Everyday Beauty

Blooming Beauty

If you've been reading this blog for the past couple of years, you may remember my previous "Peony" posts. Every year, they are the flowers I look most forward to.

 

Aren't they just take-your-breath-away beautiful?

 

Mario & I were outside taking pictures, and he took this one of me just before I cut the peonies and took them inside.

 

And I took this one of him watering his beloved carrots. {gosh, I hope they grow! he'll be so disappointed.}

 

I think May blooms are my favorite. Between the Lily of the Valley, Peonies & Roses, I'm in flower paradise for a few weeks at least. As far as roses go, this one is heavenly. It's a David Austin rose called St. Cecilia and it smells incredibly fragrant. My mom had one in her garden and clipped a blossom off for me before George and I flew to Italy on our Honeymoon. I wore it in my hair for the entire flight and still have the dried flower almost 6 years later. It held it's fragrance for a couple of years. I loved it so much she bought me my own plant!

 

Let's see...what else is blooming?...

Well, the Pansies are holding on nicely. Not bad for almost-June. They remind me of my childhood.

 

Clematis growing up the arbor:

 

The Iris' are so delicate, and here today, gone by noon. But very pretty and soft.

 

I should've taken some shots of the Azaleas.The previous owners of our house apparently had a love affair with Azaleas. There are 10 of them. My front yard looked like a sea of shocking pink for a good 10 days. Every year I want to transplant some of them to another part of the yard, but we never do. We're lazy like that. Maybe next year. They are pretty though, just a bit much all together.

I hope you're enjoying the beauty of late Spring too. Summer will be in full swing before we know it.

Memorial Day

 

I have never asked this before, but if you clicked here to find pretty pictures and are about to click somewhere else, please stay and read 'til the end. That would make me happy today.

While in the midst of our family picnics, hamburgers and corn on the cob, let us not forget the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. As they say, freedom is not free. But it certainly is taken for granted from time to time.

I just read the most beautiful Memorial Day post from my friend Rosalyn-Sue. Click here if you'd like to read it too.

She is the founder of a non-profit organization called Operation Stars & Stripes. The organization supports the troops and their families in many different ways, and you can read all about it by clicking the link. If you're so inclined, you can make a tax-deductable donation. I just did. And it still feels like so little. A very tiny little thank you to those who are "over there" giving so much for all of us. 

Rosalyn-Sue will soon be launching a new program within OSS called "Operation Creating for a Cause". It will be a great way for crafters to get involved and show support. More on that later.

One more thing, dear readers, if you have a pile of magazines sitting around that you don't know what to do with....send them to Operation Stars & Stripes! The female troops are requesting them. This is something that had never crossed my mind, to be honest with you. And now I can't WAIT to start sending my magazines their way. I certainly don't need to stockpile anymore back issues in my house. I'm so glad to be able to pass them on to someone else who will enjoy reading them.

And about the pretty pictures....I'm pretty fond of the one up there at the top of this post. When I was living in Europe, while I loved it, I was also homesick from time to time. Seeing Old Glory flying at the American Embassy actually brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. And I wanted to kiss the ground when I got home. A beautiful sight indeed.

Wishing you and yours a Happy and safe Memorial Day!

Laughing & Crafting {En le Jardin Style}

I'm back from an incredible girls' weekend in Georgia and am slowly settling back into reality {you mean I have to cook?}. It's difficult to even describe how much fun we had, but I can tell you my ribs hurt from laughing and I'm finally getting my voice back. I haven't laughed so hard for so long in years!

Let's see....where to begin? Just a warning, there are tons of photos in this post, so it may take a while to load. It was hard to pick and choose between the hundreds of photos we all took, so I've included lots. Let's start at the beginning. We arrived at Jenn's gorgeous home on Thursday, where we all found ourselves snapping pictures galore. 

She's the most gracious hostess you can imagine and no detail was left untouched. We all felt so welcome in her home.

 

 

 

Here's Jenn on the chaise that was set up in her backyard for the event. This was possibly the only time I saw her sitting all weekend! Look how pretty...

 

Rosalyn-Sue with me, snapping a picture of Analise and Karla who were snapping a picture of us.....as you can see, there is no shortage of pictures.

 

On Friday, we all piled in a limo and headed to Savannah for a day trip. The picture at the very top of the page was taken of {almost} all of us just before hopping in the limo.

The limo ride was a blast, despite our chain-smokin', half-asleep driver! Lots of funny moments and memories as we drove to and from Savannah. There's something about being in a limo with a bunch of friends....you're instantly transported to the age of 18 and have no cares in the world.

Jessi and Kim being silly:

 

Once we arrived in Savannah, we had lunch at The Olde Pink House.

 

Here we are blocking the stairway after our meal. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to get a good picture, right?

We spent the day walking around the city. Below, some of the girls are posing in front of the spectacular fountain in Forsyth Park, L to R: Sherry, Joanna, Jenn, Jennifer, Cheryl and Analise.

 

Below: Lorraine, Joanna, Jessi and Analise

 

I just loved this weathered door with the pink glass doorknob and lace curtain.

 

We {of course} did some shopping too. We stopped by the cute shop, @ Home Vintage General where sweet shopkeeper Liz greeted us with Mimosas and tasty treats. And yet another shot of the group, with Liz:

Finally, in need of some sugar, we headed to Back in the Day Bakery to meet the lovely owner and Cupcake Maker Extraordinaire, Cheryl. She has been a customer of mine since the beginning of One Hundred Wishes, and it was such a pleasure to finally meet her!

Buttercream heaven.

Tiffany and I enjoyed our desserts. A lot.

 

Then it was back to Jenn's and more laughter the whole way home in the limo.

Saturday was the big day! En le Jardin took place under a white tent in Jenn's yard. I hesitate to even call it a yard. Isn't there a better word?.....maybe "grounds" .Yes, on the grounds, the event took place. We took hundreds of shots of the decorations and the table settings. Jenn poured her heart and soul into this event, and we were the type of group that appreciated every last ribbon, flower and chandelier. Details, details, details.

  

 

  

 

Before the crafting began, we had a lovely luncheon. Jenn and her mother prepared all of the food and had transformed her dining room into such a magical place.

 

And more cupcakes!

 

Kim, Jenn and Jessi in the dining room:

 

There were 3 tables of girls . {I'm totally giving you the play-by-play here, but I hate to leave out the details!} This was my table.  From L to R: Lorraine, Cheryl, Rosalyn-Sue, me and Tiffany.

 

Here's the table of the sweet Southern girls. From L to R: Kris, Angela, Teresa, Jennifer and Sherry. I had never met any of them, and it was such a pleasure to make new friends and get a chance to chat with each of them.

 

And the third table, from L to R: Carol, Analise, Karla, Suzanne, Kim and Jessi.

Here are some more shots from the event. Wonderful Lorraine and me. {girl, you need a blog. We would all love to follow your adventures!}

 

Cheryl dainitly using her vintage handkerchief napkin:

The very funny Angela and Sherry. Sweethearts.

 

Rosalyn-Sue, an authentically kind and generous soul.

Suzanne and Jessi. I love this picture of their eyes and beautiful smiles.

 

Analise at her vendor table, making us laugh, as usual:

The ever-smiling Karla kept us in stitches too:

Carol, with her goody bag tote full of pretty things. How could you not love Carol?

 

And look who made an appearance! Natasha wanted to be there but couldn't, so she sent a cardboard version of herself all dressed up. It was too funny!

 

Here's Analise feeding her some moss. LOL

Jenn even hired a harpist......you can imagine how the soft sounds brought the whole enchanted garden theme together. It was incredible.

After lunch, we got busy on our garden-themed projects. Here is the flower pot I decorated {on the top}, along with Tiffany's beautiful pot below it. I actually finished the project with plenty of time to spare, a first for me. It was fun to watch the girls each create unique projects with their own special flair.

 

We also made a second project, a little garden fairy ball. Here are some of the other girls' projects hanging in the tree. The lovely lace streamers were Cheryl's bright idea, and we all copied. Pretty pretty!

It poured down rain, but nothing would dampen our spirits. We had all come to terms with the wicked humidity and had accepted bad hair days as the norm. We were having so much fun, no one cared a bit! So, free-spirited Tiffany and Karla decided to take a turn going down the slide in the backyard. HILARIOUS is the only word that comes to mind. We laughed until we cried. Here's Tiffany, and you can see Karla right behind her, waiting for her turn.

 

Tiffany 5 seconds later. LOL

That evening, we were invited to Suzanne's home where she spoiled us with an amazing Italian dinner, summer drinks and dessert on her terrace. We were surrounded by twinkle lights and more laughter.

Jenn, Jessi and Suzanne on the terrace:

Tiffany and Analise laughing.

Here we all are posing with our cocktails that Suzanne's husband happily prepared for us. {Carol, me, Tiffany and Sherry}

 

Lorraine, Kim, Jennifer and Rosalyn-Sue:

 

Analise, Karla and Angela:

 

Happy girls:

And then on Sunday, we all packed up and {hesitantly} headed home. I was teary-eyed and feel so lucky to have spent 3 days with these 17 women with whom I have so much in common. It was magical. Karla painted this funny cartoon to remember the weekend. I can't get over how much we actually look like these characatures! I think she missed her calling as a cartoonist. So funny.....

So, there's the very long version of the very fun weekend we shared. Thanks for reading this far. I hope you had a few laughs too.

Ruffled Totes and Ready to Go

 

I made these simple ruffled canvas totes for all of the girls attending En le Jardin this weekend. I just bought really thin canvas tote bags {so they wouldn't be stiff and scratchy} and dunked them all in instant coffee. I threw them in the washing machine to get rid of the coffee smell and make them even softer and more wrinkled. {I was going for a broken-in wrikled feel.}Then I stitched a pre-made cotton ruffle and a length of velvet ribbon onto the top of each one. I pinned a velvet flower & some leaves on and added little cardstock "streamers" with each girl's name.

 

All of the attendees participated in a swap, and these totes will hold the goodies we are exchanging. I hope they like 'em!

{photo below is so cloudy/faded/weird. But you get the idea.}

 

For my swap, I put some crafty treasures inside these cotton muslin pouches and stamped each girl's initial and a little crown on the front.

 

Then I added some millinery flowers and more ribbon {we can never have enough, can we?}

 

Alrighty....I'm heading to Georgia now, girls. See you next week. Can't wait to tell you all about it!

p.s. I have an insane amount of emails in my Inbox right now. If I owe you a reply, I'll get on it as soon as I return. Promise!

Well, Hello There!

Gosh, I've been gone a while, haven't I? Thanks for all of the sweet birthday wishes in my last post.

I hope all of you mothers had a beautiful Mother's Day. I picked these Lily of the Valley from my garden to wish you a happy day, and then never got around to blogging on Sunday. So, here are some belated wishes. If only you could smell these...

 

These vintage "Mother" charms are store stock I've had since last October. Never listed them....kinda missed the boat for Mother's Day, didn't I? And the wrinkled pink silk ribbon is from Heather's shop. She hand dyes them and sells out as soon as they're listed. Because they're THAT beautiful!

 

So, anyway, I got so much accomplished in these past few weeks. It feels good. And lots of family fun was thrown in the mix as well. We spent a Day Out with Thomas:

And someone was so excited he could hardly stand it!
We also visited family in New Jersey {where I neglected to take any photos, 'cause I was too busy gabbing and eating...and eating...and eating.}

We went on some bike rides together. Sam is loving his seat. The whole time we were riding he was yelling, "Go! Go!" It was so funny.

 

And I found a little time to make myself a new necklace from old bits.

George hung up my birthday presents in the foyer and hallway. It was nice to get rid of the  octagonal brass ones that came with the house. I can't believe I lived with them for 5 years!

And tomorrow I leave for Jenn's event! Very excited to spend time with all of these girls and craft and shop and chat. It's going to be a true retreat for me. I made some goody bags for everyone and I'll post tomorrow or Friday and show you.

It's nice to be back. I missed you guys!