Sunday, April 29, 2012

Chicago (Part II) & Nashville

About a month ago I spent a couple of weeks in Chicago, Ryan came up to visit for a long weekend in the middle of the trip.  The first day with Ryan we did some sightseeing as I mentioned in the Part 1 post.  Day 2 we got up, grabbed Starbucks and headed to the Wendella Architectural Boat Tour.  If you are ever in Chicago you must do this, it's really neat.  It's a great way to see the city and learn about all of the cool buildings and the history. However, get there early to line up if you want to sit on top deck.

This is Ryguy and myself sitting on the boat, about to take off for the tour. 


The Wendella ticket office and boat loading dock are right under the Wrigley Building (again my fav).


Another view of the city from the first half of the tour...


These buildings are SOOOO cool! They are completely round and have a parking garage in the bottom of them.  Apparently the only way to park here is by backing in to your parking space.  I'm convinced by my husband, my father in law, and especially my own father that guys are OBSESSSED with backing in to parking spaces.  When is the last time you saw a girl do that just for the heck of it???... I wonder if a bunch of men live in these condos??


This is a view of the city towards the end of the tour, anyone spot the Batman building? :) 
On the far left you see a parking garage and that was also used in the last Batman movie.


 This tour rocks and it's really cool to see all of the neat types of architecture in the Windy City and see the differences in them from what decade/period they were built in.


Chicago weather is very bizarre because one minute it's blue skies and gorgeous and then fog rolls in and its cold and dreary.  This is what happened after the boat tour.  We went to lunch at Lou Malnatis afterwards for some deep dish and then wandered around some more.  After getting tired of the cold we headed to see Katniss in the Hunger Games and went to dinner at Wildfire near our Hotel. I guess you could say we were worn out.

At the end of my time here I had a friend's bachelorette party coincidentally planned in Chicago. I didn't stay for both nights just one but had a blast.  We started the day shopping and then in the evening headed to the Beauty Bar which I think we were a bit skeptical of at first.  You pay $10 for a mani and a martini, too good to be true if you ask me!


This place is AWESOME.  It looks like an old timey beauty parlor turned into a bar.  I wish so bad that we had this in Atlanta. 


After this we headed to dinner at Carnivale, which was delish and I highly recommend the skirt steak (Amaazzzee).  Then we headed over to Moe's Cantina which is a bar not a mexican restaurant. It was really fun and they had great music on with the music videos in the background to each song (love that!). Things got a little crazy with the bachelorette and crew but we had a ton of fun.


Our friend Stephanie came all the way from Arizona for the party.  Random fact, Steph and I were random roommates at college orientation the summer before our freshmen year.  We then pledged the same sorority and later lived in a big house with 6 other girls. 


If you know me, you know that I like to bathe in perfume.  So of course when I went to the ladies' room and saw the attendant had a TON of perfumes to use and freshen up with I HAD to use one. Apparently Coco Channel Mademoiselle was an imposter fragrance because it smelled sooooo bad and was way too strong. Never will I be tempted by bathroom perfume ever again. 


My friends Haley and Rachel being funny...


Rachel's awesome sister Emily who is our Chicago tour guide, she's so fun. Her and her husband have a place in Bucktown in Chicago and I wish I could blog on it, it's a really cool townhome in an awesome location.



The lovely bride Lindsay and I who is getting married to Clark next weekend, Cinco de Mayo wedding, woo hoo!!!! I think I caught a picture with her while she was in the middle of a solo dance with her lollypop :)


Enough about Chicago... time to give a southern city some love... NASHVILLE

The next weekend we packed up and headed to Nashville for my friend Rachel's Stock the Bar party and other friend Brooke's baby shower. We stayed with his friends Wes and Abby who have a precious 2 year old and a 4 month old.  Ryan claims he is scared to hold babies but he got a lot of practice in this weekend with Miss Olivia and Little Miss Emma loved her some Ryan....



Saturday I hit up Homegoods/TJ Maxx in Mt. Juliet and scored the mother load, well not really but I just found a lot of pretty things. Then I ventured off to Brooke's baby shower for her little girl Reese due in June. We ate, opened presents, gossiped chit-chatted, and got crafty.  This was our 1st baby shower for our group of friends from college and my friend Katie made the comment "baby showers really are more fun than wedding showers".  I might have to agree with Katie on this one.


We also decorated diapers for Brooke for her middle of the night feedings & changings.  This was really funny because we could write or draw anything we wanted.  I have a feeling that Brooke is going to get a lot of laughs in the middle of the night. 

After this we scrapbooked pages for Brooke to later in fill in with pictures.  It was also decided by my friend Haley who loves to scrapbook (as do I) that we are going to have a scrapbook weekend in Atlanta at my house.  Basically what it will entail is lots of wine, food, and going through old pictures... geesh we are getting lame old. 



My sweet friend Rebecca can sew, monogram, and applique and so I had her applique this pink seersucker cross onesie for part of Brooke's gift.  So cute and little, let me know if anyone wants my friend's info.


That night we headed off to East Nashville for our friend Rachel and Jaime's shower.  East Nashville is a bit transitional but it has some beautiful old homes and some even have a view of the Nashville skyline.

My friends and I trying to get a picture with the skyline/sunset in the background.


 Now with the bride, all of these girls were bridesmaids in my wedding too.


Myself and the lovely bride to be...


All the girls with the bride to be and the groom, love this pic...


The house we were at had awesome outdoor space, one of the porches had an old bathtub filled with potting soil... of course this was a perfect picture opportunity...


Rub-a-dub-dub....



Anyways, we had a great time at the party and I can't wait till the next one. Time with friends really is good for the soul.





This is the most random posting ever mostly with pics of my friends and it's really long, major apologies, all caught up now though. :)



I visited a cool home store near my house last week and hope to post those pics next time. ]




Thursday, April 26, 2012

Project Updates

I feel like I've had a lot to blog about lately but there aren't enough hours in the day to do so.  I still owe an update on a couple of my recent trips (i.e. Chicago part 2 and Nashville).  I'll ignore those for now and do a quick update of this week.


First of all, I am now hosting people at our house on May 13th, I feel a bit under the gun to get some small projects completed.  List includes but not limited to:
1. Skirted Table -lamp & accessories to decorate
2. Pick Art for the Wall - Order frame & install
3. Paint stripes down basement hallway-hang Ryan's family football memorabilia
4. Finish painting headboard
5. Buy new fridge and dishwasher
6. Yardwork in the backyard
7. Buy and paint cornhole set
8. Plant new planters with spring flowers
9. Order and paint swing for front porch
10. Order new Schumacher Pillows
11. I really could keep going but I'll stop here....

Did you catch #1 though? I finally picked up my table skirt.  Yes, I was like a kid on Christmas, so excited! Without further adeiu....

You'll see the Target bar tray I mentioned in the last post, couldn't find it in bronze, only red.  Doesn't look bad but can easily be painted. Not sure if I will leave it here anyways, currently on the lookout for a mercury glass/lucite lamp too.


The seamstress who sewed(is that proper grammar??) this bad boy added a semi-thick cording to the hem, it looks sooo good!


This is a view from my (coral) dining room.  I promise the colors in my house aren't this bright, it's much more serene than it appears to be.  After spending 3 months on my floor, I finally hung our starburst mirror from Homegoods ($79!).  I need a new vase though, my cotton branches (Ballards) and fabric flowers (Scott's Antique) seem to be covering the mirror.


I arranged this myself, not awesome but not too shabby for my first time either! Hoping to get some more fabric flowers from the lovely vendor at Scotts Antique.







 As if hanging a mirror and getting my table skirt made weren't big enough accomplishments, I also ordered art for above my sofa!!! Yeaaaahhh...


This lovely Imari Plate is my accent plate for my fine china and what I used as a starting point when I picked my paint colors for the house. Once I buy my mirrored buffett (#12 on my list) I plan to rotate that mirror in my dining room and flank the mirror with these pretty little thangs. In the meantime, I love how the flowers in the china almost mimic the flowers in this art (#totalaccidentiswear).


I found this art from CozaMia, Nancy the artist, was so sweet and made this Peonies print in a version specifically for me that had more coral than pink.  It works perrrfecccct to say the least.  I already have my brain buzzing with ideas for Framing thanks to the lovely blog post by Baylor Says... Oh, I can't wait for it to be on my wall! Mister Hubs liked it but though it was a tad girly but like they say "A man's home is his wife's castle."  Couldn't have said it better myself...


I'm planning to incorporate new pillows covers on my sofa starting with this lovely fabric from Schumacher's Imperial Trellis line.


I'm so happy I decided on the Peonies print, I was back and forth between the Wild Herringbone (below) but decided adding some dark to the space will help weigh it down a little plus let me incorporate pillows like the one above.



That is all the work we've done to the inside of the house this week (I won't torture you with pictures of my new mint leaf plant or ground cover plants) outside.

Off subject though, if you live in the Atlanta area, the Atlanta Food Truck Park and Market opens to the public this evening at 5PM.  This is down the street from us and will be so cool to have.  Trucks for lunch and dinner 7 days a week plus farmers market on Saturdays. Come out and support Atlanta Food Truck Park & Market as well as your local farmers and small business owners.  :)

Nothing else going on, hope to get some time in the sun this weekend at the pool and the Braves game. A month from now I am back in Chicago and then straight to the BEACH for a long weekend.  Found the perfect summer/beach dress at Anthro this weekend. How cute and easy will this be this summer when it's super hot outside with some turquiose jewelry.  I'm also thinking pink or yellow jewelry but I recently saw a post about mixing the colors green and coral together to be more adventurous.


The back is the best party, easy breezy... Also comes in a gray and white version that would be fun with yellow or red shoes or jewelry.


Don't ya just love warm lazy days.....

Monday, April 16, 2012

April Scott's Antique Finds

Oh, my favorite time of the month again, SCOTTS! I made a quick trip there for this show and let me tell you, there were some GREAT deals and pretty things that made me swoon...

These little tables were $225 each and in a variety of sizes and finishes... These could be so cute as a nightstand, a side table, a porch table, small bar table, etc...


How fun are these? They were perfectly aged as far as the leather goes, I think I loved them because of all the mad men I've been watching and I could totally see these in Don Draper's new high rise condo. You could be super cool and hipster with these but you could also use these in a setting that is more traditional but needs a little ummph to take it up a notch. Love...


I finally walked inside and immediately spotted these sweet little chairs (this was a pair). They were actually pretty comfortable and I love the lines and nailhead trim. Not too mention these are also super versatile.


Saw these plates, the back of them was marked as Mottahedeh, as a china snob I about fell over when he said they were $25. I really loved them but I wasn't 100% positive they were real and I really had no place to put them so I kept walking but they were pretty. One of these days I'm praying to find some Royal Crown Derby Imari plates for $25, I may be praying for a while....


Every time I go to Scotts I admire this woman's art work, I believe her name is Sheryl Connelly. She keeps her paints there with her during the show and will touch up the colors to whatever you want when you purchase. I am still searching for the perfect art above my sofa and I've considered her work (re-framed). $650 w/o frame


I saw this mirrored buffet and about died, so cool and unusual for a mirrored piece. Then they told me the price and I really was drooling, $650!!!! OMGeee... My only issue was the finish, I love it, however in my abode it would clash with the coral and navy. The nice lady said I could pay to re-finish it but I wasn't really sure how I'd want it painted and would I even love it after it was painted. This beauty didn't come home with me but if I see her next month, I may take it as an omen.


I turned around from here and saw this lovely mirrored and tufted headboard, wowzers. The shape was so pretty and as you know I'm obsessed with anything mirrored these days. I especially love the 4 poster mirrored beds but I thought this was a bit different, very glamorous! It'd look pretty with a skirted table next to it, or another mirrored piece, or even something more rustic like a dark distressed wood table. I'd probably pick the latter for at least one of my tables, I might even do a fun chandy above the bed side table(s) instead of lamps for a LOT of glam factor.


I am still on the search for 2 occasional chairs to complete my living room. There is a vendor in the South building who is set up both inside and in front and he always has pretty chairs in a ton of shapes and sizes. Unfortunately he was cleaned out on Thursday by decorators, he is first on my list next month!! He did show me this cute little thing ($300).


I went outside to leave and head to the North building when I saw this lovely booth . These 2 chairs were SOOOO darn CUTE, they had the best animal print that was neutral with a little bit of light blue to it. For a tall and straight back they were actually pretty comfy too. $1200 for the pair. I loved these so much but they were a bit over my budget and if I was going to spend that much I'd want to make sure I love the fabric upholstered on them. I can't wait to see what she has in stock next month.


I wizzed through the north building so I didn't get many pics but I did want to take one (or both) of these signs home.... Aren't they great? I don't know which is my favorite. This booth is set up every month so I may come back and grab one, I even thought about trying to make myself so I could pick my colors. I am wanting to set up a bar tray (more on that in a min) and I think the "I feel a sin coming on" would be fun next to the bar tray.


So what did I come home with? Not too much since I was planning for the chairs but didn't luck out. I found this awesome Piedmont Driving Club book for $20 to add to my Atlanta book collection:

This great booth has a huge stock of Decanters which was on my list. I had a "Stock the Bar" party Saturday night and wanted a crystal whiskey/bourbon decanter as part of my gift to the couple. I didn't get a pic of it but I did pick out one for myself to take home. Right as I was paying I spotted these adorable antique bar tags and had to have.


I have another decanter in my china cabinet that matches my Lismore but I may get 1 or 2 more of these at the next show. My plan is once my skirted table is finished I might put a lamp with a bar tray. My husband doesn't drink and I sowed my wild oats in college so I don't much either except for some wine. However, that being said, I love the look of a bar tray sitting out (again, maybe I've been watching too much Mad Men). Don't be offended if you find colored water or apple juice inside the decanters.

I saw a post of one of my favorite blogs Simply Seleta, where she was showing different ways to style this beautiful chest she bought. All of her options were to die for but I really liked the option with the bar tray from Target and the silhouette coaster (which are old but I MUST find).


Anyways, check out her blog, it's a bookmarker for sure. She is a good 'ole southern gal that used to live in Atlanta and now lives down around 30-A in Florida, probably more reason I like her since my in-laws live there and we are in Atlanta.

I know this was really long but I just saw so many great things at Scott's Antique this month. I really could base this whole blog around Scott's, that's how obsessed I am. My calendar is marked for next month and I may even have a friend joining me from Nashville, I love when I have a counterpart to help make decisions.