It's the little things

This is exactly how I feel right now.



Both kids are at school and I'm all alone, yippee!

{image via decorpad}

Let's talk accessories

Saturday I did some holiday decorating which you can see below while the boys and I watched a movie. Since have I decided to try and hone my styling chops I took a peek at the styling gurus Lauren, Eddie and Anna and came away with a sense of what I was going for this year. Here are a few pictures that inspired me.

I have decided that I'm going one of my goals is going to be to get better at the accessorizing my home. I feel confident with my design choices but it's that last 10% that gets me every time. The difficult part is I know these are the important things that bring life to a room.

My big frustration is finding accessories that often times when you bring them home they are the wrong scale or look slightly off. Then what to do, keep them and possibly use them later or return them? Total time and space suck which drives me nuts.

Saturday I browsed my closets, bookshelves and my sideboard to find things that I could use for fall decorating. I was amazed to find things that I forgot I had. I had lots of antique books and a silver pitcher, which totally saved me from having to find a vase for my feathers. Lesson learned I suppose. Hopefully I can keep it up. What are you strategies for making your home lively?

{from top images from Southern Accents, Country Living via Pure Style Home and Southern Accents}

My weekend

This is what I'm busy doing this afternoon. Styling is SO not my thing. The granny doily isn't usually there but I thought the black table needed a little something.

Thoughts? Too much glitter? Any tips? I'm kinda scared that I'm asking for feedback but I think I can take it...well maybe.

Chicago Type

It's been awhile since I've mentioned my fascination with old doors and architectural details but today I found some pretty eye candy at Chicago Type. My husband's cousin Luke is a very talented graphic designer in KC and he sent this my way via Twitter this morning.

Vintage signs and doors...what more could you ask for?

Take a tub

That what I'm ready to do. Instead I'll climb in my crummy builders grade tub which will do fine but I'll pretend it's one of these footed beauties.

If there was one thing you could change in your bathroom what would it be? More storage, new tile, new accessories? Mine obvs is the tub, but coming in second is new lighting.

{images via Desire to Inspire and House Beautiful}

Bow tie necklace

This is Betty. I love her blog and I want her hair.

Here is her cute bow bracelet which apparently came from Aldo, who knew?

It kind of reminds me of this darling bow bracelet found on a Cup of Jo, but I digress.

Betty's bracelet had me thinking I want a bowtie hanging from a chain for a necklace. Easy peasy right? Then last night while watching a rerun of Flipping Out I see one Jeff's employees sporting a Marc Jacobs bow tie on a chain and it has me hesitating. Total copycat, lame-o or fun and cute?

Houndstooth tights

I hate it when I obsess over something that I will never buy. One hundred and fifteen dollars for a pair of tights? Total wackness. But I'll still dream about them.

She wins!

I'll keep it simple, she was my fave last night.

J'adore.

Happy Monday!

Morning friends! I'm feeling very ready to tackle my week. After my horrific bout with insomnia last week I headed to Colorado for a wedding. So nice to get out of the hot weather that's for sure. Since I was out of town Friday I didn't get a chance to direct you to my Five Fave Fall picks. Share with me what are you dying over this Fall?

How was your weekend?

{image via Country Living}

Naptime

Insomnia has had me in it's evil clutches twice this week. I don't do very well on 3 hours of sleep, so I'm very, very tired. I'll check in with you in the morning hopefully I will be refreshed and more importantly rested.

Nighty night.

Just some pretty

Have you ever seen a prettier faucet?

Yeah me neither, love it.

{image via Wide Open Spaces}

Gossip Girl is back

OMG so excited for tonight!!
You?

The September Issue

Last night I attended the Phoenix premiere of The September Issue.

Lots of fun and pretty much what I expected. Anna is the fabulous ice queen but what I didn't expect is how much I would come away loving Grace Coddington.

Like totally love, she's great!

I really, really want one

Oh please, please, please can someone find a way to get a Garance Dore tee into my hot little hands?

I know a bit of wishful thinking but you never know. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

Need a book?

Coolest library ever.

{don't kill me images via home sweet home}

Two Rolls of Tape

I should have know when I heard two littles laughing like banshees that they were up to no good.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg, at least it's not paint right?

What would Jora do?

Have you ever read Domestic Reflections? It's one of my favorite blogs, her friendliness and caring nature just oozes out of her writing. Not to mention she's one hell of a cook and if she's making it I'm right behind trying it too. I'm a follower like that. So please go there and try out all of her recipes they are delish and you'll thank me.

{Jora and her son C-Man}

Here is my current go-to salad dressing courtesy of Miss Jora.

Balsamic Parmesan Vinaigrette
{Gourmet, 2001}

1 garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons fresh basil (I sometimes skip this if I don't have any handy.)
1/2 ounce Parmesan, finely grated (1/4 cup)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Mince garlic and mash to a paste with 1/4 teaspoon salt, then whisk together with vinegar, lemon juice, basil and Parmesan, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until well blended.

*I would make a double batch, it's THAT good. Promise.

Light and Shiny

I adore all things shiny and these few rooms with their sparkly light and shiny elements have me swooning.

{from top images via vi.sualize, desire to inspire and skona hem}

Pecan Praline Popcorn

I'm not a big popcorn fan, not at all. My Little and Mr. SFD love it, it's their favorite snack. So we have it around the house pretty regularly. While I'm not a fan of regular popcorn I do love salty-sweet kettle corn or caramel corn. I won't deny it, I love sweets. So when I saw this recipe for Pecan Praline Popcorn I decided it's going to have to make it into my Fall recipes.

{recipe via Epicurious}

Monday with Margot Austin

Morning friends. I hope your long weekend is treating you well! I must admit my weekend has been slow paced and a bit lazy, just how I like it. I had some time to do some web surfing and I came across Margot Austin, love her and love this house.

{photography by Donna Griffith}

Happy Labor Day

Have a wonderful three day weekend! Hope it entails something super fun and sunny.

xo -S

{photography courtesy of Garance Dore}

Italian Wedding Soup and a few kitchens

Last night I was craving soup. Craving it so much that nothing else sounded good so dinner ended up being a scrambled egg. I think that for some reason that cooler morning school weather has me thinking soup sounds delish. The Ina Garten Italian Wedding soup recipe looks easy and yum so this weekend it's on the books. With that in mind here are a few kitchens I wouldn't mind spending a little time in.

My husband and I both love soup so if you have a favorite recipe please send it my way. Oh and by the way I'm specifically looking for a roasted tomato soup finished with a hint of cream so if you have one that you love let me know. Thanks dolls!

{all photos courtesy of House Beautiful}

I need to get it together.

Do you ever feel so overwhelmed you just want to bury your head in the sand? That's exactly how I feel today and for no good reason (well it could be the stack of leftover dishes that wouldn't fit into the dishwasher). I've actually had some time to myself since the kids are both in school for a few hours at the same time and I've spent that time goofing off and basically just hanging out. Enough already!

{there is NO way my pantry will ever be so pretty so let's just pretend}

I have got to get myself onto a nice schedule and maybe one of these days I'll have the gumption to organize my pantry and get my blog back into tip top shape. With that being said is there anything that you would love to see here? Or are my mommy rants and snaps of all things pretty good enough? Let me know because I'm always interested to see if there's something that you like that I'm not doing enough of, so let's chat.

{image via Country Living}

Petite Script Plates

I kind of love these Petite Script plates, I think need one with an L hanging somewhere in my house. Hmmm, where to put it?

PB&J...again?

Are any of you having the lunch time trouble I've been having lately? While my Big really loves PB&J and bagels I think he may already be getting wee bit sick of them. So for the next couple of days I'm going to make it my job to try to find some new things that he can pack in his lunch that will jive with his 5 year old palate.

I haven't done much digging yet but here are a few of the places I'm going to start if any of you are having the same issues.

Epicurious :: Back to School Cooking
Chef Ann Cooper
Parents :: Healthy School Lunches and Snacks
Parenting :: 10 Fresh Lunch ideas

If you have any brilliant, delicious, kid-friendly ideas please share in comments. I'm sure we are all hitting that boring lunchtime wall so we could use all of the help we can get.

Morning lovelies

A quick dose of pretty.

{image via House Beautiful}