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I got the awesome privilege of spending almost a month in San Diego visiting family…Coronado to be exact. If you’ve never been here it’s a beautiful island; home to historic Hotel Del Coronado, beautiful beaches, gorgeous beach homes, quaint restaurants, and awesome boutiques and shops full of gorgeous gifts and home decor. Many people take bikes for transportation and that’s how I happened upon this little shop…Cotier! Cotier means ‘coastal’ in French; and Pat, the shop’s owner, has done an amazing job infusing her travels in Europe with her love of the coast. Her shop is filled with gorgeous coastal and french inspired furnishings, artwork, and accessories. I was ready to move in!!! Let her shop speak for itself!

Still want to see more? Head on over to my site to see part 2 (I just couldn’t squeeze it all into one post!). See something you can’t live without? Check out Cotier’s website and find out where you can visit her in Coronado, CA, or how to contact her to make purchases!!!

I’m sure the mister and I are enjoying our trip ’round the Mediterranean.  I’m probably eating way too much cheese & writing like a madwoman.

Europe = major inspiration for a writer/designer.

via

I’ll still be popping in a few times a week while we’re gone, and I wanted to tell you guys about my trip to New Orleans a couple of weeks ago.  I was headed there for my Chalk Paint (TM) training workshop with Lisa from Annie Sloan Unfolded.

That’s the cutie there on the right.  Lisa’s the gal who started it all for Chalk Paint here in the U.S. & I was thrilled to train with her!

The office was BEAUTIFUL & I’m kicking myself for not snapping more pics while I was there.  Annnd, I wanted to take pics of her house, but I just couldn’t bring myself to ask such a stalker-like question since it was my first visit.

Um, and P.S., while we were having dinner with Lisa, my daughter totally peed on her floor.

Yep.  We’re here from Alabama & we’re leaving pee on your floor.  You’re welcome for that.  Oh, and we’re going to eat approximately 32 packages of fruit snacks/crunchies while were here.  And we’ll pull out 4 baskets of toys.  Oh, yeah, and we’re sort of going to have one of our most bratty days ever while we’re here.

Yeah, that’s all.

In all seriousness, the kids were terrible, Ava did pee on the floor, and they both did eat half of Lisa’s kids’ snacks, but Lisa & (her husband) Scott were awesome about it.  They couldn’t have been more generous hosts–both at their office and in their home.

I’ll owe her forever, I think.

On the morning we began our training, Lisa had the room all set up with lots of paint colors & brushes–my kind of day, I tell you.

Oh, this shot.  I just can’t take ENOUGH paint brush shots.  That oval shaped one on this side is one of the new Annie Sloan brushes & let me tell you–they are wonderful!

They are so dense, which lends perfectly to holding lots of paint.  They work really well for a more textured finish since you can use so much paint at one time.  Brushing with them is cutting my paint time, no doubt.  (I do have these available in my store now and they’ll be available online soon!)

The kids were at the office for a while, until the leap pad & painting all over Lisa’s floor wan’t entertaining enough.  Matt graciously took them to the mall & back to our hotel room for naps.

Thank the Lord for Daddy.

We covered most of our material that day, not moving from the conference table minus washing our brushes, etc.  It was lovely–who doesn’t want to sit and play with paint all day???

Oh, is that just me?

The next morning we branched out of the conference room & Lisa took me on a mini-tour of New Orleans.  We (luckily!) got to stop in one of the local stockist’s shops, Creative Finishes Studio.  Jane was sweet enough to meet us there and it was a pleasure to meet her & her daughter!  Plus, her wall of Chalk Paint colors was swoon-worthy!

Her pieces were beautifully painted and seeing these stacks of sample boards always get me going.

Jane has a workshop coming soon–if you’re local to New Orleans, you should look her up and go!  I can’t wait to host my first workshop & teach some of you gals some fun tips & finishes.

After we stopped by Jane’s shop, Lisa drove me to The Bank, an archictectural salvage stop of New Orleans.  Cypress everywhere–I scored a great window that I cannot wait to use!

The trip was a ton of fun & so informative.

Even if my daughter did pee on Lisa’s floor.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought maybe I’d write a little “what we might tell ourselves in 30 years” kind of post.

You guys know I’m passionate about the present, so it seems fitting to think about what my wiser, more mature self might tell my I’m-so-tired-I-can-hardly-see-straight self.

So, let’s just get started.

Honey, relax.  Take deep breaths & enjoy yourself.  Sometimes that’s simply a choice.

Miss Mustard Seed

It’s okay to be tired.  It’s okay to be worn down, fed up, & even annoyed.  It’s not okay to take it out on them.

Changing diapers in the middle of the night is so monotonous.  So is opening every wrapper, tying every shoelace, zipping every zipper.  Try to remember that very soon they’ll be driving themselves to their own job in their new hometown.  You’ll miss the zippers and the shoelaces.

Just A Girl

Teach them to explore every single thing that gets their blood pumping.  Try not to think so much about the most practical solution.  Listen to their dreams & help them get there.

It’s okay to fuel your own passions.  As a matter of fact, it encourages them to go for it in life.  Make sure they know they’re a part of that passion.

Haven by Hayden

Try to say yes as much as you can–there will lots of  ”no” moments.

Pack a second change of clothes for them.  Yes, almost every time.

Do the fun stuff.  Build forts, read books to them, play tea party.

Home Stories A to Z

Try not to raise your voice so much.  It doesn’t really make them obey you any more than they would if you were controlled and firm.  Plus, it raises your blood pressure & gives you more of those fine lines you love so much.

Go on and accept your body.  Workout, walk, drink green smoothies.  Sure.  But don’t let your vanity consume you.  It sorta stinks, but youth is wasted on the young, you know.  You have stretch marks, cellulite, and occasionally, love handles hanging over your used-to-be-favorite jeans.  It’s alright–you also helped create/nurture/love your children into being.  You earned some bumps and bruises.

The Pennington Point

You know how you go to the kids’ school plays, etc. and wonder what all the other moms think of you/your child/your outfit/your children’s outfits??  Quit worrying about it.  They’re all thinking the same thing.

If there’s something you still want to do, just do it.  Share your dreams with your children & make them a part of your journey.

Reach out to more moms around you.  It’s really incredible to have friends around you.  You’ll each travel through highs and lows.  Having each other will make it so much easier.

Definitely, hands-down, no doubt date. your. husband.  Treat him right.  Enjoy him, laugh at his ridiculous jokes.  Tell him he’s the most amazing man on the planet.  Love him.  You’ll get to enjoy the most wonderful reward after your children are grown.  Hanging with your best friend/love of your life after you’ve outgrown a lot of insecurity & immaturity is going to be the best, most satisfying thing you’ll experience on this earth.

Stick to your guns on the fruit & veggies thing.  It matters.

Dear, did you really think a boy would never ask your daughter out??  And your boy would only have eyes for you?  Again, with the deep breaths.  Instead of panicking, help guide them to be the person they are looking for–and they will surely find them.

Remember as you’re so busy in your world of busy-ness that your mama is getting older, too.  Enjoy her and tell her how much she means to you.  Take her parenting advice (even if you would do some things differently) & thank her for it.

Begin using anti-aging potions at 25.  No matter what they tell you.

Put on some clothes, for goodness sakes.  Don’t work in your pajamas everyday.  It’ll make you feel frumpier than you are.

Cuddle with them more times than you think is necessary, smell their freshly shampooed hair, and kiss their little noses a few times too many.  It’ll all fly by so quickly.

The list of lessons my older, less spastic self would relay to the current me is probably many miles long.  I suppose she would also tell me that I’m doing a great job–to hang in there and “just keep swimming.”

It also has to be said–Matt and I are so very thankful to you, our two mamas, for all of the bandaids and the meals, the prayers and the wedding planning.  We’re beyond thankful for your super-power grandmom genes.  We are crazy about the way you love us and love our babies.

On that note, Matt and I are hopping out of town for a bit and we’ll be taking the next couple of weeks off.  After arranging house sitters, baby sitters, blog sitters, etc., we’re off to Europe.  It’s a dream come true–and I plan to soak up as much inspiration as possible.

Maybe I’ll finish that book, after all.

See you folks soon!

Hi all!

I wanted to pop in to show a quick little makeover I did last week.

While part of me loved the warmth of this wooden bread box, I felt like it was a little dated and tired.  A small, simple piece like this is perfect for a bold pop of color, so I went with Chalk Paint in Antibes Green.

It’s a little bright going on, but after it’s waxed, it’s absolutely grassy and luscious.

I really didn’t take many after’s of this one–I should probably do that for ya–but here it is in the display at the shop.  I left the sides, back, and front more rustic by washing a coat on, and wiping it off with a damp cloth after it was dry.  To tone down the brightness, I used Clear then Dark Soft Wax on it.

I loved getting my color on in this quick makeover!  What have you gone bold with lately? I’ve gotta know!

It seems like Tuesday’s are giveaway days lately!

Shops that begin with a mom & a need for a little creativity are some of my most favorite nooks to discover on the www.

I feel so blessed to meet each of my sponsors, to hear their stories of creativity & dream chasing.

Welcome Little Blue Prints to the blog today!  Meg (a mom to three sweet boys) started her business in 2010 as a creative outlet.

Little Blue Prints specializes in unique handmade gift items like these vintage storybook frames–how stinking adorable are they???  Perfect for all the little ones in your life (or the big ones if they’re suckers for vintage books like me).

I love the giant ruler growth charts–don’t we all need to be recording all of the special moments in our children’s lives?  I’m crazy about these filled up with notes and measurements–filled up with life.  Talk about art.

The great news is Meg has a wonderful giveaway for you folks today!

One lucky reader will get the choice between three hand-covered linen frames…

Aren’t those fabulous?  I LOVE, love them.  Especially that striped one.

To enter to win, simply leave a comment telling us your favorite frame!

For an extra entry, share this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. (Be sure to leave us a separate comment for each entry)

Good luck & thanks again to Meg & Little Blue Prints!!

Hello, lovely folks!

Congrats to our Overstock.com giveaway winner, Kim (#320), who said…

My newest accent color!! Love these!!! Thanks so much for the fun chance to win!

Email me, Kim, at shaunna@harristire.com to claim your prize!

I actually struck the perfect balance between productivity & laziness over the weekend, and worked on editing more pics from Troy Fest & projects we’ve been working on here.

I showed you the primitive corner cabinet (which I LOVE, btw) last week in my display at Troy Antiques.  It was pretty perfect as is, but it needed a good cleaning, and just a little umph.

All furniture needs a little upmph in one way or another.

Remembering this photo, I knew a little Provence (Annie Sloan CHALK PAINT™) would do the trick.

And it totally did!  I didn’t touch the outside–it was too perfectly chipped and worn as is (and somehow still bright white??).

I applied the paint with random brush strokes, not being particular at all.  I made sure to apply it more thickly in some areas, and more sheer in others.  This imperfect technique makes the paint look as though it’s been there the whole time.  (P.S.  I left the inside unwaxed because, again, I wanted it to seem really authentic and match the sheen on the outside of the cabinet–plus, I knew the backs will be just fine unwaxed.)

This guy was busy painting sample boards for me while I was playfully hard at work on the corner cabinet.

Somebody’s gotta do it.

*linking to Savvy Southern Style, Miss Mustard Seed, Funky Junk Interiors, Home Stories A to Z