House Updates and Stuff I like

 New England Home

Hey y'all! That's not my house, but I like it. It's giving me inspiration for our own exterior, specifically, the shutters around the arched window and the potted boxwoods on either side of the door.  I bet this house looks really pretty at Christmas.  That's kind of how I judge houses now - would they be a place I'd like to spend Christmas?  The previous owners of our house loved Christmas so much that they left me a giant 6 foot tall Santa to display in our arched window.  I know, I know, it's rude of me to brag.  But really, 6 ft Santa's should come standard in every home.

Moving on, I have kind of a random post today.  If you are a liker of Belclaire House on Facebook some of this may be redundant so I apologize.  Sometimes it's nice to show the non-likers what they're missing so then they'll come like me.  Also, sometimes I write weird status updates that I later wonder if I should have kept to myself so you definitely don't want to miss out on that. 

So, first, some house stuff:

I'm not totally sure I like this pillow situation.  I spilled red wine on one of my white Pottery Barn jute braid pillows that apparently you can't wash or dry clean.  When I went back to get another one, these blue pillows were on sale for $18 and the white capiz shell pillow was on sale for $8 - all together less expensive than my one white pillow.  So I bought those instead because you know the old saying, "the more pillows, the closer to God."  Yes, it's a saying.  I just said it.  The big sham in the middle is an old Ralph Lauren sham that I already had.  Our sofas are not in the greatest shape so clearly I'm trying to cover them with pillows in an effort to hide them.  Is it working?

I am sure that I love this Erica Heather plant situation happening in front of my sink.  I found these at the grocery store, and they seem to be doing better than the basil and rosemary that I had in there previously. 

The curtains look a bit wonky here (I need to rehang them), but I am very pleased with my new white dupioni silk curtains, also picked up on sale at Pottery Barn.   The need for drapery was semi-urgent.  Our lab has an unhealthy obsession with the neighbor's lab and she sits at the window staring into their living room for hours on end.  I imagine she's sitting there singing Eric Carmen in her head, "when I was young, I never needed anyone ..."

In the spirit of trying to do some things on a budget,  I attempted an almost free Thanksgiving table for my girl's dinner on Saturday using nuts, candles and some yummy scented pine cones from Target.  I'm normally not a fan of scented anything at the dinner table, but these were very light and seemed to compliment the meal. 

pardon the iphone-ness of this photo, but I took it with my iphone

And finally, I painted the front door! We had a gorgeous weekend in Kansas City, and I decided I needed to just go ahead and do it myself. 

Before:

After:

The color is Benjamin Moore Twilight (totally appropriate for this Team Edward house). 

Ignore the sad lonely pumpkin.  It's just sad.  Sad pumpkin aside, I love the color.  I'm excited to zhuzh up the front porch area now. 

Ok, one last thing because I know y'all have more important things to do than read mah babblin', but I'm always looking for gifts for myself for others, and One King's Lane has a ton of fun gifts for friends and family and myself.

Such as,

Mint Julep Cups for $20

Pink Lacquer Keepsake Boxes

A snow leopard throw blanket (I can't get enough snow leopard lately) 

This coral chinoiserie tray (they call it coral, but it looks red to me)

And lots more.  Good hostess gifts, too. 

Just thought y'all would like to know. 

Ok team have a lovely day!!

When I was young
I never needed anyone
And makin' love was just for fun
Those days are gone

All by myself
Don't wanna be, all by myself anymore
All by myself
Don't wanna live, all by myself anymore