My design style

My friend Kristina and I had lunch at the Tea Room in the Lewisville Antique Store the other day! If you're not familiar with the Tea Rooms, there's a couple of Antique stores in the DFW area that have them! This was my first time to the Lewisville location, but I was just as impressed with my food! It's a great place for a quick, quality lunch, and a quiet relaxed atmosphere. The food is delicious... I had the chicken salad sandwich and a side of fruit... and of course, iced tea (I mean, it is a tea room!). Most adorable thing we saw... a young girl and her grandmother having a tea party, complete with old fashioned tea pot and fancy hat. Kristina and I could not stop talking about how sweet that was, and how much we still enjoy seeing children being CHILDREN and having fun, but at the same time, behaving remarkably and respectfully.
Just being in the Antique store made me think of my mom, and for perhaps the first time, I really REALLY appreciated the love of antiques that my mom has passed on. What used to be me tagging along behind her and looking at the boring "old" stuff, has now turned into me going to antique stores with my friends, browsing and admiring the gorgeous furniture. My appreciation has been growing over the years for more ornate and traditional design, and now it is stronger than ever! When I started college and began my degree, my taste was much more contemporary. I think part of me was rebelling against my mom's taste, just because I lived in her house with her style and once I was "on my own" I wanted style of my own.
But now I've come to understand the value in these antique stores. They are not just stores for older generations to shop and reminisce... it's important for my generation, and generations after me to see the value in these items... they come from an era when people cared about the work they did and the product they put forward. It was about making quality items that stand the test of time, not something that breaks every few years and you have to replace with a new one. Why is my generation so concerned with pumping out technology so fast, that nothing else matters? Why are people's eyes caught by glitz and glam instead of quality? Why are we all about a fast, to-go lunch instead of sitting with a friend or family member and really spending time together? Do you know how many people I know don't even get a lunch break at their job?! Too many.
This may not exactly be the most original post... not like no one has ever brought up this idea before... but really, does my generation care or not? Are you proud of the advances we have made or have we torn apart society where people don't even want to interact with each other and don't want to have furniture and clothing, etc that lasts? Am I truly "old-fashioned" for my ideas and likes, or is everyone else just too afraid to admit they miss when people cared? I miss people caring... I miss people having manners and being polite... I miss quality craftsmanship... I miss modesty and tradition... it wasn't THAT long ago...
It was really nice eating lunch with Kristina and browsing the store afterwards. We had our eyes on many gorgeous pieces of furniture, and I caught myself thinking how long that person spent on that piece and the love and sweat that went into it... and how unless people like me talk about this and pass on the respect we have for older generations and the beautiful labors of love they gave us, pretty soon everything will be crap that breaks. If my mom had never taught me anything about antiques and didn't proudly display them in her own home, where would my design style be today? Maybe I wouldn't have even studied interior design! My style has grown from a love of contemporary to an appreciation for eclectic design, mixing antiques and newer items. I can thank my mom for that. And I can't wait until the day when I have more space and I will begin my collection of antique furniture, just like my mom. I'd love to start with this piece, spotted at the Lewisville Antique shop on Friday... gorgeous Art Deco piece! I look forward to investing in my designs and not just filling my rooms with the design trends and redecorating every few years. Quality always wins!

He is risen! Let's eat

Hope everyone had a fabulous Easter weekend! I spent my weekend with my parents at their house. Saturday afternoon was perfect for laying out in the sunshine, so I busted out the bathing suit and some skinnygirl sangria and had a nice sweaty couple of hours by the pool. It turned out to be hotter than I thought! But the pool was still really cold, so I stayed poolside the whole time. Mom made some chicken pasta salad for dinner, and it turned out to be a great relaxing day.

Sunday morning we went to church and heard a great message. Of course it seemed to be completely applicable to my life and just what I needed to hear... funny how that happens ;-)

Easter dinner was just me, my mom & dad, so we opted to going out to lunch instead of mom cooking. We tried a new place we had never been before... mom found it, searching for restaurants in Grapevine. Result: great meal at Boi Na Braza, a Brazilian Steakhouse with the same sort of set up as Texas de Brazil. Our meal was fantastic!!

The price was very reasonable for the food we got, the atmosphere, and the service. The staff was extremely friendly and immediately got us started with a great wine. One of the best things about Boi Na Braza is the fact that there's no waiting for your food to be cooked, you can start eating immediately. The salad bar was great... lots of choices of salad, soups, pasta salad, cheeses, breads, veggies, smoked salmon, olives, and hot side dishes for the meats like mashed potatoes. After filling my plate with tons of goodies, I was already half full before I even started on the meats!

Waiters walk around with skewers of different meats, cooked to perfection and ready for enjoying. When you're ready to have them bring you the meats, you flip your table card from red to green, signaling the "go team meat!". Within seconds you're surrounded by waiters offering tender cuts of sirloin, filet mignon, pork & beef ribs, picanha (rumproast Brazilian special), lamb chops, chicken breasts & legs, and pork loin & sausage. I don't even think I'm naming all of the meats that were available. I was actually surprised that I liked the sirloin better than the bacon-wrapped filet mignon that I had! The sirloin just seemed to have more seasoning, more flavor & juiciness. But everything I tasted was fantastic and I got so full, so fast!

Our meal included choice of a dessert, so I had creme brulee, so did mom and dad opted for their caramel turtle cheesecake. OMG! Everything was soooo good, so rich and fantastic. The creme brulee was so light and creamy, so smooth and had a perfect caramelized sugar top. I tasted dad's cheesecake which was also delicious. I'm not huge on caramel, but it was amazing! I was really close to ordering the chocolate mousse cake... maybe I should have so I could have tasted 3 desserts instead of 2, but man, I just couldn't pass up that creme brulee, that's something you don't make at home for yourself ;-)

Great meal, really affordable for the amount of food we had and for a fantastic wine too. We will definitely be going back! Oh gosh, I forgot, it included complimentary valet parking, also! That's a short cut to my heart <3