birthday wishes

My birthday just passed and I feel truly blessed with the love all around me from the little messages on social media to the efforts my family and friends made to make it special.  Not big festivities but still intimate appreciation.  I just want to share some of the fun things my birthday brought upon me.  And it’s really not about the “things” but the love that brought these things to me.

Some girlfriends planned a girls’ day which included an excursion to the Sacramento area where we explored, shopped and had a delicious lunch.  The shopping was so much fun from French vintage curators to small craft shops to huge antique collaboratives.  These fantastic cordial glasses were one of the finds of the day. My girlfriend actually spied them and insisted that I needed these.  Lol.  Any type of glassware is really not a “need” in this house but upon closer inspection I totally agreed.  I did need these.

The detail is fabulous and they will be used here often.  The funny part is that this was not one of the vintage or antique shops.  My girlfriend who was driving actually wanted to skip this shop based on the curb appeal, but the rest of us disagreed and insisted we check it out since we were there anyway.  It was a little boutique in a small strip mall with decor, clothes, jewelry etc., including a craft section for chalk painting, image transfers etc.  I am guessing they hold classes and in the middle of one of the Christmas displays sat these pretty glasses.  It shows you that you never know and you should always look around and check everything out.

Our first stop was The Warped Table full of curated European farmhouse finds.  The nicest couple own this business and they graciously opened their warehouse to us.  I finally found a ladder to hang all our throws in the family room.  It fits perfectly in this corner of the family room.

I love the hardware on this old painter’s ladder, along with the splattered paint plus the patina’d with age green color and a little bit of chippiness to complete the whole picture.

There were so many things I wanted at this stop but I had to restrain myself.  I will definitely visit Julie and Stan again since they bring containers in from Europe regularly and I love how they styled everything.  I also found a great old, chippy urn at a huge cooperative called Antique Trove.

I did not bring it home because it was not priced and they had to contact the seller.  By the time I got a call back with the price we were already a couple of stops down the road so I went back with Mister M and Miss M on Saturday to purchase it.  I love all the distressing and aging with chips and flaking.  It’s the first step to complete the top part of the landscaping of the front yard.  You can read all about the front yard remodel here, here and here.

 I still would like to find an equally aged and distressed birdbath for the other side.  I have a rough idea of what I would like to do on that upper section of the yard which I hope I can incorporate some cutting garden areas.  I am so happy I found this urn since I am hoping it gives me that little push to get some additional things done in the yard before winter settles in.  I also got some linens which you will see in upcoming tablescapes and AS chalk paint {many projects to come}.  On top of all this my family also showered me with things I love.

Mr. M made a delicious meal of Cornish game hens with roasted vegetables and crafted a tasty pomegranate martini.  All of it was perfect.  I added this beautiful huge bowl to my Wonki Ware collection which I shared here and here.

This ceramic ware is made in South Africa and this piece is by far the largest I have in my collection.  It’s called Wonki Ware because all the pieces are wonki; no two pieces are the same from the pattern, shape and form.  They are so fun stacked together.  I will create a post dedicated solely to this topic since they are incredibly cool and I really want to share more.  Every piece is handmade by tribes people.

I absolutely love the pattern on this one.  The linen table cloth folded underneath was my gift from my son and I will share it in a tablescape real soon.   My daughter was originally going to get me the big platter but she didn’t like the fact that I already knew what it was so she surprised me with something else.  She’s incredible thoughtful and since she’s working at the same store with me now plus babysitting she’s been saving and she was super proud to get me my gift.  Love her!

Speaking of the shoppe I work at, remember this post, my boss, the shoppe owner gave me such a special gift.  See the set of 4 little, leather bound brown books?  That was my gift.  They are from France and there’s one for each season of the year.  I left the Fall one, “automne” out of the cloche with a couple of velvet pumpkins perched on it as a nod to the current season.

They are fantastic.  Although our shoppe has more of a contemporary vibe we do source some vintage items.  I was tending to the store the last shopping trip to our French source and when my boss got back and showed me everything she got I was absolutely in love with these books.  We stored them in the back to bring out later and I forgot about them until I opened my gift.  I am so touched by the thoughtfulness.

I am guessing you will see these around quite a bit in many vignettes.  Looking forward to another year ahead.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

~Maya Angelou~

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