Thoughtful Bloggers, Lila and Jeanette

                         I have been remiss in thanking two bloggers who have passed along the

Stylish Blogger Award to me.

                                                                                   

Sweet Lila from Pretty Prowler  first commented on my last post and then passed along this thoughtful gesture.

                                                                                 

Check out her blog and her goals for the new year. I especially liked this one

- "De-clutter".

Oh man could I use a few tips in that department!

She featured some great images on her post and I really like this laundry room.....but wait, I don't recognize it! Where is the cat litter, the pile of shoes, the dog leash collection, the cat food, the dog bed, the more than we would ever need pile of jackets and rain gear?

Need I go on?

Oh, if only my laundry room wasn't also the back door and mud room entry!

Then, I got another kind comment and the Stylish Blogger Award from fellow hill country blogger, Jeanette, from JVW Home who lives and works in Austin, Texas.

Thank you to both of you for thinking of me!

Now, the way this thing works is I am supposed to tell you 7 things about myself, and pass the award on to ten other bloggers, notifying each of them via email.

I have to qualify something first, though.

I think supporting and complimenting one another in the blog world is great fun, interesting and helps us all  know more bloggers of like minds and interests. However, sometimes it is just enough for someone to get to their computer and post on their blog in the midst of a busy life. That being said, I want to add NO PRESSURE to anyone that I pass this award on to.

If you don't have time to carry it on, no worries. Just wanted to make that clear.

Okay, Seven Things About Me....................

Here is some of the big stuff of who I am.
 You already know I love interior design, art, and funky stuff.

1. I am a Christian and have a strong faith in God. I have daily conversations with Him and rely on prayer and faith tremendously.

2. I was widowed suddenly 21 years ago after being married for two years to an incredible man named Mike. I realized then that I really had no control over a lot of what was to be in my life. My daughter was 11 months old at the time and I did not know what in the world was going to happen to us.

3. My current husband dropped straight down from heaven, is also a Mike, and we married one year after I was widowed. He adopted my daughter and we had a daughter together. We will be married 20 years in March, and I still realize that we never know what life holds for us.

4. I still feel like I am about 26 years old (far from it!)  and embarrass my children regularly.

7. My family and my friends mean the world to me and I love nothing better than dinner around the table with good food, good wine and laughing and talking with them.

Oh P.S. it doesn't even have to be GOOD food or wine.

  A pizza and a  halfway decent bottle of wine is fine by

me!

The people around the table are the important thing.

7. I am absolutely crazy about art, architecture, and antiques.
Always have been.
I am an antique dealer and set up at Texas shows 4 or 5 times a year.

 I buy what I love and have been know to crawl on the floor under a table picking out pottery that SPOKE to me - yes,  whatever it is, it has to speak to me first and then it can come home with me or go on to a show with me.

8. I know, I was supposed to do only seven, but isn't this the best shot from a cell phone you have ever seen?

This is Buddy,  king of our household and my little sweetheart.

Now on to ten of my favorite bloggers :

Love Where You Live

For the Love of a House

Veranda Interiors

Fiona and Twig

Garden Antiques Vintage

Silver Moon Studio

Talk Sweet Talk Blog

Anything Goes Here

Beadboard Upcountry

My Favorite French Antiques


These are a variety of great reads and great people. I love discovering new blogs that I resonate with. In today's world you can find a blog about most anything. Hope you find a new one here that you enjoy!

Good Design in the Hill Country - Fern Santini, Mell Lawrence

Examples of the work of Austin, Texas designer, Fern Santini, have long been in my inspiration files.

I have found that my attraction to certain houses or rooms in different magazines over the years has a definite pattern - usually not conscious -  of being drawn to the work of the same designers and architects, over and over again.

 This is certainly the case with Fern Santini.

I look back over my tear pages from various magazines over time, and there are a handful of architects and interior designers that continue to surface.
                                           

While perusing her current website for her design company, Abode, I read this quote and it speaks volumes to me.........  exactly what I believe the basis of good design should be:

"We draw on art and architecture for inspiration, but understanding how a client lives – and understanding how a client wants to live – is the basis for our work."

AND

"Respect for tradition and history are crucial elements in our philosophy, but we also believe that rules are meant to be broken."

 The diversity of Fern's work can be seen on her website, reflecting, I think, the differences in her clients' tastes and lifestyles.

This urban townhouse in Austin is a great backdrop for the owner's collection of large paintings.

I was drawn immediately to this room by the huge magnolia painting by Texas artist, David Bates. Magnolias are one of his favorite subjects and this one is spectacular! I also love how it hangs over the sofa,
 strong and bold, and lovely.

What a great tub, and look how the sconces almost echo the shape.
 Really pretty form, I think.

Simple and handsome, the eye is drawn to the painting above the bed.
Very nice.

The sculptural staircase maximizes storage and has bookshelves lining the wall all the way up.Notice the open niche for the piece of pottery.

                                                                         

                                        All Photos of Austin townhouse from FernSantini.com       

Love the size of this kitchen. It looks like there is ample workspace with cabinetry that is attractive and classic, with clean lines. I love kitchens that blend in with the rest of the house, and of course, as everything else is in this house, the kitchen design is subtle and chic, setting off yet another large painting.

Another Austin favorite is architect, Mell Lawrence. It's no secret that I love Texas contemporary design, and am a bit obsessed with a certain number of architects whose styles are similar, but each also distinctly their own.

                                                                           

                 Fern Santini was the designer for the interior of this beautiful hill country home, designed by Mell Lawrence.

Don't you just love it when those great minds and eyes collaborate?

                                    
                                            Classic long porch lined with rocking chairs..........

                                                                                      

         

Love the indoor/outdoor connection.

                                                                                

                                                                                 

The design of the house incorporates natural light in every room.

             All  Photos of Mell Lawrence house  

         

There are so many features of this bathroom that I just love!  I am crazy about the hanging lights here, and the double trough sink is so great looking. I love the walls of horizontal boards, the wall mounted faucets, and the big soaking tub. Oh, and the natural light, always love that.

Move me right in.

     I am feeling the urge to write more about my love for Texas modern architecture, so stay tuned!

                                                                                  

                                                                                  


                                                                                        

Virgins, Saints and Angels, and a Great Giveaway!

                                         

This morning I was doing a little blog browsing.

  I stumbled upon a wonderful giveaway at 

Veranda Interiors.

Photo snagged from Veranda Interiors

The gift offered is a key chain designed by Virgins, Saints and Angels, one of my favorite jewelry designers. 

 The key chain so generously offered by Melissa at Veranda Interiors is the San Benito Medal, an ancient symbol of peace. This medal is often worn by those seeking faith, hope and protection.

Love this cross with the gold and turquoise chain. Beautiful design, don't you think?

Sometimes I have to be hit in the head to be motivated to post about something. Often I am inspired by posts that others have written. I guess they strike a nerve or something in me and I want to put my two cents in on whatever the topic might be.

So, I was inspired to show you more of these wonderful designs, as they have been a favorite of mine for quite some time ..... aaaand, maybe a little vicarious pleasure is in it for me, since I can't actually OWN them all!

I love this cuff and would wear it in a heartbeat!

Designs by Virgins, Saints and Angels a have a sort of Gothic and a Mexican feel to them. Religious icons found throughout Mexico inspire the designs. Many of them symbolize beauty, power, or protection.

The jewelry is hand crafted in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

 This belt buckle is stunning and I wouldn't mind wearing the earrings below any day!

What I love about the designs is the range of how dressy or casual they might be. Some might prefer a more Spanish, religious or ethnic look, and some more glitz and glamour!


Each piece stands on it's own and could be worn with jeans of the dressiest of dresses.

Isn't this bracelet elegant?


I chose a San Benito necklace for my brother to give his wife for Christmas (yes, I am an elf once in a while) and it came in one of these fabulous boxes. 

Hers is silver and so the box is silver. I love  both the gold and the silver.

To see more, go here or here or here.

Have fun, and do visit Melissa and enter her giveaway!!

All images from SWAG in Northpark Center in Dallas.

Oh Deer!

Dear Ann,

Would you believe that I found one at Red that absolutely had to come home with me, too?

I love mine, too.  I'm trying to figure out how I can keep him out all year.

Of course I believe you!! 

and.......

ditto on the staying out all year. Way too cute to go in a closet.

Great minds (and hearts) think alike.

Thank you, Nella!

Random Thoughts on a Very Deer Season

I fell in love one day over the holiday season.....again.

I walked into Anthropologie in San Antonio and sitting beneath one of their fabulous groupings of trees were two reindeer. I know they were just waiting for me.

I know it.

A few days later, low and behold, there were two more waiting for me to pick them up at the Austin Anthropologie when I took my daughter to the airport.

 Textural, whimsical, made of recycled fabrics - a little bit funky with

a whole lotta charm.

Most of all, they make me smile from ear to ear, which is my most important criteria when bringing something new into my home.

 

They fit right in with my velvet pumpkins on the dining room table - love these pink and green pumpkins, which clearly are not JUST for Thanksgiving -

 

and they are wonderful colors! 

LOVE.THEM.

Here are just a few more shots of holiday decor around my house............

 

My stone fruit took up new residence with a glitzy tree and some magnolia leaves for the holiday season.

Love my old bottle brush wreaths and trees, with a few old glittery German candy containers and some old tree toppers.............

and some old Christmas boxes collected over the years, which I adore!

Who, but only my very dear friend, Barbara, would think to give me a box full of tree fungi?

 (Look, Joan!!)

  I almost began hyperventilating when I opened the box. Beautiful colors and shapes and sizes..........and a whole bunch of them!!

Being a nature lover and totally crazy about animals, I would never have killed these lovely creatures. But with marriage comes compromise, so if they have to hang on my walls, may as well dress them for the festivities, right?

At the end of this third year of part time, random blogging, I would like to say.....

thanks for reading my casual and often erratic ruminations,

thank you very much for sharing your thoughts with me when you comment,

. 

and may the new year bring you happiness, good health 

and lots of FUN with those you hold 

deer to your heart.

P.S. I swear we did not stage these last two shots for this post. This is the kind of thing that goes on at my house all the time!

Christmas Delight

I am crazy for the work of Nathalie Lete, whose work can be seen at Anthropologie.

I

I have resisted buying any of these as I am a dish/ pottery- aholic and just have to tell myself "no" sometimes, but....................

take a gander at my Christmas surprise this morning!

Mine are the $24 version, but take a look here to see her original works of art, which are so very unique and very, very special.

I love it that my girls know me so well.

Vintage Christmas Wonderland

 

Welcome to a classic hill country house, owned by my friends Barbara and Wayne.

Barbara recently hosted out antique study group for a Christmas luncheon.

 Entry hall

If you love antique and vintage Christmas decoration, you will love this house.

Barbara, whose home home I featured in the past here, has a spectacular collection of all sorts of vintage Christmas decorations and ornaments, not to mention her array of fabulous country antique furniture and collections.

I plan to be short on words, but long on photos this post. 

Hope you enjoy!!

Living room

                                                                              

                                                                                  

Dining room set with antique feather tree, gobs of old stone fruit, pretty glasses and holiday Bourbon Slush! Does it get any yummier?

        Love this painting and collection of old Texas bluebonnet pottery.

 Tables set for our luncheon.

 A patriotic vintage Santa!! 

 Kitchen delight.

                                                                               

 Guest room

                                                                                       

 Wonderful screened in porch.

                                                                               

Heading back to the front door......

          Hope you enjoyed your tour! 

I wish each of you a very happy and healthy holiday season and a very merry Christmas.