Sugarboo I Love You

Today I am coveting these antique wooden signs from Sugarboo Designs

Retail Therapy

Yes I did a little shopping.

Yes my purchases made me very happy.

And that's why they call it retail therapy.

My "new" antique fan from Lagniappe Antiques (and it really works)!!!

My Monkey Slippers from Target

I could live in slippers, I almost wore them to work today!!!

Thinking Outside the Box

For all my fellow wine snobs I completely understand if you hit the little red x button on the top of your browser and never visit me again. Yes, it's true, today I am going to do the unimaginable and blog about wine out of a BOX.

Boxed Wine? Ewee

But times have changed from the cheap boxes I used to buy in my college years. It's time to move on, put the bottle behind us and experience the future. The collapsing bag-in-box, fresher than ever premium boxed wine. My go to label is "Black Box" and while I always keep a box on my cabinet I must admit to not yet having the courage of bring it to a dinner party or a nice restaurant for fear of being banished, shunned, and shamed.

Advantages: Stays fresh longer (an open box can last up to six weeks), better for the environment, less expensive than bottled wine, safer to carry around, great for trips on the beach or anywhere glass is forbidden, etc.

Tell me bloggers are you jaws wide open in disgust and disbelief or you willing to give it a try. Cheers from my box to yours!!!

Ikat It

Let me start this post with a confession: I am addicted to throw pillows. While I realize that this is not as bad as being addicted to other illegal or highly expensive things it is still a problem. The top of my closet is filled with little throw pillows that have been replaced by my habit of buying a better one. With that said I have brought my nasty little habit to Britt's house and yes one of his closets has the beginnings of being filled with pillows. So back to the reason behind this: finding throw pillows for this brown sofa has been nothing short of a thorn in my side. I have tried and tested many different styles and pillows but nothing worked like the image I had in my head. It's been almost a year and still not the perfect choice, but some good ones.....

Ikat believe it, think I may have found the solution to my design dilemma on ebay. I found this beautiful fabric that I will re-cover some of my "old" pillows with. It's Victor "Barbados" Ikat-design upholstery fabric.

Ikat is a style of weaving that uses a process kinda like tie-dye on the threads before the are woven. This process creates these amazing designs seen in the fabrics below. When used in moderation Ikat fabric can turn a boring room into something to talk about. Here are some of the professionals using this fabric in rooms.

Holy Crap

Those are the words that came out of my mouth when I clicked on the link that sent me here to this amazing online art store. I have been eyeing the print "Keep Calm And Carry On" and their are tons different versions but this has to be my favorite thus far.

It's from Red Letter Words and once I started looking through her gallery I found way to many pieces of art that I had to have. Many are faith inspired and they hit you right in the heart. I have searched for years to find a stylish piece of art for the bible verse from Joshua 24:15, "As For Me And My House We Will Serve The Lord." My dad had a little wooden block with this quote on it and he lived by those words. Britt has a little magnet on his refrigerator with this bible verse, but I want something grand and stylish. I did not find it in the gallery of prints but I think she creates special orders!!!!

Here are a few of my favorites from the site. Look how freaking cute....

Perfect for nurseries!!!

Perfect for wedding gifts!!!

Great bible verse and cute Christmas decor!!!

Sassitude

I am a sucker for a classic, so when I came across designer Coralie Bickford-Smith's exclusive Penguin books I was smitten. Must get, must have, must read, must be in my life. They look beautiful and a little sassy. I ordered my first two books from Amazon.com and received them via mail this weekend. They are so beautiful and fit right at home on the old dresser. For an upclose and personal look at the other book covers you can check out their flickr page here. Pictured below are my babies - Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.

It's cold and rainy today, I would so love to be curled up next to a fire with these books and a toddy of warm eggnog (it is December -uggg). Getting lost in words like thither, mischance, and felicity instead of crunching numbers and returning calls. A girl can only dream!!

Instead I am sitting in my office, in front of these computer screens. I have 3 inch heels on and my dogs are freezing. I can not seem to keep my hands warm. I keep looking outside waiting for the sun to burst through long enough to go out for lunch. It feels like your typical Monday, but its really Tuesday which means no football to look forward to. Save me Mr. Darcy!!!

A Little Diva In All Of Us

If anyone is counting this would be about my 100th guilty pleasure!! I like the semi-finer things in life, they just make the mundane everyday things we do manageable. Yes they tend to cost a bit more than the dollar store, so I try to limit my use and intake of such said pleasures. I ask you ladies and the wonderful gentleman who know how to work a washing machine, what is more mundane than washing the loads of laundry that seem to multiply every time you turn your back? Let me introduce you to the only other diva that I could possibly live with. It's a glamorous wash in which you add just a dab to your regularly scheduled laundry routine and your dingy dirty clothes come out smelling angelic. I love washing my sheets and towels with it!! Happy washing everyone!!!

On a slightly different note, I have a bone to pick with all the front load washing machines that exist in this world. Speaking of divas, I had no clue you were such a high maintenance little bugger.  After almost a year the (not so amazing) Whirlpool Front load washer smells like mold and mildew. The smell is comparable to my old house in New Orleans after it flooded in Katrina. I am not exaggerating this truth, I would hold my breath when I opened the door to the washer. After my clothes began to slightly smell of this funk I hit the internet in search of an answer. Low and behold a wealth of information was at my finger tips in a matter of seconds, and so many of my fellow Americans were living with this same problem. It seems an easy answer does exist, and it was right in front of my face this entire time. I mean who has ever read the manuel on your washing machine? Not I. This damn washing machine wants me to clean it after it cleans my clothes, REALLY?? You are suppose to be helping me clean all my clothes and keeping your mouth shut while doing it, now I have another chore to add to my routine - wash the washing machine. 

Here are the 5 (yes 5) steps to cleaning the machine 1. Unlike top loaders the front loaders don't drain completely so you have to leave the door open when it is not in use to let it dry out. Great I love having the door open all day and night, it looks great. I bet if I had a one year old child they would love to climb on in and play (can you say lawsuit waiting to happen) 2. Only use high efficiency detergent, this I can live with 3. Rub a cloth over the inside of the washer after each load, then peel back the rubber door seal and clean in there where all the gunk collects (can we add 5 more minutes to each day for this complete waste of my time?) 4. Clean the drain pump filter every two weeks, old water that never drains sits here - yuck. And what the hell is a drain pump filter?? 5. Once a month with 2/3 cup of bleach run the "clean tub cycle" with an empty washer - and you are suppose to be energy efficient??? 

Last night I cleaned out the smelly gunk living in the door seal (gag) and ran the cleaning cycle with bleach and the door has been open all night. I am hoping that the smelly problem has disappeared. People, I don't want to steer any of you away from buying a front loader because they really are easier on your clothes and they have great features. I am venting and in a few days, hopefully when that horrible smell is gone, I will be over this little hissy fit. 

Hello, Have We Met Before

Dear Anthropologie at Home,

Have I been hiding under a rock, how could I not have been ignoring you for so long? I seldom make promises I do not keep, so I promise you this - I will come to visit you often. I hope not to scare you off but I have already made future plans for us. You see I am in the middle of a bathroom makeover that your festival rug would look amazing in. I ask - who needs all the hard work of laying designer tile when you can just throw down a beautiful rug like that? And yes a cute apron does make you cook better, and cream colored dishes does make food taste better. The Cole & Son wooded wallpaper I have been obsessed with for years - you have made it possible for the great USA to purchase this fine product. The cute stationary and journals almost makes me wanna quit this blog and write all my thoughts on paper. And finally you had me at hello old rustic vintage chair that I now need 4 of in my life. So, if I wake up on day and find out that money really does grow on trees I would pluck a few 100 bills and drive straight to you:

        

        

          

Wait, you now carry Voluspa - my favorite candles!! And rumor has it that in November you will be carrying my Christmas present (hint, hint) Coralie Bickford-Smith deluxe classic novels. They are perfect for reading and decorating!! I warn you once you have read one of the classic novel in these exclusive designs you can never go back to the plain books. Damn you Coralie...

 Sincerely, 

Yes, I might have just lost my mind for a second. 

Life is Cheap, It's the Accessories That Kill You

Let me introduce you all to my new favorite guilty pleasure. Its a simple little candle that will make your house smell AMAZING. It was given to me as a birthday present, and I have now become down right obsessed, imagine that. The brand is Voluspa and it comes in many scents, Champaca Bloom & Fern being by far the best!! It has a cool design with retro brown and cream flowers on the tin can (bottom right). They also come in different sizes, but the 3 wick tin will smell your entire room in minutes. Look how unique the other tin designs are, they make a perfect elegant gift. 

Move over Aveda Shampure candle you have temporarily been replaced!!

I Can't Be Overdrawn, I Still Have Checks

I have a love hate relationship with you Rohl and your cross handle bridge design.  Actually I guess its not much of a relationship since you don't even know I exist. Once again you have melted my heart with your sophisticated sleek body and shinny new look, but I can not afford you. So, once again I sit in my lonely chair admiring you on a computer screen, hoping that one day you will be here with me helping me wash my dirty dishes. Maybe in my dream home, you can sleep each night next to my Viking stove, and spew water out into our zero radius sink. 

Goodbye for now, maybe on ebay we will finally find each other.