A Tease

 

We began our house search on Friday evening at this adorable cottage on Main St. It's not officially on the market yet but they were kind enough to let us have a preview. Out of the 5 houses we saw this weekend, it had the most interior charm. It was very much my taste. Sadly, it is just too small for us. We would have to add a second floor to make it work. I'm not really ready for that kind of a project right now.

I've got 4 more houses to share with you this week. I thought we would play our own version of House Hunters and let you guess which one you think we should pick. I will tell you this. We found our house. We hope to be making an offer by the end of the week or as soon as we can get our financial stuff together for the bank and afterward I will share with you which one we picked. Until then all prayers, happy vibes and good wishes will be happily accepted.

House Wish List

This weekend we are seeing 5 houses that are for sale in the Village. We are so excited and hopeful, although we know that since the selection is so limited we are not likely to find our dream house. We are hoping to find something we can turn into our dream house. I hope to share pictures with you next week from our house hunting adventures. Until then, here is what we are hoping to find in our next home.

A charming exterior preferably with a front porch

A good garage

A yard large enough to throw the ball for the dog and for a clothes line

Climbing trees and a treehouse or a spot for one

An open staircase

A kitchen that has a gas range and hasn't been renovated so that I can create the kitchen of my dreams without paying for a renovation that is not my taste.

A dining area that is separate but not formal.

At least 3 bedrooms

At least 2 bathrooms

A space for my studio

A fireplace

My Favorite Corner

 We have now been here for 8 months and it will soon be time to start thinking about packing again. While this makeshift studio/office/couch storage room has not been my ideal studio, it has served it's purpose and I am grateful to have some space to call my own. Having this corner is a luxury. One I'm glad my Sweet Hubby always makes sure I have.

I'm not a high maintenance girl. All I really need in life, aside from my family and friends, is a place to sit and sew, stitch, dream and play.

A place to put my inspiration, including my stash of Country Home and Home Companion magazines.

A place for my yarn stash, which I try to keep contained to the size of this basket but which promises to burst free of these confines most any given day of the week.

A place for stacks of lovely fabric that inspire me to sit and put foot to pedal and create something new.

I love this space. It completes me. I hope that if you don't have a space to call your own, that you will walk around your house today with a fresh perspective and find a spot you can claim.

Crushing On

Today I am crushing on:

These Union Jack Pillows made by friend Sarah and available for purchase here because they are awesome and I'm all about England (and France) right now.

The number #42 and  The paper Rose  because she is the winning commenter for my C&R giveaway.

The movie Bottle Shock. It's currently at the top of my favorite list. Be sure to have some good wine and perhaps a cheese tray when you watch it. You've been warned.

Ginnifer Goodwin because she is just so adorable and classy. Also she makes me want to be brave and cut my hair off.

The Food Network show Dessert First. Love the kitchen, food and her and can't wait for the new season.

And last but not least, house hunting because it looks like I am seeing 2 houses this weekend and I'm determined to move by the end of April.

What are you crushing on today?

Sew Cool- A Cabbages and Roses Giveaway

This week I finally busted out my sewing machine. The 'ol girl hasn't seen the light of day in over a year. For some reason, the longer you don't do something, the harder it is to finally do it again. Did that make sense? It did in my head. The point I'm trying to make is I sewed something! And, I had really, really good incentive to do it. You see, I was the lucky beneficiary of a meter of Cabbages and Roses fabric. Those kind folks let me choose a project out of the above book to share with all of you. Believe me when I say, it was hard to choose.

I decided to make the fabric gift bag and used their lavender heart project as inspiration to make a pretty tag to go on it. Now before you go and get jealous of my good fortune, let me tell you that I don't even get to keep the book. Nope. The book is for you. And, it gets better. You also get a meter of the fabric I used for the bag for yourself. Who's jealous now?

Just leave your name and email address here by Monday January 24th at midnight Eastern and if I draw your name, you will be the lucky winner of the giveaway.

While you wait please go check out the Cabbages and Roses website and blog. Be prepared for inspiration overload.

Neutral with a side of Color

I'm mad for color. Crazed, I tell you! I have an overwhelming need for it. I can already tell our next house will have a different feel from our last. I dream of soft neutral walls, at least in the main living spaces, paired with a pale slip-covered sofa and love seat (definitely my first major purchase when we move into a house).

But after that? Let the color begin! Colorful pillows, throws and artwork. Colorful dishes, whatnots and the occasional brightly hued painted piece of furniture. I aim to be bold. I aim to be fearless about decorating and color. Because, in this year of Living Fearlessly, how can I not just go for it?

I want all the rooms in my house to make me as happy as my studio does. It is truly the only room that really feels like me. I don't want my house to look like a model home. I want you to walk in and immediately get a sense of it's personality.

I feel like I decorated my last house to impress other people. I'm no Freud, but I would imagine that is a result of growing up so poor. This time I'll listen to my heart and do it my way without concern about what others think. I want it to reflect how I feel inside: playful, happy, youthful and individual. I couldn't care less about rules and trends.

I am officially a design rebel. Wanna join me?

Pics: BHG,Tumblr, Canadian Home and Country, Coastal Living, Country Living.

Belated Fabulous Friday- Fashion and Other Late Night Ramblings

It is very late here as I type this. Either that or very early. I'm so deliriously tired that I can't decide. I was having a good sleep until a bad dream and the smell of ham and beans woke me up. Apparently it was not a brilliant idea to start the slow cooker before I went to bed so that my guy would have a hearty lunch. Hmm. I'll make a note of that. Also I have a cat curled up by my side, one curled up on my legs and a golden retriever with her 20lb head laying on my feet. I'm not completely comfortable but I can't quite make myself disturb them. You pet lovers will understand. The rest of you, not so much.

I want to thank you all for advice on our trip. I love research and fact gathering and planning and making lists. I'm a total geek about it. Thank you all for enabling me. Emma is as bad as I am. I will have to share her Paris list I found in my knitting journal. She has started her independent research project on Paris for school. It is supposed to be due in May. She is so enthusiastic that I'm pretty sure it will be finished by the end of January. Maybe sooner. They only want 4 pages for crying out loud and I'm pretty sure she is prepared to give them about 20.

In other news, I find myself thinking quite a bit about about fashion lately. A combination, I think, of dreams of foreign travel to the land of stylish women and my new commitment to losing 15-20lbs. I joined Weight Watchers online early this week and have started working out again. Why is it so hard to carve out the time to take care of ourselves? I'm determined to do it. This Spring I am going through my closet and getting rid of anything that doesn't fit or look right on me. That is a pretty big incentive as I will not have much left if I don't get on the ball. I've also decided to start a fashion journal to inspire me and help me pinpoint my style. I'll be sharing that as time goes on.



Disclaimer: The skinny legs in these photographs do not belong to me. Nor will any skinny legs appearing in any picture on my blog ever belong to me. I'm okay with that. Just keeping it real.

Doing my Homework

With the kids back in school I too am doing my homework. We have decided to take a family trip to Paris and London in the Spring of 2012. I'm a planner so obviously I have to start researching now. Plus, how much fun will the planning be? I'm even hoping to brush up on my French, which is to say, learn the language from scratch as that one year of High School French seems to have deserted me. I speak passable English already, so that is a bonus.

I'd love to hear any suggestions about places to go, things to see or ways to get ready. We plan on going for about a week and do not have an open-ended budget. Have any of you used a Rosetta Stone type program?

As excited as I am, Emma is ten times more excited. She has been obsessed with Paris most of her life. To prepare she is reading guide books, making lists, thinking about clothing options, working on a report about Paris at school and saving every penny she can. Her goal is to have $1000 for the trip. You can beat she will do it. I, on the other hand, will likely have to borrow money from her to hit the flea markets.

We Have a Winner

The giveaway winner is Kristina from the blog Something Beautiful.

As for the rest of you, stay tuned because I have 2 more giveaways coming up. One may or may not involve a meter of Cabbages and Roses fabric and a Christina Strutt book. I'm not saying one way or the other.

J-O-Y- The Choosing and Giving

 

What gives you JOY?

There are a lot of things big and small in my life that give me JOY. I thought I'd share my top ten list of today's JOYs.

1) Maddie finally went back to school today after recovering from a tonsillectomy she had last week.
2) My Colts made the playoffs and have a game on Saturday night.
3) It snowed today, the biggest fluffiest, glitteriest snowflakes and I felt like I live in Narnia.
4) Being Fearless.
5) Studio time in my future this weekend.
6) We are making plans for a big exciting vacation for the Spring of 2012.
7) Since I had an empty house today, I finally worked out and I feel so good!
8) There is a bottle of red wine calling my name tonight.
9) My new calendar came today and I can't wait to start filling it up.
10) 2 skeins of chunky yarn waiting for me to make them into a striped scarf

Some of you might remember what a big part Choosing Joy played in my life last year. Here's what I know for sure, you can choose how you feel about something. You can choose how you react to a situation or a person. You can choose JOY. Here is something else I know for sure, the more you practice something the easier it becomes.

Since I like to share the JOY, today I am hosting a giveaway from my dear friend Jerusalem at The Adventures of Jolly Goode Gal who has started printing the most inspiring posters. That Jerusalem is an inspiring girl. She is using the proceeds from these posters to enlarge her family through adoption. Because she has a big heart. Which also explains why she wants to give one of you a poster of your choosing just for looking at her store and coming back here to leave a comment about which poster and color scheme is your favorite by Monday January 10th at midnight Eastern. If your name is chosen you will win the poster you picked.

Also, because I love you guys, I will tell you that you can go visit my buddy Shannan for another chance to win. Don't you just feel a little more JOYful already?

Stuffed with Love

Do you have very good friends in your life? I"m blessed to be surrounded by many wonderful friends. Friendships aren't always easy but I treasure my friends and this past year they have been especially good to me.

For the past year+ my life has not been very conducive to creativity but my friend Melissa is always there encouraging me and convincing me to commit to some sort of creative project or another. At Christmas we did our 2nd annual Christmas stocking exchange. You can see last years stockings here. We are also working on a Valentine project and an embroidery project right now. See what I mean about being pushy? I mean pushing me?

This is the stocking I made for Melissa this year. I'm really craving color right now, can you tell? I think it might have something to do with the lack of natural light in this house.

This is the stocking Melissa sent to me. Isn't it delicious? See that vintage pom pom trim? That's my favorite. That might even be from the stash I sent her last year in her stocking.

As much as I love the stocking part, the stuffing part runs a close 2nd. Imagine having your stocking stuffed by a girlfriend that likes all the same things as you. Perfection. Plus we both tend to go a little crazy and ignore the prearranged budget. I like that we still pretend that we are sticking to the budget. It's part of our tradition.

Sadly Melissa doesn't live very near me but she is coming here in a few weeks and I am so excited to have some creative play time with her. Also, there may be some Village exploration and cupcakes involved because, really, what girl day would be complete without cupcakes?

I'm Dreaming of a White Kitchen

January seems to call for fresh and clean. I noticed the other day that the new Country Living cover is dedicated to decorating with white.

I have been drawn to white for a long time and although I love it all through the house, I have always longed for a white kitchen.

In my opinion the ideal white kitchen needs pops of color and texture to keep it from feeling  too cold and sterile.

I actually have a white kitchen now after waiting my whole life. Exciting right? Actually, no. More hideous than exciting.

But I know that will change one day soon and I will appreciate it that much more after having lived with my current kitchen.

In our next house I will finally get my dream kitchen. The Big Guy has given his word. He knows I've been patient with one builder beige kitchen after another.

Plus, he's a really smart guy. He knows that the happier I am in my kitchen the more I'll cook. And make no mistake about it, the Big Guy likes to eat.

For now I will sit here (semi) patiently waiting, dreaming and planning for the day when all my kitchen dreams come true.

Getting Fresh

I love a fresh start. I've ordered my new Moleskine XL Monthly 2011 planner and can't wait to get ahold of those blank pages & start filling them up. I hope to use it not just as a calendar but as a journal of sorts too. Journaling is big on my mind this year, possibly because of all of the ideas I have rolling around in there. Last year you saw me Choose Joy. That became an integral part of my life and I will continue to carry that with me always. This year I have decided to Live Fearlessly. I hope that also becomes an integral part of my life.

The combination of my 40th birthday and this fresh new year seem to have caused some sort of reaction that has me feeling...well, quite honestly, a bit sassy, energized and creative.  I'm pretty sure this is not a temporary situation. I sense that I might be a handful this year. I should probably apologize for that in advance...but I'm not going to. See? What in the world is wrong with me?

On the creative front, I feel a little blog makeover coming up. Also, I'm thinking about signing up for this class but I need to hurry up and decide. I really want to sign up for the big photography workshop they offer but since I would first need to buy a SLR camera, it might have to wait until after we buy a house. Priorities, sheesh.

Speaking of buying a house...we are so ready! We have now been in our house 7 months which means we are getting far along enough in our lease to start looking seriously. And I am most assuredly serious about this particular topic. There is nothing on the market we are interested in yet...but you can bet I am watching it like a hawk. I'm about to burst with excitement, not just about house hunting, but about LIFE.