Hi!

So the dinner party went off without a hitch! We had a wonderful time, dinner was great, and the house looked spectacular! Things were such a whirlwind that I didn’t have a chance to take photos, but, I do have some pics to share to hold you over until later. In this post, I talked about sprucing up the small hallway leading to our bedroom and bathroom. Well, here is the mangy before:

The during layout:

And after:

See! The little deer debacle turned out OK! And see that picture in the frame? Here is a close up:

This is my grandmother and my grandfather when they lived abroad while my grandfather was in the service. I am so lucky to have such a beautiful reminder of the love that they shared. My grandfather’s life was cut short when my mom was a little girl, but my grandmother was so strong and raised her 6 children with the help of my great-grandmother. This picture captures all of the romance and playfulness that I imagine they would still have if he were still here ❤

And for the second little treat, our Christmas tree excursion on Friday! (We are decorating the tree tonight, so more pictures to follow!)

My Christmas Angels:

And trying to figure out the Christmas tree bag…

Happy Thanksgiving! There are so many wonderful things that I am thankful for. Mostly, my wonderful families who missed me while I was feasting away up north with HJ. But also for my health, my perfect job, and my great friends 🙂

While in Connecticut, I found some great things for the cottage!

This sweet, flirty, little bowl from a pottery show

This serene boat photograph for the summer (don’t you think it would look great in a little white IKEA frame?)

And some sweet winter birds that will definitely be joining the dinner party we are hosting this weekend!

I just have to get some taper candles to perch on their backs. How cute! They are actually very sparkly in real-life, and the perfect addition to a holiday party!

I wish I was able to add this ladder to my list of purchases this weekend

It was really perfect, and they actually were willing to sell it to me, but for $80.00? I think I can get a better deal. So for now, it’s this empty spot under the shelves. I’ll do a post on that sweet trunk later!

Lots will be going on this week in preparation for the said dinner party. This place has to get dressed for Christmas! Although I think we may wait until the next weekend for the tree…I will keep you posted on the goings-on, including some much needed love given to a poor, neglected hallway…

Hi!

As reluctant as I am to admit this, I have become a fan of the antler craze. I mean, maybe I am getting in at the “white-tail”-end of it, but I cannot hold back any longer. This post is about my attempt to get my 10-points on some 10-points!

I saw a really creative blog post, but of course, I can’t remember where, but if I come across it, I will def revise this post! Anyway, the creative blogess decided she would buy a cheap plastic deer head on ebay and spray paint it white. The end result looked great, but when I went on ebay, the same one was going for $60+. Too much. Hmmm, so I did some searching, and then I found this one for $30!

Score! I attacked Hunky J with questions, Do you think its made of wood? How big do you think it is? When do you think it will get here? Do you like it? Couldn’t you see it up on the mantle? WIll you help me put it up? He is so good, he said all of the right answers-he knows how to appease me! So, a few days later,  he proudly presented me with a mail-slip, telling me our deer friend was in. It was in a pretty large box, so I was confident that it was the size I was hoping for, which was a realistic 3′-0″ expanse between antlers. What occurred with the boxes was more like this:

Yeah, I guess you get what you pay for. Here is the actual size:

AND it wasn’t wood, it was 5 lbs. of pure metal. Womp. Womp. But then it kind of started to grow on me, and I began to imagine it in a little Christmas arrangement on the wall. And then I saw the exact same one on the Anthropologie website, which also reinforced that I know cool when I see it 🙂 A few days later, however, I was at my Mothership. You know, it rhymes with CKLaxx??? Two beautiful wood carved antlers met my eyes, but I was there for work buying some new inventory, so I had to restrain myself. Of course, I couldnt get them out of my mind, so I went back a few days later and found 1 last pair of these puppies hiding on a bottom shelf!

Actual Size:

but I have a feeling these guys will “hang” around for a while!

The colors are showing up a little skewed…but i was going for a more monochromatic look this year, and took out the green completely.

And now some shelves, just ignore the “spring” photo collage, I have the fall one, just need to print it…Notice all of the elevens? Our 5 year anniversary is coming up on 11-11-11! So I thought I would add some of those 1’s in there 🙂 Like our bird friends? They were only $2.00 at Michael’s, which just opened a new location MUCH closer to me than the other one I had been going, I think this is a good thing, Hunky J may disagree…although he is mostly preoccupied with his Fantasy Football team this fall, so this allows me to get away with lots of things!

  EQUALS

Oh, Hello, Fall! You just snuck right in! So in honor of your arrival, I have decided TTC needs some new fall lovin’ 🙂 Most of our autumn decor is celery and pumpkin (that sounds SO much fancier than green and orange) Although I really like it, I am getting kind of bored with it. I think I read on the wonderful Shannon Berrey’s Design Blog here:

http://shannonberrey.com/

(although I tried to find the exact link to the post but I couldn’t find it??) that Sarah Richardson recommends using 10-15 patterns in one room. I was shocked as I looked around my house-I have NO patterns. I repeat-NO patterns! This whole time I was worried about making everything neutral and goes-with-whatever-color-I-like-this-week that I forgot to put any patterns in the room! We have some colors and textures, but definitely not 10-15 textures, let alone patterns! So that brings us to this post! Here is a picture from a Pottery Barn catalogue, which I am using as my inspiration:

To encorporate the colors that I am already using, but something a little more modern, I was thinking something like Rose Damask from Joel Dewberry’s Aviary Collection:

Or JD’s Woodgrain in Green and Dark Green from the same collection:

At work yesterday I found some great patterns that were similar by Kravet Soleil (I think it was called Bamboo?) and Stacey Garcia for Hunter Douglas, or maybe it was Valley Forge…I have a great memory, but not enough to remember all the pattern names and manufacturers…read below for unusual memory lapse explanation.

SIDE NOTE: At work, I spent about 4 hours in our library looking for a specific cheap stripe fabric to rival a $110 one, so my mind was on a mission. Verdict: There’s a reason the fabric is $110 and not $50…I do love a good bargain hunt, but this was a lost cause. I was super disappointed, because I am the Bargain Princess, but then again, I probably would have just spent the extra money because the expensive stripe is so wonderful and it incorporates all of our colors, I would have made up the cost elsewhere. Thats why there’s custom. But, hey, I was able to find some incredible patterns as TTC inspiration, so it worked out!

I digress…And then what about something like Pottery Barn’s beautiful cable-knit blanket for snuggling on the sofa, which I will find a much less expensive version of:

I know, it’s not a color, but it’s a texture!

My lovely friend, Caroline, has Anthropologie’s Antoinette Damask curtains, and I love them, but I think it’s too specific for a room that has to adapt to so many holidays, but maybe in the bedroom, where seasonal decorations don’t make as much of an appearance:

Aren’t they so soft and delicate? Hmm…and then I found these tie-backs(also from Anthro):

Which reminded me of this:

Which is a small model of the key storage wall in the reception area from my final project for my senior year 🙂 I will do a post on that sometime soon!

Now, this brings us to the mantle. Here is a picture of our fall mantle last year, which I just LOVE. And it feels so cozy, which is what is so great about fall!

The rake was free from, who else, but my grandmother! It was laying in her garage for years, just rusting away. When I asked her if I could take it, she said “What the heck do you want that piece of junk for?” I told her what I planned to do with it, and she just shook her head, but I think it has just the right amount of use and mangle-ment for TTC 🙂

But then, I just can’t help myself! I love me some neutrals! Although I think the patterns are just lovely, and I feel envious seeing someone’s colorful home, it’s just not me…Maybe texture is the way to go afterall. HJ says I’ll see something in person, and he is right, when I see it, I’ll know. Until then, the only thing to keep me on track is to burn a fall candle and create a concept board…progress pics to follow!