Sitting Areas.

I adore a good sitting area. I have one by my kitchen/laundry area and it is the perfect space to chat, have a drink, or eat a snack with my hubby (when the chairs aren't covered in laundry!). My love of sitting areas began when house sitting for an interior designer back in the good ole days  when I was 18 or so. She had arranged the most beautiful little spot by the bay windows of what would be considered her eat-in kitchen space. She explained to me that she and her husband love to drink their morning coffee and read the newspaper or other books there and that it was her favorite place in the whole house. Whenever I stayed there I would enjoy my morning coffee there. I never ever sat in their gorgeous living room because the sitting area was so much more cozy and inviting. It ended up being my favorite spot in their home too.

Here are some inspiring images of sitting areas I like:

 {Decorpad}

{Coastal Living}

{Cote de Texas}

{?}

{Apartment Therapy}

Do have a sitting area?

Stylin'.

This spring the style is to look like a crazy lady. Word.

Hey folks, I have some more lengthy posts in the works and will update soon. Had a bit of "blogger's block" this week. Maybe I should do a post on how to make your head look like a bird's nest....;)

J'adore.

{Lonny}

I want to have something monogrammed....hmmm. I guess I'll just have to gaze at this pic until I decide what I can put my initials on...

Mad About Monday.

These would look great with those.

Greek Key Pillows.

Bet you were wondering what I was going to do with the greek key fabric in this post...well, I made some outdoor throw pillows!

I just can't wait to kick back with one and read a good book..or two...

p.s. Can you tell that we blew all of the leaves off the porch this weekend? No? Right. That's because they came RIGHT back.

Delish Dish.

You'll need one huge bag, Cape Cod 40% Reduced Fat chips. Place in 9x13 and preheat the oven to 250.

One 4 oz thingy of crumbled blue cheese.

One of those.

Pour everything on the chips.

Use {VERY CLEAN} bare hands to mix the chips with the blue cheese slowly. Make sure every chip has touched at least a little bit of the dressing; place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Ta-da! The best snack food ever. Totally healthy too. A running buddy gave me this recipe while we were running one day- funny how food is usually the topic of conversation during long runs!

J'adore.

Love, love, love it! Get it here.

Dogwoods.

Our dogwoods are blooming. This is my FAVORITE time of year at our house.  And that might possibly be my favorite picture so far on the new camera. 

Which season is your favorite in your yard/house? Do you plant things each season so that you always have blooms? Do you change pillow covers and bedding when the weather gets warmer or cooler?

We just took our down comforter off the bed and put the coverlet on instead. It is much thinner but not too thin. Have to be ready for those 90 degree evenings...still, air conditioning can be so cold! I suppose Darby will have to keep us warm!

MD & MF.

Remember my post way back about M Design? Well, I do! This recent post on Blue Hydrangea made me almost as excited as I was to find M Design in the first place!! Do you guys watch Modern Family? My husband and I are addicted- (also fans of: Lost, House & The Deep End). Wellll, Julie Bowen (see below) is apparently the sister to Molly of M Design! Small world, eh?

Check out a room from from her house that her sister designed:

I love all of Molly's work though...

Her designs are so livable and full of character.

Check the rest of her stuff out here.

A Weekend.

It was filled with sweet moments...

Open skies...

Luscious veggies (at my in-laws)...

A crazy Wheaten...

Camera snapping (I took over 200 pics this week...out of control)...

More of the Wheaten and her ways...

A little sewing action (I'll show you the finished product soon)...

and last but not least...I snagged a garden stool at TJ Maxx for- guess how much!!! guess!!

OK. I can't wait for you to guess. $30!!! I never thought I would EVER find one for that. and I love the yellow. If you live in Jax and want one they had one more in sea-foam green for $30 and then three more at $50. The more expensive ones were navy or green and had a lot more detail to them. Fifty is still a great deal. They are at the Argyle TJ Maxx location.

It's Knot Winter Anymore.

{Southern Living}

It is now warm and breezy and absolutely gorgeous here in North East Florida. So that has me thinking about ways to improve my backyard, my wardrobe, and my tan. Ok, so I won't work on my tan that much because I need to wear a lot more SPF this year to prevent the rest of my moles from being removed. (5 taken away last year).

{Coastal Living}

We ate at an awesome new restaurant over the weekend called Blue Fish and I loved all the bright blues on the walls and behind the bar. I felt like I was on vacation. That's a lie. I won't be going on vacation for a long time. But the weather and the restaurant reminded me of Aruba. That is where we went on our honeymoon. Good times.  

{Southern Living}

 Soooo when I think about the Caribbean, I think of bright blues but then my mind sighs and I think of a color scheme more like the one above. I love all the natural fibers and texture and navy and those shelves...ahhhh that's better.

{Southern Living}

BY THE WAY: Southern Living's most recent mag had a whole spread about Charleston and most of it is already online. So go take a look. I found out about this from the friend I went to dinner with at the place that reminds me of the Caribbean and blue & white color schemes. I wish I could go on vacation in Charleston. Sigh. 

{Anthro.}

So my mind has been on outdoor living, tans, vacations, the Caribbean, Charleston, blue&white- which leads me to the next subject: nautical. I know a preggo that will be celebrating the birth of her son soon with a nautical shindig and also a nautical nursery. While I have her little one on the brain I wanted to share some cute accessories for such a nursery. The first being those adorable knot knobs from Anthropologie. They are a MUST.

{Wisteria}

This shadowbox of a sailboat is cute, too. 

{Nautical Supply Shop}

Ok so I think this is the best mirror....ever. It comes in three sizes too. Oh the possibilities...

{Anthro}

These aren't your traditional nautical curtains but aren't they fun??! 

Sorry for being all over the place on this one! ;)

Mad About Monday.

So I just found this website, Social Couture, by clicking on a link from another blog that someone shared with me. I was enamored by the grosgrain "belts" on all the napkins!! Too cute and definitely preppy. They have tons of great ideas and items for entertaining- check them out!

Growth.

{New growth is peeking out from my window box}

Rememeber how I said I wanted to wait on flowers this year? Well I am sticking to it. Mostly...I did purchase some knock out roses, verbena and cabbage but I planted LOTS of seeds and bulbs. I am most excited about the gladiolas I have planted in my back yard!

{Crocus Bulbs}

Have you planted anything in your yard for Spring/ Summer? I mentioned in my previous post on this subject that my reasoning behind planting seeds vs. purchasing flowers had to do with cost but mostly with the idea of actively choosing to wait rather than receive instant gratification. The result has been just as special as I imagined!

I'll show them to you in a few more weeks when everything is finished growing!

J'adore: Chair Cushion.

{Design Sponge, images from the Philadelphia flower show}

How awesome and fringe-y and French is that cushion?! So awesome!

Take A Seat.

I took these from the end of my neighbor's driveway. Pretty nasty to begin with...

So I armed myself with supplies...

And I painted till my fingers had cramps.

I added new fabric to the cushions and was very pleased!

Now they have a new home. I adore them; do you?! *Yes, those are huge dustballs on the floor..eeew!