White Pumpkins...

So, I was on a mission the other day to find little white pumpkins...did I find them?  No,  I got so busy around the house and was out in the Lanai getting things ready for a nice family cook-out.  Yep, we are still grilling out here in the Sunshine State, actually we do all year long.  When I heard my husband call for me to come in, I thought he was going to ask where the bag of Mesquite was (he never seems to know where I keep all the wood chips).  When I walked in the house, there sitting on my kitchen island was these three cutest little white pumpkins.  I was so thrilled!!!  He of course found them right there in our local market.  We invited my daughter's boyfriend over for the BBQ and what does he walk in with but 3 more little white pumpkins.  OK, now I was almost in tears.  I was shocked, though he is a wonderful young man, just to remember hearing me say I was going out looking for them, and he took upon himself to get them for me. I was surprised not once, but twice.  Isn't it so nice when the smallest of gestures, mean the most!







Three of the little white pumpkins



Believe...

If God is your partner, make your plans BIG!

    ~ D.L. Moody

 

 

Walk-in Closets...

What woman doesn't love a large, well organized walk-in closet?  My wonderful daughter still lives at home, she works full time and is STILL in school, studying to become a child psychologist.  And, I wouldn't want it any other way, we love having her here, she is not only my daughter, but my best friend.  She has a nice size walk-in closet in her room, but it's just very typical, with the coated clothing racks, shoe racks, and accessory racks, and not so great lighting.  Though she is very organized, everything in it's place,  jeans, skirts, dresses, hoodies, you name it, all in order it isn't all that pretty to be honest, just very organized and simple.   With Christmas coming up soon, my husband and I thought it would be really nice to give her a beautiful luxurious closet.  A closet with organization, even down to her 40 plus pair of sunglasses...We hinted to her about it and she was thrilled, but we didn't exactly tell her we were going to do it for her, but I would guess, she knows, after all, she is 24 not 4.  Instead of spending thousands of dollars on this project, which I would never do anyway...we had her pick out some walk ins that she loved, and we went to IKEA and picked out a few pieces, and measured, and measured and measured again, and chose just a few pieces that would fit in there perfect.  Not only are the prices for these individual pieces great, but when we move, it can all come down and go with us, and if not needed in another walk-in closet, can be used in a variety of other areas.  She chose the chandeliers, but hasn't decided on the color quite yet.  Since there is no window in there, the white may be the way to go, though underneath the frosted glass shelving, which will be 5 in all, we are putting LED white up lighting, so I believe there will be plenty of good lighting.  I've added below, just a few of the pieces we have chosen for now, but we still need a few more pieces.  I'm so excited to get started on this project...the only problem is, when and how, there's no hiding this gift in another room, I think she would see it!

Some beautiful walk in closets found on the Internet

A few of the pieces we found from IKEA

The two chandeliers she loves



Fall inspirational decorating ideas....

I can happily say, even here in Florida, fall has arrived!!! The last several days have been perfect, low 80's during the day and low 60's in the evening, and even better, low humidity! Yah!!!!

Though it doesn't take cooler weather to get me in the mood for any kind of decorating, it does help with holiday decorating. As I previously mentioned, I don't decorate too much for the fall season, I do however, use a lot of the inspirational pictures that I may find on the Internet, save them to a specific file called just that "inspiration". I take my Flip with me where ever I go, and film decorations from anywhere I see something unique, then I will often incorporate something from several of the pictures into ideas for Christmas, or a New Years Eve party. Nonetheless, I love these pictures I found. Some were found online and a few from my Sunset Magazine (my fav - love it!). There are so many wonderful and beautiful pieces out there right now to be as creative as you want. I must say for some reason I am a bit obsessed with these naturally white pumpkins (ghost pumpkins), and even the very light green ones. I love unique things, not one for following and adhering to only what's so called " in style" at the moment, it has to be something that really touches me. And, these white pumpkins have my mind racing with ideas. So, tomorrow...my mission is to go out to every pumpkin patch, farmer's market, and fruit stands in my town until I find them. Since I have a lot of palm trees in my yard, and yep, some need a little trimming...the palm fronds will be part of my Thanksgiving table scape this year along with those adorable white pumpkins. Wish me luck, I keep hearing that there is a pumpkin shortage this year, but never under estimate a woman on a pumpkin mission!!!

Happy Fall!!!!

Have you traveled the road of your dreams?...

Today, I just feel like reflecting on all the good things in my life. It's quite obvious, I am a big dreamer, but very realistic. I believe dreams, along with faith are what drives a lot of people. No matter how large or small your dreams are, they can be obtained with hard work, faith, and the belief in yourself. Over the last several years, I've had a lot of obstacles in my life, that could have derailed my dreams, but instead, they made me stronger and more willing to dream even bigger. It's no secret that my heart is in the desert southwest, though I left it once, and shouldn't have, it's been a long road to try to get back, but I do know that it will happen, in God's time, not mine. But, that dream is what inspires me to enjoy what I have now here in the beautiful State of Florida. Since my husband and I have been working harder the last year to prepare for the move, it has made me see all the beauty Florida has to offer, hence the reason we moved here almost 30 years ago, as a very young married couple and we had our beautiful daughter here. So, as the holidays are approaching, I've been doing quite a bit of reflecting on the years gone by and what my dreams of tomorrow are filled with, and it makes me happy to have the things in life that I do have and not to dwell so much on what I don't have. Family is the most important thing to me, second to God. Yesterday, I was standing outside by building here at work, which is on an inlet bay, right off the Gulf of Mexico and two huge beautiful bald eagles were flying above my head, almost a tree top level. They were just soaring with such grace and peace. They were there for several minutes, and as I watched them with such freedom and joy, it really hit me in an unusual way, that is the way we as humans should approach life, carefree, happy and always dreaming. Enjoy our families, our lives, when things in life bring you down, always remember, tomorrow is going to be a better day, one that God has made just for us. Never be afraid to follow the road of your dreams, you never know where they will take you. I hope that everyone who reads this, has all their dreams come true!!!!

California Style here in the Tampa Bay Area...

I found these great pictures and a wonderful article in Vranda Magazine. It is of a beautiful home here in the Tampa Bay Area. The homeowners goal was to have a bright and airy feeling with the openness of the California architect Pierre Koenig's Modernist homes of the 1960's. The owner found a home to renovate in her own neighborhood, The Hyde Park historic district along Tampa Bay. There were obstacles that became an issue, so she demolished that home, and built a new one with a 1960's inspired aesthetic. I love all the clean lines and somewhat minimalist decor this home has.


Since I was very young, this type of architecture always fascinated me. I remember my doctor's office was mid-century modern, I would love to go, just to look at the beautiful structure. It's also nice to have happy memories of days gone by and when looking at any photograph of that era, it always makes me smile and think of the "good ole' days". Today, I am very fortunate to work with an architect that has taught me so much about not only architecture as a whole, but all the wonderful architects that has influenced so much our everyday lives. In a future blog I will be sharing some beautiful homes, decor, etc., of one of my favorite eras, which is the beautiful designs of the mid-century modern and mid-century desert modern era and those architects that designed some of these homes.

Colors of our lives...

Pantone announced a short time ago their colors for fall 2010, as we know; Pantone is the color authority for anything in the design world, from our fashion designers, colors we use in our homes and all the way to the new nail polishes for the season. They hit right on with stating that turquoise would be the color of the year for 2010. We've seen turquoise everywhere, in our home decor stores, clothing, luggage, handbags, and again in the beautiful tropical turquoise nail colors from Chanel to OPI and beyond. No matter what your decor in your own home is, a little splash of turquoise whether in an accent lamp, throw pillow, or a vase adds that special warmth of the tropics or the southwest dessert. For me, I have always had a "thing" for the desert southwest. Though for years, my home's decor was authentic southwest . A couple of years ago, I changed to what some of my friends call a "little eclectic", because it is mostly Hollywood Regency/Mid Century Modern with vintage Hawaiian. My Lanai however remains totally southwest, from those pieces we've collected through our years of living there and our travels to the desert. It seems with the new fall colors from Pantone, I already have a few of their colors incorporated into my home. From the Woodbine, Chocolate Truffle and Endive, with a hint of the Lagoon (for me, is a calming tropical color). If you look around your home, you might have these colors also. Now that fall has officially arrived, and the holidays are just around the corner, some of us like to punch things up a little, for me, this is the perfect opportunity to add even more of the beautiful colors in my home, just to make small changes so when family and friends come to holiday parties or just for a nice visit, it's a little different from last year. I have mentioned it before, but I am totally addicted to Home Goods, and try to go there several times a week, there you can find some of the most beautiful and often unique pieces for your home at an unbelievable low price. I thought it would be fun to also include with the new fall 2010 color chart, some of the colors from the last several decades...brings back those memories, doesn't it.

Pantone's colors for fall 2010