Instagram Geomap

This is a public service announcement!

I recently started using instagram and I love it. It's so easy to snap a quick picture of what I'm up to and I absolutely love seeing what everyone else is excited about.

However being a newbie I made a very serious mistake, which scared the pants off of me when I discovered it. I checked into a few other accounts and found that I am not alone.

Look at your instagram. Do you see the third icon that looks like a tear drop. Click on that.

This is what you will see on Kate Spade's page.

If you expand the map you can actually see the places at a street level. Not a problem for Kate Spade, but for me, and I'm sure for a few of you, you are unknowingly disclosing where you live to the world.

Don't panic it's a very simple thing to fix. For the locations that are already on geomap you can edit and remove them using the edit option on the top right corner of the screen.

Going forward just slide the "Add to Photo Map" button to no before you share a picture.

#You're Welcome

      

The White Queen

I have been a fan of Phillipa Gregory's novels for a long time and just watched a mini series based on 3 of her books.

The amazon review describes the story as :

Based on Philippa Gregory's series of best-selling novels, "The Cousins War.”

Set against the backdrop of England's Wars of the Roses during the 15th century, the story revolves around women caught up in the ongoing conflict for the throne. They are some of the most ruthless players in history and will stop at nothing to support their own causes and those of the ones they love. “The White Queen” will be told through the stories of three equally driven women -- Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Anne Neville -- in their quest for power as they manipulate behind the scenes of history.

I was a bit nervous about watching this but it turns out that it's a BBC production so of course it was wonderful. I hadn't read the books and wasn't that familiar with this period of English history. I knew enough that certain key events were "spoiled" but in no way did it actually spoil things for me. Seeing these three women doing everything in their power to gain control of the English throne is very compelling viewing.

      

Scalloped Details

There is something very feminine about a scallop edge.

Valentino Sunglasses

Anthropologie Skirt

Asos Dress

Still obsessed with this Mulberry bag from a few seasons ago. Should have bought it!

Oscar de la Renta Shoes

Sugar Paper stationary

Happy Shopping!

      

To Do Cards

One of my favorite things about blogging is getting inspired by other peoples ideas. One of the bloggers that I follow had made some business cards with her logo on one side but instead of leaving the back blank she had used the header "To Do" so now she had adorable mini cards for list making.

I loved the idea, but she is a professional blogger and I'm a housewife so I have no need for business cards. I am however constantly needing to write things down so I had some cards made that have "TO DO" on one side and "NOTES" on the other.

I just love them and I think you will too. If you would like to make some yourself, they are from here, and if you use the code ZASF5922NTQZ you can get 15% off your order. I selected the chubby cards in white, and used pale grey for the text.

As part of my craft room makeover I also ordered a monogrammed acrylic pencil cup and the cards fit perfectly. (I must admit that the fact that my monogram isn't centered is driving me nuts!)

      

Monogrammed Luggage

Are you looking for new luggage?

I just love these bags from Mark & Graham.

Between the monogram and the Hermès inspired lock I'm not sure what I love the most about this fabulous luggage.

2014 - Decorating Plans

There is something quite exciting about a New Year.

I don't really make resolutions, I'm old enough that I've got things figured out, but I always start the new year with an urge to refresh my house. I think it probably because after fall decorations, followed by Christmas decorations my house finally looks like itself again. Everything looks so clean and tidy and it makes me fall in love with it all over again. And then I get inspired to change it!

My husband has been working from home since last February so my biggest priority it to change our study/library into more of an office just for him. I selected a new desk chair and recliner which were delivered just before Christmas. Now I need to cut down on some of the clutter, I'm sure that I can probably get rid of at least a third of our books, and move all of my stuff into my craft room, which is going to double as my office from now on. I also want to change the wall color, am thinking about replacing the artwork and maybe installing a flat screen TV.

My son will be going to High School this year so it's time to refresh his room.  I am inspired by this room and this artwork, so check back in 6 weeks or so to see what I end up doing.

Lastly I want to make my craft room into more of an office since I will no longer be using the study. It doesn't actually need much decorating but I have been shopping for some new desk accessories and need to take the time to reorganize since it now has to accommodate all of my paperwork as well as being a place to scrapbook and wrap gifts.

I created this room out of one of 4 attic spaces on the top floor of my GA home. It is basically two sides of a square in shape, with a desk, built in book case and a large storage closet at the end.

This is what it looks like now:

I'll post pictures once it's finished but here is a sneak peak of a new pencil cup and calendar that I already ordered:

Are you starting the New Year with any decorating plans?

      

Summer 2014 - Tuscany

Have you made plans for the summer yet?

The nice thing about booking your vacation now is that not only does it gives you lots of time to plan what to do whilst you're there, but it also gives you lots of time to get excited about where you're going. I love to have something to look forward to. Don't you?

Last year we rented a cottage in England and we LOVED it.

It was one of our favorite vacations ever, so this year we decided to rent a villa in Tuscany. I am actually really glad that we booked it when we did because the villa that we wanted it already fully booked for all of our available dates. Our summer is so full because of visitors and summer camps that if we had waited another week we would have lost it, and trust me when I say that this is the one that I fell in love with.

We found our villa at this website.

There are three bedrooms and three bathrooms so we will all have our own space, a private pool as well as an outdoor dining area that is just quintessential Tuscany. It's in the middle of a vineyard and there are lots of small towns nearby to explore. We are planning day trips to Florence and Pisa. We are also flying in and out from Munich and have 3 nights both before and after our week at the villa to see other things. We are definitely going to explore the romantic road in Germany, but can't decide between Switzerland or Austria for our final few days.

I'm having so much fun planning what we're going to see and do but I also try to balance out the busy touristy time with plenty of free time when we can just hang out by the pool, or shop at a nearby market.

Do any of you have any recommendations of what we must do in Tuscany?

      

Two Days Off

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

It has been such a busy time for us. We spent Thanksgiving at the lake and then had company that arrived the next day. It was wonderful to see them and I enjoyed playing tourist for a while, but it meant that Christmas came so fast. We have spent the last two Christmases in Florida, but this year it was just the four of us at the lake. It was really peaceful and we had lots of quality family time.

For New Years Eve we went to Charlotte to see the Avett Brothers in concert. Our children are 13 and 16 and we all had a really great time. The next morning we stopped at a premium outlet mall for an hour and Sophie and I ran into J Crew and Ralph Lauren while they boys stayed in the car and then we visited a waterfall and went hiking through a gorge. It was a really fun day.

Once we got home it was time to start working through my huge to do list. There were thank you letters to write, decorations to be put away and a lot of cleaning and tidying. I had a mad week getting both houses looking good again and then on Monday morning I had my wisdom teeth removed and everything...just...stopped.

I have just spent two whole days in bed! The first day I was pretty out of it, I slept a lot and read Divergent. The second day I was much better but it still hurt to move so I spent the morning reading The Fault in Our Stars and by the afternoon I was going stir crazy. I gave myself a manicure and now my nails are a beautiful red.

I bought a dress at the Lilly sale.

I found a monogrammed calendar on Etsy that will look fantastic on my desk.

The gold foil designs are different every month but will look so great with my Erin Condren planner.

I decided that I loved my red nails so much that I ordered "April" from Chanel. It's the perfect red with orange undertones, whereas Lotus Rouge is the perfect red with blue undertones.

Today I feel so much better, ready to get back on the merry-go-round and looking forward to my packages arriving over the next couple of days. 

I hope you too are full of enthusiasm for 2014.