New Year goals and (yikes) resolutions

31 Friday Dec 2010

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I look forward to starting a new year with a list of ideas, goals and resolutions (I actually only set about 2-3 new resolutions, I don’t like to face the let-down of failure).

I draw inspiration from a number of different resources that I keep on the bookshelf in our study {sometimes I need a refresher mid-year}. There are a couple of books that consistently motivate and help remind me of what my priorities are. One of my long time favorites is the 1986 publication of “Living a Beautiful Life” by Alexandra Stoddard. This book is a go-to reminder to stop and enjoy day-to-day living.

image via Amazon; order book HERE

In her book, Alexandra offers simple steps for enriching daily life. While I’ve read the book many times over the years, when re-read I always uncover some new information like:

“Work smarter, not harder. When overwhelmed, take a break from whatever is causing pressure and attend to some necessary tasks that will please you and bring instant gratification.” This is sound advice for me since I work full time and sometimes find the stress of all I’d like to accomplish too much to handle.

One of my favorite recommendations from this book is to always take time to bring fresh flowers into your home. Ms. Stoddard even gives you tips on how to make a fresh bouquet last longer than the typical short number of days. There is something so simple and satisfying about fresh flowers in the rooms we spend the most time in. During the winter months when our gardens are mostly bare of blooms, a small bouquet from your local florist or market can give you a lift.

Even if you have to buy a flowering house plant…flowers put a smile on my face!

“This one is a favorite…Daydreaming can help the brain promote essential cross-circuiting of your creativity. Giving your brain a nap; it will work smarter.” How lucky for me…I love to daydream.

Above all, as the New Year looms, starting out with a positive attitude, throw in determination for good measure, and a short list of goals and you can make home life in 2011 the best yet.

Do you have any resolutions you’d like to share?

New Years Eve party assignment…easy recipe

29 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Entertaining, Food

≈ 8 Comments

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New Years Eve, recipe

About 6 or 7 years ago a group of friends in the neighborhood decided to start celebrating New Years Eve together. We had so much fun at that first dinner, which we made “progressive” style dinner (a course is served at each person’s house i.e. appetizer/house 1; salad-soup/house 2; main course/house 3 and dessert/house 4), we have made New Years a tradition.

In fact, this group is one of those unique, dynamic groups where everyone enjoys each others company, that we have started celebrating St. Valentine’s Day, 4^th of July, onset of fall, and New Years Eve, with the occasional get-together thrown in for good measure!

{Note, the four couples share a great history of our respective children (adult children now) all growing up together and we’ve been connected with the same schools and community for 20+ years}

Our New Years Eve dinners are now hosted by one of the couples and we all bring a course. My course this year is appetizer. I have one recipe in mind and need maybe one or two more. I thought I’d share the recipe for this easy, scrumptious appetizer in case you need an appetizer for a dinner.

Bacon Pinwheels

Makes 18 to 20 appetizer servings.

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 (17.3 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed *

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 (6.5ounce) container spreadable light cheese with herbs *

1 cup crumbled cooked bacon

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a clean, flat surface, sprinkle cornmeal.

Unfold pastry on cornmeal.

Spread mustard lightly over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around sides.

Spread cheese over mustard.

Sprinkle with bacon.

Roll up pastry, jelly-roll fashion, and slice into 1/2-inch pieces.

Place pinwheels, cut side down, 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.

Brush each pinwheel with olive oil.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm

*In this recipe the cooks used Pepperidge Farm pastry and Alouette cheese.

What are you doing this New Years Eve?

Tricia Foley

27 Monday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Designer, Entertaining

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designer, Tricia Foley

While searching my files for inspiring photos for holiday décor, I came across a Christmas issue of Traditional Home, or maybe Victoria Magazine (not sure which) titled “White Christmas”, designed by Tricia Foley. I remember thinking (when I saved the feature) that the white in the room (walls above the wainscoting, flowers, candles and food) contrasting with the rich, dark wood (paneling below the wainscoting, wood pieces of furniture) managed to provide all of the cozy, warm notes I thrive on, as well as the classic, simple, understated look white can provide.

The white walls above the paneling set a dramatic contrast.

Don't you just love the simplicity of candlelight, white linens and paper whites?

This isn't the original room I have from the magazine but it serves the purpose.

I decided to do some further research on Tricia Foley and was happy to see she has 3 blog sites as well as some inspiring projects that you can view on her website HERE. I’ll be able to catch some additional inspiration from her with just the click of a mouse!

A fireplace in a dining room space is so cozy.

Tricia Foley’s bio on her site explains that…

“…Tricia Foley Design specializes in all aspects of home design. She’s known for her simple, classic style, her work includes retail consulting, branding, product development and packaging, creating advertising and catalog collateral, residential interior design, magazine editorial and book publishing”.

She has an amazing list of clients including Ralph Lauren Home, Waterworks, Pottery Barn, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s Home Stores, to name just a few. She has several design/lifestyle books that have been published and I recently ordered one of her older titles, “White Christmas: Decorating and Entertaining for the Holiday Season” published in 1997.

Her website explains she is currently restoring an 18th century farmhouse on Long Island and shares her time between there and New York City.

images via Tricia Foley – website

I ordered her book “White Christmas” on Amazon and received a gently used copy for $8! {I love being able to find a bargain in design books, or any book title for that matter.} Trisha Foley rooms are always fresh yet warm and welcoming. I was impressed that the rooms featured in this particular book are so classic and that you would not know by looking at any of them the book was published in 1997!

I really must look into a canopy bed!

Nature is intricate to her designs and I believe that is what gives it such an inviting allure.

The pendant light, white cupboards and butcher block counter tops are simply beautiful.

Have you ever stumbled upon a house, room or ‘look’ that you admire only to discover that it’s a designer that you’ve read about before…you begin to recognize their style. Am I a designer groupie? Maybe!

Merry Christmas and happy hoidays…believe

24 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Christmas, Traditions

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Christmas

No matter what your religion, this is a magical time. Time for reflections, gratitude for the abundance so many of us enjoy and time for a pause in our typically hectic lives.

image of the family tree, 2010

I’m happy to have good friends and family and to have met many blog land friends this year! Thank you so much for reading and commenting on my site…it truly warms my heart to have you give your time to drop by! Happy Christmas

“At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe.”

~The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

I hope you and yours can “can hear the bell” this holiday!

Its official…I have a blue and white room, at last

22 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Decorating, Renovating

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blue & white decor

Just in case you’re over the steady stream of holiday images (although, I confess, I rarely tire of Christmas images until around December 26th) I thought I would follow up with a post I have published some months ago regarding my love of blue and white rooms…

Not too many months ago I posted about how I had always wanted a blue and white room {HERE}. Many of you suggested that I “just do it” (in the words of Nike). Well, as luck would have it a good friend of mine remodeled her home and had decided that her guest room needed a king sized bed instead of the queen that it was furnished with. She asked if I’d like her ‘gently used’ duvet cover and pillow shams (the cover and shams were like new!).

I don't know the name of this pattern, but it's so pretty and has a linen-like texture which looks great with the off-white, PB iron headboard.

I jumped at the opportunity to take her up on her offer. Son #2 had just moved into a new apartment and the room was ready for a little face lift—especially one that wasn’t going to cost an arm and a leg. The existing quilt, a soft yellow and brown toile from Pottery Barn fit inside the blue and white duvet cover and I had a blue and white stripe fabric piece laying around that I could cover the little French chair with, as well as the 2 small accent pillows.

Part of the blue and white set was a table cloth out of the same fabric for a round pedestal table however the room is small and the nightstands that flank the bed work very well. So I decided to use the fabric from the table cloth to provide welting for the chair and for a flange on the small accent pillows that sit in front of each of the pillow shams.

This is the fabric that the old quilt was made of---in fact the quilt was a Pottery Barn toile.

You can see the stripe I am planning on putting on the accent pillows and chairs right after Christmas.

The walls are painted a taupe color by Behr called Toffee Crunch in an eggshell finish (to be honest, when the room was painted I was not really happy with the glossier finish of “eggshell” but I’ve learned to like it fine).

I had a frame in the garage that had been used in the dining room and it was a standard size so I bought a mirror for the frame and hung it on the long wall in that room. I believe when Son #1 and his lovely wife visit from Austin they will appreciate an extra mirror to use for make-up application (for D-I-L) or for getting dressed. I hung some blue and white plates on either side, just to tie in the blue and white theme.

My friend gave me 2 of the blue and white plates and the top 2 I purchased from a little antique barn in Napa Valley.

A dear friend knew I needed a dust ruffle (the existing one was pale yellow and ivory mini-check) and volunteered to make one for me for my birthday—thank you Gretchen, you can’t know how excited I am about this! So, after wishing for a blue and white room I finally have one.

Dreams do come true! 🙂

Deck the halls with boughs of holly…

20 Monday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Entertaining, Party Planning, Traditions

≈ 7 Comments

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Entertaining, holiday

…fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la ♪

Each year for the past 10 years one of my friends, Joyce, in our Birthday Group (to read more about that visit HERE or HERE) hosts a caroling party for the 5 couples {Joyce & Russ, Carla & Tom, Linda & John, Wendy & Thomas and Hubby and me}.

Joyce makes her home a Christmas wonderland with no detail left untouched by the magic of elves, angels, reindeer and Santa. Her table settings are coffee table book worthy and along with all of her beautiful holiday decorations comes a warm welcome and a jolly time had by all!

Joyce used to teach elementary school and she is a wonderful pianist (as is my friend Carla, who is also in this group). We start the evening with wonderful appetizers, dinner and dessert and then the ladies do an ornament exchange.

Following this cavalcade of fun we drag the men in from the family room where they have been discussing everything from football to politics and truth be known, would probably rather just let the ladies sing, and make them participate. We are not about to let them miss the fun!

Our host, Russ, is our very own Santa for the evening!

...fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

I hope you are enjoying the activities of the season.

Christmas cards…photo cards

17 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Traditions, Trends

≈ 7 Comments

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Christmas

Growing up I don’t remember a lot of photo Christmas cards and the few that we did receive were usually poor quality photos on photo paper with semi-blurry words stating, “Merry Christmas”. (Full disclosure, I grew up when “politically correct” wasn’t in existence).

Today, with very little computer skills you can have any kind of card you want, using any photograph you want and many of the companies will even label your envelopes for you!

A couple of weeks ago one of my favorite columnists for the Los Angeles Times, Chris Erskine, wrote a piece about taking the family photo for the Christmas card. One of the funniest lines in the piece was,

“My wife, Posh, approaches the Christmas card photo like a Vogue editor perusing the perfect cover. She once flew the whole bunch of them to Paris for the right Christmas shot”.

To read this very funny column visit HERE.

image via Martha Stewart

When did we become so determined to show friends and family the year’s progress in photographs? Don’t get me wrong, I too realize that I’m just slightly disappointed when I only get a lovely card sans photograph. Crazy, right? As if we don’t have enough other important tasks on our list this time of year, we have to include thinking about a photo-op sometime during the 11 ½ months prior to December 25^th!

That said, on our trip this past week to Austin, I went with 2 goals in mind. 1. Bond with my infant grand daughter so that when I see her next she won’t cry when Grandma wants to hold her; and 2. Get a card-worthy picture of the little bundle of joy for my Christmas card this year.

I am happy to report that we were successful on both fronts.

A few good sources for photo cards:

Cards Direct

Tiny Prints

Costco*note, you must have a membership card for this company.

image via Martha Stewart

Do you do photo cards for the holidays?

Christmas centerpieces

15 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers

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Christmas centerpieces

During the holidays most of us have occasion to dress the dining room table with all of the beauteous crystal, silver and china we own. Truly, this time of year any time you set the table, no matter whether its with glass, pottery and stainless or the above, you can make it feel jolly by adding flower or seasonal clippings.

image via Better Homes and Gardens

image via BHG

Better Homes and Gardens had some really great ideas this week. If you would like to see more visit HERE.

We can go from the sublime (all a matter of personal taste) to the ridiculous! I’m happy somewhere in the middle. I like things on the dining table to be a little bit dressed up during this season but I can’t go to over the top without feeling like I’m straying from my own style.

This is one of Martha Stewart's early centerpieces and I've always loved it. I've used it with white carnations as well as white roses (the vase is filled with real cranberries).

If you’d like to see more of Martha’s ideas for the holidays visit HERE.

image via Martha Stewart

The stark contrast of the white and red (above) is stunning.

image unknown

The above is so simple and greens can be free if you a) have a pine tree somewhere where cutting a few branches won’t get you arrested or b) the big box stores as well as tree lots will often give you the clippings (bottom branches) from their trees.

image via Carolyne Roehm

If you’d like to see Carolyne’s website and read more about her new book visit HERE.

Some believe less is more while others believe that where Christmas is concerned there’s never too much! I’ll leave that up to you, but do take the time (and that’s the challenge, the whole time thing) to set your table for friends and family with some festive items.

Roger’s Gardens had a great centerpiece I plan to copy for my own table. I like the natural greens and sparkle of it.

image via my friend Debbie

image unknown

Wouldn’t a fireplace in the dining room cozy things up? This table is dressed to the nines!

image unknown

How simple, green and red apple slices around a bowl of flowers. It doesn’t have to be complicated!

image Elle Decor

I love to decorate the kitchen table, sometimes unexpected but so festive.

I’d love to hear what you’re doing this Christmas with your dining tables.

Outdoor holiday decorations

13 Monday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in DIY (do it yourself), Gardening, Outdoor living, Traditions

≈ 6 Comments

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Christmas, holiday, home

When I think of decorating for Christmas, indoor decorations get more of my attention than outdoor…until this year. 5^th and State, a blog site I recently stumbled upon, featured a DIY on planting outdoor planters for Christmas. If you’d like to see more visit HERE.

I live in Southern California and let’s face it we’re simply NOT going to be celebrating the holidays with freshly fallen snow.

left & right images via 5th and State

image via Country Living

That said when we entertain friends and family they will pull up to the curb and the first thing they see is the entrance to our home.

image via 5th and State

I’ve always done wreaths, sometimes fresh sometimes fake faux. I don’t have a bias since I’ve seen beautiful versions of both.

This year I will attempt to go a little beyond the front door wreath. (By the way, we do hang a string of lights across the front of the house but due to the design of our roof line it would be suicide for anyone to get up on the peak of the roof to really do the Griswold Family Christmas version of Christmas lights).

I picked up some Ilex berries from a local floral supply store and added them to the cone shaped boxwood in the urn by the front door.

The berries are faux but festive!

I also planted some cardinal ivy geranium in the planter on the right side of the door but, sadly, they are not in full bloom right now.

There will be more red blossoms later in the year, probably after Christmas but maybe in time for St. Valentine’s Day.

image via Martha Stewart Living

I put a bow and some holy on the lantern that sits by the door, I guess that will be a good start to branching out beyond the front door wreath.

I used a wax battery-operated candle so that I can turn it on and not worry about it catching anything on fire.

Welcome to our home!

image via room service

Maybe next year I’ll put a pre-lit garland around the door!

With all of the options for incredible wreaths I will have to try a new one each year! {just kidding} What are you doing to welcome guests this year?

Christmas past, present, future…Ebenezer and me.

10 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

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English gardens, holiday

image by tartanscot

Maybe its because I’m a first time grandma, or maybe it’s just that time of year when I reflect on events of the past…but I’ve been thinking about how time has flown by and before we knew it our children were adults and now we have children with children! What does this have to do with Christmas, you ask? I guess it’s the time of year we all start reflecting a bit on years that have passed…and for me, the eternal optimist, an eye on the upcoming year.

image above via tartanscot

I love the activities around our home this time of year and embrace how they (activities) change as a family changes. I still delight in baking, putting up the tree, dinners with friends and family and presents.

images via Southern Living

I enjoy reading Polar Express and believe with all my heart in the spirit of the story. (If you’ve only seen the movie but never read the book, you may be disappointed). Some years I join my dear friends with a ticket to Handel’s Messiah. The traditions can change and new traditions can become the standard, at least for now.

Christmas can be simple and wonderful; it’s what you make it, right?

I hope you enjoy a Happy Christmas with family and loved ones and the best the holidays can offer!

I’m off to Austin to meet my very first grand daughter, born November 28th! I’ve scheduled some holiday ideas and will return on December 17th to share more ramblings. Happy Friday