And the holiday season continues...

As I was sifting through almost a week's worth of emails late last night, I read something from a dear friend of mine that sums up the holiday season for my family in a nutshell: We are the only people she knows that celebrate Christmas Week.  It can be a tad exhausting, but boy do we love it.

Our families (mine in particular) and circles of friends have grown quite extensively over the years.  We have relatives that visit from up North and out West.  Friends and their families who  have welcomed us to celebrate their traditions with them.  And this year we have new additions to both families that we are celebrating the holidays with for the first time, so the season has really been jam packed with Christmas cheer and lots of excitement.  We are very blessed and enjoying every second of it!

I do apologize for being away from my blog for over a week... and I promise to sign back on once our holiday season is over and the new year has begun!

Until then, happy holidays everyone!  And here's a Christmasy snug hello from Brady and Cali!
Cheers!!

Weekly Creative Project: Salvaged Wood

I'm extremely fond of salvaged wood.  For me, it resonates such a warm and comfortable feeling.  A feeling of nostalgia, history, life.  It's a love that my husband and I both share.  A very light shade of weathered gray is my absolute favorite.  That's why when he came across this piece on a gorgeous beach in Kennebunkport Maine we just had to scoop it up.

He thought it would make the perfect towel rack in our bathroom and boy was he right.  Paired with 4 vintage metal hooks passed down from generations in my family, it's a stunning piece and I'm totally in love with it.

I found some great photos that I wanted to share along with mine to show how endless the possibilities are to decorate your home with some really amazing salvaged wood.

Enjoy!

Photo Credits: Building a Timberframe, Donkee House, Garden & Gun, Houzz, Hudson Good, Lavender & Lillies, Modern Girl Style, My Home Ideas and Today and Yesterday Design.

Interior Doors

Happy holidays everyone!  The countdown is on, and no matter which traditions you celebrate, I hope you're all prepared and fully into the holiday spirit!

This week's blog post is dedicated to a super creative way to hang interior doors that I'm so totally in love with which is using a track system.

The first door I ever saw like this I loved immediately, was at our friends Sarah & Tyler's house (click here to see their gorgeous house tour (that I drool over every time I see it) on Apartment Therapy.)  The first photo below is theirs. 

I love the track system because it adds so much character to the wall that it's on and the room that it's in, and the more hardware the better in my book.  The choice of doors to use is endless, and depending on your style you can really draw some great attention to your space with this design element.  I think it offers the same space saving quality of a pocket door, but with so much more style. 

Enjoy these beautiful photos and have a beautiful weekend everyone!

Photos courtesy of: Britannia Wardrobes, Closet Shelf, Design Sponge, Doors Sliding, Greene Partners, Luxury Ideas, Max Levy, Real Carriage Doors, Remodelista and Sunset.

Friday's Food & Wine: Local Favorite

For the premier of Living a beautiful life's Food & Wine segment, naturally I have to dedicate it to my most favorite local place to mingle, eat exquisite food and sip on some of the best wine selections in the area: Z Food & Drink.

After opening in 2007,  Z Food & Drink has without a doubt proven itself to be one of the best spots for downtown dining, and just keeps getting better over time.  The seasonal menus are jam packed with items dedicated to their motto of Seriously Fun Food and are sure to never disappoint. 

Some favorites of mine and my friends are the Lobster Risotto, Flatbread, Veal Stroganoff and of course...the ever famous Asian Nachos.  Top any of these off with a cranberry bog or a glass of Carmel Road Pinot Noir and you're in for an unforgettable treat.  They also offer a wonderful Sunday brunch, with the most delicious french press coffee I've ever tasted.  


I hope you get a chance to make it over to Z to enjoy a great meal if you haven't already done so!  They recently expanded and doubled in size, adding on a huge & fabulous bar, comfy couch seating areas and offer some of the area's most talented singers and piano players for entertainment while you dine.  Does it get any better than that?  Not for this girl!!


Cheers everyone!  And I hope you're all having a happy holiday season!

Weekly Creative Project: Ceiling Decor

Welcome to Living a beautiful life's weekly creative project! 

Starting today I will be posting a new creative project, along with similar eye candy every Tuesday for you to enjoy and hopefully get inspired by! 

This week's project happened as a result of our master bedroom ceiling fan finally calling it quits.  After taking it down we discovered that the wiring desperately needs to be replaced.  A project we are more than happy to put on hold....however the not-so-fancy hole in my ceiling was driving me nuts. 

While waiting for this repair to take place,  and continually thinking of new and creative ways to 'mask' the ugliness, I came across a craft kit by Martha Stewart at Michael's and was instantly inspired... I found an extremely low cost, no holes-needed ceiling fixture to tide us over until the repair is complete! 

Though my husband said the other morning while gazing up at my latest project (and I quote) "We have cotton balls on our ceiling" I think they're fantastic and at least I'm not staring at the big black hole anymore.  So a whopping $9.00 later (after using my 40% off coupon of course) problem solved!

Enjoy and have a beautiful week!