Wednesdays With My Mother

My beautiful Mother. At work as a Secretary...about 24 yrs. old.
My Mom with my brother, Steve, and me. We were "the two little kids". No. 4 and 5 of five. My Mother had me relatively late in life. I'll always be grateful for that. Every Wednesday I have the privilege of spending the day with her. We go grocery shopping, to the hair salon, to activities at her assisted-living facility, out to lunch, Dr. appointments, work on sewing projects, etc.

Today we went down to the clubhouse to hear a Seniors singing group perform. It was adorable. Lots of show tunes.
Speaking of adorable. Look at my Mom sweetly looking on.
This cutie played a mean Polka. : )
The choir director and Marge, a resident, danced while the fellow played another Polka. Fun was had all around. Marge is as cute as a pickle!
Two Wednesdays ago...having pizza at Costco. Still so beautiful!

Participating in Nester's Link Party

Nester is having a link party today. She is asking everyone to show photos of their artificial plants or floral arrangements. Is this not a thing of beauty? I was in one of my favorite shops last Spring and they were having a fun little sale where you crack open a plastic easter egg to discover your discount. Mine said 50%!!!! Probably the only one. Anyway, it was my one big chance to finally splurge on one of those gorgeous silk arrangements that we usually only dream of buying. I brought her home and she has made me smile everyday since. : )

You can link to Nester's party by going to http://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/

MY idea of a kitchen cupboard makeover ; } wink

Actually, all we're talking here is the addition of the beautiful ceramic drawer pulls and knobs I found on clearance @ Pottery Barn Online. I'm so happy with the difference they made.


I thought it would be fun to show you what's on top of my cupboards while we're here. I don't know, I'm just weird that way...that's my idea of fun.







Lamp Love! I've had him ( or her) for quite a while. In a previous post, I mentioned my wallpaper with little navy blue stars. Well, here's a close up.
My sweet married son, came over to our house on Saturday and installed our new faucet. What a beautiful gesture ...and a beautiful faucet. : )
Now, if you hate sewing, skip the next two photos. I got the fabric from JoAnn's. Sorry, no hot glue involved, but I have to say, I am in awe of all the beautiful creations out there...sewn, or not!

Just in case you were wondering who's the boss around here. : )
Oh yeah, all my friends and family can stop laughing now. They know perfectly well that this clean kitchen in not how it looks on a "real" day. At least I'm honest. : )

Going forward with Fall

Okay, here's how it all came down today. True Story: I was sitting in the dealership this morning waiting for my car to be done. My sweet friend, Leslie, calls me and says, "What are you doing today? I'm in need of some serious, frivolous girl time. I want to go to Michael's, TJ Maxx, and JoAnn's." I said, "Well, I was going to be good and go straight home after this and clean house all day." But it was a heartfelt plea... so I promised myself I would do, on Saturday, what I was going to do today. So after a bit, Leslie picks me up and we're off. When it came to our stop at the MAXX, I found this little fall garland on clearance for .70 cents. Now, I've been avoiding TJM like a dieter avoids the bakery, because I had spent way too much time there in August with Sara's new room.But how much trouble can you get into with .70? "Wait a..minute." The girl in my head says. The same girl who checked out more Arts & Crafts books during library time in Elementary school than reading books. "I have an idea!"Oh yeah...make that $10.69. You'll notice that BIG apothecary jar to the right on the table. Well, I couldn't believe it was only $9.99. Remember the tall skinny one on my coffee table from yesterday's post? Well, let's just say... it didn't cost $9.99. : ) Okay, down to business. Time to spruce up that little garland. Remember my post a couple of weeks ago subtitled, In Praise of Never Throwing Anything Away? Well what can I say.....Next, I need to paint a small block of wood for my farmer girl to stand on so she will balance out the tall scarecrow. I learned this trick of placing stickers on with tweezers from the PBS show 'Create'.Every year I tell myself I'm not going to pull out this scarecrow that I made back in 19?? because maybe it looks dated, but every year I can't resist because I still love him for some reason.


Happy Fall
to all!

Fall Nesting: Participation in (The Inspired Room) gala event

Well, I waited until the end of the week, hoping temps. would go down and seem remotely like Fall... but to no avail. So I decorated in 105 degrees. I'm sure I will receive a letter in the mail from our HOA saying, "What were you thinking?"
Of course these are artificial...you know...105*.

I purchased Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim from Big Lots a fews years ago and the "carved" pumpkin and wreath on the door from Marshall's (a sister Co. to TJ Maxx). I always appreciate knowing where each of you get your finds. : )
Well, that's all for now. I have certainly enjoyed looking at all your inspirational ideas. And a big "thank you" to Melissa @ http://theinspiredroom.net/

The Big Reveal...pretty much.

Well, I figured everyone has waited long enough. By the end, we had revised our plan 5 0r 6 times! We just couldn't decide on the right placement or which size of stencils to use. Fortunately if you don't like it, just get out the old paint brush, and you have a new canvas to work with again.

We intended all along to only stencil two walls and paint the remaining two a very soft shade of grey. The grey will happen over the next week I hope.

The interesting hanging lamp came from Ikea. It's leftover from Sara's old "funky" bedroom, but I love the soft glow it casts on the desk. We've seen this lamp in several movies. : )

So you notice how there's three stencils? As mentioned before, I cut out the biggest one myself but the two sizes of the other one came from JoAnn's. I thought they complimented each other very well. The mirror was from an antique store, but only cost me $50. It was a gold color, but I spray painted it the cream you see here.

The word, Princess, is made out of "pearls". Sara's name actually mean Princess. : ) No wonder she's always loved lots of "jewels", crowns, and tons of bling-bling!

This is a cute little cabinet we bought about 5 years ago. It reflects all ages of Sara's interests. : )

Have a good day!