Home sweet home

For a home body to be out of her element for a few weeks is difficult.

Sunday was the first day in quite some time that I actually sat on my couch and relaxed. Watched some tv, loaded pictures from our vacation, played with my daughter...it was nice!

A few of you asked to see pictures of my purchases from last weekend's 'Mini Design Flea'... so my brief moment of down time on Sunday suddenly turned into photo opp time.

Below is the brown and white zebra pillow that I purchased.

And this is the sweet gray and creme linen damask pillow I purchased (keep your eyes on the pillow and please overlook the muddy paw prints on the slipcovers).

I bought four small ironstone plates to add to my collection.

And finally this grayish herb pot, which as much as I would like it to, will likely not ever have any real herbs growing inside {major plant rearing deficiencies here!}.

Do you notice anything different here? My faux chandy is no longer 'faux' thanks to my buddy Rob. He stole this right off of my ceiling weeks and weeks ago and rewired it for me. Now I have a working chandy (with far too much light so less wattage bulbs are in order). I unscrewed every other bulb so I wouldn't burn your eyeballs!

I'm working on a post of our California trip so you can expect to see that in the coming days.

That's all for now...

xoxo,

T

Thank you!

A big thank you to everyone who braved the heat and came out to our Mini Design Flea in Houston today!

Aside from the miserably hot and sticky air, the day was a big success.

Holly and Linsey are such amazing ladies and the way they pulled this event together in a short amount of time was completely inspiring. The combined talent and warmth between these two has me in awe.

We held the crowd back until 9am. Things were a bit chaotic the first hour, leaving me feeling very scattered.

But then I saw some friendly faces (Cindy, Stacie, Kristen, Rebecca, Tara, mom and my sweet N), and that calmed my nerves quite a bit.

I finally got to meet Virginia and Suzanne and sweet Elz stopped by and brought some friends.

Just look at all of this gorgeous stuff.

When all was said and done, I made my rounds and purchased a few special things from my blog buddies.

All in all our event was a success and it's all thanks to you~those who helped spread the word, those who came out with your friends and shopped with us, and those who got only 5 hours of sleep last night slaving away in preparation mode.

LOVE you all!!

Hugs~

T

A sneak peek

Here's a final sneak peek at some of the items I'll be selling at tomorrow's Mini Design Flea, including the second 'Morning T' transformed hook shelf unit (first hook unit post here).

I've got some chippy vintage white accessories, lots of wine storage accessories {essential, no?!}, mirror, wall hangings, lamps, vases, etc.

Linsey and Holly have some antiques, fabric, pillows from Provence, French inspired artwork, furniture, vintage paper products and stationary.

Don't miss out~ grab a friend {or three} and head to West U at 9am on Saturday morning.

Linsey was interviewed earlier this week about our big event AND our local Whole Foods store is donating refreshments to our shoppers on Saturday morning.

Things have really come together and we are feeling quite official about our big event!

Please email me, (my yahoo email was hacked this week so I've changed my email address to tlw599@yahoo.com), Linsey, or Holly if you'd like location information.

Happy Friday and happy weekend~

xoxo,

T

Countdown to the big event!

I'm finally home and boy do I have a lot of catching up to do. California was fabulous and thank you all for all of the family~friendly sightseeing recommendations...a full post coming on that soon.

Now to the business at hand. Our Mini Design Flea is only 3 days away- eek!! I hope to see all of you Houstonians there and if you're still undecided I'm going to entice you with a sneak peek at some of our items. A little from me {if I can get my act together I will show you more stuff in the next few days}. Hubby convinced me to sell my beloved white chippy burlap chair creation. I love it and had such fun working on it but we are a bit cramped in our tiny home.

I will also have some artwork, chairs, wine holders, and lots of shabby white accessories.
Holly is selling this incredible dresser {or server, whatever you like} which she transformed herself:

And Linsey is going crazy with all sorts of gorgeous goods for sale, check it out:
Mercury glass...
Aidan Gray lamps...

So much beautiful stuff you'll have to come and see it all for yourself.
**Please email me if you'd like detailed information about our event**

I will be donating 50% of my sales to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation (ccfa.org) in honor of my mom and my upcoming run in California (go Team Challenge!)

Why not?

Add just a splash of apple cider vinegar in your water throughout the day~ it's good for your complexion.

Put some light olive oil into a spray bottle and mist your body with it when you get out of the shower~ it's good for your skin.

Make your own sports drink using unsweetened cherry juice, sea salt, filtered water and lemon juice~ it will hydrate you during the summer.

Bring leave in conditioner to the pool to put in your hair before you dive into the water~ this will protect your hair from the chemicals and the sun.

Take a teaspoon of tumeric mixed with cinnamon and honey every day~ it's an all natural antibiotic. Cut flowers or branches from your yard every week and keep them in a visible spot inside your house~ mother nature can work wonders on our mood.

Go see Letters to Juliet~ it is a feel good movie for all ages.

Keep small lamps on timers inside your home~ not only will it set the mood, it's a good safety measure.

Keep a few bottles of white spray paint on hand~ you never know when an old frame, chair or side table will need a pick me up.

Always take something when invited to someones home {a bottle of wine, flowers, candy}~ even if they insist you shouldn't bring something, you really should. Always have a bottle of champagne chilled~ you just never know when a celebratory moment will arise.

Never leave clutter that's visible from your front entry~ when your neighbors pick their kids up from play dates they'll think you're always so neat and tidy.

Make an effort to not yell at your children~ or soon you will have children that yell at you.

Take time out for yourself regularly and often and don't feel guilty about it~ you will be a better wife, mother, and friend for doing this.

Tell your family how much you love them and back those words up with actions~ show and tell.

Now go forth and enjoy your day ~

images of France via NewYorkTimes travel

New mirror debut

So here you have it.

My bday gift from Mr. MT is hung (quite securely~ thank you Rob!) and everything else on my dining room hutch is in it's place. I even added a third ruffle to my lamp shade and toned down the gold frames on my botanicals by dry brushing (just a wee bit of paint at a time) on some white paint.

For now anyway...you know me. Here today~ in another room tomorrow.
I know you do the same thing too. I see your home accessories moving around almost magically in your blogs.

We are movers and shakers, aren't we?! Constantly in 'nesting' mode. Our creative minds never rest and never stop seeking out the perfect spot for every.single.thing. I guess that's what bonds us all together.

Peeking into each other's homes and seeing the changes, and then gathering ideas for our own homes.

I get so much inspiration from all of you. I'm addicted to your blogs, your homes, and your creativity. It makes me very nervous when I can't check in on you and see what you're up to.

This will be one of those weeks.

I'll be away and won't have as much access to you. The withdrawals will be tough, but getting caught back up next week might be tougher, eek!

I'm thinking of you, all the way from sunny and cool Southern California~ wishing you a fabulous week!

xoxo,

T

Please don't forget about our upcoming big Houston event here.

Aujourd hui....

...I'm dreaming of Paris.

Yes, tomorrow I leave for California, but today I have Paris on my mind.

Our dear friends just arrived there today for a short trip, then they're taking the Chunnel to London for a few days. My friend has researched all of the flea markets in Paris and promised to bring me back something special (and small I hope).

Paris isn't a likely destination for us this year because of an already booked travel schedule.

We did take our little one to Paris two years ago and it was one of the best trips ever!

We took so many great pictures.

Pictures of her in front of the eiffel tower, hoping to use for Christmas cards that year.
Pictures of her napping in my lap on park benches along the Champs-Elysees and up at Montmarte. Pictures of her playing with French children in Luxembourg gardens......and in a hidden neighborhood playground in the St. Germain area.

Pictures of her sailing boats in the Jardin des Tuileries. Pictures of an incredible outdoor market with the most magnificent baked goods, cheeses, and flowers. Pictures of me in 'the' Hermes store buying a little something special.

Our hotel (Hotel Elysees Regencia) was wonderful. It was just a short walk to the metro station.


On the way to the metro station we'd pass the tunnel where Princess Diana died. We took lots of pictures of that too.
It was quite chilly in Paris the first few days...

...but sunny and beautiful on our last day.
Even a bit hot in the sun.

Our good friend Yuki lives in London and he met us in Paris our first two days.
Our other good friend Giovanni lives in Milan and he met us in Paris the last two days.

Upon returning home from this amazing adventure we loaded our camera card, anxious to see all of our photos (about 250 in all). I think you know where this is going don't you...

...yep, our memory card was faulty and we were only able to retrieve about 10 photos total. What you see in this post is the majority of our photos. Luckily Gio and Yuki took some pics that they sent to us. I took the card to a photo store and was willing to pay almost any amount to have them restore the card and get our photos. But they were unable to do so.

It leaves a bit of a sour taste for me and makes me want a Paris do-over trip. Someday we will go back and do it all again. Next time we won't buy a cheapo memory card AND we will upload the photos to our computer daily, just in case. :)

**Bon weekend mes amis**