Serena & Lily ~ New Upholstery Collection

I realized as I was looking at my post listing that I've written way more shopping posts than Twilight posts. That disturbing bit of news means that I really need to come up with some ideas for Twi-themed posts. 


**taps finger to chin** 


Well, while I'm off curled up on the sofa thinking about all things Twilight, I thought I'd share a new fun shopping find. I first discovered Serena & Lily when I was decorating Little Mister's nursery. While I eventually decided on an English Toile Winnie the Pooh theme I did fall in love with Serena & Lily's style. 


And now that they've branched out from only nursery designs and into other rooms I've found so many things I want. Need? Not so much but certainly want!


I hope you enjoy some of my favorites from their new upholstery line as well as their baby & nursery line! You can browse their site for yourself by visiting www.serenaandlily.com

I can just see these in my bedroom!

This could be a wonderful addition to any room.

We didn't use a Moses basket but had we, this would be so cute.

As you know I have two boys, BUT if I had a girl this is what I'd choose

Happy Browsing!


Cheers, 
Ouiser

Another Day ... Another Design

So I think you all know that we're in the midst of redecorating a few rooms in our home. And through out this process I've been a bit more like the turtle than the hare in my endeavors. I search and search and search... discuss with DH... make a decision ... change my mind ... and start all over.  Sigh. We ARE going to have the living room done before baby deux's baptism even if I have to make the sofa myself!

Last night as I was flitting between cspan coverage of the House health care debate, Twitter (natch) and some of my favorite design sites I stumbled upon a few things that I'm loving... but of course don't need. 

Realistically we don't have a need for the tables (we are swimming in ottomans used as coffee tables, seriously I'm so not kidding) and I'm pretty sure that two of these chairs would swallow up the space I have designated for two accent chairs. But Ms. Reality has never been a friend of mine so why start pretending to like her now? This from the woman that has bought at least three pieces of furniture that upon delivery didn't fit in the afore planned room and in one case didn't even fit up the staircase.

I do however think a series of three rooster paintings would look perfect on the long wall of our dinning room... and well I just love pillows... lots and lots of pillows... in every room and on any surface that will stand still.

okay... less talking and more pic posting... :) I should also mention that these all come from Pierre Deux.

I'm just really loving the peacocks... so prissy and full of themselves. ;)

Cheers, 

Ouiser

Make Your Living Room Smile

As I'm cooped up in the house awaiting what I'm lovingly referring to as "the big bad snowstorm" I thought I'd do a quick post on some of my favorite finds for the living room. Did you guess that we are redoing ours? Well its bit by bit but yes.

Of course considering that the little ones are both napping (AT THE SAME TIME!) I'm avoiding what I should be doing... um lets see... shower, cleaning the house, those pesky bills I didn't get to yesterday and probably a number of other things I'm not even thinking about. But no I'm blogging.

The Iris Chair from Grandin Road

I love this chair in red but I'm thinking brown would be better for my house full of boys. Yes, I've been married almost 6 years and we're still transitioning from a girly country french to more male friendly neutrals. And did I mention the price? It's only $199. That's right, $199. If I've got the room two would really look better than one and at that price it's hard to beat. You can buy your own at www.grandinroad.com or by clicking here.

The Luccia Sofa from Red Barn Mercantile

I stumbled upon this sofa while in one one of my favorite stores, Red Barn Mercantile the other weekend. If you live in the DC area you really should checkout this little gem located in Old Town and if not you can visit them online at Red Barn Mercantile. They have great furniture, children's books, linens and other super unique home wares. Since this is a custom upholstered piece the prices vary quite a bit. Again, with two little ones at home, I'd go with the slipcovered option in a neutral dark tone.

And I think some of these pillows from Ballad Designs would help add some color to this or any sofa and are a great way to change up you room's look for each season. I have the Ballard Design's Basic Square Pillows on my girly pink and white striped sofa in green and white and in chocolate brown in my bedroom, all with embroidered monogram, natch. You can get your own here or here.

So there you have it, a few fun finds to spruce up your living room!

Happy Shopping!

Cheers, 
Ousier

Town & Country ~ My Favorite Magazine

When girls my age were all drooling over Tiger Beat, Teen Bop or even Seventeen magazine, I was  perusing Town & Country. Yes, I know I was an odd child.

Never the less I've had a subscription to Town and Country on and off since about age 10... that's 23 years for those of you counting and I'm still just as enamored with the publication now as I was then. There is something otherworldly about this magazine. As a kid I must admit that I was more enthralled by the wedding and party pictures... oh and those Ralph Lauren ads, mmmmm. I didn't have pictures of Kirk Cameron or Johnny Depp covering my bedroom walls as a tween.  Instead, I had the boys of Ralph Lauren pasted all over my wall in all their polo playing, garden strolling glory. Somehow they always seemed to have a gatsbyesque quality to them. And for those tweens today... think Chuck Bass!



As I got into high school I started noticing a few of the articles, especially "Social Graces". It was about that time I received my first Emily Post's Etiquette book. I was enthralled instantly and began what has been a lifelong interest in historical and present day etiquette. So, as you might imagine the "social graces" editorial quickly became a favorite. I can't be the only one that finds it fascinating that at one time the dimensions of one's calling cards denoted that person's age and if they were single or married. Okay, maybe its a very small pool of people but I know you're out there! And for years I kept an enormous folder filled with my favorite wedding invitations I'd received. At the time I justified it as planning for my own wedding but now, I'm not sure what my excuse is other than the fact that I love looking at beautiful calligraphy.

And now that I'm a bit older I still appreciate the party pictures ~ think"where did she find that dress and where can I get one too! ~ and look fondly on the wedding photos, remembering my own special day with DH. Hard to believe we will celebrate our sixth anniversary in a couple of months. And I still read the social graces column and chuckle. It is really very well written.

But now my favorite articles are those on travel. How did I miss these in years past?! Oh to be a travel writer for Town and Country! Well a girl can dream right? As I am a travel junkie, there is hardly a place on the globe I wouldn't want to go assuming they have indoor plumbing. I said travel junkie not adventure junkie. I can't tell you how many folders I have in our filing cabinet that are over flowing with torn out pages from past T&C's with all sorts of travel tidbits and recommendations for the classics ~ NYC, London and Paris to the more obscure ~ Croatia, Honk Kong and St. Petersburg. I may never get to some of these places and thats okay, I can still enjoy learning about them and for that I have Town and Country to thank.

I could go on and on and on... I haven't even mentioned their annual Bridal Issue -- really does any woman get tired of looking at bridal magazines? I don't think so. Their Green Issue, Philanthropy Issue, Home Issue & Fall Fashion (ahhhh two of my absolute favorites) and so on.

So, if you aren't familiar with the magazine I implore you to please pick up a copy or if you've been thinking about getting a subscription, do so!

For me, I'm going to re-read my January issue again as I eagerly await the arrival of my February issue.


Cheers, 
Ousier

Fabulous New Blog ~ A Bloomsbury Life

Back from a morning at the National Gallery of Art Museum followed by lunch in their sculpture garden. Ahhhwww, Washington DC in the fall is really spectacular!! And before you start thinking my 16 month old son is some kind of savant I have to admit that he much preferred the noisy, smelly construction trucks and buses barrelling past us on Constitution Avenue than he did anything in the museum. I think he did enjoy the enormous fountain in the gardens as he seemed very content but then again it could have been the hot dog and chips I was plying him with.

Now that we're home and he is down for his nap (or at least I hope he eventually falls asleep, right now he is just playing in his crib) I'm back online checking out a couple of my favorite blogs. I literally, just discovered this fabulous gem of a blog. Despite my witty, playful, insightful and creative posts I'm really VERY new to the world of blogging. Honestly, last year when DH wanted to start one for our son so he could post videos to share with our family I was very uncomfortable with the idea and it took several months before I caved. Who knew that a matter of months later I'd be on twitter (you can follow me here) and have my own blog?! The power of the internet I guess.

Anyway, Lisa Borgnes Giramonti, Author of A Bloomsbury Life Blog is the guest blogger at W Magazine's blog, W Editor's Blog (also one of my "favorites" that you should regularly check out). Lisa has a fun and casual writing style that seems to invite you into her family's life. And of course her tips and finds on home and fashion are spectacular! In her own words, she describes her blog as "Sporadic posts about style, travel, food, literature, gardens, eccentrics and their foibles."

I can already tell that I'll be checking this site on a daily basis, and I'm willing to bet you will too! Check it out when you have a moment.

Cheers,

Ouiser

Favorite Home Decor Website ~ Ballard Designs

NOTE: After too many moments spent trying to re-arrange the layout of this post I am giving up. As we all know I'm no web genius so I apologize for the funky spacing and picture layout, I've gotta grab the little one so I'm out of time to play around with it.

Many of you know that my happy little family bought our first home this past spring and as luck would have it we found out that we were "expecting" baby deux (aka Baby Fig) the very same week. I absolutely love our home although had we known about baby Fig before we signed the paperwork we probably would have passed on this house to go with one a little bigger and a little further out. You can call it divine intervention, fate or just lucky timing but I'm so very glad that we ended up with this house. It's perfect for our little family... that is for the time being. With two boys running around I'm sure we'll need more space eventually but for now we are so happy with our house which is in a very family friendly neighborhood and fairly close to DH's work.

A quick side note- I have noticed that boys' toys seem to be smaller than girls toys. We have no walk in play kitchen or doll house to figure out where to hide when friends come over. We do however seem to have wiffle balls in every room and corner of our house. I'm convinced that one of these day's I'm going to slip on one and knock myself unconscious but my irrational fears are a whole other issue not to be dealt with today.

Like anyone else moving into a new home we wanted to redecorate. Aside from trying to be practical a la creating a budget and a priority list that we are slowly ticking through. I also scoured through all the decorating magazines I could get my hands on. Traditional Home has taken over as my #1 fav decor magazine, replacing Veranda in the top spot since college. I still love Veranda but now a days it's not as practical for my lifestyle.

And in today's world of course I was all over tons of different web sites --Williams Sonoma Home, Pottery Barn , Restoration Hardware, The Source Collection, Horchow, Pierre Deux to name a few. Oh and I can't help but mention my all time favorite home decor store, Random Harvest. While they do have a web presence it's rather minor. You really do need to visit one of their stores to fully appreciate it. If you are in the Washington DC area they have locations in Bethesda, Georgetown and Old Town.

However, my absolutely favorite and reason for this post is Ballard Designs from which I've ordered most of the new pieces in our home. If you aren't already familiar with this website go to it IMMEDIATELY, that is after you finish reading my post, natch.

They offer fantastic quality merchandise that is extremely comfortable and yet still has a nice clean look to it all at VERY reasonable prices. At this point in my life I am not trying to create a formal looking home, I do have a house full of boys after all. However, I do want to present a warm, inviting home that at least appears to have been designed with some amount of forethought.

I'm including a few pictures of things we've already ordered (and LOVE!) as well as things that are still on our "to purchase list". I hope that if you are in the market for some new home furnishings or new home decor you'll consider Ballards. We've never been disappointed with their merchandise and I doubt you will be either. Oh did I mention that they send free fabric samples? I've got a ton in my design folder and they have really come in handy.

This is the Tufted Camden Headboard upholstered in Apple Green Twill. We are actually going with a brown twill but it didn't show up as well on line as the apple green did.

This is the Castered Tufted Storage Ottoman upholstered in Caramel Twill. We have this exact piece and LOVE it! It works perfectly in our living room in lieu of a coffee table, foot rest, or as extra seating when we have friends over. Did I mention it opens and has a lot of room for storage? It's a fabulous piece that I highly recommend!

I know it's hard to see these all of them in this picture so I am including a close up of one I particularly like. It is a series of Heron Giclees in beautiful mirrored frames. I do hope to order a few of these to hang in my bedroom. I love the look!

And finally here is another series that I think would be darling in a child's room. It is a series of Italian Alphabet prints. They don't really match the decor in our nursery so alas I have to pass on them but I still love them never the less.


Happy Shopping!

Cheers,
Ouiser

Monogrammed Mini Guest Soaps

Warning: This is a totally fluffy girly post ... don't expect anything noteworthy. Oh except that I will refer to my mother as Mamere from here on. This is the name she picked once our little one was born instead of grandma, nanna, memaw, etc.)

To this day my mother (mamere) is one of the best hostess I've ever known. Growing up in the South I think most girls would say this about their own mothers and likely grandmothers as well. Hospitality is just in the blood. Whenever DH and I come for a visit there are always special treats and goodies especially for our stay that make it all the more welcoming, as if that were possible. I'm always excited to crawl into the extremely comfortable bed and check out the fun magazines she's laid out on each of our nightstands, usually Southern Living and Veranda on my side and Time and some other newsy mag on his. Another favorite feature are the fresh cut flowers (from her garden, natch) along with a beautiful glass bedside water carafe.

The hand towels in the bathroom are another touch I love, she always offers both linen and fluffy towel options. It had never occurred to me that some people don't like to use linen hand towels until I was cleaning up after a dinner party one evening. I noticed that our guests had all used the paper hand towels I had in our guest bath in lieu of the embroidered linen ones hanging next to the sink. I mentioned something to DH and he seemed surprised that I didn't realize some people prefer a "real towel". Live and learn right? Now I always try to offer both, mostly because I can't give up my collection of linen hand towels. I find every year I keep adding to the growing collection. I can tell you just how much I love them because they are the only things I still iron. Once our little one arrived, I gave up ironing our sheets, napkins and place mats and I've never been one to iron DH's shirts (bad wife I know!) but the hand towels remain.

DH and I have had the pleasure of having enough room (just enough in some cases) to offer our guest room to a number of friends and family over the last 5 years of our marriage. I have always tried to make things as comfortable as I can for our guests, of course I know nothing is ever as comforting as one's own home. With that in mind I always like to offer fresh soaps for each guest. The main problem I have is that all the nice guest soaps I've found are so large that they rarely get used. When I stumbled up these little mini soaps I fell in love! They are just the perfect size and if that weren't enough you can have them monogrammed as well. As a girl that loves all things monogrammed this was just extra butter cream frosting on an already delicious cupcake.

You can find the mini soaps along with a number of other cute things at Mulberry Moon. They are packaged in sets of three soaps and are offered in five scents; Key Lime, Apple Blossom, Fresh Lilac, Lavender and Verbena. I ordered the verbena because it's one of my favorite scents but I know if mamere was ordering it'd be lavender for sure. Everything in her house is lavender and therefore the scent always reminds me of her.

I realize these are hardly necessary and probably a little frivolous but if you are looking for something to add a little extra to your guest bath, I think these look perfect. Of course since I haven't actually received them yet I can't yet recommend them. However I do have high hopes. If for some reason they aren't fabulous I'll be sure to let you know.

Happy Shopping!

Cheers,

Ouiser