Moi Featured !?!

I am so excited to have the mudroom reveal featured at the Pinterest Power Party today. I was selected by Amanda at Dixie Delights and I am over the moon thrilled. If you have yet to check out her blog, you simply must. Her home is gorgeous….there isn't a single room I don't adore. And I am quite certain that when you look up the definition of southern belle, Amanda's picture comes up. So head on over there and look around, I promise you'll be hooked!

Oh and while you're there, be sure to check out her second pick, a beautiful kitchen reno by Southern Soul Mates. You know I love painted cabinets & crystal chandeliers in a kitchen:-)

I'm off to pick up a craiglist find this afternoon that I'm super excited to share with you all soon!

XXXX
Amelia

Belle of the Ball | Olympic Day Champ, Double Rainbow & Cartwheels

1. 

Today Belle had Olympic Day at school and for the second year in a row her team won the grade level tug of war competition: the greatest achievement of the school year and major bragging rights. She put her heart and soul into winning and Hubby, Peanut, Bear & I were on the sidelines to cheer her along.

 2.

After Greek School the kiddies returned home and we had the opportunity to see a full double rainbow. I know this is the first time I've every seen a rainbow in its entirety and I'm pretty certain I haven't been privileged enough to behold a double rainbow until this evening. By the time I ran to grab my camera, the top rainbow had faded substantially, but you can still see a trace of it in the first photo. The vibrancy of the bottom rainbow was quite a thing of beauty. You could distinctly make out each and every layer.

3.

Belle had set the goal of being able to land a cartwheel before the end of 1st grade. Despite numerous attempts, she has spent the majority of the past year and a half making it up & over before falling to her knees. Finally this evening before bed, Belle landed a perfect cartwheel! Thanks to a keen observation on Hubby's part (Belle' parallel rather than perpendicular hand placement) & Belle's willingness to listen (a trait she has been working hard on) she achieved a major goal. I was so proud of my baby girl that I nearly burst into tears….instead I did what any sane Mommy would do, immediately jumped up and down clapping, screaming & bursting into a happy dance.

Quite a lucky day around here…maybe that luck will rub off for the big lotto tonight. I won't hold my breath:-)

Crush Worthy {Fretwork)

With the end of school around the corner, I am rushing to finalize the deck throw pillows and call that project done. While brainstorming pillow designs I stumbled upon these bed linens. I don't think I've shared with you all how obsessed I am with fretwork. I just can not get enough of the chic and timeless style. And paired with a monogram it is utter perfection in my book.

This bedding is simply divine and I have fallen in love…head over heels. I never thought I would swoon over bedding until I laid eyes on this. Trust me, this is not the last you've seen of this linen. The master bedroom has yet to be touched and now I have an inspiration. It maybe a few years from now, but that's fine seeing as how I need all the time I can get to save for this beauty.

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OK back to the deck, so in efforts to pinch my pennies and finish up this space I am going to attempt recreating the pillow pictured below.  Hopefully this will satisfy, all be it temporarily, my fretwork craving. I plan on using bias tape I stumbled upon while rummaging through YiaYia's sewing kit.  The two unopened packages of "cool island mint" bias tape are circa 1979. I kid you not, keep it long enough and it comes back in style…love ya mom!

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Should my attempts fail (as a fair share of my DIYs do) I came across this $10 fretwork applique. It only comes in gold, which won't work for the deck project, but a little spray paint might just do the trick. Hopefully, though plan A will work out. I'll be sure to report back.

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I'm off to HomeGoods this morning to locate linen colored outdoor pillows. Wish me luck shopping with two boys! I better pack lots of bribery snacks.

How does your Garden Grow?

Growing up, every Mother's Day weekend the whole family spent a day planting flowers as part of my Mom's gift. As a result, I feel an uncontrollable urge to carry on the Mother's Day planting tradition. Conveniently, on our 2013 home goals a vegetable garden & sustaining said garden were among the listed ambitions. So after Belle hopped off the bus on Friday Hubby, the kiddies and I headed out to pick some plants.



After scouring the aisles of Home Depot for every variety of white flowers for the deck (post coming soon once I can clean all the pollen off the deck) we moved on to the veggies. Despite numerous pleas for a plethora of veggies, we kept our first ever garden simple and low key by purchasing one plant of the following:

• tomato
• red pepper
• green pepper
• cucumber
• squash
• zucchini

Further research had me fearing our proposed garden plot was too close to a tree (tree roots are rumored to rob plants of their nutrients). So to buffer against planting in the wrong spot, I opted to do a container garden this year. This way, if need be, we can move the plants around the yard until the optimal location is determined.

The configuration of the garden is as follows. Tomato and cucumber plants each have their own pots. The peppers share a pot, as do the zucchini and squash. The trellis is constructed out of garden decorations that the prior owners left behind. My hope is that the cucumber and squashes will grow up and over to help conserve space. To help ward off any bunny bites Hubby wrapped the whole garden in chicken wire. 

One of the great pleasures of Summer is cooking with fresh herbs. To keep them accessible, we planted oregano and sweet basil in the deck boxes. I was thrilled to discover "boxwood basil". These delicate miniature leaves don't need to be chopped up like the large leaf variety and the plant grows in tight formation mimicking the boxwoods I love so much! I happily snatched up two of them for the pots flanking the deck steps.

So that is our veggie garden: small and manageable. Hopefully container gardening agrees with us and the plants flourish. I am a little worried because after it was all said and done I noticed the bag of organic soil we purchased said "not for container gardening"…..ugh fingers crossed my plants don't die! Anyone else grow a veggies out of pots? Any tips? Lessons you've learned over the years? I can use all the help you can offer.

Mother's Day {2013}

I tried my best to relax during the day so there aren't many pictures of today's festivities. After church we had a lovely lunch with Big YiaYia and YiaYia Terry (Hubby's Grandmother & Mother). Together these two beautiful women raised Hubby to be a truthful, hardworking, loyal and faithful man. I am appreciative beyond words for the amazing man they raised and the devoted Grandmother and Great-Grandmother they are to my children. I say all the time that I have the best mother in law and I truly mean it!!!

Later in the evening, Hubby prepared filets on the grill for dinner and YiaYia and Bopi joined us. It was so nice to step away from the kitchen with a glass of wine and enjoy conversation with YiaYia. 

I can not imagine my life without my Mother. She is courageous, strong willed, principled, beautiful, and an inspiration to me. I am thankful beyond words that she chose to put her career aside and move closer to me. Having her & my Dad here has been the greatest gift of all. I love you Mom and hope you had a very Happy Mother's Day.

Toy Pit

With the chaos of the past few days, the first floor has turned into a gigantic toy pit. I will be spending this rainy day organizing, sorting & purging the plethora of trinkets that have the little ones have collected over the past few months. And I'm hoping to find my beloved milk frother which has gone missing (yes it is perfectly acceptable to assume around these parts that a kitchen utensil would be housed among the kiddies playthings). Wish me luck!

Front Door Reveal & Tips

I know I promised the front door reveal, but yesterday was just one of those days. Peanut was sick with a 102 fever. I had to chaperone Belle's class trip to the zoo. And to top things off by the end of the night my allergies were so bad that my right eye was nearly swollen shut! So I am sorry for the late post, but now that I'm back from the doctors with allergy meds in hand, I'm ready to go.

I painted the door SW Urban Bronze and the door casing SW Comfort Gray. Just for a refresher, this is what the door looked like before.

As for the process, I started off with two coats of primer after I had taken a rotary sander to the door and stripped the old flaking varnish.

After the primer dried (1 hr) I applied one thin coat of Urban Bronze in SW Enamel paint. I ended up having to brush the paint on because the roller was leaving lint marks all over the door. I did not have this problem with the BM paint I used in the mudroom FYI. We left the door propped open to help the enamel dry, but eventually we had to shut the door.

The next morning, the front door was sealed shut! Apparently, I neglected to remove the weather stripping from around the door..oops! So take note, fellow DIYers if you are going to paint an exterior door, remove the weather stripping to allow for a slight gap.

To remedy the problem I first removed the weather stripping, then sanded down the rough areas and repainted.

I can not believe how one small change has altered the appearance of our home so dramatically. I am in love with the house all over again. And the little pop of Comfort Gray helps add some personalization to the house. If only my meds would kick in so I could actually be outside to enjoy the fruit of my labor.