:: equestrian dreams

When I was a little girl I loved horses with all my heart. Sadly I never had a horse of my own. My uncles each had a horse at some time during my childhood so on occasion I was able to ride as a young girl. I was completely smitten....I loved the smell of them, their big beautiful brown eyes, their muscular bodies, I loved everything about them....still do. My bedroom was overflowing with horses, toys & posters. I dreamed of having my own horse someday....still do. Eventually as I grew up, I gave away my toy horses, {which I now regret, I would have loved to have been able to pass them on to my daughter who shares my love} and the horse posters were replaced with the likes of John Stamos, and Kirk Cameron from the latest teeny bop magazine. However, I've never stopped dreaming of having my own horse.....Someday.  

Luckily my youngest daughter shares in my affinity for horses, she loves them as much as if not more than I did. She LOVES horses so much that I dare say she may even trade in her brother for one if given the chance. Fortunately for me I get to live vicariously through her, and we are able to send her for riding lessons where she can fulfill her dreams of becoming an equestrian. I've even had the opportunity to ride with her on occasion. Just being on a horse brings me more joy than you can imagine, and sharing it with my daughter makes it all the better. So far it isn't in the cards for us to own horses of our own. You can rest assured though that when we realize our dream of owning a farm, there will be a horse on it...even if it's a miniature and the size of a large dog lol. Hopefully her riding lessons will lead us in the direction of horse ownership someday, but until then at least she gets to spend time with them as she learns to ride and take care of them. She also looks amazing in the saddle and is quite a natural,  her instructor said " she's scary good ". I'm so proud.

So, here's to dreaming....and seeing where our dreams take us.

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

:: skeletal

The simple beauty of a skeletal hydrangea

Happy Weekend : )

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

:: silky soft hair

Good morning friends. I just have to share this new to me product with you this morning. When I took my kids for haircuts the other night, I asked my niece if she would recommend anything for my dry & brittle winter hair. Of course she did, and I purchased Joico's K-Pak reconstruct wondering if anything could help my dry yucky looking hair. Well, I'm pleased to say that my hair is so silky soft and amazing right now that I'm completely sold on this product and I just had to share it with you.

In fact I just got my Ulta sales circular this morning and they have it in their circular by one get one %50 off. I think that's a great deal, and if I hadn't already bought a big bottle I would definitely take advantage. I checked Ulta online, but they didn't offer it, so it may just be at select Ulta stores.

Amazon also sells it, and you can buy a smaller size there in case you want to give it a try before you commit to a full sized bottle. Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject, I really like this product.

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

:: random chatter

Hello friends, you may want to grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and settle in, because today I feel like sharing. Please bear with me, I try not to go type heavy too often, and I've even edited this down.

First of all, I'm a little disappointed with myself, as I've really been trying to get here to blog on a more regular basis and I've already missed a day this week. I suppose I need to figure out a way to be more methodical about my posting and use the scheduler tool in blogger a little more efficiently. Can you believe I just used that tool for the first time last week. I never even noticed it there before, I can be a little slow sometimes {lol} I should probably be ashamed to admit this after two years of blogging. 

Anyhoo, I knew I wasn't going to be at my computer for a few days last week so I stayed up late and wrote 3 posts the night before I went out of town. Then I scheduled them for the next two days, and let me just say that scheduler rocks. I loved being able to sit back and enjoy a few days off knowing that my blog was still rolling along. What a great tool, I'm so glad I finally figured that out, even if it did take me two years. { rolls her eyes & shakes her head }

Secondly, I have a little writing project going on right now & I'm really starting to stress about it. I in no way consider myself a writer, and the thought of submitting an article for publication is more than a little overwhelming to me. I really want to be charming & insightful, and sounding really intelligent would just be icing on the cake. Ultimately I'll just be me, and hopefully that will get me going in the right direction. I am however open to any suggestions or encouragement in this area.

Thirdly, I've been asked by a good friend to help her decorate her lovely home. Of course this immediately has my wheels going in all kinds of directions. I just love the feelings of inspiration & vision that comes after walking into a space. I've already started working on it in my mind, even though I haven't committed to the job or been officially hired as of yet. Still, it's exciting, and I'm honored that she would ask me. 

So, there you have it, this is what happens when the sun shines and I finally get out of the house for the day. It really was quite lovely here today, and what a nice change from dreary, gloomy & cold. Hope you've had a great day as well.

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

:: macro monday

{ r e a d }

The stack of books currently on my nightstand waiting to be read. 

Happy Monday!

{ peace, love & hugs }

Carrie

Currently reading Winter Garden & so far it's very good.

Living Your Strengths

Having a Mary Spirit 

The Measure of a Lady

All But My Life

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

The Art of Living

:: knit & crochet flowers

Working on some knit & crochet flowers for a project.

Hope you've had a wonderful weekend.

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

:: indoor garden revisited

Just thought I'd share a picture of my little window garden as it looks today. It's come a long way since I first posted about it. All of my little herb cuttings have taken off and grown into full fledged herb plants. My oregano has done especially well. My basil is doing so so, but for some reason it wants to go straight into flowering. I have to keep pinching off the flowers to encourage more leaf growth...it's getting there though. I'm so excited that come spring I'll be able to take these plants and put them in my tiered herb container....no having to go out and buy all new plants. I'll then begin the process all over again with cuttings and keep these same plants going for as long as possible.

I very much enjoy gardening and this little kitchen window garden has been just the thing to get me through these long winter months. I adore having this little island of green in my kitchen....it makes me sooooo happy.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend : )

{peace, love & hugs}

:: get the look part two

This is the other side of Miss Punky's sleeping area which lies behind the two bookcases & gate that divides her room into a private sleeping & work space, and her public entertainment area with her sofa and television.

I chose this dining table from Ikea as a desk because it fit the full width of the space giving her plenty of space for two people to work & spread out { per her request }. This table was super easy to put together, and makes a perfect work surface { I would love one for my studio }.

The paper roll & holder are the perfect thing for larger art projects, and also make it easy to pull out a large piece of paper to cover her work surface & protect her table. I also love these little galvanized pails, they are just perfect for holding all of her drawing supplies within reach. The curtain wire including clips is the perfect thing for hanging up her ever changing collection of drawings and artwork.

 

I used the curtain rod on the left for the windows, and the cafe rod {in bronze} on the right for hanging my vintage curtains {sheet} over the bookcases. An attempt to hide the toys and art supplies to try & keep her sleeping space feeling organized & calm. 

Her two modern style chairs are sold in pairs for 63.99 at Target and are still available....they come in lots of other fun colors too. I really like these chairs....they are perfect for a kids space since they are lightweight and easy to wipe down.

The lamps on her desk I already had on hand, when I searched something similar I couldn't find anything I liked. If I were getting lamps today I might pick one of these below.

{ peace, love & hugs }

Carrie

:: get the look

I've spent some time putting together a little compilation of what I think are the most important things in Punky's Apartment....beginning with the room color, and then moving on to the bedding which I believe gives the room it's vintagey sweet feel. I tried to include as much of what I purchased as possible, however it's been awhile so some things are no longer available...in this case I shopped the internet and substituted items that I would pick if I were trying to re-create the look today.

So here goes.... I found a vintage chenille bedspread exactly like the one I used in Punky's room here.

The curtains are the Matilda from Ikea, I love their soft cotton & raised striped detail they have a very vintagey look & feel and let in just the right amount of soft light without having to open and close them.

I was so excited about all of the great pillows that I found at Pier one, they were all quite perfect for her space and had exactly the look I was going for. As stock changes quite often the only pillow still available is this smoke blue ruffled pillow.  I found the pretty hummingbird floral pillow here, and the round woven pillow here. These pillows are a little more mature, but I still think they could work in a transitional girl's room, or guest room. 

My daughter adores her faux fur throw she takes it with her all over the house and likes it to be closest to her when tucked in at night. I love the one I found here with it's addition of the fur ball detail at the corners...how fun. 

In my original post we had a hand painted by me lamp on her night stand but since then I've switched it out with a vintage milk glass hobnail lamp very similar to the one pictured above and found here.

The mirrored Laugh & Love signs are a big part of the look of Miss Punky's sleeping area, and though I can't find the perfect vintage frames for you, you can find the words at Hobby Lobby and take it from there. The mirror above her bed was also found at Hobby Lobby many years ago.

I'll be heading out of town tomorrow with our oldest daughter for a soccer tournament....her first one since blowing out her knee this is such a big day for her she's worked very hard to recover & get back at it. Not only that but 5 college coaches are coming to see her play, and she just got accepted to UNC Chapel Hill today...this is a very exciting time for her & we are so very proud. 

That said, my weekend consists of several 2 hour drives so I may not be able to get here as I would like. I will however continue on with links for other items I used in Punky's apartment reveal when I return just in case you are interested.

Thanks so much for visiting & reading along. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

:: color revealed

I've received lots of emails recently wondering what color I painted my daughter Phoebe's room. I've tried to respond directly to most of them, but if I missed answering you I'm sorry.  So for those of you I've missed, and those of you have found this image via Pinterest, here it is.  

Wait for it..........

waaaiiit.....

Okay.....

the color is....

Tradewind by Sherwin Williams. It took me many samples of paint to decide on this exact shade of blue, but it was completely worth the money to find the perfect shade. I actually matched it to a color in the rug, and it ended up matching my vintage floral fabric which came later perfectly.

I really do love this color, it's the perfect shade of pale aqua blue.

So there you have it, Phoebe's {Punky's} perfect blue.

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

Tomorrow...more details of Phoebe's room re-do including lots of links.

:: macro monday

{ g e r a n i u m }

:: recycled fire starters

The days are getting colder and colder here, giving us more opportunities to have a nice cozy fire. For my family that means pressing a button on a remote, but for some { the lucky ones in my opinion } it means starting a fire from scratch. Oh there is nothing more wonderful than the smells and sounds of a warm crackling fire. I really miss having a real fireplace, even if it is a little more work. It would be nice to have a reason to keep all the fire starting goodies & tools by the fireplace...for gas logs it just seems silly. The basket above however is for my fire pit outside, everything needed to start a nice blazing fire. 

I saw an image on pinterest that uses your dryer lint and empty toilet paper tubes to make recycled fire starters. Which in my opinion is a brilliant use for all of the dryer lint and unused toilet paper tubes. I was so excited to give it a try. The image on pinterest looked like this one below, though try as I might I cannot find it now.

Though functional enough, this just didn't appeal to my aesthetic sensibilities so I decided to take it just a step further by wrapping mine in newspaper. I grabbed my scissors and cut a sheet of newspaper in half, and with the tube at the bottom I rolled it up.

First I just twisted the newspaper on the ends which worked fine, but after a few using that method I decided instead that it would be much easier and quicker to just pinch & push the newspaper ends into the tube. This is the method I stuck to to make the rest of my tubes. You could always go a step further even and tie them with some twine, I thought about it but found it a little unnecessary since mine were purely functional & I like to use my twine for other things.

In the past I've used mostly pinecones to start my outdoor fires, but I think these are going to work great. I'll put one underneath a little pile of pinecones with some kindling on top & I'll have a blazing fire in no time. I'm also really excited to find a great use for all of the toilet paper tubes & dryer lint....just one less thing to have to throw in the recycle bin or the trash. I think they look pretty cute to boot, and that's always a plus in my book.

{ peace, love & hugs }

Carrie