Every now and then an opportunity comes along that we just have to share with you! This is one of them.

I don’t know about you, but every spring, when the sunshine begins to come out and the flowers pop their heads above ground, I look around my house and I’m ready for a little sprucing and refreshing. The sofa might look a little tired, or my kid’s dressers are just not functioning anymore. Maybe I just need a new pop of color in my decor or new comfy chairs to put around my dining room table. I get a little antsy for change.

Havertys hears your cries! Ok, maybe not really, but I think they do have an idea of what it’s like to need a change.

They are hosting a generous contest right now, Picture Perfect Contest, in all of their stores. Between now and July 31, 2013 go into any of their stores, (for your closest Haverty’s Store location click HERE) take a picture, or two, or twenty…of you with a piece of furniture that would make your “redecorate” dreams come true!

Then post that picture on their Facebook contest app, or through twitter or email. You can enter up to 20 times, just remember to mix it up and take a picture with 20 different pieces of furniture.

They will choose one winner to receive $2,500 gift card! It’s a super easy process, but one that promises to make someone very happy.

I wandered around with my daughter and we could easily find 20 different pieces of furniture that would give our home a lift. Not to mention, we giggled and had fun picking out all the pieces we liked and daydreamed a bit about what we would do, if we won.

What room in your home needs a little redesign this season?

Make your home picture perfect with Havertys. Click here to learn more about the Havertys Picture Perfect Contest where you could win a $2,500 gift card!”

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Havertys. The opinions and text are all mine.

Make your home picture perfect with Havertys. Click here to learn more about the Havertys Picture Perfect Contest where you could win a $2,500 gift card!”

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Havertys. The opinions and text are all mine.

Celebrate the interests and future of your graduate by add personal details and decoration!

Travel experience have always been important to our family.  We’ve taken our family on many excursions and vacations.  It wasn’t hard to choose a travel themed party for inspiration.

(Sweets Indeed via Pinterest)

(Events By Shelbi Rene via Pinterest)

(How Sweet Treats via Pinterest the how to found at Joy’s Hope)

Visit our Pinterest Board:  Celebration ~ Graduation Party

(Sweets Indeed via Pinterest)

( O Names Left via Pinterest)

With travel in my son’s future plans as well, we narrowed in on the theme “Oh The Places You’ll Go” inspired by the Dr. Seuss book.

Everyday Atlas via Pinterest)

I’m busy planning and gathering for my Oh The Places You’ll Go Graduation Party ideas.  Inspired by my Pinterest board I’m on the hunt for:  old cake stands, maps, suitcases, and globes and as always chalkboards.

Check out LoveFeast Shop for Texas Marquee Lights or Star Marquee Lights ~ perfect celebration & party decorating!

We were rolling our bags down the conference hallway at Blissdom and looked at each other. “I can’t believe we did it!” Chris Ann said. Five years ago when we started this blog, we had three goals. One, to see each other more often. Two, to start an online boutique and three, to help fund college for our 9 kids. We use to joke that we’d have to turn our dryer lint into dreams. We had been stay at home moms who had become pretty proficient at managing our homes, juggling multiple schedules, whipping up healthy meals and getting behind our kids and their passions. But, after 15 years, we knew we wanted to model what we taught. “Pursue your passions.”

We started LoveFeast with a philosophy and a concept, but nothing tangible. (And very little skill when it came to using the computer) It was through being consistent to the overall urethral idea, one step at a time, that we walked through a few years of learning about blogging and social media. With a base of stories and new friends, we launched LoveFeast Shop.

Today, we see each other about once a month. We still pinch ourselves that these two moms with a dream, a lot of passion and perseverance has accomplished their first two goals.

We will be launching a brand new version of LoveFeast Shop next month and can’t wait to share it with you! Along with a new look we will be introducing many new products including, furniture, linens, dishware and many more decor accessories.

Sneak Peek of what will be in the NEW LoveFeast Shop

LoveFeast Shop is an online boutique where we will share carefully curated items that we have discovered on our journeys and jaunts. If you haven’t done so yet, sign up for our Newsletter HERE. We send out special sales and early news. We’d love to have you join us!

In the meantime, feel free to stop over at our current Shop and we’d love it if you came back and shared your favorite finds and tell us what you’d like to see more of.

Thank you for joining us on this journey! We like your company.

At the table,

Chris Ann & Kristin

At first glance I wasn’t sure if it was my vibe.  But, the sales women were so inviting and I thought I might just peek at their sales rack.  A lot of the things were in a lovely muted palette which I saw a lot of in London as well.  Pale peaches, nudes, creams, plums.  Many of the materials were filmy and delicate, not things that I tend to wear in my every day.  However, every once in a while I think it is great to buy a special piece that stands out to you.  And, buying a special piece with out the pressure is my kind of shopping.  I was going to pick out something to “dress for the day” for a day that hadn’t quite happened yet!

Look for an “event” dress with no clear “event” to wear it to.  Look for an outfit that speaks to you, makes you feel pretty and that fits your style, not just your event.

After a couple of tries I found something that I love.  A lovely muted plum frock with flecks of gold.  It can be worn as a shift or belted at the waist.  I think it goes with boots, or heels.  I’m looking forward to sporting it in every season.  That’s my kind of dress.

A couple of weeks ago I wore it to a birthday celebration in New York City.  It was there in my closet ready to be worn for just the day I wanted to celebrate!

Do you have any great tips for being prepared for a special event?

(Linked at the Pleated Poppy – What I Wore Wednesday and Dear Abby Leigh – Dress For The Day)

Then one day, I was in my office and caught a whiff…of mildew. It was wafting down from my boy’s flat. I called my husband and said, “I’m changing the order of the “honey do” list. I want to move raised beds to number two and put the boy’s bathroom up to number one.” That weekend, he began the demo.

He had a little help.

We wanted to do this on a budget. When we had our kitchen flood last year and pulled up our slate tile floors, they were piled out back until further notice. Devon decided to cut each tile into quarters and reuse the slate tile on the bathroom floor.

The floor became the inspiration for the tile and border (see first photo) that would be installed around the tub.

It’s taken a few days to get it done. A little extra manual labor cutting tile…and two tile blades, but for very little money, our boys’ bathroom looks much better and no longer has organic, toxic nature, climbing it’s walls.

I  like the challenge of decorating with re-purposed materials. What about you? What do you have in your home that you want to repurpose? What will you do? We’d love to hear!

So impressed, he tried to one up me a few days later when he brought home these vintage French curtain pulls off of a rehab job he was working on. Um, it’s easy to remember why I fell in love with him. I think he won. Total treasures.

How about you? What have been some of your recent thrift store scores or some of your favorite scores? We’d love to hear!

Using the pie crust recipe HERE, divide recipe in half, rolling half out for the bottom of the pie and the other half to create the lattice topping.

Roll the dough out into a round on a well floured surface. Cut dough into 1 inch strips.

Starting with the center strip (use the longer strips in the center of the pie and the shorter strips toward the edges), lay it in the middle of the pie.

Take the strip next to it and lay it across the first strip.

Then gently fold one over the other and add another strip.

Lay the strip back, then add another strip over, weaving the dough.

Keep doing this until the pie is covered.

Roll up the edges, pressing the crust against the rim of the pie plate.

Then crimp the edges.

Bake until warm and bubbly.

Do you have any pie crust making tips? We’d love to hear! 

It’s hard to fit it all into just one weekend! We saw Wicked, drank tea, had lunch in a pub with friends, visited the Tate Modern, Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, visited Bourough Market and had a memorable dinner at The Ivy.  Mind the Gap!

Do you have some favorite places to be and see in London?  We’d love to hear.

Our table looked out to the skating rink at Rockefeller Center.

While in the city, I walked around the streets feeling the energy and the awe that the city brings me. (Grand Central Station turns 100 this year!)

I’ve been hearing good things about it for quite a while and Eataly lived up to its name!

Our lunch on the glass inclosed roof top was as very close to eating at  a favorite lunch on a Italian hillside in Tuscany.

No weekend in New York City is complete without a Bowl Of Bliss from Belthazar.

Walking around Soho and Nolito and finding unique boutiques is and adventure I love.  At The Little Cupcake Bakeshop I had German Chocolate Cupcake.  I grew up with this flavor.

I found another new lunch favorite, inside food truck dining at Tacombi.  The fish tacos I had were excellent.

A little shop called the Condor did not disappoint.  This is where I met Merlin the boutique’s pet bunny who freely hopped around the shop. He had just had a haircut.

Here’s some of our other ideas for great things to see and places to be on a New York City Weekend:

New York is the New Black – Drinks: Pegu Club Stay:  The Waldorf

Fancy Friday – New York City - Eat:  Tortilla Flats  Shop:  ABC Carpet & Home and Fishs Eddy  See:  Union Square Farmers Market, Times Square

Oh My Momofuku! – Eat: Momofuku Ssam Bar

Warmed At Hearth – Eat:  Hearth

Bowl Of Bliss At Bethazar – Eat:  Balthazar

Remember The London – Eat: Maze by Gordon Ramsay  Stay:  The London

A Day In Brooklyn – Drink:  Dutch Kills  Eat:  Buttermilk Channel  Eat:  Baked   Eat:  Vinegar Hill House

DIY Paper Topiary Tree Party Decoration

Materials:  Hot Glue Gun, Pins, Scissors, Burlap, Old Vase, Wood Dowel, Brown Paper Bags, Dried Spanish Moss, Floral foam, Styrofoam Ball

Step 1:  Glue burlap to old vase, frayed edge side up if possible.

Step 2: Wedge flower arrangement foam into vase.

Step 3:  Poke wooden dowel of desired height into the foam.

Step 4: Attach foam ball to the top of the dowel to create the topiary form.

Step 5:  Scallop open edge of paper bag with scissor.

Step 6:  Scrunch bag slightly to create a textural rumple.

Step 7:  Pin and glue the base of the scrunched brown paper lunch bags into the foam ball.

Step 8:  Finish with moss at the top of the vase.

We think our Paper Topiary Tree was the perfect way to welcome our guest with festive party decorating.

 No what else we love for tablescaping?  Our Rustic Marquee Lights found in our LoveFeast Shop.

We used our Heart Marquee Light to tablescape our Handmade Market Table.

  Check out all the Marquee Light options we have at LoveFeast Shop for your next event or party!