Friday, June 27, 2014

Friday Favorites!



Starting to plan your Forth of July celebrations?  Check out the segment I did on TODAY show a couple years ago with some fun tips!

I love how my friends at Set Sip Serve have put together a list of the MUST HAVE popsicle makers for the summer!

I was sooo honored to be included in Camille Styles blog this week!  Check out the post for my tips on the perfect thank you note and a 15% discount on some sweet stationery treats!

Fun projects for your creative kids this summer on this darling blog.

Super fun and unique camp for kids in Dallas in July...Cookie and Cake Camp at Greenhouse Market.

Love this idea to make your cocktails a bit more patriotic this week!



Thursday, June 26, 2014

Geode Love



My son and I went on a "field trip" to the Rock Barrell in Dallas yesterday to hunt for some fancy rocks and geodes - his latest obsession!  His awesome kindergarten teacher came along for a visit and we all searched and played together.  It was so inspiring and I wanted to buy everything!  Here is a little taste of the Geode trend in fashion and for the home.  Click on the photos to find the link to purchase or browse!



Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Y'all....this is genius:

It's called a Mimish and it can hold all of those stuffed animals that don't have a real place to call home for you.  Then the kids can enjoy it as a bean bag chair!

So smart.  Why didn't I think of that?

My darling friend Julie Gates, who was the host of the Gene and Julie show for years (CBS Radio - 103.7) always used to chat with me about great ways to store stuffed animals.  There never was a perfect answer for either of us but we didn't know about the Mimish then!

My son piles his "pets" into an old Elephant Saddle that belonged to my father-in-law.  He loves to sit in it and snuggle or read but it is enormous and takes up half of the playroom.  You can see a picture of it in this DMoms Feature from a few years ago.  As we purge and prepare for our move, I think the Mimish is the perfect amount of space to allocate to our stuffed animals.  I'll order one for him and let him fill it up to move with us!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Tablescape Tuesday: Jennifer Meyer for Ylang 23




I just can't tell you how honored I was to be asked to "art direct" a table for forty at the Joule Hotel in Dallas for Jennifer Meyer.  Jennifer was in town for her trunk show at Ylang 23 and owners Joanne and Charles Teichman wanted to host a dinner for her.  It certainly was a special night and I was thrilled to play a part.




I worked with floral designer Darrell Ward who did a spectacular job bringing my vision to life.  I hope you like it! 


Photos by Bruno

If you love Jen's jewelry as much as the 40 of us at the dinner do, I hope you will like the selection below:






Monday, June 23, 2014

Estee Lauder Archives and Etiquette Advice from Elizabeth Hurley

I'm a sucker for a great archival letter, note, photo or ad so when I got my hands on these incredible archives from Estee Lauder, I almost cried with joy!  They are amazing and I am so excited to be able to share them with you.

Photo by Daniel Driensky
Last Wednesday was a thrill!  If you were anywhere near Neiman Marcus Northpark in Dallas yesterday afternoon, you couldn't miss the excitement.  There were lines of ladies waiting to see Estee Lauder's son, Leonard Lauder, and Elizabeth Hurley as they opened the Estee Lauder Compact Museum.  


Photo by Daniel Driensky

Estee Lauder and Neiman Marcus have been together since 1950 when Estee Lauder made her first personal appearance at the Flagship Neiman Marcus store in Downtown Dallas.  Throughout the years, they have launched 58 special compacts that women have been giving as gifts, collecting and enjoying!  The Compact Museum is such a little gem of an experience that I hope you will check out.  Mr. Lauder joked that you should buy them and stick them away for five years. When you pull them out after and put them on ebay he hopes you will thank him for making you rich!

Photo by Peter Dirlis

I took a compact that my grandmother gave me in 1998 to the event and had so much fun using it to powder my nose with Elizabeth Hurley!  I'll be able to put that video interview up here soon!  She gave us some etiquette advice that I can't wait to share with you!

Anyway, back to the archives.....
Enjoy......
































Images courtesy of Estee Lauder Archives

Friday, June 20, 2014

Friday Favorites - Summer is Starting!


It's official - our house is on the market and that means I have been busy cleaning it up!  I'm loving these tips from Oprah's Clean House Guru, Peter Walsh, for organizing all of the clutter I am putting away so that it shows well.  I want it to look as clean as it did the day we shot this cover story for Traditional Home! 


I'm looking to renovate a house just so that I can use these!

I want this for cool outdoor summer dinners - in other words - when I'm eating in a place other than Dallas!  This LWD is better for Dallas - and it's on sale!

Even if you can't be in St. Tropez this summer, you can recreate it with these dinner party tips from Penny Drue Baird.

Happy Friday!  I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!  

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Shop It - Summer Whites

So, I've been wearing a lot of white lately - and it always has baby food or coffee or something on it.  You would think I would learn my lesson by now but I keep wearing it and dreaming about the day that my children are out of the house and I don't spill coffee anymore.  Anyhooo.....
I'm old school about saving whites for after Easter and I put it away at Labor Day so I like to wear as much of it as I can while it is "allowed."
Here are some of my favorite summer whites:




Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Our Austin Adventure

Our trip to Austin last weekend was tons of fun.  We were there for the wedding of Justin's cousin but we had plenty of time to squeeze in a bit of fun.  Here are some of the highlights of our adventure in Austin.


We drove down from Dallas on i35 and had to stop at the sunflowers for some family photos.  I snapped this one quickly from my phone so that I could share it with you right away!  They seem to go on for miles and are so stunning!





 We also HAD to make a quick stop for the amazing pastries and breads at the Czech Stop.  My son gobbles up the blueberry bread every time we get it and we bought a few more treats for the family to enjoy over the weekend.

photo courtesy of Hotel Ella, Austin



When we arrived in Austin, we checked in at the charming Hotel Ella.  It was lovely!  Of course we chose it because it is a part of the Southern Living Hotel Collection but it lived up to it's reputation.  It was a full of charm and the staff was so warm and friendly.  They had a "real" crib which is always such a relief - Baby girl doesn't sleep well in a pack 'n play!

photo courtesy of: Bullock Texas State History Museum
While Justin and the baby took a little nap, my son and I took a quick jump over to the Bullock Texas State History Museum.   We walked the three exhibit floors counter clockwise and got a great overview of the history of the State.  My six year old loved the dioramas but the long texts about Texas Heros on the second floor were a bit less interesting to him.  Overall, I thought it was a great way to spend an hour with him.  There is also an IMAX theatre there which would have been a blast if we had planned ahead and had the time.


We went back to the Hotel to get ready for the rehearsal dinner and the little man decided this would be the best time to wear his western ensemble.  



We took it slow and easy the next morning.  We had breakfast at the hotel and just laid low for the morning. Justin took the kids to the pool while I had lunch at Josephine House with my friend Camille Styles.  She knows Austin inside and out and her blog is amazing! I loved catching up with her and the restaurant was wonderful.  I highly recommend it! The atmosphere was wonderful and the food was amazing.

photo courtesy of IRR
We spent the afternoon exploring S. Congress Street.  We got out the stroller and strolled!  We went to By George, Uncommon Objects (where my son found some very cool rocks for his collection) and Allen's Boots.  There were delicious food trucks everywhere - I wanted to eat at every one of them!


On the drive back to the hotel, we splurged and went for a dipped cone at Sandy's.  It is ridiculously good - get the mixed dipped waffle cone!

That night we were off to the wedding!  It was held outside at the Zilker Garden overlooking the city. It was a beautiful setting and for a darling couple.  More about that later!



Baby Girl took her first steps on the balcony at the Hotel Ella!
The next morning we joined my parents for breakfast on the terrace of the Hotel Ella and Baby Girl took her first steps!  We were all so excited - even the hotel staff delivering the room service was cheering!



We spent the afternoon shopping on and around 2nd Street. The kids loved Toy Joy!  We ate lunch at Taverna and sweet baby girl obviously loved the bread basket!

Uchiko, Austin - photo from Texas Style and Substance

That night we joined the rest of the of the Whitman crew at Uchiko - seriously one of the best restaurants ever!  Justin and I ate there a few years ago and were still dreaming of it!  It remains No. 1 on our list of places to go in Austin! The Jar Jar Duck is a must from the menu - The presentation is amazing and everyone said it was their favorite!  



The next morning we met up again - can't get enough of the family that we don't see all too often!  We went to Elizabeth Street Cafe for brunch and it was wonderful.  The pastries and breads were delicious and the menu was amazing.  We explored some Vietnamese breakfast dishes that I can't say I had heard of before - Breakfast noodles and sticky rice with a poached egg on top! Yum!

Then we hit to road!  It was sad to leave but we enjoyed our adventure in Austin.  Can't wait to go back!


 

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