AND THE WINNERS ARE... THE MEN

I'm not a huge awards show person, but I found myself eagerly watching the Oscars last night among friends. While most people focus on the stunning dresses (and there were many last night), I'd like to turn our attention to the guys for a moment.

I'd like to give a huge round of applause to the men, like Justin Timberlake who shunned the hipster skinny black tie and instead donned a well tailored tux with wide lapels and a perfectly hand-tied bow tie, staples of the old Hollywood glamour of the 1930s. The late, great Cary Grant would have been proud. Well done, Justin. Jesse Eisenberg and Zach Levi please take note.

Other standouts included... The ever elegant Colin Firth in Tom Ford. Perfect for his Best Actor win.

Jeremy Renner traded his track suit for a well-tailored tux with a midnight blue lapel. Interesting twist.

Kevin Spacey and Josh Brolin both look perfectly polished, one opting for a classic single button tux, the other looking smart in a 3-piece tux.

And Hugh Jackman shined in his double-breasted Ferragamo tux. His wife, eh not sure what that was...

Well done, guys. I'd like to see more men opting for this timeless look in the future...

AND WE'RE BACK...

After a week of living with plaster and paint and non-working shower, my new bathroom is painted, cleaned and back in working order. I'm thrilled!!

Here are some of the before and after pics...

Remember this?

 After

 Before

 After

 Before

 After

Now I'm in search of a cool bathmat and shower curtain to replace the ones I lost in the flood (light blue ones are just temporary)...

Bed, Bath & Beyond

Bed, Bath & Beyond

Anthropologie

Anthropologie

NEW YEAR, NEW ME...

2010 was an incredible year! I crossed quite a few things off my life to-do list and was thrilled with the growth and support for Octavia & Brown.

Sitting down to write my resolutions for 2011, I found I was wavering between generic resolutions like getting more sleep and eatting healthier to more creative ones like finally tackling reupholstering my side chairs and traveling out of the country more. One friend suggested making this task easier by grouping resolutions by category: professional, personal, hobbies, etc. Here's what I came up with...

What's on your list for 2011?