A Birthday Celebration.......bringing home the farm!

We celebrated my daughters 5th birthday this weekend with a farm themed party. We even had baby animals and a pony for pony rides. The day was wonderful and her walk in to year five was the best yet.

Yeehaw! Happy Birthday to My Sweet Girl.

Leslie

I'm in heaven

Sunflowers, cookies, balloons. Starting to celebrate my little blessings 5th birthday.

Have a great weekend. I will post pictures of the party soon.

Leslie

Pottery Barn coming to Millenia Mall - Orlando

For all of you that are local, the Pottery Barn Bed and Bath that is Millenia Mall is closing and is becoming a Pottery Barn. Yippee!!!!!!

The entire stock is currently on sale at 40% off. If you are in need of bedding or other items I would check it out. I'm hoping to make the drive down there next week, hopefully there will be some items left.

Don't delay!

Leslie

I'm seeing.....gray and yellow in my dreams

This is one of my favorite color combinations and so in right now. I love these looks from J Crew. My favorites are the indigo striped dress and the spritzer stripe tote bag. They are all reasonably priced, aside from the tote which is an investment piece.

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Such classic looks. It helps too that yellow is one of my favorite colors.

Leslie

For Dads with daughters

The Wonder Years

When you take her to the movies , be ready for her to bring along five or six of her favorite stuffed animals. When fathers 0f boys look at you strangely, act as if her behavior makes perfect sense.

Have tea parties with her. Nibble on what ever she puts in front of you. Tell her it's delicious.

Ask her about her day, every day. Share her wonder.

Write this down, girls cry. A lot.

Buy her a chemistry set.

Learn to read her moods. The day will come when she won't share everything with you.

Talk to her about what she wants to be when she grows up. Continually reinforce the idea that anything is possible.

The Mystery Years

Teach her not to be afraid of boys, but to be ready to challenge them.

Remind her that the most sacred thing between father and daughter is trust.

Don't put any more restrictions on her than you would a son at the same age and maturity level.

Teach her that there is nothing she can't accomplish.

Teach her to believe in true love, just not in middle school.

Help her discover what she is passionate about and help her pursue it.

Girls and Spirituality

Forgive her when she seeks forgiveness. This is the best way for her to learn to forgive others.

Teach her that sometimes God has other plans

Explain to her that God doesn't speak in code. She can figure out what He wants if she just stays in contact with Him.

Happy Father's Day to my husband and to all the wonderful fathers out there.

Leslie

So pretty

These beautiful beach cottage images are from beachcottage.com. This home looks so serene and soothing. A clean, beautiful look. Love the all white neutral palette, the use of lanterns indoors and the simple bottles to create a center piece.

Glam Camping

My husband and I are planning a trip to San Francisco to celebrate our anniversary so I am in to all things California. While researching Sunset.com I came across this adorable tear drop camper. So my style. Very quaint, classic, retro and just cute! I love the whole camp set up. If I had this I might just go camping. I saw this table at Ikea a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with it. Just no room at my home for it. How many eating areas can a family of three need? We already have three. If you are heading to California you can rent one of these trailers your vacation. Anyhow check out these picture and log on to Sunset.com for more stylish camping ideas.

Leslie

Things that inspired me today

Inspiration for the day. I found these shops on etsy today.

Some fun prints by ashleyg.etsy.com

This jewelry is very pretty and has a vintage feel made by downandoutchic.etsy.com.

Check out etsy.com for some great buys and fun finds. The best thing about etsy is that the items are not mass produced, you will most likely have a one (or maybe 10) of a kind.

Leslie

Design Star

I just watched last nights episode of Design Star. Did you watch it? Ok, so 10pm is a little late for me so I have to record and watch the next day. Let's just say that I am underwhelmed with the season premier but am hopeful that the excitement will increase. A couple of things I liked. I loved the idea of shopping in the asian store. I think some of the designers were able to use the items and make them feel contemporary and not at all as an asian decor. Some others missed the mark.

I Love using asian inspired things around my home. I love the dishes used in the bathroom to replace more expensive bathroom accessories, I love the lanterns for inexpensive light fixture and party decor, I love the baskets and use them all over my home. So many great ideas. World Market has a great selection of asian dish ware to use around your home. Think outside of the box and you'll create an interesting home.

Well....back to the show. Some of my early favorite designers are Tera Hampton - she had my favorite design in the white box challenge and I love her haircut, that might be in my future really soon; Nina Ferrer is another designer that I think has the talent though I think she was a little unethical in sabotaging her teammate in this first challenge; My third favorite is Courtland Bascon, I liked his room. I didn't feel he belonged in the bottom six. I think he handled the situation with Nina admirably, however I wish he had called her out. Check out hgtv.com/designstar to check out the designers and read their bio's. The show will be interesting and I think they have selected a great pool of designers to compete this year. I especially love that it is based in New York City. I am excited for up coming challenges and how they might use the city.

I'll be watching next week. It airs at 10pm Sunday nights. It is in the same time slot as "Cupcake Wars" on The Food Network. Another show that I record and watch later. I love the idea of opening a cupcake shop. WHAT DO I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP? Interior decorator, interior decor retail store owner, baker/bakery owner. It's unclear, so, for now, I blog!!!

Leslie

Gwyneth Paltrow's home in Nashville Tennessee

I came across these pictures of Gwyneth Paltrow's temporary home in Nashville. She is there on a new film and had a two bedroom loft decorated for her temporary use. These pictures are courtesy of Goop.com.

My favorite things are the industrial look of the kitchen, the light fixture over the island is a flea market find. Love that. And I also love the chalk board wall in the kids room. Perfectly appropriate for a kids room. Check out the article and more pictures at Goop.com.

Have a great day.

Leslie

I'm Back

Hi. I am back from my travels and start to summer. I had two great trips. My family and I went to the mountains of Pennsylvania where we visited family. We also visited Hershey's Chocolate World, Dutch Wonderland-which is an amusement park geared specific for little ones ages 3-8, and we spent a day strolling through the Harrisburg Annual Memorial Weekend Art Fair held on the banks of the Susquehanna river. We had a wonderful time.

A very quaint house in Downtown Harrisburg

Contemporary art down town on the river bank

Hershey's Chocolate Factory...

fountain located at the capital building...

beautiful paddleboat out on the river...

a view from the sky lift at Dutch Wonderland Amusement Park....

We also visited my hometown Lexington, Kentucky. I visited with friends and family and enjoyed the spirit of simple summer living. My daughter ran around the yard catching fireflies - which reminded me of the Faith Hill song "Fireflies", we drove around horse farms for sight seeing, and checked out a wonderful nursery. The nursery, Wilson's Nursery, had an amazing retail store and beautiful flowers, including 15-20 different varieties/colors of roses. The retail store was beautifully styled, very high end, but the prices were very reasonable. The garden area was surrounded by the hills of Kentucky and could not have been more beautiful.

I am also including pictures of an original drive up restaurant, Parkette Drive-IN, that opened up 58 years ago in 1951. It was recently visited by the Food Networks own Guy Fieiri of Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. A must stop if you are traveling to Lexington.

Beautiful Gardens in Kentucky by Jon Carloftis

MILK beauty product line...

kitchen potpourri

salsa's, sauces, and herbs....

a horse statue (so fitting for the area) at the entrance of the nursery

rolling hills and

horse farms....

fireflies....

an original drive-in restaurant established in 1951..

check it out at theparkette.com

I hope you enjoyed these highlights from my trips. While I had a great time I am glad to be back home. It's time to hit the beach.

Leslie