Monday Blues!

This kind of Monday Blues is a happy thing! 

My love of blue and white Chinoiserie is well documented here on the blog

 and on my Instgram account so the Monday Blues are to be expected!

Here are a couple of favorite blue and white moments.

I love how designer Shaun Smith kept the vintage blue and white tile and made this bathroom look so fresh and updated at the same time. And timeless as well. It's impressive when someone with his training and access to everything reno and decor chooses to work with existing elements. It's something we can all relate to and use as inspiration.

And that's the kind of ginger jar I really like. Big!

via

And I have Spring fever (who doesn't?) so I want all the big blue and white planters

 filled with realllllly big plants!

This large planter in the home of Patrick Wade and David deMattei is really beautiful.

So besides the obvious blue and white theme

 there is also the sub-theme of wanting the blue and white pieces to be BIG!

Happy Monday.

Round (Coffee) Table

My new-to-me, very, very old coffee table is round!

I've never had a round coffee table before.

The round part of this new coffee table situation is

 a very old copper tray from Natchez, Mississippi.

My parents inherited it decades ago and now it has come to live at my house. 

 I have always loved this copper tray 

but I never gave the fact that it was circular much thought design-wise! 

My great aunt and uncle had a lower base designed for the tray as was the style when they used it in their 50's and 60's home. 

My mom had it on a very traditional base that was a bit taller but...

I prefer my coffee tables to be a bit taller than is the norm. 

I don't know why - it just works for us.

So I have put the gorgeous copper tray on a faux bamboo end table base

 that I had hanging around. 

The original color of the base was not good at all so I have quickly hit it 

with a bit of off-white spray paint.

 We figured we'd start there and see what we all think.

I've been trying a variety of layouts on top of the tray.
 A combination of things that need to be there to help us function in this room
 and pretty items to flatter the gorgeous copper color.

It's been fun playing around with the circular shape. 

Have you ever had a round coffee table?

Would you consider using a round coffee table in your space? 

I'm liking it!

In case you are curious.

There are a few unique things on the tray right now -

The bamboo boxes hold TV remotes and charging cords. 

The basket on the left is a Charleston Sweetgrass basket and there's a cluster of Low Country oyster shells in it.

The long skinny item with holes in it is a very old Cribbage Board that was my great uncles' and then my dads'.

Coffee table books rotate often - right now it's Mark D. Sikes Beautiful which is divine and Jenny Rose Innes book about Australian design which is fantastic. 

We use the blue and white chinoiserie saucers as coasters.

And the glossy green plant is a gardenia and is about to burst into bloom and smell amazing!

MidLife....

I can remember being intrigued with the term 'middle age' when I was very young. 

If someone said they were middle aged

 then I thought they were literally at the half-way mark of their life!!

 If you were 35, and said you were middle aged, then 70 was going to be it!! 

Luckily it does not work that way!!

That being said, I'm now in the older half more than the younger

 and I recently listened to a fun, new to me podcast - Midlife Matters!

I happened to start with an interview with one of my favorite bloggers, Emily A Clark, whom I've followed for years! I'm sure many of you can say the the same thing. 

She spoke about design - not about being middle aged, BTW! 

And she's definitely younger that I am!

 But so many podcasts and bloggers who are big time right now have little children and are young and it's getting harder for me to relate to their ideas and areas of influence. 

We are just in different places in our lives.

There were so many great ideas that the podcasters (is that a word?) 

and Emily chatted about. 

And it made me feel good about some design choices I have made along the way because I have reached the point in life where I am doing me and I'm not going to be changing things up or following trends. If something I have is trendy it just means it finally came back around as a trend! Cause it's been here all along!

That's really what Emily shared. 

But here are my "take aways" anyway!

Emily talked about using furniture in rooms or ways 

that may not be the original intent. 

I'm so on board. 

I have a china cabinet in my master bathroom for one thing. I put it in there during my Fall 2016 One Room Challenge. I bought the traditional china cabinet for that room. 

It was never intended for a dining room. 

There isn't a closet in this master bathroom so this china cabinet stores a multitude of necessary items and looks gorgeous at the same time!

I've also recently inherited some family furniture and I'm going to need to get creative to be able to use find ways to use it in our home.

Emily stated that she thinks we will be seeing more monochromatic rooms in 2020 as far as painting goes. Rooms where the windows, trim, doors, walls - everything - are painted the same color!! 

I did this in my Library when I refreshed it in the Spring of 2016! I still love it. The walls were actually already black. I had painted my dining room black over 10 years prior to that but left the trim white. Then I took out the dining table and added black bookcases. Then I painted everything glossy black from top to bottom except the ceiling.

 (And honestly I'm toying with a color for the ceiling one of these days!!)

 PS. The wood faux bamboo china cabinet was purchased for the Library and waaaay after this room had been a dining room :)

There was also a quick mention about "white kitchens" and if they are "out" and I've got more on that coming on another day!!

All the ladies on the podcast chatted about their homes and open concept vs. traditional room layouts - you know, walls, doors, lower ceilings. 

Emily mentioned that the traditional dimensions of the rooms in her house attracted her. That she can stand on a ladder and reach the ceiling, trim work, etc. to paint things herself. Or hang pictures or whatever. 

I've always wanted  to live in a loft or non-traditional building as a house. But now that I'm "mid" and not as young and bend-y I like the ability to reach things from a stepladder and I'm more concerned with heating spaces and such. I've had a very traditional "5, 4 and a door"  home for many years and I had to make it work. 

We are thankful for it, we love it,  and we couldn't move to follow housing trends.

I'm looking forward to listening to more of the Midlife Matters podcasts 

and their very relatable subject matter. 

 Are you a Podcast person? 

Buy the Roses!

This post is a combination of a Public Service Announcement (IMO)

 and my current life outlook - without getting too heavy!

I went to my local Publix this morning to pick up prescriptions for others in my family and there were roses everywhere. In the entry by the carts, on the end of the checkouts, the front aisles- everywhere. And they were BOGO - $10.99 for two dozen roses.

I am generally frugal

 (big thrifter, as you know, but willing to splurge on certain things and if the budget allows.)

I know that flowers are an extravagance and not always a good price

 or in everyone's budget..

BUT, 

(and I am not a big 'sharer' generally but this is to show you where this life view is coming from right now. And I know it could always be worse, and there were many blessings along the way, but I have not come to this lightly)

in the last 6 months my husband had a stroke on the first day of our vacation in July- in a remote area of the Keys, took 3 ambulance rides, stayed over a week in ICU, spent a month in Miami recuperating  enough to come home (thank goodness for an adult child who held down the fort and more! Thx, Mollie!!) where I received a lot of grace from my boss and worked remotely, he spent a couple of months in outpatient rehab which I chauffeured him to and then he started to work part time and I spent 3-4 hours a day driving him back and forth (it's Atlanta traffic y'all), he took a very, very expensive driving test to allow him to return to work, the dog broke his foot and had to have multiple x-rays, destroyed 2 hard casts and 1 soft bandage being "inactive" on a leash, I'm running up to VA as all of this allows because my parents are in very poor health, my mom is admitted to the hospital Thanksgiving weekend, has a second stroke, enters Hospice, we spend Christmas holidays flying back and forth to see her, my dad falls and breaks four ribs on New Years, I return to VA to bring him home and decide about care while my mom remains in Hospice, my mother passes away two days later, we are visiting Assisted Living places for my dad , I am working on arrangements for my mother's funeral and...

I called the florist (nothing against florists in any way here - please know that!) and find out that the customary spray for the top of a casket runs $200-$400 dollars and more. 

And I thought to myself in that very moment that I would much rather have a grocery store bouquet of flowers once a week, or even once a month if that's all I could swing, 

than a casket spray. 

(and yesterday, on the exact 6 month anniversary of my husband's stroke and his "official" release date, he fell off of a ladder at work and messed up his knee - back to walking with a cane!)

So, today when I walked in and saw all those roses on BOGO

I bought the roses!!

And I urge you to buy the flowers. Treat yourself to a small bouquet every so often. 

Life is short- so truly, stop and smell the flowers.

 And then, I urge you, buy them and bring them home. 

And put them where you can enjoy them!

"If you have two pennies, spend one on bread and the other on a flower.  The bread will sustain life.  The flower will give you a reason to live."  Anonymous

Hot Chocolate or Hot Cocoa?

Is there a difference?

Well, if you Google it, there is a difference and for chocolate connoisseurs it is a big deal (apparently!) I'm basically in it for warmth and whipped cream so what do I know?

If you want to know more about the differences (and similarities) then this article can clear things up for you!

Whichever you prefer, this warm chocolate-y drink is a holiday favorite.

And the part I'm up to speed on is all the "stuff" you can add to a big steamy mug!

I love to set up a Hot Chocolate Bar for Christmas parties at home and at church and we keep a small Hot Chocolate "corner" (it's not a full blown Hot Chocolate bar!) ready and waiting at home through the cold months!

There are a lot of delicious hot chocolate recipes all over Pinterest and recipe sites.

I have made hot chocolate from scratch but my "secret weapon" for large groups is this...

I buy already made chocolate milk in the gallon jug (cold) from the grocery store.

 It's yummy and creamy and for a big group of people it just works!

I put it in crock pots with plenty of time to warm up slowly and then when its warm I pour in a can of Sweetened Condensed Milk and mix it in well. It's outrageous!
For individual servings at home we use our Keurig and K-cups.

That's it. But the "extras" are where you can have fun
 and impress visitors to your Hot Chocolate Bar. 

Whipped Cream!! No. 1 item hands down. And in the cans with a nozzle, please! If you are having an event then fill a bowl or champagne bucket with ice and put the cans in it to stay cold. Easy.

Peppermint Syrup with a pump nozzle is a nice touch. 
If peppermint isn't your fave then there are a ton of flavored syrups available - salted caramel, vanilla, raspberry! You name it.

Then gather some small bowls or other cute serving containers and add chocolate chips.  marshmallows (which come in a zillion flavors and shapes!), sprinkles, crushed peppermints, candy canes, m and m's and even cinnamon sticks! Get creative. 

Add some spoons and cute napkins and it's a party!

Such a fun way to celebrate the season! 

You say Hot Cocoa, I say Hot Chocolate 
but as long as we all get a warm cup with whipped cream 
then everyone is right in my book!

We will keep this little corner stocked through January and February so stay tuned over on IG to see how I change it up once I put away the Christmas decor!

A Little Nativity for Everyone.

This year I made a little tiny, portable Nativity for every family at church - plus extras!

I gave out 1 piece of the Nativity each week of Advent. 

We jokingly called it the "Happy Meal Nativity" - a new prize each week :)

In all seriousness I designed it to motivate each of us to think about each "major" player in the Nativity story in a special way. 

We tend to put our Nativity out and think, 

"OK. That part of my decorations is finished and not think about it in detail." 

Maybe you are more intentional than I am but the busyness of the season distracts me! Easily.

My components were Joseph, Mary, The Manger with a star above it and Baby Jesus, of course!

It all fits in a sandwich size baggie with a sticker on the front with a verse from Luke.

They were very popular and people were excited to get each piece. People put them on their desks at work (there's on in high finance and another at the Space Center in Huntsville!), gave them to grandchildren, friends, shut-ins, family at nursing homes and more.

 (That's where the extras went.)

They put them on the dash of their cars and mini vans, carried them in their backpacks and shared the story of each piece with people they showed it to. 

A  church visitor on this past Sunday was so intrigued she took pictures and asked for details so she can take the idea back to her church in North Carolina.

These little Nativities really got around!

Merry Christmas!

I Started A New (to Us) Christmas Tradition...

Lat year I came across the tradition called Jolabokaflod, from Iceland. 

It is the tradition of giving books and chocolate on Christmas Eve.

As soon as I read about it I knew it was for us!!

Christmas in the Library - you can see why getting and giving books is for us!

It is a fabulous tradition to start anytime but since Mollie is an adult

 and we don't have small children around

 some of our past traditions that focus on Santa and reindeer have fallen away. 
There's some spare time now after Christmas Eve service!

Books and chocolate!? Yes!

 New tradition for us!

Here are some of my favorite titles from previous gift giving.  Mr. Monkey holds a few chocolate treats!

Even if you have some family members who aren't "big readers" like we are there are plenty of books you can still give. I would count comics. Or photo books you create online of trips you have taken, all the grandkids through the year, or the year in review. And coffee table books exist in almost every genre and most people love to learn the history behind what they collect or their hobby. (Tennis player who doesn't read much? - find a picture heavy book about Wimbledon. Start a collection of a series for younger children - you might just create a reader! And you know what to give them for the next holiday- the next book in the series.)

You can get very personal and creative with your book shopping. 

All of our books for Christmas Eve giving are wrapped and ready.

The tradition began in Iceland during WWII.
 Paper was readily available when almost everything else was scarce. 
Icelanders gave each other books as gifts and to this day they are a country of readers!

Jolabokaflod roughly translates to "flood of books" which I love.

Blue and white chinioserie teapots for serving hot chocolate.

So start looking for that perfect book for everyone to open on Christmas Eve, find a fabulous hot chocolate recipe (or keep it simple and buy a gallon of chocolate milk from the grocery  and put it in the crock pot!)

Then every one can cozy up with a mug of cocoa or a gourmet chocolate bar (if you prefer) and their fabulous new book.

PS. Don't leave yourself out - I order myself a fabulous design book so that I can cozy up with a book and cocoa too!