Happy Valentine’s Day

Hello friends! Happy Friday and Happy Valentines’s to you. I hope you are surrounded by the people you love. Hubby and I are going out for a much needed date night. Can’t wait to get all prettied up and sip a fancy cocktail.

I did splurge yesterday on a little gift to myself – this book – and I’m so pleased I did. I’ve already devoured half of it and I’m loving every page. If you were a fan of Eat, Pray, Love then you will LOVE Paris Letters by Janice Macleod. I’m so tickled with the book that I just subscribed to receive one of her magical, illustrated letters from Paris via her Etsy shop. Anyways…had to share this with you!

Okay I’m off to get ready for my date….it takes a while these days! ;)

Much love to you all,

Ivy

P.S. I’ve been doing a ton of art so I promise to share more of it next week! More vintage treasures to show you too!

Advertisement

A few of my favorite things…French treasures

Hello all! Hope you enjoyed your weekend. I have been nursing my family back to health after an awful flu struck our home! I’m the only one who hasn’t gotten sick – somehow? Anyway, I don’t want to tempt fate so I’m just staying positive and gobbling down Vitamin C.

So, I know I don’t often write about my vintage shop on Etsy but with Valentine’s just around the corner, I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorite French treasures that I have listed right now. Taking photographs of these gorgeous objects has become such a delight for me, almost as rewarding as the hunt! Just click on the images to visit my shop and learn more about these…

I just loved finding these lovely French treasures! I hope you enjoy them too.

Have a beautiful Monday!

xo,

Around the House: Holiday Sparkle

Hi friends! How are you? It’s been quite some time since I’ve had the opportunity to share something with you! As usual, life’s been crazy but I’m happy to report that we are all getting a little more sleep (most nights) and it has greatly improved the general mood in the Newport house. Plus, it’s hard to be grumpy with all the Christmas decorations up. I do love this time of year! So let me take you on a tour of our house…who doesn’t love some holiday sparkle?

First off…welcome to our living room where we place our prized, live, Grand Fir Christmas tree. Isn’t she a beauty? I usually do this tree in soft gold, silver and touch of light blue. I crown her with sparkling branches in stead of the traditional star.

I love using my vintage items in my decorating so this antique, turquoise seltzer bottle takes center stage on the coffee table.

A frost covered forest was my inspiration for the greenery…

This beautiful, old clock dates back to the 1890’s and was found on one of my many treasure hunting trips.

Strung from the mantel with a piece of twine, hangs vintage postcards featuring birds and antique European letters.

Come through to the dining room where the winter forest theme continues…

 

A vintage printers tray is displayed on one wall filled with glimmering bits and pieces and antique French postcards…

On the kitchen table, I have featured a vintage silver bowl filled with budding paper-whites. I have always wanted to do these! Can’t wait to see them in full bloom!

A lovely, antique confiture jar from Paris holds miniature white roses. This gorgeous, rare jar is currently listed in my Etsy shop.

I may have overdone the roses…but in my opinion, you can’t have enough and they pair so well with the tarnished silver, don’t you think?

Look who couldn’t resist jumping up on the table to get into my shot – none other, than my ever curious cat – Toby…

Thanks for coming along and checking out my holiday decor. I had a blast putting everything up (with the help of the hubby)! My family gets here this week, so I may not be posting much until after Christmas. I wish you all the very best for the holidays! Thank you for all your wonderful comments and loving support! I will see you in the New Year!

xo,

Remembering Rouen

Hello there. Hope all is well with you. It’s been a long while since I got the chance to sit down and go over my pics from Paris but when my parents were here I got to do just that! Accompanied by a large mug of tea and my kitty cat on my lap, I perused the hundreds of shots from my adventure in France. Oh, Paris…there is such a sweet spot in my heart for you. Reliving those amazing days made me feel so grateful for the experience.

I wanted to share with you some of the images I captured while in the medieval city of Rouen. We caught the train from Paris in the wee hours of the morning and arrived in Rouen at 8 am to shop a flea market on the outskirts of town. After unearthing some fabulously priced French treasures, we wandered back into the city center. To our immense delight, it was absolutely beautiful and charming! A time-warp to another century with stunning architecture and wonderful boutiques and cafes.

This is the majestic Cathedral Notre-Dame, which was under restoration when we were there…such amazing Gothic architecture!

It doesn’t get much more French than this lovely bakery…

As we strolled through the main square, accordion music filled the air…thanks to this lovely lady.  We stopped a moment to listen to her robust voice and added to the euros in her hat.

Rouen is famous for it’s hand painted Faience ceramic ware that dates back to the 1600’s. This is a tradition that is still seen today…can you see the artist in the background painting away?

Here is a shot of the Gros Horlage, an astronomical clock that dates back to the 16th century.

As you can see, Rouen was a magical experience. So different to Paris, with its own history and character!

Okay, so here’s something I love…serendipity! Let me explain – a couple of months ago, I happened by a garage sale in my neighborhood. Nothing looked that interesting but then a small framed print caught my eye…it looked so familiar to me. I bought it for $2.00 and put it fondly on my desk.

I was so drawn to it, obviously it looked French but there was something else. I decided to do a little research and discovered this is in fact an etching from Rouen, depicting one of the very streets I walked down and the Church of St. Ouen in the background! It was like I was meant to have this little piece of art. Now it hangs in our entryway, so I see it everyday and remember Rouen.

Have a beautiful weekend!

xo,

Paris by Night…

Hello friends.

I am sorry I have not been blogging much lately. After a whirlwind of nesting energy, I have gutted closets, cleaned out drawers and reorganized just about everything I could get my hands on. My husband and my house appreciated it but my back did not…so I’ve been trying to take it easy this week. Hormones are pretty damn powerful, that’s for sure!

Anyway…I finally got around to editing some more shots from my Paris trip and I wanted to share them with you. Paris, at night, takes on another level of beauty and grandeur…

I can see why they call it the City of Light! Isn’t she beautiful?

Have a wonderful week! Baby Claire is due in 18 short days so I will keep you posted as best I can but if it seems I have dropped off the face of the earth – you will know why! ;)

xo,

My Parisian Baby Shower

When it came time to pick a theme for my baby shower, I couldn’t think of anything more suitable (or pretty) than Paris! After all, this little baby was with me on my adventure to the City of Light and her nursery is Paris inspired, so why not just run with it? My hostesses were kind enough to oblige and together we put on a lovely day! I felt so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many fabulous friends! Plus, I also got to use all my vintage goodies to decorate with – such fun! Here’s a peek at how the day turned out…

Obviously the dessert table played a lead role in the decor! What’s Paris without sweets? Oh and pink champagne!

My dear friend Katie was kind enough to make up a batch of petal pink macarons for the event! Aren’t they gorgeous? They tasted amazing too!

Speaking of sweets these lemon bars were to die for and made up fresh by my gracious hostess, Kathy! Thank you Kathy – I now have a new addiction. I will be making up a batch of these this week for sure. The recipe is here.

Here are my beautiful hostesses! Thank you Lauren and Kathy – I could not have wished for a better shower…

And to all my friends, thank you for all your love and support. My life is more beautiful because of you.

Feeling like a lucky girl…

xo,