Viva Mexico! Viva Laredo!

It had been four years since we broke up, me and Laredo. When I owned McQueeney Market, I traveled to Laredo for inventory at least once a month. When I became pregnant with my little girls, Catherine & Caroline, I knew my days in retail were over and we closed McQueeney Market. It was the coolest store, only one year old, and it had such potential. Great location, crappy building. I loved it and hated it. I could go on and on, but let's just say the timing wasn't right and it was "best" that McQueeney Market fade away so I could focus my energies on more important things, like my twin girls.

Since I love Mexico, I love Laredo because they're pretty much the same. By now it must be common knowledge that there is much to my old life that I mourn. In my new life there is much to celebrate but it requires that a lot of me is sacrificed. Before we all reach for a Kleenex, let's just say me and Laredo have missed each other.

Wendy called on Tuesday and suggested we go to Laredo on Wednesday morning, early. We had been trying to plan a trip for months. This trip was a lot like whooping it up on a Sunday afternoon. It's just so much more fun than planning every detail of a Saturday night -- and being disappointed.

We started our shopping adventure at Vega's on San Bernardo and I snapped a few pictures before I noticed the sign that said no cameras are allowed. It seems pretty silly to me, so I even asked how was I supposed to share their fabulous wares with my friends and clients (not to mention the world, in my blog) if I couldn't snap a picture or two.

I loved these cool agaves crafted from tin.

This darling chair had soft cushions covered in an outdoor-safe fabric in a pretty lemony yellow/green. We loved them and they were on sale for only $149. While I was soon informed cameras were not allowed, I love Vega's so much that I'm not even going to hold it against them.

From there we ate some lunch which was average. We live near San Antonio, in Seguin, you know, so we pretty much know our Mexican. We wanted to stop at the Lazy Mex bar but it wasn't open. We thought the name was rather racist in tone and wondered what it would be like to have a bar named Lazy White Guy.

We then ventured on to other stores for iron and such. Here's a couple of sneak peaks at stuff I liked, that was a little above average Mexican import junk. Wendy spied this little rabbit right away and I wished that I could get one too, but I was the navigator, on a scouting mission, and otherwise lacking in funds for whimsical purchases.

When she also bought an armadillo and I had my eye on a javelina and an iron weenie dog, I told her we were in danger of becoming "old ladies with yard art."

I had not seen anything like this lantern/sconce anywhere and I loved it. It doesn't come wired but it could be done. Even if it was used only with a candle, it would add instant drama for almost nothing.

I think it's kind of cool that you could sit and spin yarns around the chimenea while the husband is grilling some salmon. I am a multi-tasker from way back.

At Alexander's, Wendy bought two large table bases. She's going them to support a handcrafted mesquite tabletop to seat 10. It's going to look awesome in her home and I can't wait for the dinner. The base below has the round top (for glass) and Wendy's doesn't. Also, Wendy didn't like the ball finials so she had them knocked off. If you knew her you would think that was funny.

Wendy is going to have me "do my thing" on these bases so they're not plain and rusty.

I love the simplicity of these small side tables. They do not scream "Mexico" to me. I am in the market for pots, and huge pots like these are available for next to nothing. Since Laredo and I have been in love, I haven't been able to spend money anywhere else.

We had the best day and it was an especially good field trip for me. Creativity was enhanced and it's always good to have a refresher course that reminds me just who I am and what blows my skirt up. I wondered again just how I could have veered off course for so long but the answer to that question is already known and all too clear. My husband asked me whether I should "revisit McQueeney Market" and I haven't been able to get the idea out of my head ever since. There's so much to contemplate. Potential locations, labor and the lack thereof. Whether it's a good idea or a tempting disaster. All I know is that if I do it again, I'll do it differently, with more planning and prayer. And that's certainly a good improvement over the old me.

Girl talk, kolaches, antiques & a wedding

One of my cousins got married in Houston a few weeks ago and my Mom and I decided to make it a mom-and-daughter quality time trip so we could finish a few conversations we had been trying to have for the last three and a half years. We got so much talking accomplished in such record time that by Schulenburg we ran out of things to talk about so we stopped for a kolache. It was almost as fun as stopping for a "cup of coffee and a piece of pie" like my Mama always liked to do.


We struck out early Saturday morning, armed with a list of must-see shops recommended by Joni on her Cote de Texas blog. We were inside Loop 610 and on Dunlavy by the time shops were opening at 10 a.m. First thing, I fell in love with these lamps at Boxwood. They would be perfect in our bedroom because the ceilings are so high and everything always seems so out of scale when anywhere else it would be fine. Actually, I fell in love with quite a bit in that store.



See what I mean? I love it when I find something as clever as this fabulous chair. If I was to buy this chair, it would make me happy every time I walked by it. It's hell having La Crema taste on a St. Genevieve budget.

In the same shopping strip is The Country Gentleman (3829 Dunlavy), where I spied this yummy little green chest. The owner there, Larry Bahn, is delightful and the store is crammed full with fabulous antiques from all over the world. If you love religious artifacts and statues and crucifixes like my little old Catholic self, you will love his shop.

This corner piece was so fabulous. I think someone I know needs to buy this for her new house.

Back at Boxwood, I loved these glass apothecary jars and this rustic brown cocktail table. If anyone is interested, I know a crusty old Kingsbury craftsman who could make this for you, so strong you could dance on it.

As luck would have it, my camera battery crapped out and I had to run next door to the Fiesta Food Mart to buy a disposable camera before I could venture on to Antiques and Interiors on Dunlavy. So you'll just have to wait until I get the pictures back like we did in the old days. As a consolation, just take a look at these two little cuties:

Our spiral staircase freaks out a lot of people. We installed a baby gate at the top, but once C&C got reasonably steady on their feet we figured it was safer to teach them to maneuver it. So far the only ones to almost break their necks have been much older (say for instance me).

Disturbingly visible

My brain is really cooking today. I can't do anything but paint, and think. While I wait for my last coat to dry on a triptych I am painting, I decided to bounce around my fave blogs. I just had to write that. A triptych: did I even spell it right?

I realize this is confusing so try to follow along. Lavenderchick turned me on to the Hill Country House blog, which I love and will now visit every single day. In her latest post, Hill Country House Girl laments that the homes featured in the latest issue of Veranda haven't blown her skirt up as usual because they seem to lack personality. They're beautifully designed, but does anyone actually live there? She mentions Habitually Chic's post about Rose Tarlow, a designer and author of "The Private House." I haven't read it yet but I'm going to order it as soon as possible.

In that book, Rose writes: "There are those who spend lifetimes in houses that have nothing to do with who they really are. They may be perfectly designed, yet if they fail to reflect the personalities of the people who live in them, the very essence of intimacy is missing, and this absence is disturbingly visible."

I could not agree with that more. But I say the lack of intimacy that is missing in the house is missing in the person. In fact, maybe the house does reflect who they are. It's obvious in beautifully designed homes in fancy magazines and it's obvious among normal people that you and I know. A very smart friend and I were talking about this same thing just yesterday.

The flashy McMansion looks good, every square inch is decorated from some dumb store, with some design element: the last sale at Hobby Lobby, a stop by Kirkland's, that trip to Laredo, a late night of shopping online. It doesn't matter how bad, how cheap, or how expensive and well thought out, you can spot the lack of imagination, lack of personality and yes, a lack of intimacy that is disturbingly obvious. These houses have that model home or Parade of Homes feel and you wonder how do real people live here?

Other homes have such great energy and it's because of the people who live there. Their homes reflect their passions, their tastes, their travels, even, shockingly, their kids.

And here's where my theory gets really interesting. When these smart women mention an absence of intimacy, I agree, but I would add we're also seeing an absence of God that is disturbingly visible both in the home and in the person. It's all connected.

The home lacks soul and the person lacks God.

Ultimately the McMansion and everything we fill it with doesn't satisfy. The husband (or wife) can't make us happy and meet all our needs. Nothing we search for fills the empty hole. There's really only one thing that can fill it and if it's disturbingly absent, it's disturbingly visible.

And that's my witnessing for today.

From drab to glam: The lesson comes in the strangest of places

Once they go faux they never go back, at least that's what I'm finding out. Since last fall I've been working my way around this grand house on a beautiful lake near Seguin. I first blogged about it last fall in "why my neck hurts."

To refresh your memory, here's a few pictures:

In the kitchen just off the glam great room where these ceilings reign is this poor little white island. We can't have that now, can we?

This is the really cool light fixture over the island. When the lights are turned off they look black. But when you turn on the lights, voila! So you can see my client needed a little red in this kitchen.

Here you go: from drab to glam. This picture doesn't show that the red actually has an antiquing stain over it. And there are little distressed edges as well. But not so much as to appear country.

I went over there today to discuss a few more little projects, and now my client is considering a red quartz countertop just on the island. It's a perfect match for the Metallic Red Setcoat I used. That's certainly going to be kind of sexy in the kitchen, don't you think?

Here's the thing I love today about my life. I get to meet the most amazing, wide-ranging people. Usually, each one of them adds some sort of wisdom or knowledge to my life. I never know when it's going to happen or what they're going to say that impacts me but it generally always happens. Maybe it's because I'm paying attention and want to learn from people who I assume have something to offer.

The fabulous woman who owns this house worked hard all her life. She had a job before and after she married. At one point in her life when she "got sick of corporate America," she decided it would be fun to sell cars. Don't you just love her already? Anyway, her husband worked himself to death and she lost him suddenly. She told me one day when I was working in her home that she bought this house so maybe she can have a little fun and relax a little bit
"before she kicks the bucket."

And I think that's something we can all learn from.

Back on Task

Remember the little potting shed I painted for a powder bath. The sink was to be a bucket and the faucet a pump. Well there it is, installed. My client Susan certainly is clever, isn't she?

Sadly the walls in that powder room are still builder beige, but I have plans to transform them one day....

Here's the finished result of a brand-new cabinet that the painters mistakenly painted white. This cabinet was constructed to hold a Mega TV on top and other electronics behind the center doors, which will have glass. It was a brand new piece, but she didn't want it to look new. The top is Faux Effects' Venetian Gem in Tiger Eye. You can't see it very clearly in this picture but the front face has a very subtle stencil design that is raised over a background of Venetian Gem in Sage Green, which looks more blue than green if you ask me.

The insets on the drawers are the same Tiger Eye. Someday they'll probably feature hardware but my client is one of those thoughtful people who likes to live with pieces before deciding what they need.

Here's a closeup:
Once they move into their wonderful home in the country, I hope to be able to take some photos showing the rooms all set up. This TV cabinet is going to live to the right of a grand fireplace.

The Reason I'm Getting Botox

The fact that I can look like this without even meaning to look like a mean, hagard shrew is enough reason for me to get Botox. I have informed my husband not to dare get me one other gift. I only want cold, hard cash for my Botox.

What's so shocking is that when this photo was snapped by my three-year-old daughter Catherine, I was happy. I was getting to babysit my sweet little niece Piper and was sitting on my porch in paradise. See that crease in the middle of my grouchy forehead? It's permanent. I don't even make it on purpose. And yes, I realize I could use a little lipstick -- again.

Lavenderchick, can I please join you in making this the year of my face? I know you have been sandblasting yours but I think mine needs to be paralyzed into a happy face that appears to be interested. The face above is horrifying.

I promised myself I was not going to dwell on this any longer, but maybe this is why people don't naturally assume immediately upon seeing and/or meeting me that I am warm, loving person. I promise to reveal my warm, loving, nice and interested-looking face as soon as it's paralyzed into existence.

Excuse me while I rant

Now no one take offense, but I must rant about Mexican furniture, which is being overused in epidemic proportions. It's everywhere. Don't get me wrong. I like it. I own it. But please, please, for the love of God (as Lauren would say), do not fill every room in your home with it.


The reason this came up is one of my wonderful friends and clients is building a ranch house and she needs a ton of furniture. So I have been helping her look for some and she's been looking herself. There are entire stores in San Antonio that can fulfill her every need and blank wall. And it would be really easy to go in and fill up the house at a nice store like The Rustic Gallery or Catrina's at the Ranch or any other "Hill Country," "Rustic," or "Old World" way-overpriced-and built-by-underpaid-and-probably-starving Indians-and/or-Mexicans furniture store. But to do this ranch house justice, and for it to be a reflection of her very cool self, it's going to be so much harder to do what I want her to do: pick and choose really great pieces from all over the place.


In my quest to help her find the first critical piece, something to act as the powder room vanity, this is just a taste of what I've encountered. I know, egads:




Stars are cool and we live in the Lone Star State, but let's just say my eyes are bleeding. Must we have stars on every single thing? I'm surprised I don't see stars stamped on my butter.

These tables below are apparently from India, masquerading as rustic Mexicans.
Not all of it is bad. The Rustic Gallery in San Antonio might suck your very last penny out of your pocket, but it has some very nice pieces. It's just difficult to snag pictures from their website. So to see that I know what I'm talking about, go check out http://www.therusticgallery.com/

I also like http://www.elpasoimportco.com/. They're very PC and don't stick to just Mexico or India. I've seen Polish and Russian stuff in there. Who knew?

This piece below I actually do own. We used it as the bathroom vanity in the Marathon house. It's the perfect height, the perfect width because it took the place of the dwarf's tub and shower (about 48 inches) and it looks really cute with towels rolled up on the shelves. This piece does not offend me, I'm sure you're so glad to know.

I thought this little table below would make a great vanity for the powder room, especially after I jazzed it up a bit. She doesn't have the space for the vanity above. We each had been searching and searching and then one night when my husband woke me up in the middle of the night for no good reason and then I couldn't go back to sleep, I realized that this little piece lonely down in my garage/studio was probably the exact right size. I wanted to go downstairs in the dark to measure it but I waited until the next morning. Sure enough, it was perfect in size.

My client's concern is it doesn't have anything to hide the plumbing. Her builder is one of the best so I'm sure they can figure it out. And, I've never been one to worry about the details. Once I do my thing to transform this little lonely table and then the builder's plumber installs the fabulous sink from http://www.mexicansinkconcepts.com/ onto it, there's no doubt it would be fabulous. Still, a cabinet of some sort would be the best bet.

This armoire is actually pretty. I think it's from The Rustic Gallery:



Here's why I think we need to venture into and then out of the rustic Mexican import stores. I've been to one or two houses on ranches in my life. And in all my travels, large landowners that I have known, in their houses on actual ranches with real live cows and assorted other animals, not one single one has been decorated completely rustic or western for that matter. I double-checked this with Dr. Debi Duke, and she backed me up. What you will see are lovely and well-worn antiques and even primitive pieces from the old days when maybe times weren't quite so good that are being held onto because they're fabulous and remind the home's inhabitants from where the come and what's important, hopefully. And there are feminine touches in these houses because shockingly enough, real, live women live in them.

And there are very nice, traditional pieces that are comfortable and serve a purpose. Then, there will be beautiful western art and it seems right at home there. These homes are not themed like a Parade of Homes house, as in this is our ranch house (yee-haw!) and this is our lake house (welcome to the lake!), and this is our doggy-themed laundry room. Even Elizabeth Taylor redecorated that god-awful house in the movie Giant (after her sister-in-law passed on and she made it clear who was the woman of the home).

Next post will include photos from my scouting trip to Houston, inspired by one of Cote de Texas' blogs.

In Marathon, Life is Good

the church next door

Just home from a leisurely dinner at the Gage, which would have been perfect if not for the smokers who got seated on the patio next to us. I know it was outdoors, and I really hate to be a smoker nazi ... however their air was mixing with mine. As my dear father always says, there's nothing worse than a reformed smoker and something about a redeemed hooker.

So anyway, if I have a card reader I'll share photos from this most fabulous locale. The weather is wonderful. The air is clear. It wasn't windy today, although Dara said we had horrible wind for the last two days, which completely dried out my sweet little Vitex tree that I'm planning to plant tomorrow. My little vitex looks like my dried out crusty West Texas menopause skin, actually.

Kuhny and I had the most fabulous day driving out here. No rush. Many stops. I read a book to him on the way. He got a ticket for driving 87 miles per hour, which I predicted because I have psychic skills.

Now it's early and in the words of my favorite cousin and the world's second-best mortgage babe Vicky, it's "time to make night-night."

Iron Mountain at dusk

To Update You Before I Run Away

I'm running away to West Texas this weekend to bask in the peace and love of quiet isolation with my husband sans kids. We're really excited that we'll be able to converse without interruptions and mostly just lounge about. I can hardly wait.

I promised that I would bring you up to date on my recent endeavors so please forgive me if there is no rhyme or reason to this blog. It may be kind of like cleaning out the fridge and calling it dinner.

This is a kitchen island I am currently destroying, I mean transforming. It's going to be antiqued red and black when I'm finished. Mostly black, with just some sexy metallic red peeking through.

Get a load of this dramatic powder room. Isn't that just a special potty? What I like about this bathroom is that the homeowner rediscovered that painting in a guest bedroom or somewhere she never saw it because it was hidden by a door. My clients mother redecorated her bedroom when she was a girl and bought this painting at that time, 30 years ago or so. If I had seen that painting and used it for inspiration it couldn't have been a better match. There's a lot of gold on the walls that you can't really see.

Here's the sexy sink in the powder room. I wish my camera took better pictures of my walls. Trust me that they look better than this. It's a combination of Faux Effects Lusterstone and Faux Stone Pull-off.

OK, this is my top pick for cool powder rooms. First, how could it not be with that absolutely fabulous light fixture? And then, see the very subtle stencil applied in metallic silver ever so often around the room? I may have shown you this before, but I just love it. And it wasn't even my idea, by the way. That's why I'm raving about how cool it is. The subtle use of stencils is one of my current obsessions.

Here's an artsy shot of the light fixture over my dining room table. Too bad my finger found its way into the picture. This was free because it used to be shiny brass and ugly. Not any more. I would like to get some really wild chandelier shades. If you know where I should look, do tell.

And finally, here's a shot of my dear husband leading our sweet little Caroline to the car after my cousin Neal's wedding. Is that not the most beautiful picture? She's got her little bean bag puppy in one hand and her Daddy's hand in the other. We got there somewhat late and had to sit on the back row, where she flirted with her little friend Cade the entire ceremony.

Just to be fair, I'd better show you how beautiful Mary and Catherine looked that day:

Catherine is all about doing what will "make my hair grow long." Sometimes it's taking a bath, sometimes drinking water. It's a big motivating factor because even though she was born with more hair than her sister, it took her hair longer to get going. Once Caroline's bald head kicked into gear it grew really fast, into blonde ringlets. Catherine's hair really getting long, isn't it? Her hair reminds me of my grandmother's which was dark and curly to show off her really light skin. Catherine's middle name is Mae, after my grandmother, so that's just one of the reasons we think her "really long hair" is special.

Mary and her beautiful cousin Elyse. Mary's on the left. They were best little cousin friends when they were babies. However I just noticed they're not babies anymore.

My Time in Blogland Time-Out

I suppose a few of you have noticed I've been absent from blogland for a few weeks. Gosh, time flies when you're losing your mind. I knew I'd be back eventually, I was just taking a little time out.

I made some really big, much-needed changes in my life, but my life and all its commitments didn't get the memo. My life and all the commitments are still expecting the same results as before, which means I've been busy trying to get rid of the commitments so I can never make the mistake of volunteering for this or that ever again. You would think I was a well-heeled philanthropist without a job or kids the way I have been working for good causes. Frankly, it has to stop! I'm sick of being a do-gooder.

What was my big change? Well first, I got the message that I needed to spend a little more time around my house, you know, doing important things like taking care of my children. Let me tell you, that was a shocking message to receive and comprehend. And the reason I knew it was probably someone important like God implying that my children needed me more, was because I really didn't want to hear that message. I was busy. I had commitments and responsibilities. My kids were being expensively well-taken taken care of, but it wasn't by me. And that became a problem. I finally heard the message loud and clear one day when my friend Cristin relayed something Jamie told her in a conversation about somebody else: "Sometimes what's best for everybody else isn't always what's best for you." That one sentence was just part of a random conversation, but it resonated in my head like a bullhorn:


"Hey Sami !!!!! Yeah, you. What's best for your family might not be what you would dream up in fantasyland!! Yes, I'm talking about your kids and your home. Maybe even that neglected husband of yours."


So what I did was cut back on the work week by two days, Monday and Friday. That gives me four days in a row with the darlings and then every night and that's certainly enough for any 42-year-old basket case with 3-year-old twins and a beginning teenager. I got the message but let's not get carried away. I'm not quitting my job and becoming a home-schooler, even though that's very admirable if you are wired that way but I can assure you, I am not.

All three of them when Catherine and Caroline turned three

The new arrangement has forced me to cram a lot of work into naptime, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. One Thursday I worked from 9 a.m to 4:30 without taking a break because I didn't have the heart to postpone the renovation of a lovely powder room over the weekend and until the next Tuesday. I wasn't about to explain my freakish schedule to my client. This weekend I managed to work Saturday morning while my amazingly hands-on husband took the girls to visit his grandmother.

Catherine modeling her new pink tutu skirt. Caroline agreed to wear the new pink shoes



So far it's working. My kids don't cry and hang on my leg when I leave. They still fight and whine try to eat carbs and sugar for every meal, but I think that's normal. There seems to be a little more peace and love flowing through our air.

Barefooted and burning up at Gruene Hall a few years ago. You can tell because they have no hair.

I promise to get back to blogland soon to reveal all the fun stuff I've been working on. And, amazingly enough, I have pictures!!!