Lucy's Lounge at Tutti Chic

Brimfield Or Bust........

Heading to Brimfield with a friend on Thursday & we have all our favorite vendors lined up to see.  Our first stop has to be "when lindy met sandy's" booth. They carry the most gorgeous vintage couture prints on the planet! Gonna snag one of these for my office in the largest size available & in a chunky weathered frame. My pal peggy snagged the most gorgeous print of Jean Shrimpton (a popular 60's model) framed in a chunky, weathered lime green frame-FABULOUS! I saw it & now I have to have one! I think I'll grab an Audrey Hepburn since I've always loved her & people used to say my mom resembled her when she was young. Take a look at this gorgeous print that Peggy snagged......

 Now imagine it framed in a wide lime green weathered frame!

 I LOVE this one but would choose the wide, weathered frame. Not sure if I'll go with black. So many to choose from I hear!

 Love this one too & really love the word "COUTURE" at the top. I'm sure I'll be spending lots of time trying to figure out which one to bring home. Bringing a huge SUV & plan on stuffing it to the brim. I'll post when I get back. Are any of you planning on going to this week? If so HAPPY SHOPPING! :) xo 

 

 

TGIF........

 Leaving you all with a gorgeous Flickr collage~There hasn't been much time to blog. I miss taking pretty photos & connecting with fellow bloggers & hope to catch up in the next week or two. For now....enjoy this beautiful collage I found while surfing thru flickr. Spring is here, although in new england it feels more like summer this week!  Doing lot's of spring cleaning inside as well as out. Lots of work but so worth the end result~yes? Enjoy the weekend my friends! xoxo

Seriously Salvage........

  Enjoy some photos of my very favorite salvage yard in Rhode Island~

 I'm going back for this one!

  

 

 

 

 

 I LOVE old black urns~

 Picked these out for a garden client's garden area~

 

 

 

 We're off to the Cape this weekend to shop route 6A. I get the best ideas for pretty house colors &  the best garden ideas on this gorgeous stretch of road as well as shop some of the best antique shops! There are also so many lovely vintage boutiques to stop at along the way also. My anniversary is on Sunday (29 years YIKES!) so this will be a nice way to spend the weekend with my hubby & our two dear friends who are coming along. I hope you are all doing something fun too this weekend! xo

A Scared Ricky & A Pretty Bouquet....

 This is a photo of  what my hubby looks like as we start to plan my daughters wedding! Poor Ricky!!! Thank you all for your kind well wishes on my daughters engagement!

   Just picked from the garden & placed in my favorite Mackenzie-Childs vase~have a wonderful week! :)

   

Sally sells seashells down by the seashore....

Do you remember that funny little sentence we used to say when we were kids & how everyone screwed it up? When I thought of posting about my love of seashells (mostly white & pink) that silly sentence came to mind. Here are a few photos of some pretty shells shot down by the seashore! I haven't made my shell mirror yet or have I added a shell design to my beach house mantle yet & the summer is almost over! I think these will have to be winter projects now when the pull of the ocean isn't so great & I'm mostly indoors complaining about the cold weather...brrrr....Do you love seashells too? Have you finished any pretty projects incorporating pretty shells? I'd love to hear! Have a wonderful week~xo

 A beautiful conch shell~

Don't you just LOVE a crushed white shell driveway?!

 Isn't this a funny little house? Looks just like a conch shell!

Such a lovely shell print~

 

Simple & elegant~

 

gaga over aga......

 Most of us are really kitchen dwellers yes? We seem to always gravitate towards the kitchen as the focal points in our cozy homes. Being Italian, the kitchen is the center of my world! LOL! I LOVE to eat & I LOVE to feed people! The coffee is always on & whether it's a  visit from family or friends, we most always end up in the kitchen. Have you ever noticed that when you are entertaining that your guests most always crowd into the kitchen & seldom seem to move out unless they are enticed out & into another room? It's hyseterical. This is why my kitchen is so important & the room I most always decorate & re-decorate first. My love affair with stoves started some years ago. 10 years ago the "must have" stove on my list was a wolfe or a viking. Today it's the awesome AGA stove! Since we built our home about 24 years ago & didn't have any of the fancy schmancy appliances in the budget, I settled for double wall ovens & a jennair cooktop complete with pancake griddle & grill. This made me happy for a long time until I really started cooking & appreciating what a fabulous stove could do (not to mention look like in a pretty kitchen) We added granite, painted cabinets, replaced hardwood in the kitchen with Italian limestone & took out the white appliances & added stainless steel. However, because I didn't want to get into a major renovation of the kitchen (always thinking I would save that for my dream home near the water) I never added a viking or my true love "the aga." These ranges in a variety of colors are a thing of beauty! I have a garden customer that owns a bright red one & she doesn't know how she did without it for years. It makes her kitchen cozy & warm & she turns out some wonderful recipes! Here is a description right from the aga site~ Beneath the classic looks of every Aga is a heart of cast iron: the entire cooker is an outstandingly efficient energy store, steadily transferring the heat from its core into its ovens and hotplates. An Aga is always ready to cook instantly and there are no switches and dials because the Aga looks after itself. Thermostatic control maintains consistent temperatures while high levels of insulation within the outer casing and beneath the Hotplate covers ensure that every Aga uses fuel economically. The Aga releases a unique source of gentle, friendly warmth into your kitchen . For me, this may be the ultimate cooking machine. What type of range would you love to have in your kitchen right now? I'd love to hear! Hope your valentines day was a sweet one ~we got together with dear friends & the guys cooked up a fabulous meal for us. There were 4 men scurrying around my kitchen saturday night & the outcome was fabulous! A big thank you to our men  from your grateful & very stuffed women! I swear I won't eat for a week! I'll post some photos when I get them~xo

 

 

 

 

Brrrrrrrr......

 This is how we look here in new England right now! The temperature today got up to a very warm 5 degrees & we have so many clothes on when we go out that we aren't recognizing each other! I walked right by a good friend at the grocery store today we were so bundled up.LOL! I swear when I left the gym today at 8 am my sweat actually froze to my body during my trek to the car! I know...kind of gross but that's what happened!LOL!  My sisters (always kind) boyfriend surprised me with a lamp that mimics sunlight & I've been sitting under it twice a day for 15 minutes a pop. It's working wonders along with daily cardio at the gym. I have 3 great days of ultra healthy eating under my belt & I meet with the trainer tomorrow. I trained with him last year & he is the "KING OF TORTURE"~I need him to be tough-I'm up for it. Feeling soooo much better this week! Lots of new projects to finish up this weekend & doing a lot of decorative painting on different surfaces. I think I will take a class next week on pillow making. I would love to mimic this fabulous R.A. pillow! I was at the shabby chic store at Natick Collections near Boston on Monday & just couldn't bring myself to pay 175.00 for a pillow that will no doubt get thrown around on the couch. LOVED it though~

It's always a treat to visit this mall since they have the best Anthropologie & Comptoir De Famille  along with Shabby Chic.  Neimen Marcus & Nordstroms aren't too shabby either. Have a great weekend & stay warm! xo                                    

  

More snow coming this weekend & the low temps are around for a few more days~On a light note, the days are getting longer already!!! Yeahhh! Have a wonderful weekend & stay warm! xo

Snippets & Scraps Part Deux~Christmas....

   Some more photos in favorite decorating mags that inspire me~especially at Christmas!

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 What a great idea for a centerpiece for a New Years Eve gala! I have a feeling many of these photos may be in your own collection of favorites! I've pretty much cleaned up my folders of favorite rooms & vignettes plucked from the pages of all kinds of favorite decorating mags & I only threw out two pages! Goes to show, If you love a room filled with vintage inspired pieces & pretty hues, the look is timeless & you go back to it time & time again! The house is almost decorated & hope to have some photos up soon! I am so inspired by the blogs I've seen with gorgeous Christmas decor! Keep the photo's coming girls! xo 

Snippets & Scraps....

 

I was going thru my scrapbook of favorite magazine clippings over the weekend & thought I would share some of my favorite ones! Some of these are very old & some relatively new but they all have the look & feel I love. My idea  book of scraps & snippets from favorite decorating mags gives me inspiration & lets me daydream a bit & reminds me that even beautiful rooms can look lived in & cozy.  Our own home is well lived in even though it's decorated in very light colors. I have white cotton duck slipcovers on most of my couches & chairs & once a month they get popped in the wash with some ocyclean or bleach & come out perfectly spotless. My family can put their feet up & be comfortable without having to worry about stains & dirt. Flea market finds & re-furbished pieces are all a part of our home with their dings & their scratches that make them look very well loved & vintage. A dear friend once gave me the best compliment I could ever get when she said "There is a feeling I get when I walk thru your door, that this is a beautiful but well lived in home that just hugs you when you enter." She couldn't have said anything nicer & she knows who she is & what that meant to me~xo

 

   

 

 

   

   This porch is almost identical to my great great aunt Tillie's. It looked this way 40 years ag0!

 

 

Black & White Tonight....

Just playing a bit tonight with some favorite shots & turning everything colorful into black & white. I'm having fun so indulge me for a bit.....hope you all have a wonderful rest of the weekend!!! I am so HAPPY to be the winner of my dear friend Penny's gorgeous Lavender Hill Studio Blog Christmas give-a-way!!! Please pay her a visit & look at the fabulous mosaic I won. I am in heaven! Thank you penny for such a fabulous give-a-way & for being SO talented!!!!xo