....BAG lady...!

I am major crushing on several recent handbags these days - especially the studded, bejeweled and graphic bags - yes, please!  All are out of my price range.  All are being obsessed on by me currently.

Here are 10 pricey and fabulous little numbers I am tempted to break the bank for....

1. Crystal embellished studded leather tote from Miu Miu - swoon!!

2. Stone and black leather Partition shoulder bag by Lanvin

3. Super into all the various patterns and layout of the Allie Whip-Stitch Satchel by BCBG

4. Watermelon leather Va Va Voom Mini Leather shoulder bag by Valentino 

5. Crystal embellished on glitter PVC clutch....love these neon details....by Shourouk

6. Geometric printed leather clutch by Proenza Schouler

7. Valentino's Rockstud Leather Trapeze Bag in this blushy beige *almost* trumps the love I have for the black version I have been lusting after for months....almost.

8.The Hairy Prisoners Domino bag by Marc Jacobs....because showing the checkerboard collection he did for Louis Vuitton is an obvious obsession I have been fostering.

9. Prada's Saffiano Vernice Top Handle Bag - I held a version of this in my hot little hands last week and fell in l-o-v-e.

10. Alexander McQueen perfection...the red is suede and the black is leather.....Large Heroine tote bag

Do you have a favorite?!

....the SUTRO BATHS of san francisco....THEN + NOW...!

When my mom came up a few weeks ago for Mother's Day (remember THIS?), I took the opportunity to take her on a little field trip to the Sutro Bath ruins here in San Francisco.  I had never really traipsed around them and this seemed like the perfect opportunity because my mom appreciates a visual + historical traipse as much as I do!

Completed and opened in 1896 the Sutro Baths were the world's largest indoor swimming facilities.  There were seven different swimming pools with six of the seven being salt water.  An elaborate and expensive recycling and pump system would fill the baths directly from the Pacific Ocean it was built directly on.

Eventually the Sutro Baths became an ice skating rink until it burned down during demo in the later 1960's.  I wonder what the facilities would be like today if they were still standing?  I love that SF's mayor at the time - Adolph Sutro - had this vision which probably seemed so outlandish at the time, and made it happen.

a photo from 1943

in its final ice rink days

Today the former baths site is open to the public and is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

my mom voguing 

And here are a couple design related items I sourced in a pinch based on the beautiful, illustrated poster depicting the baths when they first opened:

1. industrial pendants made in the USA with white enamel shades

2. vintage inspired swim cap

3. large, arched mirror with antiqued mirror inset

4. framed, 1930's wool bathing suits

5. turquoise bistro bottles - set of 6

6. Grotto style shell-encrusted plaster urns on pedestals 

7. scooped rattan vine chair 

8. giant resin clam shell - love this look planted with succulents! 

(background color = Benjamin Moore's "Green Essence" #853)

all present photos by janel holiday interior design. all other photos from the world wide web.

I'll leave you with this classic Esther William's trailer from "Million Dollar Mermaid":

...featured on APARTMENT THERAPY....with a few photos that weren't published!

My husband and I were super excited to be featured on Apartment Therapy's running house tour section last week.  Did you catch it?  Click HERE to read the interview and check out the pics of our SF casa.

Apartment Therapy is a lifestyle blog focusing on interior design and was founded in 2004...which basically makes it one of the longest running ID focused blogs in the United States.  So to be on this site sharing our home in our first ever joint interview and effort was kinda a big deal to us.

We loved our photographer so much - Michele Lee Willson Photography - that I decided to run a few of the shots (most of which are "detail" shots of all our stuff) below that didn't make it to the AT feature.  Because we all know that well shot interiors are half the job.....enjoy!

All images above by Michele Lee Willson Photography.