House Beautiful's list of favorites

In this month's (June) issue of House Beautiful, several designers were asked to share their favorite things, given a list of about 20 categories. It was so much fun to read, mostly because these people are aware of stores and items that I've never even heard of (living in such posh places as Manhattan and LA and Palm Beach), but also because some of their choices were just downright normal (one guy picked Dove as his favorite soap instead of some fancy-schmancy French soap!). I thought it would be fun to share my favorites, and also to get some of you to share yours! Won't you play along with me?

Flower: of course, my beloved lily of the valley, but it's peony season right now and I'm remembering the days when my grandma's driveway was lined with white and pink peonies...

Sofa shape (remember, these questions were posed to interior designers, so I guess this is a question of utmost importance!): We have a great harvest/golden-yellow sectional sofa with nailhead trim that we scored for a steal from a closeout of a nearby Ashley Furniture store. I don't have a picture of it, but I thought I'd share pictures of some "dream" sofas:

I love kidney-shaped sofas (not necessarily this upholstery, though [Horchow sofa]).

I love both the tailored look and the soft green upholstery here (Horchow).I will admit it, I love the girly-ness of this soft blue sofa (Wisteria). It's just so "boudoir" to me!

Stationery: This is something I haven't bought yet, but I would love a set of stationery (cards and sheets) with a toile background and my monogram front and center. Don't know who/where I'd purchase it from...any ideas?

Comfort food: my mom's (warm) homemade bread with her homemade strawberry jam and the biggest glass of milk possible.

Lamp: Several years ago on an antique outing with Kate, in my favorite antique mall in Franklin, Indiana, I scored a set of ivory porcelain lamps for $17 each. I rewired them myself (with a little help from a dude at Home Depot) and bought burnished gold lampshades for them. They sit on our nightstands in our bedroom, and even though Marty hates the twist-turn-off feature (he doesn't like stretching that far), I love them to pieces. Maybe I'll take a picture and post it here later...

Alarm clock (this was another one that had me scratching my head a bit): I just use my cell phone's alarm feature, but perhaps it's a sign of refinement to have a chic alarm clock? Am going to look into this. :)

Everyday dishes: Apilco Tradition Blue-Banded dinnerware from Williams-Sonoma. We love these and how they go so nicely with red and gold, my other favorite kitchen colors.

All-purpose glass: We have Walmart glasses that I absolutely loathe and despise (nearly half have broken just from dishwasher use). However, I have my eye on some glasses at Cost Plus World Market...when I get around to such things again...

Color (remember, this is for decorating purposes): It's too hard to choose between golden yellow and red. They are definitely my favorites.

Soap: Our favorite hand soap for so long was "Sensual Amber" from Bath & Body Works, but for some crazy reason they no longer sell that fragrance in hand soaps. So, I guess we're still trying to find our next favorite soap!

Picture frame: I currently don't have any, but my favorite picture frames are the polished mother-of-pearl ones. I still haven't ordered any wedding pictures, so maybe when those come in I'll have a reason to go out and get some!

Scented candle: Maison candles in vanilla, which I can usually find at SteinMart. Not your average vanilla fragrance, I assure you!

Cleaning supply: Method's all-surface spray in French lavender (the clean, fresh scent is truly addictive).
Coffee table book: We are sans coffee table right now, but in the past I've always set out my "Kings and Queens of England" books. Nothing goes better with coffee than British monarchy. :)

Ice cream: probably Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream with chocolate syrup; however, I love me some Oreo, some Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia, some old-fashioned butter pecan...

Vacuum: We've been inducted into the Oreck cult. We really like the performance of it, but I'm still drawn to the Dyson every time I see a commercial for it (I think it's the British accent...).

Towel: We received some Biltmore "for the home" towels for our wedding, and I think they're some of the best towels I've ever owned. Other than that, I'd go for any fluffy white Egyptian cotton towel.

Sheets: I'm a thread-counter. I truly believe you get what you pay for, in sheets especially. We're snobs and won't get anything below a 700- or 800-thread count.

Coffee or tea: Starbuck's Cafe Verona and Cinnabon's coffee; Constant Comment or Earl Grey for tea.

Chair: I love so many kinds of chairs, but I think my favorites are wingbacks (I've seen the old BBC version of Jane Eyre too many times, with just Mr. Rochester's profile peeking out from beyond a wingback...)

(another beauty from Horchow)

Kitchen gadget: Definitely our new Cuisinart coffeemaker.

Artist: Van Gogh, without a doubt.

Kate and Dan gave us a lovely gold-framed print of this for our wedding.

And that's it! I eliminated a few categories, but these really capture the essence of the article. Please do a list of your own (you don't have to post images like I did; I know how long it can take to upload pix) and leave a comment letting me know you did so, and I'll link you up on this post!

Charleston pictures II, or why antiquing rocks my world

Okay, so these aren't technically pictures of Charleston, but they are pictures of items I bought in Charleston! And at my favorite antiques store, no less, which I mentioned in this post.

Christa can testify, I kinda went a little geeked when I saw these Wedgwood china Peter Rabbit dishes, made in England, of course! When Marty and I were registering for baby items a couple weeks back, we saw mostly practical dishes and only a few keepsake dishes, all of which I hated (I had seen some beauties in Tiffany's in New York, but who has hundreds of dollars for baby dishes?). I think even little men need some "good china" for their important holidays and "firsts," so you can count on me using these dishes for his first bowl of cereal, his first Thanksgiving, and so on! Hopefully I can use them for all our children and they'll survive my inherent clumsiness.

the set of three: plate, bowl, and mug

the plate, up close (can you read the precious words?)

the bowl, up close

the mug's front

and finally, the mug's back

Not only do I look forward to feeding him cream of wheat and bananas from his dishes, I also can't wait to snuggle my little boy up in a blanket and rock him and read to him from Beatrix Potter's sweet and delightful stories. How precious and innocent and perfect will that be???