Meme Award

What a way to start the week!! I received a MeMe Award from Chloe at Finding Design With Chloe. Chloe's blog is all about garden design. She summed it up best when she said my blog is about the inside and her blog is about the outside. And I need help with the outside. Not only is Chloe a great gardener, she is also a great blogging friend. Thanks so much for the award Chloe. I don't blog for the awards or money (good thing huh?), but it sure is nice to when you do get a little mention!! The best part of receiving the MeMe? Well, you guessed it, it is all about me.

There are a few simple Meme rules:

• Link back to the person who gave you the award.
• Reveal seven things about yourself.
• Choose seven other blogs to nominate, and post a link to them.
• Let each of your choices know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.
• And finally, let the tagger know, when your post is up!

Now the reveal. I am sure you are all on pins and needles...


1. I don't wear pink. Ever. I like pink. A lot. On other people. On me it feels silly. I have a tunic that is brown with pink stitching. That is about as pink as I get.

2. I am afraid of frogs, snakes and lizards. They make me gag. I'd rather eat a spider than see a frog, snake or lizard. Even a picture of one. At the beginning of summer a lizard kept getting in my house and sunbathing in my bedroom. I had to have my neighbor come get it out (thanks Beth!) I was gagging in the kitchen. You know, a lizard is just a snake with legs....

3. One of my favorite movies is The Parent Trap. The original with Hayley Mills. Let's get together, yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't know what I'm talking about? Click here.

4. If you live in Wilmington, you already know this, but for everyone else...my husband and I have a date night every Saturday night. And we go to the same Mexican restaurant. And I get the same thing to eat. And it makes me very happy!!! I am a very healthy eater but on Saturday night watch out. And watch your fingers. Don't get too close to the cheese dip or the salsa.

5. I don't eat sugar. O.K. I try not to eat sugar. It makes me mean and cranky and extremely grumpy. Thank goodness I am more of a salt person. If I feel I have to have something sweet I will have Carb-Smart Sugar Free Ice Cream. Vanilla with some Diet Coke. Nothing better than a Coke float.


6. When I was little I preferred playing cowboys and Indians over dolls. I still love cowboy and Indian inspired clothing. Just don't wear them all at the same time.

7. Blue Hydrangeas are not my favorite flowers. I do love them. But I love some others as well. My blog got it's name because one night I mentioned to my husband that I needed a hobby to entertain me while I was stuck at home (I mean lucky enough to be home) with Butterball. I thought I might like to start a blog, but I really knew nothing about blogs except that I loved to read them. The next day my husband said "Hon, you're all set. You just need a name. " What? That quick? I didn't have a name or even an idea of what I was doing. I had to do some quick thinking. My favorite color is blue and the street I live on is Hydrangea. So there you go! Blue Hydrangea was born and so far so good!

Do you feel like you know me better or that you know too much about me?

I am working on the seven blogs to pass the MeMe Award on to and it is hard!! Much harder than I thought. I promise to get back to you on this! In the meantime have a great Monday!

I'm off on Location

I have packed my bags and headed over to Designing Life today. I was so excited when Yancy asked me to be a part of her City Escapes series.

Click here to take a tour of my hometown, Wilmington, N.C. Or some of you may know it as the home of Dawson's Creek.

While you are over at Designing Life be sure to check out some of Yancy's other posts. Like this. And this. And this. There is a lot to see. Enjoy!!

Sasha Emerson

I first saw Sasha Emerson's work in Cottage Living. You will probably recognize some of the pictures below. I recently found her website and decided to share some of her work.

I picked a few of my favorite rooms

and they all ended up being children's rooms.

They have such a playful, cozy look about them that I love.

The mix of patterns and colors is really appealing to me right now. I thought it would be fun to decorate a room using these pictures as an inspiration.

I would start with this great quilt found on Ebay.

Add some fun sheets with fabulous trim and...

mix in stripes to keep it interesting.

A few animal pillows to add some personality.

Vintage suitcases from Ebay to store all the little treasures (usually from Happy Meals) kids seem to collect.

A striped rug from Dash and Albert to soften the room.

Gys Art from Etsy

And a couple of pieces of art to finish off the room.

Painting from Ebay.

So what do you think? Do you like it? Only problem? I love all my finds, but it just doesn't seem appropriate for Butterball. I found the quilt first and just went with it. I will have to go back and pick some more boyish items. Poor kid...I already dress him like a girl. Now I am trying to decorate his room like a girl. Does anyone know a good therapist?

dining by books

I have been collecting pictures of libraries for awhile. Where You Hang Your Hat did a great post on libraries last week, check it out here. Her post prompted me to look at the pictures I had accumulated. The ones I love the best involve not only books but food. What could be better? Two of my favorite things. One dream of mine (besides the perfect pair of jeans) is to one day have a library-dining room combination.

They are so cozy and interesting.

Love the colors, love the chairs, love the flowers. and of course I love the books.

Sleek and modern. You might have to serve some gourmet food that is fancy but tiny. On a big white plate. With the sauce in a pattern.

A couple of these rooms have another favorite of mine. Pictures hung over the shelves. You might see a whole post on that. I love the layered look.

If I drank wine, I might just add a built-in wine rack. A built-in beer rack just doesn't have the same flair.

Jonathan Adler has a great dining room as does...

Peter Dunham.

This has always been one of my favorites.

So what do you think?

Are you a fan of books and food?

Anybody want to come over for dinner? I'll cook-or order take out- you bring a great book. We'll sit around and tell stories and eat and eat and eat. And drink. It will be fun. Pick out a good book and I'll let you know when I get that dining room/library combo finished. How does 2015 sound?

pictures from: Style Court, Simply Seleta, Stonebrook Staging, Peak of Chic, Design 2 Share, Brilliant Asylum, Peter Dunham, Domino, Elle Decor, Cottage Living and Patricia Gray.

School House Rock

Today is the first day of school for the twins. I don't know why they start school on a Tuesday instead of a Monday which makes more sense to me. Decisions are being made all over the state of N.C. everyday and no one ever asks my opinion. Go figure. But back to school did get me thinking about two things...

1. School House Rock
2. School Houses

Were you a fan of School House Rock? Maybe you are too young. My two favorites were "I'm Just A Bill" and "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverb Here". Pretty catchy don't you think? What was your favorite School House Rock song?
(If my sisters are reading this, you can just click on the highlighted words and you can hear the songs. Doesn't it bring back memories of Saturday morning?)

So of course School House Rock got me thinking about...

My favorite school house.

Monkey Cottage.
The weekend home of John Loecke and Jason Nixon.

Originally featured in Country Living you can read the whole article here.

These guys are not afraid of paint.

Or color

Or layering.

Their little cottage is jammed packed with personality. Much cuter than any school I ever went to. Although, I do remember a lot of the walls being painted green. If you get a chance, don't forget to check out more pictures here.

This is Amazing

While looking through all the fun, fabulous photos on Todd Selby's site I came across the most amazing piece of art.

Tada!! Do you recognize him? This is a paper sculpture of Tom Wolfe. A construction paper sculpture. Can you stand it? This is so up my alley. I want one so badly I can hardly stand it. I searched and searched but couldn't find anything about the artist. Does any out there have any info?

You have to admit it is a pretty good likeness. I actually like the paper sculpture better....he looks happier in paper.

scott fife Brigitte Bardot
While searching for the artist of Tom Wolfe's sculpture, I found some other great paper artist. Like Scot Fife. He uses a variety of materials including cardboard.

The details in his work are amazing. I think he does great work, but to me I miss the happy whimsical look of the construction paper sculpture.

Not so serious is this paper fly from Elsa Mora. She has two blogs, check them out here and here. I wouldn't mind having one of these guys. Or maybe a bee. Yes, a bee would be perfect.

My twins made construction paper self portraits at school and I love them. They have taken a little abuse since they hang on the bottom of the bulletin board. Somebody (I am not going to mention any names) loves to pull them off and throw them in the air. Maybe they can make some more this year....or a paper sculpture. Maybe I should just hang them higher.

The Selby

Do you ever feel like you are too vanilla? Just too plain white bread? Most houses we see photographed are beautiful but similar. Don't you sometimes crave a little crazy? That's where The Selby comes in. Fabulous photos by Todd Selby. Be sure to check it out. Here is a little sample...

There are so many great photos, but the site said I better not use them without permission, so I just had to find ones off other people's blogs. (I'm a rule follower.) Every home is so chock full of personality they will make you happy or at least entertain you. Even if it is not your style, you will find fresh ideas to inspire you. Or make you feel even more bland and Traditional than you already are. I know. I sat looking at the pictures in my J. Crew shorts, white peasant top and gladiator sandals. If you have a tutu and some Converse high tops you might want to put them on before viewing...Enjoy!!

For more fun photos check out Jenny's blog My Favorite and My Best.

pictures from: the Pursuit Aesthetic, Made by Girl, Paper Mag and Apartment Therapy.

Not Just For Wearing

As a follow up to yesterday's post, I decided to show some of my favorite pictures of clothing used as art.

This has got to be my top pick. Unexpected item, in an unexpected color, in an unexpected place. Room designed by Windsor. She's something, isn't she? My husband has a little matador outfit that his grandparents brought him from Spain 40 years ago. Of course I dug it right out after seeing this photo. It is cute but not this cute. And it is not pink. Still, I may display it.

Eddie Ross did a whole post on finding vintage baby clothing and framing it. Read the whole article here.

They have such a graphic, modern look for vintage items.

Vintage bathing suits seem to be a big hit right now.

These bright colors from Katy Elliot make me happy. And it is all about making me happy, right?

I think I'll hang them in my beach house. When I get one. By then my bathing suits will be vintage.

While snooping around the web I found a great site that has done all the hard work for you. Petrie Point Designs. They have vintage clothing and toys framed and ready to hang. Sure it's more fun if the bathing suit weree Great Aunt Gertrude's that she use to wear at the swimming hole while drinking whiskey. But if you don't have a Great Aunt Gertrude, don't worry.Check out this site. Warning..vintage does NOT mean cheap.

I saw an old cowboy costume at an antique store here in Wilmington and loved it. I almost bought it, but I thought Peanut was too old for it. If only I had known Butterball would be popping up, I would have bought it. Of course, had I known Butterball was going to be joining us I would have done a lot of things differently.

Don't want the cowgirls to feel left out.

I am named after my grandmother. Nana. Not crazy Bama. Who by the way is still kicking. Crazy, but kicking....go Bama!! Anyway, my stepmother had this shadow box put together with special treasures from my grandmother's life. Pins and badges, her wedding ring, a photo and my favorite, her teeny, tiny, hand sewn baby shoes with gold (goldish) buttons. I wish I had a better picture and I need to have the glass replaced, but it is a nice way to display favorite mementos. Otherwise, don't you know I would love those pins in a skinny minute?

Have you framed anything special I need to know about?

pictures from: Alicia B Designs, Eddie Ross, Apartment Therapy, Katy Elliott, Petrie Point Designs and Blue Hydrangea.