I say “random”, but I usually steer us towards Jordan lake because we didn’t grow up near water, so lakes are awesome! We take one windy country “church” road to another… passing churches from the 1800′s, ponds, donkeys, geese, deer and lots of tractors. But we usually end up at the lake :)

Here’s yesterday’s sunset over Jordan lake…

We also stumbled across this uber cool old general store. It’s called Bynum Front Porch where they play live local music every Friday. Pretty neat-o :)

I’ve been making jewelry to fill up this chandelier… alllmost time to reveal my masterpiece… but not quite yet ;) I’ve done new things with wire that I’ve never tried before… lots of twisting and wrapping…

And Meg… in a chair… because it’s adorable :)

I’m particularly fond of the bunny shots :) We had a blast at the park, can’t wait to go back!!

Perhaps the cows thought we came bearing treats… because they inched in closer and closer to us at the fence, then began mooing in unison as to say to each other “act cute, we may get something out of it!”

I’m not sure why I didn’t take a picture of our ice cream? The fact that it was so crowded that we had to eat it in the car was a factor…

On the way home, we took the two-lane country roads… here are a few semi-blurry pictures:

After all the excitement, we went home… and Meg heard a fire truck siren. She goes from listening, to seriously listening to howling.

Next time… the beach!

There’s a cold snap here in North Carolina. It’s been in the TEENS at night… 17, 19… and in the 30′s during the day. I’ve now discovered what wearing “layers” is all about. The flip flops have been retired to the summer wardrobe box and I’ve been frequenting the weather.com application on my iphone constantly. Thank you Los Angeles for being so predictable because now I know what I’m missing ;)

Longing for the warmer climate and being cooped up inside, I stumbled across several pictures from a summer show we participated in back in 2004ish (I think). Ahhh, the 10′x10′ booth on Honolulu Avenue in Montrose… in June. And we’d complain about that “June Gloom” and the 60-70 degree overcast weather it brought… I wouldn’t mind a little of that right now!

It’s fun to see these pictures… see what we used to make and how we used to display our wares. The garden sign used to be a huge staple at the store and in the booth… feeling inspired to make more outdoorsy products because I would much rather be hanging out in a garden than stuck in the house!

If you are running around LA in short sleeves and open-toed shoes, say a little thank you and remember everyone on the East Coast (Florida, too!)… we’re going stir crazy! hehe!

We’ve moved twice in a year and we’re getting ready to move again in a month. Nothing like having all your belongings in a leaning tower of plastic rubbermaid boxes to kill your creative sparks. The good news is, after we get settled this move is going to last a bit longer than a year :) I can’t wait to show you all what I’m going to do in my office… tons and tons of color! Yippee!!!!

A little while back, we took a quick weekend trip to Charleston… it was spontaneous, like many things we do (like getting married, for one).

I had no idea it was so beautiful.

We rolled into town at about 11:00 pm. I’m so glad we did. We got to wander the streets almost alone, in the dark with only gas street lights to light our way. Old churches, columns, hanging plants… historical homes from the late 1700′s. We had our golden retriever, Nutmeg, in tow… it was a magical evening.

The Mills House Hotel was so charming (and totally reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean entrance at Disney World)… apparently we caught the tail-end of a wedding party. Stumbling groomsmen and seat assignment cards were scattered here and there. I picked one up and saved it for my scrapbook :) (a seat assignment card, not a drunk groomsman)

We kept wandering… enjoying the cool evening, the night-blooming jasmine and the lack of tourists… we had the streets to ourselves, it was great :)

Meg… with spiral stairs below :)

	Doesn’t this look like the fixtures at the Haunted Mansion?
A certain Main Street, USA has quite a few of these…

This church… so gorgeous. Can I just have 10 more faux-weddings so I can have ceremonies in every church I find breathtaking? The whispy fern garland and hydrangea wreaths… still fresh.

Creeeeepy…

The next morning… the houses that looked gray, green and dingy… were actually crisp white and had tons of color…

Next time… we’ll stay more than 18 hours… you need at least 2 full days to explore!

On the way out… we stopped by our very first Piggly Wiggly…

A few weeks ago I attended the Highpoint Market in High Point, North Carolina and whoa… I think I want to go back to school for interior design. I think I DO want to know the difference between Rococo and Georgian… in excruciating detail, too :)

My pictures aren’t fantastic because I didn’t know the exact etiquette of the show… I thought a flash or our good camera would certainly bring too much attention. Around every turn a new genre of furniture and style feature… and booze. We enjoyed cheese and wine but really, I was getting punch drunk on design :)

Julian Chichester Designs

Julian Chichester…

Julian Chichester…

I snapped this as we ran by…not sure who they are

Rachel has the catalog from this company… can’t remember the name. Their items were so wonderful. The wood was stained with deep shades of gray. Clean lines and simple design.

I think this is DK Living or Barreveld International?

Bohemian Chic at Bobo

Really fun stuff by Go Home Ltd and really pushy, yet entertaining, sales rep who was trying to get us to drink drink drink! :)

Lamps and fun 70′s inspired decor by Arteriors Home…

Arteriors…

Arteriors…

Arteriors…

Amy Butler designed rugs by Chandra Rugs… I want one of each, please.

And you know the day is almost finished when your bags are full and your partner in crime looks exhausted :) Those are Rachel’s feet in one of the two pairs of shoes she carried around all day.

We actually started the day with a Designer luncheon with Michael Payne, host of the HGTV show “Designing for the Sexes”. He’s launching his new line of furniture and interiors. He was showing us pictures of cars, architecture and chairs… and from his slideshow, I do believe he may live in Pasadena (a few houses looked familiar).

Here’s one pic of him and a few of our luncheon friends. Michael explained that nothing in design is new… someone is always knocking off someone else… including mother nature. He showed several slides of leaves and flowers and how he incorporated nature’s designs into his own line.

The outside of the Market was impressive, too… gorgeous buildings… almost 150 in total in the area. All dedicated to furniture, furnishings and decor. At the end of the show, we sat on the balcony of the Showplace, sipping wine and looking down at the buildings… I could have easily been at the LA or California Mart in Downtown Los Angeles. It was great.

This year, the High Point market turned 100 years old… they had a Beatles cover band called 1964 The Tribute and random food in small quantities… all under a huge tent. It was fun to see all the sales reps in bad suits cut loose after the busy day ;) There were catalogs and complimentary bags strewn everywhere…

And a short video of 1964, the tribute…

The nine hours we were there felt like 20… it’s such an overwhelming experience and really taxes all of your senses. (See us getting giddy and stupid/silly at the LA Mart back in ’06 Here). We only went for one day so I still feel like a complete newbie. I’ve been to shows, but nothing like this. It was my “first time to market” as the other designers would say.

Next time, I’m getting a hotel, bringing a pack mule to carry my catalogs and going to the market every single day.

Sidenote… I found this a little sad and strange… Every entry to every major building had a large magazine rack filled with assorted design periodicals… alas… nobody was picking up the “Rug News” as it was full in every rack that I saw. I’m sorry Rug industry!

I *heart* furniture

I grew up in California… I’ve been in another state all of eight months now? They said snowing here was rare… but everyone in my neighborhood has a snow shovel, a mini snow shovel for their kids and the plow king is extra busy this season plowing the roads today.

Okay okay, it’s supposed to be gone in a day or two and every school and most businesses are closed, so that shows that this is rare. But dang it, I want my flip flop weather back ;)

It started with the frozen fountain at the mall on Saturday evening… which was totally whimsical and gimmicky… then after a few days of cold weather… we woke up to this….

Oh yeah, I’ve been doing art, too… I’ll post that soon ;) Happy Inauguration Day!