Soul Food...

 

The Lord your God is with you,

he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Lady & Sons...

  

Do you know who owns this restaurant?  Here's a small hint.  She is the most butter loving, finger licking lady any of us will ever see on Food Network.  Did you figure it out?  It's Paula Deen!!!  We've got reservations to eat at her restaurant, Lady & Sons, this weekend while we are in Savannah, Georgia supporting our niece in a state swim meet.  My brother and his family and my parents are meeting up in Savannah to spend the weekend together on Tybee Island.  We haven't seen one another since Christmas so there is sure to be many laughs, lots of screaming in support of our sweet niece, Kate, who is excelling at a sport she loves, card games that bring out the competitive side in all of us, and tons of delicious food from every restaurant that we can frequent.  We're starting the weekend off at Paula's place!  I'll be sure to take tons of photos so that I can give you a grand tour of this spectacular Southern city! 

Color me Happy!

 

Meg, over at one of my favorite blogs, Whatever,  wins the best  mommy award for allowing this in her house.  My kids want to know why she'll do it and I won't.  I told them I'm sure it was because her kids have self-control and won't chew 47 gumballs every single day until their teeth rot out. 

  

Ummm.  fresh flowers, coffee in a beautiful and colorful mug, a colossal reminder to EAT, and white subway tile....love this kitchen...love her blog!

  

candles, an old bench, awesome tile floor, and a creamy white bird cage.  Can a bathroom get any better?

  

A woman who loves books all over her house as much as I do.  Meg and I could seriously be friends in real life.  I think books should seriously be in every room of a house. 

  

This is her mudroom. Don't you just love the colorful accents?   Meg's blog is one of those that I visit every.single.day. You will absolutely love all the pictures that you find of her home.  It's so colorful!  You'll also really appreciate what she writes because it's real.  And, I like real.

Show and Tell...

  

  

 

I thought I'd show you my kids' rooms and tell you a little about each one.  This room belongs to my oldest son, the tender one.  He loves to read, draw, and use his vivid imagination to write all kinds of stories so I wanted him to have a place where he could "work" on his projects.  The beautiful desk is from Eddy West Furniture, which is actually located in my small home town.  It's former name was Habersham Furniture.  It's kind of crazy to know the lady who started and still owns this amazing furniture company that ships all over the world.  The two lockers I got from a friend in Georgia, the shelf that holds the hats and trophies came from TJ Maxx and you can't really see the chair at the desk, but my sweet grandfather made it when he was a boy.  My husband made the head board out of different lengths of wood.  He secured it to the wall horizontally covering the width of the queen size bed.  My favorite piece in his room is the old English pine chest.  When we bought our first home while living in Montgomery, Alabama, we had a housing envelope that we used to put away extra cash so that we could invest in some fabulous furniture and artwork.  We bought several of the chests over a three year period from a wonderful couple who owned a shop called Brook's Antiques.

This room belongs to my middle son, the boy filled with Joy.  He was born into this world loving dirt and every kind of vehicle ever made.  I thought it perfect to give him a room that surrounded him with the things that he loved the most.  The old English pine chest also came from Brook's Antiques, the antique Valvoline sign came from an antique store in my home town, the four signs around the Valvoline sign came from Land of Nod, and the red and yellow gas pumps on the chest came from TJ Maxx.  We made his head board the same way except we turned it vertically above his queen size bed.  We bought the solid wood, old book case "as is" from a hole in the wall on the side of the road in my hometown for $50. 

 

  

  

  

And, this room belongs to our Miss Fancy Pants!  While on our trip to China to bring her home, we bought those beautiful turquoise lions.  A friend bought the 3 frames in white and couldn't find a place for them, so I gladly took them off her hands and painted them a creamy white and distressed them.  They hold black and white photos of her with her brothers.  I made the sign to go above the picture frames.  These signs are all over blog land, but I first saw the idea here.  I bought her bedding from TJ Maxx and I just love that it pulls out the turquoise in those lions.  She actually has two twin beds in her room, and both of the head boards were made with love by her daddy.  He cut the plywood into the shape that I requested and then we covered them with batting and then with the polka dot fabric.  The armoir that you see is also from Eddy West Furniture...(I'll share another story about my beautiful pieces from there in another post!)  I have a sweet stuffed lamb on top of the armoir that I got from Target last Easter and a beautiful green birdcage that perfectly matches her striped walls from none other than...TJ Maxx!  I'm still looking for some throw pillows that I adore, but I'm okay with letting them sit empty until I find what I love.  I'm also planning to add some of those a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e. Martha Stewart pom-poms that I saw over at Dreamy Whites in her girls' room.  Those will definitely finish off the look that I'm going for when they are hanging from her ceiling!

I love mixing old with new.  I love colors for my kids rooms that they love.  I love having a bookcase in each room filled with all their favorite classic books.  I love the "less is more" philosophy...a few great pieces.  I love that each room represents the child that calls it home.  And mostly, I love that my children love their rooms.     

A Day To Remember...

 

  

  

family fun day.

animal kingdom and hollywood studios.

perfect weather.

lots of laughter.

hardly any whining.

way too many frozen lemonade drinks consumed by one family.

life size mr. potatoe head.

a giraffe up close and personal.

safari ride that made my kids feel like they had been to africa.

rockin' roller coaster with all of our favorite 80's songs.

and maybe mom embarrassing kids just a little.

falling freestyle from an elevator in a haunted mansion on tower of terror.

mt. everest.

todiefor fireworks show.

kids falling asleep before we could even leave the park.

these are days to remember.

Soul Food...

 

We wait in hope for the Lord; 

he is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love rest upon us,

O Lord,

even as we put our hope in you.

Psalms 33:20-22

Have a restful Sunday,

Dreamy Whites Give Away!!!

 

Maria from Dreamy Whites has been blogging about a month!  She has a beautiful home, a sweet family and a  grateful heart!

She and I...we could be friends in real life!  Anthropologie is one of her favorite stores, and as you can see, she also loves fresh flowers!

  

She is graciously and generously giving away those *to die for* spice jars from our favorite store, Anthropologie, this weekend.  All you have to do to enter the drawing is visit her blog and leave a comment!

I don't know about you, but I love those spice jars that can be used in about 47 million ways.  Take a minute and head over to Dreamy Whites to enter for the give away!  You'll love her home and most of all her heart!

Happy Weekend!

Pillow Talk...

 

source:  That Funky Boutique 

I find myself looking forward to Friday's in "Blogland" because it's a chance for me to see what is inspiring everyone.  Melissa, over at The Inspired Room,  is always encouraging us to capture the things that inspire our lives. 

 

source:  De-De's Etsy Shop 

 Today, I'm inspired by pillows! 

 

source: Hettle's Shop

 I got rid of all the pillows that came with our sofas about 6 months ago before I ever replaced any of them.   

source:  The Shabby Nest 

Sometimes for me, I have to get rid of the old before I can imagine the new.

 

Source:  The Shabby Nest 

When you are looking at bare sofas, it kind of forces you to think about what you really want.  We have a family room and a sitting room, so I needed enough pillows for four sofas and a couple of chairs. 

  

Source: Pottery Barn 

I found two solid pillows with buttons from TJ MAXX that look very similar to the ones above.  Don't you love when you find something there for a fraction of the price?  I do!!

 
 

Source:  Pottery Barn 

I'm okay with sitting with empty spaces for awhile if it means that I can eventually get what I really want. 

 

 

Source:  Pottery Barn 

  Pottery Barn has some amazing patterned pillows.  And, since I was pretty determined about the look that I wanted, I ended up buying four of the same spectacular kind straight from our Pottery Barn in Winter Park...one for each of the four sofas in our two rooms.  I chose to buy only the pillow covers and then used some pillow forms that I had already on hand.  It was more affordable that way!  

 
 

Source:  Pottery Barn 

  It's been 6 months, and I have to say that I'm ready to have my "pillow project" crossed off the to do list!  Recently, I've found some amazing Etsy shops that offer beautifully handmade pillows.   I'm loving all things "ruffles" so I'm pretty certain that a couple of those ruffled beauties are going to find a home on some of my furniture!  When you get a chance, check out the Etsy shops that I've featured today and by all means, head on over to The Inspired Room to check out all the inspiring things out in bloggy world today.

 

 

Ten Things I Love...

 

I love this precious face!

I love to watch this kid create!

 

I love this kid's mind and his heart..he's a thinker and a feeler!

I love this man.

I love burlap, ruffles, creamy whites, wood floors, coffee and quiet moments with a great book!

I'm a creek,mountain, all 4 seasons kind of girl who has fallen in love with the sandy beaches of Florida!

I adore double farm sinks, fresh flowers, bright sunlight, and wood floors in a kitchen!

Oh, how I love the colors and crispness of Fall!

I love this foyer..it screams Warmth and Welcome!

I love it when Spring ushers in bright new flowers!

My friend Sarah tagged me with the order of naming 10 things that I absolutely love right now.  I have to say that it was so hard to narrow it down to  just 10 things so you'll probably see this post again with a few different pictures representing some things that I adore! What are you loving right now?