Holidaze!

   Whew! It's been a crazy couple of weeks and Christmas isn't even here yet! Every year hubby and I like to throw our annual holiday shindig...it's a ton of work, but SO much fun! Last year I had pneunomia for 2 weeks in December so much to my dismay, we had to skip the party. This year I think I was a little over-ambitious in my planning and decorating, but it was all worth it. I was making up for last year for sure... Unfortunately, as usual, I wasn't able to take any pictures at the party as I was too busy trying to be the hostess with the most-ess! What I can say though is I SO enjoyed sharing my home with all our friends (who all looked fabulously festive by the way) and I couldn't have asked for a better time. To me, this is what the holiday season is all about: sharing, enjoying your friends and family, and spending time together. I'm so thankful for the people in my life and so glad we could all come together for one night to dress up, eat, drink, and be merry, and enjoy eachother's company.
   In the midst of all my planning (and cleaning!) I of course was able to find some time for shopping...estate sale shopping that is. Hubby's youngest son just moved out so we are working on making his room into a guest room (a serious luxury for us!). So far I'd been stuck when it comes to a color palette. It's really hard to start from scratch. The room needs flooring, paint, furniture, the whole she-bang-I really didn't know where to begin...until I found these:

    I think the man who lived at the house had worked for Southern Pacific Railroad because I also found several matchbooks (besides the four shoeboxes full that I bought!) and an employee handbook for the company. These pictures were silkscreened on cardboard and someone made the wooden frames which are stapled on. They are in surprisingly good shape and the colors are incredible! Don't they just conjure up the dreamiest visions of a 40's or 50's vacation at a dude ranch or Mexican villa with an ocean view? (please excuse the picture quality, I've been taking all my pictures on my crappy cell phone until I can find the missing cable for my camera) Here's the back:

   Yup, they were screened on the back of a mayonnaise advertisment! It looks like something is missing from the middle which makes me think there was a third poster, but I guess we'll never know. So for the guest room, I'm envisioning an orange Armstrong tile floor and somewhat of a cowboy/atomic theme. I've got my eye on a vintage chenille bedspread with horse and cowboy on etsy that I think will be perfect. I love finding an item like these posters to inspire me. I don't want to get too crazy with the cowboy stuff as I think that look does better in a tradtional ranch style home or children's bedroom. I'm going to skip the Monterey style furniture with cactus/horseshoe stencils and opt for more mid-century modern looking pieces. The best part about decorating is the hunt for the perfect items, so for now I'm just going to enjoy the process and hopefully it will all come together eventually!