I quit!

 I Quit!!

~well I am really just quitting working so many hours in the Malden store.

Too many hours, too long days all add up to a one sided kind of life....

With the opening of Boston I will have help being available to folks

who need their Annie Sloan fix~and I will be able to shop and hunt

for the special furnishings and accessories we like for Maison Decor.

I need time to hunt, to paint, to merchandise the stores~

it all takes time...and of course to blog!!! 

See the rug on the floor~that is headed to Boston tonight.

Justin wanted a faded out oriental and I found a pretty good one for him.

I took it into my store to give it a good vacuuming.

 I love that its all faded and worn without having holes..and it is made in Pakistan...

did you know I used to live there? I went to 2nd and 3rd grade there.

It was really fun as a kid...I kidnapped a baby cow once, I really wanted to keep him.

The cows just wandered all around...and I took him into our compound. All Americans 

would have houses with gates...so I went outside the gate and got him with a rope and

brought him back home.  That lasted for about one hour...hah. 
 I didn't realize they were considered sacred and you couldn't "have them" as pets....
so the servants made me bring him back outside the gates.

Funny the things you remember~although that experience was kind of unforgettable.

 Back to the USA~here in my shop I have plenty to do...I have been neglecting it 

in favor of Boston and all that entailed. However I plan to tweak my style a little bit

over here, as I just love the look in the other shop.

 I have some ideas~and will be sharing them with you of course!

 Now look what I got in the mail from a blogging friend~

its from the ROYAL mail!!!! No, Kate Middleton and I are not

blog buddies...its a package from Krissie of the Shingled Cottage!

 I love a package!! I just do~I guess everybody does...its so fun getting a package!

 Krissie sent me some of her Laura Ashley fabric and wallpaper that she is using in her own cottage 

remodel across the pond! You must check out her darling cottage~its a dreamy little hideaway 

that she has created for herself and her husband Steve. Shingled Cottage

 Laura Ashley makes pretty cottage patterns like these~

I think they are vintage patterns,

but I am not positive.

I tried matching them up to my Antoinette and white wash sampler~

Krissie is one of the kindest bloggers I know~

and speaking of kind bloggers...

 Here is my Dilly~ well he is not a blogger, 

but he captured a kind bloggers heart when she saw 

his gentle face...I adore this dog like no other dog I have ever had...

 One day I got a package and inside was an oil portrait of Dillon. 

Cindy Austin painted Dilly for me~and it is the nicest gift ever!!

I ran right in and propped it on the mantle so I could stare...

and wipe a tear or two away.

She really captured his soul...this is the way he looks when he has those soft

loving eyes and he lays his ears back. I shot a photo of him, 

so he is looking at me in this portrait!

And forever he will have Dave's hand around his chest

and his eyes will be trained on me...its pretty cool.

A long time ago I had posted the photo on my blog,

 and then Cindy secretly painted it!!!! 

She is famous for painting a cow for Miss Mustard Seed you know....

And that cow was fabulous too.

But my house is a disaster since I am always at work, so I couldn't take a pretty

pic showing it in its surroundings...with kids sneakers, and the pillows on the floor

 and the coffee table piled with papers and books...so this will just have to do.

I have been meaning to post this for two weeks...

and finally I get to say "thank you, Cindy!"

Blog friends are pretty great people.