carolina Herrera

Ralph Lauren

another great Scottish import

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I warned you I’d recycle my Sun Valley dining room table in the Plaid Post

Holiday window at Bergdorfs via Habitually Chic

Ralph Lauren eyewear

Ralph Lauren

Just trying to compile a comprehensive post

Tulle skirt Ann-Sofie Back, Jeremy Scott boots

Commes des Garcons

Maybe I just need to make a little more effort avec mes chapeaux

My Holden Caufield hat

Polo

Photo via The Gardener’s Cottage .

.Or get wheels on my heels

.Via Design Fetish

I hope your first week of the New Year got off to a great start!

PS. Go see The King’s Speech if you haven’t already.

Eat, Pray, Walk…Skate

Posted on 08/14/2010 by Slim Paley

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“The Walk of Peace”, Sun Valley, Idaho

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This is the river that runs behind our home in Sun Valley. Although there’s a direct walk just down the stairs from our porch, my husband decided a few years ago that it would be nice to create a more circuitous, serpentine path to the river. He likes to call this “The Walk Of Peace” Much like a labrynth (OMG- what is wrong with this sp.?! this will do, I’m not going back to spell-check again) As I was saying, much like a you- know-what, navigating the winding, rocky path to the river’s edge is meant to evoke a contemplative, peaceful and introspective mood. And much like Julia Robert’s character in the meditation scene of EAT, PRAY, LOVE, I often find it difficult to reach this state of Oneness with The Universe on The Walk Of Peace. Try as I might, I can’t help fixating on how much it costs to maintain the wild willow encroaching upon the path faster than Bamboo on steroids. OHMMMMMM. I can hear it growing as I walk. OHMMMMMM…… Why do the things you don’t like, grow the fastest? OHMMMM…BTW, who loves Murphy’s Law better than Mother Nature??

But, my powers are strong too. If ever I doubted them for a moment (which, let’s face it, NOT) they were cemented last night when I actually got 2 of the 3 men in the house to go see a 9:30 showing of EAT, PRAY, LOVE. If I’m to be completely honest, this may have everything to do with the fact that my 16 year old son is jumping at any chance possible to practice his driving, especially in the dark. OHMMMM. There were 3 men in the theatre- 2 of them with me. I couldn’t really get a beat on the third man as he was sitting too far in front, but I’m pretty damn sure it was Sawyer. More on that later.

Here’s the skinny on the film, in my humble opinion; It’s just OK. I must admit, I was a tad bored. Perhaps if we’d gone to an earlier showing, or I hadn’t eaten a shamefully huge spaghetti dinner before hand, the copious pasta close-ups would have held more appeal. Instead, the only emotion the food sequences provoked was guilt. I could hardly eat my popcorn (butter halfway down, no truffle salt) Who can sit in a movie theatre without eating popcorn?? I don’t even want to know that person. But I digress…

Julia Roberts is still Julia Roberts, so if you loved her then, you’ll love her now. If you were never a huge fan, you”ll be totally fixated on her mouth. I’m not going to say which camp I belong to. I read the book a long time ago and liked it, even bought it for a few friends. Then a weird thing started to happen… I began to feel, as is often the case in our culture, it was getting more hype than it deserved. It wasn’t that great. When they announced it was being made into a movie, a slow resentment started to simmer, reaching a slow rolling boil when I read about the EAT PRAY LOVE cologne (swear) and the E.P.L. section in Cost Plus (double swear!)

And yet… I still went to the movie, opening night, so I don’t know what that says about me.

Cost Plus’s buyers “travel the world—to the same places that the character visits,” Alvidres said. “The items fit with what Cost Plus is about—affordable, unique, and authentic products. Buyers can now watch the film and then take a part of it home with them.”

“Basically, it’s a chick flick,” said Durazzo, “and as 85 percent of our customers are women … We are getting great buzz.”

* Quotes from an article in The Santa Barbara Independent

Rogue elephant creamer anyone?

I’ll leave it at this; Isn’t all the over the top marketing and Beanie Baby-esque commercialization of EAT, PRAY, LOVE sort of the antithesis of the message of the book?

No? OK, my bad. Pass the Penne shaped Prayer Beads ($3.99) I’ve sinned again…

Can’t wait to hear what you think!

The Sawyer update, I think I must save for another post

We are off to see Evan Lysacek performing tonight at the Sun Valley Inn! We gather our blankets, seat cushions and libations and go to the Ice Show every year. Lovely memories that feel a bit like a throw back to simpler times.

I don’t know about you, but just looking at these photos brings tears to my eyes!

In closing, Thank you all SO MUCH for the amazing feedback on my 200th post!! You guys are awesome. I so appreciate all the positive input and suggestions and I’m outrageously grateful to have such a cool bunch of commenters on my blog. I will, in the future, include more music, home photos, random chatter and definitely share some of our barn raising experience with you.

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Where I’m writing from

Namaste

A WOOD POST

Posted on 07/15/2010 by Slim Paley

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I’m absolutely stark raving mad about WOOD, particularly old wood, so compiling the images for this post was a labour of love for me. The photo above is of our octagonal porch in Sun Valley. The floors are reclaimed wood, with a stone border running round the perimeter. The walls are “papered” in real birch bark with thin switches of willow where the sheets of bark meet. Finding a tradesperson to do the installation was more difficult than, well, childbirth would only be a slight exaggeration, but where there’s a will there’s a way, right people?! Besides, you forget all about it when it’s over The speakers, electrical outlets and switch plates were all faux painted to disappear. My painter did such a great job but I’m not going to show you because I’ve been told to stop pointing out my “fauxed” stuff to everyone or there’s no point in “faux-ing” it. (Maybe I’ll sneak you a picture later) The fire place is river rock and metal with a very large single beam of old wood for the mantle. The light fixture is antique. One of my carpenters made the little octagonal table for me and the furniture is just indoor/outdoor wicker. In the summertime the windows can be removed and the room becomes a screened porch. I love to sit out here with my tea in the morning, watching the squirrels pick the bark off the railings we paid extra to find with bark, and listen to the river rushing by. Heaven.

Click here for the best “Wood” song ever

Norwegian Wood

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The house during construction. The octagon porch is to the far rear left.

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Squirrel handiwork on the porch in Sun Valley

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto‘s 172 sq/ ft. bungalow with several different living levels.

“Conversation Unique” by Yvonne Fehling and Jennie Peiz (Gallery S. Bensimon)

DSquared Eau de Toilette for men

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A boy’s bathroom in Sun Valley.

The backsplashes and counter are zinc, vintage trough sink from the U.K. All the wood is reclaimed. The sink fixtures are copper plumbing pipes plated in nickel. (See early S.P. post “Pssst- Wanna Buy a Faucet?” Sept.09, for more S.V. bathroom photos)