the best of the hats

Here are what I think were the best hats amongst the guests. Sorry, I don't know who most, or really any, of these people are, so no names.

And my personal favorite, Zara Phillips (on the right).

via zimbio

the wedding

I loved the royal wedding this morning. We had scones and cucumber sandwiches among other brunch fair. It was fabulous.

Will and Kate take a ride in the Aston Martin

I loved her dress, it reminded me of Grace Kelly's.

Dress number 2 for the rest of the festivities.

the preparations

The preparations for the Royal Wedding Watching party are underway.
The menu:
Fruit
Devonshire Cream and the Queen's scones
A tomato tart
Juice
Quiche
Bundt Cake
Cucumber Sandwiches

The game:
A Royal Wedding game testing to see who can correctly answers the majority of these questions.
Who'll design Kate's dress?
Who'll design the bridemaid dresses?
Will Kate wear an updo, loose curls, or her normal long straight hair?
Will Kate wear the Queens tiara?
What will Victoria Beckham wear to the wedding?
How many visible details will go wrong?
At exactly what time will they say "I do?"

The setup:
English china of English castles
A painted wooden castle
Royal magazine editions

a new mantle

This is Angela's soon-to-be living room. she wants a new take on the fireplace.
First, the gold tone of the actual fireplace? Must go. The brick can go either way.
Here are a couple of non-brick options.

All wood mantle. Make sure it makes a statement with lots of levels and textures.

All wood with a metal center.

Stone-not one of my personal favorites but a classic none the less. I think that this option demands a floor to ceiling approach.

All stone. Likely very expensive, but gorgeous.

Wood with tile.

The fireplace has a lot of brick. Personally, I don't think it is necessary to get rid of all of it.

You could get rid of the raised ledge and cover a good portion of the brick with a wood mantle.

Painting the brick white is a current trend.

You can't see this one well but it has almost the same color brick as what Angela will be inheriting.

Paint the brick white and add a full wood mantle.

A more colonial option.

A good example of exposed natural brick with a wood mantle.

And one last fireplace!
via finish dimensions, a room somewhere, michael folks, fireplace makeover, 123RF, fuller's woodworks, desire to inspire, decorology

it is almost here

I am getting excited for the royal wedding. Are you?
via daily cup of couture

news, news, news

First, the winner of the giveaway...Angela! Send your information to paperwhitejewelry@gmail.com

In other news, the city comparison/search is complete. We are officially moving to Austin, Texas.

I am excited to test out swimming in Barton Springs and Ruby's BBQ.

tour de brownie: fudgy, chewy, cakey brownies

This week we tried the Fudgy, Chewy, Cakey brownies found on My Baking Addiction's blog. They are very rich but have a more traditional brownie flavor. I didn't cook them quite long enough so they didn't set all the way but they were still a fan favorite. The tasters rated them first amongst those tried so far. Four and a half stars!

P.S. One more day to enter the giveaway!

to the weekend!

As promised, a giveaway! To celebrate 1,000 posts I am giving away a pair of turquoise earrings. Now, these earrings have not been made yet, but to give you a general idea of style here are some I have made in the past.




To enter this giveaway leave a comment on this post. Want an extra entry? Link to my blog on facebook or on your blog. Good luck!

many moons

One day I want a wall of moon paintings in a nursery. Here are a couple I would love to have.


This marks 1,000 posts! 1,000! I can't believe it! To celebrate, a giveaway tomorrow!
via Renie Bucher, Skye Taylor, Todd Young,

shared space

A friend of mine is having a baby boy. The baby will eventually be sharing a room with her little girl. So the question is, how do you create a unisex space? Here are my thoughts.

1. Bold colors with neutral decor. Alphabet walls know no gender.

2. Neutral color with neutral decor (animals).

3. Bold colors with specific spaces. This is my favorite. You have things like the banner tying all the colors together but you still get a specific boy and girl space.

4. Go gray.


via design my way, princess and the pea, pintrest, decorologist, design dazzle, decor pad, spearmint baby,

countdown to the move

via creative loafing
We are moving, in just over a month. We are still not 100% certain the location but hopefully after this week we will know. I found Real Simple's steps on how to plan a stressless move. Here's to hoping!

Here's the question. When you have moved, have you used movers or have you moved yourself? Any advice is welcome!!

tour de brownie: double chocolate brownies

This weekend we baked up a batch of Martha's Double-Chocolate Brownies. They definitely had a more cake-like texture, they were not chewy in the least. They used a mixture of cocoa and bittersweet chocolate which made for a rich brownie, which I liked, my Mother did not. I put them in the fridge to see if they would be better cold, I think they were.

Overall, two and a half stars.

countdown to the royal wedding

English castle china? Check.

*Note- I have been wanting a similar pattern for about 10 years, my Mom and I found an awesome deal at a local consignment shop, we couldn't pass it up. I wasn't buying them just for the royal wedding, I promise.

Reading material? Check.

Homemade fascinator? Check.

My royal wedding watching party preparations are well under way. The invites have been sent and the brunch planning is under way. I also saw on CNN iReport a fun/cheap way to make fascinators. Perhaps as a wedding watching activity?

tour de brownie: sundae brownies

My pictures are struggling. Last weekend I made the Sundae Brownies from Lizzie Writes. It is a little bit harder to give these a direct comparison to the last ones because they had ice cream and chocolate sauce on them (the chocolate sauce was delicious). They were a chewy brownie and didn't have as much of a dark chocolate taste as the last stop. Overall I would give them 3.5 stars, a little lower than four because they stuck to the pan.