A Summer Break....

Looked at the calendar this morning and saw 'August 1'.
I nearly ran screaming from my office.
How did the summer fly by so FAST?

So, in the midst of my busy-ness (and I have a sneaking suspicion THAT is exactly how summer has flown by - I am too busy to notice), I decided to take a time out and do something completely and totally unrelated to anything I am currently working on. Call it recess, call it playtime, call it 'save my sanity' - I just needed a break!

Put on some Norah Jones & Madeline Peyroux music, poured a glass of iced jasmine tea, and created this new centerpiece on my dining room table. Well, truthfully, it's not all completely new - the white platter and clear vases filled with seashells have been there since June. I added the silky coral fabric because the coral roses outside my cottage door were in a riot of bloom, and it all just coordinated so well. It's hard to see in the photo, but the fabric exactly matches the color inside the conch shell. And those roses just POP! The bush they grow on isn't even a bush at all...it's one spindly little stem, sticking up out of the ivy right next to my front steps. It is pathetic looking all year, but for the few weeks when its blossoms are abundant and more gorgeous than any of the others in my yard! They deserve the royal treatment, don't you think?

Wouldn't this be a fabulous way to display jewelry in your store? Or stationery with seashell illustrations? Candles, maybe? Tuck them into the arrangement, then stack boxes up next to it.

I'll enjoy this for the next few days, and then hubby can completely ignore it while I am at the gift show. (Oh, don't laugh - he will! He's so used to me changing things around here all the time that he doesn't even notice them anymore!) Poor guy never knows what to expect next.

Remember to find a way to enjoy the summer season TODAY!