Blogging at its Best

In our world of fast foods,

slow foods,

whole foods

and non-foods,

it's easy to forget the many among us without enough food. Our nation's economic difficulties have left far too many people with no choice but to rely on their local food bank. The food banks in turn are stretched to their limits because of the increased need.

• In 2008, 17.1 million households were food insecure, an increase from 13.0 million households in 2007.

• Feeding America is annually providing food to 37 million Americans, including 14 million children. This is an increase of 46 percent over 2006.

• The number of children the Feeding America network serves has increased by 50 percent since 2006.

• 68 percent of pantries, 42 percent of soup kitchens, and 15 percent of emergency shelters rely solely on volunteers and have no paid staff.

• Every dollar donated to Feeding America helps provide 9 pounds of food and grocery products to men, women and children facing hunger in our country.

Today is the second annual April Food Day, founded to unite bloggers in the fight against hunger by Meg of Pigtown Design and Chris of Easy & Elegant Life. If you are in a position to aid in this fight and wish to learn how, click on the April Food Day and Feeding America logos here on this post or CLICK HERE to go directly to the Feeding America/April Food Day donations page. You may also CLICK HERE to locate a food bank in your own community that needs your help.

On this blog, I talk about the comforts and luxuries of life as I see them. I have always known, and have even written about, the comfort good food can bring, especially when shared with friends and family. However, I have never looked upon food, the ordinary ingredients of our everyday meals, as a luxury. Sure, I've had to choose a lesser cut of meat now and then or the cereal that's on sale this week instead of the box I really want, but there's always been enough, (usually far more than enough), and, thankfully, I can't imagine my life any other way. Organizations like Feeding America make my reality—where having food on my table is a given, never a luxury—a reality for those who don't live with the comfort of such security. Thanks, Meg and Chris, for giving us this opportunity. And thank you, my generous readers, for allowing me to pass it on.

On the Occasion of My 100th Post... a Giveaway!

100 posts.
100 times I've had something to say. Something to show you. Something informative. Or just plain pretty. Something I hoped would help bring a little comfort and luxury into your home and your life.

100 posts.

Seems like a lot if you don't blog. Like nothing much at all if you've blogged as long as some. Still, I think it's significant enough to celebrate! I wish I could send a little something to every one of you who've visited me here. It's been so much fun! What I can do is say

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

and offer each of you the chance to win this:

"The Comforts of Home" is a brand new book by Caroline Clifton-Mogg. She's the author of other favorites that include "French Country Living" , "The White Home" and "Accessorize Your Home" According to the publisher's description, "The Comforts of Home" is "a book that enters into the spirit of how we want to live now, at a time when excess is no longer desirable. Author Caroline Clifton-Mogg puts a welcoming and beautiful haven within everyone's reach... from the welcoming hallway, to the cozy kitchen, comfortable living room, satisfying study, practical bathroom and peaceful bedroom - through to the garden. "The Comforts of Home" offers clever decorating ideas that rely on imagination and style rather than a deep purse and suggests ways of making the most of what we have to put the heart back into our homes."

If you'd like your own copy of this book, leave a comment here on this post before Midnight PST, Sunday, March 21, 2010. I'll select one name and announce the winner here on Monday the 22nd.

Leave one comment or a hundred, but I'll only count you once! (Please, don't anyone leave a hundred comments just to freak me out) And be sure to identify yourself by name in your comment if you don't have a blog or a google account or any of those other account-type thingies that identify you automatically.

••••• GOOD LUCK!! •••••

Comfort&Luxury is 100 posts old today.

Thank you for reading and writing and encouraging and critiquing and contributing in any and every way. I hope I'll continue to hear from you as I come up with one hundred more things to say!

Follow Me!

So I finally got with it and added the "follow" gadget to my sidebar.

If you've been wondering "Hey, what's with Tracy? How am I supposed to follow her?", thank you for wanting to! If you figured it out for yourself and have been following me all along, thank you even more because I didn't make it easy, did I? Truthfully, I had no idea there were almost forty of you already.
Boy, do I need to pay more attention!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about—follow her? where is she going?—that's ok too. But you might want to check it out anyway and take advantage if you can. If you'd like. I'd really appreciate it.
Know too that I appreciate every one of you who stops by—whether it's on a regular basis or just once in a while as you find the time; whether you "follow" or subscribe or bookmark me in your own unique way. I love knowing you're out there and value your comments and feedback.
For all of this, thank you so much.

Now, I'm off to update my own list of blogs to follow. I'll be sure to say "hi" when I add myself as one of your followers.


Photo credit unknown. Location of baby ducks unknown, but

it does look like they're heading in the right direction.

Luxuries Large and Small

These lovely little luxuries are ring boxes from the Muse Collection by Charlotte Moss at London's Halcyon Days. For your dressing table, vanity or evening bag, they are "descended from the rare and beautiful enamels of 18th-century England. Prized by discerning collectors worldwide, both as tokens of taste and sentiment and as works of art, they are destined to become the antiques of the future."

Says the designer of her collection, which includes atomizers, handbag mirrors and tiny vanity trays, "I have bought these wonderful enamels as gifts, and received them as gifts, for years. It is a great pleasure and opportunity to be entrusted with creating designs for today. Once again I’ve chosen to invoke the muse - images and motifs from the lives of women who continue to inspire - myself and others."

You would be correct in assuming that these pretty little numbers come with price tags containing quite large numbers.

I received as a gift this Christmas my own tiny, shiny box. It is not fancy enamel nor is it covered in pretty patterns. It is plain, coral pink and heart-shaped. It is from the not so exclusive, one on every corner, Hallmark collection. And it is currently my most prized, sentimental and inspiring possession.

It came from my daughter and contains a photo she took of us (with the camera in her laptop) on Thanksgiving Day 2009. That's her, below, squeezing the life and love out of me. And though this box was a gift, it came at a very large price. Letting her go last year to live her own life was more difficult than anything I have done with or for or because of her in the last nineteen years of my life. But it was worth it.

I have proof in a priceless pink box.

"Every luxury must be paid for, and everything is a luxury, starting with being in this world."

Cesare Pavese, Italian poet, critic and novelist, 1908-1950

Thanks to Rosemary and her dentist's fancy magazines for the top image. It is quite a luxury to have a friend who thinks about you while waiting to get her teeth cleaned. Images and descriptions of Moss's Paris, Nantucket and New York boxes are from Halcyon Days' website. And to Katey, well, you know.

My Inquiring Mind Wants to Know

Before I dive headlong into the new year, babbling on about paint colors and upholstery, I have a question for you. For those of you who blog. I read something recently about blogging, design and decor blogging specifically—who's doing it and what motivates them—that stirred up this question I'm constantly asking myself :
Why am I doing this?

Bunny Williams, ahead of the trend, via House Beautiful.


Around and around in my head this question churns. Sometimes I can answer it easily, other times, not. My first answer is usually this: Because it's fun! I get to talk (well, write) about interior design and color and fabric and lighting and bedrooms to my heart's content knowing that there's a community of others out there who feel the same way I do. Except for the times I've been in school studying design or working closely with other creative people, it's an intense interest that I don't share in common with many in my immediate circle. I've found that blogging feels like taking a class that never ends—where it's perfectly acceptable, necessary even, to spend hours at a time looking at floor plans and room arrangements, talking about furnishings and window treatments, obsessing over the smallest details. Doing that with a group of like-minded people is more fun than I can explain to someone who doesn't share my enthusiasm for interior design.

Too-beautiful turquoise chandelier, via House Beautiful

My second answer to the question is interchangeable with the first because it is equally important to me. As a person who hopes to build a business helping others make their living spaces more beautiful and functional, I want this blog to be a place potential clients can visit to see what I'm about—to get a feel for who I am and how I approach decorating and design. True, there's not much of my own work yet on my blog. Largely because there hasn't been much work done outside my own home in the past year that's significant enough to document here. And I have shown only little bits of my own home because I don't want to give anyone the impression that what I do here within my own walls reflects the work I would do for them—not everyone likes so much color and pattern or the cottage/flea market/farmhouse/whatever-you-call-it that is my personal style. Besides, I have no intention of imposing my style on my clients. What makes me happiest is helping people realize their own style and the potential within their own homes.

A fun place to meet the Beatles, via Cottage Living

So, yes, I see my blog as a marketing tool as much as a creative outlet. That being said, I understand that it could use some tweaking and fine-tuning and requires regular maintenance like any other essential in my actual toolbox. Unlike a static website or portfolio, a blog is an interactive work in progress. That's what makes it so much fun. And so much work.

A pretty turquoise surprise via DIYideas.com


I've been reading decor blogs for a year plus a few months now and writing my own for only six months. Some of you have been at it much longer. Some, maybe less. I admire those of you who have found your own unique voice while I still feel a bit all over the place. When I really think about it, what I would like to present myself as is an advisor of sorts. Someone who has ideas and information to share. With visual aids and resources. That's what I want my clients to see me as. But because most of you reading this blog are just as tuned in to interiors as I am, some with levels of expertise that surpass mine by miles, it often feels like I'm preaching to the choir. Perhaps if my posts took on the form of "discussions" rather than "lessons", I'd feel less "preachy". You see what happens when I start thinking about it? The reasons and whys begin to swirl.


Undoubtedly, you've figured out by now that the question I ask myself is the same one I've come here to ask you:
Why are you doing this?

Architectural salvage at Marburger Farms, source unknown

Your answer, if you choose to give me one—and I hope that you do!—can be as short or long as you like; in the comments here or emailed to me privately. Respond anonymously if you don't want to be "found out" for asking the very same question of yourself. Anything and everything you have to say will be welcome and greatly appreciated. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know if you. . . blog to further your career as a designer?. . . seek fame and fortune in the world of blogs or magazines or home decor television?. . . simply love to share your own DIY projects? Or do you just like to chat about wool versus sisal as much as I do? I hope you don't mind that I've asked the question in such an "open forum" way. I considered asking all of the bloggers I admire individually, but there are just so many of you! Let me say too that what I'm looking for is not so much validation as direction and focus. Understanding why others do what I so enjoy doing will help me see whether I'm on the right track. Or not. Blogging is a lot of work. That feels more like frivolous fun. Maybe that's why I'm so conflicted.

Turquoise + Aqua + White&Bright = Happy via realsimple.com

So many nice things were said over the holidays about our "blogging community" by those who are a part of it. Before I joined it myself, I was skeptical that so much real, genuine niceness could be found in a virtual world. But it's true. It's really there. I experience and witness it every day. I've seen virtual camaraderie turn into real world friendships through actual meetings and exchanges away from the blogs. I hope in this new year to be involved in more of those myself. On the way to doing that though, could we get back to my question?

Why are you doing this?

I can't wait to see what you have to say.

UPDATED TO ADD: Thanks so much to every one of you who took the time to weigh in on this question, whether here in the comments or by email. I really appreciate and was so inspired by your thoughts and ideas. I'm sure others who read them were heartened as well to hear that not only do so many of us struggle with the same question— "why?"— but that the answer is fairly unanimously "the fantastic people". I could not agree more.

Top image is "Lost" by photographer Clark Little. Click on it to visit his gallery. All other images here were chosen from my photo files to represent my ideas for using a little or a lot of turquoise, the 2010 color of the year. How can we not look forward to a year filled with such a gorgeous, optimistic color?!

A Lovely Post-Christmas Gift

Sitting here on my sofa, the hazy blur of Christmas (barely) Past still all around me (or maybe it's the NyQuil kicking in... I have a terrible cold), I received a wonderful, completely unexpected gift when I peeked into one of my must-read blogs. Maria Killam of the always educational, always entertaining, always stylish Colour Me Happy has published a list of her favorite posts of the past six months and one of mine is on her list!

My post titled "Collections, Part One: On The Wall" (as well as its follow-up post on how to hang a collection on your wall ) found its way into her favorites folder and reappeared among the most flattering company imaginable: posts on Cote de Texas, Design Ties, The Lisa Porter Collection, Pure Style Home, Things That Inspire, Velvet & Linen, La Dolce Vita, Belgian Pearls and Discover: Interior Design were the others in Maria's top ten. (click on the blog names to go to the posts Maria features) To say I'm blown away by being included among these talents is a crazy huge, can't-even-tell-you-how-enormous understatement.

Now, I'm extra-inspired to continue the series on collections I began before the holidays took over my life (and all the design blogs). The photo above is a sneak peek into the next one. Knowing that Maria may be watching, I'll be re-reading and rewriting and editing like mad hoping to continue to meet her high standards.

To read Maria's entire post, click here. While you're at it, if you're not already familiar with her fabulous blog all about color (or colour as she writes it... don't you love that?... she's Canadian), take some time to look around. You'll be glad you did, and I'm sure you'll learn a thing or two... I always do. Thank you so much, Maria!

Oops, It's Happened Again... and a reminder

During the past few weeks, my little blog received another award... from three different bloggers... and just the way it happened before, I let too many days (weeks even) pass before acknowledging them. This time, it's the Kreativ Blogger award and I am honored to have received it from three bloggers who are themselves incredibly creative. For this embarrassment of riches I thank

Soodie Beasley, whose thought-provoking posts inspire me to be a better writer, though I wouldn't want to be judged by my long-winded comments to her.
Kathy, at Creative Home Expressions, who expresses her multi-talented creativity through design makeovers, pretty crafts, beautiful tablescapes and inspiring finds.
Tamera, at Double Delight Designs, a busy new blogger who, with infectious enthusiasm, is creating a fun, pretty, crafty, cozy home for her young family and sharing it all with us.

In order to accept this award, I must list seven things about myself that my readers may not know so I have compiled a list of seven "favorites":

1) Favorite forbidden food: Pastrami sandwich, from a "world famous" local chain, with mustard and pickles
2) Favorite after-school cartoon: Kimba the White Lion

3) Favorite flower in my own garden: Alstroemeria

4) Favorite ice cream flavor: Rocky Road; with almonds, not walnuts

5) Favorite new fall television series: Flash Forward

6) Favorite happy movie moment: When Mary Poppins, Bert the chimney sweep and the children, Jane and Michael Banks, jump into Bert's chalk drawings.

7) Favorite book that made me cry, even the second time: "Charms for the Easy Life" by Kaye Gibbons

Now, here are the seven bloggers I choose to pass this award along to:

52 Flea

Boxwood Terrace

casa dulce hogar

Daisy Cottage

doe-c-doe

ella minnow pea

The Happy Homebody

These seven blogs are new to me and even after reading them only a handful of times, I can say that they are fun and clever and pretty to look at and, most of all, very, very creative. If they're new to you too, please take the time to have a look. If you're already a reader, then you know exactly why I've chosen them, don't you?

DON'T FORGET!!

ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!!

I'm hosting Mood Board Monday this time. Go to this post to see the inspiration items and get your mood board ready for the McLinky party on Monday, November 9th. You can also go to Room Remix, where PK started Mood Board Mondays, to see all the creative results of the last challenge. Please come play with us! No competition—just fun.

A First. And Second. And Third.

In recent weeks (well, to be "honest", not really so recent), I received the HONEST SCRAP AWARD from three different blogger friends. My very first award! And while I did gratefully thank each immediately upon receipt, I have been remiss in acknowledging them here. In true pro procrastinator fashion, I meant to get to it right away... and then didn't.

So first off, I need to publicly thank these ladies for deeming me and my little blog worthy of their esteem: PK of Room Remix, Janet at The Gardeners Cottage, and Jill at Forever Cottage.

I was not familiar with this award so I googled it to find out what it means. Here's what I found: "This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant. This award is about bloggers who post from their heart, who oftentimes put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul."

Well now... I don't know about all that "depths of my heart and soul" stuff, or that there's anything close to brilliance going on here, but, frankly, I'm so impressed with each of the above blogs that it's quite something to have them notice mine and I really am flattered.

In order to officially accept this award, I have to follow a few rules:

1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.

2) Share "10 Honest Things" about myself.

3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.

4) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.

Whew! Alright, I've taken care of #1; here's #2:

Ten Random Honest Things About Me

(prepare to be fascinated)

1) Quite often, I will catch myself unconsciously selecting a mug for my morning coffee that matches the pajamas I'm wearing.

2) While growing up here in Southern California, I lived within a bike ride's distance of both sets of grandparents' homes and only as an adult did I realize how fortunate that was.

3) I love to watch Ghost Hunters on SyFy by myself with (most of) the lights off and (all of) the doors locked (like that makes a difference to ghosts!) because it scares the you-know-what out of me. Watching it with someone else is a lot less spooky and even a little embarrassing.

4) I was so certain that my one and only baby would be a girl, I papered the nursery walls in pink and white plaid. Good thing I was right!

5) When I was in kindergarten, I was allowed to take the milk money all the way (probably 50 feet) to the grade school cafeteria and pick up the little cartons of milk for my class. I don't remember how many times or exactly how long my turn lasted, but when I think about it, I can still smell that cafeteria kitchen. It was a warm, sweet, delicious, fantastic scent. And I've never smelled anything just like it since.

6) My husband grew up in Massachusetts. I've known him for twenty years and I still get a kick out of his accent.

7) In a former career, I planned a corporate event that took place in Elvis Presley's Palm Springs getaway home. While there was not really much left of the King—framed artifacts here and there and the master bedroom was reportedly as it had been in his day—it was still a great location and a fantastic party (if I do say so myself).

8) I make a mean chicken pot pie... when I cook... which isn't all that often because...

9) ...my husband does 99% of the cooking in our house. It just sort of worked out that way and he's happy to do it so who am I to infringe upon his happiness, right?

10) For Halloween, when I was about twelve, I dressed as a box of Tide laundry detergent. That said a lot more about my future as a graphic designer than it did about my affinity for cleaning products or my latent housekeeping skills.

There you go! Ten new things you know about me!

To fulfill the last two requirements, I'm going to break the rules just a little. If I were to hand out seven of these awards myself, based on whose blog impresses and inspires me or to bloggers who have encouraged me in some way, I'd have to give it right back to those three who gave it to me. Obviously, and with good reason, they've already received it and as this award has been making the rounds like wildfire lately, the others I would choose may have also received it by now. So I am going to do this: encourage you to visit the following blogs to see why I think they are brilliant and inspiring and beautiful and fun to read.

Room Remix

The Gardeners Cottage

Forever Cottage

Struggling to Be Stylish

Content in A Cottage

Jan's Gems

Mille Fiori Favoriti

I'm going to leave it up to these bloggers whether they choose to respond to this shout out as an "award" or simply as my sincere thanks for always entertaining, informing and inspiring me. If you're not familiar with them, go now and see what I'm talking about. Honestly, you'll be glad you did!

And we lived happily ever after...

Bailey has come home to live with me! I mean us. Saturday morning we sped down to the Pottery Barn Outlet, swiped my debit card so fast it almost melted, hurriedly loaded my—I mean our—new coffee table into the back of the Rodeo, and headed for home. But before we left the parking lot, I snapped a pic of Bailey tucked in all safe and sound. That's my hilarious husband, above, sticking his arm in through the passenger door. And I have to say, to him and to you, that he has been such a good sport throughout this "ordeal". Once he realized just how much I loved Bailey, and was adequately reassured that I do indeed love him more, he was totally on board with the idea of a new table.

Ta da!!! Bailey's new home, above—so much better than the demoralizing cold concrete floor of an outlet store. Having taken on the exact duties of the old oak table—same books, flowers, basket of magazines, bowl of balls and clock—Bailey delivers an even more than expected amount of cheer and charm to a space that was already pretty happy. But not in a way that's too obvious. It's as if Bailey has been here all along. Aside from all the obsessing and hand-wringing, it was a seamless transition. As if it was meant to be.

Inspired by the addition of Bailey's fresh green-ness, I did a little pillow shopping this weekend as well. The spiffy number above if from Pier 1. Its mossy green, curvy cotton jacquard pattern is a perfect complement to Bailey and a nice juxtaposition to the graphic checks of my red reading chair. If you haven't taken a look at the toss pillows at Pier 1, I suggest you do. There are so many colors and styles from which to choose, I'm sure you'll find something that suits your space. And I do advise you to see them in person before you buy. Colors on their website are not always true, and you'll want to feel the fabrics before committing to something you'll be curling up with at home. Their quality is quite often a nice surprise, most have zippers for ease of cleaning and some, like mine, have feathery down inserts. If the pillow you choose does not, it's simple to insert your own if that's the look and feel you prefer. If you hurry, you can take advantage of the currently reduced prices on past season selections as well as a sale going on now that includes many of their new designs. My pretty new pillow cost less that $24.00.

Another serendipitous bargain was this red toile pillow cover, above, that I found in the markdown baskets at my local Pottery Barn (not the outlet). It's a cotton print with soft velvet welting and was a whopping $13.00. A 20" down insert I already owned fluffed it up so it could join its new friends on the sofa.

As wonderful as it is to have Bailey home, it's been equally wonderful to hear from so many of you!

Thank you so much!

...for your advice and encouragement... for allowing me to be completely ridiculous without judging me as such... for recognizing that even us designer types can become paralyzed when it comes to making decisions for ourselves... and for playing along. It was so much fun waking up each day to a few more comments and emails! Next time I'm faced with such a perplexing dilemma, I know exactly where to go to find help!

For any of you still wondering, here are answers to some of your questions:

1) No, the mean ladies at the PB outlet would not let me borrow Bailey "on approval". Okay, it's not really their fault. PB apparently has an unbending policy with regard to their clearance furniture... it's priced to move out the door and that's where they want it to stay.

2) Bailey is exactly the same size and shape as "old oak"—42"Wx18"H (So what was my problem right? Remove ugly, insert pretty. Sounds so easy.)

3) Bailey fits nicely within the confines of my big white sectional... its round shape is perfect for scooting around to find your seat.

4) Many of you expressed concern that I would regret forever not bringing Bailey home. I'm positive you were right.

See how nice Bailey looks in the photo above holding my laptop and coffee mug? That's where I did my email and blog reading this morning. Many thanks again to all of you who helped make that beautiful moment possible!