A Little Spring in My Life

 How is your spring going? 

All I can say is I wish I had more time to smell the roses or tulips for that matter.

That photo and the one at the bottom are from my Pinterest folder entitled "Spring"

Today I was off from work but went to a client's house to help 

her freshen up her french country home.

Something that is right up my alley.

We hit it off when we met last week and I knew we were on the same wave length

when I was greeted at the door by a very similar concrete statue 

to the one I have at my own door.
A large dog with a flower basket in his mouth.

truly a classic
 

The rest of the week I'll be busy coming up with a plan to freshen up her home.

That is the best part of my job as an interior designer...all the nice people I meet

and when I go to someone's home and discover I love the same sort of things they do and 

I can help them give it that little extra it needs.

That said I truly enjoy doing rooms that are totally not something I would live

in either. That is what is fun about the job...I get to live vicariously through others...at least

design wise.

 

We are having a big sale at the store right now - 60% off all floor models and 50% off all special orders. It's cause we are getting ready to redecorate the store and get lots of new things in.
Sale runs till the end of April.

Come in and see me! Or email if there is something you are looking for or if you 

need my help pulling together a room or your whole house!

So that little loveseat above? I designed it for the floor. But it sold super fast!
Can't wait to do something similar again. Of course if you need one like it...I can order
for you.

  I love that white china cabinet in this photo.
The table is already sold but the chairs are still available and so is the cabinet.
All can still be ordered too.
 
Here you can see that the loveseat was in the same room on display.
That's certainly enough about work...
I'm currently trying to get my yard in shape.
I hired a new yard guy who is someone I worked with who went out on his own
with his own landscaping company.
Need a great guy to do your lawn?...email me and I'll share his name.
He's very easy to work with and does a great job!

Last year when Franklin hurt his back...my back slider door fell off it's track and could not
be fixed.
I went without a door for about 2 months. Thankfully, the weather was mild the whole time.
But I never showed you the garden doors I got to replace the slider.
This photo was taken the day they were installed.
Mom snapped it. The deck is a mess...cause things were just pushed aside.
But it was an immediate improvement to the house.

I am loving them...but now really really want a matching pair on the back bedroom too.

The dogs are happy going in and out.
And speaking of dogs. Here is a current video taken last week of Franklin in the yard.

Very, very proud of this boy. He was totally paralyzed last August and now look at him!

He's a very happy boy again. 

I'm hushing Harvey in this video because my neighbors have complained about his barking.

Although this is about all he barks and it's for like two minutes a day.

I could go on and on about my interactions with these neighbors.

They think dogs should never bark. I asked my neighbors on the other side

if they had a problem with my dogs making too much noise and they said..

"What? We can't hear your's - our's bark all the time!"

Their dogs do bark but it doesn't bother me at all. 

It's not a mean bark...it's a saying hello to the world bark. 

Same as mine.

Anyway...we are on pins and needles here trying not to bother my neighbors on one side.

Closing with another pretty photo of spring tulips.
All I managed to plant this spring so far is some bright pink phlox.
I've always admired it when it comes out in spring around the neighborhood and this year...
I finally got a little in the ground.

Hopefully, next year it will look like this.

Happy Spring!

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Easter Week

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Just thinking about spring and Easter today.

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Getting Ready for Spring

Spring brings Change

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I know it's not spring yet....but it's getting very close. 

This week...the 20th.

I love spring. It's my favorite season.

Everything seems new and fresh and full of possibilities.

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Totally loving all this spring stuff.

Would love any and all of it in my home.

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Vases of spring cuttings are so divine!

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A wild willow spring wreath for the front door.

Oh....I love this so...

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Ah...the perfect rustic chair filled with pink impatiens.

I haven't been here as much as I normally am the last week and that's because

I've got big changes coming.

I've been going back and forth about a new job.

Interviewing, drug tests, background check, paperwork and now...it's final.

I start a new job on Monday.

Next week I'll have lots of training to go through.

And then the next week I start it full throttle.

I'll be selling furniture for a major furniture store.

Odd...I know for me...cause I really like used furniture the best.

But I know about furniture and I can talk furniture and design

and this just seemed like a good thing for me to try.

If it works out...I can make a nice living from it.

If it doesn't....well...I will do something else.

It's hard out there for a middle aged single woman.

Very hard. 

I've done without insurance and benefits for quite some time

and this seemed to be the best solution.

I can do something I'm interested in that has the potential to pay more

than what I'd make if I went back to doing graphics and marketing for a company full time.

Which always involved many many hours of unpaid overtime.

I'm hoping this will lead to a well balanced life.

At least I hope so.

So next week....I may be sparse with the posts. 

I have things here I am working on that I need to show.

But I'll just have to do the best I can do.

Wish me luck. I need it.

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Pansies

Today I'm thinking about pansies.

Usually, I see them throughout the neighborhood in the winter.

But this winter has been so rough...they didn't make it.

Now would be a good time to plant them to enjoy them till May.

So sweet planted in a teacup!

I want that box!

 Baskets of pansies on the table...perfect for Easter.

Easter is late this year...plenty of time to plan for it. 

I was in Walmart the other night and they had some very very cute things.

Really! Walmart had super cute Easter stuff.

I didn't purchase...I don't need Easter stuff but it was soooo tempting.

Are you thinking of Spring?

I sure am.

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Rain Boots in Decor

These Boots Are Made For

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D E C O R A T I N G !!!

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Have you noticed all the rain boots showing up in decor photos?

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They've become the chic'est of accessories.

See how Courtney of French Country Cottage recently used them when showing off her bathroom?

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They immediately bring the feeling of spring into a vignette.

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Filled with long stemmed flowers and branches...

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they create an instant sense of spring.

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Pretty yellow boots filled with daisies create the cutest of door decor.

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Fun at the front porch steps.

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They make such cute whimsical planters.

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Seems any kind of rain boots will do...from utilitarian black to pastel florals and

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hot pink!

Don't have a pair sitting around your house?

You can pick these up at Pier 1.

They are ceramic but look like a mottled green pair of boots.

They'd be so cute with forsythia branches jutting out the top.

This is the last chance to enter to win a $30 gift certificate from EpicLinen.

Just click below to enter.

Thanks for all your advice on getting well.

Sometime this afternoon I took a turn for the better.

Sore throat much better and I'm at least coherent now.

Another couple of days and I'll be out running around again.

Don't you just hate being sick? 

You have all these things you planned on doing and 

you can't do any of them because you feel so crappy.

I am glad that I at least got to be sick at home with all the weenies.

They didn't mind it one bit.

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Spring Flowers

I stayed up late last night doing some Easter decorating.

I did this and I did my mantel.

My goal was to use what I had on hand to do all my Easter decorating.

But I got the mantel all done and it just needed a new rabbit.

None of what I had would do.

So I won't show it till I go buy a new rabbit.

But I'm sharing my pretty spring flowers.

That watering can is special to me.

My Dad brought it to my house one day and said,

"Here, I thought you'd want this."

I don't know where it came from but he knew that I would want it.

That is just one of the things I loved about my Dad...he knew what I liked.

One time he made me earrings and a ring out of old typewriter keys and 

surprised me with them.

Loved those!

This whole thing is all about using what you have.

I bought that nest at Christmas on clearance and it had snow on it...I painted the snow green and 

painted the eggs blue and added a little spanish moss.

Now it's a spring nest.

I love robin's egg blue...don't you?

After I put this together last night...I decided it needed some height.

I brought a small tree limb from the yard and hot glued some silk flowers to it.

Instant....spring stems! 

Forsythia stems would have been lovely in this...but that would have required financial output.

And I was not going to do that.

I just finished painting the frame on this chalkboard.

I was very excited to find this chalkboard at a big price reduction after Christmas at Pier 1.

It was way cheaper than what it would have cost me in materials to make one.

So I painted the frame and then the other night I went to write on it with chalk 

and chalk will not write on it!

It's very smooth and shiny. I think you are suppose to use something else on it.

Anyone have any ideas?

I may end up repainting the board in chalk paint that I have here.

So much for just needing to paint the frame and it being done.

I've been listening to my Songbird's of Spring CD this afternoon.

(I'm really hip)

It really did seem like Spring today. It was so pretty out.

sharing at

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