Christmas in Dixie - Part II

My husband and I spent a week in my hometown of Decatur, AL this year for Christmas. I introduced Lee to the beautiful historic homes and the Christmas "contest" that they have every year which is quite impressive! There are 2 historic neighborhoods - Albany, and Old Decatur - both a wonderful showcase of late 19th century homes. To learn more about this district, click here. I thought I would share with you via the blog our annual tradition of "drive-bys" - ENJOY!!

Merry, Merry Christmas. Off to Park City tomorrow!

Cabana in Austin

As promised, here are a few photos of the 90% complete Cabana/ Casita here in Austin.
It's always fun to work on a project with friends, especially those with great taste and great personalities. The new entrance to the Cabana / "Guest quarters".

We added a shiny, lacquered console behind the sofa to off-set the "rustic" look that is happening quite a bit here. We found the Belgian wine-barrel chandelier and the Tobacco drying basket above the TV in Fredericksburg.

Don't you want to be invited over? :)

Surprise!

I am back from Atlanta, and the pictures below are photos of my sister, Emily's apartment as promised. (photo below obviously from some wierd party, but thought it was fitting). As I mentioned in this previous post, Emily gave me a budget and I surprised her with everything that was purchased. While there is still some work to be done, we were both pleased with the result! Let's start with the sad, sad before pictures...oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my GOODNESS.

My parent's gave her an old buffet - things are getting a letter bit better - at least the TV isn't on the floor!

TA-DA! Here's the beginnings of an "after". Next on Emily's list will be a new, (flat) TV which will look much better and put less stress on that poor cabinet.
Dining Room "Before"...

After!

After again! I turned the dining table so it was paralell to the sofa and the skirted console, which seemed to make much more sense of the space. The drapery were purchased from the Pottery Barn outlet - they are ivory linen with a navy and white greek key trim along the edges. We bought the rod and rings at Target for $19! The larger white pillows on the sofa are by Williams-Sonoma Home, also purchased at the outlet.

This mirror was a gift from me - I purchased it for $50 at an old flea market in Virginia a few years ago. We are still looking for interesting plates, brackets, or sconces to go on either side.

Emily purchased the gray-washed console from Pottery Barn clearance about a year ago and wasn't wild about the finish, so I had the table skirted with this fabric from Calico Corners.

I was literally about to order this set of 3 blue and white Chinese vases for the skirted console from Wisteria for $189...

Until I discovered these at one of my local Austin spots - 4 for $97! (Of course, I think they were at 4 different booths in a huge warehouse - but ROUND 'EM UP!).

The best find of all was found at Round Top a few weeks ago. I crossed the street for the "Warrenton" tents, which was almost like entering a huge, tacky Cracker Barrel, tent after tent. I spotted this pair of Hollywood Regency chairs and the guy sold them to me for $200 for the pair! Yes, please, Here is my car!

I found an old, colorful scarf of my late Grandmother's and had it framed for Emily's living room. The colors were perfect and I think it meant a lot to her, in fact, I think it was her favorite piece!
And since you can't really see it in the pictures above (and I apologize because the flash wasn't on), we added a turqoise trim to the skirt for interest.

So there we have it! It is certainly a start, and I will say her place was feeling MUCH more inviting, attractive, and "lived in" than it was before. At the very least, I had a great time in the process. :)

BKK or BUST

Welcome to Thailand!

That's right. My husband and I just booked a 14-day trip to Thailand, with a layover in Tokyo for March. I must say, being self-employed while your husband is in business school is the way to GO. (meaning his spring break equals MY spring break!) I have been slow on the blog posts in the past few weeks, and honestly it is because I just took a little sabbatical from design. It's been about a nine day streak of 80-degree BE-AUT-IFUL days in Austin, and so I have done things like go to the pool, exercise, register my car, take car to and from the shop, AND work on a few projects here at home. (Remember my stool from THIS post, well...pics coming soon!! - we'll just say I could be a professional "gold-leafer"). Back to Thailand - which I am EXTREMELY excited about. This cute gal pictured below will actually be our hostess for our time in Bangkok. Meet May Sanguannuan, Lee's (and now my) friend from BKK, whom he met when he traveled there while working for USAID a few years ago. (May is also a USAID employee).
I am thrilled to go to Thailand for many reasons, and have begun my due diligence of blog readings to establish what we must do.

There are elephants to ride in Chiang Mai, the northern region, which according to May will be very "HOT" in March - we may skip this excursion and only do the beach and the city, per May's suggestion....

There is the infamous floating market in Bangkok....

Beautiful colors, and of course, hour-long massages for only $12! I have read from several people that their only regret was not getting a massage every single day they were there.

Beautiful sunsets and Asian architecture....

We plan to spend at least four days at the beaches of Phuket and/or Phi Phi Le. (I am thinking Bridget Jones' diary - remember??)

Open to any and all suggestions if you've traveled this way before!