A Good Year! A Few of My Favorite Things from 2013

Do you remember those prompts that teachers used to give you to help you get a story started like:

The best thing I ever ate…

One moment I will never forget…
My favorite memory from 2013 was the time I…

Well, you get the picture. I have been thinking about my favorite things from 2013 and thought I would share them with you hoping that you will love these things as much as I do!

So, drum-roll please, here are my top 10 favorite things from 2013 in no particular order!

{1}

My favorite blog post featuring a garden came from one of my favorite blogs, Velvet & Linen and featuring this beautiful fenced garden designed for a client

by Steve and Brooke Giannetti.

You know a post has inspired you when you can pull the details of the imagery from your mind.

Here is a link

{2}

I am still dying inside over this British Barn Renovation! It makes me want to live more simply next year starting with a fresh clean, white palette. Here's a link to all this loveliness….

{3}

After reading this post, I would love to plan a road trip to Sag Harbor and visit BLOOM!

{4}

My favorite discovery at the High Point Furniture Market in the Fall 2013 were these beautiful hand-painted tapestry murals by artist Fred Cox for Tritter Feefer. I also loved the collection of gilded 18th century starburst fragments mounted on crystals.

{5}

One of the things that I am really excited about is the launch of the new interior design magazine, Milieu started by my favorite interior designer, Pamela Pierce of Houston.

To me, it feels like Christmas when I get my favorite new magazine in the mail. Like a good book, a favorite magazine lets us explore different cultures and share in others vision of home. I know the internet can take you there but, I for one, spend entirely too much time online and welcome a quiet evening with the glossy pages of a new magazine, a cozy blanket and maybe even a glass of wine.

{6}

The best thing I ate in 2013 was my first spoonful of
Talenti Salted Caramel Gelato.

I am so addicted!

{7}

The book I couldn't put down in 2013 was

"The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt.

It makes me appreciate the warm and nurturing home that I grew up in and my role as a mother and homemaker. Here's a link to the book review.

I also love a book about art and antiques!

Now, I need a new book! Any suggestions?

{8}

I love to learn something new and in 2013

I learned how to make jam and preserves

at the Inn at Little Pond Farm's kitchen. We made End of Summer Peach Jam, Early Girl Tomato Jam, First-of-the-Season Red Cherry Jam with Brandy, North Carolina Wild Blueberry Jam and Concord Grape Jam with Seville Orange. Yum!

{The kitchen where our class was taught at the Inn at Little Pond Farm}

This year I plan to buy all the canning supplies. Did you know Williams Sonoma launched a new catalog called Agrarian that offers unusual garden essentials and chic supplies for home canning, beekeeping, and cheese making?

{9}

Like everyone else, I am obsessed with Downton Abbey!

I especially love the beautiful costume designs.

Did you watch the Golden Globes this year? I have to admit I really watch the awards to see the dresses. Lady Mary, aka. Michelle Dockery looked beautiful in her Oscar de la Renta gown. I thought the dresses this year were the prettiest I have seen in years.

{10}

In 2013 I was obsessed with Instagram!

I love taking pictures and using the filters to edit my images into something that feels like art. I also love being able to flip back through my pictures from the year to get a quick pictorial of my life through the rearview mirror. I also love instagram because it makes it "okay" to take silly pictures of the little things that make us happy everyday.

Here are a few of my Instagram photos from 2013: