COTE DE TEXAS: GUILTY PLEASURE

GUILTY PLEASURE

 

 

image

Do you have a guilty pleasure?

 

image

Something you do just for yourself?

 

image

Something that brings you pleasure without regards to expense?

 

image

Something that if people knew about you, would make you feel embarrassed or guilty?

 

image

I guess that’s why it’s called a guilty pleasure.

 

 image

Some guilty pleasures are free.

 

image

Like spending hours and hours looking at pictures of flowers on the internet.

 

 

image

Not just any pictures, but pictures found on Flickr.com…

 

 

image

when you search for “flowers France.”

 

 

image

But time is money, so spending hours doing this isn’t really free.

 

 

image

Does anyone know what your guilty pleasure is?

 

 

image

Have you ever confessed it?

 

 

image

Ever confessed your guilty pleasure to your husband or your children?

 

 

 

image                                                                                                                                                                                               Would you EVER be as crazy as to confess your guilty pleasure publically?

 

 

 

image

Publically, like in the newspaper perhaps, or maybe on a blog?

 

image

Or would you keep your mouth shut, and just enjoy your guilty pleasure for yourself, telling no one about it, ever?

 

image

But what fun would that be?  I’ll go first.  Here’s the story of my guilty pleasure which until today has been a deep, deep secret.

 

For my birthday, my BFF Lisa, (Yes, I am still in high school) sent me two dozen roses of assorted colors.  They arrived at my door in two beautiful long, white, floral boxes – tied with ribbon.  Included with the roses were pretty fillers – those green things that you have no clue what their name is, but they make your flowers look prettier.  While the two dozen assorted colors were meant to be put together in one extravagant arrangement – I separated them into colors and ended up with several vases which I placed around the house.  The roses were so beautiful, but it made me sad to see them, knowing in a week they’d be nothing but garbage fill and I’d be pining for more.

As far as birthday gifts go – it was a great one, although a tad expensive for friends of our age to spend on each other.  Right?   In fact, when I chastised Lisa for spending too much, she just laughed and informed me that really, they weren’t nearly as expensive as they looked.  Certainly not as expensive as the year she had sent me flowers from Rose Story Farm in California after I had written a story about them.  Now, THAT was expensive! 

Instead, this year, she grinned while she said it, the roses came delivered from the local grocery store.  What, the grocery store delivers?  Yep, the local grocery store – you know the kind where they have one person working in the floral department that no one ever shops at except for Valentine’s Day? 

I love fresh flowers in the house and usually I go to a nearby florist to buy them.  I’d go about once every other month which meant that most of the time, I didn’t have flowers – except for a lone orchid plant.  Well, that’s all changed now, hence my guilty pleasure.  When I found out how cheap the delivered roses from the grocery store was – we hatched a plan.

 

 image

The usual lone orchid.

 

Now, the truth is – I don’t spend a ton of money anymore.  My clothes shopping is either Hanes sweats or a few Eileen Fisher sweaters.  Ben and I are homebodies and don’t eat out much either.   We rarely travel anymore (gawd, we sound so boring!) and my house is pretty much complete, so pricey trips to Round Top are now a thing of the past.   Manis and panis are left for weddings and parties only.  All this together led me to justify my one guilty pleasure:   a weekly delivery of two dozen flowers!

Each Wednesday afternoon – the day the grocery store receives it fresh flowers – I get two of those gorgeous long, white florist boxes – tied with the pretty ribbon – delivered to my front door.  Inside, is always a surprise.  I don’t order the flowers, per se, it’s the florist’s choice of what is in bloom.  Where one week I might get two dozen roses, the next week I might get peonies.  The not knowing what’s inside the boxes is part of the fun!  Another part is knowing that when the flowers die and are thrown away on Tuesday, on Wednesday they’ll be replaced without much effort on my part.  It’s become a huge event at home to see what’s inside the boxes and figure out which vases I’m going to use.  And even more fun, sometimes the fillers are an arrangement of their own.

 

image 

One half of this week’s delivery:  yellow roses with purple orchid fillers.

Ben loves all this.  He never has to worry about birthday or anniversary flowers again.  And while filling up the car cost more than the flowers, I still thank him each week for allowing me the use of his credit card!  And typically, he’s started acting like this was all his idea to begin with.  Sure, Mr. Slippersocks Man – go with it.

 

image

The other half of this week’s delivery: pink and yellow tulips.

Now that I have confessed my embarrassing guilty pleasure – leave a comment and tell me yours – if you dare!!   To read my original story on my love of fresh flowers, go HERE for a blast from the past blog entry.

 

image

 

image

And, finally, last year we ran a giveaway for this darling French Market Basket.   Out of the blue, Andrea surprised me this weekend with my very own basket.  See the wheels?  It’s sooo cute!!  If you missed the giveaway, check out the web site HERE to see all the cute French baskets they sell.  BTW, those blue hydrangeas came as “fillers” in this week’s flower delivery.

 

image

106 comments :

  1. How funny I just did a post on my favorite guilty pleasure a few days ago. My husband is guilty of it with me. We stalk West U homes in hope that our favorite ones have left the curtains pulled back and the lights on so that we can see if the inside is as dream as the out. And, I do also openly admit I get giddy like a 3 year old when someone has that fab Houston style. Beautiful post, Joni!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are too cute! No need to justify receiving gorgeous flowers . You deserve them . Thanks for keeping the economy going. My guilty pleasure is anything for our home. I am a fabric junkie in particular .

    ReplyDelete
  3. This post has to be my favorite post so far.
    My guilty pleasure(s) - so many, I have to think about this one!
    pve

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great photos of French flowers. Looking at photos of such beautiful scenes is the next best thing to being there. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm going to try and make you feel less guilty.. Since I'm going to be Anonymous today, ...I never cook, we always eat out...I watch the Young and Restless!

    I'm off, I think we'll go to Panera and have a bowl of tomato soup and a salad for dinner.

    Loving flowers isn't as nearly as embarrassing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I dont cook either. God only knows what we eat. it's awful. awful.

      Delete
  6. Stalking your blog is one, I wish I could stalk you in person but that is another story, and a restraining order with my name on it.
    I will now have to go to my grocery store and start having deliveries. I only wish I could arrange flowers. I am hopeless in that department.
    I am off to look at the market basket.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My husband and I share a guilty pleasure. No, its nothing so naughty I can't leave it as a comment. With varied frequency, we buy expensive meat or fish (sometimes both) and have a special gourmet lunch while the kids are at school. They don't appreciate the filet mignon, pan seared scallops and halibut but we do.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Marvelous idea!!
    I fill my house with fresh flowers, too. But I never feel guilty about it.
    Pedicures.... I suppose. I have the most wonderful lady who spends and hour and a half on my feet!
    Can you imagine?! I can never stay awake through the entire experience, but it is a luxury I sometimes simply have to have!
    Come to think of it, though, I don't feel guilty about that either.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love your guilty pleasure! Fun post; I enjoyed it!!

    Keri

    ReplyDelete
  10. Which local grocery store is this? I've been making do with "Roses Tuesday" at Central Market (each stem is a $1) but yours look gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The pictures of all the flowers takes my breath away, especially the one with the lavender, fabulous! I have a few, nothing I would be ashamed to tell my closest friends..along the lines of chocolate, design mags (only a few choice ones), handbags, shoes,etc....could go on and on :) Your home looks beautiful and even more so with all the gorgeous birthday flowers gracing it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a treat! We live in a small town in Colorado with a little main street florist that I visit once a week and buy a single rose to put in a bud vase on the bathroom vanity.This is my small treat to myself.(I live with four males) Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love this post, Joni...what beautiful photos!
    Yes, I have a somewhat guilty pleasure. I keep a stash of Lindt, Lindor extra dark chocolate truffles in my office at all times. I get them at Walmart. :) I eat three a day. That is what the bag says is a serving. I keep them in a lovely crystal bowl on a table behind my desk chair, notice I said behind. ;)
    Occasionally my husband walks in and sneeks a couple. I pretend I don't notice. ;)

    I look forward to reading more comments.
    Thanks for all your wonderful posts.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Joni, My guilty pleasure is the same as Toni's (first comment). Peeking in the windows of houses in my historic neighborhood ... well, I learned this from my mother when she and I used to take walks at dusk. Your posts are always interesting and educational as well as inspiring. I adore seeing pictures of your rooms - with or without flowers. Thanks, Anne

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yours is the BEST guilty pleasure, and what a find! Flowers (along with books, candles and photographs) help make a house a home . . .

    Mine is a boring guilty pleasure - The Real Housewives series (Beverly Hills being my favorite!)

    J.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Fabric buying is my guilty pleasure!

    Seeing your kitchen reminds me of how great your small mercury glass lamp would look in MY kitchen!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had two = they were my mother's = she had them on my bakers rack when it was hers! i broke the other one. so mad!!!

      Delete
  17. Nice grocery store to have such wonderful flowers I wish ours did. My guilty pleasure, the one and only thing I do for myself every month go and get a facial. It started out innocent enough one hour once a month. It was eight years ago that I started and my skin is glowing and has never looked better. Cleaning off all those dead skin cells makes you glow and makes you look younger. One thing lead to another and now it’s two and a half hours of skin toning, eyebrow wax, age peel, you name it and aside from plastic surgery I’m getting it done! Try it you’ll love the pampering.

    XX
    Debra~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm with you Debra.That is a wonderful idea.I'm going to book an appointment.

      Delete
  18. Joni I don't know why this would be embarrassing, I love flowers too!! I think it is wonderful that you treat yourself so kindly. You deserve it!! I always try to buy fresh flowers and yes they are from Trader Joes or Costco. Love fresh, whether one stem or a bouquet, it has to be fresh. I think my guilty pleasure is definitely Pinterest these days!! Love pinning away, so much eye candy over there!! xo Kathysue
    PS Enjoy your flowers!!♥♥

    ReplyDelete
  19. O.M.G., Joni! The French flower pix are gorgeous! OK, in addition to the most awesome blogs, Pinterest, Young & Restless, design magazines and flea market shopping (when the Lord knows I need nothing!)...now, I HAVE to spend an inordinate amount of time looking at French flowers and arranging for flower delivery! LOL
    Great Post!
    X
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  20. Such a sweet story, Joni. Love the idea of having flowers delivered each week.
    Thank you for sharing. They really are beautiful.
    Teresa
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  21. This post is so meaningful to me Joni.

    When I was living in San Diego I went to the market every week for fresh flowers!

    I will have to heed this, and do read my post today we are on the same wavelength!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

    ReplyDelete
  22. I get a message every few weeks, I buy design books way too often, flowers for both inside and outside, and meat for my dogs at the local butcher shop... my Standard poodle has a wardrobe of collars too.

    ReplyDelete
  23. As always, your photos are beautiful! Thank you for sharing the pictures and your guilty pleasure. There is just something that fresh flowers add to a room. My guilty pleasure is that I have more than one: design publications,a bagel from Panera, flowers, and lately, buying cute little things for my Granddaughter-to-be!! I also want to comment on your "Mr. Slippersocks Man" LOL... my husband wears those suede, fleece lined booties from L.L. Bean around the house and I call them his "Slippies". TMI? Thanks for brightening my morning!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Good Morning,

    Your home is absolutely beautiful!!! I too have a guilty pleasure of fresh flowers. I always say I want my flowers while I am alive!!

    Thank you for a wonderful post.

    Jan B.

    ReplyDelete
  25. A big thank you for the lovely photos of France and your home. We were in the Loire Valley last April, and the flowers were just beautiful. I always have a vase of fresh flowers in my kitchen to enjoy. I buy flowers from either Trader Joe, Whole Foods, or our small neighborhood grocery store. I am already thinking of the flowers that I will get from my garden this spring and summer though it is has been so warm here in the DC area that one of my camellia shrubs already has blooms on it. My other guilty pleasure is buying British decorating magazines every month.

    Debbie W

    ReplyDelete
  26. Well, I don't think you have anything to feel guilty about! You're helping the local grocer stay in business, while bringing happiness to your family. It's really more of a charitable endeavor :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. What a charming post. Flowers make a home look beautiful. When we remodeled our kitchen last summer, I discovered that a vase of white flowers really flatter the new kitchen.

    Would you tell us what your dining room chair fabric is? I've always admired it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HI = it's Chelsea Editions check. they make the best checks i think.
      Joni

      Delete
  28. What a cute guilty pleasure you enjoy dahhling! great photos of your weekly deliverise

    ReplyDelete
  29. "Say it with flowers....yes!" franki

    ReplyDelete
  30. I would love to share my guilty pleasure with you, literally, but it is against the law..... Your house is gorgeous, and an inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  31. My guilty pleasure is visiting Garden Centers, when I travel I love to see what is going on in regional American gardening. So sometimes a short trip takes all day. I am taking my winter break, by myself to Santa Barbara for a week to indulge myself in gardens and plan to visit the Rose Story Garden. I am leaving in two weeks and I am so excited. When I tell my friends, they just look at me like I am crazy!! Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I LOVE your guilty pleasure....thank you for sharing it with us!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Oh My Goodness, such beautiful photographs. I'll be scrolling this post all morning, my guilty pleasure!
    Your have such a thoughtful friend, and very savvy……

    ~Emily
    The French Hutch

    ReplyDelete
  34. I have too many guilty pleasures to mention - for starters I am still in my jammies, in bed and reading blogs. Having flowers delivered is a treat I am sure you deserve!!

    ReplyDelete
  35. A friend used to kid me about having a flower budget... It wasn't much, maybe $10/week, but we had a market that was close by, and I'd go every Saturday and buy $10 worth of flowers. It was rarely the same thing two weeks in a row, but it brightened my house and made me smile!

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  36. Thanks for sharing your guilty pleasure, Joni, one I share with you! Glad to see the rolling cart at last in your kitchen!

    ReplyDelete
  37. I too love flowers and live in Houston. Which store delivers those beauties?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Wait! I thought fresh flowers were supposed to be a necessity? :) I pick up a bouquet during my grocery runs every week.
    As for me, sweets never last long in my house. While I only induldge occasionally I found myself disappointed when finding the pantry empty AGAIN. So I've taken to keeping a nice bit of chocolate in my sweater drawer. No one knew. Until now.
    Andrea was too humble to mention that she is once again in Romantic Homes magazine. March is the French issue. You'll find yours truly drinking wine in a truly lovely home. Andrea and I have now begun tours in the Bourgogne (Burgundy)region. Are you sure you don't travel anymore?

    ReplyDelete
  39. What a great way to treat yourself! no need to justify through not traveling, eating out -etc - you're having the best of everything delivered to your DOOR!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Joni- first of all those pics of France- Sigh....... The one with the Wisteria! I wish my Wisteria looked like that! So thanks for those awesome pics- especially on such a gray day here in Southern Ontario. Guilty pleasure- I would have to say that flowers would be mine too. I love them. There is nothing like having them in the house- they make my heart smile- and really is there nothing better than making ones heart smile. Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Joni, Thanks for coming out and being honest! My guilty pleasure is fragrance. I can't help myself sometimes, and so there might be some guilt involved, I indulge anyway! Don't get me near the fragrance counter because I may not be able to resist!

    ReplyDelete
  42. enjoyed your post today- and think your guilty pleasure is well deserved..wow in boxes as well!
    My guilty pleasure must be Amazon..for books, music, french films,....and even though I travel to France twice a year to source French linen ,I still cannot look past a special mongrammed sheet when found online...
    Hugs&xx
    Colette ~ Afrique du Sud

    ReplyDelete
  43. Since I'm a frugal girl, I appreciate your mostly frugal homebody life (eating in, etc). It seems to me that grocery flowers fit into that also.

    ReplyDelete
  44. MaryBeth, I'm a Joni stalker too! We should talk her into letting us host a fan lunch so we can all meet her! I've bought grocery store flowers for years but didn't know they would deliver a surprise. There's nothing better on a Monday morning, in your lowly cubicle at work, than a small bouquet for the week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha! two stalkers in houston already beat you to this.

      Delete
  45. nothing to be guilty about joni, this looks mandatory to me!
    xx
    debra

    ReplyDelete
  46. Thank you for sharing your sweet story. My guilty pleasure is opening up the five blogs that I subscribe to and reading and taking in the wonderful creative, interiors, art and food that they cover. Also I love online magazines like Lonny and Rue. I am a visual junkie! I also love book stores and when I have a spare hour I will go to Barnes and Noble or another smaller book store in my town and get a hugh pile of (mostly interior design) books and flip pages. It is a bath in beauty and inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  47. can reading your blog plus others be considered guilty pleasure? :) Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  48. How wonderful! It reminds me the South of France!

    ReplyDelete
  49. I will confess that I have MANY guilty pleasures!!!! One of them is reading your blog posts! Love the roses and would love an English cottage with yellow and pink roses growing up the side of it! Imagine the fragrance as you sat outside drinking tea and eating chocolat cake! Indulge my friend, and I love the "not knowing what's inside the box" of flowers! A surpise is such a pleasure. Also, I won one of those French Baskets a couple years ago from your blog and absolutely love mine. I have several now and use them every day!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Wonderful! Love you Joni!

    ReplyDelete
  51. Oh Joni,
    I feel like you must be my kindred spirit (as most of your readers feel). I love fresh flowers in my home and the idea of trying the grocery store deliver is inspired. We have a fair selection of fresh cut flowers from Trader Joe's and even our Albertson's (where 3 small bunches are $12). In any event, what a great guilty pleasure.
    My only slightly embarrassing guilty pleasure is sitting down with my design coffee table books or a stack of my favorite design magazines and being content to wile away the hours. I think sometimes I should be reading something that will educate me, but this GP brings me the most joy!
    Loved the images of French flowers!
    Karen

    ReplyDelete
  52. That is a great guilty pleasure! I know this sounds extravagant, but my guilty pleasure is having a maid every week. I really can't afford it, but she does the laundry so perfectly, and she irons my shirts just right. I love going home on Tuesday night and having my bed smell so fresh and clean. I feel lazy not doing it myself, but I am just so in love with having her... I have to do without other things just for the service, but it is so worth it!

    ReplyDelete
  53. How did you know that all the pictures you posted contain my very FAVORITE flowers!! Soothing to the soul!! My guilty pleasure...a sewing/craft room that is filled to the ceiling with projects waiting for me. I can't pass a fabric store...EVER! Your blog is SPECTACULAR! We are moving back to Houston this summer...the weekly floral delivery sounds great. We used to own a flower shop, so flowers have a special place in my heart !! PS my other guilty pleasure in Pinterest, my son's best buddies (girls) introduced me...big, big mistake...major time waster!

    ReplyDelete
  54. My new guilty pleasure will be reading every word of your posts! Seriously! I just got my first RSS subscription of your blog in my inbox this morning and I'm in awe of the gorgeous photo's as well as the thought provoking content. Beautifully done! I'll look forward to hearing from you tomorrow :)

    Smiles,
    Lesli :)

    ReplyDelete
  55. Hey everybody deserves at least one guilty pleasure. Thank you for sharing yours. It reminds me of my former neighbors. Every Saturday the husband would bring his wife a bouquet of fresh flowers. I thought it was so sweet. He'd been doing it for 20 years and I'm sure he's still going strong!

    ReplyDelete
  56. Such gorgeous pictures and a wonderful post. I do believe that flowers, and any beauty from Nature, really, are food for the soul. I think your guilty pleasure is well deserved and not anything to feel guilty about. We frugal types do have a problem indulging ourselves and feel we have to justify it, especially for things that are ephemeral (and most especially when budgets are tight). Isn't the joy this little purchase gives you worth it? Don't we want to mark our days with joy and beauty? I guess I'd better stop before I start sounding like a Dove candy wrapper. As for me, since I've been out of work I spend way too many hours in blogland - yes, your blog is one of my guilty pleasures. As for things I spend money on, I'd have to say sometimes I can't resist buying an English Country Homes magazine and books that I can't find at the library. And in spring and summer, definitely plants, usually flowering ones. With the latter, my husband is just as bad as I am, and we have to really watch ourselves and set our limits as we walk into the plant nursery. What temptation!

    ReplyDelete
  57. P.S. Did my mention of Dove candy wrappers give anything away?

    ReplyDelete
  58. I buy flowers in the store each week, but a "subscription" is a fabulous idea. I am going to look into it.

    My guilty pleasure is watching Chelsea Handler every night at 10:00, and yes I have blogged about it. Some commenters apparently thought it unseemly for a woman my age, but that's their problem!

    ReplyDelete
  59. I confess-going to clothing stores, sometimes buying + sometimes looking,(either way) that is just one my guilty pleasures. I have a lot of them- Looking in windows at dusk, fresh flowers etc, etc. I could go on & on, but much more would bore. Grand post. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

    ReplyDelete
  60. I love your guilty pleasure,and your house, and your blog.My guilty pleasure of the moment is watching "The Housewives of Beverly Hills".I know, awful isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  61. Joni, One of my guilty pleasures is going to Peet's Coffee every morning and getting a vanilla latte. Oh yes I could make it at home but there is nothing like starting the day with the friendly staff saying good morning and knowing your name. Now that our kids are done with college I regularly do the facials, massages and pedicures too! We are like you we don't spend money on eating out and just enjoying staying in. Traveling doesn't interest me either. I would much rather go out and buy a piece of sterling silver or a beautiful french accessory for the home!

    ReplyDelete
  62. eddie ross's post on the ombre cake but no recipe for the frosting boo hoo

    ReplyDelete
  63. JONI-


    I am never guilty...or should I say 'guilty'. Live life with enthusiasm and no regrets. Make great choices and you won't regret.

    I love beauty--and worship beauty--so in that direction it is 'no regrets' for travels and gallery visits and finding beauty everywhere, art, photography, fashion, food, people of course.

    Cote de Texas is one of my greatest pleasures--as you are so generous, so whole-hearted, so enthusiastic, so cheerful, so positive. Time spent reading Cote de Texas is always a win-win. Never a second of guilt...
    cheers and congratulations on a divine blog, always moving forward and always original.
    DIANE
    www.thestylesalonsite.com/

    ReplyDelete
  64. Loved the beautiful photos of France, loved your story. Thank you. My guilty pleasure is that I go to the salon twice a week for a blowdry. I never wash and style my own hair unless I'm on vacation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh wait. i do that too. ok = i have two guilty pleasures!! ha!

      Delete
  65. Your guilty pleasure is much better and saner than mine! I can spend hours and hours searching the internet for real estate (Ebby.com is my favorite search engine for this). We currently have our house on the market, so I search daily for houses for sale, even ones that are totally out of our price range. When I find one that I like, I start thinking of how I would decorate it and search for furniture etc. online that would look nice in it. When the house is no longer on market I get sad that it's gone and start my search and 'pretend' decorating all over again! I will be so glad when our house is under contract so that I can pick one of them and actually move in.
    Crazy isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  66. Joni! You've given us all spring fever with your beautiful post today! And,it seems that many of us get our guilty pleasures from the same things. How liberating to reveal our "secret" pleasures today! Flowers, candy, blogs, magazines, massages, facials, reality shows!!! No need to feel guilty about any of them!

    ReplyDelete
  67. Joni, i feel so exposed, so naked, that my guilty pleasure has been exposed! Not only is my guilty pleasure looking at flowers online such as the photos that you displayed, but my only vice in life is the grocery store flowers! I am known by every floral manager at Kroger and HEB on the Northwest side of town!!!! The other day I scored twelve bunches of the most intoxicating smelling succulents my nose has ever had the pleasure of smelling. The were marked down to $1.99 per bunch. When I inquired as to why they were so cheap, they said that "no one really liked succulents". "They are not selling". Well they found a good home with me and they filled my home with the most amazing fragrance for two weeks!!!! I will have to email you a picture of the 12 garden photos from the Veranda magazine floral calendar that I have collected, framed and are displayed above my sofa. In addition, my obsession with flowers is so intense, I will send you an email on tricks I have learned using the free flora and fauna that graces most wild green space around the city, county, back road and forest I have encountered!!!! HEHe! My daughters no longer will be my driver and conspirator! They are too embarrassed!!! My mantra is never leave the house without a pair of scissors! Thanks for making my day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. my mother in law did the same exact thing - she would stop the car and just take what she wanted off the side of the roads - not from peoples yards, but in the wild and on causeways!

      Delete
  68. In addition to reading your blog and a few dozen others, as well as endless hours searching esty, my guilty (although I feel I deserve them!) pleasures are: a bag of freshly ground coffee from my favorite coffee shop each week, seda france candles, caldrea hand soaps, l'occitane hand and foot creams, regular pedicures, old fashioned candy (sugar babies, lemon heads, mary janes, etc.), sneaking into a movie by myself when I'm supposed to be doing household errands...

    As far as flowers go, I used to run a small floral business in my home before my children were born. I still have accounts at the wholesalers, so when I have a party, I go hog wild. There's nothing more decadent than buying a bunch of peonies when they're out of season, which is most of the time.

    Thanks for another great post!

    Maureen

    ReplyDelete
  69. I do have a few guilty pleasures. I am a sweetaholic, preferably cookies and I am addicted to getting manicures and pedicures.I get both done once a week. It such a small luxury oh and fresh flowers, always have to have them, always! Even if its a 10.00 bouquet from my grocer, something fresh and colorful always makes my day.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Damn. When I saw the blog title I thought you were going to recommend more FanFiction...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. email me, i have 100s to recommend. and yes, it is a guilty, guilty pleasure. don't make me go there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Delete
  71. Your Blog...and Any Pictures of Your Home...I have finally found my Inspiration for French Style! And, Embarrasing as it is...I am going to try and do it on My Shoestring/Flea Market Budget"D Wish me LucK! Thanx for Sharing your Talents here in Blogland!
    Christine

    ReplyDelete
  72. Love all the French flower shots Joni! And you're indulging yourself in fresh flowers is NOTHING to feel guilty about! (Thanks for that grocery tip BTW) Ummmm I'm addicted to pinterest...but my real quilty pleasure is collecting LV and Hermes. I drive an old car, have a house without granite counter tops, and my haircolor is in dire need of a retouch....just to have a new...handbag or suitcase *hangs head in shame* Vanna

    ReplyDelete
  73. My husband and I splurge on beautiful fruit. Not only do we eat it we arrange and admire it in a beautiful silver epergne on the dining table that belonged to his grandmother and in a very old handmade wooden bread bowl in the kitchen from my family in south Louisiana. Our children give him fruit of the month because he is impossible to buy a gift for. Our "still lifes" are constantly changing. It's silly, healthy, and fun. Isolde

    ReplyDelete
  74. Many years ago I attended the funeral of an elderly, unmarried aunt of in-laws. The funeral home was packed with wonderful floral arrangements and I realized that she had probably never had flowers given to her while she was alive. I decided then and there that I would have my flowers while I was alive to enjoy them, and I have. I don't care if there isn't a single bloom at my "goodbye"; I want people to say that what they remember about me was that I always had flowers. And I don't feel guilty at all!

    I love these photos of France; thank you. And thank you for your weekly, non-fattening eye candy for us in blogland!

    ReplyDelete
  75. Reading your blog at work (during lunch)is my guilty pleasure!

    ReplyDelete
  76. Love this blog!This is a guilty pleasure for me as well when I should be doing other things.I adore flowers and must admit that it is a guilty pleasure that I should indulge in more.I have loved flowers since I was a girl and gardens .Your photos of France are stunning I stood in the front of the lavender field in Provence 18mths ago with
    the Abbey as a spectacular backdrop.I became obsessed with the pots of colour petunias, geraniums, I took so many photos.Thankyou for a lovely blog today it has brought bach so many memories. I love your georgous home thankyou for the peek.My other guilty pleasures are Home Journal magazines and Garden and Homeware shops.
    Have a happy dayx Trish

    ReplyDelete
  77. If I had to select a guilty pleasure, there would be several on my list, but none so important to one's well being as the presence of flowers. Loved the large and beautiful pictures. Also loved the story behind the post. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  78. Joni, you can share your guilty pleasure with us anytime - beautiful pictures !! My guilty pleasure is magazines !!! I love 'em but the worst part of it is trashing them!

    ReplyDelete
  79. I was waiting for something juicy...flowers aren't guilty, are they?

    Save the dried roses, Joni!

    ReplyDelete
  80. Charlotte Des FleursFebruary 8, 2012 at 7:02 AM

    Guilty Pleasures? Ah, so many to choose from, so little time! One of my primary love affairs is with fabric. In particular, I love vintage linen and handmade laces. For years I did not understand why, but you will learn the answer at the end of my little story.

    My job requires regular out of town travel. Tiring, but a very good thing for my fabric addiction becuase I travel to so many parts of the country. Once there was a box of vintage linens that an antique dealer in Pasedena, CA had not had time to sort or clean. I took them off her hands for $100. That's a lot, I know but I had already spotted several sets of very good quality, hand embroidered pillow cases in the box. Ultimately, I found 6 sets of pillow cases (all in excellent condition) and piles of beautiful hand embroidered and tatted hankies. I kept all the pillow cases and sold off most of the hankies for much more than my original investment. At an estate sale in Houston, I found a tiny box with a mixed up dirty wad of laces. I think I only paid few dollars. When I got back to my hotel, I found yards of dingy but otherwise perfect hand made bobbin lace plus a beautiful collar made of what I can only describe as "spider web" lace. It is so gorgeous that I now have it framed in my home.

    What makes my love of vintage linens most touching is two recent discoveries about my family. My Swedish grandmother supported her family during the Great Depression by taking in laundry. Her specialty was linens and laces. Farther back in my family history, I learned that my English female ancestors lived in East Anglia in a place that was famous for lace production. The town was surrounded by low-lying fields and marshes where flax was grown. The lace they produced was called Aylsham Web. Not only do I value these vintage pieces for their beauty, but each time I use them, I honor the women who made them.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Joni,
    All of these flowers have me craving Spring and my beds replanted. We're mid way through a renovation (lucky you to be past all that!) and we dug up most of the front beds so they wouldn't be damaged. Love your creative guilty pleasure of flower deliveries. Always a surprise! I'll bet the person in the grocery florist area absolutely loves this project!!!

    My guilty pleasure ---probably pedicures in the winter. There's something about painted toes and the foot rub that make winter more bearable!!

    xo Elizabeth
    ps: love that you received some pink tulips recently!

    ReplyDelete
  82. I was happy just seeing the flower pictures from Flickr :) Awesome idea and awesome post but mostly ...I still can't get over how stunning your home is. Truly just gorgeous. Phew.

    ReplyDelete
  83. 1. Thank you for the visual/virtual vacay to France. 2. If anyone deserves flowers each week -- it's you, as you provide constant eye candy for your readers. 3. You're the cutest thing ever!

    ReplyDelete
  84. Guilty pleasure?

    You, doing a trip/s, touring interiors. Hmm. France? Lucca? Herefordshire?

    Let someone else put it all together & handle details. Your following is huge. Take advantage of it. And have some guilty pleasure while everyone else does too.

    Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

    ReplyDelete
  85. My guilty pleasure is to go at the office and draw alone, when all my family thinks I work ... i like to draw but I can't do this at home, so I steel precious time from my work and my children and I indulge...

    ReplyDelete
  86. Joni, I have too many guilty pleasures, according to my own Mr. Slippersocks. Between spending hours playing with one of our nine adorable grandchildren, and hours ,on your delicious blog, eons on Pinterest and my most recent love, playing with chocolate, Ancestry.com where I have discovered that my great-grandfather was from France, I need to figure out how to have more hours in the day to enjoy all these guilty pleasures. I love working in the garden, but if I had a grocery store near me that would deliver fresh flowers every week, I would do that too. I live in the DFW area. Does your grocery store in Houston deliver this far north?

    ~ Victoria
    vaustin08@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  87. Collecting rose varieties from all over the world is one of my guilty pleasures. Some thrive, others do not but I continue to peruse all the online sources for unusual antique ones with magnificent fragrance to compliment by hybrid ones which bloom profusely, but often lack perfume. Next to that I love fabulous bed linens and after washing them myself, I often send out the flat sheets to be pressed. There is nothing like a crisp bed. Last, but not least, china. One can never have too much.

    ReplyDelete
  88. I almost always have fresh flowers somewhere in my house. Right now it's pink tulips. I put them in rooms I go in everyday, the kitchen, my bedroom and bathroom. So I never thought of my fresh flowers as a guilty pleasure. I guess it's the guilty that's throwing me off. Fresh flowers are a pleasure, I never really feel guilty about. However, I do not like to admit how often I stop at Starbucks for a milky, sugary, fatty, high calorie coffee. So that's my guilty pleasure ... Starbucks!

    ReplyDelete
  89. Great pictures of these areas . I am numbed after looking to your pictures. For me it has been the best blog i have ever seen. Flowers decoration has been amazing here.

    ReplyDelete
  90. my guilty pleasure is spending too much time looking at all the nice pics in your blog

    ReplyDelete
  91. Absolute Fabulous - My guilty pleasure is watching these photos and dreaming of someone that I will be able to spend my live with in such a beautiful forever

    ReplyDelete
  92. My guilty pleasure was splurging on a private plane ride in a new GulfStream 450, chartered from Clay Lacy aviation. Sheer heaven.
    I wish i could do it again. And again:)

    ReplyDelete