An Eye For Detail

NEW YORK: ONE MORE TIME AROUND!

2012-05-28T22:34:00.002-04:00

Our weekend in New York. I had just a few hours on Saturday before I had to be at the Javits Center to set up our booth for Surtex. So where did I head? What was first on my list? Paper Presentation! (of course...) Go to their site and look around; better yet, go there next time you are in New York. This is one fabulous store. I've been coming here for years to browse, to buy, to

FRIDAY FLOWERS: HYDRANGEA LOVE

2012-05-24T21:00:00.000-04:00

Yes ma'am... it's true love! I A D OR E hydrangeas. We "inherited" one pink and one white when we moved here. Here is the pink one during the last month: P.S. I had wanted to add some neat frames around all these images, but don't have Flash installed yet as we just finished setting up this new iMac yesterday. It all takes time, right? And the white:

NEW YORK CITY FROM A (DISTANT) SHORE!

2012-05-22T23:19:00.000-04:00

As you may have gathered, I was in New York City for four days last weekend. After a ten hour drive we arrived in Weehawken, New Jersey. Yes, that's right. We stayed in Weehawken, just across the Hudson River from The Big Apple. Why? Well, it is something I've wanted to do for years! All the trade shows I've attended at the Javits Center always list the hotel, the Sheraton Lincoln Harbor, in

RENT-FREE HOUSING!

2012-05-17T21:39:00.001-04:00

For the birds, that is. We offered this very cute house, unfurnished, at 8 1/2 McDowell Square (we are at #8). It was vacant for about a week. We had lookers... some seemed "the right sort" and some seemed all wrong. By saying "wrong" we mean that they were too large to fit through this teeny tiny hole/door. One needs to be a slim creature to feel comfortable here! We were watching very

SHOPPING AT FURNITURELAND SOUTH

2012-05-14T20:26:00.000-04:00

Here it is. Yes, this is REALLY what you see when you drive up to Furnitureland South. The place is huge. If you've been to the Atlanta Mart, or over to Maison et Objet, or maybe the New York Gift Show, then you will know what I mean! So actually, this enormous "piece of furniture" really does serve as a perfect beginning to your day here. We were in search of a dining room table.

SHOPPING AT FURNITURELAND SOUTH: TOMORROW

2012-05-13T23:08:00.000-04:00

I had planned to do a post and show you what we saw and bought from Furnitureland South But then Mother's Day, preparation for Surtex, the last episode of Desperate Housewives, and lesser known events intervened! Come back tomorrow to see the transformation from this dining table: looking just a little empty and barren... To this: promise... it's

FRIDAY FLOWERS

2012-05-10T23:06:00.000-04:00

It's Friday! almost... And time to take a look at some of the flowers in and around my house this week. My lovely pink roses: these are fading, and now, after the rain, the bush is just about bare. Such a short season! But I love the reflection in the silver cup here: These snapdragons were planted last fall! Yes, I planted them in October and they made it through the winter

YOU WILL LOVE SOMERSAULTS! (LATEST FABULOUS FIND..)

2012-05-08T20:42:00.000-04:00

I guarantee you will love these! Somersaults Snacks These are my personal favorites! Crunchy. Salty. Chewy. Addictive.... Whole Foods had had a ton of these, but they've been sold out for weeks now. So... you can go to the "source" at Somersault Snack Co. They're made in Sausalito, California and you can order in various size bags and combinations.

AT THE BEACH

2012-05-03T20:59:00.002-04:00

Close..... Closer...... Up Close..... We went to the beach for a 2 night mini-vacation. To Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. A much needed vacation. And yes, it was lovely. These guys were willing to share the beach with me early one morning.. And now, back to life...

PART III: ROCKS AND LANDSCAPING

2012-04-30T21:06:00.000-04:00

Off we went in search of stones to line the garden area and roadway. This is THE place to find any kind of stone. Piles and piles and flats and pallets of rocks.... And here's the pallet that arrived, with our carefully chosen stones. Just the right size! A wheelbarrow just was not working; I mean, we had to maneover the heavy rocks out of the wire bin.

OUR SOUTH SIDE GARDEN RENOVATION

2012-04-29T21:41:00.002-04:00

We bought our house in the middle of a hot, hot, hot Southern summer. What did we know? We had never lived south of the Mason Dixon Line; in fact, we had lived well north of it. So we landed in this new climate... and one that we L O V E ! Are we born with a preference for a certain climate? Or is it an acquired "taste"? I have always loved warm weather and thrive going barefoot or in flip

FRIDAY FLOWERS: CLEMATIS

2012-04-26T22:03:00.000-04:00

Finally, I have a clematis that is happy in my garden! I tried to grow this Clematis Jackmanii several times up north. But it just never worked... I would get a year, maybe two years, of stunted growth and then poof, gone the next spring. This little baby seems very happy in my new garden. I really think I can see it grow, inch by inch, each day! My plant is

EYE CANDY FROM FENDI

2012-04-24T21:29:00.000-04:00

Just a little something for your summer evenings out! Oh, I wish.... At $2,500.00 (yes, you read that right: Twenty-Five Hundred), I will have to settle for oogling these on line or at Barney's. Too bad about that price tag: this one sure would look great with my new black dress! This great Calvin Klein dress came from TJMaxx for the grand total of

LETS TALK KITCHEN FAUCETS

2012-04-22T20:56:00.001-04:00

Kitchen faucets can be very tricky. We all have preferences, just as we all become accustomed to certain features. Some people like hot and cold water separate handles. Some like spray/aerators separate from the main faucet, while others must have the spray function part of the main faucet. And, in a way, all this is determined by how many holes you have in your sink/counter top. If you're

FOUND: TODAY

2012-04-19T22:23:00.000-04:00

I fell for this cute guy today. It was at HomeGoods in Durham. This was the "small" size, but in the end I opted for the "large" size. At dinner, with the candle lit! It makes a nice detail on our table... Hope you all have a nice weekend!

PROVENCE RUGS IN THE NEWS....AND A GIVEAWAY

2012-04-16T13:09:00.000-04:00

Let's try this again. My original post, with the link to the story in Chapel Hill Magazine, was lost. It was lost as I was trying to revise the link to the story...but because I was away all last week I had to do the revision on my iPad where the Blogger app is notorious for its "instability" (to put it nicely!). So, while editing the link, the entire post was lost. Moving on.. You

SPRAY PAINT TO THE RESCUE!

2012-04-08T22:13:00.000-04:00

Project #1: I had a VERY ordinary white trellis that had been sitting (very patiently!) against the house, waiting for me to decide what to do with it. Add some fun color, right? I tested a coral/rose... no, not right. Then, at Home Depot, I found this RustOleum "Eden" color. perfect perfect perfect The vine is a Honeysuckle: "Lonicera Scarlet". I had

IT'S A PINK SPRING!

2012-04-05T21:50:00.000-04:00

It seems there's a lot of PINK around this spring. And just in time for Easter. These were all taken in the last few weeks in my garden. Yes indeed, I am happy Spring is here!

DAY TRIP TO MEBANE, N.C.

2012-04-03T22:11:00.001-04:00

It was a beautiful day and a perfect time for a road trip. The purpose was to go to Mebane and buy some Annie Sloan Chalk Paints. I know many of you are familiar with these (you are the reason I'm now convinced it is THE paint for me!). But for those of you to whom this is a new company and a new kind of paint (really, it's paint? with chalk?), read all about it on the Annie Sloan website.

CUTE FUN SHOES!

2012-04-03T10:49:00.000-04:00

Marc Jacobs "Jelly Flats". Buy them here.!! How cute are these? If you're into whimsical and not-to-serious, take a look at the "mouse flats". I'm thinking the orange just might MAKE my indigo linen cropped pants!

WHAT I'M READING: "THE LANTERN"

2012-04-01T21:00:00.000-04:00

Take a look on my sidebar and you will see I follow Deborah Lawrenson's blog. Deborah is a British novelist and journalist living in the Luberon. And finally, finally I have read her novel: The Lantern! Whether you read it in paperback (above) or hardcover (below) or on Kindle (as I did), Buy it and read it here It is superb, gripping, evocative, engrossing: all the things

ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEW FACEBOOK TIMELINE?

2012-03-29T12:40:00.000-04:00

I, for one, am not ready. I don't want to change my page! But, alas, tomorrow is THE DAY. Facebook will change all accounts over to the new "Timeline" format. And that means you need a "Cover" image: that large, horizontal image right at the top of your new page. Take a look at Copyblogger's "The Procrastinator’s Guide to Creating a Facebook Cover Image for Your Timeline" Here

PANTONE PASTRIES BY EMILIE GRIOTTES

2012-03-27T17:42:00.001-04:00

These are fabulous! They are stunning! French food blogger, Emilie Griottes, developed these edible color chips for the French food magazine Fricote. Colorful tartelettes a la Pantone. Who would have thought? griottes griottes You can follow and like her on Facebook. And, of course, you can go to Emilie's site, Griottes, to see more (and read more if you read

SO MANY WAYS TO WEAR A SCARF!

2012-03-21T22:02:00.002-04:00

If you've ever tried to find a new way to wear those scarves you love, look no further! Here's a wonderful, easy to follow guide to help you. Some really good ideas here! To get you started I've included some great scarves to drool over review, all ready for spring wearing! etsy etsy anthropologie katespade anthropologie katespade Let us know what

I'M BACK!

2012-03-19T22:10:00.000-04:00

It's been a while. Where did the week go? Was it really a week? Did I lose track of time, or what? I was attending to some personal business...some difficult personal business that was all consuming. Those of you who know me well are aware of all that I, and my family, have been going through. For everyone else I will just say that it's been a difficult few months. I am fine: no, it's