Late week random musings.....

Hi there and Happy Friday. Another week gone by.......wow they are going fast! Even though I think some of these random posts might be short, they inevitably end up being rather chock full as I keep on adding to them and by weeks end...I have one heck of a long post, but its normally up through the weekend, so its a few days worth:) I am still recuperating from my party last weekend, did very much enjoy the leftovers and had a few friends stop over to help me polish them off (cannot stand seeing waste)! I love how the "after effects" of a great party linger well into the week after.............See exhibit A.

A plate full left of the fabulous French pastries......yum!

And exhibit B.

All the pretty flowers I received still going strong and condensing  some arrangements to maximize their staying power.

Other than that, trying to get going on more projects in my house, doing two E-design jobs, and that along with all my other non blogging commitments has me really busy....as in wishing there were more than 24 hours in the day kind of busy!So let's begin shall we with all the randomness that has come to make up these random musing posts.....For those who have not seen, may I present my completed formal powder room........

And the back powder room is pretty much done as well..............

I went to for a lovely breakfast/brunch the other day to a friends house, who had some pretty fall decor out on display, here's a peek....

Love these mugs! I have to find them......

Love seeing autumn branches as she displayed them here......

How cute is this picture? My friend sent it to me of her pooch celebrating his birthday, too adorable to not share!

We have some new lighting going up around here...FINALLY! My bathroom the sconces I was waiting on for about 8 months finally showed up and are being put up in the next few days. You might have seen my new dining room chandelier which I am loving as well as the absolutely gorgeous crystal sconces for the living room.....super happy with the lighting so far!!

Stunning new sconces for the living room

Close up!

The gorgeous new chandelier for the dining room finally came and got hung!

Dough bowls...you know I love them and I have a really great new resource, so kept one for myself and filled it with lemons and artichokes.....

Any good  new books or movies lately? I am soo excited over the release of Les Miserables in December!! Anyone else with me on that? I know its going to be fabulous......

Click on arrow to watch the trailer....looks amazing and the music always gives me goosebumps!

Very off the interior design topic, but I caught tale end of something which captivated my attention and that is the focus in some schools and amongst educators on "CPA va GPA". I was intrigued about what CPA means, it stands for "character point average", its a movement towards taking a closer look at character education vs. traditional education......there was a very interesting article put out by the New York Times that you may or may not have seen, in any case click here for link if you are interested......(particularly interesting for those who have school aged children)

A little store biz...the big buzz is my very special napkin rings, click here if you missed my post on them, worth seeing they are amazing!

Also getting in 5 of these oversized tole trays......antiqued and painted with gorgeous florals! Email me if interested, don't think they will go on the online shop so just email me if you have any questions!

So that's my randomness for this week! Lots of rain around here this weekend.....good weekend for a movie and to catch up on all kinds of things that have fallen to the wayside.  What are you up to this weekend? Hope whatever you are doing is enjoyable and relaxing!

 

Mid week musings and a giveaway!!

Hi looks like this mid week musings thing is now a regular gig, so why not...a great way for me to talk about a whole bunch of randomness. Hope you are having a great week...mine is good, busy and productive. I cannot say summer has been super relaxing so far but I have managed to squeeze in some down time and the little I have had has been wonderful! I am also offering a wonderful giveaway....all details on bottom of this post.

I am actually headed to New Orleans on Friday morning and cannot wait. Its been a few years since I have been there  and I cannot wait to hit the antique shops on Royal st., indulge in french pressed coffee and a piping hot sugar laced Beignet and go to some of the wonderful restaurants we had the pleasure of visiting last time. This is absolutely NO time for a diet.....the food in New Orleans is off the hook amazing! Any suggestions are more than welcome!

For anyone else who has "a thing" for New Orleans....this book is one of my favorites. Got it about a year ago and it just captures that New Orleans essence to a tee, a really wonderful book!

Many of you are so kind to ask about sweet Teddy, he is doing well.....hair 90% grown back so its good to see him whole again. Heres a few pics of him doing what he does best......yep, relaxing!

Does he think he is CZ Guest here or what? 

I like to share the results of my weekly Which would you choose and thought it would be fun to see which girls bedrooms took the top prize from last week, so here they are in order of their votes!

1st place (and my personal favorite)!

A close 2nd place 

Tied for 3rd place

Several of the others vied for 4th place...what can I say, my readers, you have excellent taste!

Finally ordered the wallpaper for the back powder room (this is off the kitchen and the bathroom we use on a daily basis). I decided it was one of the first I loved and often times we go back to the original choices.....this was the perfect blend of something elegant but not too formal, fresh and crisp. I really like it and it gives off the exact vibe I am looking for......will finalize the check I will do the window treatments in and likely have some cute little fabric shades made for the sconces too.......

I also like covering shades with fabric for a custom touch...experimented here, me likey!

I really like Anthropologie and think they are one of the stores that are getting better and better. I recently ordered a bunch of these exquisite glasses...love love them! I am a sucker for anything etched and these look really old and are just beautiful! I cannot wait to use them....what do you think? I have found so many unique and beautiful things there.......

Can you believe I am STILL waiting (only six months and counting) on the Thomas O Brien rock crystal sconces? Crazy! But I have looked and looked for a suitable replacement to no avail....so wait I will. Every time I look at them, I realize they are perfect and I can envision them in my room so hopefully the newest delivery date of August is finally the date that I can see these babies and get them up and get this bathroom done!!!! Once they are up above the tub and at my vanity...I just need my chandelier, a chair and I am set...woo hoo!!!!

Here they are.....by Thomas O Brien

They will go above the tub and on either side of the mirror (single ones) on the vanity....

And on either side of the mirror

And very excited finally got these gorgeous Ralph Lauren sconces ordered for the living room....cannot wait to get them! They are really beautiful, leave it up to Ralph!

They will go on this wall (one either side of botanicals) as well as between all the French doors in the living room.

Moving on.....I love costume jewelry, well I love all kinds of jewelry but being paranoid about losing (lets just say I have done my share) I don't  wear "the good stuff' unless I am going to a wedding or special event and it is all locked up in a safe spot. But I love fun costume and have quite a bit, just ordered some jewelry drawer boxers/liners and cannot wait to start organizing, but in the meantime how cute is this? Its a dress form with hooks for jewelry its finished in a muslin fabric and has French writing. Believe it or not found it at Michaels for $14.99!! I love it and think it adds such a sweet whimsical touch to my closet.

Store biz......I am not going to be adding anything over the summer. While business is going wonderfully I am hoping to take a little time to enjoy summer as it goes by so fast. I have a few brackets left and this is it as well as a few other items I am just about sold out of. I am planning to revamp things come fall, phasing a few things out and adding some exciting new things, so stay tuned and thanks for your continued support and enthusiasm!

I have one of the black and gold brackets on the right and one pair of the antique white painted brackets. I am selling the one black and gold for $45.00 and the pair of large ant.white for $100. This is the very last of my brackets and these prices are far far below retail. Email me if you wan them.

Also......

Last antler pillow.......

Last gray chinoiserie pillow..........

Last small dough bowl, since I have one left I am selling this for $100 even. A great deal if you know the price of dough bowls...contact me if interested!

Last small olive tray (they will be in again sometime later August).....

Last black chinoiserie tray......$90.00

And last have two of these beautiful blue and white scalloped dishes left and that is it! These are soo pretty, I kept one for myself! If you are intersted in this item, you can purchase online (have only two left)!

If there is something in the marketplace you feel there is a lack of, or you would like to see me carry, shoot me an email. I love hearing your feedback!!

Now onto my giveaway, giving a stunning silver cake spade and a darling set of crown bookends to two lucky winners!

All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this blog after visiting my online store and tell me an item or two that you would love to receive. That's it! I will announce a winner on Tuesday morning. Click here to visit my store.

 First the beautiful crown bookends...........

And the beautiful silver highly decorative cake spade.....

Thank you Kristy and Beth from one of my favorite blogs Design Chic for featuring my butlers pantry in your gorgeous post today about pantries!! Great post, click here to visit!

So that's my randomness for a few days. I am leaving early Friday for New Orleans and will return early next week. I will miss visiting all of my favorite blogs but it will give me something to look forward to when I get back. I do have access to my emails while gone so feel free to contact me if you need to. And if you have any must see or do suggestions for the Big Easy, please by all means pass them along! Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week and a fabulous weekend ahead! Until next week........