Big Ol' Update

Whew! It's been a long hard six months and I wish I had been smart enough to capture it all on my blog, but it seems that once you step away for a little while, you step away forever... I recently decided it was time to get rid of Facebook because I spend way too much time on it, and re-focus my attention on better things. Since I still have this need to share/document my life, I knew it was time to start up the ol' blog again. I am hoping to make several changes to it soon, including a possible new name, but in the meantime, I want to give a quick update of my time missed...

December

December was great for us. I was super busy at the store, which is rare for furniture around Christmastime. We went to Houston to see my parents and spend a few days with them for the holiday and then it was back to reality. We had a great time in Houston and would love to go back, but my parents recently moved to Atlanta giving us no real reason to visit the concrete jungle again unless something comes up.

January

January in New Orleans can be lovely or really dreary and rainy. This past one was lovely and full of decent weather. We spent our time getting to know new people and learning to love our city. There was not a lot of time to spend doing other things, because as always, the store steals my time!

February

Happy Mardi Gras! February was a crazy fun month. The store closes for the holiday and the entire city becomes a place a celebration. We decided this year to just try and enjoy the parades and not be bothered by how much they disrupt our every day living. And it worked! We had a great time and got some really fun beads as mementos. We also spent some time traveling to Baton Rouge, shopping at my favorite stores. I finally talked my husband into buying a new couch and we ordered one that we were assured would only take 6 weeks to ship to us...

March

We found out I was pregnant in February and so March was tough for me. I was constantly tired and sick and trying to run a store. It seemed like this stage was never going to end. We saw our sweet little one not once but twice on ultrasound and were so excited that God blessed us again with a child. I vowed to be as healthy as possible - being diabetic is a struggle for a woman with all day "morning" sickness. Jim's Aunt and Uncle came to visit and time spent with them is so fun. We got to show them some of the city and share in our joy over the baby. St. Patty's day is big in NOLA, it's the second most popular location for tourists to visit for the holiday. The parade runs right past our store, so we get to close down and tailgate in the parking lot. This year, we had a cookout and waited for what felt like hours for the parade. It was a lot of fun.

April

In April, my family came in from PA to visit for Easter. We had a great time taking them around the city and going to the beach on Easter Day. Truly, not much else happened that month. We spent time with friends and I grew to love Pintrest more and more - it's what I spend most of my evenings doing. Jim and I went to a charity event for the Green Project at the end of the month. The Green Project reclaims building materials that are destined for landfills before homes/buildings are demolished. There are a lot of homes that were devastated in Hurricane Katrina that still had parts to be salvaged. To not re-use what you can is so wasteful. I love this organization and what they represent :)

May

May is Jim's birthday and we went out with friends for dinner and fun. It is also Mother's Day and Jim surprised me with a purse made from recycled coffee bags from Maui - where he lived when he was in his early 20's. It's so weird to be called a mom at this point in my life but I am loving it!! This picture is of my mom, my brother, and me on Easter when we were very little. The other picture is of my dad, my brother, and me. It's so weird to see my parents so young, especially my dad who looks so old now. I wonder if our child will see us just the same when they are grown...

So, here is all is in a nutshell. I will be back more often and with cool ideas for home design on a budget along with lots of other great information. It's great to be back!!!

I Heart Tablescapes

If you work in retail, you know that those first few days after Thanksgiving can be crazy. Even in a boutique setting, where Black Friday sales and early hours are not the norm, you have a real possibility of huge crowds and great sales. This past week, we received a container from India and shipment of accessories. I thought that Friday would be really quiet, offering me the opportunity to get boxes unwrapped and tagged, so I opened the store at noon (which allowed me time to hit a few Black Friday sales myself!). Much to my surprise, folks were knocking on the door quite early. 

Somehow, I found time to get two of the tables done and I am so happy with how they turned out. I have two more to finish and will post pictures when they are done. 

God is so good to bless me with the responsibility of running my little shop.

 The traditional red and green table. Shades of red and green compliment each other so nicely when paired with silver, white, and lots of mirrored reflective surfaces. It is a crisp, clean look that is sure to please!

The blue and green table. This color combo is a trend that I don't see leaving us anytime soon. Pair this look with silver accents and unexpected textures like the reclaimed teak table.

It's everywhere I look

It is not hard to miss that everything old is new again. The pieces at work that get the most love and interest are the ones made from reclaimed materials or are heavily distressed. I personally love this look, but I wonder why it's such a great look on a door that's $1000, but not on a door in a poor neighborhood...

Today, the hubs and I went out exploring in NOLA in areas that are sometimes considered "distressed", but I wonder if that's considered a good thing or a bad thing. Some folks in the neighborhood embrace the look and some folks are taken over by the decay. Intentional or not, I think it is beautiful. 

This house was one of the neglected beautiful homes we saw. You can see that someone once loved this shotgun and now it's just waiting for someone to love it again.

New Orleans also has a great history and culture of the arts and artists. The trend here is also to reuse, re-purpose and distress things. Everywhere we went there were folks working on their craft. We met some cool folks with interesting art installations in converted shotguns and others working out of warehouses and parking lots. 

Everywhere you look, New Orleans reveals that she is a well worn and well loved city - and that she is REBELLIOUS! She wouldn't listen to the folks who said she wouldn't recover from a flood and she won't listen to what others say is beautiful or correct :)

Isn't is ironic, don't ya' think?

I really like getting out and learning to love like Jesus did. I love to see what is not noticeable or noteworthy. Jesus loves New Orleans. If He can love it, I can too :)

I love my husband for these excursions! I love that he sees what I don't see and that he encourages me to look at things how God would look at them. He is kind and friendly and makes me want to be a better person. He is the best part about being a wife :)

Have a great week, Everyone!

XO

Those Gators get HUNGRY

Yesterday, the hubs and I took a little day trip to LaPlace, LA and took a Cajun Pride Swamp Tour. It was such a warm and sunny day and the gators did their best to co-operate with the tour guide :) 

Of course, these reptiles are wild, but they see about 5 tours a day and by this point are quite conditioned to see the boats and come right up to them to get their treats. It is still quite a show for us, and I am sure they would gladly feast on people if we put our hands out to touch them!

 

 warning :)

 this is not a zoomed in shot... actually, I had to back up to get his whole head in - that's how close he was

a typical fishing/hunting shack on the bayou

one of the many beautiful birds that we saw

This guy was hungry!

I love these day trips we make around the Gulf region! It makes me so happy that Fall is here and the weather has become for us what Summer is like for the rest of the US (highs in the 80's and upper 70's). I am at peace with New Orleans now, and it is our home. It is most not likely our forever home, but why not enjoy it while we're here, right?  Since we also made this trip courtesy of a purchase of the tickets on Groupon, it was a frugal way to have fun!

xo

He loves me...

You know that moment when you realize you really "get" your other half? When you know their likes and dislikes - they like one ice cube in their hot coffee, they hate when you squeeze the toothpaste tube in the middle? Well, I think my husband "gets" me. :)

I know this because yesterday, he sends me a text message with a picture of a cup he bought for me. He said it looked like the ones from Anthropologie. For only $4! OK - there are about 20 things right with that text!!! Most of all, he learned the Anthro look, and not because he is doing due diligence for a buying job with the company. It's because... He. Loves. Me. This must be one of my love languages, because I gushed about it all evening :) 

I can't wait to take it to work today and use it for my tea, cup o' soup, or heck - even water! I want everyone to see the cute mug that my husband bought me.

xo

Sometimes it's just easier to buy it!

I never thought I would be THAT person. The one that falls for fads, that buys merchandise instead of making it, salvaging it, or "re*du"ing" it... but I did it. 

I went and fell smack dab in love with the easy chic of French farmhouse country (damn you, Restoration Hardware!!). I realize this might be a trend of sorts, but it is one I love. The soft greys and beige and watery blues, YUM!! Mix in a little bit of Anthropologie and it doesn't get much better :)

Ever since I fell in love, I have been on the rampage to fix all of the shabbiness of our little pad. Thankfully, I manage a wholesale furniture store and can pick up these delightful goodies at incredibly sweet prices (not the $10 finds from the auction, but pretty good). My next "get" is going to be a future blog post... speaking of which...

OK - I admit I have been my usual unfaithful blogging self. I hope to get back on the "blogging bandwagon". I have been working on a "re*du" of our front porch and hopefully some more changes on the inside. Thankfully, these should provide for some accountability new posts!

Here's a pic of the new desk. It was taken with my camera phone, so I apologize for the quality. 

The Interest with Pintrest

I have this really great scrapbook of design inspiration that my husband bought for me years ago when we were dating. I cut out all the design ideas I love, along with all the projects I would love to someday make time for. The book is so full of timeless design-love.

It turns out that there is now an online version of this and for some time now, several friends have been recommending I join. It is called Pintrest and it allows you to create themed boards onto which you "pin" your inspiring photos. I stayed away for awhile. A few weeks ago, I decided to give it a whirl... ohmygosh... I am so addicted!! You can spend hours poking around the pictures that other people post and re-pin them to your boards. It seems to go on forever :)

Some of my inspirations: 

via Faded Plains

via Simply Seleta

 

via Sprig

 

I think this is such a great idea, as I am always interested in what inspires others. Plus, isn't imitation the most sincere form of flattery?? 

 

P.S. Check out my friend's blog, Life After Sunday, where I wrote a guest post. The pic is not my favorite, but it has two of my favorites in it, my husband and my friend's little boy... such a sweetie!

 

Have a super weekend!

XO