TOPAZ HORIZON

Yesterday was just unreal! That's because Ethan Allen announced the winner of their design challenge and I won!

I've been in a cloud of happiness. That's such an apt term since Vince and I named our design as "Life in the Clouds." As I keep mentioning, the whole room was really Vince's idea. Of course I had input here and there but I am amazed at how talented my husband is! He tweaked my design, gave helpful suggestions... I'm lucky I'm married to a man with discriminating taste!
And while some people tell me that I won because I had the luck of the pregnant woman, I beg to differ. I researched rooms with tufted headboards for inspiration. Vince researched color palettes. I studied Ethan Allen's design aesthetics to come up with a room that reflects their brand. I recalled the way Real Living styled our home when they featured it twice (easy tip: always have fresh flowers). Vince planned which photos will personalize the space without competing with the headboard. I even steamed the sheets and pillows! So it was a lot of hard work. And it paid off!

Here are a few of the room inspirations I put on my mood board:
As you can see, tufted headboards seem to inspire the same room elements: mirrored chest, sunburst mirrors and white lamps! I can't wait to turn our bedroom into something like the rooms up there. Except nerdier (books are always present in our home) and child-friendlier.

I feel like this is all so surreal since we've been wanting a tufted headboard for years. I even prayed about it. And now this! I was telling Mommy Fleur today that God may take His sweet time answering prayers but when He does, oh how He does! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd own an Ethan Allen piece. And now I do. Thank You, God, for giving me more than I ever asked for.

Thank you to everyone who campaigned for me over at Twitter and Facebook. Thank you to everyone who voted. And thank you to everyone who sent me encouraging words. I had fun doing the Ethan Allen design challenge but I had more fun seeing the overwhelming support you gave me. Whatever had been the outcome of the challenge, I already felt like a winner. Thank you!

... and Lucy loves me!


Lucy Torres Gomez reads my blogs! OMG! I am so thrilled! I can't even begin to describe how delighted I am right now. So I'll just pat myself on the back for a job well done. So stoked!

P.S. We're talking about the Ethan Allen design challenge, by the way. Lucy helped campaign for my bedroom (Thanks, Lucy!). Contest results will be announced tomorrow. I do hope I win it, but even if I don't, I'm cool. The consolation prizes are pretty amazing, too! Happy sunny Sunday!

P.P.S. Follow me and Congresswoman Lucy on Twitter!

April 3 UPDATE: I won!

It's Monday! Just one more week before Ethan Allen announces the winner of their The One Ethan Allen Challenge! I'm excited and stressed out!!! And if you haven't voted for my bedroom design yet, please do!

CLICK HERE to LIKE!

To be honest, the Facebook likes account only for 10% of the total score so while I do want you to vote for me (and me alone!), I can be pretty magnanimous and not get mad if you vote for the other rooms, too. I'm joking. Of course I'll get mad! No, I'm kidding. It really is just 10% of the score so I'm more concerned with getting the judges' approval in the other criteria, which I really tried to meet. Here they are:

CRITERIA FOR JUDGING
30% - Highlight of the One Ethan Allen piece
25% - Style (uniqueness, reflective of personality, creativity)
20% - Visual Impact
15% - Space Utilization
10% - Facebook Votes

100% - Total Score

Highlight of the One Ethan Allen piece was easy. As you can see from my bedroom set-up, the Jensen headboard is the central piece. I don't think anyone can miss that bed! It just dominates the space. So in this criteria, I think I have tough competition from Jane since she really did a great job highlighting the white armchair in her set-up.

I really designed my room around the bed:



As for the style criteria, I truly do believe the personal touches of photos, baby things, flowers, books added charm to the room. Of course, because I was designing for a family, the "personality" had to be toned down. The other rooms showed individuality better.

Visual impact category, I think I did really well here. While every room has its own fab look, my bedroom has the most comments about how the viewers liked the look, the style, and how they want to own it. That means the design triggered a response from people, a call to action of actually dreaming and wanting and perhaps even buying!

I'd like to give special thanks to my design consultants Sharon and Angel because they gave advice on how to create stronger impact. For example, they suggested that I use the mirrored chest instead of a little side table and to add a lamp on it because it will warm up the space.

I haven't watched Hunger Games yet but it is definitely the movie to watch this weekend. So since I haven't watched it, I'm not doing a movie review. I'll just tell you why Vince thinks there's no contest between Gale and Peeta (guy in black shirt). Yes, my husband read the book!

Seems like everyone's taking sides on which boy Katniss should pick. Vince says Gale never had a chance. And his reason is simple: If the girl you cared for was picked to go to the Hunger Games, you'd volunteer to take her place. That's what Katniss did for her sister. Vince said, "That's what I'd do for you." He added that he'd make sure he'd win, too, so that he can come back to me, with all the lifetime winnings of a champion, and take care of me!

*Insert kilig moment here*

Well, it's always been obvious to me that Peeta wins hands down but my reason is silly. Peeta had me at "She came here with me." There could be no other guy after that! Enjoy your weekend!

Remember this photo? It's from our magazine staff shoot that I mentioned in passing last week or so. A reader asked me why I didn't do my usual behind-the-scenes post of the staff shoot. Well, because I've already done that! So I figured you didn't need to see another been-there-done-that story.

But the real reason I didn't blog about the shoot is I forgot to bring the Olympus camera hehehe. I now think that if the photo wasn't taken by our Olympus, it's not worth posting. There is clearly a huge difference, folks. I always discouraged Vince from buying a camera (too expensive--and we already buy our cameras and lenses from Amazon and eBay, which sell far cheaper) until we got pregnant with Vito. After that, everyone keeps commenting on how fantastic our photos are!

Anyway, I did take a few shots with my Blackberry.

Byron of MAC made me up.

That is a face full of foundation and eye makeup!

And this is our "wacky shot." As you can see, what looks like too much makeup is actually just right under the bright glare of the studio lights.

So cute that my staff kids enjoy wacky shots. Being older than the rest of them, I seriously do not understand wacky shots. Whenever the photographer calls out, "Okaaaaaaay, guys, wacky shot!", it makes me wince! But I'm no killjoy so I do the requisite screwing up of the face anyway. For more wacky shots, go check out Elaine's blog, Tralaland.

Okidoki, sorry if I've been MIA again. Been busy with the mommy blog. It's really growing! I have another giveaway there right now so if you're pregnant or know someone who is, join the contest! I've also been occupied with promoting the bedroom Vince and I designed for the Ethan Allen contest we joined. If you haven't voted for me yet, please LIKE my photo! Thanks!