There's no place like HOME

If I click my heels together enough, will these lovely Loubs magically appear???

Finacé have been doing lots of home projects lately in order to get the house in perfect newlywed shape, so I thought it was about time I give you an update. 

Project number 1: exterior. We painted the front door a Tiffany blue color and met with someone from a shutter company last night to discuss adding black shutters to our white home. CANNOT wait to see the finished product!

Project number 2: our master bedroom. We knocked out the old closets to open up the room, exposed the chimney and painted the brick white, added crown molding to finish the look, and finished the wood floors in the spot where the closets were. Right now, this room has become storage for all of our engagement presents and miscellaneous things until we move my bedroom set from single-girl-apartment to newlywed-love-nest. Super-excited to finish this room too and see our monogrammed bedding that we registered for in its home.

Project number 3: my wardrobing room, aka Mecca. The room has been painted PINK. Fiancé could not believe there is actually a pink room in the house (although he happily took a roller in his hand and covered the blue walls with Poetic Princess paint - such a catch!). The wooden shelving and hanging units are being installed tonight, and I am on a mission to find a gorgeous antique vanity and mirror.  The chandelier that is hanging in my apartment dining room right now will add the last feminine touch. You can bet your entire Lilly collection that a picture of this will make it's way into a post once this is complete.    

Project number 4: living room. This is the room that we bought the brown leather Chesterfield sofa for, but we still need to finish furnishing and adding the finishing touches.  I am envisioning a very Parisian feel with off-white accent chairs, pale pink and white patterned pillows, a large sweeping curtain a la the Plaza Athenee to dress the big picture window, and our London and Paris maps adorning the walls. The perfect room to sip cappuccino or champagne, oui?  

Project number 5: kitchen. We have our second meeting with a kitchen company tomorrow night at the showroom to go over plans, so it will not be long until plans are in full swing. New cabinets, a pantry, appliances, possibly an island, and some fresh paint will complete our traditional kitchen with nautical/beachy touches.

Most of all, I can't wait to begin our lives in this home as husband and wife. With the wedding 116 days away *little squeal and happy dance* will we ever finish?

Have a lovely Tuesday!  

 

Audrey's Beauty Tips

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others."

— Audrey Hepburn

Photo Friday at the Derby

Tomorrow is the Kentucky Derby! The hats, the dresses, the fashion, the grandeur, the excitement of the competition... oh how I wish I could be a part of it all. Sigh. In honor of tomorrow's fabulous festivities:

Happy Derby Day! Hope you will be wearing a fabulous hat and holding a mint julep in your hand!

Pink & Green Thursday

Three cheers for Thursday, and three cheers for PINK & GREEN! Let's play with Trish again! Shall we go to the carnival?

Royal Engagements

I always put the Today Show on as I get ready for work, and this morning I stopped mid mascara-swipe, dropped my makeup on my vanity, and ran into the living room... why? I heard two words: princess and engagement. I have always had an obsession fascination with the royal family and like many (all?) little girls, dreamed of being a princess and living in a palace. (Who cares about the logistics and that "Princess" is not a realistic when-I-grow-up aspiration, short of being born or marrying into the royal family? You get to wear a crown and wear beautiful gowns!) I digress. They were discussing the broken engagement of Princess Madeleine of Sweden from Jonas Bergstrom and rumors of his infidelity (no comment from the royal court, in the most diplomatic fashion). Très triste! As an engaged girl myself, my heart goes out to the poor girl.

And here, in a picture montage, a glimpse into the engagements and nuptials of royalty:

Princess Madeleine miling with the newly-engaged glow. Perhaps his wandering eye in this picture is an indication of what was to come?

Her sister, Crown Princess Victoria, is still very much engaged and looks lucky-in-love in her engagement photos with fiancé Daniel Westling.

Are they next? We can only wait (and hope... can you imagine the wedding?!?!)

And it would be a royal crime to forget Princess Diana and her fairy tale wedding (without the fairy tale ending) to Prince Charles. Although this was before I was born, I still drool over the grand event in which a girl became a princess.

  

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel

And my second literary purchase was:

Delving into the long, extraordinary life of renowned French fashion designer Coco Chanel, Karen Karbo has written a new kind of book, exploring Chanel’s philosophy on a range of universal themes—from style to passion, from money and success to femininity and living life on your own terms.

Born in 1883 in a poorhouse in southern France to unmarried parents, Chanel was raised in a convent after her mother died when she was six and her father abandoned her. The nuns taught her to sew, and while working as a café singer in the early 1900s she began designing hats for fun. Her lovers included a wealthy English industrialist, who helped her set up her own millinery shop and steered his society friends her way.

Chanel grew up to be the woman who not only gave us the little black dress and boxy jackets, but also popularized pants for women and easy, practical clothes that allowed women a chic freedom they’d never known before. In her strong-headed, elegant, opinionated, passionate, entirely French way, Coco Chanel helped bring women into the modern era. She was the only fashion icon to be named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century.

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel is a captivating, offbeat look at style, celebrity, and self-invention—all held together with Karbo’s droll Chanel-style commentary and culled from an examination of Chanel’s difficult childhood and triumphant adulthood, passionate love affairs, career choices, habits, eccentricities, and personal philosophies. Weaving Chanel’s life story into chapter themes that subtly convey life lessons, and with Chesley McLaren’s charming illustrations, it will leave the reader utterly entranced with, and inspired by, Chanel’s amazing individuality, confidence, and determination.

Tres chic. Le sigh.
Grace and Coco will be quite the dynamic duo on my coffee table I suspect...

A Touch of Grace

In the tradition of What Would Jackie Do? and How to Be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life, here is a "Guide to Life" tribute to Grace Kelly that will instruct and inspire fans on all ways to live with a "touch of grace."

Even before she became Princess of Monaco in an elaborate wedding ceremony in 1956, Grace Kelly's iconic status and personification of elegance was secured through her legendary roles in Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief, and Rear Window. A Touch of Grace features guidance on living gracefully, inspired by Grace Kelly's life: from fashion tips, to catching a prince, to how to play it cool. With rare and never-before-seen photos, anecdotes, quotes, and other biographical commentary, this little compendium will show any woman how to cultivate her own style, charm, and noble flair.

Isn't this just the most perfect coffee table book? I just picked it up (along with another beauty - to be revealed in a post to come... is the suspense killing you?) and cannot wait to delve into this. Don't you just adore Grace?

Photo Friday: British Edition

One of my favorites taken in London... oh how I want to go back!

Cheerio!

Pink & Green Thursday

The lovely Trish at Pink Preppy Lilly Lover has begun Pink & Green Thursday, and I'm so excited to play along! Grab her button and come play with us, too! (And if you haven't already, visit her blog - she is an absolute doll!)

Ride away with me...

And in honor of Earth Day:

Pretty Prada

Pretty (and pink!) Prada on Bluefly today!