would you believe

One of my sweet friends nominated my blog for an award - a true honor that she would have considered me worthy of it.

If you wanted to meander over and take a peek at the nominees for Apartment Therapy's Homies awards they can be found here.

xx

all things pretty~

While reading this post this morning, I saw these fabulous earrings~

It came to mind that when I shop Anthropologie, I always look at clothes and the home goods, but never consider jewelry. I think that is because I don't really wear anything other than my four everyday pieces - diamond stud earrings, wedding rings, the first necklace that my husband bought me, and if I wear a bracelet, it is the one with my boys' names on it that my dear friend Lori bought me.

However, in 2010, that is going to change. You see, one of my "aspirations" for this coming year is to find my girly side more often. I want to wear more color, I want to wear pretty earrings, pink scarves, flowery hair clips. I want to find cute outfits, be inspired by women in years gone by, live with more grace, "do my hair" more often...

I know that this sounds like a silly, frivolous aspiration - especially when you see the rest of my list. However, I TRULY believe that we feel how we look, at least I do. If I feel pretty, and graceful, and girly, then I feel good about going out there and kicking some social issue ass. More on my other aspirations soon~

bisous

a new year, a new focus

~the absolutely stunning home of Lola B

This past year has been my year to simplify. I have purged endlessly. I have streamlined, I have cleaned out, and I have focused on less clutter.

What I have discovered however, is that while I don't like the chaos that clutter creates, I have found that I am really happy with vintage collections. I love my collection of cameras, I enjoy small old clocks, and lately I have been on the lookout for old photos of people at the beach.

I really liked the photos below as, while they are still quite monochromatic, they have a coziness about them. I find them interesting to look at, and I like that they look like homes of people who are happy with the world they have surrounded themselves with. That is the feeling I would like to create in our home in 2010~

~all photos courtesy of Country Living

wishing~

wishing you a Christmas filled with the laughter of your loved ones~

bisous~

last minute decoration ideas

~found

Tonight we host our annual Christmas Eve Eve party here on the farm. This year it is a very relaxed event, with good friends, wine, and easy food. Mostly it is about the company - a few neighbors, a few work associates, a few old friends, and a couple new.

I spent much of yesterday organizing and tidying so that the house could be properly cleaned today. I am also in a never-ending search for decorations that I find interesting and festive. As I have a few hours today, I thought I might try a couple more~

I found the following ideas and now would love to try them all!

I have a number of tripods for my summer vines - what a fabulous idea!

~found

~found

~found

I absolutely adore old photos~ I collect photos of vintage beach scenes.

~found

And Country Living always provides fabulous inpiration~

Enjoy these last few days before Christmas arrives!

xx

nestled in~

There is something about bedrooms for me. Maybe it is because we spend so much time in ours. Maybe it is because we have an incredible bedroom - or at least it has incredible potential. Maybe I simply love to dream of what I would do, were I not a commitementphobe, or didn't live with any men, or legos and technology weren't the largest contributor of my bedroom's decor...

These bedrooms make me think of sleeping under heavy old quilts, on squeeky wrought iron beds, with the softest flannel sheets, in a cool but not quite cold room~ Oh, how I love cozy!

~this is still my favorite!

all images courtesy of Country Living