Going Private...

Ok, I'm really not but I just went to go check on some blogs I used to read and all of a sudden PRIVATE! I hate when the PRIVATE blog pops up and I have no way to email the writer and let them know I want to keep reading. So to all of you that have recently gone private, I still love reading about your wonderful happenings so if you feel inclined to send me an invite, my email is LaurenNRicci@gmail.com. If not, I understand (although I might go cry in a corner somewhere).

On another note, thank you ALL for your wonderful advice in the decorating department. I really appreciate it all and can't wait to start using all your ideas. While I may not have had the chance to write you all back individually, your talents and thoughts have not gone unnoticed and when I get more than a 5 minute break, I promise to put them all to good use. Thanks again!

I need some help....

So, as much as I wish I could continue to use the excuses "I am too busy, I work too much, there are no good furniture places here, I can't find what I am looking for, I don't have the decorating knack, blah blah blah blah blah, the fact of the matter is, Mike and I have lived in our house since July and there are four things hanging on our wall whose main purpose is organization. Not to mention I have bought two new pieces of furniture solely for concealing cords and housing electronics and we have a modge podge of other furniture pieces, most of which Mike acquired soon after graduating college and none of which I like (minus my couch). To top it off, I have ledge after ledge and nook after nook that are bare, as well as endless wall space and my biggest pet peeve; a gaping hole meant for a TV above my fireplace that I can't figure out what to do with. So, bottom line, I NEED SOME HELP!!!

I know it can be done because I know so many amazing women who have kids or who are pregnant, that work, are as busy as I am and who move into a house and have it decorated to a T in a month. Maybe they have the decorating knack I unfortunately lack but somehow I need to face my fear of decorating and get to it. I am tired of living in a house with no soul. It needs some life, a theme, some infusion of Mike and I, and most importantly some color. You all know me, you know I love black and white and muted colors and my decorating sense is no different. It's not that I dislike color, I just don't know how to work with it, what can go together and what's going to date quickly and if I do venture out of my comfort zone and buy color, it's always the same pallette and pattern. See my dillema?!?

So, I am asking all you brilliant women (and men too) for all of your help. If you would be so inclined, I am looking for tips on:

-Furniture stores you love.

-Knick Knack stores you love.

-Websites you love for either decorating or finding stuff.

-Ideas for what to put above my kitchen cabinets.

-Ideas for my gaping TV hole above my fireplace. (Seriously, whoever came up with that idea is FIRED)

-Ideas for new pillows for my couch

-Bedding ideas and where to get great bedding at an affordable price

-Tips for decorating my bathroom and what will work with a black granite.

-Color ideas and any other tips you would be willing to share to help me in my nesting.

Or an interior decorator who will work for free would work too :)

Thank you all in advance for helping me with my nesting. Ya'll are the best!!! We can work on my wardrobe next :)

I love surprise deliveries from mah Be!

I have a pretty great hubz! I was dying to make it to Sucre while we were in NOLA for some more macaroons but it was so crazy there we never made it. Being the sweet man that he is, he decided to send me some just because. I really am so lucky this amazing man loves and puts up with me. Love ya Be!!!