Jane's Buckhead Garden Tour

Hello Hello! Well as promised I have a Jane adventure to share! A few weeks ago Jane went on garden tour. She visited some lovely residential gardens as well as the Atlanta Botanical Garden. She felt like she was home in England again! Here are photos of her adventure! Enjoy:)

Welcome to the garden

That is a real bunny topiary! This topiary garden was awesome!

Jane needed a rest...on this topiary chair.

Garden Goat

Bluck Bluck Bluck

Kitchen Garden

Lovely manicured topiary garden

Adding a little good luck with a garden  hedgehog

Jane is gazing upon the 'hooch'

Heeey! Jane found the bar

Gorgeous!

What a nice way to end the day.
Have a bright day!
b. girl

Funday

Well today was filled with chores and errands. Mr. Bennet got a pedicure, I mopped the floors, ironed napkins, did laundry and dishes, etc.
On a more exciting note I picked up my "Straight to You" tickets today and Jane and I cannot wait to see Josh again!

Hooray!
Have a bright day!
b. girl

Friday Find

From the tender age of two I have been extremely opinionated on my entire wardrobe. My poor mother had to deal with a child who refused to wear certain shoes, socks, and clothes in general as they were deemed too "rusty." After a while she just let me wear what I wanted which was pretty much dresses, patent leather mary janes, and ruffley socks every day. It wasn't until high school that I began wearing denim.  When school P.E. teachers would call home saying I needed to wear sneakers and pants to school for their class she said 'you give it a try, good luck."

While I don't have a tantrum about my clothes anymore(well..maybe not as frequently;}) I do love beautiful things and looking feminine as much as possible. I must say whenever I see little girls mary janes that are pink and covered in glitter I am a little jealous that I can't wear them anymore...or at least so I thought.
Last year I discovered London/French Sole and really enjoyed looking at all the beautiful, feminine ballet flats they have in their line. I love that they are so individual and really embody vintage fashion and fine craftsmanship. Who wouldn't want to wear one of these confectionary delights?
A store near my work, Ann Mashburn, carries Pretty Ballerinas which are very similar but they have a larger selection of feminine flat ballets. I've picked out several favorites already from perusing their website. Shockingly I do not have a single pair of pink shoes in my shoe wardrobe.
I love these! Pink glitter
These are really pretty too. Gold mesh web.
          They have funky applique shoes too. These are pretty cute:)


I found Oxford is Heaven on Etsy last year whilst looking for Marie Antoinette inspired shoes. I love vintage fashion, especially the intricacy of 17th and 18th century atelier clothing.
They are sooo pretty. I really want to have a party now so I can dress up!



 


I hope you've enjoyed looking at these lovely things. Let me know what your favorites are!
Your beautifully bright sole mate,
b girl
:)


Here are the links to the listed brands:
http://www.frenchsoleshoes.com/
http://www.prettyballerinas.us/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/OxfordHeaven

Mother's Day

Well I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day weekend! Here are a few pics of the brunch I planned for Maman!



Checking out with my menu items



I went with a Bonne Maman theme. This Garnier Thiebaut towel was just perfect!

Jane enjoyed it that is for sure!

As with any mother you can never truly have a moments peace. The kids are always begging for attention...or food. Baby's favorite is watermelon and nothing was going to stop him from having some. Not even Mother's Day.

Mwaaa! Harumph! Didn't get as much as he would have hoped for.

Jane went on an adventure this weekend! I'll share pics very soon!!
Have a bright day!
b. girl

Bonne Maman

I can't believe it's May already! How are we already almost half way through the year?
Well, Mother's Day is just around the corner and in honor of mom I've put together a little alone time for mom. Every mom needs that from time to time.

A little reading material to go with a pot full of hot tea and fresh raisin scones. And of course it wouldn't be complete without a little Bonne Maman!

This adorable vintage tea cup belonged to Nanny. It looks great with my Grandmother Georgia's tea pot.
What are you doing with your mothers this weekend?

Have a bright day!
b. girl

Easter Illustrated~Molly Brett

Several years ago just before Easter I was shopping in a store and found some chocolates with cute little illustrations of animals in the wild. I bought the candy for Easter baskets and saved the illustrated paper because it was too cute to toss. The illustrations reminded me a bit of Beatrix Potter's work and out of curiousity I looked up the artist, Molly Brett.

Molly Brett was a talented English artist and illustrator throughout the 20th century. She published dozens of children's books and weekly artictles for children. The Medici Society of London, who is credited on the back of the candy wrappers I saved, published her work almost exclusively and printed hundreds of cards and post cards with her artwork. I've seen a lot of them online and for sale and even bought a few.
I think her artwork is adorable and has a wonderful feeling of whimsy and innocence. They look especially nice out for Easter and would also be cute framed as collections for a nursery.

These postcards are from the sixties. One of them is even written to a Miss Sophie Vieillot, opening line "Gee Whiz!"

My Post Cards are Here we go gardening & Harvest Picnic

To see more of Molly Brett's artwork here you go! Enjoy
http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&rlz=1I7DKUS_en&biw=1276&bih=627&site=search&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=molly+brett&aq=f&aqi=g4&aql=&oq=


Have a bright day!
B. Girl

Cabbagetown

Hello All!
I recently put together a scrumptious little Easter brucheon to share with you.

Years ago my aunt gave me an adorable cabbage tureen hand painted by her mother, my great aunt Fannie Pearl, or as I called her, my Nanny. Later she found a smaller tureen, painted by Nanny's sister, my great aunt Cora, matching bowls, and a pair of salt and pepper shakers. I can just picture them all painting together 30 years ago and now I have the pleasure of enjoying these keepsakes.

These cabbages make an lovely Easter tablescape. I used some beautiful Le Jacquard Francais tea towels in Mielle designs. The color of honey looks so pretty with this green and is a great color and pattern for spring.  I decided to make Curried Carrot Soup for my cabbage tureens! Peter Rabbit couldn't wish for anything better!

I paired this soup with Curried Chicken Salad in lettuce cups, I used Boston Bib lettuce as the leaves are small and round enough for spoonfuls of chicken salad. Pimento cheese sandwiches round out the sandwich platter, cut the bread into rounds using a biscuit cutter for a nice clean look.

For a fun and cute dessert I made chocolate nests using chow mein noodles melted with melted chocolate, butterscotch, and peanut butter. Before cooling add your element be it jelly beans or chocolate eggs, as I used here. I also added colorful peeps to watch over their nest eggs.





Here is my soup recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray:

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds packaged baby carrots, from produce section
• 6 cups chicken stock, available on soup aisle
• 1 tablespoon mild curry paste or 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• Coarse salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 6 blades fresh chives, cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions

Preheat medium pot over medium high heat. Add olive oil, butter, onions and carrots and saute 5 minutes. Add 4 cups chicken stock, curry and cayenne, and about 1 teaspoon salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and cook until carrots are very tender, about 15 minutes. Place pot on a trivet next to food processor. Process soup in 2 or 3 small batches until soup is smooth and carrots are fully pureed. Transfer processed soup into a large bowl as you work to make room for more soup in the food processor. Return completed soup to the soup pot and place back over low heat. If the soup is too thick, add remaining stock, up to 2 cups, to achieve desired consistency. Adjust seasonings. Add a bit of sour cream and chives to the top and voila! Enjoy!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter! I'll be back soon with more fun things:)

~B. Girl~