Midwest Living, a GIVEAWAY and THANK YOU's too

Hello and welcome back to a little

Christmas holiday cheer 

in the middle 

of October??? 

Whaaaat? Sounds crazy I know. 

Promised to come back this weekend

and post more photos

 from Midwest Living's 

Holiday 2013 issue

which is out on newsstands now!

For the record, I too get annoyed when stores

start putting out the holiday decorations before Halloween.

But the magazine is out and it would be hard to wait

to share these for another month or more so here we go.

NOTE: All these photos were taken by Werner Straube for Midwest Living.

Sorry in advance 

for how wordy this post is today. 

I  usually try to keep it light on copy,

but there are some things I must share and

some questions I need to answer 

so please bear with me for a few moments 

(or paragraphs!)  

MAGAZINE COPIES: 

I've had several people write and ask

how to get a copy of Midwest Living 

so here are a couple solutions:

1) You can contact Midwest Living directly 

and order an issue, link here 

2) If you have an iPad, Kindle, 

or similar device, you can download 

the issue here: LINK

3) FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY: 

On Monday I am going to offer 

10 free copies

to ten of you 

who are out of the midwest area, 

 who do not subscribe to this magazine, 

and who doesn't have access 

to finding a copy at your local bookstore, newsstand or Barnes and Noble. 

The giveaway will take place on Monday!

Thank you so much 

 to all of you who have left

such sweet compliments on 

yesterday's initial post. 

This whole experience is surreal to me, 

and I keep having to pinch myself that anyone would care to see my version of home decor 

whether through this blog, 

or in a magazine. 

That is just shocking to me! 

But thank you so much just the same. 

Words cannot express my sincere gratitude. 

I also want to take time 

to give a few 

shout outs

and credits to those of you 

who made this possible!

Somehow when the story was published, not all of the resources/credits appeared in the resource section so I would like to take time to acknowledge and send out huge cyber-hugs out to all of you who rallied to get our home photo-ready for the cameras! 

If you go through something like this, you will see... it takes a "village" to make it all happen and on time, too.

CREDITS:

Thank you to my loving and supportive family --  my husband 
and children for putting up with me when I went into my 
"psycho-mom-wife-decorator mode" in those last days and hours. 

It got a little crazy here to say the least. Not to mention the two big dogs who feel free to romp and gallop their way through rooms and onto furniture with absolutely no regard to something recently "cleaned"!!!

An enormous thank you to my dear, sweet friend and business partner extraordinaire, Jenn Pattie, who helped me stage the house and decorate it for days and weeks! YOU ARE THE  BEST! Could not have done this without YOU and your limitless creativity and patience! 

I also want to thank: 
Bonnie Broten, field editor, ML
Geri Wolfe Boesen, creative director, ML 
Werner Straube, photographer, 
and his awesome assistant, Dustin 
Christine Hofmann-Bourque, writer, ML
Carol Schalla, senior home & projects editor, ML
You all did a phenomenal job and made the experience so enjoyable 
and rewarding. A million thank you's to each of you.

I also wanted to give a shout out to 
Denise Burchall of Burchall Designs, fabric workroom/window treatments, etc., 847-295-2749 
Meredith Carlson of Plain & Fancy kitchen cabinetry and 
hardware, link.

And finally, I wanted to share my most favorite local antique and vintage shopping sources:

Anna's Warehouse in Highwood, IL 847-432-9151
Blue Cardinal Antiques & Vintage, Highwood, IL 847-710-0801
Romancing the Home, Lake Bluff, IL 847-615-1900
Steeplechase Antiques, Barrington, IL  847-833-6946
Savvy City Farmer, West Dundee, IL LINK
The Find, Highwood, IL 847-266-1700
Vintage Pine, Chicago, IL  312-943-9303

These shops are wonderful. If you are in the Chicagoland area and plan to go antiquing, I highly recommend them!


Please note that if you are interested in purchasing antique/vintage items similar to those seen in these photos, you can always contact Blue Cardinal Antiques & Vintage, 847-701-0801/847-456-5558, and we will do our best to find something similar for you, if at all possible. You can send us shopping requests through our blog as well at http://bluecardinal.blogspot.com/

 There are still many more shots to share,

some that made it into the article, 

and some that didn't.

Then I also have shots 

that I took to share as well.

Stop back in the coming weeks 

if you care to see more

or just subscribe via email 

with the BlogLovin' link in the

left margin of this blog. 

Thanks so much!