My beautiful day trip

This weekend I needed to get away to do some thinking. I’ve been wanting to visit Dow Gardens in Midland for a while. This was the perfect opportunity!
Saturday was a great day for my getaway. Perfect weather – not too hot and clear, sunny skies. The garden is only a 2 hour drive from me and it’s absolutely beautiful. A mile of walking trails and grassy areas to walk or sit and have picnics. There were a couple weddings going on as well. My main reason for wanting to go was the butterfly conservatory which unfortunately is open for 2 months in the spring so I missed it. But the flowers and waterfalls were gorgeous!

After my walk through the garden I stopped at a local tapas bar for a cocktail and overpriced French fries! I think this is what my weekends will be about – local trips and decorating. Oh and of course going to garage sales!

Take a look at the pics I took and enjoy!

I need furniture!

So one of the hardest things for me to do in this whole house decorating thing is make a decision.  I have this image in my head of what I want and pin a ton of things on Pinterest, then go to the store and end up walking out with nothing ordered or in the lay-a-way.  Well this weekend I made a step in the right direction!  I’ve had this thought for a few months that I was going to have all my furniture and walls neutral that way I could switch it up with pretty pillows, throws and rugs.  Went to the store yesterday and that all pretty much went out the window!  I went in with intentions of finding a comfy couch for my den that I’ve seen online.  I saw the couch and I like it, but then I saw this chair!  I knew I had to have it!  Even though it doesn’t go with my whole neutral decor – I couldn’t leave without putting some money down on that chair!  Then I saw this chair and knew I wanted it too!  I put 2 of the grey ones and 1 of the purple ones on hold until after I get my floors refinished.  Now my whole decor for the living room is going to change.  I’m hoping I find a couch that will do these chairs justice!  My color pallet for my living room/dining room is now purple and charcoal 🙂

I’m not sure what my style would be considered, but I know I want comfy and functional. Oh and pretty!  lol!  What do you consider your style?  What ideas can you share with me???  I have pretty much a whole house to decorate!

Until next time!

 

 

Happy Memorial Day!

I had every intention of doing something productive in terms of decorating this weekend! Didn’t quite work out that way.
It started Friday after work with drinks and BBQ at a local brewery. It went on from there with pretty much the same thing every day! Drinks, BBQ and friends. I did get a chance to go to a couple garage sales – waited a bit to late though and probably missed out on some pretty good items.

But hey it’s only the end of May! Lol!!
Today is going to be relaxing, napping and eating. Got my grill out early and enjoyed a beautiful morning on the deck.

I hope everyone has had a fun weekend and a great week.

Until next time!

 

Get your Preak on!

What a weekend!  Preakness 2014 with the family was a blast!  This was my first time attending Preakness – well any horse race for that matter, and now I know this will be an annual thing for me!

My Maryland family does a whole Preakness celebration wrapping up the weekend with a pig roast.  We started the weekend with what else, but Maryland crab.  Shanty Grille in Ellicott City, MD gets two thumbs up from me!  While I didn’t have the traditional Maryland crab cakes or hard shell crabs (didn’t feel like going through breaking that shell) what I had was delicious nonetheless!  Calamari appetizers as well as yummy bacon wrapped jalapeno pepper stuffed with crab – I mean really how can you go wrong with anything wrapped in bacon! J  My entrée, I couldn’t help but to get the Crab Cake Cordon Bleu to go along with my Bellini Tini beverage!  After all that good food and drink and conversation I was as good as sleep!  LOL!

Preakness Saturday was awesome!  A day of races, big beautiful hats, bottle after bottle of champagne along with the official Preakness drink – Black Eyed Susan’s.  This being my first race I didn’t follow much of it, but was very excited to see the Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome win Preakness.  I bet on one race – just for the hell of it and won nothing!  LOL!!!  It was all in fun and I had a great time.  Baltimore does it big for the race and this was an all day party!

The pig roast Sunday was a blast even though I didn’t get to stay for the whole party – it was a great time!  Next year I’ll know to stay a day longer to be able to enjoy it all.  Good food, good music and of course good people made this whole weekend great!  My family sent me off in style with a driver back to BWI.  Now it’s back to a bit of reality for a few days this week!

Until next weekend!!

 

 

And so it begins!

When I first purchased my home back in 2010 I had a ton of ideas on how I wanted to decorate my space.  Unfortunately as soon as I closed, my career in real estate took a nose dive!  I was able to take care of the essential items, but all my other ideas had to be put on hold.  Luckily, due to my background in real estate I didn’t have any big ticket items that needed to be immediately taken care of.  I’ve been able to live comfortably in my unfinished, practically unfurnished abode!

Now, I’m at a point in my life where I can pick up where I left off and start to get things done around here before I’m too old to enjoy it!  LOL!!  That’s part of the reason for this blog.  I still have a lot of great ideas, but have the hardest time making a final decision – which is why I still have paint swatches on my dining room wall because I can’t choose a color for my accent wall.  I’m hoping that writing things out and having photos will help me make some final decisions.

The other part of this blog is to share my weekend activities, DIY’s and occasional destinations – and whatever else may come up!  This weekend didn’t consist of much other than some relaxing and getting my yard ready for some things I want to take care of outdoors.  Today is relaxation day.  I made a delicious brunch and am wrapping it up with an afternoon of DVR recordings and Bellini’s.

Enjoy your Sunday and I’ll check back in next weekend!