THINGS I'M LOVING

1.  Zara - Yes, that's right, I'm breaking out of my Old Navy and Target shell.  Trying to aim more long-lasting and "signature" for my post-three-babies wardrobe.  I still love me some Tarjay convenience, and I am still a big fan, but perhaps not clothing myself solely in their wares.

 {I bought this faux leather cardigan recently and have LOVED wearing it...very cute}

2.   Someone please let me put these Currey and Company pendants over your kitchen island...please

3.  I might not be the person to ask about "good coffee", and I realize and own that...BUT I really like this :)

4.  Honeycrisp apples...these and Pink Ladies are my apples of choice...and they alternate seasons so I'm both a)happy year round and b)spending lots of money on apples {around $2.60-$2.99/lb for honeycrisp at WalMart! sheesh}

5.  Benjamin Moore Millstone Gray...doing kitchen cabinets in this color for a client right now and I have already seen some of the painted product and it's GORGEOUS...one of those colors that has a lot of depth and subtlety.

6.  Pinterest cooking...always hit or miss but recently it's been a big HIT! {that orzo and asparagus and tomato pasta on the bottom left of the picture is a wonderfully light lunch}

 

7.  My new dining room chandelier! Out with the Lowes builder home special, in with the waited-way-too-many-years-for-this-beauty.  I am definitely a fan of large scale lighting so I did not let my eight foot ranch house ceilings stop me.  I do my bible study on this table every when-I-wake-up-early-enough-in-the morning and I have to be honest...she makes the space so NICE.  With my cup of French Vanilla in hand ...

8.  Two local stores: Carter and Company, and Five Gold Monkeys.  Carter and Company is a new "everything" boutique-type housewares store and has awesome accessories for your home, a few clothing options, jewelry, art, furniture, etc...all at great prices.  The shop owners have excellent taste. 

 

{my recent purchase...looking very staged because it was...sent it to my sister...

no I dont make a habit of staging my jewelry purchases}

Five Gold Monkeys is a local fabric/interiors store that just completely re-did their approach to business by offering up booths in the back of the store for individuals to rent out, sort of like an antique store does.  Now they have everything from monogramming to children's clothing to pillows and drapes to housewares to artwork and everything in between.  It is quickly becoming my go-to for cute miscellaneous decorative items for work {and my own house}.  Just bought this awesome reclaimed wood mirror for a client's Cabana bathroom

 

9.  My 50mm lens.  I always go through spells of using and not using my big camera, but I've pulled it out recently and have been reminded of just how much I love this {inexpensive} lens.  And how happy I am that I have a camera that can finally auto-focus it!

10.  And finally, this fabric for my {one day} dining room drapes.  I had always imagined white linen but when I saw this fabric I just knew it was it.  I think it will add just the pop of pattern and color in my dining room/den, but not in a way that I will get tired of it. :) As previously mentioned in my post about the kids playroom....who knows when I will actually a)purchase said fabric and b)have said drapes made.  But hey, this is a very good step in the right direction!

Happy Sunday everyone!

AS OF LATE

 

We have been loving the cooler weather, I've been dabbling in the art of coffee {I like french vanilla}, we have not left town due to call schedule or events every weekend so far, we visited our church's pumpkin patch, the kids all were out sick FOR A WEEK {whew... glad that weeks over!}, we welcomed the return of some of our favorite tv shows {that may sound lame but this summer I spent way too much time on my computer working at night and therefore did not have the best sleeping habits as my mind never had a chance to veg and slow down!}, and after emptying my big camera's memory card {a Nikon D90 for those who asked}, I finally started using it again.

...And since have discovered my settings are way off as the orange in all these pictures looks neon!
I will attempt to fix but just as my blogging know-how and familiarity has wavered due to lack of use, so has my camera's ;)

I thought fall would bring about a new commitment to blogging {and reading blogs} but I still haven't found the balance.  I want to get back to the blogging habit {and, hey, while I'm at it...all you other bloggers out there that I miss need to, too} but that's just it, when you get out of the habit of something it takes awhile to make it a habit again.  I honestly do not miss all the time I used to waste reading so many blogs I didn't really care about but I do miss those favorite few out there as well as the record keeping of my own blog...for the kid's sake and for the future...since I am by no means a scrap-booker or photo album keeper...I only get pictures printed when I need to fill a frame {bad bad bad Natalie}.

It makes me laugh, and feel a little sad, when I read back on all of Bennett's detailed posts and then realize poor Jacob and Emory hardly have half that many between them to share. 

What do YOU do in this crazy digital age, when you may take 500 pictures in one day, maybe edit three if you ever find the time, and have others you like....do you print everything? Take the time to just print the few you like? What about everything else? I know the bottom line is TIME to sit and do it all...and that is definitely a luxury ;)

{at Seward Farms this past weekend...Bennett was feeling the Tiger Pride despite Auburn's 

less-than-admirable performance {I'm trying to be nice...}}

I'm thinking I need to make photo books for each child, for each year...or just one photo album for each year with everyone combined? My mom made photo albums for EACH of my sisters and me, each and every year till we graduated high school.  I guess that's why I have it in my head to do it that way but maybe it would be easier to just do a family photo album...sorry I'm thinking about all of this "outloud" but I would LOVE any recommendations out there...I've used and loved Blurb in the past but any other program you recommend?

A huge thank you in advance!

I'm trying to slow work down a bit and will try not to take on any big projects until the New Year {we will see if that happens ;)} and the idea delights me. 

More time with these butter beans...and maybe some dear TIME to be used for photo-booking!

who wrote the book of love?

if youre asking me,
she did

LOVE
tis the reason for this blustery valentine season

and 'tis the fabulous feeling that consumes you me when gazing at this precious face

one of my favorite people EVER obviously knows and loves me a lot as she texted me today to tell me she was bringing her brand new D90 with her to pick up the boys from school so i could take it home and play with it.
THAT is love you guys.
i am in camera love.

but even a fabulous camera cannot make up for user choosing to look at laughing baby instead of through the lens, which apparently results in blurry, uncentered {but precious laughing} pictures

LOVE

it is so good

emorys little light pink jammies got me thinking about PINK.
did you know it is this years "color" according to pantone?

 everyone in the deisgn world is coming up with rooms celebrating this particular shade of pink.
can i go out on a limb and just say im not really a fan?
{you can now count me as shunned i suppose}

im a picky-pink-person.
while i can appreciate some pops of bright pink here or there...generally rooms all "done up" in this particular "honeysuckle" shade make me cringe a little.
i wouldnt last five minutes in a room like that without developing a splitting headache and/or starting to throw things.
{i promise im not really violent...}

the color pink i love to wear and SEE is more on the pale-with-touches-of-gray-pink side of the spectrum.
here are some spaces that i believe properly and tastefully use this fabulous color, in honor of the month of LOVE

LOVE LOVE LOVE..old worn wood floors, warm gray trim, linen settee, perfect pink walls, somewhat-strange-but-hey-it-works-because-its-personal collection of art...i want to walk through that doorway and see what else is in store. via martha stewart

this is on the verge of too much pink for me, but i still think its gorgeous and very well done - via countryliving

i love so much about this room and have no idea where i found it: the layers of color, texture, the velvet ottoman with nail head trim, the antiques, the silhouette sketches around the fireplace, the chandelier just hanging so unexpectedly over the rolled arm sofa, and of course the barely-pink walls.  it looks so lived in, but so effortless.  fabulous

perhaps a little peach, but nice. via housebeautiful

if i ever had the chance to actually sit and take a bath {HA}, i think i would like to do it here, in this pink bathroom by angelique bernatschke - with the fireplace roaring, a big ole glass of perfectly chilled red wine, and some eva cassidy playing surround sound.

precious cottage-y feel kitchen with mismatched pink cushions/rags on the chairs, via house to home

so romantic i could probably make myself faint on the sofa vivien-leigh-esque

the striped rug helps ground this airy feminine room with its trendy-yet-classic printed canopy. pink oxfords=fabulous

gorgeous grayed-pink headboard by tracery interiors. love this little girls room - emory doesnt know it yet but this is SO her.

dont you just feel all warm and cosy now?

go give some one a hug and spread the love!

have a fantastic weekend

"...Love is all you need..."

the Beatles

its only tuesday??

this is what happens when i really focus in on work.
i lose track of nearly everything else going on around me.
dates?
times?
blog?
food?
showers?
what?

and it doesnt help that my camera and i are at odds at the moment, so not many pictures to post about.  remember when i dropped my lens and had to order another one?  well, since i didnt exactly just have lens money laying around to replace my carelessness, i kinda bought a shady lens from a cheap shady site online for like $40 less than one from a shade-less site.  {which begs the question...is that $40 i saved really worth it? my current verdict = NO}

its never worked well and kinda jumps around and sometimes doesnt focus on desired subject and no matter how many times i correctly clean the lens i still get little fuzzy spots on all my pics {yall might not notice the spots, and i shoot manually most of the time to try to counteract my ridiculous lens, but i notice and its crazy!}.

ok enough of my camera soap opera and onto some pics i DO have, along with some inspiration i stumbled across in my files today while working.


{seriously...these are the best i have!! :) }




and that about {sadly} does it with my kiddie pics since two weekends ago!

moving on to a completely unrelated subject: when it comes to design i greatly appreciate coastal and wood-sy inspired designs {please note: by "coastal" and "woodsy" i do NOT mean cliche styles.  as discussed in other posts i am not one for themed spaces...}.  however, its a slight peeve of mine when people live, say, in the midwest and try to decorate their house like they are on the gulf coast.  something about it seems so false and phony to me.  {no offense!}
even though we are in a coastal city, we are just far enough away from the actual beach that i still draw a fine line on what is "appropriate design" inland vs. beach-side.

SO, i am thrilled that one of the jobs im working on right now is a space that will genuinely allow me to branch into a different style of design.  i am working up plans for a "camp" type house for my parents about an hour away from mobile.  and when i say "camp," i am referring to hunting camp, but not a typical hunting camp as one would picture {honestly as i would picture, since our family's hunting camp for years was a trailer}.  the house isnt huge, but we are designing it to sleep all us kids AND present and future grandkids {think bunk rooms}.  i can already picture the family gatherings that will take place here and it makes the design process even that much more exciting.  i consider myself a woodsy gal and imagine they will eventually have to force ask me to leave as i fear i will want to take up permanent residence if they let me.  

here are a few pics from the southern living 2010 georgia idea house i stumbled across recently.  im sure they have made their way around blogland, but i just really loved the colors and textures and plant life overall feel - the room feels alive.
i am very much a texture person {if you cant tell from other design posts}.  the mixing of finishes and fabrics and materials makes me swoon.
notice the green velvet stools.
i have an ongoing love affair with green velvet.
will post soon.

i hope to be back again this week, but no promises!

crazy life :)

{jill if you are reading this please click HERE , and erin s if you are reading this please click HERE...and look at our babies!!!!!! no WAY...came across these when i was trying to find that old post about my broken lens :)}