My Plans

Some of you asked in the last post what my plans were for 2012.  What will I do with all of those marvelous seconds, minutes and hours?

Well, I plan on being very adventurous.  I plan on taking chances.  Shaking things up a little.  As the year unfolds, I will tell you about my new adventures.

The first adventure I am going on, is opening a booth at an antique mall in Hendersonville, NC.  The antique mall is called Needful Things.  I should be moving in the the next week or so.  I am just waiting for the current tenant to remove the rest of their stuff.

Winter Mantel

I do love a good adventure, don't you?
Linking with:
 No Minimalist Here Open House

The Garden Bench

Happy New Year!

      I was looking through my old pictures from last year in the garden and thought I would do another calender with a garden bench(or seating) theme for you.

    

                          January

                                                                  February

                                                                March

In March and April it is my indoor garden in the sunroom that I enjoy.

                                                                     April

                                                              May

                                                              June

                                                            July

                                                                     August

                                                           September

                                                                   October

                                                              November

                                                                           December

Today is the day our Christmas tree has to come down as it has been up a few weeks now and it is dropping a lot of needles, but I still hate to see it go! I think,I will take the decorations down in stages so it doesn't look so bare all at once.
   I hope you enjoyed The Garden Bench calender!

   Hope you have a lovely day.
   Carolyn

My one year blogging celebration and a special award!

Good morning to all my enchanting readers...as I announced yesterday it dawned on me that yesterday was a major milestone..my one year blogging anniversary!! To celebrate, and this is so celebration worthy...a few giveaways are in order! I want to first thank you, my many loyal readers and followers and my fellow bloggers for coming abroad, staying with me even as I was trying to figure this whole blog business out and being a constant source of encouragement, support and inspiration! I look forward to whats ahead and hoping for many more years!

 I am offering a few giveaways of some of my favorite things to celebrate. One major prize and I DO mean major and a bunch of fun little things! To enter all you need to do is leave a comment, and if you want a second chance, you can like me on Facebook.You heard right, Facebook!  Can you believe it.....I finally figured it out and set up a Facebook page for The Enchanted Home (still figuring that out) but in due time! Click here to visit me on Facebook.  I will announce the winner(s) on Wednesday morning.  The giveaways are a few of my favorite things that I use often and enjoy....
MAJOR PRIZE....courtesy of  Safavieh Home! This is an amazing prize, so good luck! (If you want to be eligible for the rug, you must also leave a comment on Safaviehs Facebook) Click here to do so.

This gorgeous hand tufted 100% wool rug in beautiful washed colors is inspired by an old Persian antique design, the elegant and timeless Tabriz. This is 6x9 and waiting for its new home to some lucky winner!!

Prize 1....My favorite Candle from Seda France, scented with peonies, its amazing!!

Prize 2.....Another Seda France favorite, the container alone is so gorgeous and the scent, Asian Pear is decadently fabulous!

Prize 3....These adorable his and her or "king" and "queen" coat/towel hooks, feel like a royal!

Prize 4....This adorable French inspired Apron, have one and love it, its pretty enough to leave on!

Prize 5..... I love Trish McEvoy cosmetics and love this little bag! This wonderful little kit is a great travel bag. It includes little compartments and separate removable zippered cosmetic bag filled with some cosmetics and skin care. 

Good luck everyone!

Now onto this wonderful award bestowed upon me.....The blog on fire award!

I was so happy and honored to receive this wonderful blog award from not one but TWO   friends, Debra from Acquired Objects and Teresa of the lovely Splendid Sass. A little about these two fabulous blogs....Acquired Objects, a beautiful blog showcasing Debra's fabulous taste, elegant Vermont abode, mouth watering antique textiles and her penchant for all things beautiful and then there is \ Splendid Sass, which features the most beautiful heavenly interiors, uber talented designers and their work, and she always sprinkles her blog with a devine recipe! Of course their infectious, warm personalities shine through loud and clear! Thank you Teresa and Debra. I am so lucky to count you both as friends. Part of accepting this award is telling five things about myself and then passing along to five other bloggers.....so here we go!
1. I am SEVERELY claustrophobic, even looking at an elevator makes me shake, I kid you not. Happened 20 something years ago when I was 8 months pregnant living in NYC, and went to visit someone and rode the elevator from hell. Alone, no phone, with a totally possessed elevator which resulted in a permanent condition of severe claustrophobia! The good news I always take the stairs no exceptions wherever we are.....including having walked up to the Rainbow Room at the top of Rockefeller center!!

2. I am such a kid at heart, I love seeing the world through kids eyes.....still have to admit I get excited over visiting Disney, walking through magical Epcot and the Magic Kingdom, unlike most who get exhausted, being there in that magical venue just revs me up and gives me a new dose of youthful energy!!  I think at this point in the game, my kids are way over Disney so I guess I will likely have to wait for grandkids....argh!

3. I cry over Johnsons baby commercials, Disney, Hallmark and even over some of the diaper commercials. Think its a combination of looking back, quite fondly on a time that will never be again (when my kids were really young) and just thinking back to that precious innocent time when the mere mention of Disney world or a new toy would mean wide eager eyes, a smile a mile wide and the biggest bear hug one could hope for! Now I get grunts from my Chinese rapping son who makes an occasional appearance from his "crib" upstairs. (actually hes a beyond polite boy but the Chinese speaking rapper still applies...lol)

4. That I really think I will want to move out to the country one day and fulfill a lifelong dream to plant a mega garden, herbs, vegetable, fruit, floral you name it! Grow my own olives and bottle my own olive oil, a few fig trees, a tomato garden to rival all tomato gardens. You get the picture! And have a few horses, cows and chickens. Maybe even open a small restaurant on the property, always dreamt of building a small quaint but charmingly elegant restaurant that only seats 12 or 14 right in the middle of the crop fields! Wouldnt' that be neat? Will you come and be my guest? I promise I will also have one heck of a gorgeous guest room waiting!

5. I know I am mildly OCD, and have many obsesssions!  You now know my penchant for even numbers, to the point where when I get gas I must like to stop on an even number! One other such obsession is my obsession with apres ski wear.  I LOVE Gorsuch. Do you know of them? I seriously NEVER throw one of their catalogs away...they have the most beautiful things! One look a their amazing offerings online or their catalog, and you will "get it". And those "other things", well when I discovered a BLT sandwich I ate them every day for a month, current obsessions are with coffee, Hermes anything (those two have been long time) , cozy pj's, anything equestrian(not a new obsession always loved it), velvet chairs,sofas and ottomans, the colors gray and camel together, white marble anywhere, copper pots, urns of all sizes preferably a little aged, moving into my house, anything old and French, the palest blue/gray color palette in a room, chunky gold charm bracelets, and taking an amazing vacation sometime soon!

There...that's a bunch of random facts about me, don't you think! Now for the second part...passing it along. I have SO many blogging friends who are SO deserving of this award, but this time around I am handing it out to someone who A. I have never awarded before and B. someone who is a little newer (at least to me) and C. someone whose blog I really love and anticipate visiting!  So (in no particular order) congratulations to........(Please click on each one to visit, they are all wonderful treats and I promise if you don't know of them already you will be happy you do now)!

PROVIDENCE LTD.SAVOR HOMETG INTERIORSPEEKING THROUGH THE SUNFLOWERSPINE CONES AND ACORNS

And thank you Debra and Teresa for the gift of your fabulous blogs and of your friendship! I cannot  wait to really meet one day and know Teddy and Dylan will be fast friends!
Before I go, ever see a commercial that you just want to share because it is so darn cute, well here is one that I think is one of the best I have seen in a long time. Have you seen it? That baby is SO cute, I can't stand it! And what a personality!!

Cheers to everyone for following along, I just know the best is yet to come!Enjoy your day and happy 2012!

To recap, by leaving a comment here you are eligible for all giveaways (and a second entry will be given to those who like The Enchanted Home on Facebook)  BUT to be eligible for the rug you must also visit Safavieh's facebook page and leave a comment, make sure you mention you are from The Enchanted Home! Good luck!

By Invitation only.....join us in Paris!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Wow its 2012, well being a lover of even numbers, I am confident this is going to be one great year! I am happy to open the door to a new year, full of new possibilities, new connections and opportunities.....bring it on!

I just realized late last night, today is MY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY FOR BLOGGING!! I can't believe it!! I didnt' have enough time to prepare a full celebratory post but will talk more about it tomorrow and announce a few giveaways to celebrate!! This is some milestone, and I am over the moon that I made it this far!! And I owe it all to my fellow bloggers and readers, so THANK YOU!!

As part of the fun group, "By Invitation only" that I am lucky to be a part of, we decided to, after the success of the Christmas party, all meet up in Paris for a "New Years lunch" to usher in the new year and celebrate the gift of friendship. This was a lot of fun, and when dreaming why not dream big......so we are heading over to the fabulous and famous Parisian restaurant, Pre Catalan for a fabulous "last all afternoon" Champagne luncheon!  It is here where we will spend hours and hours talking, chatting, gossiping, reveling over our holiday highlights and of course talking about what lies ahead in the new year and going forward.

When I think of going forward, I think of ways I can become a better person, a more giving person who gives to the best of my ability. Someone who will be the mother, wife and friend that  I can be proud to be. I truly believe no matter your age, you are always evolving and if you open your mind and heart to constantly learning and improving then you are destined to continue to become a better, stronger, kinder, more intelligent and wiser woman! So in going forward I focus on positive changes, and being conscious of ways to constantly improve myself! And not just talking about them but putting them into action! Cheers girls!

In addition to having lots to talk about, It was decided that we would feature what we are going to wear to this chic soiree and as I am grateful to have these women as my friends, I also am bringing a small gift as a token of our friendship to each one, a celebration of a new year. So below is what I plan on wearing..I wanted it to feel chic, elegant, timeless and above all else very classic!

So here is the setting of this fabulous get together, the beautiful and sophisticated Pre Catalan..

Think this will pass muster? Yes!

Beautiful and elegant dining room, hope they are giving us a big corner table.....there will be lots of laughter and it could get loud and boisterous!

Certainly whets my appetite!

And then  what I plan on wearing....wanted it to be sophisticated, comfortable, elegant and classic......

This chic little mink stroller will be perfect to brave the cold Parisian streets

A close up of my pretty feminine ivory silk blouse by Dolce and Gabanna

And these classic wool Ralph Lauren slacks  in winter white

A classic pair of snakeskin shoes by Jimmy Choo

Here was my basic inspiration....love this classic look, works in any country!

Gotta have my chic super buttery brown driving gloves

And of course have to sport this classic French timepiece, the Cartier roadster watch!

This stunner of a necklace courtesy of Chanel

These pretty little sparklers!

Of course have to have some Hermes here....so why not go all the way! A gorgeous birkin and a fabulous enameled cuff.....

Might as well throw in this chic little beret... I will channel my inner Catherine Deneuve!

And a little keepsake for my special friends to commemorate our special day together.....hummm, wonder what it could be! No peeking!

And a little something for my special group of friends!! 2012 only comes along once after all! You know it has to be from Frances best!

To commemorate my 1 year anniversary,I am going to be offering you readers a few fun giveaways. I am going to announce them in tomorrows post, so please stay tuned! Thank you for joining us in the one and only Paris.....what a delightful afternoon! 

I hope you got a chance to see my "Reflections on 2011" post yesterday. It really speaks to my whole Going forward as much as it does what I have learned this past year. Click here to visit! 

Wishing everyone a truly stupendous 2012! Au Revoir!