Lee Jofa Woven Diamonds

Just discovered that my mystery remnant for only 3$ a yard is Lee Jofa Woven Diamonds...retail price: $278.00. Maybe I should have used it more judiciously. What is the best steal you have ever gotten?
* If you are interested you can buy it for $45.00 until tonight at midnight.

I want...

...this side table from White Furniture. A darn good knockoff.

It's 2:00 Friday, nary a thing done

Ahh...life. At once busy and slow. We are readjusting to normal life here in Charlotte, suffering from the occasional relapse of jet-lag, convincing Reacher that, no, just because we got a kitten does not mean we are sending you away to summer camp at grandmas house forever, yes, you are still our favorite puppy....oh, yea, we got a kitten. A little brother for the red-headed child that is currently rummaging through our bathroom trashcan and about to get in trouble.

This little one only weights 1 pound 2 oz, is still nameless...thinking Biscuit, up for anything, Biscuit seems a little too normal for our family. Our other cats were named Yum-Yum and Butterbaby...see? Biscuit is normal. For reals, getting some work done now. It's actually 3:00 now, missed that 2:00 thing, huh.

Style Profile :: Berkley Vallone

While pounding away on the bike in Hawaii  (yes, I am just that hardcore...much like Kate from LOST, yes, I know I just may be obsessed with the show) I read an article in the June 2010 Phoenix Home & Garden about Arizona based interior designer Berkley Vallone's home. My favorite things: the zinc dining table, pink lamp, grey linen sofa, the backyard and the bedroom. Enjoy!

Home sweet home

We arrived home safely this morning after a uneventful/excruciating red-eye flight from Hawaii. 3 episodes of LOST (so appropriate because it was filmed on Oahu!), one viewing of Date Night and a few pages of a book later I am so glad to be on southern soil again! Sweet tea, Chick-fil-a...yum, gotta love the south. Until I gather photographs from various in-laws here is a teaser of an amazing week in Hawaii. It's been a long time since we had a good chat around the design table and I have some fun things lined up! Can't wait!

Facing the dirty truth

It is time for me to fess up, blogland. For a while now, I have put my best foot forward, but you should all know the truth. I am grungy. Yes, grungy with a capital G. I am going to go ahead and just blame it on growing up with two brothers? Yes, that sounds good. The truth is, I have less that sparkly shower cleaning skills. I can clean toilets all day long, its quick and you see an instant result, but that soap scum in the shower? Thats a different story. After over a year of living in our apartment I tackled the dreadful scum in our shower. With no scum-blasting chemicals on hand (since I honestly, would have left it for another year...except our bathroom was really starting to have a funk) I googled soap scum removal techniques and learned that you can use a moistened fabric softener sheet to remove it! Ah-hah! I have those!

Armed with my target fabric softener sheets I attacked. Note: if you are going to judge me then you can just stop reading right now, this is a no soap-scum-snobbery zone....

See that white streak? Thats me cleaning soap scum! Now, you do go through quite a stack of sheets, but hey, its a great bicep workout.
Do you have any home remedy cleaning solutions that you use instead of chemicals?

UPDATE: Nate insisted that I should assure you that our tub is now sparkling white. I have no picture... nor do I feel like taking one, just take my word for it. ;)

On your mark, get set...

Go. This past weekend Nate completed his first extreme triathlon and he did so well! It was held at the National Whitewater Center in Charlotte.

They began with a swim in the Catawba River.

Then mountain biking.

And lastly trail running. 

Yay! He even finished smiling...

So proud of you, Nate!

What a day without puppy can do!

I dropped Reacher of with his grandparents today, he was ecstatic about swimming and playing annoying their dog Woody. While in Gaffney I, of course, had to check out what was at the Pottery Barn outlet. Our guest bedroom/ office has been brewing around in my mind, here is a hint of what is to come!

 

On the way home I stopped at Mary-Jo's fabric store in Gastonia....a mecca for fabric, sewing supplies and trim...

and this is what came home with me...

Just wait and see...and sorry, the wait will be a long time, since we leave for Hawaii in 2 days!

Lastly, I stopped by Classic Attic Consignments, one of my favorite stores in Charlotte. This paper cutout done by the Chinese at the 1982 Toronto Science Exhibition. The intricacy is amazing and I love the colors and, of course, the bamboo frame. 

This engraving of the Arch of Titus in Rome is also now ours. It was one of my favorite places in Rome and I loved the large scale of it, its about 2'x3'.

There it is, Nate will probably never let me send the dog away again for fear of what I will come home with!

Blue Ikat Pillows

My latest sewing project. Don't you want some crushed velvet citron Craigslist chairs?

Its tough work:

...catching up on all those blogs that I missed while on vacation, someone has to do it. Between running errands to get stuff for Hawaii, CARES, and making sure Reacher gets his 1,400 hours of exercise a day life has been flying by. While catching up I saw this beautiful kelly green door with black and white striped awning that welcomes people to Sibella Court's shop (via Design*Sponge). Smitten with the grey walls, black windows, pretty much every little thing.

Its been a whirlwind

Disclaimer: This is a long and rambling post, you might only want to read if you would like to meet my family and hear every single detail of the weekend! 

Nate, Reacher and I have spent the last two-ish weeks with family up at Lake Keowee. I will start with two weekends ago when the festivities began.

Meet my brothers: Panama Jack and Travis. Panama Jack (aka Reese) and his wife flew in from Oklahoma and brought us all together for the first time since their wedding on New Years. 

Ahh, there's Lindsay, the blushing bride. Linds took all our pictures, without her we would have no history.

When we arrived at the lake on Thursday the weekend was already in full-swing. Nap anyone?

We went for "midnight cruises" at sunset.

Watched movies and cuddled. I must be soft... Reacher and LaFonda are loving it. 

Woke up to tranquil and smooth waters and this view.

We spent our days on the water, reading or going to Chick-fil-a (no one is addicted, don't worry)

We celebrated Travis' 22nd birthday at Senecas only fine dining establishment: Paesano's (food is delicious, decor...not so much)

Travis got trick candles on this Hot Wheels cake. 

Lounging in all its perfection. Even Reacher has it down, or upside down, maybe.

Lastly some family group shots, they are few and far between! Love you fam!

 This does not even cover 4th of July weekend which we spent hopping between my husbands lakehouse and mine...however, I don't think I have any pictures of it...but it closely mirrored the one above!