by Melissa @ The Inspired Room
It is time for a super summer giveaway for my favorite blog friends…YOU!
I love having every day things that are fun and pretty. Even accessories we use like purses and bags. Pretty things all through our house just makes life happier. If you are going to have a purse or a laptop bag laying around your room every day (and who among us does not have at least one of those!) you may as well have pretty ones!
I love the idea of hanging your bag on a sweet hook by the door for all to see, especially when it is as cute as the ones Elisa Lou Designs makes! These bags can definitely make a statement in our home decor, just as they add a lot to our personal style when we leave the house.
And if you are heading off to a blogging conference, retreat or vacation this summer, eh hem, it might be time to snatch up a snazzy new bag before you go.
I adore my new new bag and laptop case! Just look at how lovely they look strewn about my sofa. They are so cute they don’t look messy. In fact, they are so cute, I might stuff a pillow in the laptop bag and pretend it is a throw pillow cover. Good idea, eh? Using what you have. Yep.
Would you like a new bag too? Well it might be your lucky day, because Elisa has offered to giveaway one of her Bailey Bags! Check out this prize, it is a beauty! I love the stripes on the inside too!
A perfect around town bag. The Bailey bag will hold all your everyday needs.
One interior pocket will hold your cell phone and keys.
Product details:
* Magnetic snap closure
* Strap is 25 in. long
* 13 in. wide x 12.5 in. tall x 3.5 in. deep
* $60 retail value
You have four days to enter. One commenter will win. You do not need to have a blog to win. Giveaway ends Sunday night 10PST.
Get extra entries if you share this giveaway post on your blog, twitter or facebook or all three. Just come back and leave me up to three extra comments on this post, letting me know each of the places you talked about it and linked back to this post.
{Thanks for helping me spread the word about Elisa Lou Designs. I really enjoy supporting women in business online. Elisa is a very creative and nice lady! She is a featured blog partner on The Inspired Room all summer long and I am honored to have her here.} Visit her at her blog too! Elisa Lou Designs blog!
BONUS: Elisa also generously offered a 10% discount to any of my readers who places an order in JULY! Just use the code word “INSPIRED” when you place an order! All her bags can be customized with lots of fabric choices! Go take a look around! Elisa Lou Designs
And now for a PRIZE for a lucky subscriber!
Do you subscribe to my blog? If you don’t, you are missing out on a code word! Go ahead and subscribe! Then send me the code word you see at the bottom of this post (in the reader or email subscription) in the subject line of an email to my inspired subscribers email and I’ll enter you to win a $25 credit towards any purchase you’d like to make at Elisa Lou.
That is right, I will personally pay for $25 of your order. Only one subscriber can win this prize. It will be a gift from me to one of my loyal or new subscribers! Send the email by Sunday 10PM PST. Winner will be notified by email on Monday. Purchase with Elisa Lou must be by August 31, 2009. Blah blah blah legal stuff.
by Melissa @ The Inspired Room
Keeping it real here, friends. It has been awhile since I shared anything around my house. Why? Because, um, well, um {covering head and ducking} … I’m not working on my house? {faints}. Yeah. I know! I moved in six months ago. I should be all done, right? And I should be showing off all my fancy projects by now, right?
Well, reality is sometimes turns out a wee bit differently than what we imagined! I was so excited about all of the ideas I had for my house, that is, until my “other house” sale fell through. Kind of put a damper on my plans!
But, I am trying to readjust to my new reality. Which is, in a nutshell, being in limbo with no money and no permission to make any permanent changes to this house until I purchase it (including hanging stuff on the walls, just in case we have to move out at the end of the summer!).
I do a few little things here and there to keep myself feeling sane. I brought my great grandma’s quilt down from my bedroom and threw it over the back of my white chair. I found that basket jug thing half price at Michaels’ Craft, it made me happy because I was dying for some more texture with “non-permanent” accessories.
I painted those chairs spring green, but I haven’t yet painted my table black. That I could do. I need to go buy some primer and get back to that job (maybe when we do our Procrastinator’s Party later this month?).
I have two beautiful stained glass windows from an old church that I dreamed of putting in those dining room windows (seen in the back of the above photo). But, they may forever sit right here, against the wall where my art and mirrors sit, waiting and hoping for the day they can be hung.
I did a little painting project this week. Yes, I did! I had this fruity wall hanging that was perfect in my old kitchen. But since I am wanting to pare down my style and stick with a more casual beachy look, I decided to say good bye to as much fruit around the house as I can and hello to my friend the chalkboard paint.
Hate me, I painted over the fruit. Someone’s masterpiece. I’ll probably really regret it someday. Maybe it was valuable. But now, instead of just looking at fruit, we can actually use it for restaurant nights! What are restaurant nights? One of the many ideas on our summer list!
We made a list (no, we didn’t even bother to make it all fancy for the camera) of things my son might want to do all summer and one of the things he picked was having “restaurant night.”
So last night my girls helped him pick a menu, shop for food and set up a table with menus and a centerpiece. We treated dinner just like we were out at a restaurant. It was fun and cured the boredom all day!
While I am in a bit of a decorating lull and things around my house are in limbo (OK, my whole world is in limbo), life is still good. The measure of a good life isn’t how perfect our home LOOKS or how many projects we accomplish — it easy to forget that sometimes. Especially in blogland. It is good to have a reality check on what really matters to us, isn’t it?
For those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time, you might remember this guy (below).
He is a silly reminder to me of what is important — the fun, crazy, messy, imperfectly beautiful life behind the scenes.
Meet Giraffe.
Yes, he is still alive and kicking.
Well, he was.
Until the kid who used to wear undies on his head tackled him and a lion in one fatal blow.
Yep. Life is still good.
photos from my house
this post shared with Chatting at The Sky
and our Restaurant Night idea is my Works for Me Wednesday
