What a wonderful weekend we had! My mom had both boys this weekend {well, for 1 night}! It was our first time having the night off from #2… I had this great idea that I would sleep in with not having baby duty and all, but my internal alarm clock still woke me up at 7 a.m.! That is so no fair!
My hubby and I won a night at the W Hotel in downtown Atlanta from an auction, so we cashed it in on Friday night. We had the BEST time! We went into the quant and ultra urban Virginia Highlands for dinner and had thai food at Surin. So yummy! Afterwards, we walked and shopped and people watched.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel and joined a party that was being hosted by some company and all hotel guests were invited. Well… it was a party hosted by Snoop Dogg. We dipped out after about 10 minutes and went downstairs to a more quiet bar. I had the best drink EVER! It was the Bartender’s Choice. It had fresh raspberries, bourbon, fresh ginger, honey and lemon juice. It was so yummy!
We then went back to the room and rented Hall Pass. Hilarious! Saturday morning, we had a yummy breakfast at the Flying Biscuit and then off to my 75 minute massage at Bliss, W’s spa {my hubby knows how to take care of me}.
After checking out, we went to the infamous Paris on Ponce. It was OUT OF CONTROL! It is this crazy antiques place with about 1,000 mannequins, and a place called “The Vault.” It was definitely a unique place to see… not sure if I will ever go back- not my cup of tea We then finished up our weekend in Senoia. It is home to tons of movies, like Driving Miss Daisy & they still film Drop Dead Diva there! We had lunch at Redneck Gourmet & did a little shopping in the cute little boutiques. We then hit the road to my parents and had a great afternoon splashing with our boys in their pool.
What a great weekend! Thanks mom, for keeping the boys & even though it was for just one night, Saturday night felt like a mini-vacation, too! You’re the bestest!
One’s about to roll out…
I am FINALLY getting closer to rolling out with my first chair. I love her soooo… much! I just keep looking and touching all of her fabrics. I have no idea how I will ever sell any of these- I am too attached already! Oh well, I guess my first sell will make it much easier to let them go 
I wanted to share the fabrics that are going to be used, as well as what design I created…
I went with a tree. I love trees. I love the symbolism, how you can take each element of a tree and use it in your everyday life. To me, the tree means… the roots (establishing values and our Christian beliefs with our children, knowing where we came from and looking up to have faith in where we are going), the trunk (to be strong, stable, independent, and a crutch for someone who needs you to lean upon), the branches (reaching out to help others, to grow personally, and to provide shelter) and the leaves (to remember to loosen up and be free like the wind and to take the time to feel the sun upon your face).
When I think of a tree, I automatically think of my grandmother. She is so strong, tough as nails, a true southern woman, a great Christian woman who always made sure that I had a relationship with the Lord. To me, it is only fitting to dedicate my first chair to her… not sure what to name her yet… stay tuned!
With a 3 month old and a 3 year old at home, I decided to take a little ‘break’ from the hustle and bustle of Divine Living Interiors. When I was pregnant with my first, I had a hard time letting go of parts of ’me’. So, I made it a point to have a life outside of our home. During those 3 years I worked really hard to make a name for my self in the design world and loved every minute of creating spaces, having adult interaction, and helping support my family. When I got pregnant with baby #2, my feelings didn’t change… I knew I wanted to keep working.
But one night something really strange happened to me- I saw the bigger picture. I looked at my 3 year old and couldn’t believe how fast those 3 years had flown. So, I decided that my babies are far more important and that I only have them for a few years before they start not wanting to be around me.
With all of that said… I have put a little hold on designing for now. I am definitely open to small projects, e-projects, and consultations and creating my chairs (more to come on that). So, keeping up with this blog, rearranging my own home, and driving my hubby batty with having paint and fabric swatches all over our house is plenty for me at this moment!
at our vacation in May
One of my neighbors and dearest friend, Ileana, just welcomed her 3rd baby boy last Tuesday. Tonight was my turn to make her and her family dinner… apparently, taking meals to new mamas is only a southern thing! When I mentioned it to people, they looked at me like I had 6 heads and 24 eyeballs.
Obviously, they are northern transplants However, they obliged and agreed to adopt this southern-ism!
Well, you just can’t take over a meal- you’ve got to bring a gift, too! So, I made baby Landon a set of homemade burp cloths to go along with the lemon pepper chicken (courtesy of Publix chefs), feta mashed potatoes, balsamic and honey green beens, rolls (out of the freezer section, but they tasted homemade), and chocolate chip cookies.
I thought I would show you how to make your own burp cloths and share the mashed potato and green bean recipes. Enjoy!
Honey Garlic Green Beans
Ingredients
- 16 ounces green beans
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Add the beans and blanch them for 2 minutes. Immediately remove thebeans from the water and add them to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Drain.
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and green beans. Cover, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, then stir in the vinegar, honey, onion powder, and salt and pepper, to taste. Cook to desired degree of doneness, about 4 to 6 minutes.
- Transfer the beans to a serving bowl and serve.
(thank you foodnetwork.com)
Feta Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 (4 ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
- Place the potatoes and garlic in a large saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain and transfer to a mixing bowl; mash. Add the feta cheese, cream, salt and pepper; beat until fluffy.
(thank you allrecipes.com)
Happy 2011! January 1st always gets me in the mood to get organized and to plan out what it is that I want to do during the year. We have so many awesome things happening for us at Divine Living Interiors this year, I just couldn’t wait for the new year to come!!
I am so excited for the new projects that are coming up… both residential and commercial. We have been fortunate enough to be working with Sysco, which is a food distrubution company. We will be putting in a huge kitchen showroom for their vendors to use and showcase their new products! We have a couple of family room projects getting ready to start up, too… so with all of this work coming our way, we decided it was due time to get started on the “resource room.”
Part 1 of Divine Living Interiors “resource room” turned Studio…
The resource room started out as a small 11′ x 6′ space in our basement that I wanted to finish out to store all of the fabric books, and design catalogs… well, because of how blessed we were last year and what we hope to acheive this year, we decided the 11 x 6 just wouldn’t cut it… so now we have moved the project to cover half of our basement! Here are pictures of the future Studio…
The future studio!
The future storage/command center!
The future bathroom!
The first step is getting Mr. Luke, from Coda Electric, out here to get all of the electrical going (which starts this weekend, yippee!!) Here’s a glimpse of the electrical plan…
Stay tuned to see the progress of our Design Studio! Hopefully, we will have it all finished up by the time baby 2 gets here in April!! Nothing like a deadline to get things movin’ along!
