{ tara frey }:: typing out loud

to Venice...

                                                                                                                                                

     not Venice Italy, but the next best thing, Venice Florida!  Packing up again, leaving the cold here in Pennsylvania and I'm taking my mom for just a girls getaway soon, we're staying at the beautiful cottage of owners Susie & Mark Holt, they are also the store owners of the yummy boutique Cat's Meow Inc and have been in countless issues of Romantic Homes and Romantic Country magazines.  The cottage we are staying in was featured in a past issue of Romantic Country as well (and even made the cover!) We are flying in and rented a convertible, (because can you really drive around Florida in anything else?)  My Mom is so excited, since it's a little trip I sprung on her for her birthday.  She loves Venice (really anywhere in Florida for that matter!)  We plan to meet up with miss Fabulous Fifi too.  Here is a peek at Susie's store in Venice, I can't wait to see it (and her!):

Photos courtesy of Fifi O'Neill and The Cats Meow Inc

     Also, if you get a chance, pick up the latest copy of Romantic Country magazine, it's a great issue this month!  Lots of familiar faces, and names, I think you will recognize a few! I hope to report live from the sweet cottage, maybe do a "talkie post" with Mom, she reads a lot of your blogs and I'm surprised at how much she knows about all of you.  Ciao again friends and stay tuned!~xo

Ciao for now...

     Like many of you I am taking some much needed time off.   A fabulous vacation is planned and also squeezing in some business as well. Then it's time to tend to all the unattended things around the house, working on deadlines, etc..  Spring Break.  2 perfectly combined words for my tired body and mind.  I replaced my photo over there...time to change out the old cowgirl (I had full permission from the photographer, my daughter) She has approved the new one and likes it.  I do too, it's kind of grungy and vintage looking?

     What do you all have planned for Spring and Easter?  Can you believe the above photo is actually a cake.  I would kill for the Louis luggage piece sitting under it! Not sure where I got the photo, it's been on my computer waiting for the right moment, which I think now is the perfect time.  Ciao for now, I'll be back soon!~xo

Springing Forward...

     Love that it will be lighter later, don't you?!  Just to think that Spring is around the corner and soon it will be warm and sunny again and we can say goodbye to these long cold gray days.

     Exciting news...my friend is having a Rachael Ray production crew come to her home today!  The segment is about her "mommy tricks"  She has lots of them, including my favorite, setting all the clocks ahead in the house (not just at daylight savings time) so the kids go to bed earlier!  She has twins who keep her very busy.  I'll let you know when the segment will air on T.V.  The only "trick" I could come up with on the spot when she called me in a panic was that we tell the kids it won't be sunny the next day if they don't eat their vegetables at dinner.  Lame, I know...but it's the only one I could remember.  Now that the kids are getting older, we can't use those old tricks anymore, they are on to us !

     Enjoy the extra daylight time!  I'll be taking some time off for vacation and to catch up on some projects.  ~xo

White Wednesday...

     Nothing says fresh, clean and crisp (3 words I had in mind when designing the new blog) than the color white.  While blog cruising, I stumbled upon a french site Blanc d'Ivoire.  So lovely with it's french inspired designs mixed with Swedish accents as well...chippy grays & patinas...all combined to make a beautiful rustic, elegant feminine feel.  Can't you see yourself in that tub up there taking a warm milk bath?

     I love white and use it a lot in decorating our home.  For our formal dining room, (as seen here in a video) 7 years ago I purchased an all white Swedish inspired table with upholstered chairs, then mixed it up with a black floral rug and a chippy old hand painted patina hutch topped off with an antique (and all white) eight arm chandelier dripping with crystals.  We bought an inexpensive ceiling medallion at Home Depot, painted it white and it just completed the room giving a casual yet elegant feel.

    Do you know of a white/ french or swedish inspired website you can share? Or perhaps a blog with all white decor photos or accessories? (maybe even your own!) Please let me know and post a link here in the comments for all to see...let's make it a "White Wednesday"!~xo

Survey says...

     Ok, survey results are in.  Over 400 of you took the time to use your blog voice! WOW!   I'm putting them together bit by bit. This has helped the "research" project tremendously, look for more surveys in the future! I'll share with you here some pet peeves you have and some % results from the questions.  Note for clarification and the fine print!... Don't kill the messenger...The results are not the expressed opinion of the writer... and all that other disclaimer blab! Now on to the good stuff:

Some Pet Peeves: (I gathered up the most similar ones in no particular order)  These are only a few...there are so many more interesting ones too! I will save for another post later:

• music music music....a lot of people said that was their #1 pet peeve.  They suggested if you want music then to have no words, just instrumental and they all asked for an easy to find "off" button.  One woman wrote she surfs blogs late at night while nursing her baby and sometimes the music scares the bejesus out them. 69% of you find music distracting, according to the poll, while 31% think it's great.
• ALOT of you wrote that you want to see a picture of the person who owns the blog and their name.  They expressed that they want to put a face with the person they are reading about and they prefer the photo to be up top where they can see it
• when the poster apologizes for not blogging for so long and says they were busy..one person wrote "it's rude and assumes the reader doesn't have a life or isn't busy either" alot of people wrote about this.  Also alot of you wrote that it's okay-don't apologize, just post, don't explain..one woman said "forget the apologies and get on with the good stuff"
• too many posts about animals, pets
• Alot of you wrote "I can't stand typing in those code thingies just to leave a comment"
• posts WITHOUT photos..bloggers who took the poll definitely want photos on every post.  91% of you said so and you don't mind if the photo has nothing to do with the post.
• typos and TYPING IN ALL CAPS MAKES THEM FEEL LIKE THEY ARE BEING YELLED AT
• Tag your it...ALOT of you stated that you really hate dislike the tag awards and such
• when the blogger does not visit back and post comments, one person wrote "it's like not returning a phone call" and another one which made me feel sad "it gets lonely and it would be nice to hear back from some of the blogs you visit and leave comments on"  I promise to do better at this myself,
• Another peeve expressed is long posts.  It seems you like short, sweet and to the point.  One person suggested if you are going to be long, don't have a giant paragraph, break it up into 2 or 3

I'll have more later, I think this is a great start! Thank you again for taking the time, I really appreciate it!~xo

Little gems...

     I'm getting the itch for some hunting at the open flea markets here, however the weather has not been cooperating.  So, instead, I've been going through some little vintage gems I've accumulated and been playing around with them in the studio with the camera, testing the light and lense.  I find that in the cold of the Winter, little things make me happy, don't you? Things like homemade chocolate chip cookies, (and having the kids beg to lick the spoon!) ...lazy Sunday's with no agenda...discovering that Legends of The Fall is running on TV....wrapping up in a blanket in front of the fire and watching our daughter perfect her jump roping skills!  Just little things like that, you know?