We have just agreed to put our home on our neighborhood home tour. It’s exactly 1 month from today! WHAT are we thinking?
http://www.whitlandhometour.org
The projects list is getting longer and longer and longer … and it starts this weekend.
posted by Julia on Aug 25th, 2010 in Random
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We interrupt this regularly scheduled 3-part houseplant series to bring you this weekend’s flea market finds. Stay tuned for finished projects:
posted by Julia on Mar 1st, 2010 in Random
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Although I love my job and I love seeing my awesome co-workers (hi guys!), at this particular moment I am terribly sad that I am in LA for work. Because if I were home, I would gather up some Nashville friends and host a Tree of Hearts party straight away!
How beautiful is this!?
I’ve got to credit the photo and the backstory to one of my favorite blogs, Style Blueprint.
But before I go there, let me tell you how crazy the blogosphere can be. The tree pictured above is just around the corner from my house. Notice the sweet little twinkle lights? Across the neighborhood and through the leafless branches, these twinklers had been taunting me. Why? We’ve joked in our house that we are cruising for a red neck ticket because our white icicle lights are still hanging from the gutters of our house, as if it were December 24. Obviously, it’s February 10 and WAY past the acceptable time frame for Christmas lights. But it has just been so cold in Nashville that the idea of heading down to our neighbor’s house to borrow the ladder, dragging it back to our yard, and pulling down those lights has been just way too much of a chore to even consider. So when my hubby saw those twinkles from across the neighborhood and through the leafless branches, he decided we were in the clear. If they can do it, so can we.
But a few days later when I drove down Leonard and saw how this home owner had augmented her white Christmas lights with hearts I understood that they were indeed not cruising for a red neck ticket as we are. I thought it was super cute and my thief’s brain immediately got to chewing on how I could hang hearts from my gutter line to get some more mileage out of the white lights ritual. As my mind’s eye shuffled through all of the store-bought heart options I could dream up, nothing really looked fabulous to me. Considering that this idea would most likely send my husband up the ladder once again, I decided I should take a pass.
Until today.
Because now I understand that the heart decor is about so much more than just looking fabulous. It is about being a fabulous friend and sharing love on Valentine’s day. How do I know? Enter Style Blueprint. My neighbor’s blog featured this awesome post with the so sweet back story of a Tree of Hearts ritual that started in the northeast to cheer a friend who had breast cancer. In the middle of the night, a woman snuck into her dear friend’s yard and hung hand-made hearts all over the tree to cheer her when she saw it in the morning. The tradition caught on and now it’s an annual ritual there. The house around the corner with the darling heart tree is a transplant from that very neck of the woods!
Style Blueprint is calling for this to become a Nashville tradition and I have to agree that it is fantastic and absolutely should. They are even suggesting that a non-profit should take on the preparation of Tree of Hearts kits as a fundraiser. Genius! So in the spirit of blogosphere stealing, I mean sharing, I’m posting it right here even though my work schedule this week prevents me from participating. But 2011 will be the year for my first annual Tree of Hearts party and you’ll have to tune in here to see the results. Nashville readers, if you want to be on the invite list, let me know in the comments below! For those of you who are in town right now, there’s still time to make it happen!
posted by Julia on Feb 10th, 2010 in Crafting, Entertaining, Holidays, Random
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For those that don’t know me, you might assume I’m on some kind of controlled substance. Not so! I just got some new lights and it makes me want to dance a little jig.
Check out these gorgeous crystal morsels given to me as birthday gifts by my parents, mother-in-law, grandmother-in-law and husband. It’s all I can do not to just stand in the hallway and gaze at them. I loved them last year when a decorator friend suggested they might be just the thing for our 1930’s Cape Cod home. And now that I see them installed, well, it’s love all over again. Sigh. Let me know what you think in the comments!
This one is in our downstairs hallway. See how the crystals make patterns all over our original textured plaster walls?
I had to get a close-up of the downstairs one. See how it has some extra little droplets of crystal around the sides? The upstairs one doesn’t have that extra little touch but I thought the formality of it was too good to pass up.
And then here’s the one at the top of the stairs that’s hung on just plain old drywall ceiling. A little smaller than the first one. Still gorgeous.
I love these in our hallways. These spaces instantly feel more special – especially when considered against the builder-grade flush mount that was downstairs and the pink (yes, pink), mini (yes, mini) ceiling fan with light kit that was upstairs. But I do think they would be gorgeous in a bedroom or entry way too. We thought they were a good investment because they could be used in so many different places in our home when it one day gets renovated or expanded.
We found these for substantial discount over local lighting galleries on lightingcatalog.com. I really do try to support local companies and retailers whenever I can but sometimes when the price differential is substantial, I gotta go with the online. I found my husband online for heaven’s sake; sometimes online is the ticket. Send me an email (look to the right under stay connected) if you want specifics on theses fixtures.
I have at least 3 more projects that would be easy for anyone to replicate so I’ll be posting heavily through the rest of this week and weekend. Be sure to check back for more stolen ideas!
posted by Julia on Jan 13th, 2010 in Decorating, Random
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Happy New Year, everyone!
Our family got an exciting Christmas present this year. My mom and dad bought some property on a lake about an hour away from Nashville and they are planning on building a house there sometime in 2010! What does this mean for this idea thief?? More projects!
We’ll definitely be doing lots of thrifting, yard sale-ing, and discount shopping to put this place together. I’ve got something summery, cottage-y, and casual in mind and I’ll be posting all ideas ripe for the stealing right here. Hopefully Mom and Dad like what they see and these ideas can come to life in time for summer water skiing!!
posted by Julia on Jan 2nd, 2010 in Random
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So I’ve got another idea for you to steal. I can’t take credit for this one. This is totally my hubby’s creation – a Will Original! Will’s got a skill that I’ve never had – just making up total deliciousness as he goes in the kitchen. And, seeing has he’s the Head Chef in our house with my playing moderate Sous Chef role, I probably won’t be honing that skill anytime soon. But how can I care? I’m constantly spoiled with tasty goodness.
Since Will and I have epitomized the phrase “fat and happy” here during our first year of marriage, we resolved to curb our caloric intake and boost our caloric burn in 2010. We started early and have kept daily calories way down from our norms AND we’ve been to the gym for 5 consecutive days in a row!! WOOTS all around!
Here’s what Will whipped up for our lunch today (plus the kitchen notes he took as he worked) … Potato Leek Soup with Turkey Meatballs. It was warm and comforting on a cold day without being fattening.
Per serving this soup lays down just 210 calories, 2.25g fat (0g saturated fat), 19.75g carbohydrates, and a whopping 31.75g protein. Say hello to a soon-to-be-skinny idea thief.
Will’s Potato Leek Soup with Turkey Meatballs
1 lb. 99% fat free ground turkey
4 cups chicken stock (one 32 oz. container)
1 leek, chopped
1 onion, diced & divided in half
2 potatoes, peeled & diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
cracked pepper, to taste
Combine 1/2 the olive oil, 1/2 the onion, 2 cloves of garlic, curry powder, onion powder, garlic salt, salt and pepper in a saute pan. Heat over medium heat until onions become translucent. Remove from heat and combine with ground turkey in a mixing bowl. Meanwhile, add remaining olive oil, leeks, potatoes, remaining garlic, and the other half of the onion to a dutch oven. Saute until onions and leeks are tender. Add chicken stock and simmer until potatoes become tender. Form into meatballs and drop into the soup mixture. Continue to simmer until meatballs are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Makes 4 servings.
Delicious! Way to go, smart hubby of mine!
posted by Julia on Dec 30th, 2009 in Random, Recipes
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