Entry Way Table and an Anniversary

This week is crazy.

CRAZY.

So I did what I always do when the crazy starts

to set in....

I staged a photo shoot!

Not re-inventing the wheel here, decorating-wise.
I just have a plethora of vintage suitcases,
and I knew I wanted to use a few in the entry hallway as a table of sorts.
I'll probably add one or two more when I find just the right ones.

The farmhouse is still very much a work-in-progress.

Next to nothing hung on the walls,

and still living out of boxes.

If anyone with any extra free time wants to volunteer 

to come on down and help me get the place finished up, 

then I have an extra bedroom with your name on it. Seriously.

I picked up the light colored top suitcase from 

Peg of French Vanilla at City Wide Garage Sale this past weekend,
and inadvertently made off with two of her light fixtures tucked inside!

We have plans to hook up this Friday 

so that I can return my stolen loot.
Darn, I almost  got away with it!

In addition to doing in-house photo shoots,
I'm also struggling to get an article written.
Struggling would actually be an understatement.

I'm working on a piece for a publication
which has to remain nameless for now,
and the words simply will not come.

The irony in all of this is that way back in the day,
I was working towards getting a degree in journalism.
Writing was my thing, and it was the one thing I believed I
was consistently good at.

But since shifting my artistic focus towards photography,
I feel like my writing ability has gone pffffft.
It's incredibly frustrating, especially when one is working
under the constraints of a deadline.
Please wish me well!!!

Oh, and TODAY marks my second anniversary of blogging!
Happy Blogiversary to Me!

Have a lovely evening!

Weekend Stuff and a Winner....

How was your weekend?

Mine was good.

Well, Saturday was, anyway.

Went to the fabulous City-Wide Garage Sale

in Austin yesterday, which is not so much a garage sale,

as a really nifty collection of vintage sellers offering everything from

vintage clothing to architectural elements to advertising memorabilia

to the kitchen sink...literally!

It's also a great place to connect with old and new friends alike...

  

{ can't really tell here, but I recently had 8 inches cut off my hair!

I still have enough for the wee-est of ponytails! Oh, and I'm 5'8", people!!! }

I finally got to meet the The Vintage Laundress

herself, LeAnn Stephenson. What a fun gal! 

Phone numbers were exchanged,

with plans being made to wreak some Hill Country havoc soon. :-)

And it always feels like home when I reconnect with my sweet friend

Theresa Cano of Garden Antqs Vintage. 

We dished about anything and everything,

and I got the top secret 411 on the big blog party

she's planning next monthin Warrenton.

You bet I'll be there!

So yeah, Saturday was good.

Sunday?

The less said about that the better.

My facebook friends need only read my feed

and latest status updates

to catch up on the latest fence drama, as well as

my innermost thoughts about

our less than charming neighbors.

Suffice to say, we are once again in the position of'

having to cough up a grand or so to replace the last

of the existing fencing due to nasty neighbor dogs.

I would say more, but I feel that this blog is much more public 

than my somewhat private facebook settings, which are limited

to only friends reading my comments.

I realize that nothing posted on the internet is ever really private

{ well hello, Anthony Weiner! },

but as a rule, I prefer to hedge my bets and keep things a bit

more vague here on ye olde blog.

Two more things:

I have a long awaited, much needed doctor's appointment

this week, so I'd appreciate good thoughts and prayers.

And finally:

We have a winner!!!

The lucky winner of the  

Bilancia Design Handmade Beauty Giveaway

is

Laurie at Heaven's Walk!

Send me your contact info and I'll pass it on to Lisa.

Have a happy week!

bloggus interruptus

yo peeps,

winnie here.

'sup?

mom just wanted me to remind you about the

way awesome giveaway she's sponsoring

for lisa at bilancia designs.

you can win

this

and this

and a $50 credit at her shop!

$50....

that's a whole lotta noms.

click HERE to enter.

 
peace out,
gotta go catch some zzzzzz's

on mom's way cool vintage grainsack.

she LOVES
when i do that.

Anne   

  WiNniE

Handmade Beauty

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

I have an extra special friend 

to re-introduce you to today,

and an extra, extra  special giveaway 

to announce, too.

Do you remember my beautiful friend

 Lisa of Bilancia Designs?

I posted about the lovely 

handmade gifts she sent me

 HERE....

and now it's my extreme pleasure

to introduce you to Lisa's 

brand new blog and online shop!

From her shop description...

"Inspired by her passion for calligraphy, 

Lisa knew she had a gift for beautiful handwriting… 

one that continually evolved after receiving a simple 

calligraphy set from her father at an early age.

A passion for collecting quotes and poems 

later developed into hand lettering books with 

hundreds of quotes she carefully penned in calligraphy.

Often asked to make handmade cards for friends 

and address envelopes for weddings, soon turned into designing 

customized wedding and party invitations.

After working as a floral designer for years, 

the two talents merged into a wonderful business: Bilancia Designs."

 
Lisa's shop is a delight for the senses...

creamy wreaths

wine and gift tags

 

romantic kissing balls

whimsically lovely rosebud letters

and some things 

you never knew you needed...

until you saw them

...love this!

And wait until you get a load 

of Lisa's gorgeous home...

{house photos Lisa Moran}

how could you NOT 

create beauty in these digs???

To celebrate her new blog and shop,

Lisa is having a GIVEAWAY,

and I'm the lucky gal who gets to sponsor it!

Lisa is offering one lucky reader the following treasures...

 {photo Lisa Moran}

this darling 
Vintage Button Star

 {photo Lisa Moran}

 along with this lovely 
White Rose Kissing Ball

and get this...

she's also including a
$50 CREDIT to her online shop!

Pretty wonderful, right?

Here's how to win:

1. Head over to Lisa's shop HERE 

and have a look at all her gorgeous pretties.

2. Click on her "Join This Site" button and follow!  

3. Head back over here to me and leave me a comment on this post

letting me know you've paid Lisa a visit. 
Tell me which of her creations you love most!

4. Extra chances for grabbing the giveaway button, blogging,

tweeting or facebooking about this, too!

Just leave me a separate comment for each.

I will select a winner on Lisa's behalf

on Monday, August 15th.

Good Luck!

I'm "At The Picket Fence" Today!

Happy Monday!

My good friends Heather and Vanessa from

At The Picket Fence

have a wonderful series going on called

"Behind the Blog", where they introduce all of us to

some of their favorite faces behind their favorite blogs.

It's a lot of fun learning more about these talented gals,

and I was super honored to be asked recently 

to be one of their featured bloggers!

I'm featured today, so head on over
to read my interview HERE!

And while you're out blog hopping,

make sure you pay a visit to my friend Jackie at

Bliss Farm Antiques, she's having a lovely giveaway

 packed with vintage French goodies.

See you
At The Picket Fence!

Kitchen Pretties

In keeping with the theme of the latest issue

of Romantic Homes magazine

( page after page of AMAZING kitchens )

I thought I'd share some of my kitchen pretties...

some old, some new, all dear to my heart.

 My new hometown has some truly wonderful

thrift stores, I've scored some of the loveliest

china pieces these past few weeks.

 Is that those rose china cup not divine?
A whole set, thrifted for a song.

 And my darling tea towel, 

purchased from my sweet friend  

Jennifer Rizzo's  
Etsy Shop.

{ ahem...this white basin is NOT a urinal. If I had a dime for every person who has asked me if this is a urinal.  This is a lavabo. }

lavabo: a device used to provide water for the washing of hands.

In ecclesiastical usage it refers to both the basin in which the priest washes his hands and the ritual that surrounds this action in the Eucharist. In secular usage, it refers to a sink for washing hands.

Oddly enough, I was never a blue and white girl

until we moved here. The lovely existing kitchen tiles
sort of dictated the decor, and happily so.

One of these days,

I might actually get another room pulled together

and photo worthy, but for now....

get ready for more kitchen pics in the days ahead!

XO,

linking with

vintage inspiration friday 

&

feathered nest friday

Calendar Girl

I had a nifty moment this afternoon,

right here in my kitchen.

 I was walking towards the back door,

when I realized it was August.

I'm sharp like that,

not much gets past me.

So I realized it was time 

to flip the calendar from July to August.

And there it was...

one of my photos!

I was lucky enough to have Sue of Vintage Rescue Squad

select five of my images for her wonderful

2011 Dreaming of Junking Calendar,

and the August pic just so happened to be one of the five.

Because we've been immersed in moving stuff

for the past year, I haven't paid much attention 

to decorating or hanging calendars and such,
so I hadn't really enjoyed this honor
as much as I could have.

Until today.

And it was nice.  :-)

Hello there August,
it's gonna be a swell month!

XOXO,