Gettin' Fresh

Hi everyone!  I've been gettin' fresh here at my house...with fruits and vegetables that is.  I've been longing for spring, but since it's a ways off I wanted to find a way to breathe a little life into this house of mine with a bit of color.

I got a variety of fruit to fill the basket in my kitchen and then these pretty tulips whispered my name.  While I was looking at all the beautiful flowers and wishing I could bring more home, I started to think about these rustic clay garden pots that I love so much.  They look so empty and lonely like they're waiting for something wonderful to arrive.  "Why not fill them with mandarin oranges?" I thought.  They would be the perfect placeholder for plants, since they're so summery and colorful.

And the oranges matched the tulips...what could be better?  Well, the fact that I can eat them I suppose.

There you go my lovelies...a little color to brighten your day.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Mine's going to be a full one since I leave for Florida next week.  Yay...sunshine and no snow!

Keep cozy ♥ Tricia

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This post is linked to Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home and Inspiration Friday at Southern in My Heart.

This is Me

Hello everyone!  I thought I would share a few little tidbits about myself today, thanks to three lovely ladies...Kristen from Just When You Thought, Laurie from Heaven's Walk and Priscila from Priscila Peters Decor.  Eons ago, Kristen tagged me and more recently, Laurie and Priscila gave me the Stylish Blogger Award.  I figured it would be best to just roll the whole thing into one post.

So, here are seven things about me:

{one}

I have been a vegetarian since I was about eighteen.  Usually when someone finds this out, they ask two things "So, do you eat chicken?" and "Well, what about fish?"  That would be "no" on both counts.

{two}

The top two places I would like to visit are France and Italy.  The best place that I have ever traveled to was Spain.  While I was there, it was my birthday and I had dinner at the palace of the king and queen.  I should add that it wasn't with them...it was just with a big group of people I was traveling with.

{three}

I have a degree in Psychology and I also went to law school for awhile...a very short while.  I love reading and research and really wanted it to be the thing for me, it just wasn't though...I'm more of a free-spirit.  My dad always feels the need to point out that he thinks I should go back and finish though...no thanks, I'll pass.

{four}

I have a soft spot for the show Little House on the Prairie.  I think it teaches good morals and each episode has a point to it.  Last year, when my son had a bit of a bad attitude, I decided that the only shows he could watch were things like Little House on the Prairie and Heidi.  I must say, that it did seem to help ;)

{five}

Something I have always wanted and have never yet figured out is my perfect career.  I have always loved art and design and I've been wondering how I could meld these two things together.

{six}

I have been known to occasionally drink copious amounts of Diet Coke and binge on sweets.  I like to think that this all stems from my childhood, where I was denied these things.  My mother never bought anything sweet, she didn't even make chocolate chip cookies, but made instead...CAROB chip cookies!  The horror of it is forever etched in my brain.  My mom isn't like this anymore, so I don't know what she was thinking at the time.

{seven}

Someday, I would love, love, love to live someplace warm and within walking distance to a beach.  I'm from Minnesota, so to me that sounds like paradise :)

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Well, that's it, hopefully you made it to the end and weren't too bored.  I know that part of awards and being tagged is to pass it along.  I'm going to be a rebel though and not do it.  Yeah, I'm kinda crazy like that sometimes.  I would, however, like to say a big thank you to everyone who follows me to see what I'm doing...I really appreciate it!  I've loved getting to know so many interesting and inspiring people.

Best wishes ♥ Tricia

Wonderful Whites

Hello all!  I decided to combine three of my favorite things for today's post...taking pictures, the color white and putting together little arrangements.  Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably should've included textures as one of my favorites too, since I seem to be consumed by those lately.  Today, however, there is only one photo that I added some texture loveliness to and that is this first one.

Don't you love those bowls?  I sure do.  That little pedestal that they're sitting on is something I slathered with white paint recently as part of my "paint everything white frenzy".  It used to be dark brown...I'm lovin' it way more now.

As I said, these last two photos are texture free...I restrained myself from going too crazy.  Gosh, I love taking photos in front of a window.  It makes things look so much nicer.

Love these bowls too since they have the cafe au lait thing going for them.  I have a little bit of a soft spot for dishes, especially ones that have a French feel.  Don't you think green and white look so good together?  Seems so fresh.  Well, that's that...short and sweet.

Oh, on a separate note, I want to give a shout out to Cindy at Cottage Instincts for featuring me last week.  Thanks Cindy, you're a sweetheart!

Best wishes ♥ Tricia

Linked up to White Wednesday at Faded Charm.

Vintage Textures

Hello everyone!  I hope you had a good weekend.  Mine was pretty good.  I spent a lot of time playing around with the new camera that I got this past week.  My old one wasn't working right and then I couldn't get the photos off of it anymore, soooo I was finally forced to make a change...not that I was cryin' about it.  So far, I'm loving what the new camera can do.  There are so many settings to figure out that it's kind of hard to wrap your brain around it all.  Maybe I'm just slow though.

Since I've had my daughter's room constantly on my mind, I thought I would take a few pictures of some of her little girl things.  Then, I decided that since I already don't know what I'm doing, I might as well add to it and try to figure out how to use some of textures that I've had for awhile.  Could've went better, could've went worse, but in the end the photos came out okay with a nice vintage feel.

There is one thing I'm certain of after all this messing around and that is...that I really LOVE textures.  I might as well forewarn you that I'm going to want to use them all the time.  If it starts to get annoying you'll just have to tell me, okay?  :)  Well friends, that's all I got for now.  Later.

Have a happy day ♥ Tricia

A Little Peek

Hello people!  I thought I'd give you a little peek at what I've been working on...really, I should say thinking about....a makeover of my daughter's bedroom.  Normally, I kind of go for the big TA DA moment at the end of a project, but I figure that it will probably take me so long to get it done that you'll have forgotten that I even showed this to you :)

I put together this inspiration board to give you an idea of the look I'm going for...sweet and simple.  I just got the bedding and I love it.  It was the perfect light pink and the frayed edges on the ruffle caught my eye right from the get go.  I plan on adding some toasty browns and a few shades of white too. 

My daughter, on the other hand, has ideas of her own...very vibrant ideas.  See those hot pinks, bright purples and sea foam greens, the ones with names like Razzle Dazzle and Mighty Aphrodite?  Well, those are some of her favorites.

The other day at the paint store, she wanted me to get some paint that was basically the same color as Pepto-Bismol...not my favorite look.  It does make me think that I might need to add a few pops of a rosy pink to the room, maybe in a pillow or something like that.

I'll save the rest of my ideas for the big reveal, which hopefully won't be too far into the future...hard to say when though, since I have oodles to do.

I don't think I've told you, but I'm going to Florida at the beginning of February.  Before I go I have to get business and personal taxes done, have my son's birthday party and finish planning for my trip...I feel like we are in a little bit of a whirlwind around here.

Have a great day ♥ Tricia

Winter Whites

Hello everyone!  Well, as I told you in my last post, I've been trying to freshen up my house and I thought I would start with my dining room...because, really, it needed the least amount of work.

Wondering what I should do I in here, I thought about colors and the way they make a person feel.  I like things pretty subdued and the words "winter whites" came to mind.  I had visions of things being a creamy white and feeling calm and serene.

Along with the white, I added just a few little bursts of green, courtesy of some pretty plants, to give the room a little life.  I really love paperwhites...I sure wish they lasted longer.

Remember when I told you that I want to paint the furniture in my house?  Well, I should've said, that for the most part, I'm only going to paint the things that don't match my woodwork.  With that as my guide, I left the furniture in here as is.

That antique sideboard has a nice rustic look to it and, along with the table, they give the room a little bit of contrast and texture.  I did, however, paint that birdcage...it was originally a dark brown, maybe you remember it from my creating tablescapes post?  And, I also plan on giving that ladder a few coats of the same creamy white color, but for now, I think it is a nice spot to display that fuzzy mohair blanket.

I know a blanket seems a little out of place in a dining room, but I love it so much that I wanted to put it somewhere and preferably in a spot where the cat wouldn't lay on it, since he seems to love it so.  That ladder seemed to be the perfect location.  And really, decorating doesn't have rules, don't you think?

A bench in front of the window is a good place for displaying some of my ironstone pitchers.  Not really into collections, I made an exception for the pitchers since they are all white and plain and they don't jump out at ya'.  Here are just a few.

Continuing with the idea that decorating doesn't having any rules...this room also has a rake, which I love, love, love.  Between the ladder, the rake and plants it feels a little bit like there is a garden theme going on in here.

Well, there it is...my refreshed dining room.  I really like how it looks, even more than the way it was decorated for Christmas, it seems more like me now.  Winter whites...always a good look.

Hope your New Year is off to a great start!

Stay cozy ♥ Tricia

This post is linked to Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home and Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Freshen Up

Well, Christmas is finally all packed up and put away, and now, after all the prettiness is gone, I look around and think things are looking, well...a little plain and kind of ugly.  You know that feeling where you want to take practically everything you own, push it out to the curb and start out fresh?  That's how I've been feeling.  Trying to quell that urge, I figured that I would try to organize and freshen up my house a bit.

I'm starting with a good scrub down.  Then, let me tell you, there is some clutter that has got to go.  I'm a less is more kind of girl and with less stuff, things are so much easier to organize.  You know that saying "a place for everything and everything in its place?"  I'm all about that.  Really.  It just about sends my heart all a flutter.  Crazy, I know. 

In the midst of all this cleaning and organizing, the paint brush, of course, has to come out.  I have found that I grow much less tired of things when the color palette is very simple.  And while I would love, love, love for my house to have painted woodwork, I don't see that happening anytime in the near or even distant future.  Soooo I'm thinking that painting the furniture is the next best thing.  It's going to be great people!  I'm trying to convince myself, can you tell?

I've already put my big plans in motion and given the dining room some love.  It looks all nice and fresh now.  I'm also thinking that it just might be the perfect place for these little treasures that my friend Rachel from French Farmhouse 425 sent me for Christmas. She is so sweet. Wouldn't those fleurs de lis look pretty hanging on the side of a basket?  I think so too.

Okay, since I'm feelin' pretty good about how the dining room came together, I thought I'd show it to you next time.  We'll see what you think.  So until then...

Rock on!  Oh...oops...I meant best wishes ♥ Tricia

New Beginnings

Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits. ~ Author Unknown

Well, another year has come to a close and we are off to a fresh start.  For me, I am determined that 2011 will be be a year of joy, new experiences and wonderfully creative endeavors, rather than a continuation of the same old thing.  I'm thinkin' positive people.

You know how it is.  You say to yourself, "This year I'm going to (insert your resolution here) AND I'm going to stick to it this time!"  So off you go, you start out pretty good and then, well...things just die off, right? 

I remember hearing or reading somewhere that it takes thirty days or so to change or break a habit.  So, I'm just going to take things minute by minute, day by day and hopefully, fingers-crossed, I will see some improvements.

Whatever it is in your life that you are hoping to change, stop or start, just know that you have it in you.  You can do it.  Give yourself a pep talk, make a plan, take little steps and before you know it your world may be a little bit better...just give yourself some time to get there.

I hope that 2011 brings you only joy and happiness!

♥ Tricia