A bit of an update….and some faves

First I want to thank to all of you who sent me message on Facebook, email, etc. about my grandma.  She truly was a special lady and will be missed by many.  It’s still hard to believe she’s not here any more.  

So here’s a bit of an update.  (I just love that pic above---too funny).  You know I painted my little side table, right? From this post.  I went with the Annie Sloan Provence and it turned out great.  I don’t want to show pics until it’s all done, but you can get a sneak peak on my Instagram.  I will confess, it’s still sitting in our master bedroom, where I painted it.  I wanted to get the right pulls for it before I moved it anywhere.  And of course I need to clean up the area where it will be going (still working on that one).  So see below for what I got:

I checked Home Depot and Lowes for pulls but you know where I ended up—Anthropologie!  I wanted something really different and unique and I knew Anthro would have what I wanted.  Normally I would never allow myself to spend that much on drawer pulls, but seeing as I only needed 2 I was okay with it.  My friend Sheg and I met for lunch and shopping and she helped me hunt up what I was looking for.  So much to choose from, but I am happy with the ones I took home.  If you are scouting them out, they are called Deco Block Knobs on the site.  I was even smart enough to remember to bring the screw of the old hardware so I could make sure they would fit properly.  Yay for me.

Now for some faves.  I’m always looking at ideas and inspiration for life, from home to wardrobe.  Here are some recent finds:

Fave Pin lately:

Fave food lately:

Archer Farms Organic Blue Corn Chips with Flaxseed.  I’m so a chips and salsa girl lately.  And these chips are extra crunchy and they’re blue, my favorite color.  They’re also organic and the flax seed gives them a bit more healthy-ness added in. 

Fave hair I am liking lately:

This is Kate Lanphear who is the style editor of Elle.  No offense to Miley, but she had this look down way before you decided to cut your locks.  I would LOVE to cut and color my hair this way but DH would freak at how short it is.  Plus the upkeep of that color is not that fun (I’ve had it this color before).  So for now I’ll just keep thinking about it until I get the itch to cut my hair again.

Fave blogs:

Fitnessista always makes me feel motivated and smiley when I read her posts.  Seriously, if you’ve never visited her site---go! Whether you’re into fitness or not, she’s worth a read and always has good info.  I love reading her posts about her little girl, her travels and her fitness forays.  She’s positive and inspiring.  *gush over*

A Little Slice of Special is another cutie.  She’s from MN, (where I used to live) and blogs about clothes, shopping, geek stuff (her word), music and beauty.  I love her style and reading about her adventures.

Elements of Style—I just wish I had an ounce of Erin’s style and ability to put a home together so beautifully.  Seriously—she’s a pro.

Fave purchase lately:

this jacket from the Limited.  They had a big sale and I felt like this oxblood blazer said fall to me.  I can see it being worn with many different items from my closet!

 

Thanks for reading and I’ll be back soon with a full write-up of my new little table—all put together!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not lost….

 

I apologize for my long absence from the blog.  During the end of August I am usually busy helping to prepare for a Board Meeting at work. Which means, lots of time spent on PowerPoint slides, spreadsheets,and proofreading.  That and multiple changes from people of course.

But on Friday my life really was thrown for a loop when my beloved grandmother passed away.  She had had a massive stroke on Monday and died peacefully with everyone there on Friday night.   I was honored to give her eulogy and will miss her so much.

I will get back to blogging soon as I want to show you the results of my painted night stand for which I used Annie Sloan Provence Chalk Paint.   Once things settle down here a bit I’ll update my blog.

Thanks for reading.

Below is a is a pic of my grandparents on their wedding day, July 3rd, 1948.

I can haz new project!

I’m baaaaaaack….and I have a new project!  I’m one of those people where I need a book to read, something to shop for, or a new project to work on.  I’m fine just vegging and watching some TV, but my brain needs lots of ‘shiny!’ to keep it going.  If I’m without something to ‘get into’ as DH calls it, I get restless or in bit of a funk. 

But now I have a new project! *clap clap clap*  On Sunday, my BFF Sheg and I had a nice day of shopping on our own.  First, we hit Home Goods.  Two just opened here and I hadn’t made it to either of them yet. I had been dying to check this store out, but the timing never really worked. I was so happy she wanted to go and even happier that I would have someone with me who would want to ‘look at everything in the store’.  This is how DH says I shop and I say so what?---I like to look at it all!!!  At Home Goods, I saw and immediately fell in love with a great grey basket as soon as we walked into the store.  I didn’t get a pic, but I will post one later today.  It’s perfect for storing extra magazines and has a cute fleur-de-lis tile in the middle. 

We also hit up Kirklands (huge sale!) and then were ready for a late lunch at Moe’s.  Mmmmm, I used to hit up Moe’s once a week when there was one near my work.  Now it’s maybe every 2 months! Although I did just order Moe’s catering for work and everyone raved about it!   I wish they would open up a Moe’s closer to me.

After lunch, we hit up Goodwill as Sheg said this particular Goodwill had some great finds, including some brand new stuff from Target with their tags still on!  The first place I always check out at thrift stores is the furniture section.  I’ve been looking for a new table or nightstand to replace the flimsy little table that I have been using.  Something with storage so I can throw some junk into it.  So we push the cart around when I spy this:

Exactly what I am looking for! It was differently shaped piece and had storage.  The best part?  It was $5.99!  I actually didn’t believe it was that cheap and went to ask an employee there.  She confirmed and I asked her to put a SOLD sigh on it while we shopped a bit more.  I ended up with some books, a brand new from Target springform pan (I think DH accidentally threw mine away), and a cute gingham button down.  The only thing we were concerned about was whether this table would fit in the backseat of my car.   It did, with just an inch to spare!

So now that I’ve got it home, I need to decide how I want to redo it.  I know it will involve paint but not sure what color.  Right now I am leaning toward a turquoise-y color, one of my faves but not something DH would want in our bedroom.  Since this little nightstand will be going into my boudoir/dressing room, I can paint her any color I want!!!  Of course Pinterest has all kinds of ideas and here are some of the ones I like (click on pic to link to to source):

I am pretty sure I am going with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, but not sure to which shade yet.  It will probably be Provence, which I will mix with a bit of Old White to get a lighter shade.  Just have to get it ordered!!!

One of my fave bloggers, Liz Marie, painted a table similar to the one I found.  Except she did hers totally different but with an idea I would never have thought of! Click on the link to find out the little surprise!   Here are some pics from her post: (all pics from her blog)

Amazing!  I hope my little table turns out as well as hers did! 

Did you have any good finds this week? 

Latest Favorites…..

So my latest faves are all over the place…..but here they are!

First up is Pepperidge Farm Pumpernickel bread.  This stuff is so good!  I know pumpernickel has never been that popular, but I guess it’s making a comeback due to the fact that it is very low on the glycemic scale.  I’ve always loved pumpernickel, ever since I was a kid and we went to a German restaurant in Hilton Head on vacation.  Our family must have eaten 8 baskets of that bread!  Anyway, I was looking for some new kind of bread to make my usual sandwich for work with.  I was eating a whole wheat but was sick of it.  I spotted this at Walmart and was excited.  Loaded up my Weight Watchers scan app and it came up at 2 points a slice!  AND—no high fructose corn syrup!  SCORE! 

Another foodie find—Havarti with Dill cheese.  I was at one of our local farmers markets last year when our cheese guy had this and let me try a slice.  OMGyummmmy.  So delicious with a hint of dill for a great flavor.  He gets his from the Amish in Ohio but my link above will take you to a site that you can order from directly.  This goes great with my pumpernickel bread and some buffalo chicken breast from the deli.  All of those flavors make for an amazing sandwich that will keep you full after lunch. 

This dress from Express.  I had first mentioned in this post, and then I went and got it when I had a GC and a coupon to use.   I wasn’t sure how it would look on me or how short it would be.  Luckily I was shopping with my BFF Sheg (waves!) and I knew she would be honest if it looked like crap.  When I put it on, I thought it looked great.  Even the sleeveless, which I normally hate.  She agreed and thought it was really flattering too.  The trick for my shape (which is hourglass), is to have a defined waist.  I just slip a cardi over it and it’s the perfect work dress.  The colors are so pretty and vibrant—you cannot be sad cat in this dress!

This jacket from LC Lauren Conrad from Kohl's.  Doesn’t look that cute from the pic, but I took a chance and ordered.  I thought the colors were great and it had a soft drape.  I find this line to be all over the place with sizing.  Some of the dresses I tries on were really short and some of the tops were too big.  I ordered a medium and hoped for the best.  Well it fit perfectly.  I can see myself wearing this with jeans and a white tank with some cool jewelry on the weekend or for a casual day at work with a pencil skirt.  And of course it was on sale!  I guess I’ve been gravitating more towards florals lately with these purchases.  Probably my love of vintage. 

Wind by Zac Brown Band

Wind by Zac Brown Band.  I heard this song when I was driving home a few weeks ago and used Shazam to find out what it was.  I have a passing fancy for country music but anything that is bluegrass tinged and I’m there! 

That’s it for now---I’ll be back later with an real update on my Ancestry.com finding.

 

Happy Wednesday!

I can haz more space?

If you are reading this now, I appreciate it!  I took a little vacation from my blog for a while and now I’m back.  I could lie and say I was exploring the world or say I was doing some sort of wonderful charitable act, but you otherwise. The truth is my birthday was towards the end of June and before that DH & I went to Lancaster (home of the Pennsylvania Dutch) for a weekend of Celtic music. Then work crept up on me and before I knew it, it was the 4th of July!!!  I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the date at work this morning, realizing how long it had been since I blogged!!!

So after all of the birthday fun (and it was fun thanks to my DH and family and friends!) I took a few days  off after Independence Day.  Thursday I relaxed and worked on ancestry.com stuff and then hit our city’s main library branch for some genealogical research that ancestry.com simply didn’t have, like local newspapers from 100 years ago.  (More on that in an upcoming post!).  Friday was another relaxing day.  I had a long overdue visit with my grandparents and showed my grandfather the information I had gathered on his mother’s family.   Then I visited my aunt and my mom’s BFF (they live next door) and we all played a few very heated games of Phase 10.   No real plans, just taking the days as they come.

Well I came crashing to reality on Saturday.  I am a champion procrastinator when I don’t want to do something even though I know I should.  There is always something ‘more important’ and this drives DH crazy.  My little boudoir (or dressing room/spare room) looked like a Hoarders episode and I am not kidding at all.  I would have taken a pic but even I am too embarrassed to show you.  But I did buckle down and spend a good chunk of time clearing out the mess.  Most of it was just stuff that needed to be put away and organized.  That is one habit I would like to change.  When I get home from work/gym, I just throw everything in a corner ‘for later’.  Then it just builds up.  DH says “If you just put away when you come home, you won’t have that pile.” Easier said than done for me, buddy.  But I am learning to recognize what a waste of time it is to do a big cleanup vs. a small one each day.

With that in mind, I am on the hunt for a new way to organize closet items.  Right now I just have all of my shoes stacked in boxes at the bottom of my closet.  Sounds great, right?  Not for this ADD girl.  I have a real need to ‘see’ everything and have always used visual cues to help remind me.  Basically, if it’s put away, I don’t ‘see’ it and then don’t think about it.  So while some of the shoes were put away, the ones I wore all the time were all over the floor and just made a big mess.  I needed a way to ‘see’ the shoes but still have them organized out of the way.

Enter Pinterest!  Seriously---this site is my go-to for everything lately.  I had seen some good ideas on blogs but most of these people had more space than me.  So how could see my stuff but also make it look neater?  This was the image that jumped out at me the most (source is linked on the pic):

Doesn’t that look great? The shoes are organized and you can see them but they are put away.  It’s like a pretty shoe display!!  So I set out on a search for these types of cubes and found this one from Lowe’s:

I figure I can order 2 of them and put the shoes that I wearing the most often (based on season) into the cubes so I would always be able to see them and put them away quickly.  I can use the top of the cubes to put my little TV and lamp on there and a few photos and such.  Maybe even a few more pairs of shoes?  Either way, I know that if I use this type of visual organization it will stick with me better and I won’t want to throw it all into a big pile ‘for later’. 

I also think that if I move the shoes to the cubes I will free up some space on the bottom so I can maybe hang a 2nd rack to free up space.  Not sure if that will work with the height of the closet, but I am going to try at least. 

Thanks for reading!  Please pass on your closet/shoe organizing tips!  I need all the help I can get.  Check out my dream shoe closet:

I will be back tomorrow with an update on my family history findings! Let’s just say ancestry.com rules! 

Have a wonderful Monday and stay cool! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

summer berries…mmmmmmm

You know summer is truly underway when summer berries are out!  I just love berries—eaten plain right off of the vine or in pies and scones!  I always think of them as nature’s sweet treats.

From my instagram @vampygirl13

As I’ve said before, DH is the green thumb in our home (except for roses, which I seem to grow very well!).  He has a nice garden that gives us great stuff, except for when the groundhog seems to think it’s HIS garden.  Ugh.  Anyway, his raspberries bushes have started to produce mounds of gorgeous berries.  So many that we have taken to freezing them!  I have started taking them to work with me as a great afternoon snack (see above).  They are so sweet and yummy and help to keep you full for a good while. 

With all of these berries coming up, I was in need of some new recipes to utilize them in a new way.  Enter Martha Stewart.  The day after DH’s berries started arriving by the huge bowlful, Martha’s new issue of Living showed up and guess what was on the cover? Martha’s favorite berry recipes!  Kismet!

I flipped right through to the berries section and found some great recipes.  You can also get a whole bunch more recipes by clicking HERE where you will find all kinds of great berry recipes.  Here are some of the ones I pinned and bookmarked for my use: (pics are from Martha Stewart’s site and there is a link to each one)

Raspberry Cobbler—this one would be great for a crowd. 

Chocolate Raspberry Tart—I haven’t attempted to make a tart yet but it can’t be too much harder than pie right?

Meme’s Blackberry Cobbler—I love that this is made and served in a cast iron skillet!

I also did some searching on Pinterest and found: (links to original sources/pics)

Raspberry Lemon bars—YUM!

Raspberry Chocolate Scones--I’ve made regular raspberry scones, but not any with chocolate yet!

Raspberry Sorbet—I’ve made this before and I have a version printed out at home (VERY old recipe) that has wine it.  How can you go wrong with raspberries and wine?

And the one I am going to make for Father’s Day this Sunday---Raspberry Torte.  This looks sooo good and I cannot wait to try it out.  I will take pics of course to let you know how it turned out.

The weather here has been so beautiful with no humidity.  I have a feeling that will end soon and just in time for Father’s Day!   Since my dad died before I was born, I always make a point to celebrate with my grandfather and will be going to a brunch for himself and all of the other dads in our family.   It’s so hard to buy a gift for him, so I usually just bake chocolate chip cookies with walnuts since he likes them so much.  

Have a wonderful Father’s Day weekend and be on the lookout for pics of the torte!  I will post something, even if it turned out terrible!