Simply Seleta

{happy}

 

This was our day in a nutshell. 

It's rare to experience a day that's perfect.  Wow, it really recharges the soul.  Everyone was so happy...I soaked up every minute. 

How was your Thanksgiving? 

a morning walk

About once a week or so, when our morning schedules permit, husband and I take Pippi to one of our favorite markets to enjoy breakfast.  We sip our lattes, take a peek at the surf, and enjoy ham, egg and cheese croissants.  Pippi loves it and eats up the attention.  It's really a treat for all three of us.  

This time, we decided to take Pippi on her first "big girl" walk in our neighborhood after breakfast.  No leash, just trails and lots of freedom.  She was so proud of herself, you could see it in her steps.  I swear she was prancing. 

 
The walk was relaxing.  So many beautiful things to see along the way.  Even though Pippi loved her independence, I kept noticing that she wouldn't run ahead too much.  She would constantly turn around to make sure we were there.  Having us close helped her feel confident as she explored new things.  

I couldn't help but think about our walk and how it relates to life.  We're on this unknown journey.  At times our path reveals the most beautiful things we couldn't even dream of or expect.  Other times it hands us something shocking, heartbreaking or jolting.  We're walking along and honestly never know quite what to expect.  It's easy to feel both excited and spooked at the same time.  

It's reassuring to know we aren't alone.  It's great to have someone there...walking along next to you.  Sometimes the ones walking next to us change.  And that's okay.  They come and go during different seasons of our journey.  Many times, someone has appeared in my life at precisely the time needed.  It's no coincidence.  I think it's a gift from the big guy upstairs.

 

 

This walk made me feel extremely grateful.  Grateful not only for the many blessings I take for granted, but especially for those close to me in this path we call life.

What are you grateful for?

a break

Been sick.  At first I had convinced myself I had a minor bug and thought, "I can totally fight this thing off on my own."  But on day two when I couldn't stand-up to walk across a room and was hallucinating with a 104 fever, the doctor's office sounded like a splendid idea.  But they sent me straight to the hospital.  That was yesterday.  A few IV bags and a flu treatment later, I'm back home.  Still under the weather and pretty tired.  In fact, I'm worn out. 

I'm that person in our family who never gets sick.  The last time I had a fever was five years ago when I developed mastitis [ouch].  So it's an understatement to say I've been feeling major guilt watching my sweet husband juggle work, four active children and a puppy.  Making lunches, cleaning the kitchen, brushing hair, taking them to and from school, blah, blah, blah.  Not an easy task without babysitter help.  He's doing an amazing job and hasn't once complained.  He most definitely deserves an award.  

Even though it's been a challenging few days for our family, I'm feeling very grateful right now.  The offspring have been care taking in their own way and good friends have been like angels feeding our family and checking in on us daily.  Thank you Michelle S. and Jennifer! 

Not sure how much longer I'll be down, but please know that I'll be back as soon as I can. 

Thanks, peeps.

P.S.  This entryway with its welcoming yellow doors [probably somewhere in Europe] makes me feel happy on a rainy, gray day here at the beach.  It's from Vogue via fric and frac.

across the sea

 

A few weeks ago I received an email with this picture of my friend enjoying her view.  In a place far far away.  Another country, in fact. 

"What friend?" you ask. 

Let's back up.

In the beginning of the summer, our house had four very special guests visit for ten days.   Not just any guests, but new friends all the way from Italy.  Meet Erin, Pietro and their two small fries [plus pooch].

Erin and I met in the blog world a while back.  She has her own blog right here.  In our chats back and forth, we learned that we were both Atlanta natives who now live in much different places.  She actually lives in way-cooler Italy.  After many many emails, she and I began to think about a house swap for a summer trip.  When that didn't pan out on my end, Erin still thought it would be fun to come over and share with her family some of the same beach experiences she had growing up.  Many of her vacation memories took place at this very beach.

So they came and stayed in our house.

The only sad part of this story is that during all of this planning, we were not able to arrange it where we could meet face to face.  Our family was packing up to move out so Erin and her family could move in.  So by the time she got here, we were already in Georgia. 

However...at the very last minute one night husband and I drove down to the beach to attend an event for the new project I worked on in late spring/early summer [more on that another time].  We drove down to Florida and back to Georgia in the same night.  Craziness.  On our way to the event, we stopped by our house to finally meet Erin and her adorable brood.  Once we met, we didn't want to leave! 

I can't say that I've ever met a nicer family.  Her kids were so sweet I could have eaten them with a spoon.  After our brief visit, I had the warmest feeling knowing that she and her family were experiencing a great vacation in our beach town.  In our home.  That made me happy.

....................................

Wait, we have to pause for a quick flashback and chic inspiration.  You'll love this.  It's a few shots of Erin and Peitro when they were married in Rome.  She will sort of want to kill me for posting these [since she's very modest] but they're so beautiful I had to share.

Someone over at Town & Country saw these pics a year after they were married.  They were so impressed that they made it an article out of their wedding.  Swoon.

Look how in love...

P.S. love her outfit!!!

Can you imagine having a more glorious wedding shot?  It's magical. 

Look at their flowers! 

 

The funny part about this article running in Town in Country is that Erin never told a soul it was going to appear in the magazine.  Not even her mother, who had hired the wedding photographer, Meg Smith, as a gift for their wedding.  But one day...her mother heard about the article from a friend who saw it on an airplane while sitting next to a girl who was planning her wedding.  Erin's mom picked up the phone, called Erin and asked, "were you ever planning to tell me about this?!"

....................................

Erin was absolutely the sweetest person I've met in a really long time.  In two words I'd describe her as kindhearted and self-less.  When our family made it back home after her family was here, we all found countless little gifts from Erin all over our house.  From an Italian coffee maker to beautiful hand-printed post-cards to little stuffed animals, European puzzles and toys for the offspring.  It was like Christmas in our house.

I'm so glad we met.  It just never hurts meeting one more sweet person, does it?

I really hope our fam can make it over to see her crew in her neck of the woods one of these days.  If it weren't for this silly little blog, we would have never had the opportunity to get to know such a cool family.  It's connections like this that make me realize how incredible blogging really is.

Erin and her gang are coming back to the beach this Fall.  This time they'll be staying in a different house in our neighborhood so we'll actually get to visit.  We absolutely cannot wait! 

[wedding photos by Meg Smith]

christmas surprise...

It's been one of those days, you know the kind: running around like a mad woman, attending multiple Christmas parties for kids, stressing about Christmas deadlines, your basic holiday craziness.  I need at least half a dozen clones of myself.  I'm sure you can relate. 

So you can only imagine how giddy I felt when I opened an email titled, "Welcome Christmas" from a certain Fairy Blog Santa.  

And in the email was this amazing Christmas present.

A painting of our Christmas photo last week by the oh-so-chic artist we all know and love, Patricia of PvE design. 

When I saw this I almost fell out of my chair.  I've never had an artist sketch or even paint a picture of my children.  Much less by an artist of her caliber.  With all the work it took to get these four little souls to sit still and stay clean and dressed-up for a picture, I now have it as a forever keepsake.  All thanks to a dear friend who shared her gift with another.  The true spirit of Christmas.  Patricia, you are one talented diva.  And I can't thank you enough for sharing your talent in such a generous way.  

xoxoxo

Seleta

a surprise from seattle...

Yesterday when I checked the mail, among piles of bills, countless fliers and gobs of magazines stood out a package that looked quite enticing.  I opened it and found an incredibly beautiful gift inside.  Two boxes of notecards and a packet of matchbox cards from one of my readers.  She happens to be a talented graphic designer.  And one thoughtful diva.  She made my day!

Her name is Pamela and she designs notecards and such.  To use her own words:

"I love paper.
I love patterns and colors.
I love modern and traditional.
I love trying to find the unexpected yet beautiful
way of mixing all of the above to create a look that's unique."

Look at some of her goodies. If you're looking for stylish paper type of gifts, she could be your hook-up momma.  Her prices are amazing too.  Just a few of her things:

matchbook notepads [great stocking stuffer] - just $1.25 each [packs of three]



gift tags [great on a bottle of wine for your dinner hostess] $1.00 each [packs of five]



these gift tags have a john derian quality about them, don't you think?  So beautiful.



Stop by Pam's Etsy shop right here and cruise around.  You won't be disappointed. 

If you'll excuse me, I believe I have a thank you note to write.  And on beautiful stationary.  
 

virtual cocktail party...

I've decided to have a party over here.  Why?  Well, let's see this is the first week the offspring have all been well and everyone is back in school.  And I've gotten more than five hours of sleep.  The sanity is back.  Plus fall is on its way and lots of new and great things are in the works.  And it's Friday!

Please join me in celebrating the good things in life. 

What may I make offer you to drink? 

merci beaucoup...

I am working on making my husband's temporary office pretty lovely stylish.  And I liked this clean image by Caroline Patterson via Desire to Inspire. [husband are you reading?]

And speaking of Desire to Inspire, I have to give a BIG THANKS for listing little ole me in their reading guide.  That was a fun surprise! 

BRILLIANT MINDS

So, here I am with this nifty little blog and just blissfully happy. 

But before I continue blogging away, I must first give credit to two brilliant women who helped make this happen. 

It all started with a girl [moi] who moved to the beach with her husband and four children to live their dream.  She left her TV and design career behind in Atlanta.  She realized she wanted to continue expressing thoughts of design + style in some form or another while still focusing on her fun family.  Enter friend/design genius/style expert/blog diva [and patient soul] Erika of Urban Grace Interiors .  Erika's blog +  wisdom inspires beach girl. 

Beach girl then carries her little ibook to other friend /MAC whiz/shop owner/master photographer [and super kind] Marla.  Marla does her magic and in minutes beach girl's blog is born.  Sidenote: You have to understand, Marla is one of these rare types who's great at most everything:  MAC genius?  check.  Killer photographer?  check.  Chic and modern store?  check.  Witty and funny? check.

You can look at her site here.  Amazing.

In the meantime, and out of thin air, Erika creates this killer-of-a-header...

Beach girl is happy.  Giddy.  And most grateful.

Now, for an interior designer like Erika to whip up such a lovely blog header, wouldn't you think her sense of style is equally expressed in her work?  Feast your eyes on this....a kitchen she designed from beginning to end. 

Warning: your heart will skip a beat when you  see these images.  Yum.

Yes, I know she's good.  No, make that great. 

In this kitchen she  packed in so much texture and visual interest into a clean, white palette.  And all of that natural light is so refreshing and effusive.  The cabinet and drawer knobs remind me of the perfect embellishment on a fondant wedding cake!  And I love the unexpected element of metal on the shelves.  May I please live in this house?   [These pics are just teasers of what's to come in the next few weeks with her interview on this site]

So many thanks, praises and hugs to my two talented pals, Erika and Marla for making this beach girl one happy momma.