We leave for the beach bright and early in the morning! Hopefully I’ll have some fun pictures to post on Friday when we return.
Until then…
Ps. by midnight tonight I’ll be 25 years old! Ah!
July 26, 2009
July 22, 2009
Chillin with Miley
Next week, our sweet and generous Grandmama is taking our family to the beach! We’re just headed up the road a bit to Tybee Island but it’ll be nice to have a little vaca and even though we grew up literally minutes away from Tybee, I couldn’t tell you the last time I was there.
In Southern Living this month, they featured the Mermaid Cottages at Tybee and Grandmama had to book one immediately. We’ll be staying at the Sea Breeze cottage on the north end of the beach.
Not too shabby, eh?
While we’re there, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Preston and Greg Kinnear will be filming a movie based on a Nicholas Sparks book, The Last Song. While I’m not a Miley, Kelly or Nicholas fan, I would love to bump into Greg! At 46, he’s still a dreamboat. The movie is supposedly helping Tybee step things up a bit on the appearances front but I hear that a large chunk of beach is closed off for filming.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the Mermaid Cottages. There are close to 40 cottages run by former hotelier Diane Kaufman. Diane has this to say about herself:
After 26 years with Marriott Hotels and a career that took me all over the world, I felt the pull to do something different with my life… I created my own vacation rental business focusing on cozy cottages and historic homes, many of which welcome pets. I still love to travel, but this time it’s mostly via car road trips with my two labs, Danny and Max. Occasionally my family or friends will join me to add to the adventure. My life is truly full of “plenty and grace” and I know how lucky I am.
I’m so glad Diane made the transition from the hotel world to the cottage rental world! Just look at these fun little places!
Even Paula Deen has a Mermaid Cottage!
With many of the cottages being pet friendly (Diane loves dogs), tons of amentities, easy access to the beach, marsh, pier, shopping and yummy restaurants, the only difficult part about visiting a Mermaid cottage would be choosing which one to stay in.
Even though we don’t leave until next week, I can’t wait to share about our trip and I’m sure Susie will take tons of beautiful pictures with her fantastic camera and artistic eye.
What about you? Any fun summer plans? Any celeb sightings?
July 21, 2009
Ye Olde Standby
I love giving gifts! I absolutely love it when I find something that is absolutely perfect for someone. It also gives me a great thrill to dress that perfect gift up with all the trimmings that make it almost too pretty to open.
It’s so exciting to me to observe your friend’s preferences and hobbies and then pair a gift with those preferences and hobbies. For example, before my friend Sharon got married, I’d noticed that she had Norman Rockwell prints all over her house. So, as a wedding gift, I gave her and her husband the Norman Rockwell print, Marriage License.
She was thrilled that I’d noticed how much she loved Norman Rockwell and she loved that I’d put a little extra time and thought into the gift.
At my age, just about everybody I know is getting married. Between weddings and showers, it can start to get pricey and I stop having creative gift ideas. (while there’s nothing wrong with purchasing from a registry, I just like to give the happy couple something a little more creative and personal) Whenever that lack of inspiration strikes, I’ve got an old trusty standby wedding gift recipe that never fails to please.
Start with one part classic cookbook.
Wrapped beautifully and tied with a bow.
Mix with one part pretty packaging.
Toss in one or two pretty dishtowels or oven mitts.
Add as desired, chicken stock, pasta, olive oil, canned tomatoes, black pepper, and sea salt.
Add the perfect card.
Garnish with ribbon as desired. Give to bride and groom. Happiness ensues.
If you’re on an even tighter budget, try giving the bride pretty dishtowels, a recipe and accompanying ingredients.
What’s your trusty standby gift? Is there a go-to you reach for when you get a wedding or shower invite in the mail?
July 17, 2009
Fun Stuff… I’m not feeling clever enough to come up with a good title.
Mama, the elementary school media specialist, just ordered this print on Etsy:
It’s perfect for many reasons. 1. It’s adorable. 2. It’s titled “Miss Librarian” 3. Her school’s mascot is an owl 4. It’s beautifully drawn. The artist, Bridgette B, is quickly becoming one of my favorite people. She clearly has tons of talent, she is terribly observant and she has tons of cute stuff on Etsy.
I don’t think I need to tell anybody how addicting Etsy can be. I can spend hours searching through the kazillions of vintage and handmade treasures and never see it all.
I absolutely love the stuff available at this shop. Especially this bracelet. 
Mama and Aunt Kay just spent the last two days antiquing and both brought me tons of gorgeous vintage buttons. Stay tuned for my own attempts at button jewelry…
As much as I love and appreciate the handmade crafts, prints and projects on Etsy, my favorites are the vintage things for sale.
This print would be heaven in a nursery.
so would this one.
Then there are things like this, a beautiful work of needlepoint that must have taken hours to complete.
And gorgeous table linens that were probably given as a wedding gift.
And beautiful jadeite teacups that were probably collected over many years.
And bedtime stories that lulled many generations to sleep.
I’m fascinated by the potential stories and all the history tied up in these treasures and it makes me want to buy up everything just to preserve the memories they hold!
July 14, 2009
I do love a bargain!
Thanks to her keen eye, I just got a 12 month subscription to Real Simple Magazine for $5!! I can’t wait to start getting my luscious copies in the mail each month!
Desperately Seeking Susan… or Laurie Smith
My talented Mama made me a valance for my bedroom window three years ago. It was perfect! But then I moved… now I have two windows in my bedroom and only one valance. The simple solution would be to make another valance, right? Well… therein lies the problem. The perfect valance was made from the Laurie Smith Mosaic fabric in Yellow. It looks like this but in yellow:
Image from here.
Image from here.
Here’s a tiny picture of it in yellow from here.
I think I must be a bad Googler because I can’t find anybody who has this fabric lying around for sale. Has anybody seen this fabric anywhere? Where do I look?
July 13, 2009
Oh how I love doggies!
My friend Sarah and I love to spend free time at Borders looking through the glossy magazines we wished we subscribed to. This past Saturday, she and I each gathered an armload of home decor/improvement magazines and camped out at a table to flip through them. In one issue I picked up (I can’t remember which one now), I saw a feature on dog-themed wallpaper! How fun!!
These would look just lovely in a study and some would work well in a child’s bedroom.
Pierre Frey St. Hubert
Thibaut Design Wolverhampton
Thibaut Fifi and Friends
Thibaut Best in Show
There was a lovely one by Peter Fasano but it’s not featured on his website and I didn’t get a picture of it in the magazine. :(
Now… all I need is a wallpaperable house, an unlimited budget and somebody to hang the paper up for me. Any takers?
July 10, 2009
Current Obsession: Tim Willoughby
My beautiful friend Annie is getting married in October!
I tried to make the photographer’s logo a watermark on the photo… forgive my terrible PhotoShop skills!
She and her fiance, Greg, had their engagement pictures done by local photographer, Tim Willoughby.
Annie sent me the link to their engagement proofs. Cut to me two hours later still drooling over every image on his incredible website. Obsession ensues.
In addition to taking gorgeous pictures like these (truly every one is a piece of art),
Annie says he’s handsome (but he has a gorgeous wife and baby on the way), easy going and made her feel extremely comfortable in front of the camera. Instead of fiddling with a thousand lenses and filters, he’d just set one camera down and pick another up for a completely different look.
This is my favorite from Annie and Greg’s session:
Again, sorry about the crappy PhotoShop skills.
Check out his blog here and his website here.
All images in this post are by Tim Willoughby.
July 8, 2009
Death by Pottery Barn
Pottery Barn is trying to kill me. I just got an email announcing their huge bedroom sale. Must.Show.Restraint.
But how gorgeous would these be in my house?!
Okay, so the Serafina Roman shade isn’t on sale but I’ve long adored it and I want it now, daddy!
Serafina Bedding
Painterly Paisley Bedding
Rattan Bedside Lamp
Dobby Jute Rug
Hanna Quilt and Shams
Farmhouse Dresser
Chase Bench
Bedside table
The sale only runs until July 14th and my birthday is the 27th so you better hurry if you want to get me a little something :)
This one’s for “the girls”
Shy eyes: avert yourselves! This post make cause blushing.
I was recently watching an episode of MTV’s True Life: I want breast implants (I know, I know…) and they featured a girl who wanted a breast reduction. Go figure. Anywho, she explained that she had a difficult time shopping for clothing that fit her small waist as well as her ample bosom. Enter Rebecca & Drew Manufacturing.
This thoughtful company makes comfortable and stylish clothing for women whose cups runneth over by not just marking their tops and dresses with the traditional sizes (2,4,6,8, etc) but by marking them with the triofit sizing method. Gone are the buttonhole gaps and revealing wrap dresses!
It is finally possible to have a large chest and wear things that fit without looking matronly!! Woohoo!!
Flooding Susie's Inbox 