Shopping

I didn't purposely go shopping today but the boy was in a terrible destructive mood and I had to get him out of the house. The sun was shinning beautifully but the wind made it feel more like November than April so off we went to Home Goods. I never expected to come home with anything except maybe a little inspiration but look what I got!!


I got two of these sqaure ottomans. The green is not AS bright as in the picture....iphones are good but not that good. They are a little taller than most ottomans which, I think is good as they can act as extra seating as well as tables and foot rests.

The other thing I picked up for a steal was this Sun Burst mirror. I thought it was cute and would fill the space until I found exactly what I wanted. But, now that I hung it on the wall I think it will stay. It's much more impressive and bigger than I thought and all the little mirror catch the light beautifully especially at night.


So I guess the direction has been set.....greens it will be for this Irish Lass, a little touch of home I guess!

The before

So this is the disaster that is currently our living room......

I have spent the past few days going over color schemes in my head. What would I like, what makes us feel good. I was thinking creams, powder blues and oranges. But then I saw this (sorry I couldn't copy the picture) and it put me in the mind for greens. When I consulted with Mr me he said he wanted green. This was a total shock, I never in 14 years saw him lean toward green. So right now it's a toss up between cream, green, blues and pinks OR cream, powder blue and orange. The biggest decision though is the fireplace.

I'm thinking off white simple surround and mantel but, I have no idea on what to do for tiles and a hearth. Go dark or light, large tile or mosaic, tiles or marble/grnite type hearth. Hmmmm!

Theres more to tea than drinking

"Le Gouter" at the George V hotel Paris

I spent a delightful afternoon yesterday at the home of one of my French friends. Gersende and her family moved to the US from Grenoble, although originally from Paris, just over two years ago. They now live in a beautiful house on the water and the dinning room and living room look out over the back garden and onto the water. Now, being Irish I drink my fair share of tea actually more than my fair share. Although I do brew the occasional pot of tea, I'm more the drop the tea bag in the cup and pour on the boilling water type. Gersende being French and with her innate sense of style has managed to take something I have always taken for granted and elevate it to quite an art form. I will admit that prehaps the setting played a tiny role in the sheer enjoyment but Earl Grey NEVER tasted so good. I usually find this tea bland and boring but I enjoyed it so much I insisted it was not true to the point where I had her retrieve the package to show me.
In the late afternoon the French enjoy le goûter—a cup of tea and a little something sweet. My friend brewed the tea in a very tall and slender silver topped glass teapot which sat in a silver base with a matching silver creamer and covered sugar bowl. All of which were presented on a beautiful silver tray. I was also served a beautiful dish of buttery Madeleines. .......yes it was silver too. The tea cups and saucers were of dainty china with delicate little demitasse spoons. I have never enjoyed tea so much. It became something I wanted to savour and linger over. I have come to the conclusion that I take my tea for granted. I have two beautiful tea sets: one pre war Noritake set that my grandmother scoured the Irish countryside to find as a wedding gift. The other was given to me by my mother in law.....I really love this one as no two cup and saucers are the same and they are vibrant pinks, blues, and greens. I am sad to say though that due to my lack of appreciation for the ceremony of tea drinking they have never been used. I am going to change that! Today I bought myself a little present on ebay a beautiful 1940's tea and coffee service. What do you think?

From now on I will no longer just drink tea I will serve tea, setting the table with thorough enjoyment and appreciation in mind.

Welcome to the World

In honor of the birth yesterday of my friends baby Luna Indigo Saddul I thought it appropriate to post a small selection of girly nursey goodies.....

Isn't this just the best...so Alice in Wonderland!

France Inspired

Laylagrayce.com

designerpreviews.com

d3coration.net

Family Blog Update

Yesterday I received an email from a friend with a link to a site containing more information about me than I would ever have liked to be collected in one place. Because of this I have decided to remove our personal family blog from the public sphere. With my address in particular and other such information available I just don't feel comfortable any longer having pictures of my children or information about them and their activities out in the world for who knows to see. Unfortunately we live in a world were we can no longer trust innocently. Also for this reason I am changing my name on my profile to something obscure...what I don't yet know. Call me paranoid but I like to think I have my families best interests at heart.

Emily's Livingroom


Bookcases a Craigs List find. Click the picture to see the great transformation.

I've spent many hours between last night and this morning in, what I like to call blog land and, I 'think' I've decided what to do. I came across so many talented bloggers and beautiful rooms but I was really inspired by Emily over at Emily A Clark . I initially fell in love with her bedroom but when I saw what she did with both her formal living room and her family room I got all ready to go. Not only what she did in just decorating the space but how she takes Craiglist finds and transforms them. I'm a pretty handy person in the DIY arena but was always afraid were furnishings where concerned but I can honestly say I think Emily has given me that "you can do it" that I needed. The great thing is though, not only have I been inspired but so has Mr me. When I got up this morning I found him browsing ebay and Craigslist looking for items for the living room. Most specifically a Sun burst mirror so I guess we'll be getting one of those but, he also wants to spend tomorrow going around the antique stores and he even stopped into salvation army this morning. Too funny...I never thought he would get so excited.
So first project decided - Livingroom!

While we wait

While we sit here in Providence making plans and dreaming of the lavender scented air and markets teeming with fresh locally grown foods in the South of France. I get all excited thinking of the foods I could cook. You see one of the things I love to do is cook. Bon Appetite magazine has become one of my favorite reads. I love browsing through it, making my weekly menu and then browsing our local food markets for the food. So I guess from time to time on here I will record what I cook....like last nights Tilapia with Pancetta bread crumbs over herbed mashed Yams....deliciousy fast and simple.
The other thing I will do between planning and dreaming is trying to bring our very outdated 1930's colonial up to date. We've been here five years and have not really done anything to the house. And, well, since we will most likely be here for another five years-at least, it's time to make this house a home. The thing is I can't decide where to start. The livingroom is bland, no character. I hesitate here as it has a rough red brick fireplace that I would love to change but I hate the look of a painted fireplace especially on such rough type of brick and the color of the brick is making it hard for me to choose a color scheme. Then there is the kitchen: very outdated with an old free standing albeit working stove, no dish washer and the worst linoleum you could ever imagine but, if you try you need to put a raised seem slap bang down the center of the room from the sink to the dinning room door. And lastly is the master bedroom a 28 x 11 foot room with a 36" x 32" closet. I'm sure you can imagine the mess on the floor that leads too. This room though I think might be last as we are considering spliting the room to create a master bath with closets. Something I really want to do but wonder since we plan to move would the cost be worth it????
So for now I need to decide....living room for the fastest fix or hold out to do the kitchen first?

So whats this all about

Currently we live here.....

but eventually we want to live here....

14 years ago next month I got on a plane and moved to America - Rhode Island to be exact. I didn't know for how long but I did it, without really thinking about it. I had always wanted to live in France but I had met the man, destined to be Mr me in Dublin airport and we had traded phone calls and letters (prior to the average person having email) for 9 months when he asked me to come to America. I never really thought it would be forever but just over a year later we were saying I do. Now almost 13 years, 2 children and 2 dogs later we are saying "we will". "We will" to giving up our lives here in America and "we will" to a new life in France.

I had spent some time in France on different occasions through my teens and early 20's. I have also had a love affair with all things French since the first Bonjour rolled off my tongue in 1st year, at 12 years old. I was sure that was were I was destined to go, and, I almost did. The college I attended had an exchange program with a college in Lyon and I was picked to participate but unfortuantely it wasn't financially feasible at the time. Although, in a strange twist of fate it was this that lead me to meet the wonderful man whom I would marry. I had taken a year out of college to earn the money I would need to go to France on the exchange program. To do this I had taken a job in the marketing department at Dublin Airport. I was only there two weeks when I met him and now, here we are, in a center hall colonial in the city of Providence. But, now 14 years later the decision has been made....we are going to follow what I thought was my long lost dream and move to France. We're not quite sure how we will get there yet, or when. We do know it will take a number of years a lot of work and saving but the decision has been made. Nous allons y!!