::: FOCAL POINT :::

LOVE the June Issue of House Beautiful!

2012-05-30T17:06:00.001-04:00

Even though several shelter magazines are now online (great for pinning!) I still enjoy flipping through the pages in my own hands. My three faves I subscribe to are Elle Decor, Traditional Home, and House Beautiful. Although the online version may be a great weight & space saver for traveling, I enjoyed lounging with coffee this morning and flipping through the latest issue of House Beautiful.

Making Memorial Day Memories

2012-05-28T16:15:00.000-04:00

Hey all! Although today may be the kick-off to Summer vacay season, it's also a day to remember those who have served and protected our nation! (It's also the last day of our little week-long vacation - more about that this week!) Last night, Jeff and I went through a family heirloom: it was the trunk of Jeff's grandfather, holding many memories and links to his ancestors past. We traced some of

MOVING: Our 6 Month Anniversary Here in AZ!

2012-05-17T18:57:00.001-04:00

Wow. It's hard to believe, but six months ago yesterday, the moving rig with our Florida haul pulled up here to our new place in Arizona! A lot has happened since moving out here - sometimes I wish more happened, but some things just take time. One of the things that has taken some time is getting adjusted to our new surroundings. It's quite different living here in the desert vs. the tropics of

AROUND TOWN: ZGALLERIE AZ SUMMER SET

2012-05-15T14:52:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite stores I would frequently visit back in Florida was ZGallerie. I love their execution of bold color blocked statements used for impact & clarity in their visual merchandising presentation. In Florida, they have eight locations - I'd regularly visit three. Here in AZ, there are four stores total in the state. The closest ZGallerie to me is located in an outdoor shopping area

CONGRATS to the Top 3 Winners of the Benjamin Moore Spring Color Challenge at Olioboard!

2012-05-11T03:12:00.002-04:00

Like Sheilah posted this morning: "And, it's over! #OlioLove to everyone who entered Benjamin Moore's SPRING MAKEOVER CONTEST on our site! We appreciate your inspiring creativity!" And creativity there was! Since Olioboard added Benjamin Moore Paint colors to their site's ProTools, the board designs have leaped to another level. Here's a look at the Top 3 Winning board designs below. Links are

Benjamin Moore + Olioboard Color Challenge

2012-05-07T17:36:00.001-04:00

Olioboard has done it again! They're having another design board challenge! For this challenge, Olioboard has teamed up with one of their new vendors on their site: Benjamin Moore Paints! What's so great about this? Plenty! If you are a home owner creating a makeover board for your home, now you don't have to hunt for hours for the perfect shade of green for the kitchen or blue for your boys room

AROUND TOWN: POWER ROAD FARMERS MARKET

2012-05-07T01:18:00.002-04:00

One of the great advantages to living here in Arizona is exploring & supporting the local Farmers Markets. This past weekend, I visited a local market that is literally in our back yard: Power Road Farmers Market. I needed to make a run to pick up some ingredients for our little Cinco de Mayo celebration we did here Saturday night, so I thought I'd try them out. Compared to the local grocery

CREATING AN INDOOR GARDEN ROOM

2012-05-04T00:22:00.006-04:00

It's no secret - Arizona is HOT. And I don't mean South Beach HOT. I mean dry desert heat hot. Some east coasters coming from the tropics may miss some of the outdoor living of days gone by. I know for sure we do - including our cat Sephora. We would spend mornings with coffee, afternoons reading or gardening, and evenings grilling and relaxing outside on our patio - which when we left Florida,

GOODWILL GOLD!

2012-05-02T13:58:00.000-04:00

Last week I mentioned that I've been hitting my local Goodwill stores on Tuesdays and Fridays. Tuesdays because (IMO) the weekend donations have been processed and hit the floor to replenish it after it has been shopped from the weekend. And Fridays because the floor is sure to be full for weekend shoppers - PLUS: since Goodwill AZ has these Super Saturday 50% sales, it's good to "know before you

HGTV's Make Space + My Feature for Launch!

2012-04-30T16:18:00.004-04:00

Over the years (since 2007), I've been contributing images of my projects, holiday decor, tablescapes, and seasonal makeovers I've done to our home over at HGTV.com. I've also shared a few client makeovers as well. Although most have been through their Rate My Space channel online, several of my projects have been featured as online special topics for HGTV fans to read & enjoy. A few weeks back

FRIDAY FIND: THE X FACTOR @GOODWILLAZ

2012-04-27T01:42:00.000-04:00

Surprise surprise!! That's what I spotted on my last visit to a nearby Goodwill here in AZ! I've started visiting them regularly on Tuesday's and Friday's, and this past Tuesday I spotted these little gems: A set of four X back & bentwood cafe style chairs for only $9.99. The lines caught my eyes from a distance, (the X back and Thonet-like bentwood) but upon closer inspection, I became smitten

Thank You Emily A. Clark!

2012-04-26T02:02:00.002-04:00

Last week, design blogger Emily A. Clark invited me to participate in a new monthly blog series of hers called "Send Me A Picture". It's a somewhat regular blog series similar to the "Send Us a Picture" feature in House Beautiful, where designers are asked to send in one personal photograph, based on that month's topic. This moths topic for Emily was "Send Me A Picture of What I Love Most About

Around Town: Meeting Up With Blogger Coryanne Ettiene & the Summer Set at Pottery Barn

2012-04-23T17:00:00.002-04:00

Last week I had the chance to meet up with the lovely and talented Coryanne Ettiene, the fabulous founder, author and TV personality of Housewife Bliss. We met after her filming of her spot on a local morning show, for coffee, sweets, laughs and to get to know one another IRL (in real life). She's a loving wife, devoted mother, great friend to many, silly & energetic, home & garden blogger plus

Earth Day at The Phoenix Zoo

2012-04-23T05:51:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Did you do anything special or in observance of Earth Day yesterday? Someone had told Jeff to plant a tree - but we're in the desert and water is sparce, the air is dry and sun is uber HOT. I've even already lost some of the plants from the Spring stoop beacause of the heat. I tried finding some events - but only saw four listed in azcentral. I was kind of

Girl crushing on Lara Spencer - I Brake For Yard Sales + Flea Market Flip @HGTV!

2012-04-21T16:37:00.000-04:00

Did you see the HGTV special yesterday?? I had heard about Lara Spencer's book, I Brake For Yard Sales, but loved that HGTV made a special show about it with Lara Spencer. At first, I was puzzled - Why is this news anchor suddenly becoming a designer? But that was before realizing her extensive history in antiquing (she use to host The Antique Roadshow!), thrifting and yard sale-ing. The first

High Point Market Week kick's off this weekend with Leslie Carothers & The Style Spotters!

2012-04-20T00:35:00.000-04:00

Although this is the must go to event for designers - to meet and greet other designers, bloggers and manufacturers - I have yet to go! Hopefully, I'll be able to attend the Fall Market in October. There are so many wonderful people I'd love to meet up with from blogging, tweeting and facebook! One person in particular has to be Leslie Carother's - CEO of The Kaleidoscope Partnership. She has

The End of An Era: Dick Clark says "So long"

2012-04-19T20:05:00.001-04:00

Even when you know death is inevitable and just around the corner, it's still a sad experience when it happens. Like many of American's, I too was saddened to hear of the passing of Dick Clark. The first time I can recall hearing about him was from all the New Year's Rockin' Eve parties my parents had in our basement - back in the 70's while livin' in New Jersey. I was in my room during those

Basket Staining

2012-04-16T05:13:00.001-04:00

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? I unplugged for a few days from blogger: I needed some time to collect some thoughts, edit some pictures in Picnik before it goes away this week (boo-hoo) and spent some time with the hubs since he was off this weekend. A while back I had mentioned I'd probably be thrifting less since moving out here because the thrift assortment was a little different, but

3 Thrift Events To Check Out!

2012-04-11T20:36:00.002-04:00

Earlier this year, I had asked and wondered how people could take the thrill of thrifting to the next level. Happy to see, many around the country are doing just that! From A "Sip & Swap" event happening in NYC, to a Pop-Up Thrift Shop happening in Texas, to special Goodwill Sale Days with 50% off being held right here in Arizona - Here's a quick re-cap of some of these events: A peek at two

AROUND TOWN: Fresh Flowers @ Trader Joe's

2012-04-10T04:02:00.001-04:00

One of the things I miss dearly about living in South Florida, is being able to just walk down the block in my neighborhood, and cut some fresh palm fronds. The other thing I miss is after cleaning the house, being able to run down the main street to a nearby fresh flower stand for reasonably priced fresh blooms (like 25 roses for $12.99) Even in Miami, on the way home from where ever, you could

Easter Home 2012

2012-04-09T04:12:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend with friends, family fun, and food! Our Easter was a little different this year. Last year, we enjoyed the company of friends over along with family to share in our Easter meal. This year, since the move, Jeff and I had a simple Easter day - I made us breakfast, Jeff made us the sides for the honey baked ham quarter I picked up on

Rental ReStyle: A Striped Mirror Makeover

2012-04-05T05:42:00.006-04:00

Do you have an accessory that works in a room, but it looks a little tired? Are you trying to balance a room with the addition of layering patterns without it being too much? Or have you just moved, and you're trying to create a wow factor for a focal point in your space? Try this: pick an accessory, like your favorite mirror, and don't just repaint it - stripe it! It's a great way to add a dash

5 Last Minute Easter Details + a Sweet Treat

2012-04-02T14:25:00.000-04:00

Wow! Didn't we just pack up Christmas a few weeks ago? And now Easter is sneaking up - as quick as next Sunday! Fear not - here's a few Easter details to serve up to your friends and family, and even welcome the Easter bunny with... plus an adorable sweet treat I spotted last week - too cute - had to share! CARROT CUPS:(Simple alternative to a veggie tray)Dollar store 3 pk of clay potsRanch

Rental ReStyle: Welcome Spring on the Stoop

2012-03-30T10:20:00.006-04:00

When we moved into our townhome in Florida, I learned about container gardening. It was a great solution to add color to our house front or patio, without having to dig into the not so soft ground (mostly coral rock). Over the years in Florida, I had grown and nurtured several plants, but because of state laws, I was unable to take any of the plants with me when we moved here to Arizona. Although

Spring Tablestyling Ideas

2012-03-28T14:57:00.006-04:00

Something about Spring awakens a time of celebration. Easter, Passover and Palm Sunday are just the start (and only a few days away), plus also coming up are several bridal showers, baby showers, and Mother's Day. Whatever the Spring celebration, it will probably call for a refreshing Spring table setting to rise to the occasion. Last Spring, I utilized our dining area to create some stylish