If you are looking for a good book...

Tomorrow we are headed to Isle of Palms, SC, for our annual family beach trip. IOP is located right outside of Charleston and we have been vacationing there for almost 15 years. The trip has become such a tradition for our family and it is one of my favorite weeks of the year. It is especially fun now that there are 2 babies in the group!

All of the women in my family are avid readers. We spend lots of time on the beach, by the pool and on the screened-in porch reading and relaxing. One of our favorite authors is low-country native Dorthea Benton Frank. She is a Southern fiction writer and her novels are usually based in Isle of Palms, Sullivan's Island, Charleston and other surrounding areas. We have read all of her books and are excited to read her latest next week! 

If you are looking for a good book, give her a try.

Weekly Recap and a Recipe

What a busy week! I am exhausted - good thing I am going on vacation again tomorrow :) Riley is sick with a cold today so I can't go to the gym this morning (I am SO sad about that - I was just dying to go.) Instead, I am going to have a busy day of laundry and packing. This sounds easy, but Riley's favorite thing to do is unpack, so when I turn around, she empties out everything I just packed!

Thank you so much for all of your comments and emails this week. I realize that I haven't answered everyone's questions yet, so I figured I would do a weekly recap.

I love hearing your reactions to the green & white striped cabinet! Keep the comments coming! I do realize that this isn't a look for every room, but I was looking for a dramatic statement because I placed this cabinet directly inside of our front door. It is the first thing you see when you enter our house so I wanted something unique. And I have to say, every time I come home from the gym, the store, etc. I smile when I walk in the door and see it. I think it works in the foyer because all of the other colors are muted so it isn't too overwhelming. I was actually going to paint gray stripes inside the cabinet, but the painters tape I used was kelly green and I loved the way it looked when I finished taping so I went out and bought some green paint! The green paint is Benjamin Moore Baby Fern. I taped off the stripes and then coated the tape with gel medium to seal the edges. Then I painted 4 coats of green and removed the tape. There were still some areas of touch up so I just used a steady hand to even out any mistakes. I bought the cabinet at Stuarts Draft Antique Mall. (Lauren - I can email you directions if you don't know where it is. You should definitely check it out!)

I still haven't made a decision on what to do with the Imperial Trellis wallpaper. I think I am leaning towards framing it - I am definitely NOT putting it inside a drawer so don't worry!

And finally, here is the requested Mac & Cheese recipe:

Golden Mac & Cheese (Southern Living 2004)

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) package elbow macaroni (about 2 cupsuncooked macaroni)

2 cups milk

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon onion salt

2 (10-ounce) blocks sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded(about 4 1/2 cups) and divided

1 cup soft breadcrumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Preparation

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain well.

Set aside.

Place milk, flour, and onion salt in a quart jar; cover tightly,and shake vigorously 1 minute.

Stir together flour mixture, 3 1/2 cups cheese, and macaroni.

Pour macaroni mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inchbaking dish or 2 (11-inch) oval baking dishes. Sprinkle evenlywith breadcrumbs and remaining 1 cup cheese; drizzleevenly with melted butter.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until golden brown. 

More Great Deals

This must be my lucky week! I promise I do not usually shop quite this often (my husband would probably beg to differ), but lately I keep coming across deals that I can NOT turn down. Look at this rug I found online yesterday:

It is from Williams-Sonoma Home and an 8'x11' is only $179.00! I actually had a $100 gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma so it only cost me $79.00 plus tax and shipping! Not a bad deal for an 8'X11' rug. Do I need to remind y'all that I love black and white stripes?

I also went to Target yesterday and found this gem. 

I have had my eye on this lamp for a while but it was a little more than I wanted to spend. I always walk by and admire it, but convince myself that I can do without it. Yesterday it was on sale for $29.00 and I could not talk myself out of it any longer. I am such a sucker for drum lamp shades. It looks great in my foyer along with my next good find:

 

This rug was sadly not $179.00. But I still got a good deal on it. I found it at a store I love in Charlottesville and it was reasonably priced plus 20% off! Who knows what I will find next!

The Reveal

Remember this?

Meet this.

Thoughts?

Serenity Now

Over the weekend, I was sitting in the car in a parking lot waiting on Paul when I noticed how ugly the strip malls and store fronts were where I was sitting. Everywhere I looked offered something like this:

And I don't even know what to say about this?

Your eyes are not deceiving you - that is a buffalo on the roof. 

Luckily, when sights like this become too much for me, I live in a place where I can drive 10 minutes in any direction and find this to soothe my eyes.

Gotta love the Shenandoah Valley.

I finally know why people love antique shopping

As I mentioned earlier, we went antique/second-hand furniture shopping this weekend. Let me preface this post by saying that this is not always an event that I enjoy. It isn't that I don't love the idea of getting a fabulous one-of-a-kind piece of furniture for an extremely low price that I can proudly display in my home - it's just that this NEVER happens to me. I am always the person who has such high hopes and searches and searches all day long only to find a bunch of overpriced junk. Or even worse, I finally find a piece I love at a price I can afford only to find out that it has already been sold! It is so frustrating and I usually am not in a good mood after these outings.

Well, after Saturday, I have to say, I think my luck has changed! My friend Amy is a ferocious second-hand shopper and she provided me with a couple of places in the area that I had never been to before. The first place we went was so great that I never even made it anywhere else.

Find #1:

Our old house had a built-in china cabinet where we could display our lovely china and crystal.

Our new house does not have a built-in so our china has been hidden inside a kitchen cabinet. When I saw this china cabinet, I knew it would be perfect in our dining room.

I am so happy to finally get to display our china again! And the picture above really does not do this cabinet justice. It is so beautiful, in great condition and has so many interesting details.

Look at the casters!

Find#2

This may not look like much now, but it was the first thing I saw when I walked in the store and I knew it was going to be a good day. I have such dramatic plans for this cabinet and I am already halfway through with its transformation. I can not wait to show y'all the results! But you will have to wait a few more days!

Find #3

I am not sure what I am going to do with this old milk crate but I just really liked it. So far, Riley has been loading and unloading her toys and herself in and out of it. If it keeps her busy for more than 10 minutes then it is already worth its price.

Find #4

I saw this old tool caddy and just picked it up and kept carrying it around the store with me even though I really didn't know what I was going to do with it. I showed it to Paul who gave me the raised eyebrows and the fake smile which means he doesn't think it is near as great as I think it is. But I bought it anyway and now I am using it as my desk organizer.

I think it works great and it is much more unique than the plastic trays that are usually used for this purpose.

Find #5

Just so you don't think I am the only one who came home with a smile on her face, I found this for my husband.

Remember how I said he loves fires? Well, this is a bellows which is a tool that blows air into the fire to make it flame up. They are actually hard to find so I was very happy to see this one for $5!

I also saw this adorable antique crib. 

It turns out it wasn't for sale and there is no way it would be safe for Riley anyway. I think the rails would come up to just above her knees if she stood up in this thing. But it would be really cute for a newborn.

It really was a great day. Paul was so excited about everything that he pushed me back out on Sunday to try some of the other places that we didn't get to on Saturday. But our luck had run out - the other places were duds. That is okay though - now that I know what a successful day of antique shopping feels like, I am hooked! I still need to find a coffee table...

Sunday Supper

Last winter my husband and I started making a point to have "Sunday Suppers". During football season we would watch the NFL games, light a fire, and eat a big meal in between the games. Basically, I cook whatever comfort food we want while he keeps Riley entertained. Sometimes we have friends and family join us, but most of the time it is just the three of us. We eat at the dining room table instead of our informal table and sometimes we even use our china and crystal. During the summer, it has been harder to stick to this routine because we are outside all day or vacationing, etc. Today we finally had time to do another Sunday Supper. And it was a good one. It almost makes me wish it were winter again. 

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Homemade Mac & Cheese

Fried Chicken

Tomato Cucumber Salad

 Fresh Green Beans

Buttermilk Biscuits

And, of course, sweet tea!

Now we are stuffed and sleepy. It was a great way to end a busy weekend.

Check back tomorrow - I am going to post about my second-hand shopping finds from the weekend! I can't wait to show y'all what I found!

Living Room Details

I apologize that the pictures in the last post are so dark. I have a great DSLR camera that I love but every time I use it inside I am either battling dark pictures (no flash) or glare (with flash). Hopefully, Darby's photographer friend is going to tell me how to solve this problem. 

Some of you have asked for more info so here the details on the living room:

Paint: Castleton Mist by Benjamin Moore. I love, love, love Benjamin Moore paint. I know it costs a little more than some of the other paints out there, but that is because it is better! This particular color is interesting. In the mornings with natural light, it looks more yellow. But, in the afternoons and evenings, it looks green. I wanted green and I am happy with the final color, but it does change with the light more than any paint color I have ever used before. 

Aluminum Table: Pottery Barn

Green Stacked Sideboard:Wisteria.

Couch, Leather Chair and Rug: These are all from a wonderful place in Farmville, VA, called Greenfront Furniture. The next time I go there I will do a post about it. The entire downtown of Farmville is warehouse after warehouse of Greenfront Furniture. It is unbelievable.

Curtains & Cornices: The curtains came from a little store in my hometown of Burlington, NC.

I reused the cornices that were originally in the room. I pulled off the tassel fringe and glued this ribbon around the top of the cornice. The ribbon is by Martha Stewart and I found it at Michaels.

Because you can still see some of the glue from where I tore off the tassels, I plan to put a nail head trim around the bottom edge of the cornices. Here is a photo of the curtains and cornice together. My dog Reagan is sitting in his favorite dog-watching spot. Unfortunately, he is also ruining the cushions of my couch. 

The Picture Wall: The pictures are all photos that I took of various places. Here are the details:

 

Thanks for all of your questions and comments! I'm off to go furniture shopping. I hope I find something!

Before & After - The Living Room

My friend Suzanne requested another before and after post. Since I sometimes think she is the only person still reading this blog, I felt I needed to oblige :) Here is a before shot of our living room.

DISCLAIMER: NONE of the stuff in the picture below is ours - it is all the previous owner's things. I could not live with myself if y'all thought this was my doing! 

We immediately removed the dirty carpet, which thankfully was not tacked down. Then the room remained completely empty for about 9 months. We have another family room that we were using as our main den and we just didn't have any furniture for this room. Not to mention, we had our baby during this time period so nothing happened around the house for quite a while. It just sat there empty and lonely for months.

But my husband was dying to use the fireplace. To the point that he would light a fire and sit in the empty room - what is it with men and fire??? So, on New Year's Eve, we decided that we couldn't take it any longer and we got to work. There are still some details that need to be worked on, but for the most part, this is the finished product.

The bookshelves are way too cluttered. I plan to work on that this weekend. I want more books and less stuff!

Do you see Riley's little noggin' in this one? She kept getting in every picture!

You can see a glimpse of my Bobo table back there!

We are going shopping this weekend and I hope to find a coffee table. At the moment, we are just using the ottoman from another sofa we have. Unfortunately, most of the coffee tables I have found would be death traps for my one year old - one had glass and one was concrete. So, I am still looking. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Bobo Intriguing Objects

I am the proud owner of this table from Bobo Intriguing Objects.

Tapestry Table

My husband bought it for my birthday last year and I absolutely love it! I use it as a buffet table in my dining room. I think it is my favorite piece of furniture in my entire house. I often look at the Bobo website and lust after more of their fabulous designs. Here are just a few that are on my wish list:

Annika Table

Perfect for my foyer. 

Empire Lamp

Where wouldn't this look good? I may need a couple...

4 Door Bakery Cabinet

This will be a must when we finally get around to our kitchen renovation.

Industrial Counter - 3 Drawer

Okay, I will be honest. This would probably not fit in anywhere in my house. But I love the industrial feel to it. Maybe one day when I have an urban loft in a big city? 

Saw Horse Zinc Dining Table

My new desk? Yes, please. 

Wine Sphere Chandelier

My new desk will need proper lighting...

Okay. I am making myself stop or I might end up posting their entire website here. But, seriously, check it out. It's good stuff.