Tomorrow is a Very Important Day

Y'all, tomorrow is September 1st!  This is the day that decorators all across the globe have been waiting for...the first day you can actually start putting out Fall decorations!  Yippie!!!  My Fall decorations have been feeling like Woody from Toy Story...they've been packed away in storage praying that someone will "play" with them again.  Well I'm here to rescue them from their dark and dusty corner and display them all over the house :)

My new Marshall's purchase.

I even treated myself to a new Fall decoration from Marshall's today.  I figured since I've anxiously awaited the whole summer to finally be able to decorate with pumpkins, straw, nuts, and berries, then I may as well reward myself with something new ;o)  I'm sure my hubby won't mind one bit.  He understands my anticipation for Fall...he's been anticipating Fall just as long as I have...but for very different reasons.

Think Black and Gold...

Jeff and Brad, 1982

Or better yet, Orange and Purple...

Blair, Cara, LA, and Brad at Clemson game 2008

I can already hear the Tiger Rag as I type!  C-L-E-M-S-OOOOO-N!  

When football season comes around, I can say goodbye to my Saturdays and Sundays because my hubby will be permanently tuned into ESPN.  It's ok though...I'll forgive him for his football antics if he'll forgive me for redecorating the entire house just because the season has changed.  ;o)  

Moral of the Story...no matter if you're a decorator, a football fanatic, or both...have a Happy Fall, y'all!

A Bad Rap

South Carolina often gets a bad rap because of...

1.  The Redneck (you can't get more redneck than at the Grits Festival that is held in St. George, SC every year...I'm not kidding y'all, 45,000 people actually attend this thing.)

2.  The million teenagers and motorcyclists (ahem, Biker Weekend) that flock to Myrtle Beach and cause Kings Highway to become a parking lot from Spring Break-Labor Day.

3.  The 500 tacky Wings, Eagles, and Bargain Beachwear stores that line The Grand Strand.  I admit, I used to LOVE these stores when I was 10 years old.  They were the very place I bought 5 hermit crabs and named each one after a singer from The New Kids on the Block.   But seriously, do we really need a beach store on every corner?

4.  The 1,000 South of the Border signs that are posted along 1-95.  (BTW, have any of you ever wondered what South of the Border really is???  I stopped there once to use the bathroom.  Next time I'll hold it.)

5.  Our Governor.  Enough said.

6.  And I couldn't end my list without including the lovely Miss Teen South Carolina.  She made all South Carolinians cringe the night of her speech.


The things on my list are not South Carolina's proudest moments by any means...but every state has its stereotypes.  California has its tree huggers.  Texas has its cowboys.  New Jersey has its housewives ;)   And South Carolina, unfortunately, has its rebel flags and rednecks.  As my husband always says, "They wouldn't be stereotypes if they weren't true."


Although some of these stereotypes might be true in a few cities across The Palmetto State, they most certainly don't hold true for the city of Greenville, SC.  I traveled to Greenville for the first time this past weekend to celebrate the marriage of Eric Dusel and Katie Sholler.  

Eric was Brad's roomie at Clemson and we couldn't be happier for the newlyweds.  (Y'all...they're off honeymooning in Barcelona right now...far, far away from rednecks and rebel flags...lucky ducks!)  

Here are the bride and groom.

And her red shoes ;o)

And here is where their reception was.  It took place in an old warehouse that has these beautiful open arched windows that overlook the river.  The river runs through downtown Greenville and is also known as "The River Walk."  The River Walk has revitalized the city and has filled the downtown with cute restaurants, dessert spots, and art galleries.   There are even a  million green spaces that are perfect for kids, family picnics, and romantic dates.  The river is breathtaking and there are so many places for you to walk and hike.  I can't wait to go back and spend a little more time there. 

Don'tcha just love the paper lanterns?  

They even had a photo booth where everyone could take pictures with their dates...very cool.  Very unique.  Very Eric and Katie.

The cake had three delicious layers...strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla.  A little something for everybody :)

We had a blast at the wedding and wished we could have stayed and enjoyed the Greenville city life longer.  However, work has summoned us back to Charleston.   We'll spend the next few weeks reminiscing about our visit, wishing we could have another long weekend to truly take in Greenville and all it has to offer. 


So next time somebody starts to stereotype South Carolina, tell them to take a vacation to Greenville.  I'm sure they'll be just as impressed as I was with the art, culture, and scenery.  And...if they're disappointed that they didn't see any rednecks, just have them drive about 10 miles outside of the city limits...all the rednecks will be out on their front porches waiting for 'em ;o)  

We Need a New Vacuum

We love our sweet little pup...but she sheds a lot.  Here is Bailey (above) with her collection of hair from just one week of shedding.  Y'all, this is just the hair from the floors...I'm not even counting the hair that is left on our couches.

Everywhere Bailey walks, she leaves these lovely tumbleweeds behind...they float down the hallway and get tucked into corners, behind chairs, underneath the couch, etc.  I can't seem to keep up with her shedding.

My typical cleaning routine right now is just sweeping...lots of sweeping.  I feel like every time I sweep, I'm not really cleaning up any hair, I'm just moving the tumbleweeds from one location to the next.  

Needless to say, I'm in need of a good vacuum.  One that isn't heavy and can be used on hardwoods and carpet.  If you are using a vacuum that you absolutely love, let me know what brand/model it is...Bailey and I would greatly appreciate any suggestions ;o)

My Cup Runneth Over

Whenever my mother-in-law has all of her family surrounding her and she feels nothing but peace, love, and warmth, she always quotes Psalm 23:5..."My Cup Runneth Over."  This past weekend was filled with so much peace, love, and warmth, my cup was boiling over :)  Read on and learn how August 21st, 2010 was such as special day for me...


I was celebrating my 30th birthday (yikes!) and Brad had the whole day planned out.  It started with opening presents, followed by a leisurely breakfast at one of our favorite spots, Charleston's Cafe.  After one sweet potato biscuit, a Diet Coke, and the best french toast this side of the Mississippi, Brad took me shopping (instead of the usual...me taking him shopping) and let me pick out one new outfit.  Ann Taylor Loft was the destination.  I was in heaven.    We strolled around the Town Center and picked up a few more odds and ends and made our way back home to relax until our 5:30 dinner reservation at Magnolia's downtown.  After a delicious dinner, we drove up to North Charleston to spend the evening with his family.  When I walked in the door, SURPRISE!!!  My family from NC and our closest friends were there to greet me!  I was so touched that Brad planned this wonderful evening for me, I fell in love with him all over again.  Thank you to everyone for such a memorable and unexpected 30th birthday.  My cup runneth over...

Window Mistreatments

The definition of a window mistreatment was first coined by my decorating heroine, The Nester.  She started blogging about window mistreatments years ago, but I like to believe that women have been mistreating windows since before time began :)  By mistreatment I don't mean women beating their windows with a baseball bat (though that would be hilarious).  I mean decorating your windows at a low cost using as little sewing as possible.  The official Nester definition of a mistreatment is as follows:

Mistreatment: (n). covering for a window that is quick, cheap and pretty. may or may not need hardware does not require sewing. a real designer’s worst nightmare.

Mistreating: (v). the act of treating a window with dignity and respect without use of the following: hundreds of dollars, sewing, time, crying, divorce, child neglect…

My friend Rachel was visiting me from Tennessee a few weekends ago and she had just hung the most beautiful mistreatment.  No curtain rod required...just tacked it directly to the door!  And...she used French Country fabric...it's so beautiful I about fell out the first time I saw a picture of it!  I made her send me those fabo photos of her mistreatment so I could share its beauty with the world ;o)  Don'tcha just love it?  I seriously want to have a tea and crumpets party right beside her mistreatment...I would be in heaven.  Thanks, Rach, for sharing!

As I went to the fabric store (The Fabric Emporium located beside the Old Mt. Pleasant Wally World) yesterday trying to finish up a last minute addition to our soon to be revealed guest room, the ladies that work at this wonderful place claimed that they were looking for someone with a little upholstery experience.  They knew that I had reupholstered a chair for my guest room and half-heartedly offered me a reupholstery job.  Mercy.  What were they thinking?  I've only reupholstered two chairs...ever.  One was a disaster and the other was a success.  Definitely nothing to brag about for sure.  I have to believe they were joking about the position because a) they don't know me from Adam  b) they've never seen my work (my two very simple chairs)  c) they don't know that I'm a product of The Nester, the queen of cutting corners and  d) they most certainly don't know my history of reupholstering a chair using a glue gun, along with hanging window mistreatments using clothes pins and potato chip clips.  I wanted to share my dirty little mistreatment secrets with them right then and there, but I saved myself the embarrassment and went along my merry way.

As I got home that evening, I was thinking why in the world was I embarrassed to share my story?  Why couldn't I tell these classically trained designer ladies the truth about my sewing secrets?  I think it's because I take pleasure in knowing that I can create something that looks like something they, the expert designers, would make...but I can do it at a third of the cost.  Have you ever seen the Pixar movie, Ratatouille?  The main theme throughout the movie was "anybody can cook."  What I'm here to say to you is that you don't have to be a classically trained designer in order to decorate.  If you know how to operate a glue gun, hammer some nails in a wall, and gather fabric using a safety pin, you are well on your way!  Please don't think that I'm saying never hire a decorator.   I love professional decorators (the non-snooty kind) and secretly envy their job.  If I could go back to school and do it all over again, I'd probably want to be classically trained too.  And...I love those decorator ladies at The Fabric Emporium.  They aren't snooty like the ladies from the "other" decorator store.  The Emporium ladies are so helpful and even have some wonderful ideas to share...and I love that their prices are perfect (ahem, cheap) for my kind of decorating.  But, for the time being, I believe I'll go on letting these women think that I'm just as talented as they are...It's our little secret ;o)

So, if you're thinking about decorating with fabric, now is your chance!  You can be a decorator too...make a quick trip to the Fabric Emporium, use your imagination, work with what you have, and bust out that glue gun ASAP!  For inspiration, here are some pics of the window mistreatments that are hung at our house.  All the trim is hot glued...and don'tcha just love my potato chip clips ;) 

If you have some mistreatments that you'd like to share, email me at mrslaporter@gmail.com and I'll post them on my blog!