Adventures at Home: Part 2

The second trip of the two was to Franklin and Nashville, TN.

I was heading up to Nashville to spend the weekend with friends and decided to stop in Franklin on the way. If you ever have a chance to stop you should! Downtown Franklin is filled with great restaurants, bakerys, and antique shops.

When I arrived I parked on the main street and made my way up one side, stopping in every shop along the way. At the end I recieved a call from one of the girls I was meeting. We met up at my favorite Franklin restaurand, Merridee's Bread Basket. I had a lemon sqaure and a cup of tea to charge me up for the other side of the street.


On our way back towards the car we stopped in The Registry, a must-see-shop, and we ended up at Rock Paper Scissors.

Several of my favorite stationary brands are sold there and the first thing I saw when I walked in the door was a display of Nicole's handiwork.

After browsing several antique shops we headed to Nashville and arrived just as our host got home from work. We spent the evening make a Mexican fiesta in the kitchen and catching up on the couch. We awoke early the next morning to make our way to the Pancake Pantry.

We spent the rest of Saturday hanging out around Nashville. We did stop in one fabulous shop after breakfast - Social Graces! Check out their website!

Adventures at Home: Part 1

The last time I went home for a week I was able to take a day trip and an over-night trip. Here is my recap of the first...

Fayetteville, TN is one of our favorite places to go when I come home. It's only about 30 minutes away and is a great place to spend the day. Mom and I go almost every time I'm home and this time we brought friends with us.

We started with lunch at our favorite restaurant on the town square, O'Houlihan's (Jen and I had lunch there in college) and then to one of my two favorite antique shops, The Magnolia.

The town is so fun with it's old town square - shops, restaurants, and businesses surrounding the courthouse. We usually make our way around the square and then go just off of it to the Best Fabric Store Ever. You think I'm kidding, but no, it really is the best. Can you say designer fabric for $1-$3 a yard???

After eating, going through piles of fabric and browsing through several other shops we just had to stop and the local coffee shop for a pick-me-up.


Our very last stop was to Sissy's Antiques. It's where I found the Buffet and a few other prized items. I hit gold again that day.


I had passed up an antique milk-glass urn on a previous trip and had regretted ever since. Thankfully, I found it right where it was before and next to it I saw the sight that made my day. I have a strange affection for old blue ball jars. I have several in my bedroom and they are perfect for holding pens, flowers and anything else you can think of. They usually run about $6-10 dollars a piece depending on the size. I found a booth that had them all at 40% off!
I picked 2 to bring home.


Here is the loot...Isn't the urn pretty? I love the detail around the bottom.


After bringing this one home I checked on eBay to see if, by chance, I could find another and I did. for $9.00 I received a matching one in the mail the other day...now I just need an occasion for matching flower arraignments.

Shocked and Amazed...

I have several pieces of furniture that need to be reupholstered as well as a quite a few ideas swarming around in my mind for possible future decorating. Shockingly enough a good many of those involve one of two fabrics:

Kelly Wearstler's "Imperial Trellis" (made in a fabric and wallpaper by Schumacher)

and a fabulous green print entitled "Ogee" from Pottery Barn (it's listed as a "Grade E" upholstery fabric on their website).

Well the Schumacher print is upwards of $100/yard and the Pottery Barn is not sold by the yard. What's a girls to do? She is to discover this fabulous shop off of this blog. Who knew googling "Imperial Trellis knock-off" would bring such desired results?

While browsing P. Tree Textiles to see what other great things I might find I stumbled upon the Ogee fabric too.

Here they are at $15.99/yard and $16.99/yard, respectively. Compare them with the original pictures - they look great!

I won't lie - I'm thrilled to my toes. I'm ordering samples this week and can't wait to see how they look to decide which to use on my first project...recovering my dining room chairs!

What My Yard Needs Now Is Blooms, Sweet ...

...Blooms!

Amazingly, the daffodils and hyacinths have already finished blooming here. We are left with lots of lush greenery, but very little color. I have been mapping out what I want to add to the yard this spring and made my first purchase today towards the final plan.

We have a sad, little, black lamppost by the walkway in our front yard. It has a vine creeping up it, but it's quite ugly and hasn't bloomed the past three years. So today I bought a clematis to replace the vine.


Hopefully, in a month or two, I'll have these brightening up the front of the house! BTW: I found this website very helpful in choosing which type to plant.

This is the sun...

...and boy, can it burn

First sunburn of the year came today - just a slight one. I spent this lovey day of 80ish weather on a blanket in the front yard. I am one of those light hair/fair skinned people who should probably never be out in the sun. I don't care. My freckles have now come out of hiding and my skin can no longer be compared to copy paper (ok, that is an exaggeration).

Fascinating!

Watch this slide show. It will get you thinking...or at least it should.

Read about the book here.

Just Chillin'...

...Literally.

It snowed in Mississippi last night (after a day of 75 and flip-flops 24 hours before). Today my roommate came in and proclaimed that it was colder in the house than outside - I had just chalked the chill up to my being incredibly cold-natured. Indeed, the temp was set on 69, but nothing was coming from the vent. Yay for broken heaters on a Sunday. Did I mention that it's a brand new unit from our previous Chill-Out? It's going to be a fun week...at least the mosquitoes (that were already biting) are suffering a set-back as well.