boo!

caroline fall 2003

Hope everyone has a safe, fun

& even a little spooky

Halloween!!

love grammy & pop pop

i wanted to share a few of the treasures that were

left to us after dan's parents passed away.

his mom, aka grammy

knew i loved this gorgeous chair

truth be told

she's ( the chair that is) sitting out in the garage

waiting for her upholstery make-over

here's where ya'll come in

i would love your advice

i want to do something in white or cream.

shocking

any tips will be greatly received

for now

i've loved using her & her rusty velvetness

in some outdoor shoots

we also were given this old  toolbox

handmade by dan's grandfather

he immigrated from Norway

at the turn of the century

and worked construction in New York City

dan's parents traveled to Scandinavia years ago

to visit the birthplace of their parents

they brought back this lovely tea & coffee service

lucky me

i think i've already shared a picture of the chaise

on some of our cooler blustery days i've snuggled up with a blanket

which i must say
makes me look like a cripple from The Secret Garden

 love this little table.

aren't her legs gorgeous!

 i have several old family bibles

the red leather is incredible.

the pages are so delicate

grammy used this bible in the 60's

the next little black bible is also a King James

carried by my dad also in the 60's

the next two little black leather bibles

were dan's daddy's.

one was a gift from his mother in 1943

the little tiny one resting on top

was given to my mother in law

by her best friend, Millie

as a birthday gift in 1947

i love the feel of these old bibles in my hands

the soft leather & fragile pages

to know they were held by those i love

is a priceless treasure

we also inherited grammy's silver.

which also includes
 many pieces passed down from their own parents & grandparents

with monograms over 100 years old

i hope to photograph some of these gorgeous pieces soon



What greater thing is there for human souls

 than to feel that they are joined for life -

to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.

 ~George Eliot

never grow up

i ran out this morning to pick up taylor swift's new cd, speak now.
it's wonderful
i think she's wonderful

riding home i was listening to a little of each of the songs
& one completely touched my heart.
this year with savannah being a senior,
 i'm such a sap anytime i think about her leaving for college next fall.
honestly that's no big suprise
as i've sorta dreaded that phase for a while

you can tell me it's an exciting time for them
& how i should be so proud
it is & i am
but still...

in the meantime i honestly try to never take a single simple day
with any of my four girlies
for granted
 many days i wish they'd never grow up
& i could have four little ones all in smocked dresses & mary janes
forever

so
a few photos of my "blue-eyes"
& the words from taylor....


Your little hands wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in and turn on your favorite nightlight

To you, everything's funny
You got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have honey
If you could stay like that

Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple
I won't let nobody hurt you
Wont let no one break your heart
No one will desert you
Just try to never grow up
Never grow up

You're in the car on the way to the movies
And you're mortified your mama's dropping you off
At 14, there's just so much you can't do
And you can't wait to move out
Someday and call your own shots

But don't make her drop you off around the block
Remember she's getting older too
And don't lose the way that you dance around in your PJs getting ready for school
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple
No one's ever burned
Nothing's ever left you scarred
Even though you want to, just try to never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what is sounded like what your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs
I just realized everything I had is someday gonna be gone

So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It's so much colder than I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my nightlight on

Wish I'd never grown up
I wish I'd never grown up
Oh I don't wanna grow up
Wish I'd never grown up
Could still be little
Oh I don't wanna grow up
It could still be simple

the country living fair & friends

this weekend the country living fair came to my neighborhood

 just around the corner

in my little town

and

it was wonderful!

within the first hour

i had passed sue whitney

(we made eye contact. she smiled. )

met jennifer lanne

( my favorite artist)

had a reader introduce herself

(that was very cool)

spent half my money

& met up with two awesome friends

that had flown in from vermont & west virginia

i could hardly stand it

it was completely overwhelming

some of the artisans i have followed for years,

seen in magazines,

 and communicated with in the blogosphere.

to see them in real life

was beyond exciting for me

as soon as i walked in i made my way over to the

earth angels tent

and spent an hour

maybe more

trying to decide which jennifer lanne original i would purchase

there she is....

cute, talented & funky

debbee thibault and her gorgeous line

 jennifer's paintings are spectacular.

my personal favorites are her acrylics on linen

the jen o'connor

i felt completely underdressed at this point.

after i took my stalkeresque photo

i did actually introduce myself.

jen is incredible!

meet carolyn,

a sweet reader that introduced herself & made my day

met another reader, beautiful danielle

who i hope to see again soon at lakewood anitque market :)

 

next booth was french laundry home

while i was making my first ( of three) purchases

the owner looked up & realized we knew each other

debbie & i owned neighboring shops years ago.

hers , antiques

mine a gift shop

she has since relocated to highpoint n.c. and has begun this gorgeous line.

she is featured in this month's country living magazine

from the looks of things

 i think

her booth sold out within the first two hours of the three day event!

then the big thrill~

i met up with ashley & jerri!!

ashley , jerri & i have been blog friends for the last year or two.

we have been chatting for the last several weeks about meeting up.

they are awesome

even cuter in person

talented, fun, silly and gorgeous.

oh, before i forget...check out this link for images

of ash's wedding.....wow.

(insert here...my daughter told me that non-bloggers

assume that when you say "blog friends"

it means you met in a chat room

& have a sketchy relationship!

cracks me up!)

by that point

we basically chatted our way through the rest of the fair.

as i said, i blew the budget within the first two booths!

 would love to bring home one of these fab chairs!

 ashley & jerri being the cutest mother daughter team.

love them.

the score of the day

was this chalkboard!

exactly what i was looking for

jerri & i lugged that bad boy for what seemed like a mile

only to have me drop it  two feet from my car.

& it broke

fantastic.

but being the rockstars they are, jerri & ashley helped me put it back together

& get it hung.

love it!

we ended up spending the entire day together

& even cruised target.

who says i don't know how to show guests around atlanta?

the next night

 we headed to one of my fave pizza joints in buckhead

 savannah's bestie, bailey, even joined the girls plus dan night of fun

 let me just say

i feel totally blessed to have precious new friends

who are so awesome, they actually feel like old friends

(ps, all my girls loved them too!)

 ok, back to the scores

when i wrote 'the menu' on said fantastic chalkboard

this is what i got~ 

dan said....hmmm....where are we going to eat that?

emily said.....what are apricot glazed pork chops?

madison said....no way are you making a red velvet cake.

aren't they funny?

you can't appreciate it's ginormousness from my pathetic images

but it's totally a who's your daddy piece

finally

i own jennifer lanne paintings.

oh happy day.

i have written a few times that while taking art lessons

i often times used jennifer's paintings as my inspiration

& learned to use color by painting her work

in my rookie manner

these are gorgeous!!

i bought the freckles painting which is an acrylic on linen with velvet trim

sigh

&

 the little miniature too

couldn't resist another out of sequence shot of the chalkboard

i love her so much i feel i should name her

& give her an identity

 the jewelry was incredible.

seriously.

bought this little 5x5 canvas

with my favorite lewis carroll quote

 some lovelies from the french laundry home line

shoot...just realized i forgot to photograph the pillow i bought

my sweet friends have flown back home

my wallet is empty

but my heart is full

 think i need to start saving for next year's event. right now.

now it's time for me to whip up some apricot glazed pork chops

and

a red velvet cake