New Art, A Dog and Growing Paperwhite

I've always wanted to add a black and white photograph of a geometric object to my art collection. I was intrigued by this staircase poster seen in the hit TV show "Castle", but it's neither in black & white, or within the budget I was willing to spend on a poster. Then I found this spiral staircase photograph by Kim Hopf on Etsy which is exactly what I was looking for. I like the lighting and the depth Kim was able to capture in the image. 

I ordered the 12"x18" size which doesn't fit into any standard ready-made frames. I wanted to do something different for the photo so I went with a minimalist thin black metal frame and crisp white double mats. The framing was done by my favorite framing shop Edmond at YM Art. 

I tried hanging it in my dining room - my intent was to introduce a modern element to an otherwise traditional space for some surprise factor. Not sure if I liked it there - the mat looks too stark to go with the rest of the room. 

Then I moved it to the foyer, liked it there slightly better but again, the bright white matting stands out too much. 

Maybe I should go back to Edmond to change the matting to a creamier shade of white? Do you prefer the framed art in my dining room or in the foyer?

Now onto this super duper adorable dog named Boo. I've been following his Facebook page for a while, and let me tell you, on any given day if you ever feel you need a pick-me-up moment, visit Boo's page and stare at his pictures! This is a plush toy replica of Boo made by Gund.

And this is the real Boo! My cousin also has two AKC Pomeranians, so I've been trying to convince her to cut their hairs so they would look just like Boo. 

Now back to the topic on everyone's mind these days - the holiday celebration! My parents grew Paperwhite Narcissus every year during Chinese New Year for as far back as I could remember. I wanted to pick up this family tradition again, except that I want to grow them twice for both Christmas and Chinese New Year. We picked up these fragrant Paperwhite Narcissus Ziva bulbs from Terra Greenhouses. This is how they look like after 5 days in the soil. 

Holiday decoration is well underway here at AM Dolce Vita. I wanted to add a bowl of ball ornaments on my coffee table only to realize that I don't have a decorative bowl on hand! Now I have a reason to shop. :)

This is the take two of my holiday mantel - I added a colorful ball garland to liven it up.

Have a great weekend everyone!