BLUE MONDAY:

Hi everybody! Have you noticed my new blog design? No? Okay, take a close look... oh, there you go! How do you like it? Oh gosh, I feel like I have been working on this forever, maybe I have! I am just so fussy. Now you may understand why it took three years to re-do my living room! Seriously, three years without any pictures on the walls or curtains... Fussy, fussy, fussy. I want to thank Ashley from the Cutest Blog on the Block. She got it down right with her first mock up. And I want everyone to notice the little vignette on the left side of the header. Those are some of my real journals, my own teacup and saucer, and most importantly, a picture of my mother from her high school days. She is probably looking down at me from heaven right now with that great big smile of hers and that twinkle in her eyes!

You might remember a recent post I did after Valentines Day. The Husband gave me a gift of a Tea for One set by Lenox. Well, while shopping Saturday for the wedding we were going to that night (yes, the same wedding which I posted on last week about my hunt for the perfect dress), he saw these little dessert plates from the same Butterfly Meadow pattern and thought I would like them. Aren't they beautiful? As I have said, he is kind and generous to a fault and spoils me constantly! The thing is, I now have the Tea for One and four dessert plates. Now I know I can easily down four desserts with my tea, LOL, but I think the proper thing is, and I strongly urged The Husband to consider this, is to purchase four tea cups and saucers, a tea pot and maybe throw in the creamer & sugar bowl. Is that asking for too much?? :-)

Below is the complete set. It really makes me excited about spring being on it's way.

I wish I could be taking pictures for Blue Monday of blue skies, blue water, blue flowers... but for awhile I am going to have to stick with things indoors!
I am so upset that I could not show all of you pictures from this wedding. I am sort of shy about taking pictures in public, or of having strangers wonder why I am taking pictures of them, but since this wedding was taking place at the Newberry Library in downtown Chicago, I thought I would take some pictures of the architecture of the building. The Newberry Library is a members only library for the research of the humanities. The building itself is very old and covered in ivy and the inside is very ornate, marble everywhere. However, my camera battery was "exhausted" I was so disappointed. This had to be the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to. From the restrooms to the long corridor leading to the reception room to the banquet tables, white roses and white candles were displayed in square glass vases with rose petals scattered all over the tables. In front of every place setting was a little Chinese take~out box from a cupcake bakery named More in Chicago. Inside was the most beautifully decorated cupcake with at least an inch of frosting. A hand printed menu sat on each place setting. I won't go in to the whole thing but the main course was Macadamia Encrusted Sea Bass and Roasted Beef Medallions over Balsamic Marinated Baby Boc Choy with Assorted Baby Vegetables and Herbed Rosemary Smashed Potatoes. There was a sweet table set up for dessert loaded with small cakes, cookies, brownies, fudge, truffles and candies, all hand frosted and decorated. Of course, white rose petals were scattered over the table. The music for the reception was a large band that included about five singers, two piano players, a saxophone and trumpet player and a few violinists. Oh my. We had such a good time. I met all the new people in The Husband's office and they are great people. Of course they had to like me, I'm the boss's wife! By the way, I wore the black dress by unanimous decision of my great blogger friends and it was definitely appropriate! Thanks girls!

The last thing I want to show you is a photo I took the last time I was up at the lake at a friends home. I happened to use her washroom and noticed this sweet little "window treatment. I ran back for my camera and took this (terrible) picture:

Isn't this a neat idea. If you can't tell (due to the poor quality of my picture and my lame picture taking talents) she has a coat rack (?) over the window with three sweet little bonnets hanging on it. I thought it was so unique and might give some of us ideas. My friend Sharon has the one of the nicest decorated homes on the lake. You will be in store for some wonderful pictures when I am up more in the summer and visit all my friends. Most of the homes on the lake are over a million dollars so there is much eye candy for me to blog about.

Have a happy Blue Monday and visit Sally, our hostess for today and she will have a list of all the participants you can visit to see a lot more blue!

xoxo

Janie