The dining room is her favorite...

I thought it would be great to meet some of the people who follow linen & lavender so I asked Tiffany (the recent winner of our first anniversary give-away), if she would mind sharing a few things about herself.  She very graciously accepted.  Read on for a peek into this lovely lady's life...

 lb:  Tell us a little about you.  What are your interests these days?

Tiffany:  I am a very busy stay-at-home mom with four children:  Jake (8), Luke and Sam (5) and Quin (3.) I love all things beautiful.  Even though I have 4 children I believe that everything I choose to put in my home should be beautiful and something that makes me happy.  I will never pass up a beautiful piece of furniture just because I have four young kids.  Also, nothing in my house is off-limits to my children.  For example, I have a gorgeous antique settee at the foot of my all white bed that the kids love to use as a launching pad onto my bed!  My interests these days are looking at beautiful blogs for design ideas. There are so many talented women out there, who aren't necessarily professional designers, with exquisite taste and creative ideas.

lb:  Where do you like to travel? 

Tiffany:  There's not much traveling for me these days.   My time will come.  We are a beach family and living in Southern California with so many wonderful beaches.  --We never grow tired of a day at the beach!

lb:  How would you describe your design style?

Tiffany:   My favorite design style is definitely European. Although lately I've been trying to add a few contemporary pieces here and there.  I started watching a new reality show called "9 by Design" and fell in love with their eclectic style, especially their art.  It's young and fun.

lb:  I find that most people have a favorite room in their home;  what's yours?

Tiffany:  My favorite room is our dining room... when the kids are outside. I know that sounds funny but our dining room has a view of the backyard and I love when I am at the table with a book or magazine and I can see and hear my kids playing out back.  It's like a short, enjoyable break from the everyday demands of motherhood.  I'm inside by myself, surrounded by beautiful things, and I can hear the kids talking to each other, playing make-believe and laughing.   It's one of those simple joys in life, -when they aren't fighting of course!!

. . . . .

I wanted to share the winning moment with all of you, so I asked Tiffany if she would mind if I shared the email she sent me when she learned she had won the Maisons Côté Ouest subscription:

Oh my goodness!  I am so excited to get this subscription!  I seriously cannot believe I won!!!  I am giddy right now!
I follow your blog daily and I can't tell you how much it inspires me and just simply makes me happy looking at the beautiful pictures.  I love it mostly when you write about things...that is when I am most inspired.
I have ordered a couple of books that you have recommended and I have done the jar thing in my pantry.  I transfer my milk from the plastic jug into pretty glass bottles weekly.  My boys think I'm crazy (including my husband) but I always tell them that the milk tastes so much better coming from a glass jar!
Anyway, thank you so much for blogging.  It brings a ray of happiness and beauty into my crazy life!

-Tiffany

. . . . .

Thanks again, Tiffany!  This giveaway has been so much fun for me!  I love meeting new people and learning how they live and create in their part of the world.
 

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and Source Sharing - Milk Bottles

linen & lavender

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And the first winner is...

Riviera Maison living room as featured in Maisons Côté Ouest

THE  Maisons Côté Ouest 1 YEAR

MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION

goes to

Tiffany of Ladera Ranch, California

"CONGRATULATIONS TIFFANY!"

More give-aways coming up! 

Join linen & lavender's GLOBAL COMMUNITY to be eligible!

My thanks to all of you for the emails and comments telling me how much you enjoy linen & lavender and how excited you were about this first giveaway prize.  I loved hearing from so many of you from around the globe and hope you will continue to send me your letters and comments.  I'll announce the next prize soon! 

see our new site:

www.linenlavenderlife.com

linen & lavender - an invitation to join our global community...

linen & lavender will be one year old in June and to celebrate this milestone, I'd like to give back to my readers.  So this summer I will be conducting giveaways the months of June, July and August! 

The winning names will be drawn from my followers and my email subscribers lists, so if you haven't signed up for one or the other, be sure to do so before the first drawing.  (And yes. You are allowed to sign up for both to have two chances to win!)

I receive traffic reports indicating that I have numerous readers from countries all over the globe, so I know you are out there! —Thank you for spending time with me this past year.

And for those of you who are new to l&l —Welcome!     ~LeAnn

see our new site:

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You might also like:  The Grays Have It!

see our new site:

www.linenlavenderlife.com

December 31st, Reflection and Introspection

I remember a letter my Grandma wrote where she described the seasons as climbing a hill, with the peak as December 31st —New Years Eve.  She said that's how she has always seen it in her mind's eye.  I realized then that I had always visualized the passing year as a circular path.  I don't picture it as a climb up, but more like a traversing around.  Until my Grandma's letter, I hadn't really thought about it before, at least not processing it on a conscious level like that.  But the picture came to mind immediately and I recognized it as familiar to me as anything I know.

It led me to think about how different we all are and how we are often operating with an unconscious filtering system that may or may not be serving us very well.  We are limited to our own perspective until there is some impetus, some "nudge" to look at things differently.  I love these kind of reality shakers;  – where our awareness is awakened and expanded.  Those, "I hadn't thought of that before" moments.

"You don't know, what you don't know,"  comes to mind.  Operating in our usual mode of operation with our interior control panel set on "default" we may miss opportunities to broaden our horizons.  However, the more we communicate and share with others with an open heart and open mind, the more we expand and grow.  That's an exciting proposition to me and explains why I have such a love for travel and for interacting with people in this forum.     

I'm very grateful for the world we live in where we have the ability to reach out to others around the globe.  Unlike any other time before us, we have the tools to learn from myriads of people, cultures and life experiences.  ...Sometimes we find someone who is similar to us and we can celebrate and expand on shared values....Other times, we find someone with different ideas and ways of looking at things and we are gifted the opportunity for growth and expansion. —A new jumping-off point for creating beyond what we alone could conceive.

I  have enjoyed these past few months sharing and learning with all my fellow bloggers and readers around the world.  As we embark on the new year together, I raise my glass in gratitude and send you my very best wishes:

Here's to the new year and perpetual expansion!  

Cheers! 

Photograph:  Côté Sud Dec 2000-Jan 2001

linen & lavender

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