shameless

if you don't like Glee, Bachelor, Grey's Anatomy, Days of Our Lives, or reading US Weekly then you will NOT like this post.  it's shameless and indulgent and would really embarrass my husband!

why my husband is the perfect man!!!  he's the perfect combo of all these HOT men...

he has the great smile and muscles of The Rock.  not to mention the shaved head and MAN i wish those tattoos...
he's got the street cred and cool factor of Pitbull.  not to mention the deep voice and shaved head.
he has the ability to heat up the room like Vin Diesel.  not to mention the muscles, shaved head, and deep voice!
he has the body and good nature of Ben Cohen (famous rugby player who raises tons of money for good causes).  we have a neighbor who told us about him and he really does look a lot like him!
he gets told all the time he looks like Daniel Craig - i'm not too hot about that one but i thought i'd add it in!

well that's all my shameless dirty nonsense for today!  love you benny boo boo boo (2 years tomorrow!)

wingback twin

found these pics last night and got so excited!  Virtually the same chair used by a famous Brisbane based interior designer and blogger Anna Spiro for her own personal dining room!  love how she used mismatched chairs...

wingback what

today was such a fun day!

• yoga with an incredibly 'expressive' male substitute
• dermatologist (to shop for product!)
• sunflower farmers market for sandwich and smoothie farm fresh ingredients
• wooden house to pick up merchandise i left at a trunk show... where i bought a dining table!!!
• which means yep i just had to secure they wingback chairs i'm in love with from the previous post
• DMA jean paul gaultier exhibit with some of my favorite girlfriends
• chuy's tex mex with even more of my favorite girlfriends! 

ben was curious if it's 'ok' to put wingback chairs at a dining table so here are some images i love to give you a visual. it's kindof crazy how similar the bottom middle image is to the chairs and table i bought!

now lock me away or i might spend more!!!

oh darn i have to shop

moving forward with my journey to build our dream home!

following the recipe for making a credit score...  i now have 2 lines of credit with Best Buy (they gave me $2000 which is a good sign!) and The Gap.  now my bank has instructed me it would help my credit score to get a line of credit for something like furniture and finance it.  THEN i can apply for a bank line of credit (if i apply to early and get denied it's a BIG ding on my credit score for 2 years).  THEN i can get a pre-approved mortgage and THEN i can get a construction loan!!!

so when i look at my floor plan, i have already allotted where all of the current furniture we own will go (oh yes i even did it all to scale).  the only furniture i don't already have for the house is dining table and chairs (and guest room stuff).  off to research dining furniture!!!

table

i love this rustic table under $500 from World Market

chairs

i almost didn't give a link to these chairs because they're one of a kind and i really like them!  but i don't have a way to get to NC soon and the shipping could be outrageous.  anyways.. i love the idea of wingbacks like these for dining end chairs!

as for the other chairs here are some options i love

i love bucket cane chairs!

from left to right:

yellow cane chairs found these on decor pad - not the color combo for my dining table but love them!

white cane chair great redo on a vintage piece from etsy.  not cheap though...

set of white cain chairs another image from decorpad - these would be ideal!

global views cane chair i've had my eye on this guy for a while now.  their white version is beautiful too.  doesn't hurt that i have an interior design wholesale account with them! (still not cheap!)

i also love bamboo chippendale chairs!

from left to right:

white pair of arm chippendale chairs  found this awesome bathroom pic on decorpad love them as a pair

black desk chippendale chair love this with the bamboo desk and the white seat

white and turquoise chippendale breakfast chairs great combo for a kitchen!

teal chippendale armchair wisteria's version - they have them in multiple colors and armless - not too crazy about the pattern change they did

black and white chippendale these Jonathan Adler ones are done perfectly to respect Thomas Chippendale.  you'll pay an arm a leg though...

macaron happy place

i blogged a while back about a macaron place in florida i frequented this summer LE MACARON

so for this christmas i decided to attempt them...

i got so excited and went to Sur La Table and Whole Foods to pick up a stainless steel piping tube similar to this one  and a bamboo cooking scale!  

now to start the work....

all recipes are from this adorable book

i made the fillings first: vanilla bean, lemon curd, lime curd, and white chocolate ganache

then the shells: pistachio, raspberry, lemon, lime, and cocoa

here's a little peek into the beautiful process that made me so happy!

ingredients for the pistachio shell: almond flour, shelled un-salted pistachios, organic confectioners' sugar

beautiful farm fresh eggs from the garden inspirations booth at the waxahachie farmers market 

 aged egg whites (yep - out of the fridge & uncovered for 24-48 hours)

whipped egg whites with food coloring paste and caster sugar

 lime curd: lime juice and zest, butter, caster sugar, egg yolk

 the citrus variations were my favorite!

i had such a blast making these i decided they are going to be my Christmas thing.  i plan to make them every year and discover and perfect new flavors!  i'm officially addicted!

sarah briggs 2011 overview

i love looking at my year at a glance!  here's a peek into some neat facts i'm pretty proud of with the jewelry biz:

• shipped over 70 packages this MONTH (not excited about that UPS bill) 
• traveled to over 30 trunk shows and events this year
• opened over 30 new store accounts this year through my amazing showroom Aqua
• kept another 50+ current stores well stocked around the world
• hit the over 400 sales mark on Etsy!

of all of this plus the launch of sbhome - what a year!  i have not worked this hard since the first 2 years i started this business almost 8 years ago.  for a few months straight now i literally wake up around 9-10 am (normal for me) and work all day until 2am in the morning.  even relaxing on the couch means grabbing my laptop and updating online or photo-shopping the newest pics.  i never even got the holiday collection online in november because i was so busy shipping packages!  at least stores got to see it at market (and it got a great sell-through!)

next year i have some changes coming!!!  instead of getting 100 new pieces on etsy at one time, i will load new pieces every 2 weeks or so.  this way, every time you check the site there will be new!  we will continue photographing on our amazing model catherine (no that's not me on Etsy - something people ask all the time!).    spring 2012 is already designed and in production so look for new pics coming...

well overall i am extremely humbled and grateful.  i have been blessed with an incredible year not only in business but with my amazing husband and the most adorable one-eyed dog i ever saw.  we have more than outgrown our 800 sf condo but there is so much love in these walls i can already sense how much i will reminisce about our time here in these cramped quarters.

i can't say it enough.  thank you so much for every bit of support along the way.  every sale, "like" on FB, and friendly face at my shows fuels me and makes this all possible.  i am so blown away by the sb loyal following that i am launching a new years resolution with give-aways every month to our deserving customers!  stay tuned for the deets :)

christmas shopping

i always need good Christmas party options and here's a few i cam home with from my oklahoma trip!!!  i've already worn the grey sweater jacket and the black and gold sweater to Christmas parties!  i had such a great time at the trunk show and love this store!  go in and shop if you get the chance :)

peek into spring

we officially have a 4 piece collection in-the-making of Sarah Briggs fine jewelry.  after hours and hours of making the decisions and coming up with these computer renderings (i LOVE photoshop!) and meeting with the jewelers the final adjustments have been made and the pieces are expected to be here January of 2012.  the stud earring and necklace are 1/2" in diameter with a black sapphire stone in the middle.  The hoop earring will be 1 1/2" and the cuff we are SO excited about will be 1/2" tall.  stay tuned for the real images! 

we just ordered these stones yesterday for spring 2012 and can't wait to get them in!  think you can picture what we'll come up with?!...

trip splurges

both of these companies are incredible!  i got some white truffle oil for the first time and while i was there i thought i'd try one of the featured combos "lavender balsamic & meyer lemon olive oil".  ummm.... INCREDIBLE!  i bought the combo on the spot.  perfect for tossing on potatoes or drizzling over a salad - heck i'm lucky if i don't just drink it all!  check them out, they ship everywhere - we got a bottle of truffle oil for our amazing friends that watch Munchie for Christmas! Mountain Town Olive Oil Co.

waffles & frites? YES!  these waffles aren't made from batter but dough and let me tell you i haven't stopped dreaming about it since i had it!  this tiny dive makes you feel like you're actually in Belgium for a moment with the creme fraiche and all.  and the frites...  amazing!  they have, of course, the most unique dipping sauces and i was in heaven with my perfectly seasoned aoili.  i will be visiting here every time i come to SLC now!  check them out - they're around the corner from Gateway shopping!  Bruges Waffles & Frites