The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here's an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,500 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
As we approach the closing of another year, I was just reflecting back to when I left New Jersey, the only place I’ve ever known as home, and headed to make a new life in South Carolina. Scared, lonely, happy and relieved were my first emotions that flooded me. Scared of the unknown, lonely because I knew no-one except my husband, children and hubby’s 81 year old grandmother, happy because we were moving into our first single family home, and relieved to leave the hustle and bustle of northern living. I wish I had started my blog back then-but I had not even heard of the word “blog” chuckles. Things may have been different had I known about Urban Compass, because maybe then I would have headed more north. Urban Compass is newer company that looks to connect those looking for NYC Apartments to their perfect place and neighborhood based on their personality and they’re starting a new project called Starter Stories. At one point in my life I was definitely in a New York state of mind. But truthfully speaking, I’ve grown accustomed to the southern lifestyle and totally acclimated to small town living. Whitmire, SC may not be among the best place list, but it’s the best “kept secret” little town and a place we call home. Over the years, I’ve taken this 100 years old home on the Wallace Journey of making this starter house our permanent home. In Jersey, we didn’t have a backyard with grass, so I couldn’t wait to get started and take the empty backyard from this:
To this:
Oh-the countless hours I spent making flower beds around the house. I had no clue about gardening or making landscapes. I was a brick-city girl and closest thing I was to gardening was having a few houseplants. I amazed myself on how I blossomed into a gardener with “some skills”. Another project that I enjoyed was taking that clutter closet from dead space to a valuable “Office” space was truly a rewarding moment. I always wanted an office and this was perfect.
After 2 attempts of getting the right color and look for our dining room, I finally found the look I love and was so proud of it that I entered it in a contest.
I could go on about the home’s makeover history (you can click the link) but you all know how I like to keep things short and simple. Opening the boutique was definitely a highlight that made this year a little more special. Moving here not only changed my address, but it also changed my life. So making country home has actually been a pretty good life.
So you see, our house is small, no mansion for a millionaire, but there is room for love and there is room for friends… That’s all I care.
But, if I ever decide to “break bad” and move back up north I’ll definitely contact Urban Compass to let them help me find the right place. Here’s wishing you wonderful happiness in your home..
As we countdown for the holiday festivities to begin, everything begins to feel like its crunch time – such as, making sure the house is clean, gifts are wrapped, fridge is stocked and the barcart is set for guests to arrive . Now that the grand opening is over, I stopped stressing and can now digress, relax, do a couple of makeovers and … oh yea.. bring in the New Year. Your thrifty girl has been busy catching up with emails, blog hopping (which I looooove) and planning more make-overs. But before the year is over, I just want to share with you a few of my favorite things.. Through my blog-world I’ve met so many inspiring women who continue to amaze me with their extraordinary talents and it’s such a pleasure to be amongst their cyber/company. I hope you follow along with me to visit these wonderful women and see a part of their world that they so graciously open their doors to share with us.
Linda over at LindaG Loving Home is by far one of the best seamstresses I’ve ever met in my life and her exceptional designs mixed with impeccable taste demonstrates how to sew beautiful custom accents for your home. Her blog is all about creating that special touch and loving your home. Look at this beautiful quilt she made and used it as a table cover. It’s just one of many stunning designs she created. For a burst of inspiration, hop over to her blog and get ready to be inspired.
I’ve always admired a beautifully set table, but Alycia over at Tablescapes at Table 21, is a woman who surpasses the description of beauty. The first time I ventured on her blog, I think I spent at least 8 hrs just oooing and ahhhing over each and every design she created. Her bubbly personality, mixed with a keen eye for details and descriptions while creating the perfectly well-dressed table is definitely one to follow. As I told her, as soon as I hit it big- I’m flying her in to design the big bash party..(this girl can dream big can’t I…but hey..you never know)..
Next, there’s Ginene over at Fox and Finch Antiques. Ginene is my kindred shop mate. She and I share the same love of all things beautiful and vintage. She has been such an inspiration by maintaining her lovely shop, while also painting beautiful pieces she restored for shop merchandise. From reading stories about her walks through her neighborhood to offering tips on cleaning vintage clothing, her blog is one that I love to read. (isn’t this bed the absolute gorgeous!!)
I recently became acquainted with Ariene over at Dress My Room Interiors through Instagram. I love her fab-glam style. She is definitely on point with her perfectly blended style of high fashion glam mixed with a bit of vintage.
Not only is she hitting Charlotte’s retail scene with her high style and fab interior designs, but she and co-founder Quintel Gwinn just recently launched The Olive Guide. This is the best Go-To online guide for entertaining with style while also offering great tips on home-styling by showcasing other interior designers. If you like to entertain, whether it be large or small, visit the The Olive Guide for great inspiration.
So in closing, I hope I’ve given you a bit of inspiration and I especially hope you’ve enjoyed meeting these fantastic women as much as I have. Peace and blessings —
Hello there! I hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving and spending time with your loved ones. My frenzy 4-day whirlwind came and went so fast and as much moving around I did- I had hoped I lost the 5 pounds I gained from the turkey day dinner- again – there goes that wishful thinking ….. l0l. I really miss my weekly posts and connecting with you guys – so now I can get back to all that fun and thank you for not forgetting me.
Friday was the official countdown and we hustled and bustled to organize, tag, hanging and straightening. The front of the boutique looks quite pretty now (especially with my beautiful niece, Nadiyah, in front). We also started the #ShopSmall campaign.
I’d like to share the grand opening and pictures of the shop. The weather was perfect for the ribbon cutting and we had quite a few people join us with smiles and excitement about the shop. 
Our town mayor, Billy Hollingsworth, along with councilwoman, Cassie Fowler gave me the warmest welcome and thanked me for bringing my business to Whitmire. I’m very happy to be a member of the Economic Development Board and to be able to work with some really nice people.
After cutting the ribbon, the onlookers were welcomed in to browse, shop, and partake in light refreshments.
We had a free raffle for a chance to win this custom framed artwork by HoeMama, a South Carolina artist who mixes art and mother nature to create some beautiful paintings. You can view more of his works here.
As part of our effort in supporting local businesses and other entrepreneurs, we are carrying a line of homemade hand scrubs by ASG Handmade Designs. These are made by a young lady, Jovana Castro, whom I truly admire for her creativity. Her scrubs are absolutely wonderful and leave your hands feeling soft and smooth. Not only does she create hand scrub, but she also makes greeting cards as well, which we will carry. These nicely decorated jars are from her Pomegranate collection and they sell for $10.00ea. If you’d like to order, please contact me.
Here is a sample of her greeting cards. You can visit here to see more of her handcrafted beautiful cards.
We are pleased to be selling her products in Pieces of Time and wish her much success with her line of creations.
All in all, it was a fantastic day and I even was interviewed by our county newspaper (how exciting that was!) Here are a few pictures of items around the shop, some of which sold that day (yipppeeee) – I’m glad I caught these pictures..
Of course I’ll be moving things around, adding pieces, putting more items around, but that’s the fun part – re-redecorating.. 🙂
In all the excitement, I’m so glad we were able to snag a photo us..(I just love this her)
As we closed for the day, we reflected back and was pleased with the outcome
Then to my surprise on Monday, looky here!! We made the front page of the paper!!
That put another smile on my face.. 🙂 You can read the article here. I’m thanking you again for all your well wishes and encouragement and I look forward to sharing more moments in Pieces of Time with you.
Now, I can finally get busy on another makeover… I have a table in mind that needs a new look.. wish me luck on this project, and of course.. you’ll be the first to see. Take care everyone.. and I’ll see you soon. Peace and blessings to you.. Smooches!!
Hello everyone! I hope you all remember to set your scales back before the wonderful Thanksgiving feast you’ll share with your family (I know.. wishful thinking right??) lol… The holiday shopping season has officially begun but I’m determined to stay away from the stores as much as possible. I enjoy shopping on the internet for certain items for the home, such as art. If you’ve been following me.. I’m sure you realize how fond I am of art, which is why I was ecstatic when I found the site, Invaluable.Com and decided to design a room around one of their paintings. Ok, so you know how much I loooooove music.. when I saw this piece I flipped over the beautiful painting of Aretha. I was in a daydream mode and thought I’d toy around with how I envisioned a room with this painting would look. Invaluable has a vast array of art and believe me, it was a tough decision. If you’ve not heard of them, Invaluable is a premier online auction offering art, jewelry, antiques and collectibles from all over the world. The piece I chose is from their mixed media selection of Fine Art called Aretha by French Artist Jef Aerosol. The starting bid is – eh hem – (swallow hard) $2000.00 (yikes- my husband would kill me) Mind you this is truly my dream piece..
Isn’t she gorgeous!! The artist captured the early days of the “Queen of Soul” which to me, was her best work. The vintage appeal of this painting is what caught my eye. Of course this would make any room look stunning, but here’s the room I designed around this magnificent art work.. I imagine entertaining, while listening to Aretha and all my jazz favorites, while enjoying good company, delicious hors d’oeuvres and fine wine… and of course, admiring my fine art.
A girl can dream – “Can’t I??” 🙂
Adding the right art to your room is like choosing the perfect accessories for that fabulous outfit. It’s easy to design a room around art and Invaluable could be your One-Stop art shopping place. I hope you all enjoyed my fantasy room as much as I do.
Ciao!