Another Reason To Love World Market

After spending three days last week going through our closets

and getting them ready

 for the summer, I needed a break. 

 A shopping break, to be precise.

My quest for the perfect outdoor cushions continues, but I stumbled upon

World Market's white wine sale.

Of course, I could not pass that up.

One bottle led to a cart full of goodies and I came home

with chimichurri , mineral water, chocolate and yummy stuffed olives.

After three months of searching for art work for the

upstairs other than Derek Gores, I finally found some pieces that I love.

Here's what I found.

Now I just need a moving truck and some strong men to get it all to the house!

Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile, Malbec from Argentina, Prosecco from Italy...which were not on sale, but I bought them anyway. I did get amazing prices on the Sauvignon Blancs from Argentina that we love.

Mini-me loves all things with an animal print so the stool above will soon be in our house!

I seem to buy lamps all the time and at $69, who could resist!  If I only had more room in my car...

Every woman's dream...a store with furniture, art, wine, and chocolate!

Love the pink, gray, and golden yellow in these!

Chimichurri takes me back to Buenos Aires! Can you tell that I miss Argentina?

Can't get enough turquoise these days!

Mother in Law's Tongue pasta...now this made me laugh and started

our weekend on a good note!

 I'm lucky to have a wonderful mother-in-law!

Atlantic Station Our Second Stop

We left the lovely West Elm store for a dash through Z Gallerie.

I have to have the light fixture above.

Love this tailored gray chair with nailhead trim.

This mirror is brand new for Spring 2010...we loved it!

After lunch in the Ikea store, we were able to cover every

floor and still make it back in

time to pick up the children from school.

I had a few minutes to spare this afternoon, so I went to the Z Gallerie website and guess what I found...

a chair to love...white leather with an unexpected twist on traditional!

Visit Z Gallerie Now

Atlantic Station

I headed down to Atlantic Station

with my friend, Cha', today. 

West Elm, Z Gallerie, and Ikea were

well worth the trip and more

 than made up for the gloomy weather.

Believe it or not, I didn't even know there was a West Elm store in Atlanta until Cha' told me about it.

Love the gray and gold.

West Elm, like Pottery Barn, uses Benjamin Moore paint colors

 in their stores and catalogues so it's easy to put together a complete

palette for a room...of course, my problem is that I love them all.

I was all set for more gold until my Gay Husband, Phill, introduced

me to Benjamin Moore's Platinum for my daughter's room.

Now I'm in love with gray again; go figure!

Always loved zebra!

When we venture back to purchase, I think we'll need

to hire a private moving company since we're too

far in the 'burbs' for their delivery service.

The leather chair above should put a little twist in my

traditional kitchen and the daybed is perfect for my new office upstairs. 

 And the pillows...

I MUST HAVE THE PILLOWS!

Benjamin Moore's Chelsey Gray looks so crisp next to the relaxed natural wood.

A color to love, no doubt.

Spring 2010

I cannot remember a more beautiful spring season in Atlanta.  Unlike other years, we have not had a late frost to take the color off the azaleas.

A stroll in the backyard at dusk.

The phlox that started as one small plant now covers the ground with color. It is especially beautiful under the bridal spirea pictured below.

Every hosta seems prettier than ever before and even though my Mid-Western Yankee husband thinks we have every species already, I can't seem to pass by a hosta plant without bringing it home.

The original twenty that I planted in 1998 look like the photo below.

Lamb's Ear

What's not to love, gorgeous foliage so soft to the touch, it glistens after the rain and in the early morning light the dew sparkles on the plant's surface. Beautiful pale purple flowers later in the growing season. I mixed it with some of the many daylilies in the garden.

A small glimpse of one of the redbud trees last week. As of

today, the purple is gone and heart shaped green leaves now cover the tree.

More azaleas on my walk. The daylilies were divided last year.

We had the tree removed last year and I was afraid that the stump removal would damage the surrounding plants.  Behind the white azaleas, there are three blue spruce trees.

Further back, on the other side of the upper walkway, we have leather leaf mahonias with lovely pale blue berries...the only true blue color in the garden.

On the right side of the lowest path, the snowball bushes seem ready to pop with heavy blooms.

Why I haven't been blogging...I can't seem to stay indoors and

when I'm outside, it's too pretty to look at my laptop.