Ruffles.

You either love them or hate them. Either way, ruffles aren’t going anywhere any time soon.

Are you a fan? Blessings and happy Monday everyone!XX

{images:  via, via, via, via, via}

Inspiration in the Garden.

Two years ago, we built our home and I found out we were expecting shortly before the building process was completed. We moved in, the hubby was deployed and came back just in time for the birth of Baby Ian. Then he was off  to the war zone again. Therefore, landscaping has had to take a back seat until now. Though, we planted some trees the first year because as you know, new construction is so bare, we haven’t  been able to do much. With the hubby home again, we’ve slowly started the sprucing up process. Borders are in, new mulch is in the garden beds, some new shrubs have been planted. Yet, we still want(or should I say need) to plant more trees and flowers and shrubs… The list is never ending…

I am intrigued with this garden and love all the different types of foliage. I am never sure if I should keep my foliage a similar type or not. However, they’ve combined a variety of foliage textures beautifully.

Gorgeous walkway to just saunter and communicate with nature. In my case, a cup of coffee would be in hand as I soak up the sun’s rays and marvel in this beauty. Maybe my yard will look like this…one day!

loving those garden labels

Tea party anyone?

I think gardening is like collecting ones favourite treasures; it takes time to amass a collection. Therefore,  we will take our time with our landscaping and enjoy every aspect of its progress/growth.

I love the consistency of the purple and green colour  scheme too, don’t you? Purple seems to be very hot right now too. Are you inspired? I sure am and will be making a few trips to my garden store this weekend! Blessings and may your weekend be filled with lots of sunlight and fun! XX

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Off to High Point Market with Happy Feet!!

I will be going to the High Point Market trade show(Spring 2013) for the first time and I leave tomorrow! I haven’t been unable to contain my excitement and if you’re on twitter or instagram, then you might have seen the hashtag #hpmkt all over your feeds. It’s a huge deal!

A Quick Background Info:

The High Point Market (originally Southern Furniture Market), held in High Point, North Carolina is the largest home furnishings industry trade show In The WORLD, measuring over 10 million square feet (1 km²) encompassed in approximately 180 buildings throughout the area. The market holds two major shows each year, one in April and another in October, running for 6 days each time.



Since I want to make the most of my experience, I have no intention of making my shoes become an issue. I am all for happy feet which means I shall be sporting flats.


Gone are the days when flats were synonymous to plain and dowdy. There are so many varieties to choose from these days!

Here are a handful of some of the showrooms that I will be happily and comfortably touring:

The Lounge Collection by Robert Petril. I am especially excited about this showroom. Robert doesn’t shy away from colour and his designs are bold. I love that!

The Thibaut showroom is sure to be a feast for the eyes where beautiful patterns and colour abound!

A taste of what CR Laine’s showroom has to offer! Swoon!

I think this Conrad table is on almost every pin board on Pinterest!  Worlds Away showroom will be fabulous, I’m sure! There are so many more showrooms that I am looking forward to visiting! Not to mention the educational workshops! Oh what an enlightening experience this will be!

In addition, I am thrilled that I will be able to meet a number of other bloggers too. This is sure to be an unforgettable experience! I will be blowing up twitter and instagram all weekend so stay tuned! Blessings and have a safe weekend my friends. XX

{images: tumblr, pinterest, google}

Sprucing up Our Yard and Around our Yard:

Ok, Linda, here you go. She twisted my arm into posting these pictures. We’ve been quite busy prepping our yard for planting and also sprucing up with inexpensive borders and mulch. There are planters to fill, flowers and trees to purchase, and the list goes on and on. Do you all know our first child, Ginger(above)? She doesn’t get to appear on the blog often enough. I have to change that. 


We’ve set our sprinkler system to water already. Have you? We water only on even days and thank goodness for the rain we’ve been getting recently…

I was pleasantly surprised to see our very tiny apple tree in blooms. We planted it last year and I had no idea it bloomed.

A view of the front in progress.  We intend to take out those shriveled up  Nandenas in the front beds and transplant them in the back. We purchased brown mulch by the bulk. The hubby prepped and put down the mulch himself. I took the beer and water out to him while he worked. We also purchased thin brown metallic borders from Lowes. It cost almost $700 for all the borders to cover the front and back garden beds.

So unappealing right now, but in a few weeks, it will be nice and green and filled with vegetables. This is the section of our back yard where we plant our vegetable garden. We hope to have it prepped by tomorrow.

a sampling of what will be planted…

 We still have so much work to do in the yard and with two kiddos, it takes twice as long. However, I thoroughly enjoy yard work and find it therapeutic.  I will share more pictures once things begin to flourish. Blessings and Happy Thursday all! XX

In the Kitchen.

Most of our time is spent in our kitchen. It is where we create, cook, gather to talk about the day’s events, laugh, cry…

I watched yesterday’s heartbreaking news from my kitchen in disbelief.

When the hubs came home we talked about the tragedy in the kitchen. I cooked while Zion played at the table(in the kitchen) and Baby Ian was scurrying back and forth between the kitchen and the other spaces off the kitchen.

How much time do you spend in your kitchen? Our floor plan is also very opened so we can see quite a bit of the other main living spaces from our kitchen(tour to very very soon).

My heart is heavy today in light of the Boston marathon attacks yesterday. I am reminded by efforts from wonderful human beings such as the first responders to yesterday's tragic scene that there is more good than evil in the world. Love and light to all affected. Blessings everyone. XX

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Set the Stage with YourMurano Glass Tableware: Summer Entertaining

The quintessential summer experience involves lots of  entertaining with family and friends. Setting the stage for these entertainment endeavors starts with meticulously setting the stage with an unforgettable table scape.

YourMurano glass tableware is more than just a glass act. Having purchased(on a few trips to Nove, Italy)a couple hand blown glass pieces myself that were made in Murano, I have experienced the durability and premium quality of such glass pieces first hand. Glass tableware pieces are of course investment pieces since each piece is handcrafted at prime production quality. Thus, terms like classic, longevity, and well made are synonymous to this brand.  You also get the below bragging rights when you purchase a gem from YourMurano glass:

• unique and handmade
• shipped from venice
• the best murano glass quailty
• covered by insurance
• mark of origin guaranteed

Goto Desio

I find myself drawn to their Goto Desio line.  Isn’t it obvious why? Just look at the beauty! According to the website:

The creative decorations on this “goto de fornasa” glass reminds of the many twisting canals that criss-cross Venice, like a neverending maze. The apparent fragility of the glass vanishes once you hold this “goto” in your hand, admire its white “sommerso” glass, covered in a gold leaf layer and sprinkled with multiple colourful glass threads. The energy of the manufacturing process is perceived at first touch: this “goto” glass represents the solid pride in their craft of the people of Murano. Like all “goti de fornasa”, it is born from the creative inspiration of the master glassmaker in the precise moment of shaping, making a unique, unrepeatable piece of art. This “goto de fornasa” is signed by the master Imperio Rossi, and is available in different coloured filaments on the constant gold leaf base: white and violet, blue and aqua, blue and ruby, orange and yellow, blue and green, green and sky blue.

The pieces vary in styles that range from simple and streamlined to very intricate with sublime embellishments. Whatever your theme is for setting the stage, formal or informal, you will find your statement piece(s) at at Yourmurano.

Do you already have glass tableware in your collection? Is setting the stage part of your entertaining ritual? I love a beautiful tablescape adorned with lovely tableware. I usually cannot help myself when it comes to setting the stage, even if it is just for the hubby and myself. There has to be some type of style on the table. Blessings and have a wonderful weekend everyone! XX

{images: lemanifique, flickr, 79ideas, yourmurano}

Polaroids.

The above office space belongs to Tom Delavan(creative director of Gilt Home). The space is also featured in this month’s issue of Lonny Mag.

I have a thing for polaroid pics.. I used to have a polaroid camera, but somehow, I misplaced it. Maybe I will find it again one day. Until then, I lust after these…

Really cool. see more famous faces here. Does anyone own a polaroid camera?  Blessings and happy Wednesday my friends. XX

{images: google, via, via}

Wiggle Room.

It is not uncommon for us to “bust a move” in our living spaces. In fact, we do it all the time and I as a result we need lots of wiggle room. In addition, with two children running wild, wiggle room is a must! For today’s post, I am going to define the term wiggle room to be when one is able to  move around freely in a space without stubbing ones toes on a piece of furniture.


Choosing the right size sofa for a living space is paramount for the existence of wiggle room. I’ve visited homes where there was so much furniture in the living space that I could only walk sideways in order to avoid bumping into an item. It’s usually a relief to return to my home where I can walk freely in my abundance of wiggle room.

No stubbing ones toes in this space. It’s no surprise that it is a space belonging to the Novogratz family; lots of wiggle room for playing and or dancing.

a lone sofa with a pouf for perching ones feet though simple in design provides ample opportunity for kiddos to enjoy the space in a carefree manner and adults can easily do the Moon Walk if they so desire. How do you feel about the amount of furniture in a space? Is wiggle room important to you? Blessings and have a wonderful Tuesday. XX

{images: atcasa, frenchbydesign, houseto your home}