Summer Beauty Essentials...

The last several weeks, my family and I have been extremely busy with some re-decorating around our home.  Small projects seems to become large ones.  Though I love the changes we've made, I must admit, it's been a lot of hard work and though it has been all indoors, with the heat of a Florida summer, it can wear one down.  So, below are just a few of the summer beauty essentials I must have at all times.  Most have such beautiful tropical fragrances, and others just can make you feel refreshed in the summer's heat.  One of my ultimate favorite and I use year round is the Evian, it cools and has emollients and keeps the skin in perfect balance, summer or winter.  Another one of my favorite and I can't say enough about is the Dr. Perricone's Super Hyper Hydrator with Coconut - it's light and with that hint of coconut, but is an amazing moisturizer along with the Coconut Quench Hydrating Mist, similar to the Evian, but with that beautiful scent of coconut.  I have used and will continue each one of these products and have highly recommended them to all my family and friends. 

All of these products can be purchased at Sephora http://www.sephora.com/

Alterna Bamboo Luminous Shine Shampoo - Eco certified ingredients

Bobbi Brown "Beach"

Bumble and bumble creme de Coco

Pacifica Coconut Crushed Pearl Bronzing Butter - this products is unreal, your skin is smooth and with the crushed pearls adds the most beautiful shimmer to summer skin with the perfect bronzing effect - love it!

Dr. Nicholas Perricone Super Hyper Hydrator with Coconut

Dr. Perricone Coconut Quench Hydrating Mist

Evian - Don't leave home without it

ExfoliKate Body Intensive Exfoliating Treatment

Illamasqua Liquid Metal, adds the sun kissed look beautifully

Kate Sommerville Towelettes Self-Tanner

NARS Body Illuminator in the signature shade Laguna - Delicately scented with exotic Monoï de Tahiti oil

Pacifica Coconut Crushed Pearl  Butter - this products is unreal, your skin is smooth and with the crushed pearls adds the most beautiful shimmer to summer skin without the bronzing, I wear it daily.

Philosophy Papaya Passion Punch Shampoo, Shower Gel and Bubble Bath, I have the lotion as well, you will feel as though you are in the tropics

Summer Interior Decorating....

Now that we have finished painting the inside of our main living areas of our home, and very happy with it.   I feel like I'm in a new bright sunny and happy place, change sometimes can be a very good thing.

My daughter decided she wants a change. As I said earlier my husband is making her headboard and ordered the Diamond Head Tacks.  She also ordered her new comforter from Z-Gallery and is picking it up on Sunday; it's in light teal with a silver undertone.  That is her favorite color and where she began her design theory.  Now she is motivated beyond belief, so I went with her the other evening to Lowe's to pick out wall color and floor color...yea, "floor color". She wanted no carpet or wood flooring in her room; she wanted the cement painted and a glossy sealer. We did that on her floors almost two years ago in a deep chocolate color, and though I was very hesitate, we went along with her after much research, it looked beautiful...clean, fresh, warm (though it was painted cement, you couldn't tell). She got so many compliments on it.   Every parent thinks their child has great talent, I’m no different.  I was so amazed watching her walking through Lowe’s picking out “exactly” want she wanted, like a pro.  Most of her furniture is contemporary with a nice touch of the “Hollywood Regency” look, a lot of mirrored furniture, and crystal candle sticks, picture frames and vintage Hollywood themed framed artwork and just the right amount of sparkle throughout, but with very simple and clean lines.  Here’s what she picked out.

She has the four normal walls in her room, one door into the walk-in closet, one into her power room, and one has French Doors leading out to the spa, and one wall with a slider on it, leading out to the Lanai.  The wall with the slider is going to be painted as an accent wall in the color Polished Aqua with a top coat of “Decorative Paint in Brilliant Metals”…which a beautiful metal like sheen - gorgeous.  The color and shimmer is just like a sparkling tropical aqua ocean.  The other three walls are in Polished Silver -  light airy, clean and very glamorous, with no "Brilliant Metals" overcoat.  Then the floor is in Semi Sweet floor paint, and we are adding a texture called "Stone" added to the paint, which will give a slight texture to the floor.  Mixed in with the sealer we are adding Valspar Paint Crystals in silver, which is like a light powder of glitter, very diminutive, but when the light hits it, it will have a beautiful sparkle.  All the products used are by Valspar.  She has her design board loaded with her design idea, colors, textures,accessories, down to each tiny detail.  We are so excited to see how this all turns out.  She wanted two large area rugs in there, but if the floor turns out well, she may just go with one.  We are having a huge family BBQ on the 4^th of July at our home, she wants this done by then…oh please, wish us luck, we’re going to need it.  I will post pictures once we are completely finished. 

Who doesn’t love summer indoor projects?  It’s time to re-fresh your home and make those changes we’ve wanted to do all winter, but here in Florida, we work outside in the winter and inside during the heat of the summer.

Anyone else have any special summer projects going on in their home?




Mercer bedding in Aquamarine




Polished Aqua, but much prettier in person, not so green, a pure aqua or teal





"Give your walls a distinctive and dramatic flair with Brilliant Metals paint. This unique finish imparts a vibrant metallic sheen that will add character and liven up any room. The wide variety of available colors guarantees you'll find the right shade for your style".

Paint Technique for using Brilliant Metals

Step 1. Apply Valspar base coat. Allow to dry overnight.


Step 2. Using Brilliant Metals, start by brushing a 2 - 3 inch border ("cut-in") around the ceiling, floor, trim edges and corners. Note: Do not cut-in around the entire room at once as this can cause a banded appearance. Rather, brush out the edges in sections.

Step 3.Working in 2 ft. tall x 4 ft. wide sections, roll the paint in an up and down motion only (never side-to-side). Finish an entire vertical column of sections. When done, without adding more paint, finish with long, even strokes from ceiling to floor. Note: Do not push on the roller. If lap lines are visible, re roll the line in a light, single ceiling-to-floor motion.

Step 4. Allow to dry completely, at least 4 hours. Apply a second coat using the same rolling method as the first coat (no "cutting-in" is necessary). Finish will appear uneven until dry.

Color accuracy will vary based on monitor and printer calibrations. Please visit your local retailer to view actual color samples before making final painting decisions.



Polished Silver, this too, is much prettier in person, a bit lighter in tone and no purple in it at all



Semi Sweet Floor Color - this is pretty true to color



Paint Crystal - Sparkling glints of light




 

Keeping my head above water....

You ever have one of those weeks that no matter how hard you try, nothing goes right.  Well, I've had two of them in a row.  I am a very positive thinking person, I try never to allow things to effect me in a negative way. It was a little hard the last two weeks.  Here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, the temperatures have been in the mid to upper 90's, with feel like temperatures around 105 - that's hot, and to make it worse we have had no rain in almost 2 months, except for one small cloud burst.  Here's where it starts...our air conditioner wasn't cooling our home.  We have vaulted and cathedral ceilings, so we thought it was just the extreme heat with no rain and it was working too hard to cool.   Our normal maintenance man was on vacation for 3 weeks, so we have two window air conditioners stored in the garage in case of a hurricane, we can at least hook them up to the generator.  Now, it's getting really hot, so my sweet husband put one in the kitchen window and one in my "Relax Room"...that helped, both placed in windows in the back of the house, not a pretty sight, but in this heat, I didn't care.  I finally decided to call some else out that works with our normal maintenance man...he came out on Friday, and I knew he was going to say you need a whole new unit, but ours is under 6 years old.  To my complete joy, it only needed a good cleaning, and now it works beautifully....my home is iced cold again.  OK...one problem solved. 

Onto the next, my dryer began making this horrible sound about two weeks ago, we ordered a new one and of course my old one wasn't a pedestal dryer, so that's what we ordered...it came a few days later than we planned, but it works so nice, no more bending over to get out my laundry.  I was hoping the older dryer would go so I could get the new pedestal model...couldn't see buying a new one if the other worked...so that ended all good as well - don't tell my husband, but I actually love doing the laundry again...

Alright, all problems solved now, right...NO!!!  I get a text message from my cousin in Texas stating that her Dad, my only Uncle still with us, who is 87 and suffering from Alzheimer's, was rushed to the hospital from his Assisted Living Facility, he stopped breathing and had no pulse.  This is also the Uncle that lived right next door to me when I was a little girl living with my wonderful Grandparents, he was, besides my Grand-father, the only Father figure I had, and he is actually the one who kept in touch with my Father, and got us together when I was 16.  So, needless to say, I was beside myself.  Well, as always, God is right there holding us up when we are in need.  My Uncle is fine, he actually had choked during dinner, and had they not be ready for him to go back to his room, they would never have called 911.  He was in ICU, but is now out.  I am so happy and grateful.

Next, my daughter and husband were in a charity golf tournament at Innisbrook Resort on Saturday, she, being a typical young woman, didn't like any of her other golf clothes so she left work to go to the golf store to buy something new during her lunch hour.  Pulling out of the parking garage, the gate slammed down on top of her car.  She drives a white Hummer (H3), luckily it hit the top of the vehicle on the black rubber things on top, don't have a clue as to what they are called.  She was in tears thinking it had dented the top...she got to the golf store and looked, thank God, no damage, just a little yellow paint from the gate, a nice washing, the problem gone.  But....leaving the Resort yesterday, she was coming down a hill, now we don't have too many hills here in Florida, but there at the bottom of the hill was a police car, yep...she got pulled over!!!  The police officer came over to her and asked if she knew why he pulled her over and she admitted, she didn't slow down enough going down hill, but she was only going 8 miles an hour over the speed limit.  He was so kind and looked up her drivers license and said "you've never had a ticket of any kind", she said no, and he said "well, we're going to keep it that way"...He actually told her, you're lucky it was me and not the State Patrol that was 2 blocks away, you would have been ticketed.  He walked away, and she began to cry, so my husband drove the rest of the way home.  A good lesson she learned though.

So today, after almost two months of no rain, we are having one storm after another coming in off the Gulf...my lawn and tropicals are so happy...it's amazing how fast everything can get so green, but it does.   I guess the reason for this post is that in life, nothing is promised, and no matter what you do to advert problems, they happen to all of us, but with my faith in God and my family, I have learned not to get panic, stay calm, keep the faith and know that it will all work itself out.  As with many people, after you've come through difficult situations, you can look back and laugh at yourself, and honestly know just how strong you are.

Here is to a wonderful summer, stress free for everyone, and nothing but good thoughts, wishes and a fun-filled summer 2011.  And, to never forget how blessed we are truly are!!!

Diamond Head Tacks....

For two weekends now, my husband and I have been painting the inside of our home, the main living area,which consists of the great-room, dining room and kitchen.  We put off painting the outside until early fall, only because this has been one hot June here in Florida, so inside it is!  After much discussion, and looking at, which seems like millions of paint swatches, we came up with Thunderstorm for the great-room and dining room.  Sounds like it would be dark, but it's anything but, it's a shade of light gray and it's not a true cool color, it is actually warm, but of course throughout the day, the color changes, even has a hint of very light green at times.  Well, we all fell in love with it, and I can honestly say, after 15 years in our home, and 5 different paint colors, I am totally in love with the color of that area for the first time.  For the kitchen we picked Coconut Husk, which is a light brown  with a slight hint of green, again at certain times of the day...very hard to describe.  Now that I have a clean pallet, I can begin to add all my tropical colored accessories that I've been collecting for a few months..still looking for a new sofa, which we know what we want, but haven't quite found it yet  .When complete, I will take some photos and post.  We just have one hallway to complete and part of the dining room...Yeah!!!

With all the painting and making some decorating changes within our home, my daughter came and told me that she still hasn't found a headboard that she wanted, well, not any that she liked which wasn't a cost of  over $2,000.  So, we did some research and found a few styles that she really loved, and asked her Dad if he could them as a template and build one for her, he said he would love to. Now we just need to keep him off the golf course long enough.... he is wonderful with wood working,  

She has similar taste to mine, she loves Hollywood Regency.  Her colors are champagne and teal, with mirrored furniture and beautiful vintage Hollywood styled framed pictures.  She wants the head board very tall, simple and glamorous, in a champagne colored fabric with nail head tacks...so in my research I came across the Diamond Head Tack's homepage  http://diamondheadut.com/.  My daughter, along with many of us, love items with sparkle, so we decided to use these instead of the regular tacks.  Below are some other ideas you can do with them, along with some pricing information.  I would love to do an ottoman for my great-room, so when we order hers, I may have to throw in an order for myself.   The customer service at this store is beyond helpful. I called, left a voicemail and Kathy Holt, phoned me back within 2 hours, they are located in Southern California, their number is 949-706-4391.   The pictures below are just a few items, their page has many more.  We are actually going with the acrylic Diamond Heads instead of the ones made with Swarovski crystals, pricing -  big difference.  She told me that many designers there in Southern California will use those on sofa's that cost $10,000, they sparkle the same and are just beautiful in sparkle and style as those that are made with the Swarovski crystals.  I think this will add the right amount of sparkle she is looking for and have it not too much over the top.  All the photos below are made with the acrylic except the teal headboard, and possibly the hotel headboard.

 

A couple of tacks, there are numerous others

We offer two unique and exciting product lines:

A. Diamond Head Elite - our trademark system allows you to change the crystal or stone and bezel without replacing nails.

    Totally customizable

    5 Sizes ranging from 11mm - 25mm

    13 Stones (Genuine Bohemian Crystals and Cabochon Art Glass Stones)

    3 Metal Setting Colors (Silver, Gold, Black)

    Interchangeable with like sizes (change out stones to create a new look on same furniture)

    Minimum order 100 pieces  

White Diamond in Silver Setting Pricing:

11mm $2.80

13mm $3.10

15mm $3.30

20mm $5.50

25mm $8.10

    

B. Diamond Head Acrylic

    3 Sizes - 11mm, 15mm, 20mm

    1 Stone - White Diamond (Acrylic)

    1 Metal Color Setting (Silver)

    Minimum order 11mm=100qty, 15mm=50qty, 20mm=25qty

    1 piece, install using a rubber mallet without damaging the acrylic diamond

Acrylic Pricing:

11mm box of 100qty $94.95

24 pieces covers 1 linear foot

15mm box of 50 qty $59.50

17 pieces covers 1 linear foot

20mm box of  25qty $44.95

14 pieces covers 1 linear foot

Both lines are COM available to any workroom or manufacturer.

Diamond Heads have raised the standard of luxury in the home furnishings market.

While brass upholstery nails have remained relatively unchanged; Diamond Heads are truly innovative, original and unexpected! 

35 Years of Marriage....

Last Sunday, was my 35th wedding anniversary to my best friend! I still can't get over the fact that it's been 35 years, I still feel as though I am 17, when I first met him.  We've done so much as a married couple and for that, I give thanks to God each and everyday for allowing me to have such a wonderful man in my life...I wouldn't change a thing.  We've traveled, we've moved to several different states, and have experienced things, that not too many people get to do, but most of all, we have always loved each other, put each other first (well, besides my daughter), and can look back and say,we have been so blessed by God.  First off, we never act our age, and that helps a lot.  Second, we don't care about what other people are doing, we do what makes us happy, and third, but of course not last, we were in love when we met, we were in love when we got married, and love each other more with each passing day - simply, we have fun!!!


Saturday evening we starting the celebration by inviting my daughter and her boyfriend to go to Clearwater Beach with us to watch the sunset and see all the events they have on the weekend.  Then we had a nice dinner on the beach at Frenchy's...been eating there for years, best grouper sandwiches around.  It was a beautiful evening and the breeze coming off the Gulf was wonderful.  Just sitting there with the warm breezes and watching all the people enjoying the beach, couldn't have been more perfect. 


We've have been so buy the last several weeks, for which I will post at a later date, so I haven't been on the computer much...I miss it and seeing what everyone is doing so far this beautiful summer.  Hope everyone is enjoy every special moment, and can't wait to get reading all the newer post and get caught up.   I've attached a few photos from last Saturday evening on Clearwater Beach.


Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Sunday...










CLEARWATER BEACH....

Memorial Day....

Memorial Day a special day to remember, though it never should be the only day...

I think this picture says it all.  I am so proud that my husband served in the military, and proud that I work for the government who provides care for our veterans who so honestly deserve it.  Let us never forget all those that have served our country, and those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our wonderful country.  This is a day for family and friends to get together for our out-door BBQ's, and our trips to the beach, the mountains or the deserts, but most of all it is to honor ALL THOSE THAT KEEP US SAFE AND FREE.  God Bless each and everyone of them.

Keeping it Local...

Shell Island....Florida





Yesterday, my husband and I got up around 5:45 in the morning, packed a cooler with breakfast items, drink, and other snacks along with our beach items, and took my husband's canoe to Ft. Desoto, launched the canoe from there and headed out to Shell Island.  Was a perfect beautiful morning.  We arrived to the island, and found a quaint little shaded spot to set the canoe.  My husband set up the travel grill in a clearing there, did a little fishing as I walked to the other side of the island to do some shelling.  The water was such a beautiful color of teal.  I had the entire beach to myself, not one other person out there, though there were other boaters off shore, it was so peaceful and beautiful, nothing but beautiful birds, the sea, crabs that scurried back into the water as I walked along the waters edge, white sand,  and thousands of shells.  On our way out, saw only one shark about 4 feet long, and about 200 stingrays.  There are certain areas that are very shallow, so that allowed us to see numerous conchs, both small and quite large.  I just love seeing the ocean in it's natural environment from off shore, different that seeing from the shoreline.   My husband made a fabulous breakfast on the grill - we sat around for a while and headed back.  We went through tunnel of mangroves, around various islands, and just took our time getting back.  We thought we would be home by around 11:00, but it was such a beautiful day, we didn't get back to land until almost 2:00...yes, I got a little too much sun.  Though I have lived here almost 30 years, I'm not one to lay out and bake in the sun, I try to always wearing sun protection, but not this time.  You know, being Latina, I thought I could handle it - wrong! I did wear a hat, but my arms and legs got the majority...was actually kind of a nice feeling for a change...nothing better than coming home, taking a long cool shower and have a tall iced Vanilla Chai Tea...perfect ending to the wonderful beginning of a long weekend.

Monday, we are heading a little more south to Sarasota, to go to some beaches, and have lunch at Tommy Bahama's - love it!!!.  Then down south a little further for some shopping and other beaches, trying to find some unique tropical colored pillows that I have in mind along with some tropical colored accessories to go with my new color theme in the great-room.  I located a few boutiques online, that I thought may have some items...I sure hope so, if not, it's off to HomeGoods, I can always find what I want there.  It's always exciting to get out of town and see new sights, even if I don't find anything, I know it will be a nice day, just being with my husband!!! 



Hope everyone has a fun, safe and happy Memorial Day weekend...enjoy!!!  God Bless!!!

Here are a few of the shells I found on Shell Island...I cleaned them well, but you know how hard it is to get all the sand out, will finish that tomorrow...some are broken, but they were still so beautiful, I couldn't pass them up.