Bird Bakery

I love to travel and it always feeds my inspiration and my sweet tooth.  This adorable bakery served me well on both accounts.  Bird Bakery in Highland Park Village, Dallas, was a big hit for our family this weekend. It was a feast for the eyes, and mouth, and of course got my entrepreneurial wheels turning.   

Yum! Mint Julep Cupcake!

These are the cutest jars of granola.

Everything in this shop was so well-thought out and delicious! Much attention to detail.

Holiday Gift Faves

I, like the rest of the world, have some gifts to send to those business-like people in my life.  The owners of the company I work for, my child's doctor, etc.  These are two of my favorite websites to send foodie gifts from. Take a look....

This is a gift box from the New Orleans based sweet shop Sucre. 

It has an assortment of their most delicious treats inside. 

French macaroons, luxury chocolates, fluffy marshmallows, etc. The recipient of this fine piece of hand-crafted goodness is one lucky person.  Check out their website at http://www.shopsucre.com/  You'll be glad that you did!

Another personal favorite that I have been sending for years is the oh-so-yummy pound cake from Janie's Cakes out of Tyler, Texas.  It arrives in an adorable yellow, white and blue striped box that is a gift unto itself.  All of her cakes are great, but I most enjoy the vanilla poundcake with chocolate filling.

Talk about good...............

Janie's site is http://www.janiescakes.com/

Just a couple of local favorites that can make your holiday shopping that much easier.

Adorable Home Furnishings




A Savannah swing upholstered in burlap.  Curvy little back and sides.  Nailhead trim.  Cool. 

 







I love this soft, minky colored velvet

 




An Antique Warehouse Cart repurposed as a cocktail table.  Love It!

 




A neat loose, burlap lampshade.

 





It is always such a kick in the pants to visit artsy boutique stores. There are so many talented folks

in the South to "glean" ideas from.  (Does plagerism apply to decorating?)

Furniture..Texas Style

  I visited family in Dallas over Thanksgiving holiday and did a little Christmas shopping while I was there, of course.  I stumbled across a boutique furniture store on Lover's Lane called Mary Cate's that I just loved.  I wanted everything in there.







A little antique chest at the foot of a bed.  Adorable.



So cozy looking.



A fleur de lis chandelier....just what every Louisiana girl needs.



   

Just beautiful.  Go take a peek on your next visit to Big D.

Coconut Lover's Fantasy Cake

     My Mother-in-Law gave me a cookbook recently called, Somebody Stole the Cornbread from My Dressing.  Besides being a hilarious take on life in the South, it holds inside a recipe for a yummy
"Coconut Glop Cake".  I highly recommend it if you like coconut.  You really should give it a try.
Super delicious and easy to make.  What could be better?

Almost gone....... heavenly.

Fanciful Trees

I've been on the road a lot with my job recently, so no posts for a while...sorry. I did however, score lots of pictures of creative ideas in home and holiday decor. Some of them turned out better than others...  These are trees, garlands and ornaments that I have seen across the area in home decor stores.  Lots of ideas for Christmas this year.


                                              Red, Blue and Green...

Purple, Blue, Pink and Green

                                                     Red, Green and Natural Browns

This was a garland covering a post with lots of pink, green, blue and purple netting, giant ornaments and sparkly ribbon. More is more sometimes.

                                                                Glittery Ornaments

Fuzzy, curly ornaments

 And last, but not least, my personal favorites...pink and green sock monkey ornaments! So cute!

Now it is time to get decorating...........................

Finally, A New Post

     The kids are settled back in school and now maybe I will have some time to share some of the neat things I found over the summer.   They are happy to be back on a schedule and routine and so am I.  My days are far more productive when I get into a groove and feel more organized about my time.
     We traveled a bit, shopped some and ate WAY too much fun food.  I will be sharing those excursions  and delicious treats in the days ahead.
     So here we go, let's take a look and see some of the cute home furnishings I discovered....

Look at this cute pink dining room!  If I had a chance to have another go at being a single girl living in the city, this is what I would do with my dining room.  So much fun. It was vivid pink, with a jewel-tone crystal chandelier. They added in a red bamboo-style bench, amethyst and chartreuse colored accessories and lots of playfulness.

This is a bed that was used in last year's HGTV dream home.  I love the modern look to

 the old-fashioned bed.  I think I need this in my guest room.

This is the perfect combination for an office.  Fresh, fun and functional while maintaining

 a beautiful, classic style.  The black desk, seagrass rug and feminine flowers really caught my attention.  I would love to re-do our home office to look like this, but my husband might protest.

That is all I have time for today.  Stop back by and I promise to have

 more fun stuff to look at soon.