Christmas Dinner Table

I hope Santa was good to each and every one of you and that you had a lovely Christmas.  I wanted to post pics from our dining room table which is where we enjoyed our annual Christmas Eve Spaghetti Bonanza.  Ever since I was a kid, it has been tradition to have spaghetti on Christmas Eve and this year was no exception.  We did tweak the original recipe a bit just to make us feel like we were eating semi-healthy.  We opted for turkey meat and fresh veggies for the sauce, and whole wheat pasta.  After dinner, I enjoyed total domination, as usual, on the Scrabble board.  I think the wine my competition was drinking may have impaired their word-making, but whatever... small victories.

How did you celebrate Christmas?

xoxo,

sarah

Sunday Romance

I am in love with these heavenly beings from Nicholas Kirkwood's Spring 2011 Collection... Shoe-gasm!

Courtesy of Shoerazzi

How lovely are your branches...

Here she is in all her teal glory!!!  This year we decided to get a new Christmas Tree, since the one we had was on its last leg.  Translation:  I was too lazy to wrap lights around the damn thing.  I had a vision in my head of what I wanted the tree to look like and that included long needles and glitter.  And I wanted it to look like it was snowed on a little, which I have since learned is described as "flocked".  Who knew?  Not me...I scored this one at Garden Ridge and it was exactly what I was looking for.

I used a teal throw that generally goes on the couch as a makeshift tree skirt.

Look!  It's me in the gold ornament!  These are some of the first pics with the new camera.  I didn't even mean to do that, but it's still cool right?

This is a messy tree and there is glitter all over the house.  Famous loves to walk underneath and get it all over her back.  After three days, I'm still finding it in my hair and on my face from her snuggles. 

The first Christmas at White Owl Drive was also the first Christmas that I didn't go home to North Carolina to spend the holidays with my grandparents.  Since I was a little girl, the one thing I remember about Christmas is how beautiful my grandmother's tree turned out year after year.  It has always been decorated exactly the same: in silver, gold, and crystal. Faboosh! It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. 

That year I received a rather large UPS package a couple days after Thanksgiving.  My grandmother had sent me tons of ornaments that she had collected over the years, including these glass and crystal bells.  They had always been my favorite ones when I was little and now they hang on my tree. They are probably 50 years old, but still sparkle like they did when I was a kid.

The tree has pine cones already attached to the branches, but I added the little poinsettias.

Found these little birdies at Michael's last year for .25 after the holidays.

I hope you enjoy your tree as much as we do!  I'm linking with these chicks:

xoxo,

sarah

If Santa was my sugar daddy...

This would certainly be on my gold digging list.... :) 

Cartier Love Black Ceramic and 18K Gold Necklace

What's on your unrealistic Christmas List???

xoxo,

sarah

Christmas Mantle

Yesterday, I had the entire day (except for an hour getting a much needed eyebrow wax... I was channeling Selma Hayek in Frida) decking the halls of White Owl Drive.  I'm not completely finished, but the tree and the mantle are complete.  I took to thrifting Dollar Tree to gussy up the fireplace and found some great deals.  I was able to complete the mantle for about thirty bones and I think it looks anything but cheap! 

The sunburst mirror is a new addition to the mantle as of a few weeks ago.  I have been eyeing it at Horchow and patiently waiting for a coupon to come over my email and it finally did.  Originally $550, I got it for $85!  You can imagine my adrenaline rush that day... 

The crystal candlesticks I have had for years, but they are one of my all-time favorite finds.  They came from Ross about four years ago and I love the way they sparkle.  In Dallas, we have two thrift stores that are sponsored by Christian Community Action, an amazing group that helps poor and needy family by providing food, shelter, essentials, and even education.  These are my favorite thrift spots not only because they always have the best treasures, but also because their volunteers are so wonderful, friendly, and have an obvious passion for their cause. The little gold trees came from big grab bags of holiday decor that CCA put together for the weekend.  For $2 I got a huge bag full of holly, a cute little snowman, four of these trees,  and some other little odds and ends.

The garland and poinsettias came from Callaway's Nursery and were only $.99/ft. and $7.99 a piece.  I will let you know if I can keep either alive...

Finally, all the ball ornaments came from Dollar Tree and were 10 for $1.  I bought about 20 boxes and have a couple more projects to take care of today. I'm sure the anticipation will absolutely kill you ;)

Famous came back from the groomer with a snowflake bandana, so I think everyone is now in the holiday spirit.  Seriously, she is the cutest hound I've ever laid eyes on... Cheers!

I'm linking up with these gals:

Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I was simply too full to write a blog post.  I thought I would show you my simple but colorful Thanksgiving table.  There were some crazy flowers at the market on Wednesday and I love nothing more than a beautiful, fresh centerpiece.  I am especially loving the kale and Belles of Ireland.  The colors went together perfectly.

If you notice, there have been several updates at White Owl Drive and I can't wait to post them so you can tell me what you think.  There are a couple items that I need to finish up, but all in all, things are looking pretty fab.

Sorry for the poor picture quality.  Thanksgiving Day was a gloomy one and the lighting was a little tough to work with.  The good news though, is that Christmas came early, and Black Friday resulted in this:

BIG shout out to the Mama!  I turned it on and was so terrified by all the options that I turned it right back off. Scary stuff.  I'll be spending most of the day learning how to use the damn thing.  I am super stoked about it though.  I apologize now for uninteresting, yet high quality photos of Famous and random other subjects that you may be exposed to. 

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend!

xoxo,

sarah

Glamorous Stripes

*source unknown*

Loving this gorgeous room!

I'm trying to finish one of my nine zillion projects so I can update the blog with some new things.  Thanks for bearing with me!

xoxo,

sarah

Sundays...



ZGallerie



Hope you had a great weekend!

xoxo,

sarah

Gallery Walls

I have to admit that I haven't been feeling terribly inspired as of late, but when I saw this gallery wall in Country Living's 2010 House of the Year last week, I've been fired up to do one myself.  Can you believe that all these pieces came from one small paperback book that costs $10?  I am heading to Barnes and Noble immediately!

Country Living

The Bohemian Life

Decor Pad

Lonny via Decor Pad

Phoebe Howard

Domino

Alluminare

Do you have a gallery wall of some sort in your home?  I may after this weekend!!

xoxo,

sarah

My first mention!!!

This afternoon I was so pleasantly suprised to get an email from one of my favorite blogs, Design Refuge, telling me that I had qualified as one of the finalists for the October Challenge!  So freakin' excited!  This is my first mention on a blog of this caliber so I am so grateful that they liked my post.

The challenge was to post a room, space, etc. that best describes your design aesthetic.  Back in May, I did this post on Kirby and Kari Schlegel's penthouse at the W Dallas, designed by the genius that is Jan Showers.  Interestingly enough, since that post, this beauty is now on the market for a cool $10.75 million.  I suppose that an enagagement is enough to entice one to move out of the place they share with their sibling.  Personally, I would tell my betrothed to find a place on his own, but that's just me.

If you have a moment, please stop by Design Refuge and vote for your favorite space.  If it's not mine, no big deal, I'll just come and kill you in your sleep.

xoxo,
sarah

Mansuco Warner Miller Favorites

These ladies are brilliant, successful, and inspiring.  I refer to their site at least once a week and wanted to share some of my favorites.  Enjoy!

MansucoWarnerMiller.com

They are totally what I want to be when I grow up!  ;)

Have a lovely day!

xoxo,

sarah