Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Get Inspired

This darling little bow chair has stolen my heart! Andrea Ravert shared a picture of it on InstaStories and my obsession began. I couldn't help but come up with a room inspired by this chair. Since the bow is super feminine, I wanted to pair it with a lot of black accents for contrast, as well as a bright coral and blush.

For many people I think their natural instinct is to keep colors in a similar shade or hue, for example white, blush, gold, cream. However, when you add a contrast, like black or bright coral, it gives the room much more interest. The contrast adds depth and personality to the room. Mixing metals and patterns also gives the room extra spunk - this combination of the floral, animal print, and Aztec is perfect because the scale of the patterns do not compete with each other.

I hope this board inspires you to consider some options you wouldn't naturally gravitate to!


chair | wallpaper | curtains | bed | dalmatian print pillow | pink pillow | rug | nightstand | frame | lamp

Friday, July 27, 2018

ARTIST love

Sharing artists I've come across is one of my favorite things to put on the blog lately. When I came across today's artist, Carrie Schmitt, I knew for sure you guys would love her like I do. She recently renovated an old school bus into a mobile studio and it is STUNNING. Guys, I can't even! Go take a look at her webpage or her instagram to see all the magical things coming from this school bus.



Carrie's style speaks to my feminine soul with lots of pink and floral expressions. She also does art retreats and I'm dying to go to the one in Cincinnati next April. It just sounds like the best escape from reality, investing in yourself, and stirring all the creative energies you could get.



Her gallery is full of options for you to shop, from prints, to canvas reproduction, to products like cards and journals. Go show her some love.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Stella & Dot Fall 2018 Collection

Fall is coming! Fall is coming!

Imagine me riding on a horse, galloping through the village, proclaiming those sentences. 

Or maybe not. 

But my excitement is real: Fall is coming and I know that because the S&D Fall collection has dropped and as usual, there are so many things getting me pumped up for fall. My favorite pieces from this collection are the throwback pieces which have been revived. Our best selling Renegade Bracelet is back in a mixed metal version and it has some new companion pieces (necklace & earrings) that are so stunning. The gorgeous Pegasus statement necklace also has a few companions (earrings & bracelet) that I'm almost loving more than the Pegasus OG. (gasp!)

Here is my mini haul (can you tell I'm seriously showing restraint?!) video. As always let me know of any questions and there are links to all the pieces I'm showing if you click through to the video on my YouTube channel.

Friday, July 20, 2018

All Work, All Play

My work wardrobe is always at the forefront of my closet concerns. So when the Nordstrom public sale opens up (because I just CAN'T be bothered about the credit card users/VIP access) these are some of the items I'll be looking at to freshen up my business attire. Did I miss anything good? I have looooads of cardigans, so I'll probably pass on those this year, but I know there are some good options if you need to add a couple to your closet.
 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
9 | 10 | 11  | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

Friday, July 13, 2018

Refresher



The best way to cool off during a summer scorcher is a sweet refreshing treat. This is the best recipe I've found for watermelon lemonade - my go to poolside drink.

4 cups blended and strained watermelon
1.5 cups fresh lemon juice
1.5 cups sugar (simmer in a pan with the watermelon til dissolved)
2 liter sparkling water

Once the watermelon/sugar mixture has cooled, add the lemon juice and water. Serve over ice with lemon slices for garnish. Also works well in a punch bowl!

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Get the Look


Recently I came across this living room belonging to Texas blogger Katie Taylor, featured on The Everygirl. Katie's room has been remodeled within the past year (the new version on her blog) but I'm still loving this eclectic style. Searching for similar items was so fun and surprisingly easy! You could definitely recreate this look in your own home. All the products are linked below!

mirror | johnny cash art | oval canvas | willie nelson photo | digital graphic | sofa | furry pillow | pink pillow | glass side table | floor lamp | cart | table lamp | coffee table | candle | vase | sea urchin | rug | arm chair | leopard pillow | silver side table

Friday, July 6, 2018

Barbie's and Blue Skies

The stiff gray carpet is hurting my knees but I don’t notice. It’s that outdoor carpet that is rough and tough to handle muddy feet, so it’s leaving tiny indentions all over my chubby little knees. It’s also making it difficult to keep the floor lamp upright, but that could also be from the chipmunk hole underneath the carpet.

Beside me is a yellow and red suitcase with Big Bird on the front. Behind me is a hard lavender one with an image of a curly-headed blonde carrying a suitcase that looks just like this one. It is empty and turned upside down, the contents spread out in front of me.

It’s warm and sunny but I’m wearing my teal, Minnie Mouse raincoat and matching rain boots, just in case a sudden downpour hits and the men need my help covering up the kindling. Dark brown ringlets are piled up on my head with my favorite lace ribbon. Sitting under the canopy, I watch the other kids run off to the playground. Its dirty there, and the slide gets covered with wet sand that I cannot handle. Plus that slide is too high for my liking. Jordan broke his arm this past spring when he fell off the slide at school, and I’m not sure yet how I feel about being on one.

I pull the yellow suitcase closer and unload the rest of the living room furniture. The picture on the front of the TV is damp and wrinkled from getting stuck to my rain boot. Hopefully it dries out flat. I pick up Courtney and sympathize with her frizzy curls. The only way it looks good is up in a ponytail, so I decide to leave it. I find her favorite pajama’s, 50’s style, white with red polka dots, and put them on her. She looks cute in those so it is okay her hair is frizzy. The ugly, mustard yellow bathrobe goes on Barbie, but only because I know my mom made it in high school and I don’t want her to know I don’t like it.

On the other side of the tent, I hear my Nannie getting out the pans and the cooktop. We eat dinner foods like fried chicken and spaghetti at lunchtime when we camp, so that we can roast hotdogs at night around the fire. My aunt walks across from her campsite to see if we need more ice for the cooler. They are going to the bait shop to pick up a few bags.

The bait shop has delicious soft serve ice cream, chocolate and vanilla twist. I know that they will take me with them if I ask, but I don’t.  Talking to people isn’t my favorite thing; in fact it downright scares me. I’ll pass on the ice cream. Besides, Barbie just ordered pizza so I need to get Ken ready to deliver it.

I stay on the rug for hours, until Nannie tells me to go ride my bike for a while. My bike has new pink and purple streamers so I ride up and down the drive a few times. I can see Poppie scooping my dolls, the furniture, and their clothes back into the suitcases and I know he’s mixing everything up. I’ll have to organize them later, but I should have known riding my bike was a trick. He sits the picnic table on the rug and Nannie serves our lunch plates and makes me take off my raincoat. I was getting kind of hot anyway.

After lunch we go out on the speed boat. I hate the life vest because it covers up my face and I feel like I can’t breathe. But I get to sit in the front and the breeze feels good. Water splashes up on me and it’s cold but it feels good, too. When Poppie stops the boat, I climb up the back seat and jump in. I swim over to the ladder and Nannie lets me take off my life jacket for a minute.  Pop teases me that the fish are going to bite off my toes and I laugh. No way would a fish do that. As I tread water I consider that a shark might and I wonder if there are sharks in this lake. If there were, Nannie wouldn’t let me swim, would she? Better safe than sorry, I climb up the ladder and wrap my Little Mermaid towel around me. My bathing suit has a ruffle around my waist and it makes me feel like a baby.

In the glove compartment I find a pair of Poppie’s sunglasses and put them on. Nannie is laying in the front, sunbathing, so I stretch my towel out on the back seat and lay down to bake like her. Poppie turns on the radio to a country station and watches the other boats go by. The waves rock our boat and before I know it I’m asleep.

When I wake up we are docked and we have to walk back to the campsite. Nannie gets our shower bags and towels and I change into my shower flip flops. Down at the bathroom we wait for someone else to finish. There is a bench to sit on but there are spider webs with flies on them so I stand. Finally it’s our turn. Nannie tells me to step in, undress, then hand her my clothes. She reaches in and turns on the water then hands me a washcloth. I scrub my hands, feet, and elbows, strategically standing in the very middle of the shower because there are spiders and bugs on the walls. The rubber mat beneath my flip flops has holes in it and I wonder if a spider could craw up on my feet. I scrub faster and hand my wet washcloth out to Nannie. She gives me shampoo and conditioner mixed together in one bottle and I wonder why we only use that while camping.

Once I finish, I carefully dress in sweatpants and a t-shirt, trying hard to keep my clean clothes from touching the floor. Nannie showers next and I stand looking in the mirror at my hair wrapped in a towel on top of my head. Maybe when I take the towel off my hair will be a different color. That shower water could have a chemical in it. My hair could be orange or green. I contemplate that while Nannie finishes.

The sun is setting and someone has already started a fire when we get back. We drag our chairs over and I sit in front of Nannie while she brushes and braids my hair. Poppie made us hotdogs but he put ketchup on mine. He always forgets I like it plain. I scrap the hot dog on the side of the paper plate and am grateful he remembered I don’t like relish. My lawn chair is long, so I stretch my legs out and put my plate on my legs. I eat quickly because I know that marshmallows are next. Another relative brings over his guitar and starts strumming songs. He plays a song called “There’s a Tear in My Beer,” and I think he made it up because it sounds so strange to get tears in a beer. But I’ve heard him sing it so many times I know all the words. Everyone thinks it’s funny when I sing along with him.

The sun is completely gone and the stars are shining brightly now. I lay my chair back so I can see them all and I try to count them. Every time I get to 20 I lose track of the ones I’ve already counted. Pretty soon my eyes start to close and Nannie takes me to the tent. My bed is a blowup mattress with my sleeping bag and cuddly blanket on top. She zips me up in the sleeping bag and goes back out to the fire. I can still hear it snapping and popping as I drift off to sleep.


This art I originally made for my planner is sized for an A5. Feel free to download one for yourself here. A high-res print is available through my shop on request. This is for personal use only. If you want to get one for a friend, that's cool, just please don't distribute without checking with me first. This cannot be sold or altered without permission. xo, courtney

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

My Stella & Dot Experience

Today I'm sharing my experience as a Stella & Dot Stylist-in video format! Major apologies for my insane hair - this 90 degree weather we are having is wrecking havoc. Let's just give up and go to the pool. Who's with me?! Head over to my YouTube channel to watch the video with links to what I'm wearing OR just click play on the video below!