Come on in......

This was the scene today from my "shop Lola B's at home" event. I was ecstatic to meet some new friends from blog land. ...Stacy from Nonpareil, the lovely Jen from Sanctuaryart, and of course Maisy from The Maisy report. What a treat to put some names to faces. I will let the pictures speak for themselves......

we have a winner...

Fin picked the winner late last night.
1. Leah Cockrum from Family matters
2. Brandie from Little Lotti
Happy Friday girls, just email me!

I savor each day....

It's hard to savor each day when you don't know what is going to happen. It takes one event to make you realize that you should. I love these babies. I would do anything for them. Anything.

Two years ago I was in a horrific car accident. I was living in Colorado at the time and I had just delivered a piece of furniture to a client that had called last minute and needed it that day. So I dropped my children off { I thank god everyday that I did not take them with me}, and was returning home and coming over a crest of a hill. It had just started lightly snowing. After cresting the hill I could see at the bottom that there were already a bunch of cars piled up. I was probably only driving about 45 mph and started to slow down.

This is when i noticed a semi truck behind me just cresting the top of the hill and coming full force at me.

I knew at this point that things were going to be bad. Real bad. The one decision I made was to grab my cell phone and hold it with all my might. The Truck crashed into the back of my van, which then forced me into the piles of cars in front, which made my car flip 180 degrees.

Every airbag deployed, and the worst part was, the seat where my son normally sits in the back was squished. Tears are rolling down my face as i write this. You can't imagine the scene. My oldest would not have survived this accident if he was in the car with me.

Because I had my cell phone, I was able to phone a friend, tell her what happened and keep the kids for the day, I was able to call my mother who lived 5 hours away to come, I was able to call my husband who was in Chicago for business, and he caught the next flight home.

I was taken by ambulance to the hospital, concussion, severe neck whiplash, and my body hurt for over a month.

It took almost 2 years to receive a small settlement from the truck that hit me, and it wasn't much, just enough really to pay us back all the medical we incurred.

But each day I thank god that my children were not in the car.

That's why I savor each day.

xo

stop the press...

These are note cards that anyone can afford, and with you bird loving girls out there, I had to stop the press and show you.

Can you guess where i found them?

They come 6 to a pack and are located in the dollar section of Target.

There. I've done my good deed for the day.

Carry on my friends....

xoxo

I am feeling inspired.....

I went to Palm Springs this last weekend, left Friday morning and returned just in time to catch the Oscars. I'm a movie fanatic. I love the red carpet. I love the drama.

*sigh*

Anyways, I was in Palm Springs to celebrate my Grandmothers 90th birthday. My whole family flew in, my parents , my brother and his wife, my cousins, aunts and uncles. It was wonderful. My Grandmother is a wonderful lady who is loved.

I took those photo's above of the flowers that are growing in her back yard, and I yearn for spring.

So, to celebrate the hopeful arrival of Spring and just because I'm feeling creative and inspired by where I'm heading, I have two $50 gift cards for your favorite restaurant. The best part is, you don't have to blog about it, you don't have to link about the giveaway {unless you want to, of course}, I just want to thank you for being a Lola B's reader.

How does that sound?

Two winners will be picked in a few days. The winners will be random and not what you comment about, but please do tell what inspires you......

xoxo

Inspire me Monday

Hello all and welcome to the first of a series called "Inspire me Monday". I asked my friend Sara from Sadie Olive to come on over and tell us what inspires her.

I think I met Kasey a few years back when she contacted me to do some design work for her. We hit it off great, and got along very easily. It wasn’t long before we were trading sarcastic jabs, and stroking each others egos, like old friends do. I even got to meet Kasey in person last year at Heather Bullard’s Parisian Soiree, which is a pretty big deal for me, since I can say I have only met a handful of online friends in person. (And I tend to be a bit anti-social). I consider her a true friend, and was honored to “guest post” on her blog today.

Since today is “inspiration Monday”, I wanted to talk the many things that inspire to me, (duh!) so here goes…..

I am inspired by so many different things I can’t even find a place to start. So I figured I would make a list of all the things I could think of that give me joy and inspiration in one way or another.

black and white + typography + old linens + wire baskets + muted color + swedish anitiques + barn wood + rusty keys + paris + silhouettes + vintage photographs + polaroids + puppies + botanical prints + burlap + nests + shades of gray + stripes + anthropologie + beaches + open fields + train tracks + broken fences + willow trees + birch trees + all white rooms + organized pantries + folded quilts in a white armoire + my great grandmas quilt + naked babies + scarves + meg ryan + wooden hands + vintage ledgers + bubble baths + hannah + my sisters + yoga + leather journals + rogers gardens .... I'm sure I could go on, but my mind is foggy from this awful head cold.

image above from my Kaboodle account, which is full of items on my wish list

As for the people who inspire me…these are the top ten names on my list today…

1. Elizabeth Maxon




2. Joe Schmelzer




3. Denise Bovee




4. Anna Wolf




5. Jenifer Altman




6. Dan Brouillette




7. Tracey Clark




8. Erika Jessop




9. Kevin Reiner




10. Candice Olson

Many of them are amazing photographers, but there are a few designers in there as well. I made sure each name had a link so that you could take a peek and be inspired yourself.

Thank you Sara for taking the time to hop over here and let us into your world of inspiration!

fashion friday

stacked.......

packed........

midwestern girl travels in comfort with chair.......

travel girl. train girl.

this girl loves her suitcases and travel cases. She hoards them. Doesn't it sound romantic to travel by train?

*sigh*

This ends a 4 week run of fashion friday. as you can see, it's not the ideas that are hard to come by, it's the planning and time involved. But, i promise to bring it back one friday a month...at least.

*dress was clearenced at Gap last summer for $28.

*ruffle boots from anthro 08"

*vintage suitcases from my own collection

{and i found another girl playing along, check Tara out here.}

when life is good.....

I want to be waiting in a dark bar with sunglasses on like this......

I want to sit in this restaurant.

I love to peruse thru flickr and recently came across these most wonderful pictures. All set in Paris in 1962.

I love the hair and the drink she's holding....

I want that skirt and to be standing by a wall of sheet music...... wait a minute.....I have that skirt!

I want my husband to kiss me like that in the car......

I want to laugh like this with my hubby's arms around me.....

{all photo's from HERE, except for one. }

white cotton sheets....

I miss the people. The everyday chit chat. I miss the smell. The feel. The serenity. Sheet music and vintage wall paper on the walls. My playlist playing thru the speakers.

I miss the sound of the shop finches chirping in unison.

I miss you.

So.

I've decided to open up my home once again to you.

To peruse my shop in a home setting.

Friday, February 27th. 10a-4p.

Email me if you would like to be added on the mailing list.

tickle me tuesday

Hello Tuesday. I picked these two pics out because they are my favs at the moment. The pink car above was taken this last summer while I vacationed in Cali. Oh, can you imagine having a car like this? I even for a split second thought about selling Mary Kay , but that was a quick moment......{no offense Mary}!

And this pic my friends, is my bike. She sits by herself in the backyard awaiting what spring brings to her. Bunches of flowers in the basket, a breeze in the air. A trip down memory lane.....

Onward.

A little bad news...............this Friday brings to you the last installment of Fashion Friday. Don't worry, I will bring it back here and there, but it'll be random Fridays.

The good news............Monday starts a new series called "Inspire me Monday".

I guess you will just have to check back Monday to see what I have in store.................it'll be good!

my real life....

So, the other day in the car I was talking to my children about college, and how when they finish high school, that there is college and that is another 4 years of school. Well, my {now} 8 year old was enthralled that you actually get to move out of the house and go somewhere else to live to go to school. So we finished talking about college and moved on to the subject of "after college, you go and get a job".

Let me just tell you it all goes downhill from here.

At this point one of my children then says to me "well mom, how come you don't work? All you do is stay home, so why should I have to go to work"!??

Well SWEETHEART, let me CLARIFY FOR YOU a few things.....

Do you like the dinner that was made for you last night?

Do you like having someone helping you with your homework?

Do you like having clean clothes?

Do you like that I care that you have clean fingernails?

{oops, this pic of Fin falling asleep on the floor while I blogged wasn't supposed to be here}

Do you like how I help in school? Do you like how I bring your tennis shoes to school for you when you forget?

I might not work outside my home anymore and make any money doing what I do, but I sure feel good about where I'm at.

{ Trying to juggle the shop, the home, the kids, and the hubby, is a piece of cake. It's the finger nail clipping that's the work let me tell you. really.}

The day has come...

Eight years ago, I had my first baby, and he was a boy. We were living just outside of San Francisco in a lovely town called San Mateo, I was working for a pediatrician full time, and we named him Mason.

This boy LOVES the water so much, that he's going to be on a swim league this summer. He spends a full week by himself each summer in Florida at his grandparents home at the beach. He truly fits the mold of first born. He's kind, he's loveable, he's smart.

He loves the little guy and fights with his sister {he love's you too Lola, he just doesn't show it very well}. He's adjusted with our move here, he's made good friends, he is a good friend.

Mason loves to surprise. What parent wouldn't love waking up Valentines morning to a little heart hanging from the kitchen ceiling?

This is Mason, and my baby is Eight years old today.

xo