I didn't want to do it~~~~~~~

but oh my heck!!!!!! This is why I couldn't open my dresser drawers.......for real!
I had no less than 17 pairs of jeans in there.....sigh.
Just call me a jeans 'hoarder', it's o.k., I deserve it!

I've lost 5 lbs. so far (thank you very much) and these jeans represent my weight losses over the years.
Every style is represented here.....let's check them off, shall we?

bootcut.....got em'
straight leg..........got em'
skinny...........got em'
cropped.........got em'jeggings.......got em'low waisted.......got em'
just below the waist......got em'
sits at the waist.......got em'


It's so liberating being able to open my dresser drawers...who knew how easy it could be? Do you have the same issues as me? Do you put it off and put it off and put it off until you just want to scream?
I did....obviously.

The good news? I will NEVER have to buy another pair of jeans in my life.
How many of you think I can stick to that plan, raise your hand.

Yeah, that's what I thought....:). I'm sure I'll find a reason, we always do. But I'll sure have fun fitting into my smaller jeans again....I've already started.
WooHoo!

Life goes on.....let's make the most of it~~~~

I've shown this antique ladies trunk before. It's one piece that I'll always keep because, well look at it!
I'm a complete sucker for 'watered roses', that dreamy effect that is so romantic. 

I've put some recently purchased linens in this beauty, lots of pretty tatting borders. The
black floral pillow top in the first photo is a beauty, it's of velvet and silk. I'm planning on making a sweet little pillow out of it because I love the flower basket on it and the fact that it's so very old.

I'd love to just jump into this and spend some time there~~~~~~

Instead my old linens will get that benefit. We had some devastating news over the weekend and I'm looking for comfort anywhere I can find it. Mostly I've been praying, the ultimate in comfort for me.
Please hug your loved ones today and tell them how much you love them, make sure they know that you're there for them no matter what. Let them know that there is no problem that is insurmountable and that with the help of those who love you we can all conquer mountains!
Love is meant to be shared.

MOTIVATION....we all need it sometimes~~~~~

For me, motivation comes in the form of eating more healthy food and exercising at least 5-6 days/week.
This is my year for that to happen!
Today we woke up to 25 degrees. Not that cold considering what many other parts of our country are feeling (- any degrees is too cold!) but cold here nevertheless.
I decided to work out for an hour and then started my pot of healthy minestrone soup for dinner.
I'll be cutting way back on sweets consumptions as well.
I know that once I start feeling healthier that these habits will be easier to keep, for now though I do look forward to them.
In the meantime, my dd started back to school today so my days are my own again until 3pm!
I have plenty to keep me busy, however.
Anyone else feel that organizing frenzy at this time of year?
Let me tell you, my kitchen is so organized that I think even Martha would be jealous.....o.k., I exaggerate, but it is tons better than it was. You know it's time to clean the clutter when you open your kitchen cabinets and stuff comes falling out at you.
Yep, much more organized over here.

How about you?

A beautiful french peasant doll~belle fille

She's a beauty with THE most incredible dress.
Doesn't the fabric remind you of the French General fabrics from Kaari Meng?

Of course she's very old, from the 20's or 30's.

I'd certainly love to know a bit about her, who her owner was, where she lived, etc.

But for now I'll just enjoy finding the perfect spot for her to grace in my home....check out the gorgeous trim on her dress. She reminds me so much of a doll that my late grandmother owned. She sat in her dining room on top of a hutch filled with china.
I always loved looking at that doll!

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year!

And I do hope it's your best one yet!!!!

Heaven in a bottle..................

I've recently become much more interested (again) in fragrances. One of my favorite and recently read books mentions this fragrance 'L'Heure Bleue'. I've long been a fan of Guerlain perfumes, I've loved Shalimar for probably 25 years. Lately after reading several fragrance blogs that have reviews on them I made a bold (for me) move. I decided, based on what so very many happy women were saying about this fragrance, to give it a try without sampling it first. This is not like me at all. Have you ever purchased a fragrance without trying it first? I don't recommend it but in this case the universe was with me.....see, I not only have myself to worry about, but also my dh who is very sensitive to many scents. He loves my Boucheron, my Coco, my Bal a Versailles, but I worried about this one.

He took one whiff and said, "Wow, that's nice". Ummm, understatement! This is such a lovely scent....here is what is said about it.

L'Heure Bleue or 'the bluish hour' was created by Jacques Guerlain in 1912. The fragrance is velvety soft and romantic, it is a fragrance of bluish dusk and anticipation of night, before the first stars appear in the sky. The top notes are opening with spicy-sweet aniseed and fresh bergamot that gently lead to the heart of rose, carnation, tuberose, violet, and neroli. The soft and powdery floral notes are resting on a base of vanilla, Tonka bean, iris and benzoin. The perfume is mysterious, elegant and timeless. It was created by Raymond Guerlain. The bottle is shaped like the one of Mitsouko and the stopper is shaped like a hollow heart that alludes to romantic pre-war years.

Now I know that perfume is such a personal thing, what works for one may not work for another. But Guerlain fragrances are so complex and beautiful. If you find yourself at a nice perfume counter, do yourself a favor and try some. I love the fact that I can put it on in the morning and still smell it the next morning! Much more subdued of course, but I love that lingering scent.

I do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, ours was crazy busy but in a good way. Now it's time to relax.

If you have a moment, I'd love to know what your favorite fragrances are......please do share.

I wish you all the merriest of Christmas's, and a blessed New Year

And thank you to all friends, new and old, for following along my life's journey. Here's to a beautiful New Year!!!!!!

Part of what our day looked like.............

O.K., these are actually from pinterest but you get the idea....

Total mayhem.....this is what comes from people being cooped up and unable to shop for an entire week.
Luckily we all still have time.
Procrastinators of the world.....REJOICE!

Seriously........? Still?

Old Man Winter certainly has his grip on us.

This madness started last Friday....the first "snow day"....
no school and my daughter hasn't had school since then.

Maybe tomorrow? Who knows....my sister finally drove over to Florence today and she called me when she got over the pass. She said it was the scariest drive she's ever done and thought that the knots in her back and shoulders would probably NEVER go away.
But she made it safely and will be unpacking her car and setting up her new temporary home, at least for the next 6 months or so.
We had a great visit while she was here shopping (nearby of course because we couldn't drive far because of the icy roads) but I had a great time helping her with the things she'll need for their new home. Surprisingly (o.k., not really!) I have almost enough 'stuff' for two homes so she is borrowing a lot of my extras to get she and her dh through until they decide where they'll put down their permanent roots.
I'm so happy that they have a place right now that they can fix up a bit and get ready for the holidays.
Stay warm out there!

Do you like my new chair cover?

Fun, fun, fun to wake up to a SNOW day today.

It's come down all day long~~~~

Good thing I bought groceries last night (along with the rest of Eugene....)

My hydrangeas in the backyard (shame on me for not deadheading them) look like a 'snowball' bush.

Front courtyard covered in white...so peaceful and quiet.

My snow angel.....stay warm out there.

Channeling my inner 'Sibella'.........and some new Etsy goods!

Hit my fave antique mall today....and I was well rewarded.
I've long been a fan of vintage fabric covered trunk drawers...my favorite booth had 3 of them, all the same fabric and all for....well, let's just say a very good price. So happy. 

See that set of tiny red leather Shakespeare books? Found those the other day, a very happy find. They're in my Etsy.

I love the 'watered roses' effect of this fabric....love.

Yep, here's another one in my foyer.....love.

This one is in my studio, waiting to be placed....soon.

This beautiful spun glass angel tree topper? In my Etsy.

This gorgeous pink shabby ornament? In my Etsy.

This awesome 140 year old book on phrenology? In my Etsy.
I've had a very busy week and it's only Tuesday....whew!
My dear sis and her husband are due to arrive Friday and we may be spending the day in Portland on Sunday....fingers crossed!
Hope you all had a marvelous Thanksgiving and are getting into the festive Christmas spirit right about....NOW!

My new antique cylinder roll Danish desk.......

My dh started it, honestly! He's been wanting an antique desk for a loooong time. While antiquing with my sister we found it (she must bring me luck!)

We both kind of gasped when we saw it and then did a double-take when we saw the price.....well, that just cannot be right, who would sell such a beautiful desk for that price? Lucky for us, someone did. I stood by it while I called my dh to come down and take a look at it. Look at all those little drawers....gaaahhhh! 

It has so much storage space, especially with all of the really deep drawers down below. Just what we needed in our family room. See that marquetry center panel above? It slides to reveal a cool hidden compartment with yet more little cubbies.
The only thing we'll change is the original green felt that has become faded because the older Danish couple that owned this piece never pulled out the desk portion to use it. We'll probably add leather instead of felt....easier to write on. My dd has already started using it to do her homework on and has "claimed" some of the cubby drawers as her own.

We even have a skeleton key that was supposed to be original to this desk but it doesn't really seem to fit the locks so we'll try to get one made.

Some of the key holes have mother of pearl surrounding them.

The owner of the antique mall told us that this desk belonged to a very old Danish couple who had it shipped over from Europe when they moved here. They no longer used it or needed it so they offered it for sale at the antique mall.
Lucky for us!

Wallpaper covered books~~~~~~~~~!

Who has some ugly books at home, raise your hand.....oooh, I see a lot of raised hands! Well, this little project is for you. Let me preface this by saying....this is NOT rocket science. Just an easy way to 'prettify' (yes, I just made up that word) your books.
For example, the books above and below....purchased from B&N.
One of my weirder quirks (and I have many, trust me) is that I can't stand dust jackets on books. They simply annoy me, plus they're ugly. 

So the first order of business is to take off and discard the ugly dust jackets....do this on books that are your faves and that you know you'll always want to keep. For me, that would be any book written by Charlotte Bronte and Rosamunde Pilcher. LOVE both of these authors to death.

Then go to your wallpaper stash and pick some pretty papers that you want to use. This is NOT about being perfect, in fact that's why I love this project so much....just piece them on there and glue them down with some mod podge. I have an entire drawer of wallpaper scraps left over from my many projects....it's literally overflowing at the moment.

Then just glue away....

Better, right?

And in no time at all you have a much prettier stack of books to display, books that you're not ashamed to see the light of day.
I like to stack these on my nightstand so I can just gaze at them when I'm finished reading....now, if you don't happen to hoard
have a stash of vintage wallpaper on hand like I do, not to worry.
Go here for the most scrumptious digital wallpapers you've ever seen!
www.etsy.com/shop/tatteredvintage
Beth will fix you right up with some beauties. Her shop is brimming with gorgeous wallpapers.
Have a great rest of your week, and happy book-covering!

'Shine Where You Are'~~~~~~~

I've been doing a bit of creating today.....puttering around and using up some of my supplies. I SO love making shadow boxes..the sky is the limit with the creativity and my mind loves to pick and choose the elements that I want to use.

This one is titled 'Shine Where You Are' based on the low brow doll head and a piece of vintage hymnal music that spoke to me.
I can't think of a better mantra lately to 'shine where you are' instead of wishing you were somewhere else, you know?
Of course that can apply symbolically to many different areas of our lives, but for me lately it's been trying not to compare my business with other people's businesses....please tell me that you also fall into that trap at times....:(.
Really and truly folks, it's never good to go there....don't get me wrong, I love to check out the competition and see what they're up to, but focusing on my own thing is where I know I'll see some real returns, not focusing on what other's are doing.

So I started brainstorming in the shower today and voila.....I came up with my shadow box.....and while I was happily creating I wasn't thinking about 'those other shops'.
So far it's been a happy day!
Now it's your turn, what have you made lately?

A home to call your own.............:)

My sister and her dh are moving into a place on the Oregon coast soon.....I'm so happy for them and so happy for us as well.
We'll all be so much closer to each other! They've been traveling for quite some time in their motor home and I think they've had enough.
Now the photo above is NOT their new home.....just one I found online that will be a bit similar.
It will be so much fun to visit them as they'll only be about 1 hour away from us.
I see many trips to the coast in my near future.
What a happy week this is!