Hunter + Jimmy Choo = I want to play in the puddles

Not available until June, but I can wait knowing I will never again have to buy rainboots. These are the perfect classics.

I've been neglectful, but inspired...

revere pendant lamp shopping in CB2 lighting

A few happy days spent at the beach (some of them rainy and windy...) got us inspired to make a few changes around the beach house before the summer lazies set in. The new dishwasher is less than exciting but highly necessary, but these bargain priced light fixtures from cb2.com will fit right in.

Beach-Up-Coastal-Classics - Beach Up Your Breakfast Nook - Photos - CoastalLiving.com

The perfect dining room for this fixture...

I can see clearly now..

....the rain ISN'T gone yet, but a girl can dream of a tan and a sunny beach.


Oh my Summer Chic! How fun would these be on the front porch of a modern farmhouse? Or a beach house living room?


All the function of a coffee table, but with a light and airy feeling. You can see the fireplace through it!

High waist skirts

www.jcrew.com


I'm totally into this shape. The high-waist skirt can be super-flattering. They can streamline your hips, and then you can pick your smallest spot and define your waist. The result is a classic look that can take off a few pounds. All the girly blouses that are available this season work fantastically with this look. Just find the classic skirt, and change the look with the top and alternating between boots and heels, depending on the season. My new fave cocktail party attire.

Add some sass for Spring

You don't have to start from scratch to look updated for Spring, it's all about the accessories. Banana Republic has great pieces to make you look fresh for Spring. How about a colored bag?
















Tory Burch always gets it right, this blue is IT for Spring. How fabulous is that necklace? White tank, ready to go.

Spring bookshelves

Oh how I love fresh, new books, especially cheesy paperbacks to read on the beach. It's always interesting to see people's bookcases, how they're organized, what they've read...sometimes the 'knick-nacks' are as cool as the books...












I love that the desk fits in the little nook in the middle. Wicker and bamboo furniture = SPRING!

A March Madness Friday

Even though today is the first day of Spring, there's still a chill in the air. On the first few sunny, warm Spring days, I've ventured into the white wine...but I think this weekend will call for red while we watch the NCAA tournament. This Malbec is an amazing deal - about $12 for an 88 point wine. And to sip it, I'll be wearing...
















Add some soft skinny jeans, and the Uggs might be pulled out for one more weekend - 70 degrees next week!

Carolina Blue

I would never believe this house was in Texas, and I've never seen cabinets this color.


I'm waiting patiently to watch the Tarheels play in the NCAA tournament. So I'm into all things Carolina blue (and the clouds finally cleared to reveal Carolina blue skies today!) Here's Veranda's take on pale blue, I'm hunting for a collections of prints to frame like these above the fireplace.




Further proof to me I want to find a fun series to frame. And more fantastically shabby paint.

Rain, rain, PLEASE go away...

We're on day 4 of soaking rains, and I'm OVER it. These could add a hint of sunshine to the next rainy day. Zappos.com, $124.

Spring on My Toes

It's called "give me a coral sometime", and I love it. It's raining and cold outside, and having this splash on my toes with remind me Spring really is on the way. And it goes with everything peach I've bought for Spring.

Hardware isn't so hard to wear

My mailbox is brimming with catalogs and fashion mags every day, and one trend I can't escape is gladiator sandals and hardware trimmed pieces. I've been wanting a white bag, and the Diane Von Furstenburg below fits the bill. It says "summer"! And it's big enough to hold the sunscreen I should be wearing and the water I should be drinking. The gladiators I'm loving are Michael Kors and are less than $200. Most importantly, they are wearable and walkable. Heels like that make legs look en extra foot long. The pewter gladiator flats already have a home in my closet, and they are crazy-comfy. $99!

Lucky girl that had a great girl's weekend

It has taken me until Tuesday to recover the busy weekend I had! I was thrilled to have my cute sister-in-law in town, and we made the rounds to the best boutiques in Charlotte. We couldn't get enough color! She fell in love with a Calypso tunic, I started an affair with a peach Rory Beca dress, and she bought an emerald green flutter sleeve dress that really made me wish she lived in the same city.

It took a week...

But she's done! The armoire I talked about on Monday is finished. I was so excited about the lion head pulls I found at the local Ace Hardware for $2.99! The most time consuming part was the painting, it took 4 coats of high-gloss oil based paint. The local monogram shop did the monogramming for me.

She got me thinking

I've been looking at the boring maple wood armoire in my bedroom waiting for the perfect idea to hit me. It's a good basic piece, but just too blah. Then I saw this Escada ad in this months Vanity Fair (which I thought was amazing, I spent hours with it). So I'm in the process of turning her outfit into an armoire. I bought high gloss oil paint in 'saguaro', and 4 coats later, it's starting to take shape. There are several more phases in this undertaking, I'll post the final product. But how fantastic is this color? This swatch is much paler than the actual color, but just to give you an idea....

Invite me to your house...

...if you have a guest room like this. I've got house guests coming soon, and I wish wish wish I had a landing spot for them that was as fab as these.


Oh, to arrive to a guest room like this...that pink is glamour!






The luckiest girl would get to sit here while getting dressed for an evening out and pick which diamonds to wear.







From Veranda, a guest room in the Greystone Estate.



I want to use this dressing table to get dressed for a night out in Beverly Hills.

Armoire extreme makeover

I've been staring at the non-descript maple armoire in my bedroom for weeks, knowing it needs an extreme makeover. It's a great basic shape, but it's just blah. I'm in search of inspiration...



Oh my. Baroque mahogany at LaylaGrace.com




This 1800's Swedish piece is getting closer. Love the vibrant yet subdued red.




Wow. This needs to be the bright spot in the room. I don't plan on going quite this bold.

Ombre for me, please!

Um, headed for the car, must get to Old Navy for this $39 lovely!


Add flip flops, done.


Love this at Calypso, I'm always a sucker for tie dye. Gives shape to anything.

Yellow dinner

I find yellow dining rooms to be warm, refined, but also cheerful. Guess what color my dining room is? Might be biased...Found this on twoliablog.com. Love the dark wood contrasted with the yellows.


At Pottery Barn






Having a little dinner at our house this weekend to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. She loves yellow daffodils, so I'm in search of yellow tables inspirations.

Rainy days call for color

I'm still in desperate need of color, especially corals, which are particularly fab with turquoise. And I'm dreaming of the happy chair for yesterday...if a chair could have a jewelry cousin, these ear bobs would be it.


I wanna wear these with a white swimsuit on an island - note to self, get tan.



Gerard Yosca Cuff, $240. Screaming for gold gladiator sandals.



The ultimate bargain, buy extras for gift. Charlotte Russe, $4!

Color my world

Neutrals are necessary, how would we decorate a room or create a cohesive wardrobe without them? But today I was positively CRAVING color! The sun was bright, everything looked bright and shiny, and there was the slightest hint that Spring might actually come.

Love this fabric combo, made by, who else, Happy Chairs.


I've never seen sconces made from coconut shells, but I think these are fab.


Oh, if only these would appear on my porch! Some lovely southern boxwoods in these and I might swoon.

Intaglios

I'll gladly admit I knew nothing about intaglios until my sister in law introduced them to me. They're tiny little molds of scenes and they date back centuries. So of course, if you're getting the real things, they're gonna be a little pricey...like these in a local store that are $850 each. They are amazing, the fabric mattes are phenomenal, but no can do for $850.

So on Presidents Day, I made my own budget version - so economical, in fact, that I found the frame in a dumpster. The muslin fabric was about $2 at WalMart, and my sweet sister in law shared some extra intaglios she ordered off ebay. So my version totals about $2. Obviously not as fab as the $$$ version, but gives the same impact.


Close up. I picked the largest with the male head because it looks a little like my husband.