On a quest!

I know! Most of you are wondering what this could possibly be about. I am one of those people who can get an idea in my head and can not be happy until I have exhausted all possibilities to make it happen! Ever since last year when I bought several vintage bedecked Bingo cards for decoration, I have wanted to find the vintage tissue paper fringe to make some of my own. I found it on-line, but somehow shopping on-line doesn't excite me in the same way as hunting something down and actually holding it in my hands to decide if size, quality, etc. are what I expect. Plus, this attitude affords me more opportunity to "hit the shops" - as if I really needed an excuse.


In any case, as I headed to Gainesville yesterday, I just felt my favorite shop calling out to me. Somehow I just knew I would at least find the sense of autumn I have been longing for the last few weeks. And they did not fail me! I guess those of us who are "season jumpers" are all feeling the same way about now - ENOUGH SUMMER! - on with the fall!!!!!



"The Shop" is now mostly decorated for fall and Gator football up front - this IS Gator territory after all - with their ENORMOUS inventory of Halloween beginning to creep forward from the back. Now this is not the kind of Halloween you can find in other places - not the usual stuff. This is "classy" Halloween if there is such a thing! A veritable feast for the eye if nothing else. Now there is nothing wrong with the other kind of stuff. My next stop in fact was Michaels where I purchased a tacky frame with an eerie portrait and some more skulls. I am just saying, if you are a real Halloween fanatic, you need to visit this place - or any other holiday for that matter. They never completely remove any of their holiday decorations. They simply "compress" them. This store is PACKED! And not just with holiday items - all unique home decor is there. And no, I don't have any interest in this place. Wish I did! I could shop wholesale!


But, I digress! As you can probably see by the photo (if the photos stay where I place them as I am posting this. Seem to not have that part of blogging figured out just yet), I found what I was after! I didn't see it at first, but I asked and after much digging around, there it was! No one but a true crafting shopaholic will understand my emotion, but it was the stuff on which "AAAHHHHH" days are built!

So predictable!!!!

O.K. - after all these years, I must admit I know myself pretty well. When last I wrote, I was on my way to JoAnns for fabric for my bedskirt. As I said, anything autumn or Halloween could send me in another direction... or, even the thought of anything autumn or Halloween! I happened to mention to my husband that we hadn't been in Mt. Dora in awhile. Since he was feeling the need for a day away, he said 'let's go!". And, that's all it took!


We headed on our way and arrived right about lunchtime. Usually the town is packed and parking is limited. We found a spot right across the street from our favorite tearoom and in the shade to boot! Considering that it was sweltering, that was a big plus - and probably the reason most SANE people were at home in the A/C. In any case, we had a very relaxing lunch seated by the window looking out at the garden - our favorite table. I had my usual "high tea". I'm not much of a tea person, but it only seems right to have hot tea with this meal - even if the thermostat outside is probably hitting 100! My husband always chooses the raspberry iced tea and seems to gloat through the whole meal.


After lunch, he finds a shady bench to sit and read and I hit my favorite stores in search of any little treasure I can take home to start me on a new tangent. I don't know if it was the heat or if I was just rushing the season, but the only thing I found was a new Halloween flag as my old favorite witch has seen one too many Florida days and is a bit faded and brittle.


Then we were on to our next stop which was meant to be The Villages but I took a quick detour to check out a scrapbooking store in Leesburg. I found a number of vintage Halloween items and snapped them up. My mind is already going a mile a minute and I can't wait to find some time to get crafting!


We did finally make it to The Villages and found a new coffee maker (instructions are too complicated right now so I will let you know how that works out after I learn how to use the thing), some yummy autumn candles and more yummy stuff at the Fresh Market. And then it was time to eat again-funny how that happens in my world!


Oh, I forgot to mention, we did squeeze in a stop at the big JoAnns in The Villages and I did buy some fabric for the bedskirt extension. Today I'm on my way to Gainesville for lunch with my mom and some shopping, tomorrow daughter #2 and granddaughters are coming for the day, etc. I'm not sure when I'll get to it, but I AM one step closer. And, since I still have a clear view under the bed, I know there's lots of room under there to store the just purchased fabric until I might need it out again!

It all started with this...

So this looks pretty benign, doesn't it? Who would think that it would become the culprit in my newest obsession! I am now on a quest to scratch off as much of my to-do list as possible. Here's the story.... I have had this new garage door opener keypad waiting to be installed forever!!!! My husband and I installed the last one, so I knew it wasn't something beyond our capabilities, yet it remained on "THE LIST". Every time I would re-write "THE LIST", it would get carried over and I would feel a little sense of guilt that I had not accomplished my goal. Of course, not enough guilt to actually get moving on it. I can't explain it, I just kept moving it from list to list.


As my SIL was here this past week preparing to move in with us until their house sold in Lakeland, he asked me for some to-dos-probably to keep from going stir crazy because a house with 2 seniors doesn't come close to the excitement of a house with a wife, 3 children and your own to-do list. In any case, I mentioned that blasted door opener and before I could finish making my excuses for why it sat lifeless on the shelf forever, it was up and working.


Somehow, that was all it took! Now I must scratch off the rest of the lolly-gaggers. Yesterday, between gabbing with the pest control guy and the A/C tech, I got out the sewing machine and FINALLY finished recovering the back cushion of the chaise in my bedroom. Mind you, the rest of the project was done several years ago-just not the EASIEST part-the back cushion. It literally didn't take me an hour! Of course, it has been so long since I started this project that I don't think I would ever choose this fabric again, but that is for another day and another list!


Next task to be accomplished. Add an extension to my "I love this bedskirt but it is too short for my bed. Not to worry, I'll make an extension" bedskirt. Of course that was said over a year ago and I have been pretending I couldn't see right under my bed ever since. Measurements are taken and I'm off to JoAnns before this feeling leaves-and it will as soon as I see a new Halloween or autumn idea and set off in a different direction. After all, they're only lists and they are MY lists, so who's to know!

Party spoiler alert

If you haven't received your invitation yet, you may want to "look away". As I mentioned yesterday, we have been busy at work planning Presley's first birthday party with the theme "Sweet P's Sweet Shoppe". The original plan was to have everything in shades of pink and white but as we moved along, a new color scheme emerged. We are now using raspberry pink, apple green and turquoise. I think that scheme kind of emerged from one of the fabrics we are using for table runners, pillows, etc. It really is pretty and will work well in an outdoor event - providing Mother Nature co-operates and here in central Florida in the summer, one can never be too sure!
So far, we have borrowed ideas from lots of different blogs, tweaking them as we went along to meet our specifications. The blog world is an infinite well of ideas and as I've mentioned before, I'm not much on original ideas of my own, but I sure can borrow to get me off on a tangent! I'm not sure either of us knew where we would end up when we started, but the journey was fun. We have now finished up invitations, banners, cupcake and straw decorations, jar labels and pinwheel decorations. We still have the sewing aspects-table runners, backdrops, pillows, etc. to do. Then we want to make the birthday girl a special hat and tutu for the big day. Considering what I have seen floating around blogland recently, I know there will be no lack of ideas to "borrow".
Childrens' parties are always so much fun. One idea always leads to another but we are trying to do this one on a budget - we'll see how that works out. We are having fun making everything ourselves. That is helping with the budget but mostly insures that we are getting a one-of-a-kind party and that is only right for a one-of-a-kind little girl!! Stay tuned!

And life goes on.......

O.K. You are probably saying what do these pictures have to do with decorating? And you would be correct except that they are now my excuse for why I haven't been thinking too much about decorating-that, and the fact that I really dislike the heat of summer and can't much think about anything else but how to avoid it!!!!! In any case, my youngest daughter and her family will soon be moving back to our town-her hometown. They were here this past week touching base with schools, looking at neighborhoods (as things have changed a bit since she left 20 years ago!), etc. While they were here, the boys visited with my brother and his wife and attended track camp-which my brother has led for too many years to remember...let's just say that my girls used to go when they were my grandchildrens' ages! In any case, we went to track meets, lunches with Great Nana, swims with aunts and cousins and just lots of summertime relaxing!
Of course, if the truth be told, most of the time this week was spent planning and making things for Presley's first birthday party. Being new to blogging, I have realized the one thing I forget to do is take "before" pictures-unless it involves the grandkids and I'm planning a scrapbooking page (which seems to be only a distant memory on my to-do list, but I digress) so I don't have any pictures of what we were working on. Just let me say, that we went from "she's only one, she doesn't really NEED a party" to "wow, this is going to be the biggest, bestest party ever!" The theme is Sweet P's Sweet Shoppe. The color scheme changed a bit, but what we ended up with is pretty much what her mommy envisioned, so we're all happy. And let me just say that it is a good thing that Nana IS an obsessed, lapsed scrapbooker as the supplies in this house are never ending. All you have to do is say "I wish we had..." and it shall appear like magic from the depths of my "someday I may need this so I had better buy it when I see it" stash. More on the party will follow later this week.

Tweaking to Come

Now I know why I drag my feet when it comes to taking down my 4th of July decorations. I really don't have a clue what to do with the rest of July and all of August when it comes to decorating. One would think that I could just "decorate", but my house is so often "themed" that I am clueless without one! I said I was going to stay with reds, oranges and yellows as they were hot colors to me and then throw in my sunflowers, but my house is reading mish-mash. I also threw in some citrus as that fits in the color scheme. Then, not wanting to have to go out and buy more STUFF, I added back in my Italian based things as they too fit the color profile. I now have a cohesive color scheme running throughout but even me asking "what is this supposed to represent?" I know I said I wouldn't go buy more things, but since I have an ophtalmologist's appointment tomorrow morning and since she just happens to have her office right near so many of my favorite stores, I feel at least the purchase of more sunflowers and perhaps some sunflower colored knick- knacks coming on. I do have lots of things in those colors but they read autumn to me and if I put them out now, I will be totally bored in a month and then be out shopping for more autumn stuff-which, if you have ever seen my house, you know is totally overboard. Did I mention that I LOVE AUTUMN! I definitely have some tweaking to do on these decorations, but it will come to me little by little as I live with everything the way it is for a day or two. Do you decorate like this as well? For me, it is a never ending project-especially as I get new motivation from all of my blog friends. As I have mentioned in the past, I rarely have an original idea but I am a master at copying and tweaking to my own likes or needs. Which reminds me-I have several frames just crying for seasonal shots. Guess I'm heading on-line to see if I can download a citrus/sunflower image or two. I'll be back as new inspiration hits.

Now the fun begins!

O.K.-so now the fun begins! Not being much of a summer person (can't stay ahead of the weeds, can't stay ahead of the watering needs, can't feel comfortable outdoors unless I'm in the pool which I can't do most of the summer because of the storms-remind me again why tourists WANT to come to Florida in the summer?!), I am always the first to jump the gun into Indian summer. Today is the first chance I've had to take down my 4th decorations, Out will come the sunflowers and lots of red, orange and yellow. Those colors remind me of heat, so I feel I can justify them if the "decorating police" ever knock on my door. They also let me know that autumn is just around the corner-for me that will be Sept. 1 even if it IS still 110 degrees in the shade around here! I will hold off on bringing out the leaves and acorns but I do admit it will test my inner strength to do so!

That being said, my next step will be to pull out my Halloween file. I've been in Gainesville this week making curtains for Granddaughter #3's new room and teaching #1 to sew. As we were doing that, this year's costume choices were being tossed around. That may seem ludicrous to some, but I was thrilled as I make most of the kid's costumes and the sooner I start, the better! Sewing is EXPENSIVE these days and I will be watching to catch not only fabric sales but pattern sales as well-have you priced a pattern lately? What are they thinking? I refuse to pay $17.95 for tissue paper that will be used once and then thrown away-which it will as we never repeat a costume. Believe me, I will go through many JoAnns and HL coupons before Oct. 31! Of course, everything is very hush-hush until the BIG reveal at our yearly costume party in Gulfport every year so there will be NO hints but the choices so far will be a hit!

Of course, if I'm going to do any Halloween crafting, I will need to start soon, hence pulling out the file in July. I will also need to find where I shoved everything I bought for Halloween last year after the fact. I truly hyper-ventilate when I see orange and black (is there a name for this disease?) any time all year long so I am always in shopping mode. Hopefully I wrote myself a note reminding where I hid everything-now I just have to find my note to self-it's not EASY getting old! In any case, as the red, white and blue glitter makes way for the orange and black, I am including a few of our past Halloweens to maybe get you thinking ahead as well. Summer decorating will be done soon and pictures will follow. Until then, stay cool!

The 4th of July

We made it through the 4th of July and were really lucky with the weather! In fact, the cloud cover was kind of nice - not anywhere near as HOT as it usually is on July 4th in Florida! Everyone - and then some - made it safely to Gulfport for the holiday. As usual, it was full of food and fun! The fireworks this year were amazing. The show lasted longer than usual and there were new colors added to the spectrum. All in all, a perfect day. I am entertaining twice this week, so I am leaving my decorations up a bit longer. Not sure where I will go after that but it will probably be to sunflowers and reds, yellows and oranges. That always looks "hot" to me and then the transition into fall is easy. Of course that transition is always easy for me as it is my favorite season and I am always rushing it! I am writing this at 4:59 A.M. - woke up at 2 and COULDN'T go back to sleep. I finished a book, organized my pictures online, ordered pictures and now I'm doing this. Don't know if any of it will make sense, but I wanted to get a few pictures posted. Will let you know how my lunches go - haven't entertained in awhile so I'm feeling a bit rusty! Have a great day. I suspect I will be on 50% power before too long!