(photo via flickr)

My Friday Delight

(images via flickr)

It's Friday and you know what that means? It's once again time for some early morning rummaging. Oh yes. I love my estate sales. Normally, I snag a girlfriend and we poke around together, but my usual comrades are all previously engaged, so I shall go alone. Today's sale is supposed to be a doozy. If the wares could come even close to rivaling the goodies pictured above, well that would be a mighty good sale.

What are your plans for the weekend? Estate sales? Camping? Picnics? Brunch?

Etsy Love: Kara Rosenberry Co.

There are so many delightful Etsy shops out there - enough to give me a weekly feature for years to come - but naturally I'm always biased when it comes to the shop's of friends. The whimsical work of my often-referenced friend Kara is no exception. This week we worked on re-shooting some notecards from her darling line and in additon to having a grand old time, we got some fresh and lovely shots of her cards which are perfect for spring and summer. Take a peek or better yet, purchase a package or two!

Do you have an Etsy shop or a shop you heart? Do tell. I'd love to blog about in the future!

Goddess Divine

The name of the headband I'm featuring today came from the Kiera Knightley version of Pride & Prejudice where Elizabeth Benett and her new husband Darcy converse about what he should call her: "Well, let me think...”Lizzie" for everyday, "my pearl" for Sundays, and "Goddess Divine," but only on special occasions."
Maybe if I wear a piece like this, my husband will start calling me goddess divine. Doubtful.

Fashion Crisis

I'm going through one of those phases that we women often encounter. We hate everything in our closet. I'm there sister. My life has changed a lot in the last year and so I think my wardrobe should adjust accordingly. I don't know why I have so many bright, annoying prints in my closet. When did I start buying gaudy kimono-style dresses? Or cheap, shapeless tops just because they were... cheap? I'm not ashamed to say that I'm  a bargain shopper and I'll always be one but I need to ask myself questions like - Do I really love this? When I'm staring into my closet, trying to decide what to wear, will this be a piece I go to over and over?

Speaking of pieces that I would never tire over, take a gander at these gorgeous outfits from London- based designer Nadia Izruna who launched her line last year called Nadinoo. The clothing is inspired by three fictional characters: Pixie, Fleur and Lula. Maybe if the exchange rate continues to become more favorable for the dollar, I could one day own something from this gorgeous collection....

House Envy

Greetings friend! How was your weekend? Mine began with a trip to the farmer's market and ended with the Lost finale. I agreed with the sentiment of someone who said that it was emotionally satisfying but intellectually unfulfilling. And I will leave it at that.

I realized over the weekend that I seldom post about one of my first domestic loves: interior design. I actually got my college degree in interior design. Yup. It was a grueling several years (five to be exact) of whittling midcentury modern bass wood models, staying up in the wee hours rendering 3D computer images of interiors and a whole slew of other things I won't bother to mention. Anyway, even though interior design isn't my current day job, I love houses and interiors and decorating and all things related to making ones dwelling lovely and comfy. So! I'm going to blog about spaces I love from time to time and I'm gonna start today.

I adore this cozy, beachy, eclectic space of Julet Totten one of the owners of Poppies & Posies an event and floral design company based in New York. All the curious and mix-matched pieces create such an interesting and cheerful space. Enjoy!

Etsy Love

Isn't Etsy amazing? I could waste hours and hours browsing through page after page of curious goods.

Sometimes it's just a fun experiment to type a few words in the search box and see what pops up. For instance, I have several herbs growing in my kitchen window and currently, my mint, basil and rosemary all need to come out of their unsightly plastic containers and placed in some pretty pots. So, I searched for "garden pots" and look at these most interesting garden markers I came across at the odd and wonderful shop Monkeys Always Look.  I love the patina of the old silverware and what a clever use for them. Once I find my pretty pots, I'd love to shove some vintage cutlery in them too alongside my herbs.

Dinner with Friends = Lovliness.

You know how sometimes the days whiz by so quickly that you realize it's been weeks since you've exchanged more than a quick text with people you consider dear friends and you know something must be done? Such was the case with my lovely friends Meg and Bets. We were long, long loooong over due for some good conversation and good food. For months now, the girls have raving about Potager, a delightful restaurant here in Denver whose menu changes every four weeks with the seasons and serves interesting and fresh combinations from local farmers and their very own garden behind the restaurant.

On the menu tonight:

Cure Organic Farm Spinach and Nettle Soup

Twice Baked Red Wagon Farm Sorrel, Mint and Goat Cheese Souffle

 Lemon and Tarragon Roasted Chicken

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Ice cream and Caramel Sauce.

Oh yes. The friends. The food - it did my heart good.

Giveaway Winner!

I'm pleased to annouce the randomly selected winner of our Gorgeous Giveaway is...

Rebekah of Let's Win!

Woo Hoo! Congrats Rebekah! Be on the lookout for an email  from us!

We are also happy to annouce that this was our most successful giveaway to date!

Thank you dear readers for all of your lovely comments and for getting the word out about our products.

We love you and appreciate your support! So... in honor of  the success of this giveaway, I'm offering FREE SHIPPING on any purchase from my Etsy shop now through Friday!

New in the Esty Shop!

Buttercream lovliness for a wedding, graduation party or anytime you want to feel pretty.

Read more about it or better yet, snag it for yourself right here.

And don't forget to enter the Gorgeous Giveaway before it's over!

The lucky winner will be drawn on Monday.

Have yourself a delightful weekend friends.

Gorgeous Giveaway!

I'm thrilled to join up again with Kara of Kara Rosenberry Co. to offer you, dear readers, another gorgeous giveaway in honor of spring! I'm pretty stinking excited about this package because I would LOVE to win these goodies myself!

We have a lovely assortment of girly treats for you which include:

Eight hand-illustrated pale pink note cards by Kara Rosenberry Co, an ivory and gold vintage bracelet, a fabulous gold retro hand bag and a slim and creamy petal covered headband by yours truly. Chic indeed!

The winner will be announced Tuesday, May 18. Best of luck and thank you for following our blogs and work! xo

To enter: Visit Kara and Emily’s Etsy shops and then come back to either blog and comment on a favorite item from each shop.

For additional entries:

- Become a follower of Kara and Emily's blogs and leave a comment if you follow our blogs already.

- Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link from your blog fir an additional three entries!

- And for those of you looking for a good reason to do a little shopping, purchase an item from Kara or Emily's Etsy shops and leave a comment on either of our blogs about your purchase for an additional five entreires!

p.s. If you enter but don’t have a blog, please leave your email address along with your comment, so we can contact you if you’re the lucky winner!

Milk Glass Madness

Recently, my newly engaged sister-in-law stopped over in Denver on her way back to Seattle so we could have a couple of days to hash out wedding colors, flowers, invites and decor. We managed to get a tremendous amount of planning done over the course of two days.

As we talked about the sort of feel she wanted to acheive for her wedding we both agreed that we loved the idea of using gobs of milk glass containers for center pieces. Thus began a day long hunt of driving from thrift store to thrift store (something I love doing anyway) hunting for milk glass on the cheap. Let me tell ya - we hit the mother load! By the end of the day, we had nearly 60 pieces - urns, bud vases, large bowls, you name it. I will be filling all this white lovliness with bright pops of lemon, chartreuse and persimmon colored flowers for her summer wedding in a little less than two months.  

In the mean time, I continue to scoop up pieces that I come across while thrifting and am filling the vases with stolen lilac blooms I nabbed from the neighbor's hedge!

My beverage of choice

Here's a glimpse of my beverage of choice this week: millinery flowers and vintage jewelry. I've been working for the last several days on creating lots of headbands for a show this weekend and have been embibing the lovliness that is found in the mounds of glitttery jewelry, velvety petals and vintage buttons that I use to create my pieces.

What lovliness have you been drinking in this week?

Spring Boutique!

If you're in the Denver area this weekend, please stop on by this fun boutique and check out all the goodies.

I will be selling my hair accessories and some sweet Fern & Flora Petite headbands for little girls.

Hope to see you!

Weekend Bliss

Hello! How was your weekend? Mine was actually quite lovely.

Saturday we celebrated my husband's birthday with some our favorite things:

Baked goods. Bouguereau. Brunch.

We perused all the tasty local delights at the first farmers market of the season. I picked up a loaf of gluten-free lemon poppyseed bread. It was so moist and delish I never would have guessed it was gluten-free.

Then it was on to brunch. On the menu:  basil and fresh ricotta frittatas with french press coffee, italian hashbrowns and crispy pancetta.

Our last stop was at the art museum. Viewing the work of Bouguereau was a treat. His work always reminds me of my late uncle who loved the French painter.

What did you do this weekend?

(photo credits: here, here and here)