inspiration from Lilly Pulitzer..new and old

Sometimes I do believe everybody needs a little Lilly Pulitzer in their lives. Lilly's designs are preppy, bright and happy. Ever since I spotted the spread in House Beautiful about Lilly coming out with an expanding home line that includes furniture I have been curious to see what it will all look like. I'm also wondering about the price point.

Hi and Happy Monday. I have a sweet giveaway that I am so excited to offer..it may even include something that looks a little Lilly-ish so please to come back.

{photos from Lilly Pulitzer Spring Catalog, House Beautiful and Google}

recently...

Last week there was...

-a road trip.

-a field trip to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.

-clues that Spring is around the corner.

-a couple of dinners in the crock pot.

-little boys busted for getting into the brownies for the 20th time (refer to second picture from the bottom).

-all of the earlier naughty morning memories being washed away after seeing the little truck/boy scene at the table in the afternoon.

-busting out my good old sweater skirt for the cooler temps.

-dark chocolate...Mayan style.

-Bonding with my Mom.

-Finding the craziest antique store in St. George.

-Enjoying all of the backyard views from some of the homes in the St. George Parade of Homes.

-Alice Lane hands down has the best decorated spaces in the POH. They might have been some of the only ones that didn't incorporate Tuscan and rod iron art.

-going to bed earlier.

-talking down the price of chairs @ the consignment store from $90 a chair to $50 a chair..the power of nice negotiations are my fave.

-speaking of negotiations, Maren thinks there is an option between choosing to either go to 1st grade or dance class...she seriously tried to convince me. She also told the parent helper in her class on Friday that I was being mean to her for making her go to school. I wonder what 7th grade will be like.

-Started back up Mom/kid of my choice date night.

-Maile and her beautiful artwork. There is already a whole "it's almost Mom's birthday shrine" going on in a corner of our home. Streamers were even wrapped around the kitchen cabinet hardware.

-painting with one of my new favorite colors, Martha Stewart "Saffron" (a nice orangey red color).

Almost always happy for a chance at another day and love that sometimes it is the simple things that are the best.

Sabrina Linn's Penthouse Loft {sunshiny goodness}

Todays dose of sunshine is brought to you by Sabrina Linn's penthouse loft. Isn't her space so nice.... I want some watermelon now.

observing obi for trim

Traditionally a obi is a sash worn with a kimono or with the uniforms used by practitioners of Japanese martial arts but I recently thought, "why not use them for a home decor project". As I was pursuing an obi on Ebay I realized that for the money and the impact that these would be a great option to trim home decor items such as drapes, tablecloths and some upholstery pieces. The men's obi also known as a kaku-obi is usually about 12 feet long by 3 inches wide and combined with the fact that I just won an obi on Ebay for .o1 (plus shipping) I am thinking that there will be some project I can use it for.

Really great trim can usually cost a pretty penny. In fact I think for a standard wide-band greek key trim it will run a minimum of about $10 a yard...which adds up fast.

Anyway I will let you know how it goes with my new kaku-obi. All of the above images are from Ebay. I just plugged in kaku obi and obi into the search engine in case you are interested.

The above drapes are from Grant Gibson's place as seen in the the The New York Times.

guest over on Scout(a moms guide to stylish living)

Sometimes I just laugh at my little situation I am in...it's all I can do and what other options do I really have? Sometimes it is so out of control over here...and that is a true story.

Anyway, do you know Melanie over @ Your Style Scout? If you don't then perhaps you should. She is fabulous & I really like her. Plus she has scouting skills.

She also asked me to participate in her Super(model) Mom series so if you feel the need, hop on over to her blog right here. (Good thing it really isn't the Octo-Mom who inspires me most;)

Thanks Mel for having me.

bee's knees and honey tones

I love honey so much and in fact have a whole file on my computer devoted to just to pretty bottles of it. My latest honey quest comes in the above bottle with the red label. It is a white winter honey that is said to be from the frosty wildflower fields of the Idaho Rockies and has a creamy texture that melts like snow on the tongue. It is said to have a hint of fruit and cinnamon which happens to be ideal for scones and hot chocolate. In my life a jar full off really good honey goes a long way & is a staple. For my birthday I would not be opposed to having somebody sign me up for the honey of the month club at the Red Bee. I love that on Red Bee's site it gives the break down on how all of the different honeys taste.

I think honey toned colors also translate really well into rooms with its warm tones.

Well I get the fun opportunity to go to the Parade of Homes in St. George, Utah and will be leaving ASAP. Will you be there? I am excited to see the homes Alice Lane had a hand in decorating.

Have a great weekend if I don't see you tomorrow.

{Vintage Vera Pillows]

If you love vintage Vera as much as I do then you may want to head over to the Saysodesign shop. Looks like she has already taken the work out of sewing pillows from the vintage textiles. I think the price is very reasonable and these will give you a very unique look as they are not mass produced. Some of these pillows make me feel like summer vacation.

Go here to see more.

{halt and run for the field}

If the dirtiness of my boys is any indicator to the messy house that I was talking about then perhaps I should reinstate my domesticated duties...almost...but not really because the weather is way too beautiful even at high noon. I promise to do the basics today but other than that we are out of here.

I really appreciated Lauren's post last night. If you have kids you probably will too.

I've clearly been enjoying my self-timer feature on my camera.

{A Connecticut Cottage}

Loving this cottage designed by Dufner Heighes. My kind of place with the large modern windows. Upon arrival, the first thing I would do is head straight for the rocking chair and rock the crazies right out of my bones. Actually it has been a great couple of days but feeling pretty house trashed. I am choosing to ignore domesticated chores by going for long walks instead to enjoy my assortment of my babies.

{all photos via here}

{toDay & artwork}

Today & right this very second it is Valentine's Day so I took matters into my own hands and purchased the below. I am loving all of the the above artwork from here as well. For some reason I am also connecting today to the above fabulous room designed by Laura Day....it's a beaut and fits in quite nicely with the day (as well as the Day's residence).