Lilac & Ivy

Happy Monday to you! How was your weekend?

Mine was fabulous as I was pampered to no end! No joke, Stephen really did it up! We ate out for lunch and dinner on Saturday, I received a back and foot massage, went on a long walk in Freedom park, watched The Visitor, enjoyed chocolate shakes and opened presents! I received lots of goodies including these awesome note cards, a fun lamp for the hallway and used some birthday loot to purchase the vintage table I posted about last week! All in all, an excellent birthday!

On an entirely separate note, did you watch the Oscars? I thought they were pretty awkward and as usual, long, drawn out and kinda boring. I did love Rachel McAdam’s dress, though.

Finally, we also spent a pretty large portion of yesterday going back and forth between Linksys and AT&T trying to get our Internet fixed. It can hold a wireless connection just not our wireless connection. And, the computer refuses to work hardwired. Linksys says it’s AT&T’s problem, AT&T say’s it Linksys’s problem and meanwhile we have spotty, slow Internet. I’m not entirely convinced it isn’t the computer’s problem but of course our warranty expired in January of this year… Argh, I hate IT problems and am on the verge of running my laptop over!

Anyway, I hope you had a great weekend and are off to a fabulous week!

Image: KayVee INC.

Happy Friday to you! What fun do you have planned?

Today is my birthday and because Stephen is out of town (boo!!!) and won’t be home until tomorrow, we’re making it a birthday weekend! What could be better?

I’m going to soak in the warmer weather (finally!), enjoy some cupcakes, open presents (yes!), eat at one of my favorite restaurants and try not do any chores!

I’m so grateful to have you as my readers! I hope you have a relaxing, warm, sunshine filled weekend. Cheers to a relaxing few days and be good!

Image: Pink Sherbet Photography

Happy Monday to you! How was your weekend?

Mine was wonderful! Friday I had dinner with a new friend I met at a networking activity and we discovered we have lots in common! Saturday, I had a fantastic home boutique shopping trip where I scored a new candle, small horn tray to sit atop my dresser, a small silver dish for the living room bookcase and a vase. Nothing extravagant and I stayed within my budget so, yay! And alas, Sunday had to come but I made the best with a few errands and a nice cozy dinner with friends. As usual, I need a few more days but I do feel refreshed.

I hope you had a relaxing few days and are ready to kick off this week. Cheers to Monday!

Image: *Cinnamon

Happy Friday to you! What fun do you have planned?

Weekend mode has hit me and I’m ready to kick back and unwind. Not a whole long on the agenda for me except a dinner out this evening with a new friend I met at a networking event and a very fun shopping trip planned with my good friend Tonya. Were browsing small home boutiques and I’m hoping to find some great inspiration. Probably won’t purchase much, but you never know!

I hope you have a relaxing few days. Perhaps the weather is nice where you are? It’s looking like it’s going to be breezy and still in the low 50s here. Spring will you please come!!! As always, thank you so much for reading. Be good!

Image: +akane+

Yay! It’s finally my turn for the Blog it Forward What Inspires Me post! If you came here from Legal Style, thank you so much! I saw this format on another What Inspires Me post and thought it was a great way to showcase my many loves. Even more so since I share a lot of inspiration on a daily basis. So without further adieu, here’s what inspires moi…

A- America. I love this country of ours. The good. The bad. We certainly are an interesting bunch.
B- Bloggers. I find very little I enjoy more than reading and writing blogs.
C- Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday. Always has been, always will be. I love to find the perfect gifts and to be honest, I love to receive them too.
D- Decorating. I never thought I’d enjoy decorating my home as much as I do. I find inspiration at every turn.
E- Environmentalism. I believe it’s so important to take care of our planet today so that’s it’s here for tomorrow.
F- Family. I love spending time with mine. They are after all, the only people who will always accept me for the way I am.
G- Girlfriends. Because sometimes you just need someone who understands what it’s like to be female.
H- Husband. Stephen inspires me to try harder, be better and love more.
I- Internet. I do not know what people did before this amazing invention. I’m obsessed with all things online.
J- Jazz. Sitting down and and listening to some jazz, with a good book and a glass of wine. Perfection.
K- Karma. What goes around, comes around. I truly believe this.
L- Lists. I love to create lists and of course, mark things off them too.
M- Mail. Checking the mail is the first thing I do the second I walk in the door. I love personal notes but packages even more. Even if I know what’s in the package, I adore opening it up, unwrapping the goods and lovingly looking at what’s new.
N- Novels. I love to read and a good book where I can get lost for hours and don’t want to go to bed because it’s so good is one of the best things in life.
O- Opinions. I’m interested in hearing what other people have to say. It helps me become more educated and sure of my own.
P- Photography. It’s my favorite art medium. I love the way an image can just take me away.
Q- Quiet Time. I need my time to sit, read and be alone.
R- Recipes. Trying new ones that is.
S- Spring. I love when the flowers start to bloom, it’s nice to be outside again and people come out from hibernation.
T- Twittering. I never thought I’d say it, but I’ve discovered some pretty amazing people and things via tweets.
U- Unconditional Love. There truly is nothing better.
V- Vacation. Put me on a plane and point me in the direction. I want to see and experience the world.
W- Weddings. What’s better than getting together with families and friends to eat great food, have cake, drink some champagne and celebrate two people’s love for each other?
X- Seriously? I can think of nothing that inspires me that starts with X.
Y- Yoga. I’m pretty new to practicing, but I’ve never felt stronger or more in tune with my body.
Z- Zest. After all, shouldn’t you always try and have vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment in life?!

For continued inspiration be sure to check out little. lovely tomorrow! Cheers!

Happy Monday to you! How was your weekend?

Mine was filled with gorgeous weather, walks outside, a bit of reading and unfortunately, a bunch of errands. When I wasn’t sitting on the front porch I was taking care of the grocery shopping, dry cleaning, laundry, oh, you know, the usual. And of course, before I knew it, the weekend was over!

I’m hosting my first book club this week but other than that I’m generally planning on relaxing during my evenings. I’ve had a ton of meetings after work so I’m really feeling like a three-day weekend is in order!

I hope you had a relaxing few days! Cheers to a great week!

Image: Mine Creations

Happy weekend to you! What fun do you have planned?

Nothing much on the agenda for me. It’s going to be the warmest it has been in weeks and I’m just wishing I had more days to enjoy it! Finally watching The Reader and making a dent in The Girl Who Played With Fire are on the list. I’m also hoping to finally finish hanging our kitchen pictures and my fingers are crossed that I can show it off on the blog next week!

Thank you, as always, for reading. I hope you have a relaxing few days. Cheers to a wonderful weekend. Be good!

Image: Anna Verlet

Happy Monday to you! How was your weekend?

As I mentioned on Friday, Stephen planned a surprise for me and on Friday night I was told to pack an overnight bag with nothing but a summer dress, bathing suit and sunscreen. I didn’t know where we were going until we checked into the airport and printed our boarding passes. To my complete surprise and excitement, we were off for…

St. Thomas!

What a great getaway! I was starting to feel like a wilting flower with the seemingly never ending snow, ice, rain and gray clouds and needed it so much! I’d never been to this island and we met several very kind people. There wasn’t much time for anything but a few meals and time on the beach but it was definitely a welcome change! I fully enjoyed my almond crusted whitefish with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables while overlooking the pier, but the most memorable thing besides the crystal clear water and never ending sunshine was a conversation Stephen had with our cab driver:

Stephen: That place looks hoppin’. Should we go there for drinks after dinner?
Cabbie: No sir. Not you.
Stephen: Why not?
Cabbie: Sir, that’s the local whore house.

I hope you had a great weekend and are feeling relaxed and recharged! Cheers to a great week!

Happy Friday to you! What fun do you have planned? Any traditions involving love day?

Stephen just informed me yesterday that he has a surprise planned for Saturday and I’m very excited. We don’t do a whole lot of surprises, so this is off the beaten path!

It’s supposed to snow here again (we’ll see…) so I’ll probably be laying low. I have a new recipe to try that my mom shared with me. Let’s just say it has avocado and strawberries and sounds amazing; so I hope to share it on Tuesday. And, we’re hanging the two remaining kitchen pictures so on Monday I’m hoping to show them off.

Do you have a 3-day weekend? I don’t, which is a bummer. Either way, I hope you have a relaxing few days! Be good!

Image: ~Athena

A few of you asked if I’d write more about the Summit. I’ve tried to put all my thoughts into words and just can’t seem to, so, here are some wrap up posts about the Altitude Design Summit that contain a lot of useful information:

Janel from Apartment Therapy has put together the list of speakers (or at least those that have blogs).

Mint has a panel by panel wrap up of of the talks she attended. We attended many of the same ones and her thoughts pretty much mirror mine.

Say Yes To Hoboken shares the best bits of advice from the summit.

Petit Elefant has the list of design sites mentioned in the first panel (tons of new ones as well as old favorites), and SF Girl By Bay shares her favorites among those as well as some new favorites of her own.

Not Martha shows off the goodies from our welcome bags.

Via: Not Martha

Happy Monday to you! How was your weekend?

My weekend was really great! First off, it didn’t rain at all which made me very happy. Second off, we saw two good movies, Changeling and Avatar. I was really against seeing Avatar but to my pleasant surprise it was fantastic! And of course, we watched the Superbowl.

In addition to sitting in front of the screen, we finally made it back to the framing store to get our final kitchen pictures matted so I’ll be sharing that on the blog next week! With the addition of the baskets to put on my island, the kitchen is really coming together and I couldn’t be happier.

And finally, I had brunch with two new friends who I’m really excited to be getting to know better.

I hope you had a relaxing few days and are off to a great week!

Image: jallas

Happy Friday to you! I love this day of the week! What fun do you have planned?

As for me, it’s raining. Again. I seriously feel like it has been gloomy for weeks now and I’m so tired of it! But, I’m hoping that once February is over the flowers will  start blooming and the city will brighten up once again. It’s Superbowl weekend and truthfully, I’m not that excited. Instead, I’m going to read like crazy, do some recipe experimentation and stay cozy.

I have some exciting things lined up for next week, including a giveaway! I hope you have a relaxing few days. Cheers to a great weekend!

Image: Amadika

Happy Monday to you! How was your weekend?

We did in fact get our snow storm, er… should I say ice storm on Friday night which led to a weekend where the roads were icy, the kids were sledding but it was sunny. The world really does look beautiful as a winter wonderland.

The storm didn’t stop us from tackling numerous projects though. After all the errands were run, we finally painted the inside of our hall doors, swapped out a toilet seat (ew), installed a ceiling plate since I can’t find anything I love and finally hung a new blind on our front door. I felt very accomplished each day and rewarded myself with a Friday night out with a girlfriend for burgers and great conversation, a Saturday stay-in movie and last night watching the Grammy’s  with some friends over Mexican food.

I hope you’re off to a great Monday. Perhaps you have a snow day?! Cheer to a great week!

Image: Daifuku Sensei