My letter from Lisa!

Hello Amber!!!!!!!!!!

How are you? I have been meaning to call/write, but things have been crazy with my job.......but I keep thinking about you!

I miss talking to you! I went through a bit of wedding withdrawal, I must say, but I keep thinking about the whole weekend, and I wouldn't change a thing. I want to say that Alex and I were thrilled, and you made everything perfect. I noticed a million little things that you did, and I know I must have missed a million more, so I am hoping that Audra's photos will help me capture some of those things. (By the way, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the photos I got so far, and I can't wait for the rest! She has an incredible eye!) The lobster bake was beautiful, and so was the ceremony and reception. You were an amazing help to me for the whole day on the wedding day, keeping me on track, making sure I ate, buttoning my dress.......and you totally kept me calm before the ceremony (even when I wanted to start early!) :) And I don't know if Audra caught any photos of the petals from my bouquet falling out during the ceremony, but I laughed because I heard you in my head telling me not to try and open the mums (but of course I did it anyway...) You took the ideas that I had for the whole weekend and made them a reality, and I am forever grateful for that.

Also, I hope that you and Peter had a good time at the reception (even though it was still work for you.) I know you broke a rule of yours, but I hope it was worth it for you, and that you and Peter enjoyed it at least a little bit.

At any rate, it was all amazing, and both Alex's brother and sister said they were happy they got married before me, because I set the bar way too high!
Talk to you soon!
Lisa

Welcome to the 10th Tablescape Tuesday! Blue and White Tablescape

Your's truly wasn't able to post a tablescape this week since I was out of town visiting a friend in South Carolina all weekend and didn't get in until late tonight. So I thought I would repost a beautiful setting that I posted a few month's back, in case you missed it the first time around. This gorgeous tablescape was done by Lynne (decorator101 on RMS). After you view this great tablescape, be sure to visit and leave Lynne a comment at her wonderful blog: Lynne's Gifts from the Heart !


I asked Lynne how she came to collect all the pieces in this wonderful table setting? Lynne said, "A few years ago, after I got through the green phase of my life, I decided I wanted a cobalt blue and white kitchen. A new Garden Ridge store had opened up fairly close by. One January, a girlfriend and I took out on a "very" foggy morning, on a drive of over 55 miles to check it out. We had heard some wonderful things about the store. I stumbled upon the plates as we walked in and immediately fell in love with them. Naturally they ended up in my cart...a few isles over we found the tall drinking glasses. And like magic they, too, ended up in the cart. Knowing I had over indulged myself, we headed to the check out and I could not wait to get them home and start using them...immediately realizing...I needed more. "



Lynne continued, "That brought on another trip about a month later. Once we got there I searched the store high and low, afraid that I couldn't complete my mission of fulfilling this particular set of dishes. And not too far ahead in an isle, I stumbled upon the serving platter and brought home more bowls. My little lady friend, who I have taken care of and just loved to pieces, helped add to the pieces."



Lynne added, "The beautiful pitcher and the smaller juice glasses were a birthday gift one year...and the blue serving knife as well. "


Then Lynne gave me the sweetest compliment saying, "Because of your inspirational tablescapes, I've learned to look at dishes and other objects in a different manner and whenever I'm out shopping...I seem to bring home some of the most fun things to put together and just go to playing with them."


Lynne said, "The candlesticks I found at Cracker Barrel, of all places. The cup and saucer and the sugar bowl are from an antique set my mother gave us many years ago. The solid blue plates are from yet another set of dishes." And did you notice the gorgeous flatware Lynne chose for her tablescape...I'm on a mission now for some like that!


Apparently, Lynne's husband was quite impressed when he saw her tablescape because Lynne wrote, "DH got a big kick out of watching me play with these that day...made a joke about me getting ready for the President to come...and I said "nah, we'd be bringing out the silver for that...lol."

Thank you, Lynne, for sharing this gorgeous table setting...it is one of my very favorites and any President would be lucky to find himself at your dinner table!

To see more of Lynne's wonderful talent, you may visit her Rate My Space site, Decorator101 or her awesome blog, Lynne's Gifts from the Heart.




The following blogs have beautiful tablescapes awaiting your visit:

A Beach Cottage

A Tale of Magical Memories

Above the Clouds

Bargain Hunting with Laurie

Blinks ‘N Winks from Brown-eyes

Creating Myself

Deanie's Space

More Than Heirlooms

Note Songs

Oak Rise Cottage

Sweet Nothings

The Happy Wonderer

The House in the Roses

Thinkin'of Home (This tablescape ties in with the next one at 'Welcome to Mimi's Garden')

Welcome to Mimi's Garden

Wings of Eagles

Five Minute Wreath and A Give-A-Way! :-)

There are two doors leading from my screened-in porch into my home. One takes you into the family room, the other into the kitchen. During the summer, I tried to find a pretty wreath to hang on the door to the kitchen, but the prices I kept seeing were way more than I wanted to spend.

One day as I was bumping around inside a store we have here in the Atlanta area called Old Time Pottery, I came across some pretty wisteria garland...and a little light bulb went off. For once it wasn't a light bulb with a huge price tag. That's usually the kind of light bulb that goes off in my brain! :-)

I bought two pieces of garland for a cost of around $16 and within about 5 minutes of my arrival home...I had myself a wreath. What do ya think?




I just made a big circle out of the garland and using some green wire I already had, I wired the two pieces of garland together. One piece of garland would have been too skimpy, but two worked out just fine. The wire you use to hold the garland in a circle helps give the wreath support and helps it hold round its shape. If you wanted more flowers for variety or color, don't see why you couldn't just attach them with some additional wire. I wanted to keep my wreath color-scheme simple so it wouldn't compete with the fabrics used out on the porch.




I really like the crispness of the green and white together. It also nicely compliments the basket of flowers on the other door that leads from the porch to the family room.




$16 + 5 minutes of labor = Instant Wreath. I think I like this equation! :-)

A Letter from Mason!

I just received this message from Mason, she is so sweet. I did her flowers for her and this picture is truly a great compliment. Mason was a very organized bride and made my job as Day of Coordinator a breeze! Thanks Craig and Mason for letting me be apart of your special day!

Amber-
I wanted to share with you our wedding photos and specifically this one--my beautiful wedding bouquet!

Thanks for making our day so stress-free!
Again, thanks for everything. Hope you are well,
Mason

Tour a Beautiful Historic Victorian Home in Newnan, Georgia

I'm a member of The Georgia Trust and twice a year (Spring and Fall) they host a "Ramble." A ramble is just that...rambling around through the town where the tour is being held and rambling in and out of some amazing historic homes.

The ramble, which took place a couple of weeks ago, was in the town of Newnan, Georgia. Fortunately, Newnan was largely untouched by the American Civil War due to its status as a hospital city (for Confederate troops), and as a result is still home to much antebellum architecture. For this reason, Newnan is known as "The City of Homes." We saw some gorgeous historic homes on the tour.

The following pics were all taken of the beautiful Victorian home you see below. I believe this home is designed in the Second Empire (Mansard) style. I just discovered today (Saturday) that this home is also, for sale for $1,490,000. You can see the real estate listing here. I've posted a few of the pics shown in the listing...they are noted with an asterisk. Most of the pictures below were taken the day of the tour. Enjoy!

Amazing ceiling in the entrance hall.




Some of the doorways had amazing drapery/hangings!




Gorgeous stain glass work on the landing going to the upstairs.



Look at that woodwork!



Close-up...





Parlor...



Dining Room...




Close-up of one of the fireplaces...




Another beautiful doorway...



Kitchen...





Great porch on one side of the house...



The railing design looks like a sitting cat to me.  Someone else said it looked like an angel to them.  What do you see?



Back View...

Hope you enjoyed the tour of the wonderful Victorian home!

A Classy Flea Friday and a Seashell Chest!

My birding vacation got in the way of shopping at the Flea for a couple of weekends...but I made a trip this week. :-) You won't believe what I left behind that I reallllly wanted! I did buy two things that I'll share at the bottom of this post.

This adorable chest was probably my favorite treasure this week at A Classy Flea...but alas, it was already sold. I took six pics of it though because I thought this was something you and I could do to a chest ourselves. You can click on the pics to enlarge them for better detail.

The chest is painted this nice aqua blue that reminds you of the ocean waves...here's a veiw of the top...

Shells around the knobs...

On the top, at the corners...

Along the edge on the top...

Another corner on the top...

This might come in handy real soon...say in about a week! :-)

Porch swing...a coat of paint and it would be really nice: $59

Dancer: $5

Blue and White Tureen: $24...surprised this is still here...

Iron Rooster Pot rack: $79 Wonder if Rose (Santamaker) who is rooster crazy will go snag this.
Turkey platter: $19.95 I keep eyeing this every week...don't know why it hasn't been bought!

Butterfly mirror...only $14

Close-up of top of mirror...whose reflection do I see? :-)

Love this plate: $29

Huge silver tray: $29

Iron and Seagrass, 2 pc. bistro set...hand painted $59. I've never seen one like this before...

Close-up...

Gotta have a book or two in here for Lynne (Lynne's Gifts from the Heart) $9.95

Vanna (lvroftiques) who has a gorgeous French bedroom posted on RMS, would love this book, I think: The French Woman's Bedroom...$7.95

Green Iron Terrarium on stand: $59

Every week this guy's in a different place...oooohhh, I see a pretty trunk in the background.


Pretty rug...colors are much prettier in person... $129

This shows the colors a bit better...


Chandelier: $99


This looks like Rose (A Santamaker's Journey) upholstered it...I love it! $249

Close-up of the gorgeous fabric...


Great wall shelf: $28


This little rooster is still here and he's only $12.99...


Cloche...the bottom is really pretty...it's made to look old and is blue and white...$19.95

Ok...now for my purchases: I bought this 14 inch tall urn for only $14.95. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to take the faux flowers out of it and use it in a different way...the flowers are a bit much for me, I think.

Close-up...

Would you leave the flowers? If not, what would you put in the top?

I also bought this bunny tureen for only $4. There was a tiny chip on the rim on the inside of the lower dish...but for $4, I couldn't pass him up. He's 12 inches long, so he's good size.
So what were your favs this week? I'm still in love with that seashell chest! :-)