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steve and i made a trip to our new local restoration hardware store this past weekend. the sales associate told us to be sure we saw the outdoor living area showcasing their outdoor products. i was in love when we stepped through the doors. it's gorgeous. grey painted brick walls decorated with mirrors. i love painted brick. pea gravel. underfoot lighting in the gravel. massive sofas. beautiful pillows. and gorgeous green foliage.

and the fountain! gorgeous!

how about a firepit/coffee table?

i loved this tree with lanterns hung with rope. how fun that would be for a garden party.

or perhaps an outdoor chandelier? 

steve patiently waiting for me to stop taking photos.

 

boxwood in a planter. love this too. my motto is generally "more is more" when it comes to container pot gardening, but a single lush, full boxwood that fills the pot is fab.

 

ah, pillows. warm tones.

 

cool tones.

and then there were the succulents. never thought of planting a singular one in rows like this...

i usually do more of this look.

and the brick wall. they're training the vines to climb the brick. can't wait to see it in a few years.

all this goodness can be found at the willow bend restoration hardware in plano, texas.

my trip home

before i get to my trip home to pennsylvania..... how did it get to be june?!? (i love my calendar from alex)

here are some photos from my long weekend visiting family. i put together a container pot for my sister's back porch. my motto when assembling garden pots is "more is more". this one has penstemon, chili pepper, daisy, stonecrop, and vinca.

much to my dismay i can't get from dallas to harrisburg in a nonstop flight. this was my 2nd flight from detroit into the harrisburg area. i hate small planes. and funny story... on my first flight i caught my seat mate staring at my reading material. yes, it was 50 shades of grey (i think i'm the only person still reading paperbacks!). in a fit of embarrassment, i blurted out "please don't judge me." he said "don't worry, my wife's on #3.

i did a little shopping. this will be my swimsuit coverup. my suit is teal. i love the floral pattern.

i found this cute summery rope belt at the jcrew outlet.

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we went to the arts festival on the river in harrisburg. this was the first booth. i resisted buying the world's largest eclair.

i bought this print for my sister awhile ago. it's by michelle armas. funny... she framed it in the same frame i put winston in.

and now thankfully it's time for another weekend. have a great one!

a mini vacay

 

***

i'm having a mini vacay, in pennsylvania with my sister and parents.  steve is home holding down the fort and hopefully not creating too much of a mess while i'm away. (last time i left him home alone he used a miter saw in the house and there was sand EVERYWHERE. we did have new hardwoods, but.... again, sand EVERYWHERE.) yes, you're right, i'm still not over it.

anywho, i saw the photo above and immediately thought "twins??", which reminded me of my sister because that's usually the question we get when we're together. the answer is no (we're 21 months apart), but apparently we look similar.

happy long weekend!

meet winston

we got some new art in the house recently. when i dropped my flamingo giclee off at michael's for framing a few weeks ago, i joked with the nice clerk that he needed a name and said she should think of one. when i went to pick it up, there was a note written on the receipt. it said, "please tell customer i named him winston".

therefore, meet winston. isn't he regal. i love the simple matte brushed gold frame i chose.

he's in our dining room. we painted the walls jasper by sherwin williams. it's a gorgeous deep dark marine color.

a few weeks ago, ally posted this gorgeous snippet of a room with shades of navy, pink, fuschia, and gold. i immediately thought of winston and my dining room wall color. i love this color combo with a touch of gold.

 

and opposite winston, sits this oil painting. you may remember the canvas from this post. i bought this landscape in seattle and my sister left it at a parking toll booth in our parking garage. thankfully, we managed to get it back. i finally measured it and found that it was a standard size canvas and bought a premade frame for it at michael's. i think it's just the finishing touch it needs.

etsy finds

i thought i'd share with y'all a few goodies i've found on etsy recently. (all links found just below photos.)

these gorgeous chalcedony bubble bangles. if you read the artist's description of these bracelets, he says kyle richards of the real housewives of beverly hills was seen wearing them (and even includes a photo). kyle has great taste... these are stunning.

from kylechandesigns

i love watercolor paintings. i love coral. i love aqua. therefore this print is right up my alley.
kerri shipp sells these in her etsy shop, driftwood interiors.

from driftwoodinteriors

i love landscape paintings also. and i love the work of amber alexander. i have several of her prints sprinkled throughout my home. they're just beautiful. and so is this landscape.

from amberalexander

super cute flour sack tea towels from shop oh, little rabbit.

from ohlittlerabbit

upcycled lighting from tinker lighting. i love this one... the color, the vintage-ness of it.

from tinker lighting

and what a fund idea this is! images printed on melamine plates. i especially adore this sea life one. the mad platters shop have many designs in their etsy shop... from sea life to bugs and insects to botanicals. i had trouble finding the one i like best.

from themadplatters 

you know i'm a huge fan of artwork and prints. somebody really needs to cut me off from buying any more... i suspect that'll be my husband soon. this print is adorable! lucile prache sells them from her studio in paris. she's got a supercute blog over here.

 
from luciles kitchen 

poppytalk

i'm participating in this month's curated market over at poppytalk. it's for paper folks, like me.

jan and her folks put out a lookbook every market showing an item from every designer's table. check it out here. there's some good stuff in there.

pixelimpress is on page 16. the chevron ombre invite.

sunday brunch

i think i've mentioned that i've been following a strict, low-carb, minimal-gluten diet for the last few months. well, not yesterday. this was my brunch. steve and i went here for their mother's day brunch yesterday. (yes, i consider myself a mother... a mother to 4-leggeds.)

i had the tuscan french toast with balsamic syrup and crispy prosciutto. yum.

steve had a breakfast pizza with red sauce (theirs is excellent), bacon, spinach, onions and egg. very yummy.

if you live in the area and haven't tried cavalli's, you must. great service, great food, all at good prices. they cook their pizzas in 900 degree ovens for 90 seconds.... which i love, because it means we can order and eat usually in under 30 minutes.

and...steve plucked this from out magnolia tree in the backyard. the whole kitchen smells of it.

busy, busy

while i get caught up on work, head over here and check out the latest issue of lonny.

it's fab. filled with tons of colorful images full of beautiful patterns. 

like this room above by jamie meares of isuwanee.

randomness

poor pixel. she's going to hate the summertime here in dallas. she's already taken to laying on the hardwoods and tile most of the time vs her dogbed because they're cooler. and yes, the a/c is on. but the house is not as cool as our seattle house sans a/c. here's hoping the pool is finished quickly!

i jumped on the bandwagon and ordered these the other day. they're all i hear about and read about.

on a side note, walmart won't even carry them because of the content. i know because i tried to buy them there.

now head over here to get your cuteness fill for day (as if pixel isn't enough). (found via a cup of jo)

and then, have a good weekend.

peanut + noodles

i've been lately craving noodles with a peanut sauce. i wanted to try this new thai restaurant by our house the other night, but instead we ended up eating mexican, which we do like 2-3 times a week. good thing it's plentiful around here.

i was craving pad thai. i love pad thai. i don't eat it often because usually when i do, i top the scale at 2 lbs more the next day, or so it seems...

anywho, i spotted this over on smitten kitchen.

peanut sesame noodles. now this is one peanut sauce i can make. easy peasy... i already have most ingredients here in the house. how good does that look. click here for the recipe.

hmmm... and did i mention i have a peanut allergy? no. probably because i don't take it very seriously. i have never had any obvious reaction to peanuts, although i do eat a lot less of them (mostly in the form of peanut butter) since i had a blood test done a few years ago, and it showed an allergy to egg whites, garlic, and peanuts. it won't stop me from making this.

photo via smitten kitchen