BACK AND ON TOP.

what the what? it may or may not have been approximately one entire year since i blogged; is that important?

NO.

all that is important is that this morning, i put my college degree (a bachelorette's degree in fine arts with an emphasis in graphic de-zines, y'all) to good use when i made this here fancy graphic:

the occasion? build direct has selected me as one of The 15 Best Interior Designers in Houston. trust that i am every bit as surprised as you are and extremely flattered.

also, lest you think i am getting too big for my britches, here is one of houston's top designers, as photographed this morning without help from a team for hair and makeup team, nor the fine photography and retouching efforts of my usual portrait-taker (julie soefer, people).

i will admit that i had to go track down some red lipstick so you'd recognize me and hopefully not focus too much on how cool my costco spectacles are. also, let's just call this my signature pose from now on.

decorating with animals: steve and ginger edition.

this saturday, we were like WHY RELAX WHEN WE CAN HAVE A MAJOR IMPROMPTU PHOTOSHOOT? because really, that is how things are going around here. it was kind of the best worst time to do the photo shoot, with our photographer's hectic schedule and our pending MOVE deadlines coming up later this month (uh, teaser? we are moving? i am working on a new CRIBS post for youipromise), so we did it, fancy diptyque candles, florals et all. as any good designer knows, nothing spices up a room setting like some animal, which was perfect, since we live in a zoo*. dog supermodels steve and ginger needed a little coaxing, and steve may or may not have nervously peed all over the new sheets that i effing ironed just for the shoot, but check out how cute they are! also, the photos turned out ridiculously amazing, and i can't wait to share the whole house.

*not pictured: any of the three cats, who were likely preoccupied by sharpening their claws the new sofa.

serious faces and gallery walls.

in a continued whirlwind of amazingness, houston magazine is running a small feature on your favorite internet sensation (uh, i mean me in this instance) in their upcoming march issue, which allegedly hits the stands next week. ALLEGEDLY.

the online version went out yesterday, and even though i was/am about to die of a severe allergy situation, it really put a smile on my face. turns out laughter is the best medicine, but fame is the cure, homies! it could also be the massive allergy shot i got in the behinders, but i'm fo rill having a super couple of days (and kind of an amazing 2013). thanks a mill for all the support from alla y'all of late; you've really got no idea how much that means. my website is set to launch very soon, ready or not (it's totally not ready), so stay tuned. in the meantime, my very smart brother figured out that you can skip directly to the bit on me HERE.

farrow and ball: ocelot.

as a big fan of their paints, i completely stroked out when i saw the preview of new wallpapers by farrow and ball (via their instagram) circa 6 weeks ago. since then, it's been full-on stalk mode.

full-stalk mode, as in, yesterday at my local farrow and ball dealer, i LIT-RALLY went through a box that had just arrived in the mail in order to claim samples of my very own. because i couldn't wait for them to get filed, homies, specifically the ocelot pattern. holy. mother. cow. have y'all seen this yet? i mean like in person? if not, get up and on it, peeps. there are five wonderful colorways and the texture is incredible.

my faves--the darks--have got silver and gold metallic accents, for crying out loud. i'm also a big fan of the way F&B books their papers, showing complimentary paint colors - HOW HANDY, right? so basically, i can't wait to use this paper all over the place.

sneak peek: loftacular.

i used to live in a pretty rad loft downtown, during my single, bud light-and-twizzler days, and it was supes sads to leave the space behind (but i moved in with b-rad, so SILVER LINING). fortunately, i've gotten to design several great loft spaces of late, like this one you've seen previously and also one that got photographed on valentimes day, featuring custom wing chairs that are totally the cat's meeeeooooow. just kidding; that cat is glaring, but only because these chairs up 'n stole her catthunder. stay tuned FO MO.

rock bottom prices on louis vuitton, y'all.

citizens of space city, and also the world:

here is your chance to snag an antique louis vuitton trunk for a SONG, or if they are not accepting songs, just over 8,000 bones. check it out here (also b-radical has already told me overmydeadbody.com, so you're welcome to buy it for me).

or you can get one for slightly less of a deal via the dibs. i will say that during a trip to the dragon street area of dallas a few years ago, i saw a wall of these puppies and they were running $30-$40K apiece, so it is quite a bargain.

actual wall of antique LV trunks. i died kind of.

black and white and floral.

don't act like i'm not phoning it in with this post, because i am. there is a whole helluvalot going on in my world right now (uh, this is happening?) and i'm pretty exhausted from my second magical week of self-employment (how am i so busy, y'all???), plus i went to houston fashion week (fashion night?) last night, so my body weary. but working on my website and thinking about how the look has really zeroed me in on the following: black, white and vintage floral patterns. at least i'm consistent? so here are some images for your eyeballz whilst i re-group. have a fab weekend, be-hotches.

sex panther(s).

can we just talk for a moment about how these panther floor lamps are ferocious and FIVE FEET AND NINE INCHES TALL? holy mother, and there are two of them. rawwwwrrrr.

{available here.}

sneak peek: it's epic (ceiling edition).

hey y'all heeeeeyy! so week one of self-employment has been pretty fab. for starters, my new boss is amazing. two, instagram launched web profiles for users (thanks, zuckerberg) so even if you don't have an iphone or instagram, you can still spend hours looking at my #photosofsteve RIGHT HERE. three, i've got a lot of really wonderful things in the works and i'm so excited i can hardly stand it. in the meantime, i wanted to share a glimpse of a lilsomesome i've been working on for awhiiiiiile. this house, aka the EPIC house, is not yet photographed (except by the sensational lens of my iphone), but check out this custom-painted ceiling and stay tuned for more:

big news if you like magazines.

HEY GIRL HEY. so as i mentioned yesterday, i've got big news to share, but sugarbears and his giant brain of wisdom insist i wait AT LEAST until tomorrow to crack that egg of knowledge over your heads. sometimes he's such a party pooper just looking out for my best interests, y'all! check back tomorrow, i suppose (and then every single day after that).

instead i'll share some other big news: i've got a project in this month's houston magazine! you can pick up a copy starting today, or check out the preview online HERE.

it's a screen cap, yo.

it's a moroccan house i've shared before and you also may have seen before and after shots on (my hero) raina's blog, if the lampshade fits. i'll try to round up a BnA m'self at some point, but know that this house makes me insanely happy. not only was the home a complete transformation from start to finish, i gained a friend in the process and am delighted liara participated in the article (thank you times a million, snap snap). the photos (and i think there will be many more in the magazine?) are amazing-the work of incredibly talented photographer julie soefer (another great friend!) who makes what i do look so much better. i'm so excited houston decided to run the story and can't wait to get my meathooks on like 400 copies. 

OH BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. the 2012 ASID design awards were a few weeks ago and my firm walked away with four, one of which was best in show (which is kind of a huge deal, but mainly makes me laugh because of that christopher guest dog show movie). for those of you not privy to the wonders of interior design, these awards are kind of like the daytime emmys (i was going to say the oscars, but NO. they are nothing like that.) houston design resources (the magazine providing coverage of the event) put one of our projects on the cover, too. BOOM. it was a pretty big night, and i got to wear my sequin dress from gay paree, so win-win (win-win-win). here are some amazing iphone pictures to help you visualize the evening's splendor.

the laura u team. (carolyn wins best pose.)

that girl throwing shade in the top left was actually smiling most of the night and very pretty.