Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you lovelies. Gone are the days of morning 'til night green beer consumption and welcomed are days spent in the sunshine with my little 'good luck charmer'. ;)

It's a wonder that with those gorgeous eyes and charming little grin I ever manage any discipline at all. But I'm happy to say, although I have a very stubborn strong-willed little man on my hands, he is such a loveable boy. I hope you all have smiles as big as these today.

I also want to wish my beautiful "baby" sister a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! You are the cutest leprechaun, like, ever darling.

-XO

help? please.

Anyone who reads this blog, regularly or occasionally, knows me well enough to know I'm fickle. And it's so bad, fickle is now becoming an understatement. It's bad. Anyway, enough about my faults for now, I'm here to beg for your help. We have this armoire that we used to use for our tv but now sits empty in our spare bedroom. We can use it for a tv again, or add a shelf and use it for clothing/blankets/etc. I've listed it on Craigslist, at least twice, and always have people interested but chicken out when it comes time to commit to selling it. I know, I know, how rude of me, right? I just can't help it. I picture it, painted a very pale gray-ish white to give it a casual beachy feel, especially with the knotty pine "worm holes" showing through. Problem is, I'd have to leave the rusty looking hinges and pulls since I have no idea where to buy hinges that would work the way these do. I.e. external and allow the doors to open flush to the sides. HUGE perk for me for this piece of furniture. Not sure if I love the idea because it would make it look like an older piece that has been corroded by salty sea air, or if I don't like the idea at all. What do you all think??? I seriously cannot make up my mind so I'm counting on you all to help me out. Please. Please. Pretty please. With sugar on top.

*nevermind the two-tone sage walls. this photo was taken BEFORE the guest room project started, which is still a work in progress. *see below photo

*nevermind the unfinished paint job on the walls. SEVERELY unhappy with the primer I used. sidebar: the bottom shelves are not covered by a thick layer of dust contrary to what my camera shows. trust me, I ran my hand over them after seeing the photo and being appalled. it's a combination of the knotty pine being a "dry" looking wood, and shadows.

I'm counting on you ladies... :)

new favorites. giveaways. and, a baby?

I just came across two blogs that I'm excited to add to my ever growing list of "favorites" and both of them are having fabulous giveaways. Anne from Fiona and Twig is giving away a hatbox full of vintage flea market goodies. Yes, that's right... vintage. flea market. goodies. What're you waiting on... go enter ladies! Oh, wait wait wait... there's another!!! Kasey from Lola B's is giving away an absolutely stunning handmade shade (or three chandie shades, the winner's choice) along with a few things from Anthropologie. That's right, a few things from Anthro! Ok, so now, GO GO GO enter. But not before checking out the most precious newborn baby boy that one of my very best friend's welcomed into the world today....

Welcome to the world sweet baby boy.

Camden Nicholas

March 11, 2010 at 9:28 a.m.

8lb. 6oz. 21in. long

(makes me miss my "baby" boy being an actual baby)

That's right, the kid has personality already! ;)

I hope to be back tomorrow (or very soon) to share with you all the Craigslist finds I've gotten lucky with lately. And I mean "gotten lucky with" in the most innocent way.... ;)

a vision. finally.

After months of being unsure about the direction we wanted to take our big expansive living room, everything randomly came together in my head today. Maybe it was the fact that the sun was finally shining that brought on some serious decorating clarity for me. It struck almost all at once and when it did I immediately started typing a list of ideas. Feeling confident in my thoughts, I emailed my ideas to Travis (often referred to as "hubby") and asked "do you love?". His response, yet short and simple, was clear and exactly what I have forever longed to hear when it comes to decor ideas I have, "Actually, I do. I see the vision." He sees the vision?!?! Alas, prayers are indeed answered. :)

Keeping in mind my love of all things white and the sea/beach, and his love of a "warm feeling" in a home and me (of course) here are my ideas...

Seeing as I've already begged asked if he would consider replacing our giant leather sofa with a slipcovered white sectional, with no luck on getting him to agree I have decided that to make it more appealing to my likes I would replace the suede pillow covers with zippered tan and white cabana stripe covers that can be removed and machine washed the next time our little man has a cold, and runs from us when trying to wipe his nose only to dive face first into suede pillows that are almost impossible to clean. You see, pretty aaaannnnndddd practical it shall be.

See lovely cabana stripe pillows in the "master bedroom" photo on a blog I just found and LOVE, Grace Happens.

As for the big expansive wall that has been talked about so many times and stressed over for months. Or years maybe? I have firmly decided to use two long shelves seen here to display an assortment of white, black, and silver/gray frames holding black and white photos, accessories, etc. The inspiration for this final decision came from a woman I couldn't say enough good things about. She's unique and beautiful, a wonderful mother with a great sense of humor about having five children, and just as sweet as the rest of you lovelies. And, today is her birthday so take a moment to go over and wish her a good day! Christina from Full House and this post finalized my decision for our big expansive wall. You have no idea what a relief it is for me to be sure about what I want for this space.

Under the two shelves I've decided my ultimate love would be two slipcovered wingback or small scale armchairs. White, of course, with pleated bottom hems. Similar to these:

which belong to the beautiful Holly of Life In The Fun Lane

or a couple of these beauties from Pottery Barn:

OR, white linen rumpled slipcovers. That's still being decided on. ;)

As for the window that is in an akward area of our living room, we'll raise the curtain rod, add dark matchstick blinds, and use white linen curtains seen here (at a great price, I must say).

The dresser seen here will be replaced with a sofa table OR dropleaf table OR desk along with a vintage chair to accommodate my laptop and growing collection of old books. Above it will hang a large horizontal mirror to reflect some of the light from the window to the other side of the room, OR if I'm very very very lucky and come across some on a beach trip we have planned this summer, driftwood will hang above it. Similar to the photo from Life In The Fun Lane seen above.

And since the room is very open to the staircase the windows there will lose the ugly white blinds and beaded valances and get a big dose of beachy with the same matchstick blinds we'll use on the other window.

*the walls are creamy, not yellow like they seem in the picture*

Don't forget about this lucky Craigslist find that will be painted white and be planted right in front of the sofa.

Throw in some candles, maybe an indoor plant or two (if I can keep them alive *eek*) and assorted accessories around the room and we may actually have a family room with some "style" to it. Our style. Casual. Crisp. Coastal. Comfortable. And, most importantly something we both love.

Lord knows, as well as all of you, that things around here, projects to be exact, take quite some time. But just as soon as the weather, Craigslist searches, time, and budget allow, I will happily share updates and photos of our changes.

I've been starting to doubt Spring even exists anymore. We were covered with 30+ inches of snow in the month if February and now that March is here I'm more than ready for it to melt away. I think the lack of sunshine has me appreciating all things yellow lately. I may even grab a bundle of yellow flowers for myself while I'm out today just to add something sunny to the house. In the meantime, I'd like to share some images with you all where yellow, whether it be used as a big statement or a little one, sure does brighten the room and, in my case, the mood. :)

 

 

photos via country living

*the last three images were floating around in my huge file of lovely images I've saved from various places so if you know their source please do share. ;)

Have a bright and sunshiny day lovelies.

sunshine and surprises

A sunshining Saturday is enough to make me smile considering we've not seen the sunshine around these here parts in weeks. It's been nothing but gray skies and lots of white snow. And despite gray and white being two of my absolute favorite colors, I've discovered that's not the case when it comes to the weather. However, the sun is out in full force today gracing us with blue skies and little wind so what is it that we plan to do to enjoy it? Go shopping, of course! Here in Columbus we have an "indoor/outdoor mall" Easton Town Center so we'll get to enjoy the beautiful day without freezing our tushes off.

Thanks to the always lovely and gracious Holly at one of my not-so-secret favorite blogs Life In The Fun Lane I learned that Hollister has ALL of their jeans on sale and despite no longer being a teenager, they were always my favorite jeans so I'm determined to shop there anyway. :) Shopping for jeans is sometimes one of the most depressing tasks I face but with my supportive hubby and little man tagging along I'm braving the mission today. I'll report back on how it goes and if these come home with me...

Another very pleasant surprise lately has been a new and absolutely fabulous blog I came across not too long ago. Maria only starting blogging a month ago and already has over 500, count 'em, 500 followers. One look at her blog Dreamy Whites and you too will be in love, I'm sure of it. She's not only another beautiful gal with a lovely family and a sweet nature about her writing, but she's humble. A real doll this one is. With a gorgeous home, and, lucky for us, she's hosting an adorable little give-away so be sure to take a look and let her know I sent you. :)

Wishing all of you lovelies lots of sunshine and smiles on this Saturday afternoon.

I've missed all of you lovelies. However, despite not posting much recently I have been keeping up on my favorite blogs and can't tell you how thankful I am for the smiles they bring to my face. You see, the phrase "when it rains, it pours" seems to be true to it's words in my life lately. There was the month of watching a loved one fight a battle with cancer that she tragically and very quickly, lost. That brought family from all over that I've not seen in years. Many, many, years. So dealing with the mixed emotions of grief from our loss along with the love and excitement we felt from seeing (and hugging) one another, made for a difficult time. Spending the weekend surrounded by family and friends I love the most, including my dad who lives in Florida for the winter (and now, this upcoming summer too *insert crying here*) had me on a high despite having only about 5 hours of sleep the entire weekend, but they say "all good things must come to an end", and that weekend did. Way too quickly. It took me a few days to adjust back to real life and the reality that I am two hours from my closest family member and again, over a thousand miles away from my dad. It was my little saving grace, Jack Trenton, who helped comfort me. Then came other stresses, emotions, and fears, enough snow to last me a lifetime, changes at work, and of course more work on the house. I want to get back to blogging more often. I miss it. I miss you sweethearts and your lovely comments/emails.

I'll try to share photos soon of what's been going on around here in the remodeling/redecorating department. But in the meantime, here is the list of what's to come...

-beadboard added to kitchen cabinetry
-crown moulding added to tops of cabinets
-guest bedroom painted and redecorated
-master bedroom update
-(thanks to my sweet gramma) my growing collection of milkglass

I have also been collecting frames to fill our big expansive BLANK living room wall with. Thanks to shopping through the house for frames shoved in closets, ready for a new use, or laying in the garage waiting to be painted, clearance at HomeGoods, and to my dear friend Ashley for generously giving me frames she no longer has a need for, I think we have enough to cover a good portion of that wall. The hold up? I'm fickle. No news flash there, right? Especially considering that above link is to a post in which I explained our plan to install a photo ledge. But, seeing as I don't see my family near as often as I'd like, and how completely in love I am with the memories old photos of my little man bring back, a photo ledge wouldn't accomodate nearly enough frames for my liking. So wall of frames it shall be. I just have to decide what color to paint them. Black? Or, white? Or, gray?

Initially I was leaning toward black because I am absolutely head-over-heels in love with this photo. But, we all know I have a strong desire for all things to be white around here so I can't seem to decide.

I sure hope you all haven't forgotten me and have some input on the color choices for the frames. Until next time, (which is hopefully in the very near future).... Xo