More lily of the valley in the house...

Good morning!

I'm back with a few more images of the lily of the valley bunches that I have tucked around our home.  They smell so heavenly, that I thought the entryway would be the perfect place to keep some of these...so that anyone entering our home, could enjoy their lovely fragrance!

This large, vintage mirror is the first thing people see when they enter our home.  I bought it 10 years ago and still LOVE it!  You can see the armoire we brought down from Caighton's room reflected in the mirror.  It now sits next to the front door and houses all of the kids shoes, backpacks, and coats.  We are working on a new "closet" for Caighton.

I decided to display my vintage Ball jar collection on top of the armoire for now.  All of the blue Ball jars I have are from my in-laws...they saved them for many years from their own parents and then passed them on to Steve and I a few years ago.  They are very special to me!

I currently have my vintage French dry sink planted with lavender and taking the place of the usual farm table in the family room.  Whole Foods had the most gorgeous French lavender plants when I went there recently and I just couldn't resist buying one...so the house is just brimming with good smells right now!! :))

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We will be watching this little cutie over the weekend...my niece, Sophie.

I took these photos a few weeks ago for her 2 year old "photo shoot."  She is a little pistol to try and get a smile out of for the camera!!   So like my own kids!

We are excited to have Sophie stay with us for a few days :)

Hope you all have a fabulous holiday weekend!!!

Tracey

lily of the valley

Happy Thursday!

I picked about 200 sprigs of lily of the valley from my garden the other day and have dispersed their loveliness around the house!  So I thought I would share some photos of where I tucked them with you today.

Lily of the valley reminds me of my childhood, as we always had them on the north side of the house growing up, and the plants that I started with here at my own home were from my parent's garden...it has taken a few years for them to multiply, but this year I had a lot of blooms :)

These photos were taken in my daughter Halena's room.

The vintage French perfume bottles are a favorite of mine from Maria's beautiful shop, Dreamy Whites.

I will be back tomorrow with more photos from around my home with these sweet little flowers.

Enjoy your day ~

Tracey

Decorating with Flowering Branches

~ Good morning ~

I hope all of you moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!!!

We spent Mother's Day at my mom's house, and just when we were getting ready to leave, I spotted these beautiful flowering branches on the curbside of the next door neighbor...seems they had done a little tree trimming that day.  Well, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab these beauties, so we loaded up my trunk and I brought them home!

I used them to decorate my dining room and take some product shots.  I will have some new items in the SHOP on Monday!

This vintage French champagne basket was intended for the shop, but I wound up deciding to keep it for myself :))  I do love it!

I always buy some artisan honey at the markets while we are in France, as my son is a BIG fan of honey.  The one below has been our all-time favorite so far!  And it makes for a pretty vase when empty...

I bought quite a bit of vintage French mangle cloth on this last trip to France.  It makes a wonderful runner, just as is, if you have a larger table...or it can be used as beautiful linen fabric for any project for your home.  I have saved some for myself and would love to have some pillows made from it {mom I need you to sew for me!! }  

this particular length of French mangle cloth will make it into the shop on Monday

Thank you so much for stopping by!!!

Tracey

An Update and Paris Photos

Hi!  Happy almost weekend!  I thought tonight I would share a few photos from our recent time in Paris...to mix things up a bit.  I still have a lot more from Provence that I want to share with all of you, but I will circle back around to those a bit later...

This was our fifth trip to Paris, and I can honestly say that it feels magical every time we are there.  I love simply wandering the gorgeous streets of Paris, snapping photos as I go {thank you to my husband who so lovingly waits while I take all of my photos!}.

One place we always go for dinner while in Paris is Le Zimmer.  It is a beautiful old cafe created in 1896.  Before having dinner we always walk along the River Seine and take in the beauty...

The evening I took these photos, the sun was very bright {not the best time to take photos!} and it wound up reaching 80 degrees in Paris! 

I always come home with a ton of chalkboard photos :)  I wish the restaurants here used them more!

I did try and use what French I had mastered so far while on our trip, but I found myself rather skidish about using it since I had only been taking my online course for about 3 months before we left for France.  I am loving using Language101, but I realized that I could also benefit from a little "real life" help as well.  So, I recently started working with a private French tutor.  It is hard learning a new language as an adult, but I am trying very hard! :)

There were signs of spring everywhere in Paris, but many of the trees did not yet have their leaves...those that did were that pretty bright green that I always associate with spring...

I was lucky enough to attend an all day photography workshop last week with Scott Kelby!  I loved Scott's easy style and straight to the point photography tips in his Digital Photography Book series, and so I was really excited to attend his "Shoot Like A Pro" workshop.  If you ever get a chance to learn from Scott, jump on it!!!  It was such an inspiring day for me.  Scott gave us a lot of tips on shooting landscape/travel photography and I can't wait until our next trip so I can try all of his tips out...we are headed to Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Lourdes in early September!

More photos soon :)

Have a fantastic weekend ~

Tracey

p.s.  The June issue of Jeanne d' Arc Living Magazine is now available for pre-order in the shop.  I will be photographing more new items from France for the shop next week!!

Apt, France

I have so much I want to share with you from our recent trip to France, that I thought the best thing to do would be to just start at the beginning!

While in Provence, we stayed in the lovely town of Apt, France at the incredible La Madone.  I can not say enough good things about Apt or La Madone...simply put, we loved it there and plan to go back!!!  Owners and antique dealers, Nathalie and Jean-Bernard are as charming as they come and have done an amazing job making each "apartment" in La Madone so beautiful and inviting.  I felt right at home surrounded by French antiques, vintage linens and gorgeous chandeliers...

{you can see more photos of the apartment we stayed in on my Facebook Page}

The view out those windows you see above...

Every morning I opened the windows to peek out and each and every time, it took my breath away to be so blessed to be able to spend a little time in this lovely place!

Here are a few more shots from the immediate area around where we stayed...

{atop this bridge is where I took the first photo above...at the end of the day, just before sunset}

This car was parked next to our's one morning when we were ready to head out to the flea market and I just had to snap a pic :)

I have to mention too that Nathalie delivered fresh croissants and a baguette to us every morning...she would hang them on our door in the sweetest bag made from beautiful, vintage French linen!

Hope you enjoy your day ~

Tracey