Loxleypalooza

This thug is leaving his "hood" and heading south....this time WAY south.

Loxley.Alabama.

We are picking him and his awesome parents up Friday morning, for the FIRST.EVER.

Jeff Family Weekend

Excited would be a major understatement.

Mary had a little lamb

...and Ashleigh got a BIG FAT lamb!

After my cow made her big debut, my friend Ashleigh asked me if I would be willing to paint something for her nursery. Clearly, I'm an expert of all things farm life (ha!). She wanted a lamb, and she had been on the hunt for something for several months, but had not fallen in love with anything.  Nothing super realistic, just a sweet, simple lamb with a blue sky.

Baby Brooks is in for a real treat. His nursery is beautiful! Every detail considered.  I hope my fat little lamb feels proud hanging in a room so perfect!

Speaking of perfect...that is EXACTLY how Ashleigh looks pregnant. Here we are at her baby shower celebrating Mama and Baby Brooks. She is the blond sitting in the middle. Can you even tell?! Perfect.

Jennifer's new bedroom

Back in March I was happy to get an email from a friend from college. Jennifer and I have enjoyed "keeping up" with each other through our blogs, but I had not personally heard from her in a long time. Jennifer recently moved, and was hoping to make changes to her master bedroom. I was very honored that Jennifer thought of me!

excerpt from her email...
dear genevieve laura, (ha!)

"This is kind of out of the blue but we moved into a new home in August and right now our master bedroom is a hodge podge of leftover hand-me-down furniture. We really want to redo our room from top to bottom to make it somewhere that we can relax but I'm having a tough time getting started. Basically, I'm overwhelmed. I'm not exactly sure what you're doing these days or how much you are still doing interior design work, but I remember all of the work that you used to do in school and so I was wondering if you've ever considered doing "virtual" consultations. I know that there are some designers that do them but most of the people that I've found that do them have a horrendously long wait time to get a result. We're not in a big rush but I don't particularly want to sit around on this without doing something for much longer.

So, I was wondering if you would be interested in starting some virtual consultations. We worked with a designer picking out a few things in the main living areas when we moved in but I wasn't extremely pleased with her mostly because I wanted a whole lot more guidance than she was willing to give. I wouldn't be looking for you to design a room from start to finish or to execute the design, I'm mostly looking for me to send you the dimensions of our room, some pictures of what it looks like currently, some pictures online of rooms that I like, and then I would love some suggestions on color schemes, layout, and bedding/furniture that you think would be best."

I was thrilled! I had never attempted a "virtual consultation" but as you know I will try just about anything once...especially at the request of a friend. Jennifer and I live several hours apart, but it was so much fun that we were able to share thoughts and ideas through pictures and emails.

Jennifer did not need me to "execute" the design, really just needed guidance, or a direction to get her started. She had great ideas as to what she wanted to include, but wanted thoughts on color, layout, and resources to purchase suggested items.

She sent me pictures of the current space, floor plan, dimensions, a list of things she wanted to include, a budget, as well as "idea pictures" of spaces she loved.

I later submitted my design ideas to Jennifer. She and her husband Jason were able to put their own spin on my suggestions to create a room that was perfect for them!

Last week I got another email from Jennifer letting me know that they were wrapping up the master bedroom! She shared pictures with me and wrote all about the process on her fun blog! So much fun to see a concept come to life!

Jennifer and Jason I hope you are THRILLED with your new bedroom!! Thanks for the fun opportunity!

cape cod chopped salad

I typically fall in love with lots of things I see in House Beautiful. Each new issue leaves me craving new colors, new accessories, new furniture.

The most recent issue left me craving something very different. SALAD.

You all know I am not a natural in the kitchen, but as soon as I saw this salad I had to give it a try. It did not disappoint!

Love it when a recipe calls for things like this..

...and this, yet its still a "salad" YUM!

Cape Cod Chopped Salad

Serves 4 to 5
8 slices (8 ounces) thick-cut bacon, such as Niman Ranch
8 ounces baby arugula
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced
1/2 cup toasted walnut halves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces blue cheese, such as Roquefort, crumbled

For the Dressing:
3 tablespoons good apple-cider vinegar
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup good olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place a baking rack on a sheet pan and lay the bacon slices on the rack. Roast the bacon for about 20 minutes, until nicely browned. Allow to cool.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the arugula, apple, walnuts, cranberries, and blue cheese. For the dressing, whisk together the vinegar, orange zest, orange juice, mustard, maple syrup, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper in a bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.
4. Chop the bacon into large pieces and add it to the salad. Toss the salad with just enough dressing to moisten. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and toss well. Serve immediately.

friday favorite

chapstick + color = perfection