From India To Me

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I love to shop Etsy for one of a kind pieces. I especially love embroidered pieces. But I am not picky. I’ll know it when I see it.

And I saw it.

But it was sold out, so I contacted Lisa from Madame Hall on Etsy to see if she would be making any more of the dresses I had seen on her site in a size medium. She did not have any but she sent me a few pictures of this dress laying flat.

And, of course, I loved it.

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I bought it (with the help of a gift card from the sweetest lady ever. Thank you B!) and anxiously awaited its arrival.

It came in the coolest package about two weeks later. She sewed the package up with my address on the cloth. Inside of the initial package, the dress was wrapped in another gorgeous embroidered simple cloth bag. And she even sent me a beautiful embroidered scarf as a gift. Truly exceptional service. I would not hesitate to order from her again and to recommend her shop to others.

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I was not planning on pairing it with brown boots. In fact, I was going to wear it with my black fringed booties. But the snow would have ruined those. I did need to quickly grab a slip for underneath this because of the length. It is almost more of a tunic than a dress but because it is made from wool, I would only wear this with tights and leggings in the wintertime any way.

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The bright cheerful colors just make me so happy.

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I feel like this dress was meant to be mine. Or I was meant for it. It only needed to find me half way across the world. From India to me.

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Do you buy clothing items from Etsy? Do you ever feel a personal connection to an item of clothing? Does it speak to you?

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Mine does.

I’m not gonna tell you what it says.

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All right.

Just this once. I’ll spill the beans. Or beads as it were…

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With a shimmer. A glimmer. A whisper, it breathes, “OHHHHHH YEAAAAAAHHHHHH.”

Or maybe that’s just me.

Lavender Farm

If my husband’s favorite part of our Maui trip was The Crater, then mine would have to be Maui’s Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm. At only $3 a person and free parking, it is a bargain to get in and wander the beautiful property. They give you a map and a treasure hunt piece of paper that you stamp as you walk through the grounds (I recommend adults do this as the prize is age universal). My son LOVED this.

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This picture was taken on the drive up. The drive is just beautiful.

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There are many different paths. I like the name of this one.

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And, of course, lavender farms means pictures of lavender.

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We wandered through trees.

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And up high. The views on the farm are incredible.

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I even had a Buddha friend to keep me company.

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Beautiful flowers.

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And creepy girl flowers.

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My husband and I split a lavender scone. I wanted a picture, but he ate half of it before I could get the full thing.

It was really good.

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Now. My favorite part. I love chameleons. And we were lucky enough to spot three Jackson Chameleons while we were there.

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My husband said he’s never seen me so happy.

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But, how cute is this little guy?! Those horns! He is a baby. And I was madly in love. I could have spent the whole vacation up there playing with those lizards.

What are your thoughts on chameleons? Have you been to a lavender farm or eaten anything with lavender in it?

Outfit details: this dress is an older Anthropologie dress called Espejoa Mini-Dress. I am wearing the dress backwards. I would rather a keyhole be in the back. The closest dress I can find to it now is this dress. The shoes are Gentle Soul’s tall gladiator sandals and the necklace is Simply Livly’s Turquoise Necklace.

*These photos were edited using the app Afterlife’s Sailor or Bay filters (depending upon the darkness of the picture).

Antique Mirror

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Have you ever wanted to look prettier than you are? Your skin perfect? Your body slimmer? Without surgery? Then, I suggest you buy an antique mirror.

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I first saw our antique mirror in the back of my favorite antique store. I knew I had to have it. I also knew the seller was always open to offers, as I had purchased from her before. For large pieces, I always haggle, unless it is all ready a fabulous price.

I got the mirror for 20% off. It is one of my favorite purchases. The tag read “old department store dressing room mirror.” I imagined the ladies of the era standing in front of its now pickled glass.

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I love the chipped, grooved frame. The aged black specks. I love that it makes me look better when I stand in front of it. Cross my heart. This mirror is magic that way.

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Just ask Ollie.

Do you own an antique mirror? Does it have magic proprieties, as well? If not, what is your favorite oldest item in your home?

I shared this on Savvy Southern Style

And My Romantic Home

Small Bathroom Remodel Started

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Oh! The travesty of a backlog of “things to do.” It can be mentally crippling. Finally, we are getting some projects done around the house!

It feels good.

We wanted to do a quick change to our hallway bathroom. A quick change. A speedy change.

AKA, a cheap change.

We are currently one third of the way through the renovation process. I thought I would share my ideas and the current status of the project.

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We opted to keep our existing vanity. We are going to have it repainted grey. We are adding some fun legs to it. This way it looks more like a piece of furniture.

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We also added a new countertop.

I think it looks like bits of seashells Alice in Wonderland would have collected on her adventures.

We went directly to the countertop fabricator in town and asked to see all of their remnant pieces. We ended up selecting a recycled glass concrete slab and saved about 25% doing it this way. It is Icestone Sky Pearl. And even with the discount, it was a splurge. But we needed one high end item. It is a little etched from being outside, but my husband has the best outlook on this.

He said, “I like that it is not perfect.”

And he is right. We are two very imperfect people and flaws just build character. So, our cheaper countertop has some character all ready!

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I purchased the copper vessel sink on eBay almost two years ago. I believe I paid around $100. Maybe $130. I just remember it was a good price! I have found the key to purchasing copper from a seller is that it is “made in Mexico.” There might be lead in a copper sink purchased elsewhere.

There are a couple of reasons I chose copper:

The first being, I have had our farmhouse copper sink in our kitchen for five years in constant use. It has held up beautifully. I love it.

Copper is a natural germ killer. The copper will start killing bacteria in minutes. I think this is important in the bathroom. Copper is amazing!

And I just think copper is beautiful.

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The Kraus Riviera vessel faucet has a retail price of $160. I bought mine off of eBay. The pictures online had shown some marks on the edge in the photos. Which was “perfect” for our imperfect house. But the seller sent me a beautiful new one. And that was just perfect, too! I paid $50 with free shipping.

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We also opted to keep the existing mirror. My husband thought I was crazy, but it was still in great shape. I could not rationalize destroying it. For $75, our carpenter is building us a custom 5″ frame. He is painting it high gloss kelly green. The actual color I chose is called “Caterpillar” from Home Depot.

I am doing an Alice in Wonderland inspired bathroom, so the color of the mirror seemed like kismet.

With that “theme” as inspiration:

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I purchased this Otomi stencil and will be stenciling the walls the color of the blue of my Otomi throw.

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I will be using my collection of vintage crewel animal art. Wouldn’t Alice love the bright animals? Perhaps she knew them.

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I am reusing my shower curtain from Anthropologie. Because, I LOVE it!

We still need to:

Have the bathroom repainted light grey (Moonshine from Benjamin Moore)

Install legs on vanity

Paint vanity dark grey

Install 7 1/4″ baseboards

Stencil otomi design in bright blue in the entire bathroom

Install bright green frame

Rehang vintage framed crewel animal art

Sew two white bathroom matts together (if I am feeling ambitious!)

Install new toilet roll holder in oil rubbed bronze (eBay)

Install new shower rod and shower curtain rings

I cannot wait to show the final pictures! This should all be done in the next three weeks.

Have you tackled any “to do lists” lately?

Please share!