It's beginning to look a lot like...

Ever since George and I's day trip to Weston I've been in the holiday spirit. Perhaps it was meeting Father Christmas (pictured below) or the falling leaves and temps, either way I'm ready for the holidays.

I grew up decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving with my mom, and I've maintained that tradition ever since. I've been collecting ideas for some time because I'm itching to change up our typical holiday decor. Here's a few of my favorite inspiration pics-

(above images courtesy of BH&G)




above pictures from RMS Leanne Michael Interiors

credit RMS Rwallis

credit RMS sljdesign

credit RMS Dante Flowers

credit Country Living

credit Room Envy

Small Town Escape

Saturday was the big day-
Mary Carol Garrity's Holiday Open House

The line of people stretched down the block, but it was well worth the wait. For a quick introduction of Mary Carol Garrity (my design muse), click here.


Her house was built in 1885. The entrance featured a dramatic staircase, with lots of molding and detail.


She certainly has a talent when it comes to staging artwork. Beautiful paintings and drawings filled the walls, perfectly staggered.

Her dining room was a gorgeous shade of midnight blue, which made the white crown molding and wainscoting pop.


Although this was a holiday open house, it didn't SCREAM Christmas, which was nice. Garrity threw in some natural greenery wreaths and a modest tree to complete the festive look.


Isn't the basket of wine bottles a fresh take on a formal display.

Next up, her bright and cheery family room-

This is the perfect nook. Love the pillows, the windows, the wreaths...

Love the grass cloth covered walls and warm trim of the den-

The screened patio was extra sweet;)

More pics to come of our Atchison/Weston adventure.

love, s

The 36 rules of life...

Just got back from a 90 minute yoga class, checked some email, found this, had a good laugh and am heading to bed.
goodnight-S

Bon Appetite

We spent Sunday evening in the company of our dearest friends. Each couple brought a course along with 2 wine pairings, for a total of 8 dishes. It was one of the best evenings I've had in awhile. The older I get the less appealing the bar scene gets, so this was a nice change of pace.

One of the favorites of the night...fresh seared tuna layered with avocado, tomato and garnished with homemade wonton chips. (Awesome job Nick & Kara)

My 1st attempt at a tres leches cake. I was really nervous but thankfully, it turned out well. I definitely recommend this cake. It's so moist and a nice, light way to end a heavy meal. I also made turtle caramel brownies as a back-up.

And speaking of great recipes, I printed out the Scottish version of The Recipe for a Happy Life on a piece of $.29 scrapbook paper-

Cut it down to fit a 5x7 dollar store frame-

and placed my new 'artwork' on the window ledge above my kitchen sink-

The frame balances out the large canisters (filled with tarts, corks and faux lemons)

And offers a nice crisp line compared to the round serving tray-

All for $1.29 and about 30 seconds of time. It doesn't get any easier.

And if you were wondering what the recipe is (and can't tell from the pics) here you go:

The Recipe for a Happy Life

One cup of Confidence

One cup of Love

In a pan of Happiness
Mix the above.

Add a pinch of Tenderness

A tablespoon of Truth

Stir well in the Sunshine

Roll out a loving Trust.

Flour well with Contentment

Keep all free from Strife

Fill with Understanding

And bake well all your Life.

Amen! -S

52 days...

Since Christmas is a mere 6.5 weeks away (crazy!?!), the pre-holiday celebrations are beginning. This weekend I headed to the Webster House is downtown KC with my Junior League girls for a holiday decorating class/browse session. Webster House is a gorgeous old house that serves as an antique store/restaurant/interior design mecca. The prices are a bit steep but it's worth the drive down just for the eye-candy.

Here are some of my faves (please excuse the poor quality cell-phone pics)-

1st up a silver winter-wonderland tree

The mercury glass ornaments were simply gorgeous.

2nd (my personal fave too) a bronze and turquoise themed tree. Genius.

3rd-Random collection of non-holiday items

Not usually a fan of faux-flowers but these were very realistic and looked gorgeous as accents on the Christmas trees.

The Lucite chairs were the perfect accent to the otherwise traditional seating area.

These are the most amazing scented candles out there.

They are designed for each specific room, ex: den was a woodsy scent, master bedroom was sweet, romantic scent etc.

Love the tree-bark look of these candle holders.

And the gin/vodka decanter. Classic.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend-S

What's Cooking?

It's been a long week and yes, I'm aware it's only Tuesday. I wish I could've spent the day here-

(image Decor Pad)

Enjoying cups of this-



While J prepared a fabulous dinner to be served in our dining room, which would look something like this-

(image J Design Group)

or this-

or any of these-

(image HGTV)

(image Decor Pad)
(image Decor Pad)
(image Southern Living)

(image Horchow)

Can you tell that I've been dreaming of a fabulous dining room? I'm finally ready to tackle this room in our house and have started collecting some inspiration pics. I'm having a bit of trouble committing to a new paint color but have narrowed it down. Hope to paint this weekend and have a final reveal in a few weeks.

love, s

The Happy Act

I'm taking a break from my regular design-related blogging to talk about The Happy Act.

For all you pet owners/animal activists out there, this is a fantastic step towards helping pet owners afford vet care. If this passes, it would allow pet owners an up to $3500 tax credit for vet care. Read David's (from The Rest is Still Unwritten blog-a very honest and amusing blog about life and love from the male perspective) eloquent blog entry about this very act, here

And because I can't discuss pets without mentioning my own puppy dogs-

Charlie

'Z' aka zorro

Our boys certainly have the life!

And on a completely unrelated note, thought I'd share my favorite song/video of the week, just seems to fit with the rainy, dark weather/stressed work week I'm having-

Happy Friday! love, s