Stripes!

So excited that the nursery ceiling got its stripes.  I have mentioned my inspiration a few times (see here and here).

Very tedious taping job.  Hats off to anyone who does this themselves.

Finished Room.  

Wish I could replace the ceiling fan with a cute lighting fixture but it sure gets hot here in the summer!

The color we ended up choosing was Sherwin Williams Impatient Pink--it looks a touch less bright in the room than in the photos.  It seemed to blend with all of the other pink shades that will be showing up in the room.  I am now inspired to get going with the rest (see here)...

I'm Back/Florida Visit

I'm back!  I had a great trip to Florida and my Mom returned with me to Dallas to spend a few days here before heading home.  Lately, we have started a tradition of seeing a new place we haven't been to when visiting family in Florida.  So far we have spent most of our time on the Southeast coast of Florida but have never been to the Gulf/West Coast side.  We decided to take a day jaunt to Naples:

Gingerbread House at the Ritz Carlton Naples

 The beaches were beautiful with miles of white sand:

There are also various beautiful shells to admire and collect:

We had a great lunch downtown, walked around to do some shopping, drove around, and hung out at the Naples Pier:

The weather dropped significantly in Dallas so it was great to spend some time in a warmer climate at the beach.

Now, I'm back and grounded in town until February!

Florida Bound

I'm heading to South Florida today to visit family and my mom is meeting me there. I am excited to see everyone and going to enjoy my last trip before baby comes!  The added bonus is seeing all of the beautiful holiday decorations this time of year.  I also took a trip to Florida last December and saw all of these gorgeous displays in Palm Beach:

The Impressive Lobby at The Breakers

Gingerbread House at Cafe L'Europe

Christmas Tree on Worth Avenue

Progress!

I have been waiting to receive my fabrics for the nursery from Quadrille for a long time.  After a mistaken order that I received in early October and waiting over a month all the while never receiving a replacement, I had to come up with another solution.  Now, I have all of the fabrics I need and sent them off to their respective places to be made into bedding and window treatments:

Speaking of baby stuff, J. Crew expanded their children's line and recently came out with J. Crew Baby.  I don't think I could justify buying a cashmere sweater for more than I pay for my own at Bloomingdales, but these booties and their price point ($12.95) are just too cute to pass up:

Monday Escapes: Photo Selections

These are the photos that I ended up selecting for the canvas photos that will be hung on our family room wall (there will be 3 24 x 36 prints).  Thanks everyone who commented, it seemed that many picked some of the same one's as their favorites.  Can't wait to receive them in the mail!

Have a great week!

Canvas Photo Art

I have been talking about putting some photography of our travels in black and white in our family room.  I had always envisioned three large canvases hanging vertically over our large blank wall.  We even had special lighting installed to highlight whatever we decided to eventually hang in that space.  When I saw that Easy Canvas Prints was having a 60% off sale that lasted until midnight last night (sorry for posting about the sale after the fact, I just saw it late afternoon yesterday) I decided to take the plunge.

The most difficult part is photo selection.  I apparently have a massive predilection towards taking horizontal photographs.  I had so many to choose from, but most cannot be formatted for a vertical canvas.  Next time we take a trip my husband promised to remind me to flip my camera.

I have so many unusable travel photos from the days before digital.  There is no way the resolution of those photos would work after being scanned and then blown up.  So my criteria became, the photo had to be a trip my husband and I took together and come from a variety of locales on different continents.  I wanted them all to reflect an architectural quality but I couldn't find three that worked out that way in the end.

These were the frontrunners:

Bora Bora

Giza, Egypt

Giza, Egypt

Giza, Egypt

 Bali, Indonesia

Bali, Indonesia

Tikal, Guatemala

Ambergris Caye, Belize
Images via Travelmoon

I was initially going to put them up to a vote but unfortunately I had to order immediately to take advantage of the sale.  So, I will post the final selection on Monday!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I received some requests for the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe I pictured on Thanksgiving.  I was going to include the recipe but had to double check with my friend whether she minded me posting it, and lucky her, was in the Caribbean at the time so unavailable to ask.  The consistency of the cookies are so light, fluffy, and irresistible.  I have already made 2 batches.  Here it is:

 3 cups flour

1.5 cups oats

1.5 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter. (2 sticks)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 small can pumpkin

1/2 package of mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Cream butter in another bowl.  Gradually add sugars to butter bowl beating until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla.  Mix well.  Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin, mixing well after each addition.  Stir in morsels.  For each cookie drop 1/4 cup dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake 15-20 mins.  

This recipe makes approximately 50 cookies.

ENJOY!