Blushing Rose Antiques

FINALLY A POST!!! YAY!!!!

2011-10-11T21:35:00.001-07:00

Been enjoying life, my husband had surgery to remove a bad tonsil and they also took out his vocal cord, he recovered in record time, blew the doctors away and now he is able to breathe again, his voice is returning after only being able to whisper for the past two years! We are all so happy, and praying for the cancer to be totally gone. Thank you everyone who prayed for us, we really appreciate it tons!!

Here is what I have been doing: Painted the open concept living/kitchen/dining room area with a really nice OOPS! paint with no name, I am calling it Jadite, got a new chandelier, new curtains, and a new black clock. I will share some more pictures soon, I just needed to jump on my blog and and post to get back in the saddle!

WOW, LOOK AT THE WRINKLED TABLE CLOTH! LOL!!! That is life!

CANCER SUCKS!

2011-08-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

This year has been a journey, my husband and I have been fighting his vocal cord cancer. Boy have I learned a lot about cancer, stuff I had hoped never to have learned like, nutrition's role in cancer, juicing, alternative medicine, pushy doctors, faith, friends who can walk with you and friends who can't, loss of control, anger and fear. This list could go on and on, but I will just let it rest at this...anyone who has ever fought cancer or been a primary caregiver, or lost someone to this insidious disease knows what I am talking about and can read between the lines of my post, you know where I am coming from, you are a kindred spirit. You too have found a toughness you never knew you had, you also have come to terms with a bunch of stuff you thought REALLY mattered and now you know does NOT!

A dear friend asked yesterday how I was holding up, I didn't know how to answer that. The best I could do is simply say, "Blind faith, that is what I am all about, BLIND FAITH!"

I haven't kept up on my blog and this is why, I hope to be back soon sharing my life with all of you again, but first we have to get through this bump in the road.

XO!!

Spring Puppy Pile

2011-05-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

Here is Bentley looking really smug, he should he just fathered a litter of 11 puppies! Sadly only 7 survived, but LuLu missed the record of 13 by only a few! The Vet was in shock, cause they just keep coming out...All English Bulldogs, and all spoken for already and only 2 weeks old. Who knew Bulldogs were in such high demand???!!!

Here are the proud parents, Bentley and Lulu, such sweet natured dogs!

Glad we don't have litters like this, (OK, octomom not withstanding!) can you imagine nursing this many babies? Exhausting!!!!

Hope all is well with you, were busy doing this and that, and it seems months go by and I haven't blogged! WHOOPS!! Take care and hope to post soon... : D

MY DREAM WISH LIST

2011-02-16T12:23:00.000-08:00

I was doing a wish list in my head the other day and this is what I came up with... I WANT TO EAT ALL OF THESE WITH OUT GAINING A SINGLE OUNCE, I WANT TO EAT THEM AND LOSE WEIGHT...HEY IF WE ARE DREAMING THAT'S A GOOD ONE!

I WANT TO DRIVE THIS PEARL CADILLAC ESCALADE, AND MY TWO DOGS HAIR AND SLOBBER WOULD NOT STICK TO THE INTERIOR OR THE WINDOWS...

I WANT NEW HEATED TILE FLOORS IN MY BATHROOM...NO MORE FREEZING FEET!

I WANT MY FRONT PORCH TO LOOK LIKE A PHOTO SHOOT...

WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THIS RIGHT OFF OF MY PATIO FRENCH DOORS...

I WANT THIS FABULOUS PINK DIAMOND ON MY FINGER!

AND OH BOY! I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THESE GORGEOUS DUPONI SILK DRAPES HANGING IN MY BEDROOM...SIGH...DROOL...SIGH SOME MORE!!!!!

Well, that is my list FOR NOW, I am sure if I had more time the list would be WAY longer! :)

What is on your dream list, think big now, and let me know!

XO to you all!

SWEET VALENTINES DAY TO ALL OF YOU!

2011-02-14T12:22:00.001-08:00

Hope you are all having a beautiful Valentines day, even those of you who don't have a partner, Valentines day is about expressing your love for best girlfriends, family members and for showing a loving attitude...a gentle reminder of the softer, sweeter side of this life we lead! Make sure to do something really wonderful for yourself, or for another person. Pamper a loved one today, maybe just telling them how much you love them, a bunch of roses to a friend who is hurting, a plate of cookies to a family who has had a rough time lately. Just hold out your heart and hand in a gesture of friendship and kindness! IN A WORD LOVE, that is what today symbolizes, LOVE plain and simple!!!!

MY "CRAFTY" ROOM

2011-02-09T11:50:00.001-08:00

This kinda says it all in my craft room, my boys all call it the "pink room"...

A great way to see, and display all my bits and pieces of fabric...

Even the ironing board got a pink face lift, my BFF Victoria Lynn made this for me and I love ironing on it, makes that chore much nicer. The cork board I made to fit a frame I found at Goodwill, a steal at only $5 bucks! My 6' 6" boys do not go in my craft room, the chandelier hits um in the head (good boy repellent!), this room is just for ME!!!

This is an old hollow core door with legs attached, I then stapled yards and yards of pink rose fabric to the edges. The chair came from Goodwill too, I recovered it in another pink rose pattern...

If you have bunches of crystals, display them! I love looking at my crystal jar, keeps them handy too!

I love to put my buttons in glass jars, found all three of these at Goodwill...gosh, we have really good Goodwill's around this area!!! Was up in my craft room enjoying the gorgeous sunshine streaming in this morning, so I thought I would share my room with you again! Hope you are all having a lovely week so far, I know a lot of you are buried in snow, I feel kinda guilty because we have blue skies, sunshine and the daffodils are already about to burst open.

Spring will soon be here for all of us, just think, ROSES, PHLOX, LILAC'S, HYDRANGEAS!!!! YES, can't wait!

GOSH! Way past time for a post!!!

2011-02-05T11:49:00.001-08:00

Happy soon to be Birthday to me! My Bday isn't till the 21st, but, I was asked by my wonderfully sweet hubs what I wanted, THIS was what I wanted, I cried! And Bam, it was mine!!!!! PINK YUMMYNESS FOR SURE...Been thinking about how much I love February, it is getting closer to Spring, I can garden again, Valentines Day, my birthday! February = love, pink/red, and wonderful!!!

I adore these vintage images don't you? Such a sweet feeling comes over me when I look at them...better get out my Valentines decorations, after all it is the 5th already, YIKES!Hope everyone is doing great, I have been up to my eyeballs in retired husband time, loving it so much!

XO!!!

GLITTERING UP THE HOUSE!!!

2010-12-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS!!!! DECORATING!!!!! TREE!!!!!! ANGEL'S!!!!!!!! SNOW?????? YAY!!!!!!!! A few pictures of what I did today, I know I have been AWOL, but with good reason, I have been so busy with the hubby, we are enjoying being together everyday so much since he retired, love that man with a passion!Did a really girly tree this year, the boys aren't really into the decorating, so they didn't care, I love how it turned out! A few close ups of the tree and the chandelier...

Love these glass clip on birds with feather tails! Fun huh?

How have you been spending your December? Are you enjoying snowy weather, or like some having warm sunny days still? Hope all your dreams come true this holiday season...my dream is not to gain 10 lbs. from eating all the goodies! YIKES!!!

BEEN HAVING FUN WITH THE RETIRED HUSBAND!

2010-10-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

The new additions to the stable!

Just a quick update...

We are now the proud new owners of a Snow Mobile, and a Dune Buggy, my husband is accumulating toys faster then a kid at Christmas! He now has time to pursue all the things he was not able to do because he was spending all his time working, it is putting a big crimp in my blogging time that is for sure, but hey, I am not complaining! My husband makes my heart leap in my chest and skip a few beats so it is all good!!! I will try harder to make some posts, but no telling where we will be headed next, he is hoping to get to the mountains this next week, it is snowing in the pass already, then on to Oregon to the sand dunes...what an adventure this part of our lives is for sure! Will keep you posted!

XO,

Fall Porch Fun Link Up, and some other things...

2010-10-09T13:25:00.001-07:00

The display on top of my living room TV cabinet. It was pouring down rain today, and I got soaked getting branches for my display, it always rains when I need natural materials for things, why is that? The other day I needed moss for a birdhouse, yep, it was raining...Up close on my cabinet, I love the do-over Baby Boo pumpkins, the before picture is below...yuck, what a difference a little paint can do!

These are the UGLY, UGLY before pumpkins, they were really cheap! I thought they would look great spray painted, you can see one in the photo above, they turned out really cute!

OH YEA! PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE CAKE, so moist and wonderful, all organic, no guilt...OK, maybe a little! :)

A picture of my dining room, I will have to post soon with the before, I painted all my oak furniture cream, and now I may paint it all black! Ya never know with me...

So here is my front porch AGAIN, SORRY LADIES, I wanted to be part of this link...

Link up for the Fall Porch Party, http://www.commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/, there is some wonderful blogs to check out and some really awesome fall decorating!

I adore my huge wrap around porch, and enjoy decorating it for fall! This red bench sits right next to my door and I love sitting out there with a cup of hot tea in the fall mornings, right now I can't sit there cause it is now a vignette! :) Oh well, I hadn't meant for it to be a decoration, I brought my pumpkins outside and set them there, "Huh! Those look great on that bench!" and there they stayed...

My BFF came for a fall visit, she's a whizz bang floral designer and we worked on this flower box till it was super fabulous, pop over and visit her at, http://www.sweetvictoriaantiques.blogspot.com/,
she has some nice fall decor to show off too...

This is a fun corner of my porch, the little wheel barrow is fun to stuff full of pumpkins! Hope you enjoyed my Fall Porch Party, it's your turn now!

FALLING FOR PUMPKIN

2010-10-03T23:28:00.000-07:00

I love this Pumpkin House, doesn't it look cozy? I found this on the Internet, thought it was darling!Pretty pumpkin patch...Creamy Baked Pumpkin Risotto

5 cups organic chicken broth

2 cups organic basmati rice

1 1/2 cups organic pumpkin puree

2 cups diced organic butternut squash

1 med organic onion diced

1/2 cup organic basil fresh, chopped fine

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tab. mascarpone cheese

2 Tab. organic olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400', combine broth, rice, squash, puree and onion in a 3 quart baking dish, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir to evenly combine. Cover tightly with lid and bake, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has been absorbed and rice is puffed up, about 30-35 min. Remove from oven and stir in remaining ingredients, season again to taste.

Fall gloves to make my hands toasty and warm when I take my morning walks, at a $1.50 you can't beat the price!Fall Cupcakes, yummy~!This soap smells divine, check this company out they make some luscious soaps!Baked Butternut Squash

One large butternut squash, cut in half and take out the mush and seeds

set the oven on 400'

bake the squash for about 45 min, then take out the flesh and add the following:

1 Cup organic panko, or break crumbs

1 Cup finely shredded sheep's milk Romano cheese

1/2 cup diced organic tomato's

1 tea. salt

1 tea. pepper

5-6 cloves of minced garlic

1 tea. curry powder (optional)

smash it all up in a bowl, put the mixture back in the shells, top with more bread crumbs and then sprinkle with more cheese, bake till the top is crusty and baked through!Baking with my Daughter in law Hannah, on the right, and my sweet niece Lindsey on the left! We had so much fun cooking, laughing and spending time together...These are the pumpkins you want to bake with, Sweet Pie Pumpkins, they make wonderfully sweet puree to bake pies with and so much more! If you try and cook the big pumpkins, you end up having to cook for a really loooooong time and sometimes the puree doesn't taste so good...These are my sweet pie crust cut outs from Williams and Sonoma, they have spring loaded insides and these babies make your pie crusts look like a million bucks!Pumpkin salad Yum!Good old pumpkin pie!!!!Would love to walk through this beautiful Pumpkin Patch, I am determined this year to visit a patch, I haven't been to one since my kids were really young, now that is really a shame! We are having a gorgeous fall here in the Pacific Northwest, warm days with blue skies and sunshine, the leaves are starting to turn amazing colors, this time of year makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Just this morning I was standing out on my deck, with a hot cup of tea, thanking God for the blessings he has surrounded me with, a wonderful husband, healthy children, a fabulous best friend, a precious sister and a warm and beautiful home!

A Bit of Shaker Wisdom

2010-09-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

I recently watched, Ken Burns PBS special on the Shakers, it was fascinating, although this was an odd way of living, I came away with some wonderful truths. This plaque, which has one of the Shakers famous sayings on it, has been in my laundry room in three of my houses, I see it everyday and it reminds me to do all things for the Lord! Makes folding laundry much easier! Everything they did was, "unto God", I want to strive for this in my life in a deeper and more meaningful way. I was really struck by the fact that they were encouraged to, "Do your work as though you had a thousand years to live and as if you were to die tomorrow." That saying changed me! I have begun to take more time when I am doing even the smallest tasks. When I mow now, I take my time, I make checker board patterns that are beautiful to the eye, not caring how long it takes, but enjoying the beauty of the job I am doing. I also realized that no one gave a hoot about how fast or slow I go on any thing I do, it was me who thought they did! I take my time when I cook and when I clean, I am enjoying the process, praying as I work, giving God the glory of all I have been entrusted with here on this earth!Living a simple and Godly life, this is what I took away from the Shakers as well, clutter causes static to build between you and God, this is a good thing to keep in your heart.

Hoarders and "collectors" would not be happy here...

Simplicity of form, function is art...

Gorgeous!!! Clean and beautiful, makes my heart sing to see this beauty, truly God inspired! I want to do art that is God inspired, not just art for art's sake...beauty with meaning!

In this simple Shaker box I see so much, someone lovingly took the time to make this beautiful piece of functioning artwork, cutting the wood with precision, shaping the pieces, smoothing the wood till it was velvety and perfect. They did not cut corners, or worry that they needed to hurry up, they did not have to look at the clock to make sure they got done on time. We need to remember that God has made us eternal, we are not on a time clock! Shouldn't all of us remember to do our work as though we had a thousand years? Be blessed this week, slow down and enjoy your work, "Hands to work, hearts to God" girls!!!

2010-09-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

I am linking up to Autumn Art Party, http://www.countingyourblessings.blogspot.com/, and the www.thediyshowoff.blogspot.com, go over and click on all the wonderful Fall decor! Sorry gals, had to re post some pictures for the party...My Autumn banner that I made...Black benches that I made out of an old wood shed I torn down on my property...Wreath make over...and...the amazing black cake stands, oh how I love these babies, they look great with... Cookies on them! I love fall, and just HAD to link up with Polly! Be sure and check out all the darling art projects everyone has been creating in blogland! Have a great weekend, and see ya next week, I promise to have something new to show you! (Well, at least the cookies were new!)

COOKING AND CRAFTING...OH JOY!

2010-09-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

This is my bedroom, I was enjoying my vintage rose lithographs this morning when I was making my bed, a dear friend gave these to me, she was tired of them...can you imagine???? They are from England, she bought them there on a trip years ago, and thought I would love to have them. Oh boy was she correct!!!! As I lay in bed in the morning I can see them and my chandelier reflected in my dresser mirror, what a gorgeous thing to awaken to...Made these lemon bars with all organic ingredients, they turned out really well, from scratch is always the best, they are tart and wonderful!Dinner! YUMMY! Can't wait till the hubs gets home so I can throw this baby in the oven! Goat cheese, basil and spelt flour pizza, all organic of course!Been hanging in the craft room, I have to be honest, I have not been spending much time in this beautiful room like I should! The last couple days I have been organizing, cleaning and pulled out my sketch page and started a pet portrait for a dear friend who lost her precious Corgi to heart failure a month ago, I will show you how it turned out soon!The light in this room is perfect, Northern, great for sewing, drawing and painting...I have all my glitter and other essentials organized for easy grabbing, the big jars hold genuine German glass glitter, yep, the good stuff! It was a beautiful day here in the Northwest, sunny and warm. I was able to get some garden clean up done, took down the Topsy Turvies (?) that did not produce a single ripe tomato this year, and get some weeds pulled. All in all a great start to my week!

Take care,

FALL FLINGING...IS THAT EVEN A WORD?

2010-09-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

Been at it some more, fall is raging like a fever in me right now, LOL!
This is my window box on the front of my house facing my walkway, I think it looks really welcoming, don't you? The top of my big green TV cabinet, it is so pretty at night with the "blinky" orange lights!Fall Cupcakes! Yummy...I love fall, it is the longest of the seasons to decorate for, Sept. to the end of Nov., so I really bust it out for these three months~! This is a corner of my wrap around porch, I love this vintage child's, John Deere, wheel barrow with pumpkins in it, and the branch is one Honey, my little pit bull, broke off of a tree hunting squirrels. : 0 This is my garden along the side of my pasture, love the false sunflowers, they are in their glory right now...wish the birds would stop pooping on my fence post, LOL!!I am going to try and make this again this year, only organic this time, keep your fingers crossed! I love the black cake plates, need to get mine out, I have them in three sizes from the this company, http://www.rosannainc.com/, they are called Rococo Noir. Be sure and check them out, she has gorgeous dishes on her company website, I love them all sooooo much...This is a close up on my vintage chandelier, I love these glitter crows and leaves.Teddy wishes you, Happy Fall Y'all! Can't wait to see what all of you have been up to!

TTFN!!

I AM FALLING IN LOVE WITH FALL!

2010-09-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

I am linking up with Melissa's Fall Nesting Party, http://www.theinspiredroom.net/ , and Cindy at http://www.romantichome.blogspot.com/, Show and Tell Friday, check it out there are some wonderful gals, with lovely fall decor on their blogs!

This was a happy accident! I came outside with my pumpkins, crows and garland and just dumped them on my red bench...huh, what do ya know, it looked great, so then I added a bit more and here it will stay!~ Guess what the "dried branches" are, can you guess? Post me your ideas and then I will tell you what they are...I hated my wreath from last year, this is one I made myself, I really love how it turned out with the feathers and sunflowers...I used the black mirror above my display by the front door, and the metal sign is new, I walked into a local gift store and was thrilled to find she had fall stuff, not just Halloween.This is on my dining room table, I threw some bittersweet in the black vase this year to make it pop...Love these little glitter pumpkins, found them at TJ Max last year.Here is my bowl I spray painted, decided to use it with my crows, last year this bowl held my remotes on the coffee table, I like this better don't you?Another great metal sign...This display is on my UGLY gas fireplace of doom, I can tolerate looking at it now! : )Jazzed up my black bookcase, I love these orange blinky lights, fun! BTW, the banner says AUTUMN ya just can't tell from far away...My baby got a job, and it has been busy with driving him to and from work, then cooking and the house cleaning too, but I am blessed and happy!

Hope you are all enjoying cooler temps, and having fun decorating for fall!

FALL DECORATING, AND A LINK TO VINTAGE BLACK

2010-08-31T14:10:00.001-07:00

This is a sneak peek at my mirror I just finished painting, I will post a picture soon of how I use this in my fall decor, I love how it turned out, it used to be shabby chic chippy white, I am so done with that look, this is a vintage mirror, probably from the 50's- early 60's, I love all the scrolly stuff!!! I just linked to the Vintage Black Friday Blog Party www.frenchcupboard.blogspot.com, hope I did this right...These are the black benches I made 3 yrs. ago, I love them for fall, don't you?I took apart this vintage bowl that I got last year for about $5 bucks, and spray painted all the gold parts black, I even painted the marble block it sits on, I love this bowl for fall~I used it last year to put the remote controls in on my coffee table :) I think this year it will go in a different place, I don't like to do the same thing twice, moving stuff around and keeping it fresh is so much fun!
DOG IS MY CO-PILOT!!!!
Teddy loves to go shopping with me for fall decor! He is pumpkin colored after all... I REALLY try hard not to have Halloween things, this guy I have had for about 6 yrs. and I just turn the Halloween saying to the back, I can't bear to get rid of himTHIS WAS A DISPLAY FROM TWO YRS. AGO...

I did get rid of this sign, I don't like the witch etc. so this year I am looking for a nice Harvest sign instead, anyone know who carries such a thing???Man oh man, do I want these plaid shoes, I was going through my sister's magazines and torn this ad out, these would look great with my new jeans...size 12, instead of a 16 this year, whoop whoop!!!!!It really feels like fall today, it is around 65' and raining, boy did we need it too, the grass was looking pretty sad, even with the daily water dose from the sprinkler system. I felt really inspired to get out my fall decor and get busy, I will post my pictures after I am all done.

Hope your all well and having a great week,

ORGANIC CHOCOLATE CAKE AND A HEALTHY NEW BOOK

2010-08-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

About 2 months ago now, our family made the leap into a 100% organic lifestyle, cooking, cleaning and personal care too. Growing up my mother raised us kids on fresh foods, we ate whole wheat bread when all the other kids were eating Wonder Bread, drinking pop, eating Ho Ho's and Ding Dongs. I did the same with my kids, but there was still lots of room for improvement, the biggest benefit for going organic, I have lost 39 lbs.!!!!!!

This is exciting, I still get to eat cake!!!!

I ramped up the organic box cake with, 3 Tab. of organic cocoa, pure almond extract, an extra egg, and extra oil, it made a wonderfully moist cake!

A very good quick fix cake mix, I usually make mine from scratch, but wanted to see how these would bake up...

I used organic powdered sugar, organic butter and organic Almond Milk for my frosting. The cake was gone in two days!

This fabulous book just came a couple days ago, Celeste and Phil Davis are lifestyle coaches and this book really helps people understand how to live a healthy life, you can get one too at, www.thewellnessworkshop.org, it is a very valuable resource to read.

If your feeling fat, sick, and tired give your body a break and try something different, cause what your doing isn't working, right? Our bodies are like a finely tuned race car engine, would you put sugar in your gas tank? Of course not, well then why are you putting crap in your body??? We can not expect our bodies not to fall apart when you feed it junk food, loads of coffee, and pop! Think about it, educate yourself!!

A good place to start is with the following DVDs:

Super Size Me

Food Matters

Food Inc.

King Corn

These movies changed my families lives, hope they will change yours too!

IT'S A HOT ONE IN THE OLD TOWN TONIGHT!!!

2010-08-16T09:37:00.001-07:00

I have been playing around on the computer a bit, it has been so hot that going outside is just not an option, 100' is really hot for us North Westerners who have no AC! I altered this picture and thought it looked really neat...Flowers from the garden. This hobnail pitcher, I found out here, has a hairline crack in it, solved the problem with a heavy duty ziplock bag for the water, worked like a charm! ROSES, ROSES, ROSES...

BLUE BOY, YUM!

Well, I better go and get my house clean before it gets to hot to move around! Bless you all and have a wonderful week~!!!

Guest Bedroom Dresser Make Over

2010-08-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

I was the recent happy recipient of this very awesome dresser from my sister! It is really old, note the wheels...It had over 6 coats of paint, white, black, green, brown, and then it had been painted with orange and tole painted, it took a grinder to get through it all, what a mess!After: Painted with low VOC Behr in Cafe Cream, it has some pink in it, yum! Pink glass knobs finished it off beautifully don't you think?Side view: This dresser has such nice details, it is so tall and has lots of drawers. My BFF came from from TN for two weeks and got to enjoy my guest room makeover. Having a reason to complete projects really helps to push you to finish... I have had such a busy and wonderful Summer, hope all of you are enjoying your warm weather, family and church!
God Bless you all,

The Garden and Such

2010-06-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

Welcoming wreath...buntings for the 4th...birdhouses..hens and chicks..pink roses, HEAVEN... garden beds...

hens and pitchforks..

love is gardening in the Northwest...

Vintage Aprons

2010-04-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

Love these aprons from Heavenly Hostess, if you haven't checked out this site, you need to. The woman who started this is a real inspiration! www.heavenlyhostess.com These are so fitted, and vintage looking...I would love to own one of these, but man are they pricey, maybe for Mothers Day....hummmm, great idea, if I don't say so myself!Cute gloves to go with your aprons! These are great, the company who makes these is called, www.gloveables.com, I have some black ones with animal print and red ones with polka dots, great gloves.Has anyone read this book yet? Wondering if it is good?????? Looks good!I love wearing aprons, it is something that is nostalgic and practical for me! Found these cute patterns on the web, wonder how hard it would be to make these without a pattern? Love the scallops at the bottom of this one.So sweet with the cherries! Love the dress under it too! Pink and Black! DARLING!!!Here is one for special occasions, love the dress under this one to! I just love the 50's style, it is such a flattering and feminine style, don't you agree? Better go and get my apron on and start my day, and yes, I do wear one everyday! Try it you just might become an apron addict like me!!! ;)

TIME FOR PINK!!!

2010-04-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

My most favorite rose EVER~~QUEEN ELIZABETH~~this rose is a stellar performer, no disease, no rose rust, and the best thing no thorns! Just got back from Walmart where I picked up 6 of these to replace some roses that aren't doing so well.

SPRING!!! LOVING IT!!!

Have to break out all of my pink stuff, so happy it is warm enough to wear my favorite pink hoodie, Give Pink?, YES PLEASE!!!!
Pink display's are showing up all over the house...

in the garden too!

So happy the flowers are in the nurseries now, love a full flower box, nothing says Spring like that!!

We have had a really warm and mild winter here in the Northwest, so thankful! Spring has been lovely too, today we have puffy white clouds and a bright blue sky with sunshine, things are popping out of the ground like crazy! Will have to post some more garden pictures soon.

I was having such problems with blogger, today it finally allowed me to upload some pictures, it has been such a pain, makes ya not want to blog when you can't put your pictures up! Sheesh!

OK, so here I am hoping you are all happy and well! Let me know what your doing to get in the mood for Spring.

BEEN GONE FACEBOOKING...

2010-02-19T20:31:00.000-08:00

Realized it had been since Thanksgiving since I have posted, man does time fly! I have been mostly on Facebook, and lost in the world of Ancestry.com, got caught up in the rush of all the holiday stuff too...well you guys know how it is when you have families. I would of loved to posted some pictures, but blogger wouldn't let me, anyone else having this trouble? Leave me a comment, even if it is to verbally spank me for being AWOL...

Hope you are all well and happy!

NEXT UP THANKSGIVING...YEA!!

2009-11-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

My blazing maple in the front garden, there are three trees twisted into one, cool huh??

Put up my fall flag, sorry you can't see it very well, it was sunny out and kinda faded it out..This is the Thanksgiving arrangement for my entry table, my BFF just sent me the beautiful glittered Give Thanks banner, it was perfect for the fall wreath on my mirror...Love these vintage images...Found these wonderful Thanksgiving plates at TJ Max, I have always wanted to have special plates for the holiday that is so dear to my heart.

My BFF and I were talking the other day about holidays, we were sharing what we loved about Christmas, Valentines Day, Fourth of July, the fall and Thanksgiving. She adores Christmas, I adore Thanksgiving the best, then we launched into why each of these were our favs. Christmas for her holds dear memories of her parents and the family get togethers! On top of that, her daddy made the holidays amazing for her whole family, he was joyful and childlike in his love of this holiday and it spilled over on to everyone around him. I on the other hand think Thanksgiving is by far a much better holiday than Christmas, no pressure to spend and buy gifts that are forgotten by February. Thanksgiving is warm and wonderful, with the whole family sitting down together to share a lovingly made meal, thanking God for the freedoms we enjoy in this country, the simple act of sharing what each of us is thankful for in our individual lives too! It is free of expectations and disappointments, and the self centered attitude that usually surrounds gift giving at Christmas time in this nation. Found this great baking dish at the same store, it was around 9 bucks, perfect for chicken pot pies, and the left over turkey that can be made into casseroles...These were so sweet, I couldn't pass um up! We have our oatmeal in them every morning, happy little chickens which make us both smile... What is your favorite holiday? How are you preparing for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday? Do you decorate, change out your displays and are you having a big family get together this year? What traditions do you hold dear and why? I would love to know your thoughts on all of the above!!! :)

Take care and have a wonderful weekend to come,

GOT PEACE????

2009-10-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

IS THIS HOW YOU FEEL???

THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD FEEL!

GET SOME FINANCIAL PEACE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, Article by Dave Ramsey

If you pay for your holiday festivities with credit, you're bringing a stalker home for Christmas!

The holidays will follow you around all year long...
The process usually goes something like this:
You buy a feast for Thanksgiving, and Christmas gifts for your family, more than likely waiting until the last minute for each occasion and missing the good deals. If you're not on Dave's plan (and, if not, what's stopping you?), you throw everything on the credit card.
In January, the bills start coming in the mail. One by one, the bills remind you of the temporary holiday thrill-rides. Unable to pay everything off at once, you pay the minimums.
By June, you've hardly made a dent in the holiday debt—which has simply been added to all your other miscellaneous debt like student loans, mortgages and the always-dreaded car payment.

By fall, you should be planning ahead for next Christmas. But, instead, you're still dealing with last year's debt—plus all the accumulated debt from the ghosts of Christmases past.
And the cycle continues. That is, until you finally say, "Enough!" No more debt. No more credit. It's time to make a plan early in the year, and then stick to it!
Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday of November. Christmas is always on December 25. These dates never change. There's no excuse for getting caught off-guard and desperately piling up mounds of debt on credit cards.

So let's say you haven't started making a plan for the upcoming holidays yet, but now you are ready to get moving. You've still got time!
Consider some of these holiday shopping ideas:
Research. Before you head to the mall, look for deals online. Visit the websites of the stores you plan to visit, and check out their prices. Don't waste your time shopping at one store if you know the store down the street has a better deal.
Make a budget. This is common-sense stuff, but it's amazing how many people have no financial plan for their spending. They are like an energetic kid in a toy store, grabbing the first toy that looks pretty and tossing it into the shopping cart. In order to work your way out of debt, you must become disciplined during the holiday season. If you must buy for everyone, keep it simple and stay within your means—however meager they may be. Don't get caught up in "bigger is better," or else the bigger debt in January will remind you of how stupid that mindset is.
Use Cash. As Dave always says, you spend less when you use cash. Before you hit the stores, swing by the ATM and pick up a pre-planned amount of money. Then, stop shopping when it's gone! If you've planned ahead and followed the two steps listed above, then using cash should be easy. You'll know what you need to buy and how much it will cost—before you start.
Start now—no, really, right now!—planning for your Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Or, wait until the last minute and celebrate them for months to come by wading through all those bills.
The choice is up to you!

Dave Ramsey http://www.daveramsey.com/

My husband and I have gotten completely out of debt, it is a huge relief let me tell you! We have an emergency fund, because face it gals, there is always some emergency that your going to have, I know, cause we just had two back to back!! We have over $3000 dollars in Doctor bills from my sons recent broken leg and resulting surgeries, even after the insurance paid their part! Number 2 emergency: Our Dodge Ram pickup trucks engine just blew up, we needed $2,000 bucks to get a new engine, (thank the Lord my husband could put it in himself, otherwise it would of been around $4,000 bucks all said and done). HOLY COW, WHAT WOULD I HAVE PAID IN INTEREST ON A CREDIT CARD FOR JUST THOSE TWO ALONE??? Shuttering to even think of it...

We have peace knowing we had COLD HARD CASH to buy that engine, and pay those Dr. bills, nothing goes on credit cards EVER! It is a rule we have followed since going through Dave Ramsey's, Financial Peace University.

I encourage you, to find a local church offering his classes, and then sign up and take them!..you will never be the same! While the rest of the world tries to keep the debt collectors from their doors you will be smiling and peaceful...it is a great place to be!

A great book too: 48 Days To The Work You Love, if you, or a loved one is out of work, hates their job or is looking to re-train, this is the book for all of those situations, check it out, they have them for pretty cheap on Amazon!

Bless you, and hope this will be of help to someone out there, I know times are really tough. You must do everything YOU can do to help lift yourself out of debt, then pray all the scriptures about finances in the Bible, my fav is:

The Lord shall supply ALL of my needs according to HIS riches in Glory by Christ Jesus! Philippians 4:19.

If your suffering, get into the word, listen to uplifting sermons, I download all of Joel Osteen, and Joyce Meyers sermons to my Zune, you can simply NOT have a bad day after listening to either one of these wonderful people preach! Keep a positive attitude, cause a bad attitude won't get you anywhere except deeper in darkness.

OH, another scripture I love, knowing I am a princess daughter of the Lord:

"And I, having received the gift of righteousness do reign as a King/Queen in this life by Jesus Christ! Romans 5:17 Yup, no wonder I love crowns and tiaras!!!!

PACKIN' IT IN FOR WINTER

2009-10-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well, it is a fact now here in Western Washington, winter will be upon us soon. This was made very evident by the last of my Summer roses, at least I have a final bouquet to enjoy for a few more days, then it is Costco roses till Spring... Putting away my fountain is another signal that the warm weather, sitting on the porch and having the windows open to the sounds of birds splashing in the water is over! It was kinda sad to see the barren spot where it usually sits...I store it on the side porch, so that it doesn't get ruined by freezing or heavy snow, I learned this lesson the hard way a few years ago, when after a hard freeze my fountain cracked down the back and never worked again...$250 bucks down the tubes! OUCH! Sad face :( !!! See the empty spot...SIGH... I don't know if you can tell, maybe you can click to enlarge this one, but the rosebushes are still struggling to shoot out new buds! Amazing!

NOW THIS GUY IS DONE FOR...This poor rose really gave it the "Old College Try", not looking so good... I'M TRYING, REALLY HARD, COME ON, OPEN UP, I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT..One sorry little bloom, way up high, trying so hard to get some last chance sunshine...... AND ANOTHER THING, look what my grand pup, Bentley did to my pumpkin! NAUGHTY DOG! What have you been doing to "pack it in" for winter?? I still have mass leaves to rake up and today is the day with sunshine and 61' out, better get off the computer and get out there!

Have a great weekend everyone! Make sure to leave me comments, I LOVE UM!!!! Ginger, thanks for encouraging me to keep at it, your a dear blogging friend whom I hope to meet really soon! http://www.gingerbreadshed.blogspot.com, make sure to visit with her, she is a faithful blog friend...

BEAUTIFUL FALL!

2009-10-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

Fall on my front porch...Glitter pumpkins in an urn... Front Porch, fall welcome... A lovely place to sit and enjoy the beautiful day...Teddy is a fall dog, pumpkin colored, he fits so well into the decor...Pumpkin cupcakes perched on my black Gooseberry Patch cake stand, a glitter pumpkin from Ross...Front porch in the fall sun...Chandelier all decked out for fall, glitter leaves and crows from Bayberry Cove...A display on the top of my TV cabinet, the orange flicker lights are so gorgeous at night... Happy fall decorating everyone, my fall has been so busy and so blessed! Hope yours is too, what are you doing to get ready for the coming cold months ahead? Here are the links to the cake stands and the glitter leaves and crows:
http://www.gooseberrypatch.com/, http://www.bayberrycove.com/.
Fall Blessings!

A DAY FILLED WITH FALL DECORATING INSPIRATION

2009-09-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

I have been absent from blogland for about a month, my youngest boy broke his leg in two places, a 9" spiral fracture, and broke his ankle skateboarding! Went in for surgery and is now recovering, needless to say, I am as well! I have been a prisoner in my own home for weeks, and was going a bit stir crazy, soooo, I took him food and water, got him settled and snuck away for a few hours of fall inspirational shopping to my favorite place, Sumner Washington!

BUT FIRST THINGS FIRST:

I have been STARTING to decorate, not done yet, but here are a few pictures of what I have done so far...

See the vintage style pumpkin heads? Got these today, the big one at Folkart Gartherings and the small guy at, A Picket Fence. I love um, they have the battery operated flicker lights inside.

This is an urn that I have had for 4 or 5 yrs., it was dusty rose, I spray painted it with Krylon Semi Flat Black paint, and WAH LAH!!! It is perfect with my pumpkins! The heavy felt black cut out mat, I found at TJ Max for $2.99! I got enough to go on my table too, beautiful!Love these flicker lights! They look amazing in my tabletop chandelier, wish I could get a moving picture of them, you would love it! Much better in person for sure.Crows, leaves and my Autumn banner I made last year.Been keeping an eye out for these black vintage dishes, they look great with candy corn.Man do I love my black cake stands to bits! I got these last year from, http://www.gooseberrypatch.com/, they are heavy and beautiful, not the cheap thin pottery type! The boxes they come in are beautiful too, hate to hide them away...Stopped into my favorite fruit stand, Pattersons, got some amazing heritage tomatoes, a flat of raspberries, and some juicy nectarines. Lip smacking good!WONDERFUL SUMNER WASHINGTON!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the sweet ad for the special shopping night, I hope to return with my friend Terri, she couldn't make it today, missed you sister!
I got those amazing flicker lights here at the New England Saltbox, would of loved to have had more pictures, but the owner was out and I couldn't take pictures without her permission, maybe next time! It is a gorgeous store...This sweet gal works at, A Picket Fence! See all the great stuff, stuffed into that store??? You would go crazy, it is just FUN FUN FUN! (This is where I found my mini vintage pumpkin head)Hey there Miss Louann Spencer! Your store is just one of my most favorites ever! I have been shopping here since she opened, and I always find something wonderful and surprising tucked inside one of the cabinets! The store smells like FALL, spicy and warm and delicious, it makes you want to buy everything you see just from the smell and sweet feelings you get when you walk in her door! If you ever get to Western Washington, put Sumner and Folkart Gatherings on your TO DO LIST!!!
There is sooooo much to look at, it would take me numerous trips to see it all I am afraid!Louann has a blog too, http://www.folkartgatherings.blogspot.com/, and a website by the same name, she has great prices on things I have seen online for a LOT more money!This is Miss Louann...thanks for being so wonderful to me today, you were great to talk to, and so lovely about letting me take pictures of your store!So girls, how are you getting ready for fall? Leave me a comment and tell me what you do to get into the harvest time mood.

Hope your all well and being greatly blessed,

Painting project, doggies and roses!

2009-08-11T20:05:00.000-07:00

MOM! WHERE IS THE COFFEE TABLE???? HOW LONG IS IT GONNA TAKE TO PAINT IT ANYWAY? IT HAS OUR TREATS IN THE DRAWER, WE NEED OUR COFFEE TABLE BACK NOW MOM! Well finally! See Honey, she got it done, now you need to load up the drawer with some of our treats and toys...

I painted the coffee table that used to be white, then was tan and now is Red Pines, in the amazing Home Depot paint! It is lovely!

Here is some of what is blooming in my garden...

My computer is up and running and has been for quite some time, I was having a TON of problems with blogger, I couldn't even view my blog for weeks...tried again tonight and low and behold it works again! Did any of you have similar problems???

I have been painting my house, and getting ready for the Boom Lift that is coming on Friday to finish the shop up too, we are busy here! We lived through a terrible heat wave too, 106' which was so outrageous for our area! It is cooler now and I am such a happy girl.

Hope you are all well,

SICK COMPUTER AND NO BLOGGING FOR ME!

2009-07-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

I have a very sick computer and it is in to the hospital right now recovering. Please say some prayers for our whole family, we are sooooo lost without it, life is bleak and boring, bills aren't getting paid on time and I have taken to a life of crime, stealing my sons laptop while he is sleeping just to check my email... We all miss you Mr. Compter, come back to us real soon, but if you think I am paying a huge Dr. bill your crazy, so better wise up and start working right! AND SOON!!!!! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND I HAVE TO BLOG????

I AM A VINTAGE HOUSE WIFE!!!!

2009-06-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

I THINK I WAS BORN IN THE WRONG ERA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I may be strange, but I love doing housework! Cooking, cleaning, ironing, sewing, laundry, you name it, I love it and take my job very seriously, in fact I pride myself on how well my house smells and my food tastes...

I love wearing aprons, and hardly a day goes by without having one on!

AND THE CLOTHES!!!!!! BELIEVE ME I WAS MADE FOR THESE CLOTHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PERFECT! LOOK AT THE MATCHING GLOVES!LOVE THIS PARTY DRESS!LOVE THESE SHOES TOO...

I have been bidding on 1950's dress patterns on EBay, this just came a few days ago, and I was so excited to start sewing...but then I started having problems with my sewing machine, again! So I jumped on Craigslist and found a "new" old Singer, just like the one my Mom had and I learned to sew on, I quickly called the gal and ran over and bought it for a mere $35 bucks! Soooooo I am back in business! WOO WEE! I was "built" for this era, really girls, I was born in the wrong year! I have an hour glass figure and just look right in these clothes... Marilyn Monroe and Doris Day type of clothes! Tight in the waist, fitted in the bust and poofed out over the rear!!! My sis stopped over and fitted the pattern to me, it was perfect. Have you noticed that the patterns they are selling now are NOT TRUE to fit anymore??? What a frustrating thing if you don't know any better! This pattern is big in the bust, and tiny in the waist, just what the sewing doctor ordered...

Marilyn Monroe had the look didn't she? The makeup, hair, great clothes, jewelry and lipstick (all of which I never leave the house without!). I make sure that dinner is on the table every night when the hubs comes home, the bed is ALWAYS made and so am I!!!!!!!!!!

Doris Day is the epitome of a 50's woman, sweet, gentle and kind! She is still alive and well in Southern California, and is a tireless champion of homeless pets, another thing I love!

WHAT I WOULD GIVE FOR A CLOSET FULL OF VINTAGE DRESSES...

I loved Doris Day in this movie, the dress she wears when she is singing to her son is divine, so is this great suit, nipped in at the waist, and fitted in the bodice, love it!Well, I am off to my sewing room, to whip up a truly vintage dress, maybe it will be done in time for one of the up coming weddings, who knows, and like the song says "Que sera sera"!!! What ever will be will be...till next time girls,

I LOVE LEANN OVER AT SIMPLY DANDY!!!!!!!

2009-06-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

DO YOU SEE WHAT I GOT!!????? AREN'T YOU SO ENVIOUS????

LeAnn, www.simplydandy.blogspot.com, is sooooooo wonderful! I have gotten to really love this girl over this past year and a half of blogging, we have kept in touch off the blog too! She is a praying sister in Christ and I cherish her friendship! Then when I won her giveaway, I was naturally thrilled of course, she loves what I love and as you can see the box had wonderful goodies galore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That apron is me to the "T"! I wear aprons ALL the time! I have this one on right now as I write this blog post matter of fact! Perfect timing too, because I had just made cupcakes and they totally went with the theme...

PICTURES OF MY GARDEN AND WHAT'S IN BLOOM IN JUNE

The Johnson Blue Geranium's are billowing out onto the sidewalk, and the Cat Mint is HUGE this year...

QUEEN ELIZABETH ROSES, MY VERY FAV!!!!!

Don't know the name of this one, lost the tag, but it smells wonderful and goes from deep pink to light pink as it blooms...

Have a lovely Sunday! Hope your all doing great, sorry I haven't been around to visit, I have just not been home to do so...hope to have a few days after this week of running around for the weddings, hugs to all of you!

XO,

THE WEDDING

2009-06-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

We are done with the first of the 3 weddings, this past Sat. Rachel and Jacob exchanged their vows. I don't have any of the ceremony, but will in a couple weeks when the professional pictures are released to the family, so more to come at a later post Gum paste Calli Lilies on a beautiful cake...

My niece and her fiance introduced her sister to Jacob, so Sarah made the toast...

This is the alter arrangement I made for the church, everything was simple with the decorations as the couple was on a very tight budget, but I really guped on the flowers as it was the center of attention before the ceremony started.

This is Paul, my sisters sweet, sweet husband, they came up from Portland with their children for the weekend, we had a ball together!

Brenden...

Ryan...

and Princess Jennifer...

DIL Hannah, my son Justin and nephew David, the brides brother.Josh, my youngest, Gabe, (soon to be groom and soon to be nephew), son Justin, DIL Hannah and family friend Eagle.The cider toast...

Me and hubs...

Me, hubs, and Josh...Mother of the bride, my older sis Nancy and me...

Little sister Rhonda and I..It was a wonderful time of getting back in touch with family and friends, some we hadn't seen in years. My camera died after only 5 pictures, so I will have to post some more after I steal them from other family members. Till then, I will be going to more wedding showers, shopping with the soon to be brides, shopping with my sister for the next two weddings, and doing all the flowers for the third wedding coming in August! ME BUSY? NO!! Are you kidding? Of course not!! Why would ya think that....sigh!

A DRESSER MAKEOVER, FABULOUS NEW PAINT FORMULA, TREES AND A MINI GOODWILL PAINTING!

2009-05-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

BEFORE...AFTER!!!!!!!!!!! This dresser used to be in one of my sons room, we replaced it with one that was my father in laws, and then I was able to have a go at transforming this beauty!!! It has wooden wheels, and a really beautiful medallion on the front, and really nice decorative wood work along the bottom. I adore how it turned out! I used my new favorite color, it is such an amazing vintage blue.
Here is the NEW AND IMPROVED SUPER DUPER formula, they carry this at Home Depot, it is a primer and topcoat all in one convenient can! It is fabulous, covers like a dream, and glides on and dries hard as a rock! I am in love...you can click on the can and enlarge it so you can get the formula!

I have been painting every thing in sight for years, and have never worked with a nicer paint! I rolled it on using these handy dandy rollers, "my secret weapons", I have painted the entire inside of my house, the barn, the shed, and tons of furniture with these little babies. I haven't used painters tape in years, the Purdy cut in brush relieves you of this terrible drudgery.

Here is what I get to enjoy from my neighbors yard, their beautiful blooming pink trees! My husband and I put up this fence, it is over 300 feet long, in just a weekend, the neighbors house was too close for comfort, we had moved from 5 acres where our only neighbors were the squirrels in the trees and that was it! So now I get the best view of the neighbors, just their pretty pink tree tops...much better!and lastly...this is a sweet little oil painting I picked up at Goodwill for $3 dollars a few weeks ago. Isn't that darling? Ya know girls, I just can not help myself when it comes to roses, I know I don't need anymore, but I buy them anyway...SIGH! I don't think that my love affair with these amazing flowers will ever end!

Hope your all having a SUPER FANTASTIC OVER THE TOP SPRING!!!! I AM!!!!!!!!!!

XO,

A FABULOUS WEDDING SHOWER, AND I WON A GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-05-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

This is me and my beautiful daughter in law, she is a handpicked angel straight from the Lord, what a blessing to have a girl in the family to shop, cook and giggle with!!! We spent two days making all the cupcakes for my niece, Rachel's, shower. My sister Nancy and her two of her six children, Sarah (the maid of honor) on the left, and Gina in the middle. Sarah had tons of fancy finger foods, it was the best bridal shower I have been to in a long time!

A plate of our Very Berry cupcakes. These are so moist, kissed with coconut, organic strawberries, blackberry and black cherry syrups, these were a huge hit!

Coffee cupcakes you ask? YOU BET!!!! These are wonderful, coffee in the dark chocolate cake mix, coffee in the frosting, and then topped off with a chocolate covered coffee bean. We were all talking a hundred miles a minute...wonder why??? HA!

This is the bride to be, in her beautiful apron hand made by my BFF, Victoria Lynn, (her Etsy shop is at the top of my blog). Rachel was so thrilled!!! When she had come in to the house at the beginning of the shower, she mentioned to all the girls that all she needed with her 50's inspired dress was a pink ruffled apron! Hannah and I just looked at each other and laughed, we had gotten her the perfect gift! We also filled a huge bridal bag with cookbooks, baking pans, pink measuring spoons, photo albums, and other fun goodies.

It was so much fun to be around all the girls, talking, laughing and eating girlie food!

Had to show you what I won... a giveaway from Judy Mullins at, http://www.vintagetochic.com/. It was like opening an iced cake... Thanks so much Judy for all the goodies!

Well, better get back outside and finish my yard work, we are having 80' degree weather, blue skies and man am I loving it, evidently so does my garden, I swear some of my plants have shot up 6 inches this week!

Take care and visit with you soon!

3 WEDDINGS, WHATS BLOOMING AND SOME DOGS THROW IN FOR GOOD MEASURE!

2009-05-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

My sisters three kids are getting married, one right after another: June, July and August! Can you even imagine that????? HEAVENS!!!!

WEDDING NUMBER ONE, RACHEL (her daughter), AND JAKE, JUNE 13TH...
LINDSEY AND AARON (her son), JULY 18 TH...WEDDING NUMBER THREE, SARAH (her daughter), AND GABE, AUGUST 29TH!!! I am trying to help out as much as possible, there is so much to do and take care of: Dresses, fittings, flowers, venues, food, showers and invitations. I do not envy my sister, I am so happy right now that I have all boys! WHEW!

This is what is blooming in my garden this month, White Bleeding Hearts...

Magnolia...Lilacs...

I love having my doors open, letting the breezes in, so do the doggies. Our weather has been fantastic here in the Pacific Northwest, it was really awful last year, I swear we got nothing but rain and gloom until June 12th! So, I am one happy girl to be gardening, mowing and spending time outside in the sunshine, THANK YOU LORD!

Have a lovely Friday!

YUMMY LOW FAT CHILI AND CORN BREAD

2009-05-05T17:12:00.000-07:00

I have been making this chili for years, it is quick and wonderful. I try and always have my chili ingredients in my pantry, because this meal can be made in around an hour, which is ALWAYS good when you have a house full of kids!

LOW FAT CHILI

STEP 1, in a large pot:
Cook
1 Package of lean ground turkey meat do not drain, there is virtually no moisture!
add:
1 large onion diced med.
1 can of diced green chilies
4 tab. of green Tabasco
4 tab. of Franks Red Hot Buffalo sauce
8 tab of chili powder
8 tab of cumin
4-8 cloves of garlic

THEN DUMP IN:
3 Cans of organic tri-bean blend, beans, dump it all in juice and all! (If you can not find this kind USE: 1 can kidney, 1 can pinto, and
1 can of black beans)
3 cans organic diced tomatoes, DON'T DRAIN!

YOU ARE DONE! Simmer and serve with:

LOW FAT CORNY BREAD
IN A BOWL:
1 cup organic corn meal
1 cup organic gold metal flour
1/3 cup organic sugar
1 tab. baking powder

IN A SMALL BOWL, MIX TOGETHER:

1 cup milk
1 large egg
1/3 cup organic olive oil
1 cup frozen organic corn
1 cup Pace organic salsa
1 cup reduced fat cheese blend

*MIX TOGETHER AND PUT IN A 9x12 PAN THAT HAS BEEN GREASED. BAKE AT 400' FOR 22 MIN. OR UNTIL A TOOTHPICK COMES OUT CLEAN.

This corn bread is the most delicious, moist, and tasty cornbread I have ever eaten!!! It does not need any butter, which if your family is watching it's fat intake is really helpful!

FYI, you should not eat more then 17 grams of fat a day, and those 17 grams should be good fats only, olive oil, fish oils etc. I know this healthy low fat lifestyle works, I had my blood cholesterol checked for the first time in my entire life in Dec. I had 118, and my 53 yr. old husband had 131! We had great LDL and HDL, in fact the pharmacy guy was shocked! Neither of us have EVER taken any prescribed drugs, we exercise everyday (I walk more then 2 miles, and have rarely ever missed a day in two years), and I have made sure to give everyone in the family high quality vitamins! The proof is in the pudding, so to speak. If you are thinking you need to get healthy, JUST DO IT! Don't waste another minute, you can add years to your life by making small changes, if you walk 3 times a week the experts say, you can add 8-10 yrs. on your over all life span! That is awesome!!

HAVE A HEALTHY WONDERFUL WEEK, EMAIL ME IF YOU NEED ENCOURAGEMENT, I WOULD BE GLAD TO HELP! I have been into health food and a healthy diet for over 23 yrs. and I have lots of tips and tricks up my sleeve...

ROSES FOR MOTHER'S DAY

2009-05-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have all men in my family, and on Mothers Day none of them know what to get me, so...this year I got myself roses! I went into to our local antique mall, New 2 You, and a new gal had just moved into her booth. I believe I wiped out her rose china collection, her prices were soooooo low I was amazed. These plates are Bavarian and the white ironstone is Johnson Brothers. I am one happy Mommy this year! I believe that roses on plates, or on any china, trumps a bouquet of roses any old day!

We are having exceptional weather this Spring, I have been busy with gardening and mowing and loving every second of it! Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and week to come!

BAKING, DRAWING, AND GARDENING!

2009-04-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

We have been having exceptional weather, I didn't come in till 9 pm! WONDERFUL!!! Wanted to share a recipe for lemon bars with you, these are fantastic, I made them for my son's birthday instead of cake, which the guys really don't like much! (What is wrong with them anyway, how can anyone NOT like cake????)

LEMON BARS

Crust:
2 Sticks butter, do not use anything but butter!
1/2 organic sugar
2 cups organic Gold Metal flour

Mix together and press into the bottom of a 9X13 Pyrex glass pan, bake in a preheated oven at 350' for 15 min or until it is lightly browned, take it out and let it cool, then:

FOR THE FILLING:

6 Large eggs at room temp
3 cups of organic sugar (I get mine at Costco)
2 Tab. of grated fresh lemon zest
1 Cup FRESHLY squeezed lemon juice
1 cup organic flour

Mix this all together and pour over the top of the crust and bake for another 30 min. Your all done!!!!!!!!!! YUMMY!

I have been artistic my whole life, and started winning drawing contests when I was in elementary school, but for the past 15 yrs. I haven't drawn anything. Been doing other artistic things like store display and home staging etc. So last night while Teddy,my sweet male dog, was sleeping, I got out my sketch book and started in...What do you think? Maybe I still have it after all...

Hope you are having a lovely weekend where ever you live, and may God be smiling down on you with sunshine and good weather!

Blessings,

GOING LIGHT FOR SPRING AND SUMMER

2009-04-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

I took down all my Easter decor on Monday and have been busy changing my dark decor for a lighter and brighter lookA close up view...I had taken down these two bigger square rose lithographs from another area, and decided to try grouping all of them together with the yard longs over my bed, I really love how it looks!

I had deep maroon faux silk curtains before, took those down and put up some cream colored sheers for a light look. I couldn't believe how much more light came spilling into the living room after I did this! Really brightened my mood!!! I also took my darker topiary down and replaced it with the ironstone pitcher with lavender.I just got this SPRING DREAMS banner up, got this off of http://www.bayberrycove.com/, what a awesome website!Put a lighter picture up, changed out the look on top of my cabinet too...LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!! Got these beauties for $20 bucks, I went into New 2 You to check out my girlfriends booth and spied these, they need cleaning and rewiring which I love to do!Found the Limoges celery dish, silver vase and the compote, also the three rose plates for so cheap I am not even going to tell you, don't want to make you jealous! ;)My son and I made homemade pizzas for the family the other night, they were amazing! I love getting the pre-made herb dough at Trader Joe's, then adding tons of veges, goat cheese and organic basil leaves...YUMMY!Had to show you these: My dogs were tearing up my deck stairs something terrible, so I started looking for something to cover the stairs treads, I found these hard rubber scrolly mats at Lowe's. I butted two together, and fixed my problem!! Love how they look!
Hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your families! We had a great day together, relaxing, eating too much and watching movies, it was really nice.

Is it getting really beautiful here, the gardens are exploding and the trees are all blossoming, I am so thankful that winter is behind us now...

HAPPY EASTER!

2009-04-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

~~HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, AND REMEMBER WHY WE CELEBRATE EASTER~~~

Still love the vintage Easter greetings too...

HAVE A WONDERFUL EASTER WEEKEND WITH YOUR LOVED ONES, GOD BLESS YOU!

~SOME TOPIARY LOVE~

2009-04-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

SOME BEAUTIFUL TOPIARIES TO ENJOY I love topiaries, and the sign above is so pretty, this would be pretty painted on a board with chalk board paint, I may have to try my hand at this one. Love these from Ballard Designs.

Aren't these couples darling? Some more people topiaries...

Love these doggies, and the horse and rider coming over the fence! Can you imagine the time it took to grow and clip these?

Darling bear eating out of a blossoming tree.

AMAZING AND AWESOME...

Wish these were waiting to go into my truck for the ride home...

Look at this!!! Beautiful!!!

Glorious England, stunning gardens with amazing old buildings in the background.

Fun animals...

an elephant even...

This one is so whimsical!

This must of been at a garden show, look at the details!

Sweet birds on top of these amazing topiaries!

Imaginations must run wild...

These are the preserved kind for indoors, love spiral ones and I would dearly love to have a set!

What a pretty setting for a garden store, love the cottage in the background, and the pretty red barberries with the green of the topiaries... Hope you enjoyed the pretty pictures, sorry I haven't been around to say hi to anyone this past week, I have been so busy with my son getting him to and from work, and the fact that we FINALLY have beautiful Spring weather with the temps in the 70's for the past three days~I have been living out side, BBQing outside, and having a very tough time dragging myself back in, only after it gets so dark I can't see!!!!!!!!!

Bless you all this week,

I'VE GONE NUTS FOR NESTS, BIRDS, SILVER, VINTAGE EASTER...OK, BETTER STOP NOW!

2009-04-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here is my front door wreath, I picked this up last year at Tuesday Mornings, and this year I added a nest, even my UPS driver noticed the wreath and commented on the darling nest.I stuck a little nest in the top of my pink ruffled Fenton vase, then stuck that under glass on my pink iron stand, that I picked up for next to nothing at Country Expressions a couple years ago. I thought that jazzed it up for Spring...Last fall this bunny called my name, he was $3.00 at a clearance sale! It is a repro of an antique chocolate mold. I've had these white birds for years and decided they would look cute in with my red transferware... THIS IS WHAT I DID LONG DISTANCE ABOUT TWO DAYS AGO

You may want to know what I mean by this, so here's the story...I decided it was time to change out my parlor area, so I took everything down, and started over, then I took pictures as I went along emailing them to Victoria, www.sweetvictoriaantiques.blogspot.com, then we tweaked them as I sent them to her adding or subtracting as we talked! It was really wonderful to have her to bounce things off of, she was a big help with the design. When I was doing home staging, I always encouraged my clients to take pictures of the area they are bugged about, cause pictures never lie!!! Try this some time, you can really "step back" so to speak and look objectively at the area and see where your missing things or have way too much...

This is a close up of the Left side...Here is the right side... This is the shelf and the Rachel Ashwell flower arrangement, I got these at Target a few years ago. WOW, I JUST NOTICED THE FINGER PRINTS...HELP!!! Better clean those off, I think you can click any of the pictures and make them bigger. The moss "toupee" came off of the top of some posts down my road, I snatched them bald headed on my walk this past week.Some more moss "toupee's" in my white iron birdbath, love the blue eggs!!!

Isn't this bird plaque so cute? Another Country Expressions find, the nest too...

I got this iron bird holder thingy while I was in Franklin TN, visiting Victoria, came home and spray painted it pink, then added the little nests. I like how it turned out~!!! I think the nest were around $1.50 each.

This is on my entry table, and whoops, better polish the silver tray, where is the maid when you need her????

THIS WAS MY EXCITING FIND AT THE LOCAL GOOD WILL!!!!

I went in to get my hubby a couple work coats, and just decided to make a quick run through the housewares, it was wonderful to find real silver pieces ALL of them for under $5 dollars! They are the real thing too, stamped and all!!!!Love these candlesticks, and what would possess someone to get rid of these beauties anyway? I love the Nell Hill decorating books, she does wonderful displays with silver that has really inspired me over the years. Anytime I can find silver for a steal, I pick it up!Here is the side view of the tray, love those fancy feet,and the little candy dish is so cute!

Oh, and yes, I did find my hubby a work coat, found one for myself too, so now I can throw out my ratty old painted up, torn and tattered one. We have wonderful Goodwill's in our area, it probably helps that we live in an affluent area so the donations are high end, like the real silver, every time I go I find a wonderful bargain basement treasure for really cheap, or cheep in honor of Easter!

Bless you all, and hope your having a wonderful week so far! I would love to hear what your best, all time,wonderful treasure has been so far from Goodwill, drop me a comment and tell me your story!

SINGING IN THE RAIN ISN'T THE ONLY THING TO DO WHEN IT RAINS...

2009-03-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Don't they make it look so wonderful to be out in a torrential downpour? Only in the movies would it look this wonderful, or so I thought until I made a list of wonderful things you can spend your time doing on a wet dreary day...This must be the modern version of singing in the rain, notice how much more leg is showing?OK, lets try and find some beauty, look at this raindrop captured on a leaf...Take a walk with someone you love in the rain, I have had wonderful conversations with my son when we walk together...And really great gear helps so much, doesn't she look like she is having fun?Here is some really great things to wear, hey if it's gonna be wet, at least look great!!!!!! Check out this cute pink toile rain slicker...Now this is an umbrella girls!!!!!!!!!!!!If I had some of these boots, I would run around outside in the rain all the time, look at the roses! Yummy... Pamper yourself on a rainy day, have you been putting off that manicure, pedicure, or a facial?

FREE/CHEAP, ideas for a rainy day: TAKE A BUBBLE BATH!

CUDDLE WITH YOUR HONEY!!!!

TALK ON THE PHONE FOR HOURS WITH YOUR FRIENDS!! (I do this everyday, cause it has been raining pretty much everyday)PRAY, PRAY, AND PRAY A wonderful free activity, that bears lots of fruit!WINDOW SHOPPING WITH SOMEONE YOU LOVE!

This isn't free, but I have to throw this one in because who doesn't love STARBUCKS!??? One of the best places to spend a little time on a rainy day!

GO TO A GREEN HOUSE! This is a wonderful mood lifter, just being surrounded by plants makes you feel happy and hopeful!GO TO A MOVIE! Matinees are pretty cheap, make sure to see a comedy or a really good chick flick, that will lift your mood for sure...GO TO LUNCH WITH A FRIEND! Call up someone you haven't seen in a while and go to lunch, most places have really great lunch specials that save you lots of money, you can even split lunch and have plenty for two!STAY HOME AND BAKE SOMETHING WONDERFUL! Cookies, pie, cake, and a wonderful dinner! I always feel so happy when I am creating good food for my family, (eating it lifts your spirits too, but when you look at the scale the next day that can really go down the toilet fast!)

HERE IS ANOTHER KIND OF BAKING! Sometimes it is necessary to bake YOURSELF in order to shake those rainy day blues... SEWING IS A GREAT THING TO DO IN THE RAIN...CRAFTING TOO...KNITTING, if you ever were taught by your mother, who said she would, but never followed through...(oops, sorry mom!)AND THIS IS WHAT GOD DOES WHEN THE GROUND SOAKS UP ALL THAT WONDERFUL RAIN...

I live in a really rainy place, Western Washington, but I have to say that we have beautiful trees, and really green grass. Sometimes even the buildings are green and the beautiful mossy roofs are something to behold! ;) I can go out and gather moss anytime I want, we also have no lack for water in the Summer when many parts of the nation suffer water shortages, the gardens here are so amazing, and I have to say that keeps me wanting to live here once Spring and Summer really take off!

If it is rainy where you are, try and keep your heart in the right place, be thankful for what you have and where you live! Every place on this beautiful earth has good and bad points, look for your silver lining!

Bless you all and I pray you will have a lovely weekend, meanwhile I will be quietly rusting...

I AM IN LOVE WITH WILLIAMS AND SONOMA!!!

2009-03-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

I just got the latest catalog from Williams and Sonoma, and wowie zowie the drool worthy stuff was amazing! Look at this beautiful rose strewn tablecloth, of course it really helps that the table is set with beautiful white dishes and a rose bouquet.Absolutely wonderful rooster plates, these would look so wonderful in my kitchen! Sigh...only allowed to look not buy, the thought always goes through my head now: "What would Dave Ramsey say about that purchase", Dave would say, "NO!, You do not NEED THESE!" So I will continue with being just happy with looking at the pictures...

I adore cake plates aren't these wonderful for Spring?
I have always wanted one one these for cupcakes, perfect for a birthday or special occasion...

What a cute cupcake idea, you can go on their website and get the recipe for these, darling!

Sweets in a sweet nest...Another great idea for cupcakes...recipe on the website too.Look at those darling bunny candies, and who doesn't love jelly beans sweetly displayed in a bakers cup?All I can say here is DARLING!!!!!Look at the sweet vintage image on this candy container. A grown up version of an Easter basket.
Will ya look at this nest?!!!! This is just so drool worthy, in fact it is probably a 10 on my drool meter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Love these glass cloches, they look so beautiful with the nests under them, see how they added the vintage book and the papers just so? Great staging! Love the beadboard too...More edible eggs in nests, so darling!!I love this wreath, thinking about doing one for my front door, this is the perfect Spring/Summer wreath don't you think?

Another simple and sweet one.
They sell these darling little guys too, what sweet faces!

Everyone in blogland seems to have Spring fever, as you can tell I do too! Today it was 35', and my daffodils are all closed up again too afraid to face the cold! That makes me sad they were

just about to open up.

I am praying it will warm up soon, I NEED to get out and garden again!

Bless you all and I hope you have a lovely week in what ever corner of the world you live in!

SPRING HAS SPRUNG, OH JOY!!!

2009-03-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

Spring!!! Just the name sends happy thoughts coursing through my entire self! This is a spring cake to celebrate, one that does not add a pound either! I told you I would show all of you my homemade pillow cases, well here they are. I got them all done in one day, I used the Rosalie curtain panels from Target that were being clearanced (I know, not a word, but I like it anyway!) out in the fall. I love Rachel Ashwell rose fabrics, they are 100% cotton and just have such a soft look to them. They are loaded up with finger pleat ruffles, it was heavenly sleeping on them last night, roses just feel so yummy under your head!This is my bed with the new pillowcases, I made them extra long on purpose to hang down and cover up the sides of the bed sheets, I love extra full dust ruffles and pillows with ruffles, my bed is truly a "bed of roses". The ceiling is sky blue and even when it is gloomy outside, it is rosy and Springy in my haven!Here is a doggie all decked out for Spring, isn't she just darling?

Another one, much more of a Rock N' Roller vibe huh?The British really know how to wear a Spring hat!

What a fun window box! I love the giant eggs, I may have to do this to mine now...

Love the cherry blossoms, I believe this is Buchart Gardens in Victoria BC, it you ever get to go, it is an amazing place. A visit to the gardens is like walking in a fairy tale land of enchantment.

More lovely cherry trees in bloom...

Nests, nothing heralds spring like Robins eggs!

Another amazing vintage hat, this would be like wearing a cake on your head!

More blossoms...

Soon another batch of birdies will be singing their songs, sitting in the leafy trees, and pulling worms from my flower beds. I am so happy Spring has sprung aren't you???

May Spring warm your hearts and home, may the sun shine down on your corner of the world!

Spring blessing to you all!

A ROSY OUTLOOK

2009-03-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying all the roses on the blogs lately, and felt inspired to do another rosy post! We all could use a rosy outlook right now, especially the way the economy is so gloomy, you can't be "uncheered", as Pooh Bear says, by the beauty of roses and pink! God must love the color pink, as so many flowers bear this yummy color. Below is a bouquet from my BFF's rose garden last summer, aren't they just divine?These are pictures of my gardens, below is my very pink garden bike.My favorite combos, roses and purple...Can't wait for the beds to look like this again...soon, very soon! (That's what I keep saying over and over!)Roses, the sound of the fountain splashing....AHHHHHH! It is heaven on my covered porch in the Spring and Summer months.Wouldn't it be so much fun to ride around town on one of these sweet little beauties? Love these old images, sorry this one is a bit grainy, whoops!Talk about PINK! Look at this cat! He must be in cupcake heaven, if I got to eat all those yummy cupcakes I would go into a sugar coma!!!!

This is my beautiful old oil painting in the dining room, when I need a rose fix I stare at this beauty. Someday I would love to be able to paint like this, I do know someone who does, http://www.antiquecottagerose.blogspot.com/, Ronda's rose paintings are just amazing!

Below are some lovely pink garden roses...Beautiful!!!

Yummy pink cupcakes... Lets all put on our vintage pink dresses...Put on our lovely pink Spring hats... and jump into this beautiful vintage pink Caddy! What fun would that be? Look at these amazing roses, I love the dew drops on them! I adore my Victoria Secret pink velour jacket, Give Pink! Oh yes! Love the doggie on the pocket too, I can not resist pink or dogs! My hubby got me these Juicy Couture slippers with the rhinestone crowns, these make me smile every time I wear them, which is everyday! Isn't this just the rosiest purse ever! I would love to have one of these, it would make you feel like Summer all year round!Beautiful vintage oil painting... More lovely garden roses! This is one of my most favorite vintage images.I know this is a Valentine card, but look at the roses! So pretty!My BFF, Victoria Lynn, made this for me last Summer, does she know what I love or what?!! Hope you all enjoyed this rosy pink post! I am heading up to my pink craft room to make, what else, pink pillowcases! I cleaned out Target when the Rachel Ashwell Rosalie curtain panels went on clearance last fall, so I am making those into my new pillowcases to match my bedroom curtains. I will show you when I am all done...

I pray each of you will look to the Lord for peace, ask him to help you to have a "rosy outlook", all through the Bible, his word speaks of having a good attitude in the face of any crisis! Don't concern yourself with all the negative junk in the news, God is above ALL of that. Our God shall supply ALL of our needs, according to HIS RICHES IN GLORY! Philippians 4:19 God is above all earthly money, God can do exceeding more that you can ever imagine!

If any of you need help with your finances I have an amazing book to recommend, Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey. This book has put peace back into my life, it has turned our situation around and changed our future! Everyone in America should be required to read this, especially the President and all the nuts in power who are spending the taxpayers money like there is no tomorrow! Remember to pray for our nation, with Gods help we can begin to turn this around.

Lots of blessings,

HAPPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!

2009-03-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE! I PRAY YOU AND YOURS WILL HAVE A BLESSED "GREEN DAY" TODAY!! My daughter in law just came by, she is a Barista at William Patrick's in Gig Harbor, she was all decked out in green. They really had a surprise for their clients today, all the drinks, any size, were FREE! WOW! She said everyone was so happy they tipped extra well today. Hope all of you get some wonderful surprise today, hopefully not being pinched for not wearing green, that would be a nasty surprise!

I love vintage holiday images, don't you? The girl and her doggie is so sweet, nothing beats these old images for beauty, the artists were so talented. I have often wished I could paint like these "lost artists", I wonder how many never even got credit for their amazing work? Isn't this one sooooo cute? The hat has a wonderful pink rose on it, BONUS!!!!!

This one was so funny, what is a pink pig doing on top of the four leaf clover anyway? And that kid must be super strong and so is the clover to hold that piglet up... This one is just lovely! Makes me want to hop on a plane and head to Ireland, I would love to go and see this beautiful country. I loved St. Patrick's Day when I was a kid, my Mom was wonderful about celebrating every holiday, and made it so special for us! Green food in our lunch boxes, pretty decorations hanging on the walls and she always prepared corned beef and cabbage. My Mom's corned beef was wonderful, and I make mine same way she did, big chunks of cabbage, carrots, onions, and red potatoes! Yummy, I was at Costco a week ago and bought 4 briskets to put in the freezer cause when they are gone, they are gone!

Take care all of you, and may your week be blessed and beautiful!!!!!!

MY DREAM STORE

2009-01-11T20:17:00.000-08:00

FIRST OFF HERE IS THE PRINCESS LOGO, THIS NEEDS TO GO ON THE TAGS. IT WOULD SAY: FIT FOR A PRINCESS, THIS WOULD ALSO BE THE NAME OF MY STORE.

I WOULD WANT TO CARRY VINTAGE DRESSES, AND DRESSES THAT ARE VINTAGE LOOKING. ALSO ANY ART WORK WITH ROSES, PRESSED TIN TILE FRAMES, GESSO FRAMES, AND ORIGINAL ANTIQUE OIL PAINTINGS.

LOVE THESE STARS, WOULD HAVE TO CARRY A TON OF THE WENDY ADDISON THINGS: SIGNS, GLITTER CUTOUTS, ETC.

I WOULD ALSO WANT A WHOLE SECTION TO BE DEVOTED TO DOGGIE THINGS: BOWLS, CLOTHES, BAGS, SPECIAL ORGANIC BISCUITS, ANTIQUE OIL PAINTINGS, DOG FIGURINES

I WOULD LOVE HAVING AN OUTDOOR AREA FOR FOUNTAINS, TOPIARIES, GARDEN STATUARY, AND SOME SELECTED PLANTS (the ones I couldn't kill easily).

I WOULD WANT LOTS OF BEAUTIFUL FLORALS, FEATURING ROSES OF COURSE. ALSO LOTS OF LAVENDER, SOAPS, AND ORGANIC BODY PRODUCTS.

MIRRORS OF ALL KINDS WOULD BE INCLUDED TO BOUNCE LIGHT AROUND THE STORE AND MAKE IT SHINE. IT WOULD REFLECT ALL THE BEAUTIFUL MERCHANDISE AND CHANDELIERS.

BEAUTIFUL SWIRLY CHAIRS AND FURNITURE WOULD BE IN THE STORE. ANTIQUE SIDEBOARDS, CHIPPY BOOKCASES, UPHOLSTERED SETTEE'S AND STOOLS.

VINTAGE HATS WOULD HAVE TO BE AN ADDED DELIGHT. I WOULD HAVE MILLINERY FLOWERS, GLASS KNOBS, AND CRYSTALS FOR CHANDELIERS WOULD BE HELD IN BIG BEAUTIFUL APOTHECARY JARS.

BEAUTIFUL BED LINENS, ANTIQUES BEDS WITH LOTS OF GOOP ON THEM, BEAUTIFUL NIGHT STANDS AND SIDE TABLES, ALSO LOADS OF CRYSTAL LAMPS WITH AMAZING LAMP SHADES!

THE STORE WOULD SMELL AMAZING, LOTS OF CANDLES, SOY ONLY OF COURSE. LAVENDER IN JARS, SOAPS AND OTHER YUMMY SCENTS WOULD JUST MAKE THE GALS WANT TO SPEND THEIR MONEY. I WOULD HAVE RELAXING WONDERFUL MUSIC PLAYING TOO...THE WHOLE NINE YARDS FOR ENGAGING ALL THE SENSES.

I WOULD ALSO FEATURE BEAUTIFUL PICTURE FRAMES, WITH TONS OF RHINESTONES ON THEM.

LAMPSHADES WITH ROSES AND FLOWERS, FABRIC COVERED WITH MILLINERY FLOWERS TOO...

APRONS WOULD ALSO BE CARRIED IN THE STORE, CHANGING WITH THE SEASONS. LOVELY LIGHT FABRICS FOR SPRING AND SUMMER, HOLIDAY ONES, AND ALWAYS GIRLY AND FUN!

I WOULD HAVE TABLE TOP CHANDELIERS!!! BUT OF COURSE!!! ALSO STATUES, AND ANYTHING FRENCH LOOKING...

THIS IS THE KIND OF FURNITURE FOR OUTSIDE OR IN, HEAVY IRON STUFF! THE REALLY GOOD STUFF.

VELVET RIBBION WOULD BE SOLD BY THE TONS TOO, I WOULD HAVE CLASSES FOR WOMEN ON SEWING, FLORAL DESIGN, OIL PAINTING (GIVEN BY YOU VICTORIA) AND OTHER INTERESTS, SO WOMEN CAN LEARN ALL THE LOST ARTS OF HOMEMAKING ETC.

SOME MORE EXAMPLES OF LOVELY THINGS...

ANOTHER CHANDELIER, WHO CAN HAVE TOO MANY?????

WELL, THAT ABOUT WRAPS IT UP, YOU GET THE IDEA! I WOULD WANT MY STORE TO EVOKE A FEELING OF DEEP REST, PEACE AND JOY WHEN YOU WALK IN. I WOULD WANT THE COMMENTS TO BE, "I WANT TO LIVE HERE AND NEVER LEAVE", "THIS SMELLS LIKE HEAVEN!", "THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING STORE I HAVE EVER BEEN IN!!" GOD WOULD BLESS ME TO ALSO BE ABLE TO HELP WOMEN STAGE THEIR HOMES TO REFLECT WHAT THEY LOVE, HELPING THEM TO BE AT PEACE WHEN THEY ARE HOME WITH THEIR FAMILIES. I WOULD WANT THE STORE TO DEVELOP A RICH SISTERHOOD, A PLACE TO GO FOR PRAYER AND UNDERSTANDING.

LET THEM ALL EAT CAKE...CHRISTMAS CAKE THAT IS!

2008-12-18T18:30:00.001-08:00

CAKE YUMMY!

I don't know about you, but I love cake! I found these beautiful cakes for the holidays, and wanted to share them with you. I am being very good this Christmas, (hint, hint Santa!), and trying to watch my calorie and fat intake...sigh! So, I thought I would just look...

Can you imagine how wonderful this would taste with a hot cup of coffee? Love the all white with the sugar glitter and white chocolate snowflakes.

This is such an awesome cake, the red and white candy cane theme is so pretty and festive.This one is so elegant, perfect for a special party with my best girlfriends. (Victoria, see what we could be eating together this year???), guess I will just have to settle for a sweet thought...

This one is just so cute and simple. Cookies glued on with icing, and candies on top, easy and elegant, who wouldn't love having this at their holiday party? Look at this cake! How pretty is this? I would have a really hard time cutting into this one!Another elegant cake, look at all the detail on this pretty one!

This is really cute, a Santa Hat Cake. The only bad thing here is, enough red dye to kill half of the known population in the world!This is a pretty one, roses, pearls, gold leaves and the band around the whole cake is just beautiful!

These are some of my favorites, aren't they cute? Those would be fun to serve to each guest, I guess, they would technically be cupcakes then, huh?We couldn't have a cake post, without the dreaded FRUITCAKE OF DOOM! I have to admit though, this one is a cherry chocolate fruitcake. HUMMM....I think I could be talked into eating this one! What ever you are up to this week, I hope it is sweet, like spending time with your families, baking, shopping, and savoring each and every moment of this magical time of the year!

We are buried under a foot of snow today, I have been spending time with my husband and kids just talking and being together! It forced all of us to slow down and just stay put, which I must say, I have enjoyed immensely! I pray each of you will take the time to just breath during this hectic time, try not to lose sight of what is important, the memories, happiness and joy. It is also a time to reflect on the birth of our Lord and Savior, and the real reason we celebrate at all!

God bless each of you! May the Love of God reign in your hearts this Christmas season...lets all pray for a better, and blessed New Year too! AMEN to that!

DO YOU HAVE ONE OF THESE???

2008-12-15T16:50:00.000-08:00

WAS THIS ANGEL EVER SPOKEN OF IN THE BIBLE? YEAH, I DIDN'T THINK SO...
Do any of you out there need a visit from the sidewalk clearing snow angel? I do! We are having a really cold, snowy storm that blew down from Canada. (NO GIRLS THIS IS NOT MY HUSBAND, FOUND THIS ON A FUNNY SNOW WEBSITE!!!)

I think this is what a snow angel REALLY looks like...
Here is a picture of my front yard. I hate snow by the way, I lived in Alaska for 7 yrs. and if I never saw it again, I would be thrilled. Can't wait for it to warm up again, and yes, I can't believe I am saying this...I would rather have it rain!!!!

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have you seen these yet? I saw an ad for these last night, and then went to Costco today and low and behold, they were there, in a two pack! I adore them!!! They make wrapping so easy, and fast...You wear this tape dispenser on your wrist, and you just pull off a perfect piece of tape every time! So simple and easy, I want to kiss whoever came up with this little beauty. If you get one, make sure to put the instructions in with the tape thingy. I would never remember how to load it again if I don't save the instructions.Had to throw in a cute picture of my 16 yr. old son, he looked so great in his Dad's leather jacket, which by the way, is an XXL Tall. He is so big, I can't get over it! 6' 7" and still going..

HOW MANY DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS?????...HELP!!!!!

2008-12-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL YOU BLOGGER BUDDIES!!!!!! HOPE YOU HAVE A FABULOUS CHRISTMAS WITH YOUR FAMILIES AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

How can Christmas be on us sooooo soon? 14 days away??? Did something happen to some of the weeks??? Wasn't it just Thanksgiving??? HELP!!!!!

I don't know about you, but Christmas has broadsided me this year! Just tonight, I got my tree up in my parlor, I know it won't be up that long, but I love the way it looks, all sparkly and festive! Below is a picture of my hall table by the front door, Victoria made the Christmas plate, I just love it with the snowmen, bottle brush trees and my apothecary jar filled with glass balls.

A little Christmas cheer on top of my TV Cabinet, Victoria made the floral arrangement for me last year, I think of her every time I look at it, which is all the time! :) This is my chandelier all done up with snowflakes and stars. The table in my bay window needed something so I changed out my rose painting for the apple topiaries and church on my vintage crystal cake stand, the JOY letters are by Rachel Ashwell, I love how they fit perfectly on my shutters. This is my parlor tree, it is mostly pink, although you can't tell from this picture.

This is my favorite goofy snowman, I collect odd looking snowman, I started doing so, when my boys made the comment that it was the ugliest thing they had ever seen. I had to get him just for that fact! See, he is even pigeon toed! I know it has been a while since I have posted, it has been a rough time in my life these past few months, I've lost track of so many of you and maybe when the holidays are over I can catch up again and visit! I pray you will all have a wonderful time with your families over the next couple of weeks, bless you all!

XOXO,

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE PRAYERS AND KIND THOUGHTS!

2008-11-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you all sooooo much for all your prayers on the behalf of my family, they mean the world to me. I finally got enough time tonight to do a short post, so here goes...

I have spent every waking moment since Smitty died on Oct. 18th, settling his estate. The paperwork is overwhelming, I know all of you that have been through this, know just what I am talking about!

In about another two weeks I should be pretty much done with everything, and be able to get back onto a more normal schedule. This week alone, my family has spent over 5 days driving to and from his duplex, (round trip close to 100 miles!), that he was renting, cleaning, painting and throwing out mountains of stuff!!! We have filled a thirty yard dumpster 3 times already, the dumpster is HUGE, it is 9 feet high, 12 feet wide and 15 feet long!!!!!!!!!! This has been the biggest clean up I have ever had to accomplish, it has made me rethink my own life, that is for sure...I am going to stop buying STUFF and FLUFF!!! I never want to leave my children with the kind of mess I am dealing with right now, I pick things up and wonder out loud, "Why in heavens name did he save this????" Pictures of yards, gardens, animals and places that they forgot to write on, believe me no one wants to see pictures of animals that have died 40 yrs. ago!
I am now coming home each time with a renewed appreciation of my clutter free, clean home. I plan on going through all my paperwork and making it easy to find important documents, this I have found out is vital! I am also going to go through my personal papers and burn anything that I don't want others reading: Old letters, diaries etc. This has been my own personal wake up call! During this whole ordeal, I realized that there is a serious need for someone to write up instructions for families when someone dies, I plan on making an easy to read mini book, get it published and help others who don't have a clue what to do!
Thanks again! Continue to pray for me to have the ability to do all that is still ahead!
Take care and I will check in with you all soon!

KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS...

2008-10-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

Clarence Dewey Smith, AKA Smitty May 1st, 1921-Oct. 17th, 2008

My father in love, passed away in his sleep this past Friday night, he was 88 yrs. old. We were so thankful to be able to celebrate my oldest son's wedding with him on Sept. 6th, he got to see all the grand kids, his brothers and sisters and enjoy a big family free for all!!! :)

Smitty was the kind of guy who would give you the shirt, pants, coat, hat and shoes off of his back if you were in need. He gave tons of money away each year helping people out, taking stray people, dogs, and kittens in and housing and feeding them, till they could take care of themselves again...he raised 4 kids, then took in numerous friends, cousins and then raised three of his youngest grand children to boot! To describe him is hard, if I had to come up with one word it would have to be, gentle, he was the epitome of everything associated with the meaning of this word!

Thank you Smitty for being a wonderful father in love!
Here he is pictured with my son Justin, at his wedding, the last pictures ever taken of him and his grandfather...or any of his family!! Below is a picture of our family on the left, and my sisters family on the right. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers! We are dealing with quite a bit right now and I don't know when I will be able to post again, we have to clean out his home and deal with mountains of paperwork, when I come up for air I will check in I promise!!!

VICTORIA'S 50TH BIRTHDAY VISIT AND ALL THAT IT ENTAILED!

2008-10-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

Victoria, my BFF, flew in for her 50th birthday on September 9th and stayed with us for two weeks, that in my humble opinion, went by way too fast for this girl! We had so much fun, spending every moment making memories to last us till the next time we can be together, she is the sister God so graciously blessed me with, (he must really love me!) when I really needed one!

This is the pumpkin cake I made her, I got these black cake stands off of, http://www.gooseberrypatch.com,/ just for displaying her fall birthday cake on, (it comes in a set of two, I used the other one on top of my TV cabinet to display my white pumpkins on.) These are so pretty, and I think the orange cream cheese frosted cake looks wonderful on it, don't you? I invited over 6 good friends for her, Fall 50th Birthday Luncheon. We had a wonderful time together, eating curry chicken croissants, spinach salad with goat cheese and devouring the cake!YUMMY... They also all got a kick out of looking at the fall decorating Victoria and I had done the week before on my porch and in the house! We did a lot of eating, baking and shopping while she was here, cramming in a months worth of stuff into two weeks time...

This is Bentley, my son's bulldog, we got him this harness with a handle on it because he runs away from us like a greased pig, I captured Victoria grabbing him up before he got into to trouble! I babysat him while the kids were on their honeymoon in Jamaica, I was glad when he went home, it is a ton of work having a puppy to watch 24/7 kinda like having a newborn in the house again! Thanks to Joshua I did not have to get up with him at night...WHEW!!!This is Joshua, he was so good with Bentley! He cared for him all day and night while Victoria and I ran around shopping and generally getting into mischief together...Isn't he just darling? He does Frog Legs all the time, it really makes me smile...On Victoria's actual Birthday Day, September 14th, we went out in the boat for the whole day! It was 80' out and just beautiful, we cruised the Puget Sound Bay enjoying the water views of Seattle, the Ferries, and finally ending up at Anthony's Restaurant for a fabulous seafood lunch! Victoria said it was the perfect way to turn 50! Below is our handsome captain, hubby dubby Don.This is beautiful Seattle, it was a perfect day on the ocean, no waves, warm and no wind...This is the ferry terminal in Port Orchard, it was fun watching the ferries coming and going on the Sound... This is where we had lunch, Anthony's in Bremerton WA, it is a really pretty restaurant inside and out! It was fun pulling up to the dock, getting out and walking straight in for lunch, beats taking the car hands down!!!!!!This is the view as we were pulling into the marina...Fat Sea Lions on the buoys in front of SeattleWe went to Sumner for fall shopping twice while she was here! I adore Sumner, it is a lovely historical town, with lots of really cute shops packed full of wonderful things to buy! And buy I did, I love fall so much and did not have much in the way of good decorating stuff, so...I went crazy! We got to meet up with Lorena, http://www.rosechicfriends.blogspot.com/, a dear sweet blogging sister, on our first trip! That was really fun, but we almost didn't get to meet her though, because we got caught in really bad traffic on our way there, fortunately she and her mom and sister hung around and we met up...Sorry, we both did not have our blogging cameras handy, so no pictures of the event. This is Sumner's main street, see the huge ANTIQUES sign? That is always good!

This is the Saltbox, you Primitive gals would really go nuts in here for sure, it is packed with great stuff for fall.We visited this nursery and gift store, Country Gardens, this is a wonderful little place in Chico WA.
This is the lovely giftshop...
We did a ton of baking while she was here, making pies, awesome dinners and laughing with the whole family while we cooked. Hubby said, it was like having two perfect wives!!!
It was so much fun to share decorating for fall with Victoria, she "gets me" when it comes to this stuff, my boys just roll their eyes. See the flag? It has the vintage image of the black cat in the pumpkin on it, I think about Victoria every time I see it because she has a black cat Jasmine that looks like this one. While she was here, I put each topiary in the copper pots that I got on clearance at Target for $18 bucks! What a bargain that was.We put orange twinkle lights on them, they wink on and off and look really cool from the road! Here is a night time picture, not too good, but wanted you to see how they look at night...I have this darling child's wheel barrow that we put some Funkins in, you know the fake ones that they sell at Wal Mart? They looked pretty good after Victoria worked her "florist secret tricks" on! I swear they looked real after she got done with them.This is another great find in Sumner, I spray painted it black and added some beaded sunflowers...Isn't this beautiful???? Victoria and I went shopping at Washington Floral, I have a wholesale account there, and we picked out some really great florals for this outdoor window box. She did such an amazing job on this don't you think? Such talent oozing out of one women should not be legal!!!!!We had decided to do one big crafting project while she was here too, so we picked an Autumn banner to make, this is how mine turned out. I love it, we got all the supplies at Michael's, and had a blast putting them together...I still have to finish my Thanksgiving one...WHOOPS! Better get right on that! This is the close up of my Autumn banner, cute glitter crows, the same ones I used on my chandelier... This is a better view of the stuff on my cabinet in the parlor, the three candles behind the pumpkins are fake, they look real with dripping wax and everything. They have three tiny blubs in each one and flicker just like a flame! This is a wide view of my living room fall stuff, I put flicker orange lights on top of my TV cabinet too...
Close up view of the top of the TV cabinet, love my fake crows. See the black cake stand, that is the second one in the set of cake stands I got from Gooseberry Patch.

Close up of the vinette on my "freestanding fireplace of doom", (I hate this thing with a passion!)...anyhoo, I love these glitter trees, I found the other two orange ones in Sumner to go with my big one, score! See the little candle?, that takes one AA battery, and it flickers too, I got these in Sumner at Folkart Gatherings, Victoria and I fell in love with them! Folkart Gatherings sells stuff online at, http://www.folkartgatherings.com/, check it out! This is the silver ice bucket that she talked me into getting in an antiques store in Sumner, I decided one of my fake pumpkins would look great in it! I got some glitter leaves and taped them underneath it, I like how it turned out. Thank you for making me buy this Victoria!Close up view...I had fun draping my vintage chandelier with glittery fall leaves and crows. I also added an orange swag to the top for a little extra something. I put green apples, beaded pumpkins and leaves in my apothecary jar, stacked it on top of a glass cake stand and stacked that on top of a silver tray with leaves and pumpkins on it! Then added these funky characters in too...
This is my entry table and mirror. The wreath is so beautiful in person, the leaves on it look and feel real! The black pumpkins are glittered and look great on the stands with mini orange pumpkins around them. I also found the caramel candy corns that look vintage to go into my Longaberger basket, this is a very "fallish" grouping I think...

I could not resist these darling owls, we found these at Apple Crate For The Home, in Tacoma. What a fantastic store that is! I paired them with my vintage Amber Glass bowl, put some chocolate candy corn in it and stuffed my black basket with two mini wreaths that cost all of a $1.00 each!Last but certainly not least! Linda, over at http://www.lindaandjake.blogspot.com/, sent me this lovely gift! She is a fellow doggie lover too and knew I would adore this towel and magnet, which says, "Dogs Make The Best Friends", and they do! Isn't the card she sent darling? Love the black chandelier on it. Honey is giving her approval too! Thank you soooooo much Linda, I can't wait to meet you and your DH when you come up this way soon!!!

Well, that was a big fat long post huh? I have been so busy with the wedding, Victoria's visit, the kids coming home from Jamaica, and homeschooling Joshua, that I just have not had much time to blog, it has not helped that we have been having really warm beautiful fall days too, hard to be on the computer when it is amazing outside! I do however miss visiting each and everyone of you, and as things settle down and the weather turns rainy, I am sure I will be blogging more. Hope your all well and enjoying fall! Be around to see you all soon,

XO!

I'M BACK, FIRST UP...THE WEDDING!

2008-09-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

The wedding was a huge success, it was the perfect day, perfect weather, and nothing went wrong start to finish! Lots of prayer was the key!!!! This is my beautiful new DIL! Here are her bridesmaids, I have known all these girls since they were about 8 yrs. old, two of them since they were 5! They are all so beautiful!
Here are the groomsmen, my boys are the three from the left to the right...
The beautiful couple!!!

Justin with the lovely bridesmaids...
Proud Mom with her boys!
The bride and bridesmaids. I made all the flowers for the wedding, I was so happy they turned out well...whew!

The kids flew off to Jamaica for a two week honeymoon, they come home tomorrow night, we are so excited to see them and watch them start their life together as husband and wife. Life moves so fast, I can't believe my baby boy is married, remember to hold on to each and everyday with your children, our time with them is so short...my mother told me this when I was getting married, now I know it is so true!

MY BFF IS HERE, AND WE ARE GONE SHOPPING!!! (AGAIN)

2008-09-16T22:16:00.000-07:00

SHOPPING, SHOPPING, AND MORE SHOPPING...NO POSTING, NO POSTING AND NO TIME FOR POSTING....THE LYNN SISTERS ARE BACK IN TOWN!!!!
BE BACK SOON,

FALL HARVEST INSPIRATION!!!

2008-09-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to get my fall issue of Country Living Magazine this past Thursday~! Inside was this inspiring article on pumpkins, what really caught my eye however was the glossy black benches stacked three high on one another!!!!! I decided then and there to go to my wood shop and build some for my front porch...Here they are freshly built...I used old barn wood and new fence wood that I had laying around in my wood pile beside the shed, I think these only took about 2 hours to build start to finish...Here they are on my front porch all dressed up for the fall season~! I used glossy black, Painters Touch brand paint from Home Depot, it is my most favorite pre-mixed paint in a can! It is super fast drying, and hardens to a nice tough finish in a flash! The pumpkins came from Target, they look so real, and even have stems that look like the real thing. Our family does not celebrate Halloween, we feel it is wrong as Christians to celebrate such a dark holiday, so we focus on Harvest season instead. We enjoy making apple crisps from our own trees, having my friends over for a special fall luncheon, watching the trees changing colors and serving up lots of stews and pumpkin pies!!!
Hoping each of you are having a lovely start to your September! It is much cooler here in the Northwest now, the nights have a chill to them that wasn't here just a few days ago...today, while I was taking my walk, I could smell the earthy scent that fall brings!

Bless you all this week, keep me in your prayers as my oldest son will be getting married on this coming Saturday September the 6th! We are so excited to be adding a daughter to our family!!! :)

SOFT LAMP LIGHT AND THE HEAVENLY SCENT OF SOY CANDLES

2008-08-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

I adore the smell of Diana Lyn's candles, www.soycandlelady.blogspot.com, she had her DH drop off this Orange Cake candle to me yesterday. It was so awesome because, I had just been thinking how wonderful it would be to have this luscious smell wafting through my home! The next day, I walk in from shopping and low and behold there it was on my counter, prayers do come true, soooooo...I slowly took off the lid and had to take a long deep whiff of this amazing candle! It made me think of baking, fall, and sitting in a comfy chair with a good book, a blanket and a cup of hot tea. If you girls haven't ordered candles yet from Diana Lyn, you are missing out on having your home smell like heaven... Here in the Northwest, we are beginning to lose our long summer days, it got dark at 8:30 pm tonight, but the one good thing is, I get to turn on all my special lamps and have the soft glow in my rooms again. This is my powder room lamp, my BFF Victoria Lynn over at, www.sweetvictoriaantiques.blogspot.com, gave this vintage one to me and I love the crystals and the marble base. Here's a money saving tip: Use the 7.5 watt bulbs that go into the fridge, they hardly burn any electricity and cast a warm glow, much better then a night light.

This is one of my most favorite lamps, Connie my dear sweet North Carolina friend, gave this lamp to me when she moved back home a few years ago. I put a pink crystal finial on the top and rest my tiara on it too!
As you all know, I love dogs, this display sits in my hall and was featured in the April issue of Country Sampler magazine! One of my sweet blogging friends, referred to it as my "doggie shrine"!!! LOL!! I like to have little lamps all over my house, in the fall and winter it just makes your home so welcoming!!!
This small crystal lamp casts such a lovely glow in my newly pink painted bedroom! This too, came from Victoria Lynn, (she is the Queen of Lovely Lamps). She painted this Dover White, and put the crystals on it, it turned out so pretty, and I am forever grateful to be the owner of this little beauty!
The cherub lamp is in my laundry room, it works great as a night light. I used another 7.5 watt bulb in this lamp, they are tiny little bulbs and you can only use them on lamps that have harps. It gives off just enough light so I don't stumble around in the dark at night, it also looks good glowing through the big window that faces out towards my walkway!
God bless all of you this weekend, my prayer will be that the light of Christ is shining out of your hearts onto your family and friends!

Matthew 5:14 We are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden!!!

God made each one of his children "lights" in this dark world! So remember to reflect the one who lit you up...Jesus Christ our light and our saviour!!!

ANNOUNCING MY NEW GRANDSON!!!!!!

2008-08-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

This is my sons new baby boy, Bulldozer Bentley Smith, he is a 6 week old AKC English Bulldog. He comes from a long line of championship dogs! We are so proud to annouce his arrival into out family, everyone is taking turns pouring out love on this bundle of fur, even Honey and Teddy are loving him!

This Grandma is beside herself with happiness!!!

XO,

LIKE THESE TWO PINK DOORS, MY BFF AND I!!

2008-08-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

This is how I see Victoria and I, we are like these two pink doors, standing next to each other with so much in common in our hearts! And PINK! Yes of course we are painted pink, a slightly different shade just like in real life...

I am so excited, my BFF is flying home for her 50TH BIRTHDAY! Her birthday is on September 14Th, and she will fly in on September 9Th and stay for two weeks!!! I am beside myself with happiness, she is the sister that God saw fit to give me when my blood sister jumped ship on our whole family, she is the most wonderful friend and sister a girl could ever have!!!!

We plan on going to Victoria BC to see the sights,(it is like going to England and is only a hour drive to the ferry from my house), we also plan on doing lots of day trips to our favorite stores and antiques malls! I will post lots of pictures of our adventures and finds, which I know will be wonderful! She is so happy to be able to come home and celebrate this milestone in her life with me, and I am too, as you can tell...

Bless you all today, hope your happy and the sun is shining down on you where ever you live!

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REFLECTIONS ABOUT MIRRORS

2008-08-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

I love mirrors, the way they add sparkle to a room, bouncing light off of their lovely surfaces. Adding them behind lamps, using them in unexpected places, this is what I like to do with mine...

This used to be a mirror, I turned it into a chalkboard in my Girly Shabby Chic Crafty room, the saying is French, it means LIFE IN THE PINK! Just my kind of saying don't you agree?

This mirror hangs behind my lamp in my parlor. It is a wonderfully fun regal looking vintage gesso over wood, I traded my BFF for something she wanted at the time! This is one of my all time favorite mirrors, it reflects light into the corner of this room and really sparkles when I turn on my tabletop crystal chandelier...

This is one I found for around $5.00 bucks at a garage sale, I may paint it someday, I still haven't decided. The size is perfect for this odd strip of wall by the french doors out to my patio, it reflects light into the room from the big windows in the entryway.

This is one of my most favorites, I got two of these at a garage sale for $8.00 dollars from three funny older ladies who were having a wonderful time selling all their junk one Saturday, Victoria and I had really loaded up the van that day!

This is in my laundry room, by the door out to the garage. This mirror comes in really handy for checking my teeth for odd food bits, and making sure my hair is not sticking up all over!

This is the most wonderful mirror! My BFF left this one behind when she moved to Tennessee, this is a mirror we found in a local antiques mall, she painted it and hung it in her powder room...now it hangs in my powder room! I think of her every time I see it!!!

This is the mate to my bedroom mirror, I use it for a coffee table tray. I like to use mirror in unexpected ways, and this makes a really great tray, don't ya think?

This is my dresser mirror, I adore this dresser, it is new but looks like a vintage piece. I would dearly love to paint this set, but my DH won't let me...yet!!! Working on that one!

This is the mirror in the MANROOM STUDY, it is a very old mirror given to me by my precious friend Toni, I think about her every time I see this hanging so elegantly on the wall reflecting a few of my favorite things...

This is my closet mirror, it is a lovely shade of pink with gold leaf. It is made out of gesso and is really old, another great antique mall find.

This is the hinged mirror on my vanity, it reflects light down the hallway and makes my room sparkle.

This is the mirror by my front door, I love this huge old frame around it! I may paint it some day, but for now am enjoying the gold with my red lamp.

1 Cor. 13:12-13
Now we see a poor reflection as in a mirror; soon we will see him face to face. For now I know things in parts, soon I will know things fully, even as I am fully known! These three things remain: FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE~! But the greatest of these is LOVE!

My prayer today is that when we look into a mirror, we truly reflect Jesus! Do we see a lovely smile? Do we have peace in our eyes? When we talk, do we share love with one another? These are things I am going to try and reflect on when I see myself in my mirrors, trying to see past my hair, makeup and the outside of me, to really look at what God sees instead!

Bless you all this weekend and week to come, may Gods love and peace permeate your life!

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THE SOON TO BE DIL'S BRIDAL SHOWER DAY!

2008-08-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

My son's bride to be is a lover of all things PINK, Praise the Lord! She is truly a girl after my own heart! We have known this darling girl since she was in 3rd grade, she pointed my son out to her best friend Katie and said, "See that boy right there, I am going to marry him when I grow up!!!", and indeed they will on September 6Th!

We had a wonderful time for my sweet, soon to be daughter's wedding shower, she got some lovely gifts too! The best was the PINK Kitchen Aide mixer!!!! She is a wonderful baker and can't wait to start using this in her very own kitchen!

This is the gift I brought her, I made her the bouquet on top of the box, to throw to the girls so she can save her bridal bouquet. I got her a very sexy little number from Victoria Secrets that got a lot of fun comments...sorry there wasn't a picture of the outfit, it is pink and black and very frilly.

Here are the three girlfriends that put the shower on for her, Katie is the one on the left, they have been best friends since they were 5 yrs. old. She is a lovely Christian woman and I adore her!

This is all the high school buddies! It is so sweet that they are all so close, I pray they will continue to stay in touch and do things together.

Here is Hannah in her pink feather boa, isn't she just darling???

They played a game where we were all given paper, scissors, tons of magazines and tape and had to make a collage of what we thought of Hannah and Justin's life together! It was right up this artist's alley, let me tell ya, this is the one I made for her, it was a hoot!

We had such a good time, I am so very blessed that my son has picked such a fabulous girl to marry! I love her so much, she is the daughter I have longed to have my whole life, God really does know the desires of our hearts!

When Justin was just 3 weeks old, a wise woman at church, came up to me and said she had a very important piece of wisdom to pass onto me, I of course couldn't wait to hear what it was being a new inexperienced mother! I will never forget her words, "Start right now praying for your precious son's future wife. I did, and God has blessed me with 2 perfect daughter's in law! Pray that God will give them a wife that will love them, raise your grandchildren in the Lord, and that she will "fit" perfectly into your family". I was really surprised by what she said, but took it to heart, and began doing just that, praying every night over my little baby boy!!! God answered my heart felt prayers and brought us Hannah, truly a gift from God!!!!!!

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FREE CANS OF PAINT CAN DO WONDERS FOR A SHABBY CHIC GIRL!

2008-08-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

I have been working on staying on budget, so each time I have thought about doing a project, I think about these 3 things first:

1. Can I do this on a shoestring?

2. Do I have the materials already at hand?

3. Will this project get out of hand, and cause more spending?

I decided to stay within these above three rules when I painted my bedroom recently! I knew I could not go and buy new paint, I knew I could not buy any more spray paint and I had to work with the antiques and pictures I already owned. So, out to the garage I went in search of paint...I found a can of Magnolia White that my BFF Victoria left when she moved, I took that and mixed in a quart of pink I had laying around, then mixed in another pink, I now had a beautiful soft new color without spending a dime!! Then on to the ceiling color, I found a almost full can of Ralph Lauren paint called, Roaring Mountain, it was too dark for my new dreamy color scheme...so, I took a quart of leftover, Ironstone White by Martha Stewart, and poured that in and mixed up another free batch of heavenly blue paint! ALL FOR FREE!!! YEA, YA HOO, WHOOP WHOOP!!

I painted the room in one afternoon, while talking on my super duper phone headset, to Victoria for 4 hours staight! Now that is what I call "multi tasking"!!!!

I took down the rose yardlong over my bed painted it with some Dover White I found in the garage, and then tried to re-hang it over the bed...that did not work, the new soft pink paint looked awful with the picture, so out to the parlor it went. I took the two antique yardlongs from the parlor and moved those to the bedroom! Switching out my pictures did not cost a thing and I am much happier with the new arrangement now, a bonus I think! So, what do you think of my new paint color?? No one in the world has these colors, so I have to now name each of them.

The pink one is: Sweet Pink Dreams
The blue one is: Kissed by Heaven

:) Being thrifty is starting to be fun! If any of you have other thrifty money saving advice, please share with me! Doing things like this, are also being good stewards of the world God gave us to share with one another!

Bless you all today!

THIS IS THE PARLOR, BEFORE I MOVED BOTH YARDLONGS TO THE BEDROOM:

THIS IS THE BEDROOM WITH THE OLD PAINT SCHEME, TOO DARK FOR THIS SHABBY CHIC GIRL!

THIS IS THE PARLOR WITH THE YARDLONG FROM MY BEDROOM! MUCH BETTER IN HERE, THE COLOR IS NOT WEIRD UP AGAINST THE WARM YELLOW...

THIS IS THE NEW, LIGHTER AND SOFTER PINK PAINT!

THIS IS A BETTER VIEW OF THE NEW HEAVENLY BLUE CEILING, I ALWAYS PAINT MY CEILINGS, THEY ARE TRULY YOUR FIFTH WALL, WHO WANTS TO WAKE UP AND STARE AT BORING WHITE...

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TO MAKE THE BED, OR NOT, THIS IS THE QUESTION!

2008-07-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

TO MAKE, OR NOT TO MAKE...TELL ME WHICH ONE YOU ARE...

BEAUTIFULLY MADE BEDS, AREN'T THEY BEAUTIFUL!
This is in my dream bedroom file, love the white, this is a dream cause I have dogs that sleep with us and this would never work in a million, trillion, quadrillion years!

I am a big bed maker and I just don't feel good if my bed is a mess! I love crawling into a crisply made bed each night, so does DH! I have only left my bed unmade a very few times in my marriage, and each time I did, I felt unmade...

Victoria, my dear BFF, have talked about it many times, we love the "LOOK" of a beautifully made bed, I tell her it is like a frosted cake!

Below is my frosted cake!

Here is a very artfully, unmade bed, it is an oil on canvas, which is why it looks really nice! I have never seen many nice looking unmade beds have you??

This is more what I think of when I think of the phrase, "The unmade bed!"

Take a moment to think about why you do, or don't make your bed and then post a comment! Should be fun reading, don't ya think??

XO,

WEDDING THOUGHTS...

2008-07-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

My thoughts have been on my son's upcoming wedding, Sept. 6th. YIKES!!! That is only 6 weeks away!!! Everywhere I look in the stores lately there are wedding books, wedding cards, wedding cakes and wedding invitations. While at the mall on Sunday with Diana Lyn, we heard over and over again, "I need a dress for an upcoming wedding...", that is the problem there aren't any decent dresses out there this season! We were both shocked by the horrible styles in the stores, huge sack dresses, geometric patterns in ugly colors, shocking pink and orange, and strapless on every dress! (The strapless style will not do for women with arms that need covering up!!! HELP! What would the pictures look like?) "Oh, there is the bride and groom and some really flabby arms!" That is what they all would say when they saw the wedding pictures later!

IF I COULD GET AWAY WITH IT I WOULD WEAR A VINTAGE DRESS!!! AREN'T THEY BEAUTIFUL????
I will be making the silk wedding bouquets and the boutonnieres for the men. The plan is for pink roses and really simple, it is an outdoor wedding, and the kids want it to be lots of fun, not lots of stuffy!
THIS IS A DREAM DRESS!!! My new DIL, would look awesome in something like this, it's PINK!!!!! Can you just imagine walking down the isle in this beauty??? She did get a wonderful dress, at the Breast Cancer Wedding Trunk Show, back in April. It is a strapless like this with a big train, she looks like a princess in it...
This is what the cake WOULD look like if Joanne Kennedy, www.mylittlecottageinthemaking.blogspot.com could come up and do one for the kids! We were just talking about how awesome it would be if that could happen!! NOW HERE IS AN OVER THE TOP BOUQUET!!!! Look at those roses, isn't this just the most beautiful thing you have ever seen for a wedding bouquet??? Man, if she threw this, it would knock someone out!!! TEE HEE!!!
Pray for us to have beautiful sunny weather on that day! I am so excited to have my very own daughter, after three boys a daughter will be lovely! We adore Hannah too, she had loved our son since they have been in 3 grade (her), and 4th grade (him)...God has truly blessed our family with such a wonderful Christian woman! It says in Proverbs 18:22, He who finds a wife, finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord! That just says it all...

Have a lovely day, I am cause I am thinking really pink rosy wedding thoughts! YUMMY, the cake part is the best...

IS IT A SIGN FROM ABOVE???

2008-07-27T08:40:00.001-07:00

I was on editing my profile yesterday morning...I look down the page to the bottom where your blog is listed, and low and behold there is my Blushing Rose Antiques blog again, as if it had never been removed! Is this a sign that I need to keep it going?? I am going to say "YES", and continue to show decorating, gardening, and my things for sale here and there!

A couple of days ago I had tried to figure out how to tie my old blog to the new and I blogger would not let me do it, maybe that is what triggered this?? I am a duffus when it comes to these Internet, computer thingies so go figure!!!

I will leave you this beautiful Sunday with a scripture that I love~2 Corinthians 5:21
For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins! Then in exchange, he poured God's goodness into us!

Isn't that amazing??? Thank God for that!!!!

Have a blessed day today, hope you are all well and having a lovely weekend!