tiny moments and the beginning of summer

this weekend marks the start of summer for us. lots of days by the pool, book reading, ice cream making, bike riding and lake visits.

i hope you all are able to let lose this summer and enjoy the tiny moments - because they are plentiful if you know where to look :)

a peony and a chuckle

peonies from my mom's yard graced the yard sale check out table. such a beautiful sight to look at all day.

and i couldn't help remembering when a few weeks earlier, i told my brother i thought my peony was sick because the blooms were infested with ants. i had been going out there everyday for a week and knocking the ants off so that they wouldn't hurt the flower. he chuckled and told me that ants love peonies and in fact help the blooms to open. :) oops - green thumb here, i tell ya!

a dollhouse and furniture

when i was in pittsburgh the other weekend helping my mom with a moving sale, i definitely got a bit nostalgic. i have two older brothers and by the time i came around, i am sure my mom was ready for some girlyness. this dollhouse was a christmas gift for we think when i was 6 or 7. all i remember is that it had a small bottle tree on the widow's walk and with that addition, the dollhouse was taller than me. i remember having some fun with it and going to the special dollhouse store to buy some furniture, and putting up some wallpaper in the rooms, but i never got crazy into it. i think my adult self would have had a lot more fun decorating it than i did when i was a child. sadly, i live too far away and have no space to give it the love it needs. i figured it would sell, but i wasn't prepared for the dollhouse to be the first thing to go. i quickly ran into the house to grab my camera to capture the memory and that was it.

while getting the dollhouse ready, we also came across boxes of vintage dollhouse furniture from my mom's childhood. i had to set up a few room vignettes just to show you all the sweetness. and before you ask, we did not sell these, they are keepers (for now, at least). this furniture is from the late 40's and was bought in germany where my mom's family lived on a military base. this is the dining room set complete with sliding glass doors on both storage pieces.

the kitchen is to die for with the sky blue accents.

and last but not least is the bedroom set - my favorite. my mom remembers her mother sewing the bedding for her as a christmas gift. notice the ruffles and the dressing table cover. the mirror on the dressing table is beautifully aged and i love that the little yellow flower pot has survived through the years.

i have such a soft spot for anything vintage, but when the vintage comes from my own family, i can't get enough!

products and a mess

i have so many pics taken that i really want to share, but somehow i can't get past the mess in my dining room right now!

i am prepping for a show at the end of june and my dining room has pretty much been useless for the past couple of weeks. this show is a bit different, so you will find my usual items, plus a bunch of new things. spy the cream buffet in the right background? yep, that is coming with me! and the tinsel love hearts in the foreground? yep, another new "love"ly. haha!

my poor husband is so understanding - i asked him if he wanted me to cart all this stuff up to the guest room upstairs and he said no, that it didn't bother him. i sure do love him, cause the mess bothers the hell out of me :)

more randomness to follow...

a walk and some beauty

i walked around the atlanta botanical gardens last tuesday and of course brought my camera since i am a sucker for flower pics (and anything painted with a child's eye).

i just can't stop snapping because i love capturing their quiet beauty up close. and the colors, oh, the colors!

the gardens have a huge orchid house and these pink beauties were my favorite. each blossom filled with the tiniest orchid blooms you ever did see.