Subject: Country Living

Melissa -

Are you familiar with this magazine?

I thought I knew about it, but on Sunday I was waiting to get my stitches removed and found it in the waiting room and quickly became ob-sessed with everything in it. Confession time: sometimes if I find a magazine I cannot live without (like a home design one) in a waiting room, I will take it home with me.

But just look at this inspiration...I had no choice!

The issue was all about decorating with white and how it can be really warm and inviting, not just sterile and cold. This resonated with me because of my goal to be more deliberate with color in my house - not because I am going to an all-white theme.

I might have to consider subscribing to this magazine. Maybe this particular issue was just a fluke, but I was surprised at how refined all the designs were. I guess in my mind "country living" would equal big ceramic roosters in the kitchen and red buffalo check curtains with sunflower appliques, right? I was waaaay off!

In other news, the beach was amazing. It was one of those situations where we accepted an invitation for a free place to stay at the beach but had no idea what our accommodations would be, and then we had to pinch ourselves once we got there: not only was the condo in a beautiful complex that was directly on the beach, we had our own enormous room and private bathroom and the condo itself was bigger than our house! It has awesome.

Anyway, I'm back and refreshed and can't wait to hear about what is going on in your world!
Kara

P.S. What magazines do you subscribe to? I currently get Vanity Fair and Better Homes & Gardens and I'm about to start getting Southern Living. I used to get Martha Stewart Living but it stopped being good to me...the design was too stuffy and the recipes overly-complicated and not that good. I thought I was over Real Simple, but then my MIL gave me a few issues recently and I fell back in love with it again, so maybe I'll add it back into my rotation.