Five For Friday

I am a better person when I am happy. Friendlier, more helpful, and just all around more the me I want to be. So I was happy to find the Hello! Happiness blog and today I'm linking up with Five Favorites for Friday.

1. Dining Al Fresco
 

I found this outdoor dining set on Target's website where it's currently marked down. Our patio table, which had been handed down from my late granny, was destroyed in a windstorm last fall. And when warm weather finally gets here, I'm going to be taking all my meals outdoors.

2. Lilly Pulitzer sale

As I mentioned earlier this week, flash sale website Rue La La frequently has sales on Lilly Pulitzer and this week is no exception. To join, click here. It's an affiliate program so when you join and make a purchase, I get a credit; however, my motivation is pure: awesome sunnies, totes, and dresses from one of my fashion faves!

3. A Good Book

It's Scholastic Book Fair time at my kids' schools, and I picked up this Jodi Picoult book last week. I feel like the slowest reader on earth, but it's really, really good! The story has bread, grief, and Nazi war criminals. Read more about it here.

4. One Week to the ORC!

I have loved every incarnation of the One Room Challenge, hosted by Linda of Calling It Home, and the go-round that begins next week is no exception. Filled with bloggers I love and a few I don't know yet, I can't wait to be inspired by these pros! And then the next day to link up my own ORC and follow along with even more favorite bloggers!

5. College Basketball

Regardless of who is in your bracket, I think this sweet story from my adopted hometown and alma mater will touch your heart.

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!!

Room With an Edge & ORC Link-Up, Part Two

Inspired by my outfit choices yesterday, I created a design board, or "set", on Polyvore. 

You may have noticed me posting lots of these sets over the weekend. I'm still getting the hang of navigating Polyvore, but creating sets is loads of fun for someone who dreams of being an interior decorator like I do. There are also Project Decorate contests where someone can win $500 to a fun shop. This Classic Eclectic/Modern Edge room is part of Albertina's contest.

The textures in this room excite me. The smoothness of the velvet on the Milo Baughman chairs. The knobbly lines of the bamboo magazine rack. The gritty sisal rug. Not to mention the foo dog lamps and chandelier. 

And then there are the colors. Oh, the springtime colors! There is the rich green of the malachite storage containers on the credenza. The almost-neon of the pink and green in the painting. The candy-colored spines of the classic children's books. Definitely a room I could relax and read the newspaper in while rocking at least one of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

The One Room Challenge Linking Party begins in one week! I participated last fall by re-designing my mom's laundry room, long-distance, while we waited to move to our new house. I had BIG plans for what I would do for this round, then decided I had too much on my plate to accomplish anything significant, and now?? I'm so pumped from everyone else's excitement and the little nudge of "even if you are not totally finished, you are    further than you were six weeks ago" that I think I'll give it a go. What's life if you can't change your mind, right?! I can't wait to see what all my blogging friends come up with. :)

Eternal Spring in My Closet

"Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant clothes." 

Carl Friedrich Gauss

Spring hasn't really caught on here. Not yet, anyway. 

I'm sure it will come. But as I prepared to pull on my dull gray turtleneck for the umpteenth time this winter, I had had enough. I did some online shopping and found some new and brilliant clothes to create spring within my soul. Or at least make me happier to open my closet every morning.

There are some good deals online today, but they compound when you visit the online store through ebates. Their slogan is "where you get paid to shop" and it's true. For every purchase you make, you earn a percentage back. They send you a check. Easy peasy! It's also an affiliate program so you earn bonuses when a referred friend makes a purchase. 

Some of my new items include a peplum dress, a black suit jacket, nude heels, and several tops. 

Here are a few things that didn't make it into my shopping cart, though. 

I just love how beachy these espradilles feel. It's like how I want to replace all our rugs with sisals for summer. They are on back-order until May, however. Bummer.

This cute citron dress was on Rue La La recently but, alas, not in my size. Rue La La is a flash sale website that has some stuff for the home as well as lots of clothes including Lilly Pulitzer frequently. They also are very nice about loading my account with credits every so often. 

There was an absolutely perfect pair of shorts on J.Crew Factory today--IN MY SIZE. They were similar to these but so much better with brass buttons and no cuff. They sold out while I was discussing my spending limit with my other half. Oh well, more than likely it will be too cold to ever wear shorts again. :)

Piperlime is having a great sale today and this cute Pim + Larkin top was in my cart before their site experienced technical difficulties. But I am happy to have found a great new line that I like, especially since I now realize I am rather fussy about my tops. The sleeves and neckline have to be just so in order for me to be happy.

Old Navy is also having a good sale today and this pretty scarf is only $10! But I couldn't justify paying shipping for just one thing after the Piperlime stuff fell through and the Gap shoes were on back order (they are all one big shopping cart along with Banana Republic). But aren't the colors amazing?!

via

I purchased some leggings that made me think of this wallpaper. And, I get a free subscription to Teen Vogue with my purchase... So that should be interesting.

Are you sick of winter? Have you gotten any great new clothes lately? Anything inspired by home decor?

Boudoir

Boudoir by cosycarolina featuring wool rugs

Kartell black light
$335 - amara.com

Wool rug
abchome.com

Trina Turk LA contemporary rug
laylagrayce.com

Navy blue throw blanket
highstreetmarket.com

Framed wall art
mytwodesigners.com

Black and white wall art
etsy.com

Blackout curtain
halfpricedrapes.com

Art Filled & Feminine: Surfer Space

Art Filled & Feminine: Surfer Space by cosycarolina featuring a cream sofa

Beige shade
laylagrayce.com

Anatolian kilim rug
etsy.com

Pottery Barn beni ourain rug
potterybarn.com

Retro wall art
etsy.com

Giclee wall art
etsy.com

Wall art
gomerch.com

Accent chair
liveauctioneers.com

Kelly Wearstler circular side table
kellywearstler.com

Cream sofa
sears.com

Art Filled & Feminine: Dining Room

Art Filled & Feminine: Dining Room by cosycarolina featuring Arteriors

Arteriors ceiling light
blisshomeanddesign.com

John Richard chinoiserie lamp
horchow.com

Canvas wall art
etsy.com

Victoria Classics window panel
casa.com

Grayce round pedestal kitchen table
laylagrayce.com

Art Filled & Feminine: Keeping Room

Art Filled & Feminine: Keeping Room by cosycarolina featuring a pink wallpaper

AERIN orb lamp
aerin.com

Lighting
arteriorshome.com

Bob Collins Sons pink wallpaper
purehome.com

Arteriors wall art
blisshomeanddesign.com

DENY Designs wall art
tillys.com

Blue throw pillow
$195 - amara.com

Button tufted sofa
1stdibs.com

Pink, Pink, Pink!!

"It was a rainy day, too wet to go outside" so begins my daughter's favorite book Pinkalicious. 

Since March is reading month, today she got to dress like her favorite book character. If you don't know Pinkalicious you can read more about the story in this article about the musical that was recently performed in our area.

This is my daughter reading Pinkalicious when she was four. :)


Anyway, it really is raining here in East Lansing today (which would be a bummer except that the Prez just picked our team to win the NCAA tourney).

One great reason to develop a love of reading, especially fiction, is that it may improve empathy skills. In fact, maybe that's what's wrong with the world today. Not enough readers has resulted in a tidal wave of unkindness. Who knows?? Just to be safe, I picked up a copy of Jodi Picoult's book Storytellers.

Taste of Home

And, raising a generation of readers would be incomplete if we didn't take time to enjoy  them so here are 20 tips for how to connect with your child today. Or, maybe you'll choose to bake some pink cupcakes like Pinkalicious and her mom. This pink velvet cupcake recipe from Taste of Home looks yummy!

The St Patty's Day Home

Happy Saint Patty's Day!! (Or do you spell it "Paddy"??)

Besides being one-fourth Irish, my team (the green & white of Michigan State University) won the Big Ten tournament yesterday and are headed into the March Madness. So I'm feeling all sorts of green love today.

Let's start with green at the front door. I love the way this shade mixes with the brass numbers and mail slot. And how awesome is that lantern?!

Plan a trip to Charleston

Then there is this room. I love the graphic pattern on the drapes against the grasscloth walls. The big potted boxwood also brings a fresh feel to the room.

Kelly Wearstler via La Dolce Vita

Amy Somerville Minx Chair via Dpages 

Another way to add some green to your room is with a piece like the minx chair from Amy Somerville. Isn't this gorgeous?! Isn't it lush?! I especially love the brass base and feet.

Luxe Source

This dining room offers just a touch of green via the art as well as on the chairs and window treatments in an otherwise very white room.

Design Files

This room gets the point across with just a green light fixture and a map (wouldn't it be fun if that was a map of Ireland? Or even an Irish flag?)

Sally Wheat via La Dolce Vita

And then there's malachite (I think Laurie Jones gives such a great definition of what it is here). The drapes in this Sally Wheat room make me want to drink Jameson whiskey from this darling bar cart.

Via Coco Kelley

 These malachite roman shades are the perfect pop of green in this room that is an oldie but goodie.

Veranda

This is Shelley Johnstone Paschke, a designer from Chicago (a/k/a home of the green river) in a beautiful green room with a malachite ceiling!

Fresh American

 A perfect pattern mix of stripes and florals in a bedroom feels very spring-like.

Amanda Nisbet via House Beautiful

A perfectly boyish room from Amanda Nisbet. Is there anything more preppy perfect than kelly green and blue stripes?

Ruffled Blog

 A perfectly set table for your corned beef and cabbage.
 

via

Guinness, of course. I love the shamrock garnish. Check the link for some Irish wedding gorgeousness. 

Between Naps on the Porch

A great tutorial from Between Naps on the Porch for how to fold this shamrock-patterned napkin.

Janice Parker Landscape Design via MacKenzie Horan

Outdoor lush landscaping. I can't wait until I look out my window and see green again!

And wear this Lilly Pulitzer top over my swimsuit. Which is another reason why I love St Patty's Day--warmer weather is right around the corner!

P.S. I loved this little notebook that was available in a set of two over the weekend on One Kings Lane. They have the cutest things for your home or to give as gifts. If you've never shopped with them, be my guest (note: if you join OKL through this invitation and make a purchase, I will get a reward. So will you when you invite members. Win-win.)