happy belated "blogiversary"

So, I totally missed my one year anniversay of blogging! My first post was April 26, 2010 and I was a little sporadic at the beginning. It's so funny to look back at the first posts and see how far I have come! I found my voice after a few months and while I haven't been posting as much as I used to, blogging is still one of my favorite things!  I have met so many wonderful people and I feel like I am friends with so many of you out there!

A big thanks to all my readers and other blogging buddies for making my first year a success!!! To many more!

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monday musing

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finally, my floorplan!

Ok, I think I got this figured out! Finally....I am posting my floor plan to the new house! I had a little bit more patience today and figured out how to get the picture to the right size ;)

I think my husband and I did a great job with this plan. It is really well laid out and will fit our family perfectly! The new house will be 2373 square feet (living)...4 bedroom, 3 baths.  Good news is we have FINALLY got our building permits and we should start in the next week. Yay!!

**I apologize in advance for the microscopic print. Trust me, it's much more legible than my first few attempts.

pity party

My Monday was no good. Made a mistake at a client's and I am beating myself up about it. It's not a big one but I hate making them. So, I am having a pity party and I don't feel like doing much more than drinking wine and watching trashy reality tv!

I should be back to normal by tomorrow!

monday musing

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favorite find of the week 5.20

So, a few weeks ago I posted a pic of my inspiration board of my kitchen.  It included stools from West Elm that I have been coveting for months...

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I was so excited when a blog reader told me that Cost Plus World Market had a stool almost identical for half the price! What a score! Well, I took my time to purchase and debated it so long, I lost out and it is no longer available. {insert sad face}

This weekend, I was searching online for another stool option and look what I spied at JC Penney! My stool and for even less than the World Market stool...$69.99/each! I snatched 3 of these right up! Even got free shipping! I am so excited about my buy and I can't wait to see them in the new kitchen!!!

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build or buy???

Ok, so as much as I would love to be, I am not the queen of DIY.  Heck, I am not even in the court. But, I am debating making an upholstered headboard for my daughter's room. The only thing is I found one I could buy at Ballard Designs for a not too bad price. Do I build or buy??

I have thought about the pros and cons of both--

Store Bought

Pros-

• No work involved besides the click of my mouse
• Can buy ready-made slipcovers for it that I can toss in the washer when it gets dirty
• Can have slipcover monogrammed with her initials

Cons-

• Could potentially be spending more money than it costs to make one
• Pre-determined shape; no chance to to get creative

DIY (based on a headboard from Dwell Studio)

Pros-

• I have a handy husband who happens to have the majority of July off, which means plenty of time to help me with this project
• Get to create the exact shape I want

Cons-

• I have absolutely zero patience when it comes to this stuff
• Afraid the cost to build the headboard will equal to the cost to buy

What to do? What to do??

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monday musing

I found this on Elements of Style a few weeks ago and I definitely need to print it out and read this to myself daily!

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s – Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Play more games.
6. Read more books than you did in 2010.
7. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
8. Sleep for 7 hours.
9. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

1. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
3. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
6. Dream more while you are awake.
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
8. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more.
14. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

1. Call your family often.
2. Each day give something good to others.
3. Forgive everyone for everything.
4. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
5. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
6. What other people think of you is none of your business.
7. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

1. Do the right thing!
2. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
3. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
4. The best is yet to come.
5. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

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effortless

Another designer and I were talking about what makes some people so calm and collected and others stressed and frantic, even when presented with the same daily schedule.  What brought this up was after going up and down the stairs in our office for the 4th time in a row hauling samples back and forth, I felt so "AAAHHH"! Not very effortless or collected. I seem to always feel like I am frantic buzzing around from one place to the next.

So, my thought is, the people I see where it seems like nothing fazes them and they are graceful and smooth throughout the day, is it all an act or is there a relaxed gene I am missing?? This post is also coming off of a crazy busy day where I was back and forth and all over and I left the office in an overall disheveled state.

Why can't I be look more like these ladies?? Cool as a cucumber!

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keep calm

This week promises to be a crazy one...again.  Also trying to come to grips with the fact that it is May already!  Work is so busy but it is good! I am having so much fun helping my clients achieve the dream home they want but whew! I am exhausted every night! Still trying to figure out the balance, but then again, who isn't?!

Here's a little eye candy I came upon tonight...sooooo relaxing!

designer :: david jimenez

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monday musing

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happy mother's day!

I wish all you mothers out there a very relaxing weekend! You deserve it!

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Special note to my mother across the pond...love you!! Thanks for being the best mother a daughter could ask for and encouraging me to always follow my dreams!

to the trade :: hickory chair

I think sometimes I take for granted all the beautiful things I get exposed to on a daily basis and a lot of the places I order from are to the trade only. So, I thought I would introduce you all to a company that some may be very familiar with, while others may just be hearing about it for the first time!

Hickory Chair is my go-to furniture source. They have some of the best upholstery pieces around and their case goods are to die for! I love them because almost everything is customizable, to the length of a sofa to the finish on a table, all the way to the hardware I want to add to a chest. They also have some pretty big names creating furniture collections for them...Thomas O'Brien, Mariette Himes-Gomez, and Suzanne Kasler to name a few.

I could seriously post every piece of furniture from their website, but I have narrowed it down to a few....

This chest and table were introduced at the Spring High Point Market--

This is the perfect host chair-- It screams relaxed elegance!

The quatrefoil book table never disappoints and changes character with just a change in finish. It could be used in a study in the dark stain but would look right at home in a living room in an antique ivory painted finish.

Love some of these pieces from Mariette Himes Gomez--

This cabinet is available as an armoire or as a bar cabinet and is also available in a multitude of finishes--

Who doesn't love this side chair from the Suzanne Kasler collection?

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I encourage you to browse their website-- all the images are so inspiring!

house update

We've hit a few road blocks lately. So frustrating, but part of the building process!  The permitting process has been giving us headaches and we can't do anything until we have the permits.

First roadblock from permitting was a soil test that indicated wetlands...um, not sure where there could be wetlands because it is high and dry there. But, if wetlands are indicated, the EPC (Environmental Protection Commission) has to come out and verify there are/aren't any wetlands. Luckily, they came out last week and verified that the property is dry so we are good to go with that.

Then, there is the roadblock that we are the most worried about.  The County is stating that the lot has been "conceptually identified as significant wildlife habitat". Ok? What does that all mean? Turns out, the front corner is the part of the "significant" wildlife habitat. We have submitted a site plan with our other plans showing that we have no intentions of touching that corner of the property. So, our hope is that they will not make too big of a fuss about it and sign off on the plans.

This permitting stuff is crazy and nerve wracking! It can really hold a project up! We are already behind by a month due to these issues and we need them to be figured out asap!

Sp, that's where we are! I hope my next update is a photo of the concrete slab being poured!

monday musing

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