A Little Something for my Favorite Girl!

 

You didn't think that I would forget my favorite girl... now did you?   My little Ellie girl  is very particular - just as particular as her nanny - (my mother-in-law see Gifts for the Fussy mother-in-law).  And you know what? Ellie is the one that I'm most stressed about.  She has countless rawhides in shapes of candy canes, through my many attempts to please her at each holiday.  When we first moved into our house, I sent the hubby  to pick something out for her and he came back with an ugly squeaky crocodile.  I, however, was furious and let him know to no uncertain terms that Ellie would be disappointed in us!  .  

 

 

 

 

 

I, on the other hand, (every holiday but that one) always give her cute little furry things such as chipmunks, hedgehogs, ducks, you name it.   And you know what?  That ugly squeaky crocodile is her go-to toy!   Last Valentines Day, Hubby and I had a contest who could come home with the best toy for Ellie.  Hubby came home with the exact same thing.  I thought it was  cheating  though he disagrees because it's was a different color.  I came home with a cute little monkey holding a heart that said 'love'!  Needless to say...hubby won again! 

 

So I give up, and will leave Ellie's stocking stuffer to hubby.  Last year, I bought her a cute rain jacket that she loves!   When it's raining she follows me to the mudroom and lets me slip it on her.  So I have a little dilemma I can't decide between the two below.

 

 

Ellie gets a walk come rain and shine and is a  little rugged  tomboy in disguise.  So I love this Barbour waxed coat!  If only I could get a Barbour jacket.  It will stand the test of time. Barbour Waxed Dog coat

 

 

 

 

But then agian, little Ellie girl is a preppie at heart...hmmm! Every time I pick her up at doggie daycare they tell me how sweet she is! Tory Burch knitted dog sweather

 

I don't know..any thoughts?

 

The Perfect Farmhouse - In Texas

I love this country farmhouse thats featured in this months issue of Southern Living.  

 

From the shiplap walls

to the vintage finds and art collection

To the simple Christmas touches!

 You can see more at Southern Living

Getting Organized for the Holidays!

While glancing through my Martha Stewart this weekend I spotted this great tip on recycling holiday cards.  Perfect -  because this past Sunday, I finally got our Christmas tubs out and discovered that I have five boxes of cards that I need to do something with.  I think this may be one craft project that I can hopefully handle.

Gifts For The Hostess

  

Another segment that I caught this week on The Today Show  were gifts for the Hostess.  A few gifts that they mentioned that I really liked are the  Color Me Gingerbread Men  (Eleni's New York).  I love this!  This is the perfect gift to take to a family with children.  The cookies are pre-made and come in a tin with edible ink markers.  And, the best part, the the kids get to decorate them without a huge mess, which I know the parents would appreciate!

 

 

Another gift that was menitoned was Rosemary that you can order for your friends and family through FTD.  Now I've done rosemary a time or two as a hostess gift and I'm thinking of doing it again for a few friends.  So if you don't have to ship you can always pop into your local Home Depot.  I also  pick up a galvanized bucket to put the rosemary in.  Which you can find at Home Depot as well.  On a sidenote, my rosemary that I bought last year is doing fabulous because of all the rain we had last summer.  I never had to transplant it...yeah!

 

 

 

I  love these slate cheese boards.  I'm  debating these for all my co-workers, and maybe one for the mother-in-law and me! Don't forget the chalk so you can write the name of your cheese for all your fabulous parties.

 

 

Pottery Barn's Mercury Glass Alphabet Votive cups.  I almost bought these for all my co-workers over Black Friday but I still wasn't sure what I wanted to give them.  I need to make a desicion and get going on my shopping!.

 

 

 

Remember when I wrote about these Lodge skillets here.  I was at Crate & Barrel a few weeks ago and they now sell them.  I gave a set of four to a friend who likes to cook and she loved them!  Great little hostess gift and you can always throw in a box of cornbread as well.

More later!

Time for A Gift or Two for the Fussy Mother-in-Law!

 

I don't know if any of you have a mother-in-law like mine or not.  But my mother-in-law is by no means an easy person to shop for! I could give you countless examples of the gifts that I brought her over the years that she has returned or told us never to buy her again.  Or you know, it could be me - maybe I'm just a bad gift giver.  But even my father-in-law has a hard time buying for her. For most holidays and birthdays, she usually picks out what she wants from him and she wraps it herself. 

 

And on top of having to come up with a nice Christmas gift for her - Hubby and I need to come up with a birthday gift as well.  It's a milestone birthday at that, which just adds to my stress!   I say hubby and I have to pick out a gift, but he just saids oh that sounds good whenever I mention something.

 

Now what I have found over the years is to give her tickets to plays, concerts, etc. that we can all go to together!  I mean after all what do you give to someone with two canoes...I kid you not!

 

Buy I'm running out of ideas for tickets this year. I did see this  book - she is a big bird person.  She is definitely getting this -  I'm getting ready to place my order to amazon now.  Hey I wouldn't mind a copy for myself (hear that Hubby).

 

 

 

 

 

Audubon's Aviary: The original watercolors For the Birds Of America

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, I've also have  been thinking of a Diamond Cashmere throw for her.  Who would not want a cashmere throw.  But of course the color, pattern etc. may be wrong. 

 

Any suggestions for a Fussy Mother-in-Law?

 

I'll be back tomorrow with my list of hostess-with-the-mostest gifts.  I have tons of suggestions for this!

Gifts For the Girls

 

This morning on the Today Show I caught the tail end of  "Gifts not to give to your girl". The two gifts that I caught since I missed most of the segment (out walking little Ellie) - were holiday lingerie...hmmm, and a super duper vacuum cleaner.  Lucky me, Hubby has never given me either thus far but you never know. Though, he did give me a lame cookbook once early on. So I compiled my list for the girls from my  own little Christmas wish list and here they are: Hope you like! 

 

 

 

I  have seen these PJ'S in several nice stores here and there and have always admired them.  I saw them in December issue Southern Living and thought, hey I have not had a new pair of PJ'S  since my old Brooks Brothers. And if memory serves me that was about eight years ago! 

 

To have only worked at Vogue during the sixties.. How awesome?  Diana Vreeland -  Memos The Vogue Years.  Should be a good read.

Leather gloves- Now I have black and brown and I'm  sure most other women do to.  But ahhh pretty green.  Perfect contrast for all the black and gray I wear in the winter!

I almost bought this scarf over black Friday weekend though I was on a skirt mission that failed miserably!  I could use a new scarf or two or three.

All my evening clutches are either suede or wicker.   This one (adalyn clutch) is seasonless, elegant and going on my next vacation.  I love all the colors so Hubby you won't go wrong with either the blue or the sand color.  Also, love the cherry red but... 

A few other things that work are a cashmere sweaters, 5X7 sterling frame with a picture of Ellie, a gift card to one of my stores.  Or perhaps the best gift of all. you could just finish your Honey-do list!

 Tomorrow -  Gifts for the Mother- in- law who has everything! 

Gifts for the Serious Decorator!

 Gifts for the serious decorator! 
 

 


One can never go wrong with a beautiful cashmere throw such as the ones above from Williams-Sonoma.

 

or Monogram bath  towels!  Or how about the Turkish hand towels shown below from West Elm.  Love the last name and your serious decorator would love them too!

 

 

 

Or how about a great design book.

 

 

 

In with The Old: Classic Decor from A to Z is indeed on my list of books this year. The author Jennifer Boles from The Peak of Chic was one of the first bloggers that I discovered many years ago. I love her writing style.

 

Last but not least -   I'm asking for  A Home Depot gift certificate from the in-laws.  They gave us one last year - and I got my bronze  goose neck kitchen faucet...yeah! Baby steps!

 

Tomorrow Gifts for the Girls!! 

A Grand Old House In Nashville

Ahhhh memories...it's funny, I remember when they were restoring this house in Belle Meade.  It was on my jogging path, I didn't actually live in Belle Meade, would have loved too though..trust me on that one!  What I would do (and this was before Hubby and I bought our little cottage closer to city)  I would  jump in my car, drive to the park  and  instead of jogging up the mountain like most people,  I would jog down Belle Meade Boulevard.   Come on now, wouldn't you?  It was nice and flat with big old beautiful homes that I loved to ogle...ahhh!  Funny how things come together after many years.  Anyway, I just spent my weekend  pouring through Gil's Schafer's "The Great American House", who was the architect for the home.  The home is called  "Boxwood"--a great name by the way--and is decorated by David Netto.    Go here to read the full story in Veranda.  Here are my favorite rooms:

 

Love the foyer with the green felt, books and molding...

 

 

This has to be one of my favorite dining rooms  of all time!  I love the traditional with a few modern touches.  And you know how much I love de Gournay Wallpaper!

 

 

The breakfast room - I love his color choices and how he added the mirror with rustic elements!

The loggia I would have never in my wildest dreams went that dark.  I would probably have done - oh I don't know - green and white.  Even Gil said at first he questioned David's design, but look how it all came together.  Also,  I like how David said he found a few things on the side of the road. Hey,  I've done that once or twice.

The master bedroom and bath...love it!!

Organizing The Jamie Lee Curtis Way!

Last time Hubby and I were up at his parents' mountain cabin, I spent the entire time going through my mother-in-law's last five years of Good Housekeeping magazines.  Its where she keeps her overflow for guests and such.  Good Housekeeping is one magazine that I don't receive, though it always brings back memories from when I was young.  My mother always got it, so maybe that's how I became a huge magazine junkie.  Anyway, I'm always looking for new and better ways to organize and when I read Jamie Lee's methodology for organizing I was very intrigued.  Go here to read all Jamie Lee's great tips...I bet you may just find a few!

Caspari Napkins...Gotta Have Them!

I've always loved Caspari napkins--so last year when I spotted these I had to have them. I love the equestrian tweed...ahh so cute!  When my hairdresser ,Crystal, told me last year that she loved the equestrian fashion look, I took  her a set as well.   I have one more person in mind this year, she's a big equestrian lover as well!  I'm currently out of the cocktail and I have just a few of the guest towels left and will replinish soon!  Got to go - I have guys coming tomorrow to do my molding...Yeah!  Have a great weekend!

A Revisit to Southern Accents!

I wanted to post this last week, but  better late then never I suppose.  A few weeks ago when I was cleaning out my office and pitching all my old Southern Accents magazines, I came across this home that I've  always loved.  The beautiful lake home is located in Alabama and was  built by architect Bill Ingram.  I do apologize for the photos but my scanner surprisingly broke just as I decided to put it in my office, and scan these pictures...go figure.  Hubby couldn't even print our Allman Brothers Band tickets last night...hmm.  So I finally took the time to figure out how to take pitures with my phone.  And I've added a scanner to the top of  my office list. 

Refined and a little rustic, so of course I love it! Bill said that he painted it Oatmeal by Benjamin Moore and that is why he was able to get away with the lemon and lime. Lemon and lime happens to be one of my favorite color palettes.

 Love the kitchen with the fridge, french doors etc!!

 

My favorite two rooms...of course! 

P.S. I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Brooke Shields New York Townhouse

After yesterday's  post  - Brooke finding zen at the Container Store, pretty boxes and steamer trunks got me thinking of Brooke's beautiful New York townhome that was featured in March 2012 issue of Architectural Digest.  I've long admired Brooke Shields from her days as Suddenly Susan, to her many Broadway stints...even read her book "Down Came the Rain".  It left me with the impression that she certainly seems like a real person. Last year while poking around in an antique store, I stumbled upon an Architectural Digest which, believe it or not, I normaly don't buy. They sent me a deal I couldn't resist! When I picked A/D up at first, I didn't receongize it was Brooke Shields (who looked great, by the way, on the cover). So while I glanced through her New York townhome I knew I had to grab it.

Just a few weeks ago while browsing through my many magazines -  it's what I do on my Sunday morning - I had to revist Brooke's home.  I love many things but especaily the traditional mixed with the modernism.  To see all the pics go here.  Here are a few of my favorites.

The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore's Chelsea Gray.  Normally I would be scared to go that dark but I  love it...very dramatic!   I love the symmetry of the room, the contrast of the paint with the beautiful molding.  Love that they covered the Louis XVI  chairs  in a light fabric. Love the Lucite table.  Hey, I even have that jute rug.   I bet this is where she goes for a night cap after one of her plays...I know I would!!

Love the traditional  English sideboard with the modern lamps. Can't forget the Zuber wallpaper!!

I love how she carved out a little nook for her own personal study.  Love the  beautiful molding, the natural light and French doors of course!

Brooke's Master suite and bathroom. - Love it!

Her Hubby gave her the Louis Vuitton trunk as a gift.  On a side note, my buddy Cruella and I were out antiquing a couple of weeks ago and came across one.   I made a comment to the sales assistant (as if I could buy it) and she said it was 12,000.00 and  pointed out that it was from England.  She commented that the price depends on were it was made, France or England. All in all...love Brooke's New York  home!  I just wish they would of shown a few pics of her little girl's playroom that she said was on the top floor..perhaps next time!