stylist Thea Beasley

Do you subscribe to Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles?  If not, you should.  Please check out a few images of stylist's Thea Beasley's home near Atlanta.  I'm loving it.

One day I too want a fireplace filled with crushed oyster shells

It's a small world, too.  I just found her blog and realized that she was the stylist for photographer Rob Brinson's images (well, some of them anyway) that I posted the other day.  Even with 5 million people, Atlanta is not such a big city afterall.

Are y'all shopping today?  I can't do it.  I did buy some gifts from Brooke's shop Pure & Noble since she is having a little sale and am planning to take advantage of Ceri Hoover's 20 percent off.  I'm buying handmade this Christmas!

Julie

random (tired) yumminess

kelly green swan chair 

home office from a home tour in this month's Southern Living Magazine

(I need one now!)

great quote from quote blog--I will dig up her blog and link it!

picture of the kind and laid-back Daryl Carter from the other week

at Urban Electric Co. in Atlanta (yours truly is cropped out)

He had patches on the elbows of his jacket--I have a thing for professory blazers.

perfect creamy front door

soft contrasts

(both images via Farrow & Ball)

LOVE this monochromatic first look with the strong lip color

(J Crew)

chambray shirt & sequin skirt--too good

J Crew

(both via The Neo-Traditionalist

and a perfect sunny fall day

enjoy your Wednesday.....Julie

You're Invited!

I am not quite sure why I wanted to put together a little gathering--it was just on my heart to do it so I did!  Sorry I can't pay for everyone.  Who knows, maybe one year it will by my treat!

I can't tell you how much Chris and I love this restaurant.  It is our date night place....and one of the inspirations for the design of our home!  Check out its glory:

(image James Camp Photography)

do you spot lotus flower love?

Here is the menu Jennifer prepared especially for us....

wood fired margherita pizza 

spinach - fontina - prosciutto - caramelized onion pizza 

pancetta bacon - slow cooked onion pizza

fromage & charcuterie 

salt & pepper fried calamari 

hanger steak - chimichurri sauce 

van gogh’s crab cake - vanilla citrus beurre blanc 

goat cheese ravioli - sweet tomato sauce 

white truffle & parmesan frites 

house cured salmon pastrami - grilled pumpernickel - horseradish creme fraiche 

mini red velvet cupcakes-cream cheese icing 

$25 per person

cash bar


Please email us if you want to come.  We'll have a blast!


If you out-of-towners want to make a little trip of it, I'll get a sitter for Friday morning and we can go shopping and grab lunch.




I probably won't post as often this week, for I am writing two articles for the holiday issue for Rue!!!  Aren't you excited?  The spaces, again, are to die for.  I'll do my best to snag a sneak peek for y'all.  

Anisa has a great home tour to show you this week, too.  Here is a sneak peek of the home she designed along with the homeowners:

And a little cuteness--look at little Wyatt's preschool photo.  I can just eat my boys' cheeks.

I love my anthro.

Yesterday I made a quick trip to my Anthropologie, as I so lovingly call it, the one at Perimeter Mall in Atlanta.  I love Lenox's Antrho, too, don't get me wrong--I'm just a Perimeter kinda girl.

The place never lacks for inspiration.  Just when I think I've seen it all they place something I've seen a million times in an entirely new way--it is all about their styling.  (Note to self:  Interview Antrho's stylists for the blog)

Check out the floor lamp above.  Huge, chunky & soft.  My kinda lighting.

And check out these lights in the bath section.  Love, right?  How cool would this be at your own home above your built-ins, or perhaps in the kitchen (like this home I saw on

Full House

That's all I got for now.  I have a big interview today-if it goes well then I'll have good news to tell, and if it doesn't then I'll have a good story.

Happy Tuesday!  Julie

so why not dream big? (darryl carter & new clothes)

That is what Oprah has always told us, right?  "Well, this dream came true for you.  Now you'll have to go and get yourself another dream", I can just hear her telling a young guest who is amazed at their new-found stardom.

Think about this guy, Darryl Carter, not too long ago when his days were filled with studying for the LSAT and reading over legal documents.

  Now, flashforward to today--he is launching his new line with Urban Electric and he recently designed furniture for Thomasville.  Not-too-shabby for this lawyer turned decorator.

I am tickled to be invited to meet this master of neutrals, among other things.

I have yet to read his book, but I am looking forward to snagging one so I can bend his ear for a minute. There is really nothing not beautiful I have seen from his rooms.  He seems to collect like Suzanne Kasler (I adore how he styles his tableware), and has a love of white and mixing like Vicente Wolf.  Yet I find him warm and classical and soft and strong at the same time.  (He kinda looks that way, too)

I am excited to actually have some events I need to "dress" for, you know?  My boys being four and two, I have lived in Target tops and yoga pants for years  (but I still had to wear some cute Converse and funky earrings with them--my mom always preached to us that "Life is not a dress rehearsal."  That has stuck with me--even in the baby fog years)

So I've got a few fun events coming up this fall and winter...

Darryl Carter at Urban Electric, big Arteriors sample sale, SCAD students' art at West Elm (Savannah College of Art & Design), Sherry Hart giving a little lesson on styling at the Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Christmas House, The Lavish Conference, and Better Homes & Gardens coming to shoot!  Aside from marrying Chris and birthing these youngins', this is about the best year of my life.  

I want to work with what I already have, but I do want a few fun things:

a sequins tank

j crew

some dark boot cut jeans

gap

love this ruffled military coat (cute with jeans or a pencil skirt and tall boots)

Ann Taylor Loft

And this heather gray jacket

j crew

With these pants...

J crew

a plan white tank

gap

And these amazing necklace..

J Crew

Can you picture it with some heels?

And a few more things....

Would love this with jeans

Free People

and these babies...

Free People

with some long, cotton socks

Free People

And a velvet blazer

Anthropologie

almost done...look at these!

Free People

And lastly, check out this outfit from Paris from South of Market's Blog

How great is her outfit!!??  Can I wear this at 37?  Maybe if the skirt was a little longer?

Happy Wednesday.......Julie

wallpaper wednesday & recipe

So yesterday I had such a blast going to ADAC with Sherry and Ally.  We were like kids in a candy store looking at fabric from Lulu DK (my favorite), Celerie Kemble, Oscar de la Renta and Designers Guild.

(my favorite wallpaper find of the day was "Rugosa" above by Designers Guild.)

Before we met Ally, Sherry was kind enough to show me some of her favorite, tucked-away resources.  We were so in love with what we found there we couldn't even talk  (the only time this happened the entire day.)

A set of six vintage vinyl chairs

A brass coffee table from Paris.

2 stout, cream lamps with glass bases.

what unique chairs!

this huge, heavy (and pricey) Parisian mirror

and more wallpaper....

"Serena" by Manuel Canovas

"Opera" by Cole & Son

and "Rugosa Garden" by Designers Guild

I would LOVE to use Rugosa in our hallway.  Our entire home is so white, which I love, but having a dark and romantic hallway would be so fun.

And here is the recipe for meatloaf from Southern Living (I am a day behind in my recipes.  How did that lady who used the crockpot everyday for a year do it?!

2 lb ground round

1 (1 oz) envelope dry onion soup mix

1 cup (4 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

3/4 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs

1 large egg

1 Tbsp Worch. sauce

1 cup ketchup, divided

1 Tbsp light brown sugar

1 tsp yellow mustard

1.  Combine first 6 ingredients, 1/2 cup ketchup, and 1/4 cup water; shape mixture into an 8 x 4 inch loaf.  Line bottom and sides of a 4-quart oval shaped slow cooker with aluminum foil, allowing 2 inches to extend over sides.  Lightly grease foil.  Place loaf in slow cooker.

2.  Stir together brown sugar, mustard, and remaining 1/2 cup ketchup; spread over top of loaf.  Cover and cook on LOW 5-6 hours or until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees.  Lift loaf from slow cooker, using foil sides as handles.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.  NOTE:  You may also prepare in a 5-qt slow cooker.  Cover and cook on LOW 3 1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees.

Have a good one!  Julie

"use what you have" decorating

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments about the upcoming shoot with Better Homes & Gardens.  Still can't believe it...we are beyond excited.  I promise to fill you in on what I can....I do know a few people who will be here:  the editor locally is Lisa Mowry, the Senior Editor for BH & G is Oma Blaise Ford (who will also be in Atlanta for the Lavish! Conference ) and the stylist will be Annette Joseph.  


I am tired today because I went to see a friend's band (East Ponce Soul Faction) play at a bar Saturday night.  I really don't feel like I've been to a bar in ten years.  And we stayed to hear them play their last song--I'm so proud of myself.

I had a blast.  I like doing it once or twice a year--how did I ever do it every weekend?

Do you know who they opened up for?  A band called "Dumpstafunk"  (Aaron Neville's son).  There is nothing more I can say about that name.

Okay...on to decorating.

We're about 75% completed with the home.  They wanted "Restoration Hardware meets Veranda meets Modern meets Worldly".  Tall order.

via designcliq

via Restoration Hardware

I am calling this "decorate with what you have" because, let's face it, most of us are on a budget.  I have never known anyone who hires someone to decorate carte blanche (but how fun would that be?!).  Most of us create our rooms over time...

So here we are keeping the older sofa.  We restuffed the pillows and added some new ones.

When they moved into their home six years ago she was pregnant, so when her aunt offered to give the walls a faux treatment like Tuscany, they happily accepted.

So the wall color(s) is staying, and we are working with it (it was very expensive)  

We have added a modern floor lamp, a tolix-ish stool, and a few accessories to give her that Veranda feel.  (wall decor is in the works as well)  The leather club chairs are new, along with the rustic coffee table, but the rug and armoire are what they have had for a while.

One must-have for her (and large-ticket item) is this driftwood mirror from Arteriors.

She really wanted it on the mantle, but I wanted to stress to her how beautiful this mirror would be in her formal dining room.  She couldn't see it, so I thought I would just show her.  I loaded up my own lamps from my entry room to try to get the point across.

I ended up selling my chrome lamps!

She felt so bad she went out to try to replicate them for me...

She didn't do too bad!  (This is full service decorating, people :)

I know we're not done, but I do feel it coming together.  I think with even a budget of $500 you can get someone to help rearrange what you have, "shop" and repurpose from your own home, and EDIT!  I think editing is key...and everything.

So I'm going to get some much-needed sleep.  I'm not going to apologize anymore from my rambling posts...if you have read this blog before you're used to it!

Have a good one........Julie