Your Space: Cola's Golden-Age Getaway

I actually designed that purple vase at the Corning Museum of Glass.
Never knew she fancied it so.

Cola, for your information, is my youngest sister. Her real name is Nicole Lydia Crosby, but for some hybrid reasoning including the fact that she loves Coca-Cola and that the word Nicole does in fact have a "col" in it, she has always liked it that I occasionally call her Cola. She, unlike middle sister Rachel, has failed to appear on my blog thus far due to the fact that she has been away at summer camp most of the weekends that I have connected with my PA family.

So like the socially inappropriate and privacy-invading sister that I am, I decided to take some pictures of her bedroom in her absence. It's purely for inspirational purposes, honest :-)

That's actually a creme soda bottle behind Cary Grant and it's filled with
creme-soda-colored glass pebbles like the ones you'd put in a fish bowl. Whoda thunk?

I never cease to be amazed by the fact that this picture and the one that opened the post tell you almost everything you need to know about Cola. See, the thing I've always loved about her (and I've told her so, though I'm not sure she understood what I meant) is that she is so her. She is so Nicole. So Cola. Nicole has never fallen into the trap of pretending to be someone she's not. She never masks her feelings towards something that she fears is unpopular. In fact, I think she quite enjoys being different. What's not to love about an attitude like that?

All this to say, Nicole's interests, likes, and dislikes have changed very little over the years because she is so unaffected by trends. Let's look at some themes present in her room that have been there basically since she had the option to decorate her own room:

• Classic movie stars (Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Humphrey Bogart, etc.)
• Classic musicians (Elvis most notably)
• Vintage Coca-Cola paraphernalia
• Europe (specifically Paris)
• Animals or animal print
• Books
• Movies (all kinds, you have no idea how diverse this girl's collections is)
• Asian pop culture (this is a relatively new interest, haha)

Cola's King

Miss Hepburn, herself

The above photo is of the three most populous shelves of one of Nicole's two bookcases. They are filled with beautiful leather-bound classics given to Nicole by a distant relative who took a shine to her. Some of the hundred-volume collection are at our Grandma's house and some Nicole allowed me to take to Rochester. I was curious as to why she displayed these three-shelves-worth so proudly while other equally beautiful books she was willing to give away (books like The Ovid, Plato's Republic, A Picture of Dorien Grey. . .) Nicole answered me simply:

"I only keep the ones that I like to read."

She actually reads these! Most sixteen-year-old girls have never even opened Uncle Tom's Cabin or The Three Musketeers or The Origin of the Species or War & Peace (freaking WAR AND PEACE!) and Nicole keeps them around in case she wants to read them again! The girl's amazing. I'm an English major and even my reading list doesn't look much like hers. 

Empty Coke bottle! Oh yeah, and Gene Kelly.

See? More Coke!

She loves music. Has pretty great taste, too. Except she likes Glee. Meh.

Paris

Elvis

NYC

Zebra bedside table

Nicole has got an eye on her. That's for sure. She just knows what she likes and she knows how to make it look good. I think her uniquely consistent personality and artistic flair make her infinitely attractive as a person. Could just be because she's my sister, but if you had ever had a chat with her in this boudoir of hers, I know you'd be vigorously nodding your head in agreement as you read this.

Crack open the nearest bottle of Coke, if you will (creme soda will also suffice), and raise it high. Here's to Cola and to discovering the beauty of surrounding yourself with all the things you love.

Can't wait for you to come home, Nicole!