Friday, April 24, 2009

Spring Issue is Here!!!!

Check it out, check it out! The spring issue of Little Black Dress/Little Red Wagon Magazine is OUT!



Once again, I have to give credit where credit is due. Our designer Tiffany Westbrook and our photographers Summer Adams and Jennifer Harris did an AMAZING job.





Tiffany: Your talent amazes me. You always knock it out of the park. Way out.

Summer: The covers are BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! I love them, love them, love them. I can't thank you enough for the beautiful job you did capturing Kristin and Madelyn. (And I really like how you captured the wooden giraffe on the Unique Gift Guide, too. He looks so... noble. :-)

Jennifer: Awesome job!!!! I can't decide which of your pages is my favorite! I think either the fashion layout or the Femme Phenom feature. The lighting in your studio shots is amazing. LOVE them all!

And, without further adieu.... here it is!! (click to read it!)

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Take a Style Quiz!

I am a schizophrenic when it comes to furniture styles. When I walk into a shabby chic room, I suddenly love all things Rachel Ashwell. But then I'll go stay at an inn in Charleston, and I'll covet anything refined and antique. And then I walk into my family room-- where I'm apparently a huge fan of Fisher Price. (We call it the Great Bug Invasion of '07). It seems I know what I like when I see it, but until I see it, I have no idea what I like! See, schizophrenic.

Which is a problem given that I'm planning a little redo of my family room furniture this year (I hope, I hope). I am having the hardest time nailing down a style to direct my choices!

So, I found this little online quiz from Sproost to be very helpful. (Wendy at the Shabby Nest clued me in about it.) It helped me categorize my craziness into three distinct styles:


I'm 36% French Eclectic:


36% Classic:



and 28% Wine Country:



I guess that makes me a classic French drunk. teehee.


But Sproost neglected one very important design consideration.

I am, after all, 100% Bug:
:-)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Chasing Blessings

It is a beautiful (understatement) spring day here. Sunny, breezy, warm weather. Azaleas, dogwoods and daisies in profusion. lovely.

Bug and I spent the morning on a long walk with a friend and then stayed outside playing until lunchtime. (Bug is all about the tricycle these days.) On a day like today, it's hard not to feel blessed. Life's true pleasures are simple but rich, aren't they?

Yes, today I feel blessed. Of course, we really are always blessed, but sometimes my feelings don't align with this truth. Sometimes, I find myself striving, wishing, waiting for the next milestone (Baby 2), promotion (go, Hunk, go), purchase (new couch, pleeeease?), vacation (Colorado in a month!).... But the constant longing for future blessings causes me to miss out on the blessings of NOW. And NOW is where life really is, you know?

Reminds me of a Joyce Meyer devotional Hunk has had taped on the bathroom mirror for years:

"Instead of chasing after blessings, we need to chase after God. If we chase God, He will chase us with blessings.... If we want blessings, we must get our mind off of them. God knows what we want and what we need."

So, today, I am not chasing blessings. I am just committing to chase the present moment. And to chase a little Bug on his tricycle.

Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the (wo)man whom You choose and cause to come near. Psalm 65:4

Monday, April 20, 2009

Fun Spring Things

Dontcha just love spring? Here are some of my favorite spring things.

First, some fun little things for the kitchen table...

A little birdie nest....
And a little birdie for the nest.

A pretty little terrarium...

Easter egg hunts...

And chocolate bunnies!!! (or chokut bubbies, says the Bug)
Long live spring!!!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Spring Issue Hits the Presses (including GIVEAWAYS)!

We're so excited! The spring issue of Little Black Dress/Little Red Wagon Magazine hit the presses today and will be in mailboxes next week! While I've been sworn to strict secrecy regarding the contents, here's a fun little preview:

Here is our lovely cover model, Kristin Owens, with darling daughter Madelyn:
photograph by Summer Adams

We're also featuring two fabulous giveaways for Georgia gals.

1. Win a SPA DAY at the gorgeous Medalyn Salon and Medspa in Kennesaw, including an Aveda Calming Soothing Facial and a haircut and design with a master artist. What girl doesn't need a little FREE pampering?

To enter: Click here.


2. Win a makeover with celebrity makeup artist Lisa Revellese Mirante. I first met Lisa at an ice cream shop near my house. We struck up a conversation about the magazine, and she casually mentioned being a makeup artist from New York who recently moved to the area. Thinking this may provide a fun partnership with the magazine, we exchanged contact information. Well, I went home and Googled her. Ladies, she's the REAL DEAL. She's worked with more celebrities than I can list, including the Country Music Awards, the Grammys and the Obamas. So, I called her to see if she'd like to be the magazine's beauty contributor, and while we're chatting, another call comes through on her end. "Excuse me, Elizabeth," she says, "Denise Austin is on the other line. Could I call you right back?" Apparently, Lisa had done Denise's makeup for a television appearance the day before, and Denise's husband loved the look so much, she called Lisa to find out exactly what products she had used. Now, wouldn't you like Lisa to do your makeup?

To enter:
click here. The winner will receive a free makeup lesson and application with Lisa PLUS a free haircut, style and color with Sandra Schell from Panosh Salon. A FULL-ON makeover! How fun is that??!!!

Stay tuned for more on the spring issue.... I'll post the link to the digital version next week!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

furniture purgatory

Eight years ago, I loved my family room. Hunk and I were newly married. Our love was new and so was our furniture. While time makes love deeper and stronger, it makes Rooms To Glue couches weaker and creakier. Add an overgrown Westie and a toddler with a penchant for peanut butter to the mix, and it's safe to say we need new stuff.

That is--as soon as we finish Bug's big boy room, redo the nursery, fund the birth of Baby 2 and pay off our SUV (we're doing the best we can, Dave Ramsey). So, barring a lucky lottery ticket, family room plans have been relegated to the b-a-c-k burner.

If I can't buy new stuff, I can at least do a little window--er, Web--shopping to collect some wish list possibilities. These things make me happy.

This couch is from American Signature Furniture.
Hate the accent pillows but love the nailhead trim, the beige peanut-butter-camouflaging fabric and the price ($800--which is about $400 cheaper than my taste usually runs ;-).

This chair is so sweet.
It's pretty, but not stuffy. Looks comfy. And the neat little table next to it is a nice balance. I don't love the chair with the couch, though.... :-(

Pottery Barn strikes again. Sweet little casters, nice ruffle trim. Don't like the fabric with our decor, but it comes in lots of options.
...But! Hunk hates it. So it might be relegated to Blog world forever. What a sad fate.

This bombe chest is from Pottery Barn, too... and unfortunately costs almost as much as the couch. But isn't it lovely?
And this is the one piece of furniture in our family room that I still like. (Ours isn't this shiny in real life. :-) I know it's huge, but it's the most comfortable chair in the universe and worth every square inch. And, since it's Hunk's happy place, maybe it can be a bartering tool to get that ottoman back on the list.

Okay, I feel better, now. These items are safe and sound on my blog: their furniture purgatory.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Vintage Easter Decor

My grandma was a ceramic artist. At least, I guess that's what you'd call her. We just always said she "made dolls"-- even though, as you'll see, she made much more than that. Every summer, we'd visit her in West Virginia and spend hours in her basement, making trinkets out of ceramic and porcelain and firing them in her kilns. It was grand fun.

My grandma passed away when I was a senior in college, but every holiday she is memorialized in my house through our holiday decor. Like these little treasures here...

Surprise! It's not a dozen eggs!

Look at this little cutie.

And this little bunny is my favorite ~

She also made me and my three siblings personalized bunny mugs. (We have Santa ones, too. :-)

These treasures from Grandma make me happy each Easter when they come out of the box: little pieces of my childhood that have been reborn in my own family's traditions.

Happy Easter, everyone!

"God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”-Romans 5:6-8

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

News Flash


Bug spelled out a message with his blocks, below....



That's right! He's going to be a big brother (on or around October 16).
We are very excited!!!


THANK you, once again, SUMMER, for capturing this shot for us! This was all her idea (the photo shoot...not the baby).

Monday, April 6, 2009

Spring Pictures!

Summer Adams, one of the awesome photographers for our magazine, called this weekend, asking if Bug, Hunk and I wanted to be her "test subjects" for a new location (the Marietta Educational Garden Center) that she wants to start using with clients. Eager guinea pigs, please raise your hands? Us! Us! Us!

We had so much fun with Summer (it's hard not to), and I really love the pictures she took. She totally captured Bug.

Summer, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
We will treasure these pictures always.

To admire more of Summer's artistry, go here. :-)

Friday, April 3, 2009

an inexpensive little decorating project

Sometimes I get an urge to add something new to my home, but I don't want to add something new to my budget. So that's when a girl's gotta get crafty with what she's already got.

A few years ago, I made these pillows for my bed. The shams are made from a distressed, linen/cotton toile that was so lovely I saved every scrap. And good thing. Because in my recent urge to get crafty, I pulled out the scraps and made these:

I took two dated floral prints that used to hang in our guest room and removed their contents. Then, I simply wrapped the cardboard backing with a bit of the toile fabric and taped it in place.

One of my favorite verses has always been 1 Corinthians 13:13 ~ "...and now these three abide: faith, hope and love, but the greatest of the these is love." So, I printed out the words "love abides" on khaki linen-textured cardstock, attached it to the fabric with double-sided scrapbook tape, and voila! A meaningful little message for the top of the barrister's bookcases in my bedroom. And all for not a penny.


The font, by the way, is Bleeding Cowboy. (I know, so dramatic). I downloaded it for FREE from Scapvillage, the site that has the BEST FONTS EVER.

Got any inexpensive decorating tricks up your sleeve these days?? If so, please share!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Cha-ching!

Adorable surfer dude outfit for Bug... $4.

Polo plaid preppiness...$6.

Cabana boy cuteness...$5.
Scoring 11 pairs of shorts, 18 shirts and 2 pairs of shoes from the likes of Polo, Guess and Baby Gap so Bug can represent at all his play dates, and Mama can bask in the glory of consignment sale bliss....
Priceless.