A Winner and A Squeeze

I want to thank you guys for making this such a fun giveaway. And I really appreciate all those that helped spread the word about this giveaway by posting about it on your blogs. You guys rock!

 

And now, the winner of the French Grain Pillow Slip Giveaway is:

 

…Suzanne from Meridian Road…

 

Suzanne, please contact Michelle at petitcoterie[at]gmail.com to claim your prize.

 

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Do you ever find yourself craving “comfort foods”? Sometimes for me it can be a glass of Ovaltine, or something really quirky like a peanut butter–honey–and banana sandwich (yes, I know…so 3rd grade!)

 

The other day, I purchased a great big bag of fresh oranges, and instead of doing the typical routine of peeling the skin and eating the wedges, I decided to slice them in halves…

 

 

And juice them by hand on my high-tech plastic juicer…

 

 

As I squeezed and I juiced, it brought me back to when I was six years old, when my Grandpa Jack taught me how to hand squeeze fresh oranges at the breakfast table one morning. He was a very tall man with a low voice and a gentle demeanor. He looked a lot like John Wayne. He taught me that pulp was good for you, and the seeds were not. It is one of two memories I have of him. He died when I was eight.

 

 

As I drank down my tall, cold glass of fresh squeezed juice, at that moment I could not remember a single time that orange juice tasted any sweeter. It was the best glass I ever had.

 

How We Met Our House

  As some of you may already know, we refer to our house as Cottage8, because it was the eighth house we bid on, and finally got. But what you may not be aware of is the story behind it. The details of how we met our house, and the journey we took to get here.

 

Take a young, anxious couple, excited to purchase their very first home, add one tough cookie of a real estate agent, and mix in a bunch of cash-in-hand investors bidding up every charming dream home you bid on, and you have the perfect recipe for seven long months of looking at over two hundred homes, in four different cities, accompanied by tears, endless pages of contracts and addendums, meetings with lenders, more tears, and finally: Joy.

 

The day we discovered this house (the soon to be Cottage8) was an early Sunday morning and I was scouring the internet for available homes for sale in our area. Just listed was this shy little blue house with nothing more than dirt in the front yard, and a large piece of plywood covering a front broken window. The price was within our budget, so I pulled Adam out of bed and we drove straight over to see it.

 

This house had been vacant for at least seven months, so we took the liberty of peeking into each of the windows to check out the layout front and back.

 

 

Knowing we would likely have to compete with a number of cash-ready investors, we called our realtor and had her rush straight over to let us inside the house so we could do a walk through. Not even sixty minutes later, we were signing papers and placed our bid on this house.

 

The kitchen countertops were so sticky, we had to drive to a local eatery just to find a hard surface to complete the lengthy paper signing process…

 

 

 Yes, there were plenty of (scary) decorative flaws that we had to look past when we bought this house, and we didn’t even think twice. With lots of elbow grease and a ton of imagination, Adam and I took the dining room from this: 

    

To this:

 

 

And the kitchen went from this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

And our living room went from this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

For more before and after photos, and thorough details of how we remodeled this house and lived to talk about it, please click here.

 

Blogged for An Nicole’s How I Met My House Party. 

 

Petite Coterie French Grain Pillow GIVEAWAY!

I am so excited to share this with my lovely readers! I’ve partnered up with Michelle from Petite Coterie to offer one lucky person this gorgeous French Grain Pillow Slip:

 

 

 

This is a king size French style burlap slip, with an envelope closure on the back. There is a 2" flange around the slip. Giving attention to the tiniest of detail, this pillow comes with a saint metal, as Michelle likes to send a sweet blessing with each pillow. Slip measures 24" x 36", and fits a king size bed pillow. Bed pillow insert is not included.

 

To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post. Giveaway ends at Midnight, April 28th. Winner to be announced April 29th. Don’t want to wait for the giveaway to end? You can purchase Michelle’s gorgeous pillows here.

 

Want to Double your chances of winning? Simply post about this giveaway on your blog with link back to this post, then comment back here once again letting us know you posted about it.

 

 

Beach Condo Rental at Oxnard Shores

       When my friend Laurie Weiner asked me if I would photograph her beach condo at the Oxnard Shores, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. You see, Laurie and her husband Robert are going to start renting out their beach condo on a weekly basis.

 

With the staging help of Karen Zelaznik from American Home & Garden, the look is relaxing and calming, and completely inviting. I’m sure you’ll agree…

 

 

Fresh flowers to greet you at the door…

 

 

Just a stone’s throw from the beach (give or take) you can hear the crashing of the waves from their balcony.

 

 

The neutral palette makes you feel calm and refreshed, the moment you step inside…

 

 

All you need is love, love is all you need..

 

 

Just loving this dresser in the bedroom…

 

 

The place for good eats and tasty treats..

 

 

Starfish napkin rings and candles set the mood for this tablescape..

 

 

Laurie and Robert and their two daughters…

 

 

If you’re looking for a stylish, cozy retreat by the shore for a week-long getaway, this is the place! Rates are $875/week. To place your reservation, you can reach Laurie at lifeatthebeach@me.com

 

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Laurie & Robert’s Beach Condo Rental Open House:

When: Friday, April 30th 12 – 3. Saturday, May 1st 12 – 3.

Where: 5029 Nautilius Street #5 Oxnard, Ca 93035

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A few fun facts about Laurie: You might remember when I featured Laurie’s home in Ventura. She owns a Children’s Store in Ventura called Bloom’s, and you can also find her on Facebook.

 

At Home in Arkansas, and a Beach Cottage in Australia

     I’m not sure about you guys, but I’ve missed you all like crazy. Without going into a laundry list of reasons of why I’ve been absent, or what kind of messes I’ve gotten myself into now, let’s instead focus on the fact that I’m here and you’ve got my undivided attention.

 

While there are an easy million and a half things I’m dying to catch up with you on, (the latest developments at Cottage8, my cats are now semi-famous, and a few sponsor giveaways coming up, etc.) I’m just focusing on just two things for today. Go ahead and call me a ‘tease’ – you know you want to.

 

First on the agenda is this magazine, At Home in Arkansas. Being a native Californian, I must admit I wasn’t previously aware this magazine existed, nor have I ever visited Arkansas. But feast your eyes on this gorgeous cover. It’s making me want to hop a plane and do some serious window peeking, or drive-by’s in other words.

 

 

As it turns out, the editors knew exactly who I was, and featured me on their “Click for Cottage” blog list. I’m honored to be listed amongst some very fine bloggers indeed.

 

 

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In other news, unless you forgot to flip your calendars over to the next month, than surely you’ve already visited April’s new Cottage of the Month, right? This month I featured Sarah from A Beach Cottage, in Australia. Talk about talent, Sarah has this way of pulling you into her photos, and you can almost smell the salt of the sea air and feel the texture of the cushions on her sofa. She’s one of those people that can decorate a cardboard box that would put Martha Stewart to shame.

 

 

Do me a favor and stop by Sarah’s blog and tell her you saw her featured here. And one word of warning: you’re going to be positively hooked on her blog and photography, if you’re not already. Yes, she’s that good.

We have a Winner!

You guys have been positively awesome! Thank you for all your participation during this giveaway. I think it was the best one yet. Your comments were so lovely. And who would have known so many of you had runner-less tables!

 

Without further ado, the winner of the 2010 Burlap Ruffle Table Runner Giveaway is

 

….Drum roll, please….

 

BJ of Sweet Nothings. Congratulations, BJ! To claim your prize, please email Laurie at me-n-you@verizon.net.

 

And to those of you that wanted to win so badly, I’m sorry but there could only be one winner. However, Laurie is offering my all of my readers 15% off any purchase over $50! So please head on over to her place…she’ll be expecting you!