Got Me Thinking!

So now that it is almost June, my thoughts are going to July - makes sense, right? It does in my seasonal brain since July 4 falls right at the beginning of the month and my decorations for the day will come down soon after. If I am going to get any time with my 4th of July decor, it has to go up at the beginning of June.

I happened upon this image on Pinterest and downloaded and printed it. I think I will simply use it in a frame - easy - but then realized that if I want to get anything else made, I had better get going.

 

So of to my 4th of July Pinterest board I went and found a few ideas that I might want to do this year. They are all pretty simple and materials will be easy to find. What do you think? Do I need them all?

This one might be fun to do with the kids. They could each make one fire cracker any way they wanted so their mom wouldn't have 3 of the exact same decoration to fit into her decor.

I have a bunch of old Mason jars lying around so this could be a no brainer.

 Ever since I saw Martha Stewart do something like this I have wanted to make a flag holder - this may be the year.

This is a Pottery Barn pillow from a few years ago. It looks super simple and I can make a cover instead of a full pillow - my new favorite idea as it is so much less to store!

This guy also looks super easy. We have made snowmen in a very similar way in G.S. one year, so I thought maybe the kids would like to try this also.

So those are my thoughts so far. We have two graduations this coming week as well as a number of other obligations so I will see how far I get. Stay tuned!

"What Was I Thinking?"

O.K., I admit it. I love mirrors! I am somehow drawn to them! I love them in all shapes and sizes....and, I will also admit to having way too many of them. It is almost impossible to get a good picture of any room in my house because of all of the "flash back" from so many mirrors.

So, you may ask, what was I doing ordering yet another? I am sort of addicted to Hallmark Channel's Home & Family Show. I watched the precursor of the current show many, many years ago and was so sad when it went off the air. Imagine my delight when I found out it was returning - new and updated. I actually TiVo it every day because it is on for 2 hrs. daily and much of the content is geared to things I am no longer interested in. I can sit down and zip through it to just the things I enjoy - decorating, special occasions, holidays, gardening - you get it. Some days I do find myself watching all of it because there are lots of informational segments - but, I digress!

Every week they have a segment called "Hollywood Steals" where they feature items at large discounts. I don't usually watch this part as I prefer to see and feel what I am buying and like immediate gratification - that is, carry it home from the store and use it. I don't like waiting.

But, there is a decorator on the show named Ken Wingard. I like his segments and have come to realize that I like his style. I have learned that he owns a design store in San Francisco and after going to that website, I realized I love what he sells. So, long story even longer - haha - when I saw that he was going to have some featured mirrors on this segment, I watched it and fell in love with the mirrors. I really loved all 3 presented but knew that even I didn't need 3 new mirrors so I narrowed my choice down to one. Done. Before I knew it, keys were pressed and my order was submitted.

And then, quite frankly, I kind of forgot about it because I knew delivery would be weeks away. And then, last night it happened. I had just poured my Friday night glass of wine and put my feet up to watch something on TV when I heard the familiar sound of my favorite UPS man and his truck coming up the circle. And then it hit me...my mirror was finally here!

Isn't she a beauty? I know it looks like it is aluminum but that is because it is lying flat on the bed with a whirling fan reflecting in it. It is 100% pure mirror beauty! Think of the flash back I will get from this!

But this is where she will sit for awhile because I have absolutely NO idea where she will go. I do know that I will have to take down another mirror to find room for her. And, I do know that she is too heavy for me to carry around and try to see how she looks at the same time so I have sent out an S.O.S. text to my friendly decorator and will wait to see what she thinks.

I know it really doesn't make sense to keep buying things I don't need but these things call to me and I am weak! I love mirrors and, in my decor, I love change. Hang around to see what happens. You will be the first to know, I promise! Maybe she will even spark an entire room re-do! Who knows? Stay tuned. 

What's Come Over Me???

O.K. I think I have mentioned before that I don't do a lot of cooking any more. I like to cook but I prefer to cook for special occasions. The every day kind of stuff gets to me. Part of the reason may be because my husband and I eat pretty differently. I am now a pescatarian after being a vegetarian for many, many years. My husband is doing better with enjoying more vegetables but he is not really content with a meal made up only of them.

In any case, every now and then I get a "bug". It usually happens around something fresh coming into the house and this week it is the blueberries that we recently picked. And then there is my herb garden so full of basil, dill and mint - all called for in these recipes.

I decided to make a fresh lemon blueberry pound cake. And, since I was in the kitchen doing that, I thought I would use some of the dozen ears of corn I bought the other day to try Ina Garten's Fresh Corn Salad. And, somehow that lead to me making a fresh tomato, cucumber and chick pea salad. They are all done and flavors are currently melding. I will let you know how they turned out soon. Stay tuned.

Bursting With Pride

We have just returned from the most wonderful of days. We were invited for a day of award ceremonies for our 2 grand daughters who are both in the IB program at Eastside H.S. They both received the highest of honors - perfect G.P.A.s for both - throughout all of their years in school. It really blows my mind because I feel so unintelligent as I sit next to them and they are talking about their homework. They are talking about things that I know I NEVER learned even in college! As a matter of fact, I am so old that I actually lived through some of the stuff that they now study as history - but no Hannah, it wasn't from the stone ages!

In any case, we sat through two assemblies and loved every minute of them - well, at least when our two were being recognized. In all seriousness, I truly believe our futures are in good hands! There are lots and lots of wonderful, caring, intelligent kids out there with their whole futures before them They have lofty goals and grandiose plans and I know we will be well taken care of!

The day started with the under classmen's assembly.

Morgan's dad missed this ceremony. He is the chief financial officer for the county and got stuck tied-up in a meeting that dragged on lasted all day.

After a few quick hours in between - just really long enough to freshen up before heading back to get seats once again - we were ready for Hannah's ceremony.

The highlight of the evening was the well kept secret announcement of the students to be inducted into the 2014 Eastside H.S. Hall of Fame. What a wonderful honor to have Hannah be one of the eight recipients. She is an incredible young woman - and I am not one bit prejudiced - inside and out. She has been involved in all four years of student government, sports and service all the while maintaining a perfect G.P.A. throughout all four years of the IB program - not to mention since her first day of kindergarten! She is incredibly selfless and does not like attention given to her. Many times she will pass all of the credit on to someone else while she has done every bit of the work herself. It was wonderful to see that the entire faculty of her school recognized her hard work and perseverance!

The "male" sector of the family was missing in all of these photos as the evening went on quite late and no one had eaten. They hustled off to get us a table at a nearby restaurant before it closed and we all went hungry. But, Papa did get in a picture or two when we got home.

As I said, there are many fabulous young people coming up in our schools today. Seems like we only hear about the bad ones. It is ceremonies like this that remind us of have many great kids there are - not just in this one school in this one city but all of the state and country. We are in good hands! Stay tuned.

The Colors of the Day

I love having company. I love planning things and making lists and decorating, etc. But, as I get older and schedules become more complicated with so many people in our family, I am also learning to embrace throwing things together on the fly.

That is kind of what happened with our Memorial Day celebration. No one's plans were concreted until the last minute, so I kind of just tossed out an open invite and sat back and waited to see how it would play out. I will admit it was a bit difficult trying to calculate the amount of food to buy and prepare but, worse case scenario, my husband and I would be eating leftovers for the next week. Best case scenario, we would eat everything in sight!

We really ended up having a beautiful day even though our trusty weatherman had predicted doom and gloom. I was able to pull out some 4th of July serving pieces, so our color scheme was there and with no real preconceived ideas, the day flowed along just perfectly. I didn't take as many pictures because I was just enjoying but we all got to sit and visit, enjoy the pool, have a fabulous bar-b-que and even fit in a bit of repair work on the floor of the treehouse in the play set as the afternoon breeze brought in much cooler temperatures. It was really hard to put an end to the day but the kids had school today so end we must.

This trifle that Jen made was delicious and was made with some of those yummy fresh blueberries that we picked the other day.

Is it just a coincidence that my hydrangeas bloom during the time that I need lots of blue flowers for holiday decor?


As much as I love my big drawn out events, I must admit the change to "simple" was lovely. Maybe we can do it again soon! One thing I did was to purposely cook up more corn on the cob than I knew we would eat because I am dying to try Ina Garten's recipe for "fresh corn salad" this week. But that will have to wait another day because we are on our way to Gainesville again to attend not one, but two award assemblies today! Stay tuned!

Here We Go Again!

Decorator daughter came over to help me decide where to hang this picture. I wasn't even sure I wanted to reintroduce color to the dining room as I was getting used to it being neutral. But, when we held it up over the love seat, we both agreed that it had found a home. Recently, the large rectangular antique mirror hung here and I never really warmed up to it.

And so, that was easy. We then sat down to start talking and before I knew what was happening, her eyes starting darting around and she asked me if I had ever thought of bringing the "fireplace" from the sun room to the dining room.

I bought this piece many, many years ago - before we added our large family room with a real fireplace. It burns gel fuel and had its place back then but recently, it just moved wherever I wanted more "merchandising" space. For the last few years it has been at the end of the sun room and holds seasonal decor and photos.

In any case, Jen tells me she has always loved it. Surprise to me! I thought for sure it would be the next thing NOT to make the cut!

But, we moved the cupboard that was now housed here to the middle guest room to hold the TV. It fits better in that space than the Habersham piece I was using because it is much narrower and provides a larger walk space. Of course, that means that I now have another piece with no home - at least for now.

Here is how the piece looks now. Of course, that meant my new wine barrel vineyard sign had to move to the other end of the dining room and the mirror that hung there moved to my bathroom which displaced the mirror with shelf that was there...you see how it goes. One thing always leads to another.

Wasn't really sure how to decorate this spot but since everything will be changing to the 4th probably later this week, I decided to just make it a wine theme and "let it go". If this was going to be here forever, I would spend more time on it but it is O.K. for now. I do like the height this piece brings back to this area. After so many years of having my large hutch there, I was having trouble getting used to the shorter piece - but I do like the less cluttered look! That old hutch held a LOT of STUFF!

The added bonus is that without the fireplace in the sun room, there is so much more light everywhere. But then things didn't look exactly right in here. Jen came up with what I consider a genius idea. She moved the chair, ottoman and side table into the corner where the fireplace had been. That gave more room between the kids' table and the couch and made the entire room look larger and cleaner. And now I have another spot to sit and put my feet up and enjoy the view into the yard and towards the pool!

I love this kind of "shopping". We just use what I already have in a new and different way. Think of all of the money I saved that I can now spend on more plants!

Looks like our kitchen counters may be becoming a reality. A friend was here the other day and he was giving my husband some ideas on some new things. When he left, hubby said "why don't we get going on that?". I have been talking about this forever but someone else says it is a good idea and I guess it is! Oh well, I will take it any way I can get it. Of course, there are many decisions to be made and you all know that I am not good at that, so we shall see. Stay tuned.

That Time of Year

Once again the blueberry farm was calling. We go to a wonderful farm in a small town near here. It is a gorgeous farm - very well maintained, clean, large and beautiful. There are rows upon rows of bushes with beautiful strips of green grass running between. The bushes are still so full that the berries literally just fall off into your hands. Since Presley is the only one out of school this early, it was a girls' day out.

They gave her a small bucket so she could fill it up and still carry it. And fill it she did! Then, she would dump it into ours and keep on picking!

After picking about 5-6 pounds each, we were off on our next adventure. I have been spending way too much of my time at my favorite nursery lately and obviously doing way too much talking about it as Jennie decided that we had to make a stop there so she could see for herself!

We actually spent more time than expected because, not only did we both end up buying things we weren't even looking for, but Presley was enjoying walking through their many paths - one which lead us to the chicken and rooster coop. It is a nursery set right in the middle of our city but so large and full of gardens, that you feel as if you are out in the country.

Of course, after all of that hard work, we were hungry so off we went to Mojos Grill. I have actually never been to this restaurant. It started off as a very small downtown "joint" that was very popular with the "chicken wings" crowd. One of their sauces is so hot that you actually have to sign a waiver to eat it! In any case, they are now in a very large restaurant with another branch in Belleview and another opening soon in Silver Springs. They have a huge menu with many vegetarian choices, so my daughter knew I would love it - and love it I did! We had a fabulous leisurely lunch and still made it home in time to meet some friends who were coming by.

What a wonderful day. And, to top it off, my hubby came home early and once the house was again quiet, we got to put our feet up, pour a glass (or 2 -it was Friday after all) of wine and just chill the rest of the evening.

We had no plans at all for this weekend. Figured everyone would be out and about and I don't like to travel on holiday weekends. Now it looks like some of the gang may actually be available on Monday. I think I will put together a quick bar-b-que and they can come and spend the day - and maybe help me with a few heavy duty chores while they are here - haha!

You will not believe my next post. My daughter came over to help me decide where to hang a newly acquired picture and as we were sitting and talking, her eyes just started darting around - obviously she had lost interest in my riveting conversation. Before I knew what was happening, she said, "what if we bring that in from the sun room?" and we were off and running. Three hours later - when she realized she had only minutes before school let out and she needed to get the boys, we had moved many, many things. It is always interesting working with her because things that I have always thought she merely "tolerated" in my house are actually things that she loves and didn't know why I hadn't featured them in more prominent places. It was fun and I think I am liking it. Stay tuned!

One More Happy Bithday...

...to our sweet Morgan

So, the other day, we checked Morgan out of school - after making sure it was a day free of reviews or exams - and I wanted to sit her down on a shaded bench and present her with our card that contained a letter telling her about our ideas for the day.

Oh silly Nana! Take a picture on campus where some one may see us!!?! Heaven forbid.

So, I simply told her the day would begin with lunch anywhere she wanted but wherever we went had to hold a memory.

I knew exactly where we would end up because it was her absolute favorite place to go week after week after week! We headed straight to the Fresh Market where she headed straight to the candy-by-the pound aisle and bought her old favorites - berry jelly candies and yogurt covered pretzels. Then we were off around the corner to a little bagel shop where she ordered her usual - and almost always to-go - and we were off to find a nice table with an umbrella in the courtyard of Thornebrook.

It was a really beautiful day and we found the perfect spot!

And yes, her lunch consisted of a plain toasted bagel with cream cheese, her candies and cream soda. I think she learned to love that so much from my mom.

We gave her a letter outlining some of our ideas for the day and some old pictures of favorite memories we have to get the day rolling.

A lot of our days together had at least a visit to the mall. Since so many of those days she was still in a stroller, I always took along a sippy cup and a bag of Goldfish and seasonal marshmallows - and today was no exception! (That white thing in her cheeks is a mint)

And, many of those mall excursions ended in mini shopping sprees - of course in those days it was the Limited Too not Forever 21!

After a full and fun day, we headed back to the house where we had a delicious bar-b-que and then celebrated Morgan once more. In the old days, she loved the big cookie cakes but today she only let me buy her a double doozie cookie...but she did tolerate us singing yet one more time!

While out and about this week, I am starting to gather some red, white and blue for the 4th decor. And, my daughter came over to help me decide where to hang a picture and 3 hours later, many things are in new places. I am still working on the new look but I will share soon. Off tomorrow to pick blueberries also.Stay tuned.

Coming Soon...

...to a blog near you. Yep, that's right. I am beginning to think about what comes next. You know nothing stays the same for very long in my house. And then, I happened upon this:

This is from the Martha Stewart line available at Macys. I am not a huge fan of Martha as everything about her had to be so perfect - and I am so not. But, that being said, I do love her holiday flair. I always watched her show, took ideas and simplified them - about 1000%. Her original ideas always had way too many "supplies", "ingredients", etc. for me. But, I have bought some of her items and they are always top notch. She does represent moderately priced quality.

And so, when I saw her 4th of July display (I admit to always trying to see what she has available for every holiday), I knew I had to at least have these bowls. They are a very nice quality melamine (is that an oxymoron? lol). They can be used for serving at a holiday meal and they have plastic snap-on lids for storage. And, they nest together. I actually loved all of her items and after I refresh my memory about what serving pieces I already own - very soon - I might be back for more. She has a great variety of plates. Since I know I have a set of china 4th of July dishes (yes, I do. I got them on a great sale so don't judge), I am good there. But, I always like to have an unbreakable set as well for the kids or hubs and me for quick lunches or snacks. If I don't already have some - and I truly can't remember - I will be all over her square plates in several patterns. Just hope I can still get them at 40% off and then my additional 15%.

And NO, I was not paid for this opinion - maybe I should be! I tell you, I see red, white and blue in my near future! Stay tuned.