Nothing but blue skies

at home

laundry on the line - white linen coverlet (designed by LeAnn - circa 1997)

beautiful September day, California Pepper Tree - l&l at home

 laundry day - l&l at home 

wire laundry basket in afternoon sun - l&l at home

                     

we recommend:

..{pure linen bedding}

..{ collapsible wire laundry basket }

You might also like these

 previous posts:

{ Thinking Outside the Box } 

..

{ There is nothing so lovely...}

{ Life.  Is beautiful. }

"Blue skies

Smiling at me

Nothing but blue skies

Do I see

Bluebirds

Singing a song

Nothing but bluebirds

All day long

Never saw the sun shining so bright

Never saw things going so right..."

~Irving Berlin, 1926 

Wishing you a beauty-filled day —no matter the weather.  ;)

see our new site:
www.linenlavenderlife.com

What we're up to this holiday season...

This serene setting is an outdoor dining and lounge area overlooking our garden and stone fireplace where we sit and enjoy the soothing sounds of our fountain cascading into the pond.  

Where are we you might ask?  Well, contrary to this peaceful scene we are, (as usual) in a flurry of activity, rushing to finish up the last of the wrapping and baking and gift basket deliveries to our family and friends.

l&l at home - holiday gift baskets in progress

This year, we decided that we'd like to do a little less for each other and a little more for those in need and so we've been busy shopping and wrapping clothes and toys and other fun items for a family of five recommended to us by a local church. 

We're going to remain anonymous and can hardly wait to make the delivery tonight. We're still not sure of the logistics...exactly how we're going to manage to get all these gifts stacked on their doorstep without being seen but that's the challenge and just part of the fun of it all—(wish us luck!)

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful holiday.

  Merry, merry!

  Last minute gift: 

Send a gift card  

via email or facebook 

or it's super easy to  

print out at home - you can even

personalize with your own photos.

{Shop Gift Cards Here}

We decided to pare down in every way this year—even our tree. (Last year our tree was over 10 ft. tall.) This year we elected to go with this diminutive,  simply decorated,  faux (gasp!) tree and adored our pretty little "lady" immensely. 

Holiday Quick Links

holiday playlist & last minute gift ideas

   

we're now at:

www.linenlavenderlife.com

Which wine, which wine...

As part of the Virgin Wine Club, we periodically receive a knock on the door and welcome a large, heavy box into the house.  It's always fun to receive something in the mail, but its especially fun when it's a collection of wines and you get to discover the names, regions and recommended pairings for each.  

As we put the wine away in our oak wine cabinet or wine refrigerator, we make custom wood tags for each bottle...

...On one side of the tag we write the vineyard, variety, vintage and number of bottles (e.g. 1 of 2...2 of 2...).

On the other side we write a taste description and recommended pairings.

The time we spend up-front getting the wine organized and labeled this way takes the pressure off when it comes to selecting the perfect wine for waiting guests or any time we just want to try something that pairs well with whatever meal we're making -(or vice-versa too...sometimes we start with the wine to get inspiration for dinner.)  

Another way to determine which category wine bests fit your mood or situation is this fun wine chart (an adapted version of one we received via our wine club.)  Try it out by starting at "What time is it?" answering the questions, and following the lines to the recommended category of wine. 

You might also enjoy l&l's  

w i n e  essentials & gifts - a digital magazine containing some of our favorite wine-related items..."from the practical to the splurge."

..

We've come to think of this medium as a "living" publication - interactive and with the potential to evolve and expand - if we discover a new wine we love or want to announce the release of a new cookbook...we can take it down and in a few moments have it back on the shelf for you to access again and again - All without harming a single tree.

Cheers to that~

 wood tags 
$13.99  (qty. 50) (us) 

You may want to load up on these charming wood tags...
we use them for labeling many things around the house (bottles, canisters, baskets) as well as for gift tags  (nice for goodie bags - party favor bags - as holiday gift tags --kids love creating their own)...the list goes on.  You can leave the wood natural or paint it however you like.  Add your own ribbon or natural twine.      

we found similar options in these countries: (uk) (ca)  (es)

TIP:  After using them in their natural state, 
spray over with chalkboard paint and use again (and again).

see our new site:

www.linenlavenderlife.com

Before and After - The 1927 Cottage We Call Home

A peek into our renovated kitchen.  This is our stone concrete prep sink area with chalkboard and open shelving above. The door with a cast iron door knocker at center opens to our mini walk-in pantry.  

For the full tour including before and after pics, 
see our latest magazine issue:

(update: Unfortunately, the magazine platform we used is no longer available - leaving our magazine cover here for archival reasons only. )

{Volume No. 01 ~ Issue 03}

In this issue:

Our Renovation Journey
(before and after pics - part 1 - our kitchen)
Our latest song pick and video 

(it makes us smile every time we hear it)

Companion Guide to Inferno
(a free multi-media guide to the novel)

A mini Italian lesson
(Ready to learn the language? Professoressa Alex gets you started)

Quiz  - Are you a sugar addict? 
(Is sugar aging us? - excerpt from the book: Sugar Detox)
The Heart Expansion Experiment
("Try this exercise today...")

Chicken Farfalle
(easy and satisfying, this is our go-to pasta recipe)

and more

Also see our 98 page feature and travel guide:
Sextantio - Le Grotte della Civita - l&l visits this fascinating CAVE HOTEL in the ancient city of Matera, Italy.  
Wedding Destination, History and Historical Sites - Things to Do and See in the Region.

Find the links to this separate travel magazine feature within the pages of our latest magazine issue or click the link below to go there now:

{Sextantio - Le Grotte della Civita} 

cave hotel in the ancient city of Matera, Italy

a 98 page digital magazine feature and travel guide created by l&l.

grotto/cave - hotel room located in the ancient city of Matera, Italy. 

We hope you  e n j o y!

LeAnn 

                      & Alex

                                               

 

visit our new site:

www.linenlavenderlife.com

Check Your Inbox

Are you one of our email subscribers?  If so, be sure to check your mail for the latest edition of our digital magazine delivered to your inbox early this morning.*  

IN THIS ISSUE - 

l&l travels to the ancient city of Matera, Italy - tour Sextantio's cave hotel: Le Grotte della Civita ~ See Before & After Pictures of the 1927 cottage we call home ~  and much more:

Note:  If you find you have a problem viewing our images contained in your email, go to the top right of the email and click: View this email in your browser.  If you still have problems viewing the images and links in our emails, please contact us.

We appreciate your feedback - it helps us troubleshoot for the future and we are happy to help you make the most of your subscription to l&l.

Not a subscriber?  If you'd like to receive exclusive content and have our magazines delivered to your inbox at least one day prior to the rest of the world:  

{Subscribe}   

 In addition to receiving our posts, news and exclusive content, 

our subscribers are also automatically entered in all our giveaways.

Our digital magazines now have a place for comments and/or you can always reply to our email with any comments or questions .  If you have a moment, we'd love to hear from you.  

Our best,

LeAnn 

                      & Alex

                                               

* Subscribers were sent an email with links to our latest magazine September 4th - 5:20 am PST.

{A summer update from LeAnn}

Alex and I have been busy with the usual and not-so-usual line-up of summer activities - 

Our family celebrated my sister's wedding just a few days ago. She and her long-time beau married the end of December and had a beautiful celebration this past weekend in Topanga Canyon.  The gorgeous blossoms above are just a small indication of what was an idyllic, romantic setting my sister put together.  I was given a couple of arrangements to take home hence the in-depth photo shoot that ensued. 

A few more shots (of many)

 - exceptionally lovely, aren't they?

Also on our agenda this summer were house guests and road trips and beach days as well as two trips to my childhood home to help my parents decide on and then install new flooring. 

At our house, we just installed a new shower flower.  We got a little creative with some flat landscape pebbles. 
(These you see are the result of several hours of us washing and sorting for color and size so be forewarned if you plan to give this a try!)

Our installer had no idea what he was in for (his boss having misunderstood our design plan), but he was soon on-board and by the time he was finished, very proud of the result.

This is the pebbles installed before grout...the sunlight coming through the window and skylight above enhancing the very zen quality of the concentric design.

Finished and in-use, the coloration blends well with our existing stone floors and the pebbles not only give the natural zen aesthetic we were looking for, they work perfectly to massage tired feet. 

Plans are still being discussed as to how exactly we are going to enclose our deck. (This has been ongoing for months.) When we renovated the kitchen and did new stone floors throughout the house, we continued the same stone floor and radiant heat onto the deck without any interruption in the height or pattern to visually expand the bedrooms and to capture more livable space we can use year-round.  

A few pics I've collected with various elements I hope to incorporate:

Simple windows...

 ...wall of windows and doors to garden...

...love these paneled bottom doors.

We've been tossing around several ideas with regards to the roof configuration...we want to add ceiling height and bring in as much light as possible but also want to keep the whole project as simple as possible...not wanting to take on major re-structuring of the whole back of the house.  (Wish us luck!)   Our architect is sending new drawings soon based on the last meeting we had with her (engineer) husband and we hope to begin work the end of September.  (Stay tuned for updates.)

Many of you have written asking questions about the various phases of our renovation and my former life as a designer.  I'm always happy to provide advice, ideas and sources.  If I can't get back to you individually, I will address oft-asked questions in a post or within the pages of our digital magazine...(much of our kitchen renovation featured in the next issue.)

Currently, Alex and my youngest sister Kim (an inspiring yoga instructor) are in Portland Oregon visiting friends and scouting out the city to see if Kim wants to make it her new home. 
 This is an image Alex sent me today:

Heart-shaped crema and hydrangeas -check and check.  

-Looks like their in-depth investigation is coming along fine.   

Before I finished writing this post, I received another iphone pic from Alex (see below.)  This is an area adjacent to the hospital where her friend is interning and she says the whole city of Portland is this way, - just a few steps from where you work or live you can be on trails like this, completely immersed in nature.  

This led me to look up a few stats:  I did not know that for over a century Portland has been known as the "City of Roses" with a climate ideal for the petaled beauties. Portland is also often referred to as the "Greenest City in America" having made green space planning a priority as early as 1905. Amazingly, with a population of over 588,000,  80% of Portlanders live within a 1/2 mile to a park and over 16% of Portland's city area is parkland. - (statistics via:  Portland, Oregon, Wikipedia)

In the works and almost ready for public consumption is the latest issue of our digital magazine. We've had many inquiries about advertising - please be aware that we do not take on traditional ads. We do, however, create features on products and businesses we love.  If you have a product or service you think meshes well with the l&l aesthetic and lifestyle, please send your proposal or questions here: linenandlavender@ {gmail.com}. We're happy to review your ideas and explain the opportunities we have available.

Coming up - a feature on a most amazing hotel we simply can't get enough of ...we'll reveal all in our next magazine.

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful 

August with family and friends!

LeAnn

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Visit our new site:
www.linenlavenderlife.com

NOTE: If you arrived here from Belgian Pearls, 

you may be looking for this image/post:    Simple Home Essentials