Happy Friday!

Hope you have a wonderful, relaxing weekend.

*Image from Coastal Living

A Few Updates

Mom hung the latern she found at the Habitat Restore. Pretty!

We are also working on her living room. Searching for windown treatments tomorrow. And discovered 1920s photographs of family for our gallery wall. Fun after-pictures coming Monday hopefully!

Sister in law's latern is prepped and ready for painting.

Baby Boy enjoyed a day of the ultimate boy stuff...working on cars with his grandpa and uncles!

Steal of the Century

So baby boy and I went on a little excursion to Goodwill the other day to hopefully find a new furniture project, and we did not, but we (I) found something better. These:
Brand new, suede, made in Italy, J. Crew beauties.

Now, I am not normally a thift store shoe person, but literally, these looked like they hadn't even been tried on...and...drum roll please... they were my size! In what world does that happen??

I picked them up for a cool $3.50 + 0.27 tax. And when I got home, did a quick little search on jcrew.com and check out the steal:

Alecia suede platform peep toes
$265.00

I win!

A Few Reviews

Lately I have had a little extra time on my hands in the evenings for reading and watching movies, a rarity in the life of a mom, so I thought I would share a few opinions of the latest with you all.

Movies
The Invention of Lying: Definitely your basic romantic comedy, but good. I actually laughed out loud more than once and overall really enjoyed the message of the movie. It was cute and a great, easy movie. And with an hour and a half time frame, perfect for a weekday night when nothing else is on.

She's Out of My League: Please skip this movie. It was cheesy and predictable, but not funny at all. I think I smiled once, but more or less drank wine and talked with my sister in law because the movie couldn't keep our attention. The plot is underdeveloped and the characters are just plain ol boring.

Hot Tub Time Machine: Ok, don't judge me...I thought this movie was absolutely hilarious. It was cheesy and predictable, but unlike She's Out of my League, the characters were loveable and laughable. A lot of the humor is crude and farce, but if you are feeling rather immature, it is a great rental.

Books
Remember Me? By Sophie Kinsella: Eh, an easy summer read, but nothing I would keep on my shelf. Like Kinsella's other novels (the Shopaholic series for example), the main character is smart and successful by accident and slightly annoying throughout the story. But, if you are sitting at the beach and don't want to think really hard, it is an easy story to get through. I think it took me maybe 2 hours to read the whole thing.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson: This book came with a lot of hype and kind of delivered. The story was interesting (a little hard to follow until I got a handle on the wide variety of characters) and again, I was able to read it pretty quickly. The characters were engaging, but everything did tie up a little too nicely for my taste. It did not leave me with the desire to read the two other novels in the series; for me, it felt like reading a Dan Brown novel- good the first time, the second and third simply feel like a regurgitation of the first, same story, different place. Sadly, I was not impressed enough to continue to reading.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett: I read this about 2 months ago, but since all my other reviews were so-so, I thought I would throw this in for good measure. I thought this book was really cute. Another great, easy summer read, but challenging in content. Based in the south, it explores women and culture and the adversities that face us all. I loved the way Stockett changed the voices of her characters, they were all incredibly believable. I would suggest this for sure!

C-Monday

My little tough guy

I swear he does own clothes...

We had an exciting visit from some cousins. I think the red, sweaty faces and big smiles tell you how it went!

I just think this picture is sweet (even though he is, once again, naked).

Monkey or baby? Honestly, it is sometimes hard to tell...

Friday Finds

Happy Friday Friends! Hope everyone had a great week. This week I did a little shopping for my sister in law's house and lucked out again with some quality bargain shopping. I headed to 1502 Fabrics in Winston and was able to find 3 coordinating fabrics in the remnants section for pillows for her great room.


So pretty right? The quilted fabric is actually 100% silk, with backing, for $8 a yard. True story.

And like my mom's lantern from last week, I returned to the Re-Store and found another one, this time for $10. Cha-ching! It will be painted black soon.

Love a successful shopping trip. Have a great weekend!

Purple

I do not have a more creative title for this post because that is really all it is about, I want something purple in my house. I don't know what has been bringing me to the color lately, but I can't get enough of it. I have been rotating between 3 different shades of purple nail polish this summer, just bought a new pair of purple earring, heck, I've even been craving eggplant! Purple. I want purple!

*Images from House Beautiful, Coastal Living, Decor Pad and Dominio

Blogger Milestone

Good Afternoon Friends and welcome to the 100th post on Daffodil's! Ok, so maybe its only a big deal to me, but really, I am proud of myself for sticking to it and being very loyal with attempting to post every weekday. This experience has been a lot of fun and I have learned things I never expected to. Such as:

* The potential of furniture. Everywhere I go now, I can see how a piece of furniture can easily transform itself. And even though I haven't had much time to refurbish this summer, I look forward to getting back into it come fall. It is still fun to keep my brain working and imagining!

* The absolute beauty in things. I have always been a pretty optimistic person, but as I mentioned in this post, I have really started to key into specific moments. I now notice flowers and butterflies and the way the birds sing to each other. I see moments of my son and my husband and my friends and family that I used to overlook. I can capture a quick flash of emotion, even when I don't have my camera with me. I am so happy for this change of perspective (and so glad when I do catch it on camera!)

* I really, really, really love to take pictures. Growing up, my mom was a painter and try as I might, I was really bad at it. But I always wanted to be artistic. I like to think that I can see art in life through photography as my mom sees it through paint. And I know I have a long way to go, but it has quickly become my new obsession. Or maybe I am delusional and just really lucky to have a kid with big blue eyes...

* The home is a beautiful place that should be well taken care of. There are so many days when I am tired of picking up after my boys, don't feel like putting my clothes away and purposefully eat on paper plates so I don't have to do dishes...but when it comes down to it, I am happiest when there are fresh flowers on my table, the bed is made, we eat at the table on real plates and there is sunshine pouring through my windows without finger prints on them. (Ok, ok so that's not all true, fresh flowers yes, but the chances of you finding a window without a fingerprint..highly unlikely.) And as I research, read about and look at examples of beautiful homes I realize how important those little details can be. Whether they are for my own comfort, or because a put together guest room makes my guests feel more welcomed, I have been enjoying every second of learning more about my home.

* I really like it when people comment on my blog. It makes me incredibly happy to know that you enjoy reading it. Many thanks to Brittany for being my first known reader who I don't actually know :) If there are others of you out there, I would love to know you! To my friends and family who read and encourage me everyday, thanks for caring!

So tell me, what is your favorite thing about Daffodil's?? What can I change or do better? How cute is my kid? :)

Inspired By..

Greek Key Design. My in-laws just got back from a cruise around the Greek Islands and my mother in law was kind enough to bring me back a bracelet with the iconic design on it. The design is so classic; symemtrically pleasing and simple enough to add style to any type of room.
Pretty on Pillows (also loving the lucite legs on the bench):
Details on a table (from Ballard Designs):
Simple and elegant details on the chair arms:

And my personal favorite, I really really want one, Jonathan Adler's rug:

* Images from Decor Pad and House Beautiful

C-Monday

Baby boy and mother nature: 1

Mom saying "we can't play outside today because its raining": 0

True Story...

My hubby was the Gerber Baby in Korea in the early 80's

How cute is he?? He even crossed he feet and had gapped teeth like baby boy.

Now, he wears these.

And so does C$.

Simply said, I love these two boys :)

I Love Love

This just made me tear up. Marriage is the greatest thing in the world.

Score! (and then some!)

Success! Mom and I bargain-shopped til our hearts dropped yesterday and not only found her entryway lantern, but the start of her living room makeover as well.

We went to the Habitat for Humanity Re-store in Winston in search of the lighting. (Most areas have one and they are a fantastic resource for budget decorating). Apparently, it was my mom's lucky day, because we walked to the lighting area and found this:

And even though they would make quite a statement, my 6'3" dad would have a headache constantly! So after a little more looking around, we found this gem hanging high.

At first, I thought it was $75, which is a pretty good deal really, but upon further evaluation, turns out that "7" was a "1". Yep, mom scored her light fixture for $15. Can't make this stuff up. I can't wait to see what it looks like!

Then we were off to Kinnaman's, another secondhand/antique store in Winston and made out like bandits. Mom's goal for her living room is to bring back the 'parlor room', a place for adults, crystal glasses and bourbon (sorry, no ciggs allowed, although we both agreed antique smoking accessories might be necessary). We found the perfect chairs and drink cart, along with a lamp from the re-store ($10!) and antique champagne glasses I already had.




The chairs were $60 each. Can you believe it?? That leather is gorgeous! Turns out they smell horribly of smoke (which explains the price) but we are confident we can get it out. This is staged in my dining room, so clearly not what it will look like at mom's house, but I was too excited about it to wait til she got back to DC. There will be pics of the whole makeover in a few weeks.

Entryway Lanterns

Today, my mom and I are off to find the perfect lantern for her entryway/foyer. A lantern chandelier is a great alternative to a normal light fixture. Especially in a newer construction house like my mom's, we feel it will give a classic, more rustic feel than the shiny chandelier that currently hangs there. From your outdoor-inspired lantern, to the bell jar (my personal fave), I'm excited to see what treasures we might find! Stay tuned...

*Images from Southern Living, House Beautiful and Elle Decor

PS

I am SO excited for this.

Who's with me???

Monday Cullen

Have a great week!

Friday Flowers

From my mom's farm.

Happy weekend!