It's Not You, It's Me...A Goodbye

via

On Wednesday, Couture Zoo turns one.  This is an event I had been looking forward to for some time but, now that it's here, I'm more sad than excited.  I'm at a point where I am deciding whether or not to continue this blog.

When I started Couture Zoo, I told myself I would do it as long as it brought me happiness and, to be honest, as of late it has not. 

So it is time to say goodbye.  Whether this is temporary or permanent is yet to be determined.  

I want to thank those of you who have been such amazing supporters of my little blog.  I appreciate it more than you'll ever know.  To those friends I made through Couture Zoo and have never even met, I will miss having this blog as a forum to communicate.  I invite any of you to find me on Facebook (Kecia Spears Beltz) or Instagram (@couturezoo).

Much Love

xx

Guest Post: Living on the Chic

I'm guest posting over at Living on the Chic today!

I'll be sharing my Chic Tip of the Week on how to live fabulously on a budget.

Check me out HERE!

Blue Willow New York

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I love Blue Willow.  I collect the stuff so am always on the prowl for it at every flea market, yard sale, and thrift store I come across.  I also love NYC.  I love it so much that it's where the mister and I chose to run off and elope together.  So, naturally I fell in love when I saw this fabulous little number...

The July 23, 1990 cover of The New Yorker by Pamela Paparone.  You can get the framed giclee print over at allposters.com.  It's definitely been added to my wish list!

Comme des Hermes

Comme des Garcons' creative director, Rei Kawakubo, is collaborating with Hermés on two limited-edition scarf collections.  

The “Couleur” line, featuring six colorful styles, will be priced between $492 and $2,076 at London and Tokyo’s Dover Street Market stores.

The "Noir et Blanc" line includes five scarves in black and white designs which will be sold for around $493 at Comme des Garcons stores in New York, Paris, and the Aoyama location in Tokyo.

The collection, Comme des Carrés, will be released February 2013.

Bentwood Chairs

via

Tomorrow morning I'm picking up this antique pair of Bentwood chairs that I found on bookoo for $5 each!  Honestly, I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but I couldn't pass them up at that price!

via

If I had a set of four, I would totally get a tulip table and create this gorgeous arrangement.

via

Doesn't the natural wood and the white look fabby together?  And I love the juxtaposition of the classic wooden Bentwood chairs with the stark, clean lines of the tulip table, my idea of the perfect mix of old and new.

Ikea has a great and affordable version of the tulip table, the DOCKSTA table, that would be perfect.

via

Does anyone know of affordable, small tulip tables?  Then I could still create this, but in a bistro version with just my two chairs.  That would be perfect!

via

If I can't find a bistro sized tulip table, maybe I'll paint them.  I think this is the perfect shade of blue.

via

Yellow is bright and cheery, but it would be just too much yellow at Big Bird.

via

I really like the idea of hot pink Bentwoods!

via

Yet, considering the true antique state of this set of chairs, I'm hesitant to fully paint them.  Maybe I'll leave them their natural wood and then do gold dipped legs like this.

Decisions, decisions!  One thing's for sure...I need a workshop for all my furniture DIYs!

My Photography: Your Thoughts

Back in 2011, Brian and I took a trip to Africa.  Let me just tell you...it was the most epic trip of all epic trips!  We traveled around Tanzania and Uganda, going on safari from dawn til dusk, boating amongst hippo, taking a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti, witnessing the great wildebeest migration, visiting a Masai village, tracking mountain gorillas, and just generally falling in love with Africa.  It was also on this trip that Brian pulled out a little blue box (You all know the one!...with the satin white bow!) and proposed on the Serengeti.  The proposal of my dreams!

I was going through my photos the other day (all 1000+ of them), looking for potentials to blow up, mat and frame, and hang in our house.  Here are the photos I have it narrowed down to.  Which ones do you think I should enlarge and hang?

I've also been chewing over the possibility of opening an Etsy shop with some of my photos.  I'm really on the fence though.  I by no means want to be one of those people who, simply because they have a fancy camera, declare themselves a photographer.  I'll be the first to admit I'm no photographer.  But Etsy has a wide range of skill ranges and I thought maybe people may be interested in a few of my shots.  What do you think?  It's hard to look at my work objectively so I need honest outside opinions.

All photos via Me

I'm Back With Some Randomness

via

Sorry for the disappearing act.  I've been sick for the past couple of weeks.  I rarely get sick, but I do get an ass kicking sinus infection every so often which I think is what I'm finally getting over.  I was on Mucinex DM for a week and nada so I went to the doctor and what did she prescribe me...Mucinex D!  Revolutionary!  Needless to say, a second week on Mucinex and I was just getting worse at that point.  So I went back to my doctor and she tried to give me Sudafed next.  Really!?  Lady, with all due respect, I can get all that stuff OTC.  I'm coming to YOU for the good shit so hand it over!

via
I basically had to beg her for antibiotics which she finally gave me and now I'm finally starting to feel better.  Nonetheless, during that time I wasn't feeling particularly motivated or inspired so the blog took a little break.  Now I'm back and thought I'd catch you up on the happenings over the past couple of weeks.

Me
This is what Germany looks like in the winter.  This was taken in my backyard this morning.  The sun never comes out and visibility sometimes doesn't even reach the length of a football field.  Apparently there is a high rate of depression in the local population here.  I wonder why...gloomy, gloomy.

via
We took a quick day trip to Bern, Switzerland a couple of weeks ago.  It was our first trip to Switzerland, but it was when I was just beginning to feel ill so it was a bit of a lackluster trip for me.  I didn't even buy any Swiss chocolate!  Anyone who knows me will know that I really wasn't feeling well to not buy chocolate!

Me
This hoodie arrived in the mail and cheered me up immensely.

Me

A couple of weeks ago I got two of these leather and chrome captains chairs off of bookoo for $15 each!  No, I didn't need them but they're like new and it was a crazy good deal.  I've got one in the living room and one in the guest room for now.  They remind me of a very pared down version of Marcel Breuer's Wassily chair.

via

Despite not feeling well, I did my best sticking to my wellness goals.  I continued drinking my daily green smoothies that I make using this general guideline.

via
And, although I had to cut back on my full workouts, I did continue to participate in the Ramstein Fitness Center's weekly challenge.  Last week was jump rope.  Despite feeling like caca, I won!  Now, I'm far from in shape and have no stamina right now, but I am pretty good at jumping rope.  I used to work out daily at a boxing club and jumped rope daily there.  The technique I learned at The Boxing Club is how I was able to win.  Granted, I about coughed up both my lungs when I was done, but I did it.

Me
As the antibiotics started kicking in and I started feeling better, I took on some projects around the house.  I replanted this orchid I picked up at Ikea in this blue and white vase I found at a thrift shop on base.  We shall see how long the orchid lasts.  While I'm good with animals, I suck with plants.

Me
I've come to the conclusion that Big Bird is just always going to be ugly and I'm not going to spend money that can go to European travel adventures on this temporary German rental.  But I will use what I have on hand to do a little zhushing so I took this suzani I had and hung it in the guest room as a faux headboard.  A total hack job, but it looks better than it did before.

Me
Last month I picked up this bench off of bookoo.  Disgusting, right?  Apparently, they have children, and apparently these children need to be house trained like a dog.  But it was free and I can't resist something free that would be an easy DIY.  Not to mention I needed a bench for the entry foyer.

Me
So now disgusting bench looks like this.  A little snakeskin and some gold makes everything better.  This project wasn't as cheap as I had planned considering that a single can of spray paint costs 10€ here!  But it was still cheap and I'm happy with the outcome and the fact we now have somewhere to sit down to take off shoes once we come in the front door.

Me
While I was in the business of spray painting, I also spray painted this antique chair that I got for $5 off of bookoo.  I left the cane seat natural and went to work with some nice glossy black.

Now how's that for a post of randomness for ya.