Entry Progress

My hydrangeas are officially blooming happily so I picked these and brought them in to brighten up our entryway.  I believe this one is called Blushing Bride.  It starts out white like the bloom in the lower center then develops a slight pink tint.

We've made a lot of progress on the entry. My husband did an incredible job putting up the wainscotting.  This is actually paneling and not the full boards.  Paneling was just easier for us to transport in our smaller cars and to work with.

It's amazing what a big difference this makes here.  I'm glad I did the entire wall.  We're still playing with the hooks and there are going to be changes to our original plan.  We also still have moulding and painting to do but I love the way it looks already.

To refresh your memory, this is what we started with. 

(This is an older picture.  It was actually painted grey like the rest of our living room since this picture was taken.)

Hope to be closer to finishing by the end of this week. 

Happy Tuesday!

Peony Pretty

Peonies picked from my garden today. It seems like they're here and gone so quickly but my hydrangeas are almost ready to replace them for the summer.

Happy Wednesday!

(I was testing out the Blogger mobile app.  Not the best picture, but convenient on-the-go!)

New Party?

We so often share about ourselves, but aren't we all so often inspired by what we've seen elsewhere?  Those of us who blog, often do this already so it really wouldn't be something new, but what if we had a party to celebrate our inspirations?

Here's an example ...

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I love wedding magazines, websites, etc.  I've been married for 6 years so why do I like them so much?  Do I want another princess moment?  No.  The answer is flowers. 

Martha Stewart Weddings

This is a white astilbe wedding bouquet, but wouldn't that be beautiful as a centerpiece?  I think it would look great exactly as it is laying flat vs in a container and surrounded with a few scattered votives down the middle of the table.
What has inspired you this week?

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What do you think?  Would you be interested in joining me for a weekly Inspiration Party?  As in the example above, it doesn't have to be decor, or a DIY project (although it could be).  Is there a recipe you'd love to try?  Did you see something when you visited a shop that you just thought was beautiful?  Is there something new you'd like to try?  I'd really love to know.  How does
Inspiration Tuesday sound?

Baby Bouquet

I was outside doing some fall clean-up yesterday.  Its a little frightening out there how things have grown and I'm slowly making progress.  I cut down my massive spent mums but there were a small handfull left blooming and I didn't have the heart to toss them.  I also managed to harvest the last bit of lavender from my enormous bushes as well and 1 baby food jar later, I had this ...

Especially perfect for my bedside table since lavender has soothing properties that help you sleep.  Not that I need help with that these days.  I solved my insomnia issues a while ago and am lucky enough to fall asleep the minute my head hits the pillow! 

Baby's Breath

A lot of people don't like baby's breath.  Those people are probably thinking of this ...

That's really not my favorite but I like baby's breath and think its misunderstood.  Instead of using them as filler flowers, I just use them alone. 

 Its simple, pretty and inexpensive.  These were about half the price of other flowers and it they will last forever because rather than wilting and dying, it dries and looks exactly the same.  It did the job brightening things up here and I actually like they way they look more interesting than the roses I usually pick up.

I came across this wreath too.  Love it!  Maybe I'll make one of these sometime ...

Garden, Grocery Store and Thrift Store

I decided to make a flower arrangement today so while I was grocery shopping, I picked up some roses.  When I got home, I decided to put them in a milk glass compote I got at a thrift store but I didn't quite have enough to fill it so I just went out to my garden and picked some hydrangeas and ... Voila!

I think this is as good as florist quality and certainly a perk of having a garden.  I have this nifty little item that holds flowers in vases that I picked up in one of the shops at the Biltmore that I'll have to share next time I arrange flowers.  As you can see, it works like a charm but you can achieve the same thing with a tape grid or a piece of chicken wire on any vessel you use.

I'm participating in Fresh Cut Fridays on Rose Vignettes.

The Calm Before the Storm ...

The sun is just starting to come up here this morning and we're bracing for a huge storm. 18-24" expected. That's a lot no matter where you live but its a huge deal here. People cleaned out the stores here yesterday. You could not get parking spots or shopping carts at the supermarkets. I love the snow, but its much nicer when you live in an area that doesn't fly into a full-fledged panic. This is one reason I wish I could move north where snow doesn't mean the world has to stop.


As much as I love snow and I'm thrilled to see the snow-covered trees again, I wish it did not happen this weekend. My little one turns 2 on Sunday and its going to put a little damper on our celebration. We'll be having cake today because we'll never be able to get it on Sunday on the unplowed roads. The last time we had a storm of this magnitude (18") it was left to mother nature to take care of the snow instead of a plow. Thank goodness for all-wheel-drive.

Anyone else expecting snow? Do they handle it any better where you are?

More laundry room progress pictures coming this weekend ...

Flowers, flowers, flowers!

I didn't think I was going to get any flowers this year for Mother's Day. I love flowers and almost always have them in the house these days. People seem to always want to be creative with gifts, but I made it known that its not a boring gift to me no matter how many times I get flowers. Its so exciting when a bouquet or box of flowers comes up the driveway in the hands of a delivery person. Mr. T alluded to a different gift and my mom did too, so I thought, no flowers this year - maybe I'll just buy some so that I have some on the table on Sunday. Over the weekend, Mr. T came home with these beautiful lilies ...

... they've started opening so I thought they would last until Mother's Day.

Then yesterday, this arrived!

Flowers from mom with chocolates! Mr. T and I immediately tore into those. Mom tricked me. ;-)

Now today ... Wild Girl announced the "package truck". More flowers, but from whom?

My brother! He sends me flowers every year and its always a surprise. You see, he's very much a Bachelor (the capital "B" isn't a typo). His idea of gifts is sending an eCheck. Its amusing. I think the reason he sends me flowers for Mother's Day is because I've saved him from the pressure of having to produce grandchildren for our parents!

Anyway, I have plenty of flowers now! I'd better tell Mr. T not to surprise me because I've run out of space.

Books and Flowers (part deux)

My lilies are blooming!


So recently, I read a book (Pillars of the Earth - VERY good) and like always, I've lost all the bookmarks I have so I used a piece of paper. Over the hundreds of pages, I folded the paper over and over.


I thought, this is sad. I really should have a proper bookmark. I never got around to buying one. I remembered I had some unused ribbon from my wedding 5 years ago and with yet another broken (now repaired) brooch, I made myself a bookmark.


Now I need just need another book. I understand that there is a Pillars sequel. What I really need is to find the time!

Happy Easter!

On Thursday during a chaotic time in my house with my little ones, UPS dropped off a package and I couldn't imagine what it could be since I wasn't expecting anything. Flowers! But from who? It was a HUGE bouquet of lillies from Mr. T!


I was so surprised. I always feel so bad when he does things like this. All I got him for Easter was a little dark chocolate bunny. ;-) I'm a lucky girl. I'll be in Delaware with my family for the weekend. Maybe when we come home, the flowers will have opened.

When we packed up the girls in the car today, I had to sneak upstairs and bring their baskets down to the kitchen table so that they're there when we return Sunday they will find a delivery from the Easter Bunny ...

Have a Happy Easter!

Flower arranging

Aren't these Ranunculus pretty?

I couldn't resist when I saw them in the store yesterday.


When I buy flowers, I almost always buy inexpensive flowers that are all the same type and color but here's a bouquet Mr. T brought home for me. Everyone has gotten these mixed bouquets, right? They always look so nice in the store but once in the vase, it never looks right to me. I once read that the right way to arrange this sort of bouquet is to group all the same colored flowers together so that's what I did here.


I like to do this as well though. I group all the like-colored flowers together and use them in a couple of arrangements instead. Its an economical way to make multiple arrangements and I like the monochromatic appearance better.



Oh, and W E L C O M E A P R I L ! !