CRUSH: Schumacher Chiang Mai Dragon

So, I am TOTALLY LOVING these N-E-W colorways from Schumacher on their
forever-and-ALWAYS-beautiful fabric print Chiang Mai Dragon.

Schumacher Chiang Mai Dragon in Ebony

Schumacher Chiang Mai Dragon in Smoke

Schumacher Chiang Mai Dragon in Jade

So, which colorway is your favorite?

I am TOTALLY thinking I just may be ordering some of the SMOKE to create lovely little pillows for my living room sofa..... just maybe.

Artwork by JoJo : Sunday Funday

Now available at Lost.... antiques in the Dallas Design District is this new piece, "Sunday Funday"!

Acrylic on 24" x 36" Canvas | Sunday Funday

Have a WONDERFUL Sunday, friends!

DETAILS : Kiddo's Room

Things are starting to come together for the re-redesign of kiddo's room. We are all excited about it.... for real! At first, both my hubby and kiddo were not too thrilled about doing yet another redesign on the bedroom, but they both understood how dark the room can be. So, our goal is lightening and brightening up the space in this go around.

We are succeeding!

One of the big things we have decided to do is to get rid of his big bulky dark corner desk. It has served us quite well now for over 7 years. We found a vintage campaign desk at Scout Design Studio that kiddo just loves. We are planning to lacquer the desk and another piece red to match one of the Ikea bookcases we purchased in the previous redesign. We will be creating a whole new command center station for him with all these pieces. 

Another change we are doing is wallpaper! I mentioned it before in this post, but the wallpaper has been ordered and the team has been contracted to pull it all together in the next month or so..... yippee! This will be the biggest change. We want the wallpaper to be the star of the room, so we will be limiting the art we choose for the wall --- obviously the vintage Star Wars Subway Poster will still make the cut.

Here are some pieces from our redesign:

Cole and Son Woods Wallpaper | CB2 Bear Pillow | West Elm Reclaimed Pine Nightstand

We have already started some of the furniture changes in his room and it is already making a HUGE difference. So much more room and a lighter and brighter feel already!

Can't wait to show y'all the reveal!
And.... maybe this time.... will be the last time?!?!?

REFLECTING: Easter Dinner

As I sit here exhausted from the festivities of the past two days, I am reflecting on what a beautiful, glorious, and fun Easter we had yesterday.

I had worked all day on Saturday preparing, baking, cooking, and cleaning. But, it wasn't work really. Do you ever just get into a zone and love all of the activity that you are doing in said zone? That's how I was on Saturday. I had "alone time" all day since the boys were away. I had quiet all day since said boys were away..... ahhhhhh.... it was nice. Me, quiet, and my zone... heavenly!

Then Sunday came, Easter Sunday.

Bright and early before it was light, I awoke and started preparations for a wonderful day. Early church service with the family and then the rest of the day was filled with fellowship and eating.... heavenly!

I made everything on the planned menu I share in this post. And the outcome was extraordinary! I followed all the recipes I linked to and it was.... well.... heavenly!

Good food, good fun, good fellowship and a GREAT EASTER!
I hope you had a lovely weekend....now it's back to the week ahead!

Good Friday

WE REMEMBER.

Acrylic on 11" x 14" Canvas Board | We Remember

Wishing y'all a blessed Good Friday.

Easter Past

I was looking through some old digital photos and organizing them when I happened across these...

Oh, the day when I could have many collections of items in my home.

To be able to store them and bring them out when the time was appropriate.

My little Easter Bunny and blown eggs were some of those items.

And the days when I could have both my white porcelain and milk glass collection AND my celadon collection..... ohhhhhh the days when....

I also had a huge multi-colored rose bush in the back yard. 

That would bloom.... and bloom.... I LOVED IT!

With time... comes change.
And that is the path that we have been on.

But, you can always make things beautiful no matter where you are!
There is SO much beauty around, it's easy to make it happen!

I look at these images remembering how beautiful my surroundings and belongings were in the suburbs not with a heavy heart, but rather, a grateful heart.

Grateful that time has passed, surroundings have changed, belongings are different, but BEAUTY..... BEAUTY remains to be same.... all around me!

Easter Dinner Preparations

I am starting to clean and gather my items for our Easter Dinner Celebrations.

I have so much fun deciding what to pull out and use!

I don't have that much fun cleaning every item, but it is a necessity after sitting on a shelf and collecting dust. Dust would not be so appetizing to our guests... I'm sure.

I start with a color scheme while deciding what to use in the tablescape.

This year, I am going with a neutral sophisticated palette.

I'll be using silvers, white, cream, gold and lilac/purple. I'll incorporate the lilac/purple color through an ombre selection of florals.

I will be using my ikat plates I purchased at the 2013 Dwell with Dignity Fall Thrift Studio. Plus, this is a perfect time to use the vintage white china passed on to me by my mother-in-law. These both will look wonderful on a mix of silver glass and fabric chargers.

I have decided to pull out my little vintage white milk glass vases to hold the ombre selections of florals. I will be utilizing the arrangements as our centerpiece along the length of the table.

To pull in some more natural elements, I hard boiled these brown farm eggs and will use them in these cute little egg cups! I'll add a few egg-shaped clear paper weights from my collection for contrast and sparkle.

And last, but not least, my fun gold flatware and gold patterned napkins will be getting some love on Easter!
I love the contrast on the natural table runner!

I can't wait to pull together this table and engage in sweet fellowship and food on Easter day!
We have a lot to celebrate and I am going to make sure to shower my guests with wonderful food, drinks, and laughter!

I have compiled my planned menu below with links to most of the recipes in case you need some ideas for your meal. My menu is planned with healthy options for some of the guests that are on specific diets. I have not yet decided on what type of drinks we will be serving other than peach iced tea and infused water. I'll probably stick to a selection of wines for the alcoholic beverages.

APPETIZERS
Shrimp Shooters
Deviled Eggs

MAIN COURSE
Sweet-Hot Plum-Glazed Ham
Lemon Rosemary Salmon
Salad with Fresh Pears, Strawberries and Candied Bacon [I'm using Feta instead of Blue Cheese]
Asparagus Amandine without butter
Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes
Rosemary Orange Biscuits

DESSERT
Lemon-Coconut Cake
Banana Pudding Pie
Berries and Whipped Cream

Yummy! Many of these items I can start prepping or complete on Saturday. That way, I am not running around too crazy on Sunday... going from church to cooking in the kitchen.

We also plan to have our annual Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt on Sunday. We seem to change it up a little bit every year, but this year I am planning to do something quite different.... it should be fun!

Happy Easter Preparations, everybody!

Spring Thrift Studio

I am SO thrilled the Dwell with Dignity's Spring Thrift Studio Preview Party finally happened!

Every single vignette was beautifully designed!

Beauty!

Glamor!

Shopping!

What more could make this girl happy?!

Oh, yes... champagne, hor d'oeuvres and... the money raised is going to a great cause!

Here are some of the incredible vignettes:

Jan Showers

Julio Quiones + Culp Associates

Mecox

Tompkins Lloyd Interiors + David Sutherland Studio

Although, the party was last night, the Spring Thrift Studio will be opened until May 10th!
So, CHECK IT OUT!

They replenish the pop-up shop with new items throughout the month. I tend to go every few days to make sure I don't miss out on any new goodies. I have to stop by today and pick-up the large white dragon ginger jars my wonderful hubby purchased for me. I can't wait to see them in my home! I'm sure to look around to see if there is anything else that I so desperately need. Hah!

It was also wonderful last night to reunite with some friends:
My InstaFriend Stephanie Campos [she is a pretty amazing girl - follow her on Instagram here] and...

an amazing young artist who is as sweet as he is cute! He painted the piece shown in the photos below for auction. It sold at a "Buy It Now" price! Yippee! Also, through a wonderful partnership, he was able to take home a full-size copy on canvas of his artwork to treasure for years to come.

Now, I'm off to pick up my goodies!

Have a FANTASTIC weekend, friends!

Fiddle Leaf Fig Trees

I'm really not a fan of these plants.

I know... that's pretty rebellious at this moment in time!
You see these things popping up all over in the design world.
But, I have really never been of them... ever. For real.

But, if you are into this style and want some greenery in your home, I thought I would pass along a WONDERFUL article I found on Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree Care by Angela Elias over at Pop Sugar.

Source

It really is a great article. And I can really see the desire of having greenery in your decor.
Maybe this old dog can change her mind?... We'll see.

Heart and Soul

I had mentioned in this post that I was a model for a day.

I had a stylist, a producer, make-up artists and a photographer at my side... wow!

Although this was A LOT of fun... it was for a very important reason:

I have joined forces with Heart and Soul Magazine and other amazing Heart Disease Survivors in sharing our stories to promote awareness about heart disease in women!

Heart and Soul Magazine

Check out our stories and more information about health and wellness at Heart and Soul Magazine.

Heart and Soul Website
Heart and Soul Facebook
Heart and Soul Instagram 

Heart and Soul Magazine

Heart and Soul Magazine

Have a FABULOUS weekend, friends!

WORDS: Success and Enthusiasm

Our family has been down and out this entire week with some sort of virus.

We are eventually going to push through this.... eventually.

We have to, we just won tickets to the NCAA Final Four Championships this Saturday and Monday!

In the meantime, I saw this quote and loved the depth of it.

Let's keep our enthusiasm!

source

You can follow me on Instagram here to see what goes on in my life when I'm not posting.

I promise I'll spare you the gross piles of tissues when I'm sick.... hah!

Have a FABULOUS day, friends!