is for Frogs.

This weekend we went to another flea market.

Lots of great finds!

My niece, Eloise, found another great treasure. A green wicker frog!

A green wicker frog to put in her room!

Her pug, Harley, is checking out all of our finds as we unload the car!

My pug, Scout, is checking out the new pet in the family.
We thought it could be a cute trash can, but I think Eloise might fill it with some of her many stuffed animals!

Eloise is a trooper!

After four hours at the market she is still happy and smiling!

I found this great basket at the very beginning, but decided to take my chances and wait until the end to try and get a better price. Alas, it was gone, which is just as well since I was trying to focus on finding things for Rach's house, not mine! But how cute would it look filled with balls of yarn! I never have enough places to store my yarn!

via DesignSponge

It reminded me of this lovely basket!

Overall, the market was a success! Everyone walked away with something they loved! I found a cute oval frame with a handcut silhouette to join my collection of silhouettes and a funny little eagle to hang amidst all of my pictures. Rach found some great gigantic letters that she is going to hang in her home. A big "S" to hang above her son Sol's bed. I convinced her that he would love it when he returns home from camp! Once they find a place in her home we will show you some pictures! They are so cute!

After the market we picked pie cherries from the cherry trees at our parent's house! They were full of cherries! Move over strawberry-rhubarb pie! Here comes the cherry pies!

is for Wallpaper.

We love Wallpaper!

Rach has been talking about wallpapering a few rooms in her house and we have been discussing which wallpaper to choose for months now! Our mom used to wallpaper everything when we were kids and helping was the messiest job ever! I was always amazed that, after getting wallpaper paste all over and watching the paper slide off the wall multiple times, somehow my mom managed to make it all look perfect! Hanging wallpaper is supposed to be a lot easier now, but I am dubious. Rach is thinking of starting with a yellow chinoiserie pattern in her dining room. She has a long farm table with galvanized steel Tolix chairs and a red chinese wedding cabinet in there. I think a yellow pattern will look amazing in there, I am just not sure of my wallpaper hanging capabilities!

I love this chinoiserie paper with the blue sidetable!


Not sure I love this wallpaper, but the whole room works.

Love this big print with the mirror!

So pretty with the shutters!


I know that this Imperial Trellis wallpaper is popular, but I absolutely love it in this entryway!

Love the chair, love the elephant, love the yellow!
I love wallpaper in small rooms because it is like a small jewel box!

Love this vignette with the mirror and the stacks of magazines and books!

I love the way printed wallpaper looks with other prints! I love mixing prints and patterns!

What a gorgeous office!

Toile has a place in my history of favorites, while I am a little tired of it now, I'm sure it will come back to me. This looks like a sweet guest bedroom for your cottage in the Cotswalds! A little over the top with the headboard blending into the walls!

Love the colors!

I absolutely love this whale wallpaper! One day I will use this to paper a bathroom or nursery! I have a soft spot for anything with whales!

Another great mix of patterns and textures for an over the top office!

I LOVE this flower on the wall! I don't think it is wallpaper, but it achieve a similar effect!

Love it! This is like a cross between blue willow china and ink blots!

So gorgeous!

These lavender flowers are so romantic and lovingly worn!

What a cute idea for a closet! This would make all of your clothes, handbags, and shoes so appealing!

Love these big pink flowers!

Love this orange chinoiserie with the graphic Roberta Roller Rabbit cushions!

Love the tongue and cheek aspect of this library wallpaper!

This is such a sweet vignette and I adore the box pleating on this sofa!

What a cute group of animals!

Lattice patterns are a weakness of mine! I painted a red lattice pattern in my entryway and it makes me so happy! This lattice wallpaper would be much easier!

Another amazing chinoiserie!

I love pink and orange together! What a sweet pair of twin beds with pagoda-like headboards!

is

for

Strawberries.

We love Strawberries!

This week I went strawberry picking with my dad and nephew Max. Yum! Picking fresh fruit is one of my favorite parts of summer! We always picked fuit as kids and I still enjoy it! The strawberries taste so great right off of the bush!

Boxes of strawberries ready to be eaten! Some will be eaten as is and some will be used in pies and I'm thinking maybe I will try jam this year. My mom makes the best strawberry-rhubarb pie I have ever tasted. For some reason mine never tastes as good, even though I use her recipe! Baking for someone else always tastes better than baking for yourself!

Dad and Max holding the fruits of their labor! What a pair!
Happy Father's Day Dad! You are the best!

Beautiful fields of strawberries waiting to be picked!

is for Floors.

We love black and white floors!

The graphic black and white floor looks so great with the yellow cushions!

This diagonal black and white floor looks amazing with the green chairs! I love painted wood floors!

I have always loved the black and white checkerboard floor. This is a classic that will always appeal to me! I have had many kitchens with this floor and I love it!

Looks great with the green velvet!

is for Scout.

This is my dog Scout.

She is super cute and a great pal. Rach and I both have pugs. Rach has a fawn pug named Harley who I immediately fell in love with and knew I had to have a pug of my own someday. A few years later my whole family gave me Scout for Christmas! The best present ever! Her face used to be all black, but now she is like my very own velveteen rabbit with her graying face! I love it! She is a sweetpea and a very loyal companion! Stay tuned for an introduction to Harley!

Scouting out the new blooms!

is for Home.

I would be happy to call any of the houses in these images home. There are so many great houses out there! Just about anywhere I go I could find a house (or tons of houses) that I would love to live in. They are not all one specific style, but they all have something that says home to me. Truly, I know that home is what you make it and the loved ones you invite to be a part of it. Big or small, a house can be designed beautifully, but it needs the character and personality of the family that lives inside to truly make it shine.

Love the shutter doors!


What a lush front yard!

This home is so darling! Love the white picket fence!

I absolutely love foliage growing on the exterior of houses! My mom had ivy growing on the outside of our childhood home for years, then one day my grandpa started to pull it down in an attempt to save the house from deterioration. My mom went running out of the house telling him to stop and that she was letting the ivy grow up the house on purpose. My grandpa thought she was nuts, but he stopped pulling and let the ivy grow. Ivy covered buildings are my weakness and they are probably the main reason I loved college and all things academic, they remind me of the anything is possible feeling that permeates the environment in academia and learning something new!
I love the entrance along the side of the house!

I definentlyhave a weakness for shutters!

Love the yellow shutters and the bikes outside make it look like a lived in and loved in home!

What a charming entrance!

So beautiful!

Love the trees along the front walk!

Such a romantic little dream house!

So Jane Austen!

A perfect home to open up in the summer and let the breeze come in!

Love this house from The Family Stone!

What a great place to visit with friends under the stars!

What an entrance! I love the topiaries!

I love the light fixtures under the archway! There are lots of these in Evanston with beautiful lanterns hanging under the covered drive! They just say welcome home to me.