Life

Delusional, fib telling, scam-you-into-torture, yet well meaning women will often tell you that the creation of life goes something like this...

Luckily, I was smart enough to purchase this book about 8 years ago so I would never be fooled into being fooled by these women.

It also served as a gentle (and humorous) reminder of why I had made the decision to remain childless and would every now and then act as a wake up call for my "maybe baby?" blues.

Then somewhere down that road I determined that I might not be that type of woman anymore. While I most certainly was staunch in my position for a long time, and completely unapologetic about it, many factors had begun to break that mold that I had happily built for myself.

Meanwhile I began this journey of making gradual changes to the physical me. Drastically changing what I put into my body (and how much of it). Steadily changing the amount of time I spent moving my body. And slowly 30 pounds were shed over a matter of 3 months. Proud of my progress and determined to continue I set out on a "chest & back" workout one Sunday morning when something like this happened...

Extreme dizziness nearing what felt like a blackout...and a day later this happened...

Yep, I found out that while I'd been focused on changing my life in one way, the universe had been focused on changing my life in a totally different way.

I've debated for some time now about sharing the news too soon and had even asked the few people that did know if they could kindly keep it to themselves for now. But as I am very familiar with human nature, and even more so familiar with my own nature, I thought it best to reveal it sooner than later AND on my own terms while taking all of the good vibes I could get to help us safely through this process.

So that's it folks. I can't say that I've ever been more paranoid about anything in my life. Ever. Not about what will come when it comes...I'm just extremely concerned about making sure that whatever IT is actually makes it into the world in one healthy piece.

And there are my guts, spilled out for you all to read. Adios!

Well Hello There JCPenney

Perhaps I've been living under a rock, but I had no idea that JCPenney offered such super chic home selections. Sure I've purchased a cute lamp or two from them before but those were pretty simple accessories. These babies though...well I'll let them speak for themselves.



{ Candy Dispenser - Blue Chair - Red Dining Table - White Chair - Tie Dye Throws - Side Table - Leather Sofa }



Not to be outdone by all of the other goodies, Jonathan Adler's Happy Chic line delivers as well (but we all knew that it would).



{ Blue & White Chair - Ottoman - Black/White Vase - Yellow Vase - Yellow Pillow - Lamp - Owl Bank - Bed - Armchair }



Can I get a collective "Va-Va-Voom" please?!

Pink Lemonade Tea Party Reveal

Check out the full reveal of our latest party at Mar-Maladies.com...

Tea Party Sneak Peek

Coming soon on Mar-Maladies.com...

The Shop: New Item

Fishing for Flower Inspiration

So, I started writing this post a few days ago with the intent of publishing it that evening then I totally forgot I wrote it. Something is happening with this brain of mine...

Anyway, I'm planning a garden design for the next Mad Men edition of Fashion to Function. With that in mind I have spent what I'm sure is much too much time researching the topic for inspiring eye candy that will perhaps give my creativity a much needed boost.

And while I certainly lOoOve killing time perusing pretty pictures, I must be honest in admitting that these spaces have made me quite green...with envy, not with environmental enthusiasm.

This girl really wants an outdoor haven. Even if it starts out as an outdoor pile of dirt. At least it would be my pile of dirt...Oh to dream.

For now I'll just fawn over these gorgeous open air spaces along with you all.









{ Photos via Pinterest: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 }

Passion for Fashion #49

So I put on a ton of white a few weeks ago thinking that I could somehow conjure up a Spring day...It didn't work.

Instead I was in all white, cold, and dodging the messy hands of little ones at a 1-year-old's birthday party.

Total plan fail.






{Dress - eShakti, Shirt - Old Navy, Pants - Alloy, Wedges - Payless, Me - Disappointed}

Party Reveal - Lady Sings the Golds

Our "Lady Sings the Golds" Birthday Bash was held this weekend and the photos are up for your viewing pleasure.





Visit www.mar-maladies.com (our sister-site) for a complete look at the event.

Fashion to Function #17: Mad Men Room Reveal (Part 2)

Ok, I'm back for Part 2 of the Mad Men edition of Fashion to Function. For your reference here's the fashion pic that this room was based off of:



Yes, there's our Betty Draper in all of her gown glory, looking kinda miserable per usual...and here's how the make believe room that was based off of her look turned out:





Now if you're a long time Mad Men fan you may recall the Draper family's interior style of years past (if not you can check it out here). Don & Betty's home wasn't nearly as mod as Don & Megan's, but it still had style. With that in mind I decided to do at least one room that spoke to that era of the show by keeping some elements a bit more traditional while still keeping my spirit in it as well.





Yes, I miss the days of Don & Betty infidelity and craziness. They were bad together but I liked it.





Anyway, that's it for Part 2 of the Mad Men Fashion to Function reveal, but there are still two more rooms to come!!

A Somewhat Green Thumb

While I am not willing to jinx myself by saying that my former brown thumb has turned a definite shade of forest green, I will go as far to pronounce it as being beyond mint green, ahead of pea soup green, and somewhere in between lime green and moss green. Basically it's pretty well full of color at this point and my plants are a lot happier because of it.



How did I get to this point? Mostly by allowing my plants to be in the environment they wanted to be in versus where I wanted them to be (i.e. on the window sill where they receive the proper light versus the side table where they look the prettiest...or a surface that is close enough to the window where they won't be burned but not directly on the window where they will hang the prettiest). It is a give and take for sure, and lots of moving plants around to their best staged spots before company comes over or pictures are taken.

I also pay attention to the little homes, or pots, that they live in whereas before I'd keep them in whatever was the most attractive and pretty for the table they were on. Now don't get me wrong here, they are all still in decor appropriate milk glass or other pretty containers, but I now recognize (and no longer ignore) when it is time to upgrade them to larger pieces...or smaller pots in instances where I neglected them before and am attempting to nurse them back to health.



Allow me to introduce you to my official Plant I.C.U. as my Husband calls it:



It's the place where plants come to get a health revival. Some go from dying plants to cut stems that are left in water alone for several weeks while they grow roots...eventually being transported to dirt again to come back to new full health.



Then there is the real estate section where new/old pots and inner pots (the not so pretty vessels that go inside of the pretty vessels) go to wait for a new plant owner...one who needs either a larger or smaller pot.




I visit the I.C.U. weekly during my Sunday plant waterings making sure that the cuttings have enough water in their little vases and ensuring that those that have been put into dirt haven't gone to sh** again.

And as for those that are moving to a new home...



I just make sure that the new digs are large/small enough for them to comfortably adjust to for a good period of time before I have to change things out again.



One thing is for sure, plants don't like having their homes constantly changed or bothered so moving them to new locations and changing the pots is kept to an as-needed status over here. Again putting their needs above my own Eww-I-don't-really-like-it-there preferences.

And yes I just wrote an extremely long post on my houseplant journey, but someone out there may care to read it...so there!

Did You Know?...Box Spring Cover

Perhaps my most genius moment of the month...

I was getting a bit sentimental about throwing out a fitted sheet that reminded me of my dearly departed pooch-a-booch. The coloring was fine but it wasn't in sleep-with-it condition. So I got to taking a few baby steps to the trash and then it hit me...Use it to cover the box spring. Eureka!

Pic via Apartment Therapy a.k.a. Not My Bed

A simple internet search revealed that this has been a solution for many people and many years, but I'm taking credit for my little ounce of momentary brilliance darn it. I'D never thought of it before even though a million other people had.

And while I still plan on using my simple bedskirt to cover my less than attractive metal bed frame, the fitted sheet trick will definitely work in my efforts to hide the black floral hideous box spring fabric that always manages to peek out from the bed skirt's corners. Score for the magic of slow but steady brain power.

His & Hers Room Reveal

So I'll need to start with a disclaimer here...I tried with these photographs. I really did. For whatever reason (i.e. my lackluster photography skills) I could not take a good picture to save my life on the day I finished this project. Perhaps it was because I was pretty tired at the end. Or perhaps it's really just those aforementioned lackluster photography skills.

Anyway, here's a little background on the project. The couple was on a tight budget and wanted to keep the larger items that they already owned. Those items included the dining set, sofa, coffee table, two side tables, and the rug. Painting the walls was also not an option.


Initially I'd intended to change the rug, but that was not to be. That meant that the design of the room needed to shift quite a bit from what was seen in the virtual room design to reflect the need to incorporate the rug without competing with it.

So with a little less than $300.00 in materials and a bit of elbow grease here's where the room ended up:











P.S., I'd never seen or heard of rice flowers until the flower dude recommended these...Yes, the flower dude. He indicated that they are able to be dried without losing much of their color or texture which means that the client can keep it as a centerpiece long after the buds are no longer fresh. Yippee to long lasting flowers!

Over the Threshold

This new Threshold Collection from Target is rocking my socks. Their darn marketing geniuses caught me with an upbeat television ad and I've been all googly eyed ever since...as evidenced by my extensive favorites list from the selection:



{ 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 }




{ 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 }




{ 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 }


Mmhmm, keep doing that thing you're doing Target.

Lady Sings the Golds

This weekend I completed the His & Hers room (yay!). The reveal pics however have yet to make it off of my camera and onto my computer screen (boo!). So I'm interjecting with an off-the-topic topic in the hopes that you will either forget that I haven't finished the Mad Men / His & Hers Room Reveals, or forgive me because I'm giving you all of this awesome golden eye candy to look at thanks to an upcoming event being designed by my sister company, Mar-Maladies Events.

The client is an amazing woman who in her words is turning "Sexty" with a fabulous birthday bash...Doesn't get anymore fun than a Sexty-eth Birthday right? So we're breaking out the vintage glam and modern flash for this one. Lots or golds, moody blacks, strands of pearls, just goodness.

Here's a bit of our inspiration:

Source: ktjeandesigns.files.wordpress.com via Marcia on Pinterest

Source: boldamericanevents.wordpress.com via Marcia on Pinterest

Source: pretty-prettythings.blogspot.com via Marcia on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Marcia on Pinterest

Source: stylemepretty.com via Marcia on Pinterest

Source: ohhappyday.com via Marcia on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Marcia on Pinterest

Source: tasselsandtwigs.blogspot.com via Marcia on Pinterest

Yes Honey, just Yes!


You can check out more ideas for this party on our Lady Sings the Golds Pinterest board and check back here for those (ultra tardy) room reveals and eventually the pics from this event as well.