Smart Art

So we moved into our adorable little apartment four months ago.  For the past three months, however, there's been a sad stack of art leaning against the wall waiting to be hung.

I consider myself pretty handy so I'd have no trouble hanging those puppies up all on my own, but I like to do things FAST - even if that means the pictures don't all end up perfectly straight.  But my boyfriend is Swiss German and the German in him just won't let him look at a non-perfectly-aligned frame.  Therefore, I decided to let him be in charge of the hanging.  Unfortunately, he's been a tad too busy lately, so it took him a little longer than expected to get around to the chore.

I had been trying to suppress my nagging as best as possible for the past few weeks (he's had a lot on his plate), but finally when he came to meet me for lunch last week, I couldn't hold it in any longer. 

Soooooo, do you think we could finally hang up those pictures?  I know you have a lot going on, but it's getting pretty ridiculous.  I HATE looking at all that white! 

Little did I know he had spent the entire morning arranging them on the walls exactly as I had wished in an attempt to surprise me that night.  Whoops.

Anyway, I came home to find the most delightful quasi-surprise:

  

 

This guy was gifted to us by my parents, who transported it and the next one from Milwaukee back in August.

 

Another gift from Mom and Dad after their trip to this San Francisco site on their vaca out here.  More on that story to come.

The inspiration for this and the next few posters came from a brilliant idea my parents had for decorating their lovely home on Gasparilla Island in Florida - collect vintage travel posters of places they'd been (basically everywhere), mount them on foam core, and then affix them to the wall with heavy duty double-sided tape. Michael's will do the mounting for extra cheap - $25-ish for a normal-sized poster. I decided to do the same in my new place. 

Some of the final additions to our travel wall. 

Why did these two earn wall status you ask?

We went skiing at Verbier in Valais for my 25th back in February...

 

 Fondue in a wooden mountain-top chalet

...and then to Davos for a gorgeous traditional Swiss wedding this past September.

Given that I would be one of the few Americans in attendance, I stressed long and hard about what to wear.  According to my reconnaissance sources, I needed to be elegant yet conservative, stylish yet understated, and most importantly: I needed to blend in with the crowd.  The last thing I wanted was to be that show-boating, bold, loud, obnoxious American.  Finally, I landed on this little number.  I thought the capped sleeves would keep me modest while the red would give me just the right amount of punch.

Unfortunately, the crowd looked something like this.  To say I stood out was a bit of an understatement.  As least it made sorting through the wedding pictures to find shots of me super easy. :) 

Anyway, back to the hangings - now on to my favorite number. 

This next guy, or rather: gal, was a gift from my fabulous Nana and Pops - antique and art collector extraordinaries.  Whilst down in Florida this past spring, I casually mentioned to my Pops how I loved the painting of this lovely lady which was hanging on his wall.  Within minutes he had it down and wrapped up in a handy dandy carrying case for me to take back to San Francisco.  I tried to protest, but he was insistent.

I totally, totally love it - so much so that it is the second thing I see when I walk into the apartment. 

Right after this:

Perhaps a tad bit of resemblance?  I like to pretend. :)

xoxo

KK