async='async' data-ad-client='ca-pub-1704385665578974' src='https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js'/> 2022 - Welch House 1900

The Gumdrop Tree...A Christmas Tradition

It's a tradition in our family to have a gumdrop tree at Christmas time. I guess it started with my Grandma,  my Dad's mom. She passed away when I was a baby, but I always heard stories of her gumdrop tree.



 
Although I heard the stories of the gumdrop tree, I really didn't know what one even looked like, it was hard for my little girl mind to imagine. When I was about 9 or 10 my Mom bought a gumdrop tree for our family. It was a fun tradition to look forward to. I loved placing the gumdrops on the tree one by one until it looked perfect. I did not eat them though, I'm not a huge fan of the taste and back then I think my Mom bought the spiced flavored gumdrops.


My son loves gumdrops, he will eat them all year round, just not the spiced kind. A few years ago I purchased an old fashioned gumdrop tree for our family, to continue my Grandma's tradition. Today my son and I sat together at the kitchen counter and decorated our gumdrop tree. We listened to Christmas music and sang along as well. He's still in that age where Christmas is magical and he is excited to do stuff  like this. I am cherishing every moment because I see him changing and he will be grown up before I know it. 



Remember my Grandma's gumdrop tree? Well, we recently found it...and here it is.

No it isn't wearing any gumdrops this year, I left it exactly how I found it inside it's box with these tiny mercury glass ornaments decorating its branches. I don't know if I will ever decorate it with gumdrops as it is so delicate. I've noticed that it has been glued together in places and missing some branches as it has seen many Christmas seasons in its lifetime. I would say that her gumdrop tree is probably from the 70's.



I absolutely adore it! I didn't get a chance to know my Grandma but I've always felt a deep connection to her as if I did.  My Dad would always tell me how much alike her and I were and what great friends we would have been. Having this little tree means the world to me as my Dad is also gone as well.  Holidays without my Dad have been hard, but this little gumdrop tree makes me smile and I feel like he and my grandparents are not so far away.




I never thought I would ever see my Grandmas's gumdrop tree, but here it is sitting on my kitchen table next to mine! I am blessed to have it and share it with my son, and someday my own grandchildren.




My Grandma...



Do you have the holiday tradition of a gumdrop tree? What are some holiday traditions that your family has passed down?

Thank you for visiting!

-Larissa 


Marie Antoinette Christmas Mantel

Christmas magic in the library...



If you've been a reader for  a while, you know how much I adore Marie Antoinette style. My library is always decorated with a nod to Marie Antoinette all year long.




I normally prefer a very simple Christmas mantel, just a garland of greenery and simple bows.

This year I went over the top with my Christmas garland. I added eucalyptus, roses, pink poinsettias. pearls, and ostrich feathers.



My inspiration for the garland was of course Marie, but also my beautiful pair of antique church altar candelabras. I love the soft colors of the delicate porcelain roses and I wanted to echo that in my garland and wreath.



Its a bit over the top, and not a look for everyone's taste, but its something different.






The tree in here isn't finished, but it will look much the same as last year.



Except this year, it will be decorated with all pink bulbs and some adorable macaron ornaments.



I have started decorating a bit in the dining room. The theme the last few years has been the Nutcracker Ballet.



Here  is a sneak peak at the tree so far, I am not finished yet.



I have been so busy as of late, and have not had as much time for blogging as I would like. One reason is that I need a new computer. My computer is literally on its last leg! I bought it six years ago and it honestly seems like yesterday! I can't believe its already time for a new one. I'm kind of dragging my feet on getting a new one because its not a fun purchase lol. But at this point its necessary.



Have you started your holiday decorating yet? If so, do you have a special theme or colors that you use? I would love to know!

I wish you all a very blessed Thanksgiving this week! I am so thankful for all of you!

-Larissa

Vacation Treasure/Health Update


Hello! It's been such a long time since I've posted! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying these last few weeks of summer!

This summer my little family traveled once again to Destin, Florida. I absolutely adore it there! The ocean in that area is indescribable! The colors of the ocean are so gorgeous its literally like heaven on Earth.

One of my favorite parts of traveling to Florida is thrifting on our way down and back! Destin actually has an amazing selection of anitque stores, which sell authentic French furnitures that are handpicked and  shipped into the area.

 This year I was able to purchase a few large french pieces for our home.



 

The first item that I purchased was this pretty French Bombay chest with inlaid wood.



The top is a green marble. Would you believe that I found this at a thrift store in Destin? 

 


I love the character that this little chest brings to my stairwell. 



The bust that sits upon the Bombay chest is actually from the same thirft store in Destin! I purchased her last year.

I did acquire another large piece at this thrift store for our home. I will be showing it in a later post, but its amazing and from the 1800's. This Bombay chest could be vintage or fairly new, I have no idea, but its lovely all the same!



    My stairwell has needed some love since I moved here nine years ago. I just couldn't figure this space out.... how to make it look nice. I brought home a stunning piece of jewelry for this space! It couldn't be more perfect!



This is an authentic antique french Trumeau mirror. I found it at an antique store in Destin.



I was lucky enough to be able to speak with the previous owner and she did confirm that it was imported from France.



This mirror is about 7ft tall and will not fit above any of my mantels, so we decided to hang it in the stairwell. It literally changed the whole space! I feel like I live in a castle!



This mirror is so special to me and brings me so much joy each day as I make my way down the stairs. The carvings are so intricate and delicate. The painting has the softest colors which work so nicely with my wall color.


My trumeau mirror reminds me of heaven.



This space will now be getting French moldings for the walls and when I find the perfect one...a Large chandelier to hang down in front of the leaded glass windows. I am thrilled with my stairwell's progress! Beautiful homes don't happen overnight, it takes time, inspiration, money, and hard work but in the end its so worth it! I cannot believe its been 9 years for me to finally feel like I'm headed in the right direction for this space.




I also wanted to share with you a beautiful Florentine desk that I found on Facebook marketplace this summer. I adore Florentine! I have acquired a few trays and lots of wall plaques but never an actual piece of furniture! This piece cost me $45 and I think that was a bargain. A few weeks later I found another smaller table on Marketplace for the same price, I bought that one as well.



My garden is filling up with David Austen roses. Here is a sweet bouquet that I picked earlier in the season.




                        TRIGGER WARNING


Below I will be sharing my story of miscarriage and being diagnosed with a pituitary tumor. I will be showing MRI images of my brain, so if this makes you uncomfortable please stop reading now.🙏🏻


These sweet pale pinkish white roses are called "Earth Angel". I planted these in honor of my sweet angel baby that I lost in 2020. I have never been so devastated in my life. I think I cried just about everyday for one year, I couldn't feel any joy. I had tried to conceive for about 6 years and no luck, and then finally I conceived! My pregnancy wasn't feeling right to me at all. I was bleeding so I went in for a sonogram expecting my angel to be gone, but sure enough a healthy baby was on the screen with a healthy heartbeat. I was so relieved. The next day I had a miscarriage. I still cry but not as often. I am grateful that I was able to see my angel on the sonogram and have a picture of them forever.




                                                                    HEALTH UPDATE

I know many of you have messaged me over the years asking me for more consistent blog posts, I wish I could have done better but my health had not be good for years. After I lost my baby, my body was not working correctly. Something was off and had been off for years! My period never came back after my miscarriage and I started lactating a lot. My prolactin was checked and I had slightly elevated levels, which when I went back through my charts, before I even conceived, my prolactin was elevated! Thats not normal and should have been looked into.  My thyroid was at a 5 when it should be at a 1 to conceive and sustain a pregnancy. My doctor knew all of this and still proceeded to help me get pregnant with fertility medicine. My baby never had a chance. I blame myself for not checking those charts and blindly believing what I was told,  that everything was in a normal range, I could have saved my baby's life. I will never do that again. I will always advocate for myself even when doctor's brush me off.

 




Finally with the more intense elevated prolactin levels I had to have a MRI which showed a huge tumor on my pituitary gland. I circled it below. The white blob is the tumor. Your pituitary gland is about 8mm, so extremely small...my tumor measured at 1.6cm x 2.2cm x 1.7cm. I had what is called stalk effect. My tumor was non functioning but pushing against my pituitary gland causing elevated prolactin levels and lactation. Our pituitary gland is our Master Gland! It controls absolutely everything. My head would hurt so bad for weeks at a time, nothing would relieve it. My face would feel like it was drooping on one side, my legs, face, and neck would swell daily. My body was in so much pain, I didn't leave my bed very often. It was hell. I couldn't remember words, my face even looked different. I would cry a lot.





Last August I had Endoscopic trans nasal transphenoidal surgery.  My surgeon had to go up through my nose and remove a piece of my skull to remove the tumor. I was in the operating room for 6 hours. The goal was not to remove all of it because they didn't want to damage my pituitary gland as I still plan to have children. My doctor told my that if my pregnancy would have continued I would have gone blind. Do you see the horizontal line above the tumor? Thats my optical nerve, once the tumor grew large enough to hit it, I would have lost my eye sight. 
 
Surgery was the scariest thing I have ever been through. I was in ICU for several days. My family could only be with me for a few hours of the day because of Covid. It was intense but I am still here! The biopsy came back non cancerous. The majority of pituitary tumors are non cancerous.

This is my newest MRI. You can see it is much smaller! I speak wellness and health over myself everyday. Recently I have been feeling much much better! I am grateful for the the little things, like doing laundry, washing dishes, walking up the stairs, making meals for my family, going to my son's school events! I am grateful that the headaches are gone, my periods are back! I am grateful for my life. These past two years have been some of the most difficult years of my life. I am much different, I am stronger, I am more independent, I am more thankful. Losing my baby really changed me, I'm still soft inside, but yet i feel a hardness inisde too, there is a huge hole in my heart that can not be filled.

I wanted to update you all and kind of explain what has been going on with my health for many years now. I hope to be more consistent and get back to doing things that I love.
I really want to get back into sharing more on social media. I am most active on my IG account.
I appreciate how patient you all have been with me on here! I love you all!



Photo of my husband and I on vacation a few weeks ago. Im feeling much better!



My other angel! Look at my sweet boy all grown up! 9 years old! He is my miracle!



 
Thank you all again for always being so sweet to me! It means the world to me!

-Larissa

Chocolate Easter Bunny Tablescape

 I am so excited to be a part of the Easter Celebratios blog hop hosted by my talented friend Amber at Follow the Yellow Brick Home.

I know you found a ton of beautiful  Easter inspiration for your living room decor from Blue Sky At Home and hopefully you'll find some dining room inspiration here!


 For some reason I find decorating for spring so much more difficult than the other seasons. I don't have have a lot of Easter decor because of this reason, but I do collect faux chocolate bunnies. My largest bunny is the one below. He is made by Martha Stewart and I bought him on QVC.



I like to group my chocolate rabbits together to make more of an impact. This year I decided to create a large vignette of bunnies for my dining room table.




I like to display the bunnies in old urns and silver server sets. 



At each place setting I have a foiled Easter chick, they are also from QVC and look very much like a foiled chocolate treat!




I also brought out my floral egg cups for each setting. Instead of using eggs for the egg cups, I decided on a few carnation blooms.








The mantle got decorated with an eucalyptus and egg garland. The chocolate bunnies on either side of the basket are the very first that I ever purchased many years ago.






The antique chairs at the ends of my table were given to me by my sister. Once the fabric was blue, but since has faded to green. I would like to get them recovered someday, but for now they look nice with my Simply Shabby chic tablecloth.




I found the tablecloth on Ebay a few weeks ago still brand new in an unopened package! I love how feminine and spring like it is!




The bunny below is so precious because its holding a baby bunny, I've never seen one like it before!




Over all I am happy with my display of bunnies!





I always keep an eye out for faux chocolate bunnies throughout the year, as one can never have enough!





The linen cabinet in the dining room also received a few faux foil bunnies as well. These are so darling! I love the pink foil and the gauzy blue ribbons.




My french chair was the perfect spot for a trio of robin's eggs.




I hope you enjoyed my Easter tour of the dining room! I wish you all a beautiful Easter!





Thank you so much for vistiting!


  • -Larissa


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter