Late week musings and a monogram giveaway!!

Hi there! Hope you are having a great week. Hard to believe summer has closed its doors and its already back to school. Sure hope you had a chance to check out the amazing guest post Michele of Hello Lovely did on me yesterday,  if not click here to visit...it was wonderful! I also have a fun monogram giveaway to announce (details on the bottom of this post). By the time you are reading this I will be in Brimfield for the antique show, hopefully busy scoring some fabulous finds! Its been a busy week with the start of school but I was determined to make it there. I will report back on the weekend. So as with all my random musings post, this one features a little of this and a little of that. Lets get started........This picture reminds me of why Fall is my favorite season..........glorious!

 Got the back powder room wallpaper done and I love it. I am now looking for the perfect mirror and basically will be done at that point..woo hoo!  Here it is.......

But first Teddy my trusty assistant as Michele of Hello Lovely has pegged him, slacking on the job.......

So happy I went with my first choice, its fresh and clean and crisp and not too formal.   Here it is.......

I was experimenting as I like to do with one gingham shade and one plain.....(just in case you were wondering)   Now have to find the perfect mirror.....until then, vanity be damned!

I really like my statuary line and have several of their pieces in my home. I just added this piece to my island and filled it with pears....isn't it pretty!

Also took the large trivet (in my online shop) and made up a cheese and cracker tray, my phone died as I was in the process but it looked great, filled with fresh figs and olive oil and breadsticks, a few cheeses, a small tray of olives and flatbread, made such a pretty presentation.......

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Shop news......The Staffordshire dog lamps are up in my store, in two colors, already quite a popular item! So excited to have finally added  my new category "monogram mania"  to my online shop. It features all kinds of wonderful monogrammed goodies, all super well priced, discounted approx. 15% from retail with a super fast turnaround time ( as in 3 days they are on their way to you). Perfect gift! Click here to visit my shop.

Can I just say how madly in love with this that I am. I mean seriously swoon worthy right? Not exactly masculine I know I know and living with a family of 4 boys (husband included as one of them) this is a bit too frou frou for them, but man its pretty! A great way to channel your inner Marie Antoinette! If you want it, its for sale over at Tara Shaw Antiques.

Remember the hardware dilemma for my island and how I am considering changing it to an ant.brass? Well I am definite on it but figured as long as I am committed to it, let me be sure that I get exactly what I want so ordered another round of contenders and here's a sneak peek. You know I will share when I decide on which wins.....

I will use a pair of these for towels to hang on the island

The island with the bin cup pull I am nearly certain I am using...

Always like to throw in a little food something.....because of course I love food, good food that is. I love cooking, preparing and of course the best part....... eating!  This is a winner and sooo easy!! It is  super satisfying and great for no guilt eating, it is a salad afterall but chock full of all the "good stuff".

 Tex Mex Salad

Serves 4-6 (main dish)

Serves 6-8 (side dish)

Ingredients:

2 heads romaine lettuce

2 avocados (chopped)

1 cup frozen corn (defrosted) or fresh (if it's in season)

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 Tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup sour cream or reduced fat sour cream

1/2 cup salsa

2 teaspoons chile powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend, plus more for garnish (you can use more if you are like me and LOVE cheese)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped plus more for garnish

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 limes

Tortilla Chips ( I bought the tortilla strips in a bag if you can find them)

Directions:

Make black bean and corn relish.  Combine black beans, corn, red onion and red bell pepper.  Pour over white balsamic vinegar (or other light vinegar), squeeze the juice of 1/2 of a lime, season with salt and pepper and allow to sit for a half an hour or up to one day.

For the salad dressing.  Combine sour cream, salsa, the juice of half a lime, chile powder, cumin and salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Every salsa is a little different so you may need to add more salsa or add more sour cream to reach the desired consistency for your dressing.  Taste it to see if you would like to add any more of the seasonings as well.

For the main salad.  Chop up romaine lettuce.  Add avocado, black bean and corn relish, cheese and cilantro.  Pour over dressing and toss to combine.  Garnish the top with more shredded cheese and a bunch of cilantro.  Serve with cut up slices of lime and tortilla chips.

If you would like to serve this as a main course, I would suggest adding some grilled shrimp, chicken or  sliced flank steak. 

Have you seen Ralphs latest collection? Yes, that Ralph as in Ralph Lauren...you don't know we are on a first name basis? :) What can't he do? Every one of his collections is just so spectacular! DROOLWORTHY.  These images tell me one thing....take me there NOW!

 Finally the giveaway! To celebrate the Monogram mania intro to my online shop, I am offering one lucky winner a box of 6 monogrammed soaps customized to their specifications. All you need to do is go to my site, check out my newest additions in the Monogram mania section and come back here and tell me a fave. That's it. I will announce a winner on Sunday. Click here to visit.

So that's about it for today. Wishing you a wonderful day. Be back over the weekend to announce a winner!! Remember, if you are anonymous, I have no way of knowing who you are, unless you use your first name and first letter of your last name in the body of the comment. Ditto for those of who you who just use your first name, please in the comment be sure to put your last name initial, as there are often duplicate names. Thanks for stopping by.......