inspired to sit and...

dream, dream, dream...

Yet it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top.

-virgina woolf

(original photography plaque by the fab Jenny & Aaron)

ZZ Miles

I mean what else is there to say?

paper, box, cute

You must go check out this post by my oldest (as in we have known each other since we were in diapers) friend Becca.

She has completely inspired me, and I now have visions of box houses dancing in my head...
I am thinking some Holiday versions are in order. In fact this may be the craft de jour for my our little Advent party we have every year...

re-arranged. again.

We finally moved the piano to the other side of the room and put the couch back on the wall.
I am loving it much more...


I think it is because of the Momma and Papa Bear chair arrangement where the couch used to be that makes a difference this time. The room has more seating than the last time we had the couch against the wall.

Of course there are still lots of things that have me wondering and things that I need to finish & find... Should I take the map down and do something lighter in feel, more whimsical?
Which couch will I end up with? How much longer can I prolong the life of this one (going on 12 years...)


For now though, the change was enough to satisfy my redecorating urges - I hope! - and I can let this room be as is till after Christmas. After all in just little over a month it will get it's Holiday Make-Over!

Golly I love this time of year!

the fair, part 2- blue ribbon

the fair, part 1 - technicolor

rainy day books

It has been a week (or 2? or 3? I have lost count...) of rainy days and gray skies around here, which means little opportunity for good picture taking, which stinks.

So instead of a post filled with freshly taken pictures from around my house or my yard, I will do some book recommendations because I don't need the sunshine for that...

Here is a slice of what we are reading around here right now:



there isn't a bad egg in the bunch, and I highly recommend each one of them...

Stars Hallow Wedding

This weekend our friends Adam and Bethany got married,
and they turned our little church into something straight out of Stars Hallow - of Gilmore Girls fame, the brides favoritist show.






Bouquets of lavender, hand painted pumpkins, burlap, mason jars full of candles, craft paper covered tables, a tower of cupcakes, a dinner of yummy soup and bread, were just a few of the beautiful and uniquely Adam & Bethany touches that made this event so memorable and fun..


Oh and did I mention the Fall Festival theme? Complete with hand sewn flag banners, Sparklers, Cotton Candy, Caramel Apples, A Popcorn Machine and Face painting for kids of all ages??
How could you not have fun at that kind of wedding?

I wish I had gotten better pictures (so so sorry Kim!) but I think you get the idea just how festive and Stars Hallow-ish it was...

The wedding was a family event for us as Miles was the ring bearer (leopard face painting came after the ceremony,) Wylie was the Popcorn Man and I was the "shew everyone down the aisle" gal.
The vows Adam and Bethany said to each other were perhaps the best I have ever heard; sweet and funny and honest and full of love and hope. I was so very grateful in that moment, as I sat in the candle light, holding my Sweet Man's hand, with our boys by our sides, that my little family could be a part their little families beginning.

visions of sugar plums

Arkansas weather is really, really strange. If you live here you know this, if you have visited you have had a taste, if you have never been, well let me tell you what you are missing...
In the past 48 hours it has been humid, hot, sunny, rainy, windy, stormy, cold, foggy, and the list goes on. The Fall and the Spring are the most random seasons, with the weather never knowing which direction it is going.
Well today I woke up and the weather was headed towards winter. It felt like Christmas and it felt a little bit like snow.
Not that it had snowed, or even will snow, but the windows were fogged in the way it does when it snows, and my toesy's were cold when they hit the floor, and the sky was grey and dark like it is in the winter.
So of course, Christmastide is what came to mind and I couldn't help but start thinking about it...

Here is my inspiration collage for this year's banners & decorations.

I found this new line of paper from Brenda Walton/K & Co. called Peppermint Twist and it is too cute!
It is all things nice, and reminds me of some vintage wrapping paper images I have.


The colors and images are just perfect and I am planning on doing some new, fun, limited edition banners that say "Sugar and Spice," "Peace on Earth" and "Joyeux Noel" using these papers as my main inspiration.

I know that for many of you it is too early to think about Christmas, but I just can't help it. I love the season, and I love the anticipation of it's arrival as well. Dreaming about it is half the fun.
Tomorrow I am sure the weather will warm up or crisp up and the leaves will start changing color and I will be back to Fall, but for this moment, for right now with my foggy windows and cold toesys I am dreaming of Christmas...

just had to share...

back to work

Break over.
Back to work.



It was a lovely, peaceful, low key break and I am so very grateful for it. Being given a job where I could share the boys schedule has done wonders for our family.
Now, we are back to school, and back to our regular routine. I think everyone was ready for it...
It is the start of a new quarter and that means new students for me. My new class is smaller in size and perhaps a little more focused (also, I know a little more what I am doing this go round, so that should help too...) and I am looking forward to sharing the next 10 weeks with them.
Also, I hope to be a better blogger this go-round too, not dropping out of site for days on end...we shall see!

bewitching

For a variety of reasons - aesthetic and emotional and personal - I wanted to keep things lighter, more playful, and simpler this Halloween.
And I wanted to use pink.

So I made myself a banner (imagine!) and decided on a loose theme of "Bewitched" -
more of a Nicole Kidman/Nora Ephron kind of Bewitched, light and airy and slightly ruffly and very pink.

To do this I added some fringe garland to some paper lanterns I had on hand, cut out some birds in black & white patterned paper, and threw it all up on the mantle with the banner.
I think it is pretty cute for a last minute idea.

Wanting to keep things simple, I also took down my scrolly candle holders from either side of the map and I think they may be down for good... What do you think?

Lately I have been dreaming of an airier, lighter feel in the living room and hoping that 2010 will be the year of A New Couch & Rug, or at least a new room re-arrangement.

I know I need to finish our bedroom first but I am setting that goal for Thanksgiving, so that leaves 2010 wide open for other design projects....