A Few of My Favorite Things...

One of the special treats my dear hubby gave me for Valentine's Day was my very own bag of Lindt Truffles--Extra Dark Chocolate.

Seriously, there is very little that can make me 'go weak in the knees'--these little jewels do it in a heartbeat (thankfully, there ARE health benefits)! Gotta run, they're calling out to me...

A Few of My Favorite Things...

My china pattern is Royal Doulton's "Old Country Rose". I can't remember when I became 'smitten' with this beautiful china, but 17 years ago when my dear husband offered to buy me a set to show his appreciation for helping him through seminary I jumped at the chance--and shed more than a few tears!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

I absolutely love this painting by British artist Edmund Blair Leighton--so much so that I have a large print hanging over our bed (a treasured "find" while shopping alone on my birthday several years ago--my mother had sent me away while she entertained my daughters for the afternoon), and a postcard waiting to be framed (discovered at the Tattered Cover in Denver during one of our MANY visits).

Edmund Blair Leighton (1853 - 1922) was a pre-Raphaelite artist who created fastidiously crafted medieval and regency scenes that elegantly recreate a romantic, chivalrous past. Leighton, who studied at the prestigious Royal Academy and exhibited there for more than 40 years, spurned a job in the office of a tea merchant to follow his artistic ambitions. His work contained themes of courtship or weddings, often characterized by long, richly colored dresses, perceptively painted with flow and ripple that expressed both motion and rest. Leighton’s exquisitely romanticized historical scenes are frequently reproduced as posters today.

(check out more of Leighton's work at art.com)