live it up

why wouldn't you....it's the weekend!

that print needs to live in my house....and that wallpaper too....

*images courtesy of walking around/ dazey chic etsy, semigloss chic, high street market

shop like a blogger....

you would think since i have had this blog for a little over two and a half years, i would be a little more computer savvy....not so much!! just ask averill! who was sweet enough to ask me to do a guest post on her beautiful blog odi et amo. luckily, after about ten emails, i figured out how to send her my post. so if you are interested in how i shop, head on over......

*thanks again averill for all of your help and patience :)

*heart*

i love this quote....it's often easy to get distracted by the the obstacles that surround us but when i read this, i kind of feel like i could be a super hero and conquer the world...watch out :)

*images courtesy of fern and feather, robot heart, little green notebook, black eiffel

April Giveaway: luxury soaps

As a way to promote my new business and reward all my awesome followers and readers I am having a giveaway for this month. Up for grabs is three 4 oz. soap bars from my shop. These are the most popular bars: 1 goats milk green tea, 1 goats milk lavender and oats and 1 chilli chocolat bar.

All you have to do to enter is be a FOLLOWER of my blog, and tell me what you will be doing for mother's day or what you plan to get your momma's for their special day of recognition!

To get a second entry: you can feature my new shop on your own blog via links or a blog post and leave a second comment with a link to the post.

The contest will be open until May 4th 2010 until 10 pm EST, the winner will be announced the following day through random.org. Good luck to all and of course don't forget to check out Lather & Soak!

many, many thanks

for being such a wonderful support system. it seems like these days my life consists mostly of pregnancy issues vs. beautiful design stories....but to be able to have people understand where i am coming from is a huge sigh of relief. i can't thank y'all enough, really. i passed my second round of tests so no gestational diabetes here. does that mean i can get that pound cake out of the freezer now??

*images courtesy of fern and feather, thom filicia, gary spain

Weekly DIY: patterned vases

This week's DIY comes from Elizabeth at To be charmed who used Japenese washi tape to decorate her simple vases. I really love that this idea is very simple, no clean up! plus most of us have tons of empty vases laying around  (a lot of mine come from winning the centre pieces at weddings!) that need filling especially with all the lovely flowers that are starting to bloom. I also like that you can decorate vases for certain seasons like winter or fall and spring and even for events like birthday parties, dinner parties etc, and then peel the tape off when you are done. Very inventive idea, love it!

Also forgot to mention, if you don't have Japenese washi tape (google it for local retailers), you could really use any kind of tape, including all of really neat lace shipping tapes that have been so popular lately.

lace tape

i'm a hoarder...

it's official...i am a hoarder. not in the sense of dirty garbage taking over my house...but rather, i'm a hoarder of ideas, fabrics, and pictures. i hold onto them forever, contemplating what i am going to do with them (drives my husband batty). this addiction applies only to my own house and decorating it. i finally made a decision for taylor's room. i am using quadrille's paradise background. done, no take backs!! now, i just need to decide how i am going to use it. she has two twin beds in her room. i am thinking bed canopies.....and i kind of want to tackle it as a diy project (have any of y'all tried this). so as a confessed hoarder, here is my collection of bed canopies.....i am leaning towards pic #1.

*images courtesy of ruthie sommers, pieter estersohn, palmer weiss, katie ridder, tom scheerer, house to home, mmr interiors, my fabric

FAILED.

i failed a test. it's not the first time it's happened in my life...i use to have my fair share of fun in college, i'm sure i didn't study for a pop quiz or something. it really shouldn't come as a surprise- i failed the same test 3 yrs ago. but it still sucks none the less. b/c to retake the test you have to drink 3 big bottles of the sweetest, thickest, syrup like concoctions known to man....in three hours after fasting for a night. i think i would almost prefer a piece of paper w/ a big fat F written across it....

*images courtesy of chocolate therapie, oak management, it's mary ruffle

Soap & Chocolate?

I know weird post title...but I can explain. I just recently opened a new business, and since I don't make chocolate, well I guess you can conclude from the title I've gone into the soap making business.

It all started when my sister Patti mentioned how much the soap we regularly use in our home was always bothering her. We changed the soap, several times but still her skin seemed to be sensitive to the overly drying generic and name brand soaps.

I do buy a lot of LUSH products because well to be honest I love them (as does my sister) but to be honest they are pretty pricey...I once payed over $30 for a large block of "Honey I washed the kids", which by the way lasted a little over a week!

So my next idea was to research, and research I did. I found out how to make my own soaps, this way I knew exactly what was going into them and I didn't have to pay ridiculous retail prices!

So I wanted to share my new endeavour with everyone and share some pics of some of my products.

My shop is called Lather & Soak and can be found here I would love for you all to head over and check it out. I also carry organic soap products.

This one is called "Chilli Chocolat"

oatmeal and lavender

green tea and goats milk

Weekly DIY: fabric ottoman

This week's DIY comes from Kellie at Scraplog who made her very own ottoman from scratch.

the building process

spray painting the legs

the final product in all its glory!

You can find all the details on her blog

yesterday, warren and i looked at each other at 6:00 and said "let's just go to bed and start this day over".....sometimes days just don't go exactly as planned. so today i am starting off w/ this quote...

{update} apparently this magical quote works.....my fairy godfather (aka the fed ex man) has rung my doorbell twice this AM: once he delivered a basket full of bath beauties and once w/ a pound cake. this day is already much better :)

*images courtesy of most beautiful darling, a diary of lovely, in the fun lane, ehouse studio

Outdoor Updates: red garden stool

I had bought this garden stool a long time ago... when I realized the space between the armchairs in my patio furniture set was well... missing something, I knew just what needed to go there. So a little trip to Lowe's for some Berry coloured spray paint and ta-da! A great new side table/garden stool/ extra seating for my outdoor living room in a co-ordinating colour with my set!

Did I mention I love spray paint!!!

Stay posted because I have a few more things to add to the space outside...

the garden stool inspiration

the before

the after

there are many reasons.....

why i love being a girl.....

* images courtesy of la belle vie/frou frou fashionista, caitlin wilson design, , little french nest, dwell studio blog, seen and said