Little Bee

I finished Little Bee on the way to the Cape yesterday. The story behind this book is amazing and eye opening. It makes you think about what it means to be born as a citizen of a country. I believe being born in a free country, where we have a functioning government, is not something that some people are entitled to and others are not. Those of us who can sleep at night without fear of "the men coming" (a line which is a binding tie throughout the storyline of the book) should thank God for that privilege and pray for protection of those who are without.

I want to protect women like Little Bee. I want to protect their families, their villages, and their innocent way of life. I want stop the men, who were only boys when they were taken from their villages, and brainwashed to do the unthinkable. And while they are still boys, I want to give them a baseball bat instead of a machete. I want to hug them and ask them what they want to be when they grow up. I can guarantee, none of them would say murderer.

Little Bee magnified the voice inside my head that says "don't get too comfortable with your comfortable life." When we step outside our comfort zone, amazing things happen. I have friends back in Memphis who are in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. Her name is Abigail. Read their story here.

I do not want to ruin the book for you, but I will say, it leaves you feeling a bit helpless. And I was a little disappointed and then I realized, that's how it really is. I want to save the world, but I can't. And you will have to read the book to understand this, but it's not about saving the world. It's about being willing to cut off one finger.

Check It Out

I drank the Kool Aid. I am now in the future.

Lighting Source!?

Has anyone seen anything like this.

Or this.

For a lot less of this?

email me: stephanie(dot)sabbe(at)gmail(dot)com

I'll be your best friend.

Rocca, D Scale, and Dennis Duffy

This is Dennis Duffy. He's a pretty popular Interior Designer here in Beantown, maybe in your town too.

Last week Dennis lead a tour for the IIDA showcasing some of his recent projects. First stop was Rocca. The owner of the restaurant helped show us around. She seemed to be pretty into "concept design" and encouraged Dennis to loosely base his design concept around coastal cliffs in Italy. I love clients that get into concept design. Design is SO much more fun when it's not just about a color, or a fabric, when it actually has a DNA. Note: "concept" design and "theme" design are two totally different ideas. I prefer the former.

I think Dennis and his team did a fabulous job! And the food looked pretty yummy too.

Next we walked over to Dennis' retail store, D Scale, where he custom designs all the furniture.
There were some yummy things there as well.

This is my best Boston interior design friend, Terry Harris. Everyone designer should know a Terry Harris. She's been designing in Boston for over 25 years. Anytime I go to a design related party where I do not know anyone, which is often since moving to Boston, I say "oh, I'm friends with Terry Harris." It's my #1 ice breaker. It works. She's also says "pizzer, yoger, and baaaaaaaston" and that alone makes me smile.

This handrail detail is awesome.

Everyone liked that handrail.

Thanks Dennis! It was nice to meet you.

That's a HUGE Bag Giveaway

Ya'll remember this bag I made a few weeks ago?

Well, I have yet to carry it anywhere. And because bloggers are such givers, I want to give this bag away.

It's a good bag. You could probably carry a small child in it (but please don't)

Just leave a comment to enter. If you follow the blog, blog about the giveaway, tweet, facebook etc. Just write a number on your ONE comment and I'll enter you that many times. I'll pick a winner Tuesday the 26th.

I don't tweet, but did you guys see last week's Office episode?  Kelly's comment about "Of course I'm the leak, I think I tweeted it" made me laugh out loud. That show is the best.

Scrap Lights

Graypants had a booth at the ICFF. Correlated cardboard was the thing this year. These lights are made out of old cardboard boxes. Pretty cool huh? And I asked, they are not flammable. I think these would be pretty cool for a project seeking LEED certification.

Child of God

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me" Mark 9:37

These are some of the sweet kiddos I had the privilege of playing with while their parents were being treated at our clinic. They live in a small Mayan village outside of Valladolid, Mexico. They are so cute it makes my heart hurt. More from Mexico to come.

Zoe Needs a ModKat

As most of you are well aware, we are cat people. This is Zoe. We refer to her as our daughter.

The only thing we hate about having this little four legged child is her litter box and the fact that the litter never managers to stay inside the box. This week at the ICFF I was introduced to the ModKat.

It is a litter box for the modern cat lover, who also likes to keep their floors pebble free. I'm in love.

They come in many colors and they are environmentally friendly with this reusable liner.

If you are not convinced, watch this video. This cat seems to like it.

Our little lady will be getting one of these for her birthday (budget pending) which is July 1st in case you were wondering. They even give a trade discount. Get excited!

Update: I just found this if you do not have $$$ for a kitty box. It's not as pretty, but seems to do the same thing.

Winna Winna Chicken Dinna

The winner of the $60 gift certificate is Squishe! Thanks to everyone for entering. It's fun to give stuff away from other people. It makes you feel a bit like Oprah.

On a completely unrelated note, look who I ran into at ICFF!

Not my best photo. I went to NYC without my entire makeup bag, who does that? Thank God for Sephora and the ability to put on free mascara on the run.

Eddie and Jaithan were super sweet and filled me in on some of their up coming projects. We also talked a little blogs. It was nice to meet you guys!

More on ICFF and NY to come!

Guest Blogger 3: Emily

Sweet Emily was engaged before I met her in real life. She takes design classes at the Boston Architectural College and writes a fantastic blog, Perfectly Put Together, with equal amounts of interior design and wedding inspiration. If you are engaged, Emily's Tie the Knot Tuesdays are a must read. I absolutely love what she has put together.

Thanks so much Emily!

And a little side note, I waited until the witching hour to  ask all three of them to write guest posts for me. I've been running a little crazy the past few weeks and knew I would not have time to blog while I am in New York. Real/Blog friends are the best kind of friends aren't they?

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This is a summer room to wedding with pink, peach and green tones. All images via martha stewart other than the upper left-hand corner which is from Justin and Mary Marantz photographers.

Guest Blogger 2: Linds

Next we have my sweet friend Linds from Everything LEB. Linds is my one of my true New Englander friends. She says "wicked." I joke with my husband that the funniest thing is when Carlee, Linds, and I get together and you hear ya'll, wicked, and knarly all in the same conversation. Linds recently became engaged and I can't wait to see what she comes up with for her wedding.

Thanks for sharing Linds!
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Room photo from 1stdibs

Wedding photos from:  The Knot, weddingpaperdivas.com, Style me Pretty, Jenny Yoo, Perfect Moment Florist, Matthew Robbins Design, Wedding dress by Kenneth Pool, flowerstommyluke.com, bridalbuds.com, shenoadiamonds.com, and via Anna Whitford blog. 

Guest Blogger 1: Carlee

I always like when some of my favorite blogs invite other people to write for them. It's an easy way for me to find new blogs that write on things I would be interested in. So I asked 3 of my Boston blogger buddies, who all happened to be recently engaged, to show us some wedding inspiration they have found in Interior Design. I did not start writing a blog until 2 years after I married Mr. Sabbe, so the subject of weddings should be a nice new subject.


First up, Carlee from Deliciously  Organized. Carlee and I met at the blogger meet up we had last Fall and have been friends ever since. She cracks me up because she's from San Francisco and says things like "knarly". She also keeps me up to date on things like detox diets, facials, crazy supplements, and, of course, organization. Her fiance recently kicked my husband's butt in a game of golf. 


Thanks for sharing Carlee!


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As a preface, I've mentioned this on my blog, but I'm not a huge fan of weddings.  Although since newly engaged, I'm warming up to the idea.  So please, bare with me on my inspiration board as I'm a total amateur on this subject...

Had to throw in a stache pic as this is Stephanie's blog!  


Photographs: Room, Ladies, Flowers, Shoes, Cake, Bowtie and Girl in Chair

Three Cups of Tea

I am in the front row, upper deck of the Megabus right now, headed to NYC for the ICFF. I can't decide if my seat of choice is exciting or terrifying. This is my 5th trip on the ole' Megabus and I just have to say, for $9 and unlimited WiFi...you cannot beat it.

I just finished Three Cups of Tea and wanted to share with you what an amazing book I found it to be. I will admit, I have been reading this book off and on for a year. The first 100 pages were not quite gripping for me. But once I got into the meat of the book, I could not put it down. Greg's Mortenson's life was saved by a Balti porter after nearly freezing to death during an unsuccessful attempt to summit K2. After recovering in their village, and being catered to in a way that most locals had never experienced, Greg promised to return the following year and bring with him the means to provide something that the Balti people had never had...a school. That one school, turned into hundreds,which are now lead by the Central Asia Institute. Greg is a truly inspiring individual.

Along with the schools, the Central Asia Institute has also established several Women's Vocational Centers, where women in remote villages can gather to sew and chat. Sounds like my kind of place right? And I know all of you design lovers out there have seen a lot of this lately...

The women in these villages weave ikat and you will see on the Centrail Asia Institute website that this fabric, which is high on the trend radar here in the States, has come to symbolize strength, beauty, and resilience of the Central Asia communities they serve. I will never look at ikat the same.

I may have a guest blogger or two lined up this week while I am busy bathing myself in modern furniture, stay tuned!

and p.s. this is super last minute, obvioulsy, but if any nyc blogger friends would be interested in meeting for dinner tuesday night, shoot me an email: stephanie.sabbe (at) gmail.com

Summer Stripes

I snapped a photo of this bed at MG&BW a couple weeks ago. I like. It makes me think of a New England summer. So does this bag Liz made over at Say Yes to Hoboken.

See her modified tutorial here.

Last year I bought a ton of this striped fabric at IKEA for $1.99

Out of season IKEA fabric is super cheap, almost free.

Have you found any great tutorials lately? I need a summer bag.

Vvelcome to Babyland

I want to design a nursery. Not for me, for someone else. Four walls designating a "nursery" is a luxury in these parts, except for maybe Gisele and Tom. As I have previously mentioned, I have known I was going to be an Interior Designer since the second grade. Well I have known I want to design a fabulous nursery for someone since seeing this classic for the first time...

I love how everyone is breathing new life into the classic Jenny Lind cribs.

odeedoh. making it lovely. hashai . decor pad via urban grace. blueprint bliss

Gisele and Tom, call me.