A Silver Lining...

...to a very dreary week!

After a week of cold and grey I was cheered up by a glimpse of the spring to come. The girls in my Bible Study and I were asked to help host a ladies event at our church. We split up the responsibilities and I (voluntarily) ended up with flowers!

I don't think I realized the size of the commitment when I took it, but nonetheless, here I was with the job of making two huge arrangements and 12 small table arrangements. I was nervous at best (some of the ladies in attendance were actually floral designers), but excited for the practice. I figured I had watched my mother long enough and it was time to try it for myself (OK, I had actually done it once before for an event this past summer).

I hit up several shops and thankfully could use an account at the wholesale florist. Amazingly Fresh Market had the best prices for some of the flowers. I chose an array of bright colors and greenery that made me think of warmer weather.


I got to work about 4 hours before the event and only had to make one quick trip back to the store for some more greenery.

Creating the shape...


In the works...


The Final Product!


We used Fiesta ware and brightly colored napkins to bring in more color. The napkins and arrangements on the tables were all tied with raffia and we added burlap to the tables to keep it from looking too formal.

I finally got a chance to use my lanterns! They were a great addition to the serving and registration tables.


For the smaller ones I filled mason jars and glass carafes with simple mixes of Gerber daises and pink snapdragons. the jars were tied with raffia as well.

After the dinner I pulled most of the flowers out of one arrangement and put them in the other to make a fuller arraignment for a breakfast the next morning.

The rest of the flowers and greenery from arraignment #2 were divided up, along with the flowers form the small table decorations, and sent home with friends. I managed to bring home a bunch and can't wait to disperse them around the house!

What to do...

Since all of the magazines I subscribe to are slowly dropping like flies it looks like I might actually begin to read books for pleasure again. I was an obsessive reader from 2nd grade on and read anything I could get in my hands. Once college came, however, books for pleasure were moved aside to make room for "required reading". Communication theory and American foreign policy was not my idea of great literature and, sadly, I got out of the habit.

This past summer I begin to realize the emptiness the lack of literature had on my life and decided to dive back in. It has been a slow process, but here are a few books that I have really loved!

Beautiful Boy - everyone should read this. I'm about to start Tweak - the story from the author's son's point of view.


Blink - fascinating.


Anna Karenina - I've been working on this for a few months...

BOOOOOOOOOOO!

Seriously?

First this and now THIS!


Why does it always have to be my favorites?

Camping in the Cold

Yep. That's whats on the agenda for this weekend. Although, it will probably be with rain instead of snow.

I'll give an update when we get back. Happy Friday!

Recent Read (and Recent Deal)

I've had my eye on this coffee table book for a while.


It's one that I wanted, but certainly couldn't justify the $50.00 price tag...that is until I saw it for $12.98 at Barnes and Noble (hurry - they still have some). It has been a nice addition to our coffee table and many night the roommates and I and other friends have spent waaaaay too much time pouring over the pages.

Lets just say that if I ever become famous and need a fabulous wardrobe I'm going to hand this book to someone and say "Just copy everything in here". The book has great, detailed pictures and the history of all of Mrs. Kennedy's clothing.

This is my personal favorite. I think I could probably whip up a version of that for myself...


If you are fan of Mrs. Kennedy and her style check out this article at Domino - pictures of many of the rooms in the White House redecorated under her and other First Ladies. Did you know that before Jackie, there was no record kept of White House furnishings and presidents could take our nations antiques at will when they moved out? She started the White House Historical Association and other organizations and positions to keep the historical house intact.

You can also purchase this one and pattern your life around her.


In honor of her exceptional taste and style I might have to pop on over to J. Crew and grab one of these.

As was written in the The London Evening Standard after the Kennedy Administration: "Jacqueline Kennedy has given the American people… one thing they have always lacked: Majesty."

News Flash!

It is finally happening (although it will be a little over a month).

U2 has a new album!

No Line on the Horizon


It will be released on March 3rd and you can already get the first single, Get On Your Boots, on iTunes.

For more info go here.

I'm just waiting for concert dates to be announced.

New Year, New House

Not really, but it feels like it. After a week or so of frigid weather the sun actually came out yesterday and we decided to enjoy it.

After church the roommates and I headed for the front yard. We couldn't really sit there and enjoy the sunshine considering the hideous mess of a yard that lay before us. It had been a while since anything was done to the yard and it showed. And since we are in Mississippi, even though it was 14 degrees two days before, the clover had already started to take over, the monkey grass was growing again and the grass actually needed mowing. So, we spent about 3 hours pulling weeds, cleaning leaves out of the flowerbeds and so forth.

Today was no less sunny and we continued the process by mowing, edging (with the kind assistance of a roommate's dad), replacing light bulbs, fixing furniture, Windex-ing anything we could, and getting the leaves out from the carport.

We bought fresh flowers this weekend for the living room. The lilies smell great and look even better in an antique refrigerator jar I found at an antique shop over Thanksgiving.

We bought new hooks for the aprons hanging in the kitchen at Anthropologie. (They are hard to see in the picture, but I promise they are cute.)


We also rearranged a "bay-ish" window in our kitchen. It has always been cluttered and kind of junky and we were plain tired of it. So we spent maybe two hours deciding what to put where. So far we like the final arrangement. A separate place for all of our cookbook collections, bowls of fruit and pottery made by one very talented roommate.

Here's to a very early spring cleaning!

New Year, New Deal II

I may not need these now, but wouldn't these knobs look cute in a girls room, or maybe on a ladies desk in the office I someday hope to have? At $2.95 I couldn't pass them up.


And what about these? Every year I go in search of new flip-flops for the season. I usually end up with some that are OK, but not great because price is a determining factor. Not so in 2009. While in J. Crack (thanks for that nick-name Seleta) I found last year's super-cute flip-flops for what? $4.95 a pair.


At that price I snagged two! Thank heavens I have small feet and it's usually my size that's left in the clearance bin.

New Year, New Deals

Yep. We're barely into 2009 and I have already snagged quite a few notable bargains.

On January 1st, after finishing lunch with my cousin in Nashville, I was browsing through Pottery Barn and saw a display of lanterns - all on clearance. I wasn't particularly in need of lanterns, but thought I would look just in case.


I picked up one the cutest ones (three orange enamel lanterns) and expected the sale price to fall somewhere in between $10-$20. I read the price and promptly asked the sales clerk to make sure it was correct.


Yes, they were $2.97 a piece (originally $39.00). I bought all three. DEAL!

After I got home and told my mother she called and did a nation-wide store search for them. She now has two en route from Cincinnati.

How cute are these going to be hanging with twine from my front porch!


Or maybe as centerpieces at an outdoor party (since we will have 5) - picture them with hot pink and yellow Gerber daises.