Wednesday Five - 18

How was everyone’s Columbus Day weekend? I know, not the greatest opening question given that most people do not actually get Columbus Day off from work and that some people are anti the existence of Columbus Day (including the state of CA). But, I had to bring it up because my husband and I both had the day off and so our whole family made a trip up and over to Lake George for a quick vacation. It was a really awesome weekend full of hiking and board games and fire pits.

Anyway, circling back, I hope you had a really awesome weekend too…even if it was only 2 days…

PHOTO OF LAKE GEORGE From GRAY OAK STUDIO Instagram / FaceBook Feed

1. Lake George is awesome. The road trip to Lake George was not. Google told us it would take 4.5 hours to get there. Two stops and lots of traffic later, we were arrived after 6.5 hours. The number of times “are we there yet?” was uttered/screamed is beyond your wildest nightmares. But for every road trip low is an equal high - the sunset, car games and previously untold stories were all priceless. And here and there we were able to distract with audio books. I told you about Story Pirates Podcast in a previous Wednesday Five, which is one of our go-tos for long car rides. And here are a bunch of audio book collections that I recommend based on loving the paper books.

Curious George Collection / Roald Dahl Collection / Amelia Bedelia Collection / Pinkalicious Collection / Magic Treehouse Series / Winnie the Pooh Collection / Dr. Seuss Collection

We have the Dr. Seuss collection, which is a serious crowd pleaser, and borrowed the Winnie the Pooh collection from the library for this road trip.

2. Call me a 15-year-old teenie bopper, but I’ve discovered Aerie and I love it. It’s an entire line of clothing dedicated to loungewear. Not yoga and gym gear, which is a well-deserved craze, but this stuff is watching Netflix and eating icecream clothing. Or, as I like to think, acceptable grocery store shopping clothes. I’ve picked up a bunch of stuff during recent sales (the slides are $6…I couldn’t resist):

Slides / Hometown Sweatshirt / High Waist Leggings / Henley Tank / Baseball T-shirt

3. Joanna Gaines recently posted a simple and super useful “how to” guide for styling your fireplace mantel on her blog. We think she nailed it. The only Gray Oak diversion/addition is that we believe symmetry done right is equally beautiful. Asymmetry is more modern and symmetry is more traditional.

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4. If you haven’t heard of Orlando Soria, I’m so excited to be the one to introduce you. He has an awesome lifestyle website. He’s an Instagram legend. If you’re ever having a bad day, watch his Instastory and you won’t be able to help but turn that frown upside down. He’s the author of a hilarious home design book. And, he just finished shooting the pilot episode of a series for HGTV. Fingers and toes crossed that it actually makes it’s way to cable.

5. Sonia took a trip to Target last week and shared her favorite finds on our Instastories, which included a gold turkey. So, here they are for those who don’t follow us on IG (but you really should, so check these out and then head over to Instagram and commit).

Faux white artichoke / Faux eucalyptus wreath / Gold turkey / Remember to flush / Wash your hands /

Have a great rest of your week!

- Leah

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Wednesday Five - 17

Oh hello there…a little later than usual. We try to have our Wednesday Five on the blog by 8 am on the nose every Wednesday. But today, that didn’t happen. I’m consumed by a really big, really fantastic client project that took precedent this week. Which means that last night, instead of writing a blog post, I was deep into a search for the perfect sconces.

1. If you are in the market for Halloween decor or kids’ costumes, Pottery Barn Kids has a sale TODAY. Go get em!

Light Up Pumpkin Tote / Boo Pumpkin / Koala Costume / Flower Fairy Costume / Harry Potter Slytherin Costume

2. Justin Timberlake designed a line for Levis. JT, Love. Levis, Love. High expectations on this front. And we shall see if they are met tomorrow (10/4) when the line comes out. Nordstrom will carry everything.

3. If you live in our neck of the woods, you grew up shopping at Toys R Us. And you were recently devastated when Toys R Us closed all stores due to bankruptcy. It looked like Amazon and Walmart and Target had simply put the toy store out of business. Well, look again! A cryptic tweet (“TRUbecontinued”) from the company has everyone (us included) wondering if they are going to make a comeback. Because what goes around comes all the way back around…total softball to reference a JT song after writing about JT.

4. Another local mention - In a few weeks, Boston is hosting Hub Week. If, like me, you have never heard of Hub Week, then you should check out the website. I’m totally paraphrasing, but it’s big festival of the next amazing ideas. All sorts of ideas. In technology, science and art. So everything from artificial intelligence to movies. Industry leaders are all going to sit around and chat each other up about the biggest and bestest new things in their field, and they’re going to do it in front of an audience that could include you. It runs from October 8-14.

5. Because you know my mind is already on the holidays (in last week’s Wednesday Five I talked about ideas for holiday family cards), this week I’m sharing a fun article from Elle Decor about holiday decorations for the great outdoors. Adding that twinkle and glow to your front stoop. You could certainly go down a deep, deep rabbit hole here, but I like the more understated ideas like a scarf on the front door and decorating your mailbox.

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Until next week (hopefully on time)!

- Leah

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Wednesday Five - 16

The fall is here. Officially. And I haven’t gone apple picking yet. Are there any apples left on the trees? Not so sure. But, either way, that’s my weekend plan. I’m squeezing in a good family tradition before October hits. And, really, the main reason the tradition exists is for the apple cider donuts. The actual picking is a side note.

1. Speaking of apple picking. I have a fantastic apple tart recipe for you. I know I’ve mentioned Joy the Baker before - she’s my go to when I’m looking for a baking recipe. Well, Smitten Kitchen is my other go to. Delicious, approachable recipes. Amazing photography. Easy to navigate website.

What I love about this apple tart recipe is that it’s as simple as most apple crisp recipes, but just elevated enough that it would make a great treat to bring to a party or serve at a holiday. You could definitely impress with this one.

2. A couple weeks back, Sonia went to our favorite local nursery and posted some photos on our Instastory of her trip. Well, people went crazy for one plant. We received more questions about this one plant than anything else we have ever posted on an Instastory. AND, I get it. She’s very, very pretty. She’s the more refined version of the cult classic fiddle leaf figs. She’s the Audrey Ficus.

Go get one and send us photos. We’d love to share them on our social media accounts.

3. A while back (Wednesday Five - 4) I shared my obsession with pillows made of Chinese wedding blankets. Well, I have a new pillow obsession: handprinted Batik textiles. I found an Etsy shop (of course) and wow. I will be using one of these guys in an upcoming project. That’s a promise.

starting top left (clockwise) 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

4. We’ve updated our website. Just a touch.

First, we added an FAQs page. As we’ve grown this past year, we’ve received (what have become) frequently asked questions about how it works - using an interior designer, our specific process, budgets, time frames, etc. We thought answering some of these questions right up front might help people feel more comfortable about seeking our advice or inquiring about full interior design services. So check it out!

Second, we added a Shop Our Personal Projects link, right here on the blog (column on the right). It’s definitely a work in progress, but we hope to grow this feature over the next couple months to be a useful spot to find sources of our favorite home furnishings and decor. We won’t include client projects, but you can always reach out (DM on Instagram or Facebook, email hello@grayoakstudio.com, or comment on a blog post) for that information and, usually, we’re able to share it.

5. If you follow us on Instagram and Facebook, you know that yesterday I had a bit of a freak out at the realization that Thanksgiving is less than two months. If you’re an over planner, which I am guilty of in certain aspects of my life (also guilty of being a serious under planner in other aspects), you are starting to think about your holiday card. And if you’re planning on using a family photo, like me, it’s time to think about those coordinating outfits. Maybe purchase them. Maybe schedule a photo shoot (which will just be a camera on a timer for me).

I can’t help you with the latter two bullet points, but for the coordinating outfits I’m loving Hanna Andersson this year. I, technically, always love Hanna Anderrson for the quality and the classic style. But this year, they went all out on the matching pajamas front. So many different versions of the same pajamas for all ages, genders and sizes. Look at that gnome hat. I can’t (meaning, I can and I must).

And if you’re a Star Wars fan, they have Chewbacca in a Santa hat. So…yeah. You’re welcome.

That’s it for today’s Wednesday Five!

- Leah

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