Paris Flowers and The Treasured Home

Barbara at the Treasured Home asked me to confide

"Eight Things You May Not Know About Me" over at her place.

Barbara is a fun and witty Northern Californian antiques dealer and designer.  She gives great

advice on life, too.  She recently prompted us to get a family trust in place.

One thing about me is... I LOVE MONCEAU FLEURS

near Parc Monceau in Paris.

I took these photos on my last trip to Paris.  

I used to go here once a week when we lived just down the street.  After my friends, Anne and

Debbie came to visit us there, they sent me a special gift that I enjoy everyday.

(I don't know those people, but don't they look French?)
A hand painted Limoges box.

Inside is the view we had from our apartment balcony...the treetops (we were on the fourth floor)

and The Church of St. Augustin.

So special.

Please pop by The Treasured Home!

And hey, if you have time, would you mind voting for Classic Casual Home for
Apartment Therapy's Best Home Design Blog's contest
HERE?

Au revoir, mes amis.

Quick, Pretty Organizing and Talented Local Bloggers

Why not make your refrigerator pretty on the inside?

This is the inside of our refrigerator.  

The two ceramic baskets on the left are from Anthropologie and the one on the right is from Roost.

In these containers, you can store fruit and also rinse and serve it.

I bought the ceramic egg carton from Home Goods but Anthropologie also has cute ones.

There are lots more "Awesome Refrigeration Ideas" 

in my post for Houzz HERE.

My car's trunk was a mess...reusable grocery bags, yoga mat, leashes, snow chains...

 A trip to Home Goods for the cloth baskets, and a bag for my yoga mat and PRESTO!

My yoga mat bag is no longer made, but HERE is a nice one.

Easy and cute, right?

Last week, Brooke from Velvet and Linen and I were treated to lunch in L.A.
by the charming blog commenter, Linda in AZ.

I brought copies of Brooke's book, Patina Style for her to sign (one for me and one for Linda).
  Our daughter, Alie, a recent graduate of NYU is going to give Brooke's son,
who will be attending there in the Fall, some student insider tips.

Another talented, local blogger that I have gotten to know is
Annie from Lovely Things.

We have taken this walk together  (more about "doing the stairs" HERE).
 Sadly for me, she will be moving back east this summer.
But, I am happy that I will be able to follow her adventures on her blog.

And that's what I like about
blogging...
it makes the world a smaller, friendlier place!
Participating in
Wicked Awesome Wednesday
Inspiration Friday
Inspire Me Monday

Bistro Chairs and Easy Blueberry Lemon Tart

Can you see yourself taking a bite of a zesty tarte au citron while sitting
on one of these typical French bistro chairs?

Source: Carolina Rustic

These are normally around $350 a piece.  So, when I found two chairs by Palacek at a 

used furniture store for around $100 each, I splurged.

I put them on either side of the French doors to the patio, so

that they are handy to bring out for extra seating...

 These chairs are also in my favorite local coffee shop.

The lemons on our tree are ripening and are really fragrant.

 For my mother's birthday, I prepared this easy Blueberry Lemon Tart.

I made the dough, but to make it even simpler you could buy refrigerated pie crust.

There was extra lemon mixture so I poured it into custard cups and baked it along with the tart.

I love this mesh sugar shaker from Williams Sonoma.
It has a cap so the powdered sugar is stored and ready when you need it.

Pretty tasty!  Grab a bistro chair and have a seat.  
I'll make some tea.


Participating in 
On The Menu Monday

"New Classic" Beach Kitchen Part Two

Isn't this a pretty black and white marble threshold into Debbie's kitchen?

More about this kitchen HERE.

Notice how the circular motif is repeated in the pocket leaded glass doors

that lead into the family room.

I like how Debbie has glass on both sides of this china cabinet.

We can easily see and enjoy the pottery pieces that she uses every day.

As room-mates in college and again in Laguna Beach, Ca after we graduated,
Debbie was collecting blue and white pottery even then.

This little alcove puts the double ovens out of direct view.

There is a desk and cookbook library in here.

Such a pretty kitchen...

 and patio.

  The clipboards that I embellished with vintage jewelry were featured at
Vintage Inspiration
and
Very Merry Vintage Style.  Thank you!

"New Classic" Elegant Beach Kitchen

Debbie's kitchen is the "pièce de résistance"

of her lovely Newport Beach, California home. 

I am not trying to tease you with room by room "snapshots" of Debbie's house.

...it's just that she is a perfectionist and I don't like to stress her out when I pull out the camera.

She let me take some kitchen photos a week ago along with a couple that her sister took.

Debbie told me that she recently found photos of our dorm room that we shared together 

our freshman year.  We have been friends and occasional business partners ever since. 

This is her breakfast nook right now.  They recently inherited the painting from her husband's family.

The light fixture is from Vaughan.  

The floral pillow fabric is from Raoul and the stripe is from Bennison.

This is our "hang out" spot.

This was how it looked before.  Debbie designed the interior window (there is a hallway on the other side) to bring more sunshine from the patio into the kitchen.  

 The bar stools are from Ebanista.

The island lights are by Urban Electric.  I toured their factory in Charleston, SC.

They are famous for beautiful American craftsmanship.

I like the under the counter microwave (we did the same thing).

The blue wool Indian rug is from West Elm.  Doesn't it look great with the painting?

They have a full sized Subzero wine refrigerator (partay!) 

next to a bar sink with filtered water.

 

There is extra refrigerated GE Monogram beverage storage here.

The counters are from Walker Zanger (black honed granite and statuary marble).  

How cute are those tiny cabinets below the hood corbels?

Thanks, Debbie, for giving us a tour. What's for dinner?

More of her kitchen's creative details will be in my next post!

Birthdays and Lavish Clip Boards

My girlfriends and I like to celebrate each others' 

birthdays by going out to lunch together.

It is not easy to coordinate the lunch date...but it's worth it!

 A restaurant feels more festive if you bring flowers for the birthday girl 

and  party favors.

 Perhaps they won't notice this little photo, since I said it wasn't going on the blog.

This was another birthday celebration with flowers and favors of caramels with sea salt.  

Notice how the gift is embellished with a pin?

These little notebooks were also favors at another restaurant lunch.

Recently, I decorated these clipboards as birthday presents 

for two "non-local" buddies.

This one is for Netta.  She is a fashionista, an art collector, a "girls' girl" and a great mother.   

Most of the jewelry came from Ebay and was glued on with metal glue from Michaels.

 The small clip boards are from Staples and are covered with 

flocked wrapping paper from Pottery Barn.

This one is for Elita, my sophomore year room-mate. 

She has a beautiful Provençal styled home with vegetable and flower gardens...

and she is a great cook and hostess.

I am including personalized note pads from American Stationary.

Hey, I just thought of something...I would love to feature both of these girls' gorgeous homes!

Off topic (what else is new), here is a photograph I have been meaning to share.  

I took it a few months ago at ABC Carpet and Home in New York. 

 Great composition of all the different John Derian plates. 

(I wonder how many holes are behind the plates to get this right?).

Also, thank you to raenovate for a quick rundown of our home with before and after photos.

It's a fun, visual blog...check it out here.

How do you celebrate birthdays with your friends?

Participating in

Inspiration Friday

Voila. French Inspiration

Open House Party

White Wednesday

Show and Tell

Love Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesdays

Tuesdays Treasures

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday