Lovely snapdragons and such

I know I'm constantly singing the praises of Trader Joe's, but there's a reason for that. One big reason (besides their wonderful pretzel bread) are the gorgeous flowers. Every time I go there, I find a new selection to choose from. I've gotten everything from irises to carnations, and have never been dissatisfied with the quality. Plus the prices are great—these snapdragons were $5.59 per bunch (I have a bunch of white and a bunch of pink here). Most of the flowers run around $5 a bunch, and even the pricier ones, like lilies, are still a deal at $7 and some change per bunch.



And yes, that's this print...



...in the background on my living room wall. I love looking at its pretty colors whenever I walk in the room.



And I just finished placing an order at Michael's for this print (above) to be custom framed as well. It's going to look like this.



It's an odd size and large, so unfortunately I can't just grab a frame and mat off the shelf and do it up nicely.



These lilies were on my display table for over a week, but were starting to lose petals, hence the purchase of the snapdragons. But then I realized there were a few flowers that hadn't opened yet and the lilies had some more life in them, so I just swapped the lilies over to the tv stand, and the snapdragons to the display table.



And of course these mums were on the tv stand, so they had to move upstairs to our bedroom. Pete probably wonders why I've gone so flower crazy, but they're cheap and pretty and I have lots o' vases for them.



But I couldn't resist this pretty iridescent vase from Target. The color in the very first photo in this post is more accurate. It's normally a $40 vase (which I would never spend on a vase like this) but it was marked down to $9.98. Quite a bargain, eh? And the custom framing job on the black and white image was half off. Oh yes, I am forever finding great deals on the clearance shelves at various stores, as well as having become a coupon-weilding fiend!

"Weeki Wachee Spring, Florida" by Toni Frissell

I was browsing through the selection at Allposters.com (hey, they keep sending me all these coupons) and was particularly interested in black and white photography. I happened to stumble upon this image by Toni Frissell called "Weeki Wachee Spring, Florida," and was instantly captivated.


Toni Frissell

There is something very surreal and ethereal about the image, reminding me of murky yet vivid dreams. I think it would look great on the wall next to our bed, or over the entertainment center in the living room, simply framed in black and matted in white. Sometimes I think I have so much color in my house that I need to have a block of black and white every so often, and this image is absolutely perfect for that.

Not only do I adore it, but it certainly invites thought and comment about it. I'm not usually one of those people that buy mass-produced prints. Well, I do, if I really love something and it's unique and original, and I think this falls under that category. I just think it's so gorgeous.