FLOWER ON FLOWER - FASHION FORWARD

Was sifting through cool street style photos by photographer Tommy Ton and I came across this fashion highlight...a woman wearing a floral dress carrying a very cute light blue Prada floral handbag. Love the boldness of pattern on pattern...flower on top of flower. I think it works in this specific fashion instance...tres stylish...very chic...

When flower on flower is in the home...it tends to feel a bit more traditional.  I like the boldness of taking pattern mixing risk though.  Traditional with a twist.  What do you think?

A bedroom with foliage wallpaper, floral lampshades and pillows and real hydrangea on the bedside table! (above)

Designer Ashley Whittaker mixes in floral layering into her design of Park Avenue apartment. (above)

A blue bedroom with an upholstered sleigh bed and wallpapered walls incorporates flower on top of flower. (above)

Love this purse...must consider...

Prada Floral Print Saffiano Satchel Purse - $1650 (above)

Prada Floral Saffiano Wallet on Silver Chain - $710 (above) 

What do you think? Do you like the inspiration look with the floral purse and dress? How much floral print layering works for you in home decor.

What do you think about the bags...like or dislike...should I splurge on the small one?  Help!

Happy Thursday!

xo
Coco

P.S. Yesterday I was going to a fab dinner at a newer restaurant in Los Angeles right after work. (Was invited by the wonderful Katherine Power, Hillary Kerr, Mat Sanders and Courtney Wartman from the very chic Who What Wear uber fashion website). I left work in a pretty basic outfit but I had a sparkle top and a cute Prada jacket (stolen from sis DS) in the back of my car. It was dark out (thanks to the time change), so I decided to pull over on a side street in Beverly Hills, pull up the privacy shades in the back seat of my SUV and change into a little sparkle so that I could feel somewhat stylish with the fashionable Who What Wear folks. Well I got into my back seat, pulled up shades on windows and successfully slipped out of my work top and into the aforementioned outfit. I was running late. So immediately pulled on the door handle to get out and realized I was locked into the back seat! I reached into the front seat pressed the unlock button and then pulled on the back door handle again and I was still locked in, I tried the right side door and that was locked too...then I reached over to the front door to see if the lock was up and that was down...ARGGHHHHHHH! So there I was, trapped in the backseat of my SUV with a sparkle top on and a Prada jacket....a jogger passed by, I considered yanking down the privacy shade and screaming HELPPPP!   Hmm....couldn't figure out how/why I was trapped in my car and I certainly couldn't find my keys anywhere of course. I panicked a little when I imagined some rescue team using the jaws of life to pry open the doors and get me out of my car. Once the panic subsided...I took a deep breath and realized...I wasn't entirely locked into my car...only the back seat...hello...child locks...I do not have children so it is curious to me why those locks were on...I of course had locked all of the doors including the front when I pressed the automatic unlock button so that explains why the front doors were locked too.  I did go to school and at one point was considered smart at an early age....clearly...that time has passed.  Unfortunately, my contortionist skills are not quite what they should be so I spent some very awkward moments climbing into the front seat trying not to puncture the seat leather with my impractically tall heels. Oy va voy. Needless to say I missed the cocktail hour but made it to dinner. Well there you have it.  Note to self...do not use car as a changing room.  Note taken.

P.P.S. Have another dinner tonight with some friends. Am looking forward to that. I will wear another sparkle top. This time I'll change at the office!!

Photos: Tommy Ton for Style.com; C Magazine; Ashley Whittaker; Thomas Loof

WEEKEND PHOTOS - KAUAI TRAVEL LOG

View of Hanalei Bay from Princeville. (above)

This week, one "Weekend Photo" will not be enough.

I got back from Kaua'i late Tuesday night after a week long visit there with TE.  My first visit to Hawaii ever.  What a fantastic time!

So much to see, so many naturally beautiful scenes...unscripted, not manufactured, a tropical paradise island showing off its natural design!

White Plumeria flower on the very green grass. (above)

TE hanging on while sitting next to me as we took our ride over the green island of Kauai in a helicopter with "no doors"! (above)

The "cathedrals" rock formation on the Na'Pali coast of Kauai. (above)

Spotted some mysteriously beautiful caves along the coast during our 5 hour catamaran ride. (above)

Sunset at Poipu beach was mesmerizing! (above)

To read about our amazing helicopter ride, click here.

Thank you to TE for taking me to Hawaii! :-)  It was truly a spectacular holiday!

For those of you who can't get away this summer on vacation (I know how that is, not being able to take vacation, as this was my first real week long vacation in years), I hope these pictures transport you to this island paradise for a few minutes, you enjoy and can exhale a bit.

Happy Saturday!

xo
Coco

P.S.  I had quite a few of my own "I Love Lucy" moments on the trip...including me screaming my lungs out during a dip in the helicopter ride -- the other couple in the helicopter, TE and the pilot were all fine with a little drop in altitude...I on the other hand let out a scream as if I had actually been pushed out of the helicopter.  Also, there were all of the histrionics of me getting into the pool or the ocean - I need swimming waters to be about 85 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer (at least)...the waters in Hawaii were anywhere between 79 and 82 degrees...so each time I got into the water I first put a toe in, then rubbed water all over my body, then inched my way into the water while careful dripping water over my stomach and arms,  shivering the whole time and clacking "it's so cold, so cold, sooo cold" - meanwhile not one other person (the normal people) we saw was doing this routine but me, they all thought the water was warm enough...TE just patiently smiled each time.

P.P.S.  Hope you have a happy weekend.

P.P.P.S.  Follow me @COCOCOZY on Twitter! You can see additional photos from Hawaii on my twitter feed and also see the surprising dessert someone made for one of my work colleagues for her birthday!!!


Photos: Coco of COCOCOZY

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Wishing my fantastic mother, my godmother, aunts, cousins, dear friends and COCOCOZY readers who are moms a very Happy Mother's Day!  Took this photo this morning...went on the hunt in my neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills with TE, searching for the perfect flower to photograph for moms on Mother's Day.

Mother's Day makes me think of all of the unconditional love moms give and the touching sacrifices they make for their children.   My mother certainly has loved me and sis DS unconditionally and has given us so much loving support over the years.  She has always been there for both of us...loving and encouraging through everything good and bad.  A rock. Thank you to my own mom...I love you!

This holiday also makes me think of my dear sweet late grandmother.   She was an amazing mother of four and grandmother to many.  Like so many grandmothers and mothers do, my grandmother loved us, cooked for us, played with us, adored us, encouraged us and devoted her life to her kids and grand kids.  The cool thing about my grandmother was that while she loved her family and her own children dearly, she really opened up her heart and gave her love to anyone who wanted and needed it.  Her home was always bustling with dozens of people - many of whom were family and many of whom were people, friends, neighbors, even some near strangers who just called my grandmother "mom".

So a huge hats off to moms in general for all of what you do for your children whether they be young toddlers, playful kids, independent teenagers or grown adults!  Thank you!

Am spending the afternoon with my mom and sis.  Hope you have great plans too.

Happy Sunday!  Happy Mother's Day.

xo
Coco

Photo in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

WEEKEND PHOTO!

My friend SB gave me this gorgeous pink Phalaenopsis orchid. So sweet of her but totally unnecessary. I got tickets to a t.v. show taping for her and her kids and other family members.  Getting the tickets was absolutely no problem.  I loved her wonderful thank you note. I thought that was sufficient...but then a day later we got this GORGEOUS flowering plant at COCOCOZY Headquarters in Beverly Hills. So sweet of her.

Anyhoooo...this is my weekend photo. The orchid at dusk in a window at our office. Love the pink flower against the green ficus tree back drop.

My weekend photo!

Happy weekend!

xo
Coco

SPRING BLOOMS IN MY HOME TOWN!

Went out to my hometown of Claremont, California yesterday for Easter.  Claremont is a small sweet Southern California college town.  Such a cute place it is...was happy to go home for the holiday.

Had a lovely Easter brunch with my very very nice sis DS (uh I add an extra very because I just found out my floors were done wrong at my cottage in the Hollywood Hills so I may have to stay with sis DS for two more weeks), my wonderful mother and the very sweet TE. We had a really nice time together. Good conversation and lots of warm laughter.

Before brunch, as TE and I drove into the little town square there we noticed a beautiful little park with gorgeous pink and purple flowering trees and plants. After our brunch, we stopped off to take photos. It was a bit of cloudy day and I was in light blue Easter dress and heels but I found myself somewhat inelegantly bending, stretching, standing with legs akimbo to get the best shot of all of the stunning blooms. It seems that TE is a better photographer than me though...for every 30 photos I took, he took one really beautiful one...hmmmm...note to self...take some photography lessons.  Anyhooo...here are some views of some lovely spring pink and purple blooms in the middle of Claremont. Some good ideas for my garden next spring!

I should dedicate this post to best of friend AM who loves the color pink and who has passed that love of all things pink onto her little boo boo daughter.  AM hope you enjoy this one!

 

Pink azaleas! (above)

Is this purple flower a lilac?  Please identify! (above)

I think the pink flowering tree is called an Empress tree....it was so beautiful. (above)

Hope you all had a nice weekend!

Happy Monday!

xo

Coco

P.S.  Have been eating non stop for the last 24 hours because Lent is over!  This year, I gave up corn, anything with flour, potatoes, sugar and dried mangoes for over 40 days.  Oy va voy.  This year was hard.  On Easter morning TE made me a cute basket complete with corn chips, an apple fritter, bundt cake from a delish bakery called Nothing Bundt Cakes, boxes of pasta, truffles, chocolate, jelly beans and a stuffed Easter bunny.  I spent the day nibbling at the basket and then finished off the day requesting pizza for dinner (which TE went out and picked up from a great place in Santa Monica).  Sounds crazy...I know...but 40 days without anything quite decadent in the food department would drive anyone crazy...right????  Or wrong???

Photos:  All photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

THIS OR THAT: DO EITHER OF THESE FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS SAY HOLIDAY?

All photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

So tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, I'm spending the day cooking and prepping for a small gathering we are doing tomorrow night. Having a few family members and friends over to my sis DS's house for Christmas Eve. We are heading to the flower mart early tomorrow to look for some items to spruce up the house for the holiday.

The big issue is that I was supposed to be doing the dinner at my little cottage in the Hollywood Hills..."was" is the operative word here.

As you may know, last week I had to move out of my little snug cottage due to some major water damage and other stuff (still unresolved btw). I had my tree all decorated since the beginning of the month, holiday decorations were placed subtly throughout my tiny house... and Christmas was in the air.  At the beginning of December, I told my sis not to worry about a tree at her place and just to come over to mine and we would do the family holiday at my place with aunts, cousins and friends. Well as we took all of the ornaments off my Douglas Fir last Tuesday and hauled it outside and out of the way of all of the movers...I realized I would not be doing Christmas at my place. I didn't however think ahead and about getting a tree over to my sister's house.

So now we are sprucing up sis DS's house as best we can to make it say "holiday"...we'll make it work I think! Hopefully!

Oh did I mention that yesterday (Saturday) we did the first 2013 COCOCOZY photo shoot at my sisters house. The day started at about 8a with me and JW running around getting items for the shoot...and the day ended at about 8p when fab photographer Hugh Hamilton packed up his gear and left.

I had some flower arrangements made for the shoot and I made a little one myself with just with Dianthus Green Trick. My favorite florist Empty Vase has done all of the flowers for every COCOCOZY catalogue photo shoot since we started two years ago.  Brenda who works there was so nice to help me design and rush our arrangements for yesterday's  shoot.  As my sister and I were running out of the flower shop we saw the Dianthus and bought 20 stems to make our own DIY arrangement.

Take a look at these two arrangements...will use them in the house somewhere tomorrow for Christmas Eve... but do either of these say holiday to you?  What can we do to them to make them feel more festive for the holiday?  Help!  (We'll get some classic holiday greenery tomorrow but in the meantime we have these)

Homemade DIY flower arrangement with just Dianthus Green Trick in a mercury glass cylinder vase. (above and below)

Green and white Parrot Tulips and Hydrangea in a glass cylinder vase with wheat grass and green sand. (above)

Do either of these say holiday?  Which one do you prefere in general...or do you dislike both? LOL!

Happy Sunday!  Good luck with your holiday preparations!

Happy Holidays

xo

Coco

UGLY OR PRETTY?: MY THANKSGIVING FALL FLORAL CENTERPIECE!

All photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

So a few weeks ago, I went down to the flower mart here in Los Angeles early on Saturday morning.  I don't know why I went all the way there...I was just looking to buy a white orchid for my living room.

But as I was driving to my florist, I was talking to my sis DS on the phone and she said "So you are going to the flower mart downtown?".  I said, "No".  She said, "You should go." I said, "I'm not going there, I don't even know where it is."  She said, "8th and Wall Street, I've got to go...bye."  There I was in gym clothes (not going to the gym I might add) in my car with the knowledge of where the flower mart was located and a little spare time on my hands...so I went.

Well there are good things about the flower mart and bad things....the good things are all of the gorgeous flowers...the bad thing is all of the gorgeous flowers.  I went looking for a white orchid and came home with flowers for a fall flower arrangement all of a sudden.

Anyhooo...needless to say...I pulled an assortment of flowers and greenery and brought it home...plopped it on my deck dining table and started cutting and snipping.  I got Dahlias, Cockscomb, Baby Hydrangea, Seeded Eucalyptus, Coffee Beans, Tea Leaves...I had only ever bought hydrangea, tea leaves and coffee beans for arrangements in the past...so this was all new to me.

I haven't posted the flower arrangement for weeks only because I kind of wasn't sure whether I thought it was pretty.  That day, while I was arranging, I had texted the images to a friend and he texted something back like "Wow. Wild flowers!" I think...he couldn't figure out a word to describe them I think!

So I didn't post these pictures a few weeks back...because I am kind of thinking my impromptu fall flower arrangement might be ugly?  Maybe?

Anyhooo...maybe this post will inspire you to arrange something pretty for your Thanksgiving table centerpiece.  In the meantime, I need your thoughts - is this do-it-yourself floral fall centerpiece UGLY OR PRETTY?

Burgundy dahlia. (above)

Orange cockscomb. (above)

Coffee beans. (above)

Green baby hydrangea. (above)

Tea leaves and seeded eucalyptus. (above)

Tea leaves in glass urn shaped vase. (above)

My flower arranging table chaos! (above)

Mid flower arranging, neighbor JH brought me some fresh pomegranates she had just picked. (above)

End result  - can't tell whether this diy homemade centerpiece is ugly or retty. (above)

So, what do you all think?  UGLY OR PRETTY?  Please weigh in.  I love hearing your comments on these posts.  What would you have done differently?  What would you have kept the same?  Do tell.

Also, would love to know what you are planning for your Thanksgiving dinner table decor?  Anything you typically do that you'd like to share!

Happy Saturday!

xo
Coco

P.S.  Hope you have a fantastic weekend getting ready for Thanksgiving!

P.P.S. Remember to follow along on COCOCOZY Pinterest and COCOCOZY Twitter!

All photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

WEEKEND PHOTO - FLORAL FALL!

Photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

Went to the flower mart this weekend. Collected some beautiful flowers and plants, burgundy Dahlias, orange cockscomb, seeded eucalyptus and more. Spent the morning yesterday putting together a fall arrangement for the table on my outdoor deck.  I picked colors that reminded me of fall - warm colors and lots of green leafy plants.

Will take you on my tour through the flower mart and my finished DIY flower arrangement. Fall flowers to come later this week.

Until then. Enjoy the weekend please!

Happy Sunday!

xo
Coco


Photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Photo in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

Spending the day today with my wonderful mother! Look forward to it. A lovely mom daughter day!

Have a fantastic day to all of you who are moms. Enjoy the day!

Happy Sunday! Happy Mother's Day!

xo
Coco

P.S. Took this photo of these beautiful roses yesterday when having lunch here in Los Angeles at The Ivy with friend JH who was visiting from South Carolina. What a gorgeous weekend it has been in L.A.!  Hope it is nice where you are too.


Photo in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY