THE LAST PICTURES!

Can you imagine the goodness this STACK of plates beholds?       I found my divided Bickford restaurant plate in a stack like this here...he has more too!  He also has other blue willow restaurant ware....I must be atracted to it, it's so sturdy and has sooo many memories!  Must be all the years I worked as a server...I loved loved LOVED being a waitress.

DID YOU FIND THE MISPELLED TITLED BOOK?       Apparently it's from Asia.

Dear John and some Christmas Goodies! OHHH and come back tomorrow...

EDIT-------  I've been teasing you forever about going to my favorite antique/vintage goodies/junk shop and taking photos of all of his SCHTUFF!  I'm definately going tomorrow, UNLESS it rains then he won't be open.  I haven't left the house much since Turkey Day...it really threw me to the wolves and then rain just makes it worse and it's been RAINING HERE!  I'll post them late tomorrow, so come check them out, you won't be sorry!  Plus I'll give his number and you can call him if you see something you HAVE TO HAVE.


When you spend as much time laying around as I do (I know some of you are like, "oh GAWD, she's going to complain about having to lay around!" but I'll gladly switch with you. ANYTIME.) you have tons of time to READ. A. LOT. I'm not really a TV person so I'm not up on any shows. However, if you want some book recomendations, I'M YOUR GIRL! I just finished one that I want to share with you. It's "DEAR JOHN" by Nicholas Sparks. I don't often read him because they are often just a wee bit too bittersweet for me. I think he has awesome talent but I'm often a FLUFF reader and he's not a fluffy book guy, in my opinion. When I went to see New Moon with a bunch of girly's, there was a preview of the Dear John movie and then I saw the book in the the grocery store so I picked it up. It's a MuST READ. Very poingnant and shows the true meaning of love. Get it. Read it. Let me know what you think!

I'm probably going to do a lot of cyber shopping this year like last year. I want to share some of the little places that have some awesome and unique wares that you won't find at the mall! I love gifts like that!  ENJOY!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/susieharris

http://sanctuaryart.blogspot.com/2009/12/busy-little-elves.html

http://junkrevolution.myshopify.com/collections/classic-gear/products/womens-peace-love-junk-tee

http://laurieannas.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CreationsbyKara

http://www.etsy.com/shop/mysweetsavannah?ga_search_query=mysweetsavannah&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

http://www.queenbeedesignsbyamanda.blogspot.com/

SHOW AND TELL

I joined this little show and tell party at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/ . It's a wonderful blog I've recently started following and I LOVE it.  I thought I'd share some things that were given to me and something I gave myself! LOL

OLD ROYAL TYPEWRITERMy Dad gave me this old typewriter that I just LOVE. LOVE!  My kids and the neighbor kids love to type little notes on it!  I told Cole he should type his first love note (which I hope is several years off) on it because it would be SO romantic.  Of course he looked at me like I had two HEADS.ANTIQUE BABY SHOES
These little booties have such a cool story. One day when I was a teenager (so like a LOOOONG time ago) my father was taking some trash that we cleaned out of our basement to our local landfill. While he was there, he noticed a very old man struggling to get an old trunk out of the back of his truck. He immediately started to help him, of course. While helping him, the man explained that his wife had passed away and he was getting rid of things thatbeen packed away for years. He had apparently already made one trip earlier in the day and that trunk had contained his wife's wedding dress, he said. My father felt like he couldn't let someone else's memories just be put into the dump and asked the man if he would mind if he took the trunk home to HIS wife. The man gladly agreed and my father loaded the trunk into his now empty truck. My mother was happy to have it and we all had fun going through the goodies. I can't remember everything that was in it now, since it was SO long ago, lol. BUT these delightful little baby booties and their button hook were included. I them!

MINI IRONSTONE PITCHERSMy wonderful mother in law recently passed these two little pitchers onto me from her mother. They both came with a little saucer and are just so sweet. I'm so happy to be their new owner and will treasure them! After having them for a few days, I thought of the Ironstone pitcher I had purchased from my favorite antique/junk man, Bob. (I will be taking those photos in the next day or so...I saw Bob today and he said would be open tomorrow or the next day if the weather clears, so stay tuned, you won't be sorry!) Anyway, I think these pitchers make a very happy little trio! Also, our  dining furniture  set is from my grandmother-in-law as well. It's such a pretty set and we are fortunate to have it!

ANTIQUE DIVIDED RESTAURANT PLATEThe last one is this plate in the center of the photo. Click on it to make it larger and you'll see that it's divided! It's also from Bob's store and it apparently is from an old cafeteria style restaurant that was in Baltimore, Maryland. I've lived in MD all my life so I think it's extra cool! These plates are on the wall in my little entrance foyer.

Go toThe Romantic Home Blog  at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/ and check out everyone's show and tell and participate too, it's fun to see what everyone shares! Just like in kindergarten!

I hope you all had a delightful and wonderful Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for my family and friends far and wide!  I'm thankful for comments too :-)

Island in the Tung and a Rhizotomy OOPS plus I hate Lyrica

I was trying to go with another song title like the past couple posts but I couldn't figure one out so instead of "Islands In The Sun" you've got this one! So I'm corny, whatever ;-)

I had a couple emails wondering where I have been (THANKS for checking on me!). I try to mostly post happy good thoughts. I'm a typically rose-colored glass half full kind of chic as I've said before. Admitedly, the longer this stuff goes on with my back the more of an effort that is.  I'm going to tell you a bit about that and then move on to happier stuff, you are welcome to skip the next paragraph...it won't hurt my feelings, I really DO have somewhat tough skin!

After the first Rhizotomy on my right side (my more painful side of my spine) I had about 11 BLISS-FILLED days of reduced pain. I was SO EXCITED! THEN, it came BACK! I thought that I had perhaps done too much in my better feeling state of mind. I believe what actually happened was the anti-inflamatory that they put into the injection before they actually cauterized the nerves, wore off.
During the prep for the next injection,  I was telling the doctor about the weight I was gaining like a sponge soaking up water. He said that he thought I was re-acting to the anti-inflamatory in the injection and took it out.  (You have to realize that this place on surgery days is like cattle in a cattle yard and they get you in and out SO fast that the doctor never really sees your face. Every 15-25 minutes they are calling on this doctor over the intercom, "Dr. Doctor your patient is ready in the OR", Since he's not looking at  my face, just my back and butt, he really doesn't know WHO he has under his xray machine. LOVELY. The poor man!) During the procedure he took the anti-inflamatory out of the injection and then I mentioned that the weight gain started before the first rhizotomy and that I gained about 7lbs in the first 7 days on Lyrica. So he says "OHHHH, you're on Lyrica, then THAT is what is causing the problem. He had me wean off the Lyrica over 5 days. Unfortunately I had NO relief after the second procedure and in fact I spent most of last week laying down and had to increase my pain medicine as per the doctors orders. He thinks so far I'm one of the cases that gets worse before it gets better. LUCKY. Enough of the Debbie Downer attitude...let's talk about my island! ;-)

We picked up the island top from our friend. We had it lightly sanded and joined together. I wanted to make sure we could still see the
original saw marks and patina. We even found WORM HOLES in one section of the wood. I got so excited over those. Yes, I'm a geek like that. If you click this second photo to make it larger, you can see them. After giving her a good bath with Murphy's oil soap,we did some internet research on finishing the piece. I DID NOT want to use a urethane product. We decided on a Tung oil finish and then topped with bees wax or another wax (we haven't decided that yet) Tung oil has the smallest molecular structure so it seeps into the wood better. I want to be able to FEEL the wood not feel the finish. Of course, we'll have to wax it like once a month but that's not a problem for Matt, he loves waxing. Wax on. Wax off. :-) We don't know how we are going to do the mahogony legs yet. They need to be cut down to size still and finished but we can decide that after we put it on the island base. It looks so different now then it did doesn't it? http://whimages.blogspot.com/2009/09/reclaimed-wood-second-chance-salvage.html   I'm in LOVE!

I know I promised photos of the antique store I love but when I went by there today, he wasn't open.  I will get that done soon.  I can't WAIT to share it with you!

ISN'T SHE LOVELY?

She's so purty! How sad am I to get excited about a new faucet. And a not very expensive one either! It probably helped that we haven't had running water in the kitchen now 4-5 days or something. I haven't had a built in soap dispenser since our last house and I love love love having one! Look at her lovely gooseneck! My last one had a gooseneck too but this one's a bit higher...ohhh the BIG pots I can CLEAN in there! SICK. Yes, I must be sick. I think I'd rather Matt buy me this and put it in then get jewelry anyday of the week. Yeah, so I'm a freak. ;-)

Jeanette Vignette or the Lure Of The VIGNETTE!

I couldn't think of a blog title this lovely morning. My friend Jeannette doesn't know I'm blogging about her. I'll have to call her. Hope she's okay with this! Hey Jeannette, funny story...one of my delightful and wonderful internet friends (Hi LORI! I totally feel like Lori and I are sisters seperated at birth except she got the good back and is able to hike mountains and stuff plus she owns a REALLY super cool dog/cat/animal care service called READY! PET! GO!) followed the link in my last post that shows Jeannette's uber cool under tree Christmas display of delightful sheep. Lori must not have had her glasses on (or she had a Bloody Mary for breakfast) and momentarily thought, "How'd Robyn get those sheep in the door and get them to pose so cutely?". I just wanted to say that I swear VIGNETTE is Jeannettes middle name. I swear the woman can plop down a huge head of cauliflower and an orange and it looks like an impressionist painting. True story, when we had our family photo shoot at Jeanette's last weekend (I will show you some of those pics when I get them from my friend, the photog), my photog friend, Kathleen and I popped our head into the kitchen to say goodbye and thank you. Jeannette had just comeback from shopping at the farmers market and on her counter was a GORGEOUS head of delish looking cauliflower (if I ate cauliflower I mean) and one single orange. Still life. I swear just those two things looked like a lovely still life painting. The woman oooozes style! This first photo is in her MUDROOM. YES her MUDROOM looks this lovely. It's this little room off the back of the house in this other photo. I go to the back door when I visit her because she told me I'm a back door friend a couple years ago. THAT's like the biggest compliment you can get from a friend!

Couple things I MUST share. While on VERY RESTRICTED ACTIVITY after today's Rhizotomy, I hope to make this ultra cool wreath from this super cool blog www.livingwithlindsay.com/2009/11/librarians-please-avert-your-eyes.html .   I don't think using a glue gun is against the rules of VERY RESTRICTED ACTIVITY, do you? Also, one of the blogs I follow is having a Pottery Barn give away. WHO on earth couldn't spend 25 George's in PB? Or 2,500 for that matter! Anyway, you just have to leave a comment! Check it out. http://www.getyourmarthaon.blogspot.com/

Frugal Finds And Another One Has Swine Plus Levi Pee'd On The Vet

I really should have closer pictures of my antique little goodies.  I'm going to have to fire that photographer!  Plus she used a flash and EVERYBODY knows I HATE flash.  Hate it with every fiber of my being.  Anyway, back to my goodies.  My favorite little antique store, that I went to over the weekend had all kinds of yumminess that I could have put in the back of the Jeep in a heartbeat but unfortunately that would require larger sums of money that I don't currently seem to have. HOWEVER, I spent just a few dollars and I came home with some wonderful finds that make me HAPPY and isn't that what it's all about? Let me tell you about my shweeet goodies.  That tall and gorgeous white enamel on metal pitcher reminds me of a lovely super model that grew up in the mid-west but her all-American beauty took her to glamorous places far and wide.  She's still turning heads but she's put on a few lbs after a few little pitchers were born and she has a few wrinkles here and there but she's still carries herself with grace.  Next to Pretty Pitcher are two little pint size milk bottles from dairys in Baltimore.  Living about 40 miles from

Baltimore, the thought of there ever being cows there just tickles me pink.  It's just a funny thought.  I'm irritated with myself for only getting 2 because I like odd numbers so that's really going to bug the junk out of me until I get another.  At a couple dollars, that wont set me back much and the vision of daisy's in them next summer (or if I get a bunch at the grocery store or if my husband is inspired to bring me some which will never happen because he shows his love in all the other wonderful things he does for me, ie: PROJECTS.  Don't mind the run on sentence and all of the mistakes in this post that would make my 12th grade English teacher spontaneously combust) makes me happy.  Follow all that?.  Me neither.  Going clockwise, I'm STILL in love with the saphire blue Fire King measuring cup I got for my birthday in August from the same store.  It has a side spout which is pretty cool too. Yeah, I know it doesn't look blue but in the light it does have a hint of blue to it.  I looked it up and as per what Bob said, that is what it's called and yes I DID get a major bargain on it compared to what I saw on ebay.  School lunch money versus going to Outback Steakhouse!  Moving along clockwise again.  There is another little measuring cup, it's not that old. It's pyrex but it has a really fun shape so I couldn't resist it's call to come home with me.  It's super happy sitting next to saphire blue fire king.

I promised I would take pictures of Bob's shop this week.  It's called Ye Ol' Curiousity Shoppe in Churchville Maryland.  I will go to snap some shots but my little one now has H1N1. First things first, I have to get her better.   I SWEAR by Tamiflu, that stuff WORKS wonders.  It's so IMPORTANT to go to the Dr.'s AS SOON AS YOU have symptoms.

The kitchen is still a work in progress so you're not getting photos of that yet (wink) ohhhh but I did want to show you my frugal idea for new knobs.  We really wanted zink finished knobs like the finish on this B. But because we don't have an extra penny to drop on 98 knobs (I'm not kidding it's 90 something knobs in my kitchen) we purchased this bottle of hammered aluminum from Rustoleum and spray painted them!  YAY us!  Unfortunately/fortunately I am purchasing a new faucet tomorrow.  Ours finally decided to die yesterday and my husband and my father have patched it so many times that it's at the point now that it's pointless to NOT get a new faucet.  So I'm taking Peyton to the Depot in the morning to pick one out.  Our dryer died the middle of last week but LUCKILY my father is Mr. Fixit and was able to take the sucker apart and we bought a new heating element that he installed.  I won't tell you about the concerns I have with the small cup on top of the now reassembled and working like a champ dryer.  The cup contains about 6 screws that somehow didn't make it BACK into said working like a champ dryer.

I also am having my second Rhizotomy on my lumbar tomorrow.  It's going to be the left side this time. Good times. Good times.

I will go to the antique store later in the week to take some photos to show you all of his wonderful old goodies!
OHHHHHHHHH I almost forgot the Levi story.  I took Levi McCoy and Cosmo Kramer to the Vet to get updated on shots.  Being puppies, some of their shots only lasted a year so they needed boosters.  One of the girls at the Vet is familiar with my back issues and immediately helped me by taking Levi.  We go into the examining room and the dogs are tickled to death to be there. WHAT AN ADVENTURE!  Happy wiggles and kisses all around for Margaret (the tech) and the Vet.  The Vet and I are chatting as he's getting the shot ready and as he approaches Margaret and Levi, Levi spies the shot and DROPS onto the ground like he's been hit with a .45.  He falls onto his back (I submit, I SUBMIT) and begins FURIOUSLY URINATING ALLOVER INCLUDING THE VETS SHOES AND LEGS.  I'm apologizing and apologizing and then said, "I'm SO sorry, I forgot to tell you he is a submissive urinator!"

Callie's mini shoot and a little tease for you vintage/flea/antiquey types!

I promise I'll add to this post tomorrow, I'm just too tired. My lovely Callie finally asked ME to take some photos of HER. Yes ladies and gentlemen I thought perhaps the world fell of it's axis for a moment . More on that later...

We FINALLY have had our family photos done. The last time we had them done Peyton was just over a year! So big difference...I'll post a couple of them. We shot at my lovely and delightful friend, Jeanettes completely indiscribably gorgeous home. You may remember her from this post www.whimages.blogspot.com/2007/12/christmas-decor-delights.html or this post which just has photos of some of Jeannettes property and it's lovliness: www.whimages.blogspot.com/2008/09/can-you-feel-it.html

I stopped by my favorite antique store today and picked up a few dollars worth of stuff. YES, I mean a few dollars! LOL I'll show you my cool super thick milk jugs from dairy's in Baltimore and my fun little measuring cup plus an enamel pitcher. BUT the SUPER COOL THING IS, Bob is going to let me come in and photograph some of his goodies in the store for you this week. I'm going to try tomorrow or Tuesday. YOU will be amazed and jealous unless you live nearby. HOWEVER, I'll include Good ol' Bob's phone number so you can possibly purchase that way as well and he's NOW EBAY'ing some goodies too! Lot's to look forward to this week. Plus that recipe I never got around to posting too!

Look on the bright side

(Be warned, this post is FULL of  these ) ( because I think I must talk that way too.  So run away fast if you don't like them!)
Halloween was a warm night with the occasional mist of rain that luckily would disappear quickly. (Easy for me to say, I wasn't' out there!) I won't bore you with the pics of my kids (although I'd love to!) but if you are my FB friend, you've already seen them anyway. As I said in the previous post, Chili is our traditional meal on Halloween, we had the few extra people and everything was relatively uneventful. I was hoping to lay down after my afternoon of craziness but that didn't happen. The ONLY thing slightly out of the ordinary is that Cole didn't eat dinner. I figured he had sampled our own candy a bit too much 'cause as I've said before, that kid can EAT. Sunday morning he woke up and immediately we could tell he was feverish and his cough just came out of NO WHERE! Matt took him to the local Express Care and got there before they opened and was already 4th in line. Because having Cole get the H1N1 has been my biggest fear lately. Any of us for that matter, but Cole has asthma and latex allergies. I had tried many times to get him/them the shot to no avail. Luckily they've all already had the seasonal shot like every year since the twins were about 16-18 months. Because of the Latex issue, saying he's not easy to treat medically is a HUGE understatement. We'd been doing all the precautions: constant hand washing, gargling, drinking hot liquids (to send the virus to your stomach), using hand sanitizer, swabbing our nose holes with salt water. I've even
on occasion wiped mined out with a hand sanitizer wipe!

Needless to say, he has swine flu. He was prescribed Tamiflu and some guifenisin with codeine. He's doing very well. THANK YOU GOD. Really I am so happy that at least we caught it early and have the ability to get the medications we needed.

Okay, here's the part I'd love to post a poll about. Today, Cole wanted a crispy chicken bacon ranch salad from McD's. The kid's sick so yeah, you KNOW I'm going to go get it. I know my car needs gas so I grab the last 20 out of the cabinet (the perils of direct deposit leave us cash-less a lot. HECK the PERILS of my prescriptions, procedures, physical therapy etc. leave us cash-less a lot). I realize while I'm out and about that my face is going numb and I'm a bit light headed. I knew what the culprit was (your probably thinking, DUH Robyn, it's all those pain meds!) no, my fine friends, I hadn't taken my Thyroid pill since Friday when I took the last one. Call the pharmacy and of course I don't have any refills but when I mentioned the numb face, she assured me I could pick up a few! ;-) That was NICE of her. I then go to the gas station and while getting out the 20 I find a lovely but crumpled $1 in a pocket of my purse. Math genius that I am, I give the girl 21 dollars and ask for $6 in gas. I figured Cole's salad, large fries (does ANYONE go there without getting fries? I think it's now a law, right?) and a large diet Coke he was cravin' I'd be up to 8-9 dollars. As I'm pumping my tank chock FULL with my 6 dollars. A lady approaches me from the pump next to me. She's clean but disheveled (who the h*ll am I to judge I just took my pj bottoms off and put on running pants and tennis shoes to leave the house) and looks a bit shaken. She comments on how lovely Macy is. (Macy insists upon going EVERYWHERE NOW. Ever since we took her into Anthropologie and the MAC store in Richmond she thinks everything is now fair-game). Ms. Bit-disheveled then starts stammering over her words and apologizing and generally can't really get anything out. I assume she wants me to keep an eye on the little girl who was plowing through a happy meal, strapped into the backseat. Then she starts to cry and says her car is almost out of gas, and she wants to show me her purse (I'm assuming she means it's empty of money) and that the only way the little one got McD's was because she got a coupon for it while trick or treating (I'm taking my kids to THAT neighborhood next year). She cautiously and with much embarrassment asks if I can even give her a dollar for gas to get home. I pull the 5 out of my pocket and gladly hand it to her. She is GRACIOUS and blesses me. I blessed her of course because at this point, I'm just happy I HAD 6 dollars to put in the tank and some money to get Cole his lunch and buy his prescriptions yesterday and pay for the co-pay. Well, glad that my HUSBAND has a job and can pay for these everyday things that we could easily take for granted. So, do you think I did a random act of kindness or got scammed? All of this is on the heels of being in line in the express lane last week at the grocery while the man in front of me was TICKED OFF that he couldn't pay for his $25.00 worth of HOT CUSTOM ORDERED STEAM SHRIMP with his Independence Card (food stamp program). I know what my gut tells me about the lady, but what about YOU? WHAT DO YOU THINK?

This is turning into a novel!

This first photo and also the second were taken at one of my favorite places to shoot (when I was really capable of the photography for WHIMAGES.COM). YOU MUST click on these photos to see them bigger, they are so much prettier.  Plus you can sorta see the house through the tree's .  It's called Tudor Hall and it's owned by our local county and it's property butts up to my neighborhood. Read about it here: http://www.aboutfamouspeople.com/article1147.html  and here http://www.harfordhistory.net/th.html  It has such cool history! JOHN WILKES BOOTH was born there! The architect for the house was THE SAME architect who designed FORD THEATER where President Abraham Lincoln was shot! Sorta freaky fraky coincidence, huh? The pond is almost one of the first things you see when you pull into the property and the house lies beyond that tall pine in the distance. This doggie photo is of my friend Melanie's Great Dane, Jolie going after a ball. She's a beauty!

There is no way I can properly go from Swine Flu to my mean math skills, to whether or not I was scammed to lovely photos that show off
LIGHT to John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln's assassination to a delish
Cheesy Mexican Melt Bake  with any literary skill is there? Well I guess I just did! HA!

Because I can't stand in the kitchen too long and the evenings seem to be worse for me pain wise (although I hope that gets better soon), I've had to change the way I cook and meal plan. Heck I NEVER meal planned before. Now I try to think of things that may have similar ingredients and do a lot of my prep work in little batches a head of time. HOLY COW, why didn't I think of this YEARS AGO. Can you say, TIMESAVER? I'm going to talk about that a little here and in the next post which will feature: Citrus Salad with Bacon and Red Onion (I love Red ONION), Catalina Cranberry Chicken and Yummy loaded golden mashed potatoes.

Because I knew I was making Chili, when I saw this recipe I just stopped. I thought, "SELF, you are already making most of that for the Chili, why don't you buy double the ingredients and get two meals out of it?" Then I said, "SELF, you are a GENIUS! Then you can freeze the Chili for a later date!" Sometimes, I really am proud of myself!

This recipe is LOOOSELY based on Kraft recipes from Food and Family Magazine. (so is the cranberry chicken and the salad...shhhh).

I'm really BAD about measuring when I cook so just kinda keep that in mind and follow your own tastes.

1to 1 1/2 lb extra-lean ground beef (I always buy 93/7)
1 onion chopped (size depends on how much meat you have)
1 green pepper chopped (size depends on how much meat you have)
1 tall jar of Taco Bell Thick and Chunky Salsa but use what you like...I do!
chili powder, salt and pepper
1 10oz bag of frozen yellow corn
4-6 big soft tortillas
1/2 -1 cup sour cream (you're gonna need the cup) I hope you have more for later as a garnish
3/4 cup shredded cheese (calls for sharp cheddar but I use the Mexican and I NEVER measure cheese so mine has MORE fo' sure!)
Green onions
Here's some other things I would suggest: Add 1 little can of green chili's, black beans, chili beans, dark red kidneys, light red kidneys, whatever 'cause they are GOOD for you. Plus you know that rhyme: Beans Beans they're good for.... nevermind. Hey, you are going to want to drain those beans, btw.

Heat oven to 375
Brown meat with onions and peppers on medium high skillet. If you are making chili too and you used way more meat and onions and green pepper, seperate whatever amount of meat you want for your chili now in a separate pot and make it while your cooking this. The hard part for BOTH dinners is now done! Okay, in the pan you are making the meat mixture for this bake in, add the salsa and corn, mix well and simmer 5-6 minutes. If you want to add any beans or chilis add them now as well, but DRAIN THEM.
SPREAD some meat mixture on the bottom of a 9 x 9 dish or a nice round dish or any dish that this will sorta fit in. Top that with one tortilla. Spread some more meat mixture, top with little dollops of sour cream (kind spread that around only on surface a bit), cheese then start over again with another tortilla. Top layer is just meat and cheese on top. Bake about 25 30 minutes. Top each square with a dollop (fun word) of sour cream and sprinkle the onions. ENJOY!

Come back tomorrow or the next day for those other recipes. Plus I hope to show you pics of my cabinets too.

Halloween, Being Thankful, Rhizotomys and Prop Houses, Oh MY!

Meet Little Mister Tyler. Don't you want a hug from him? He is super sweet and has a look in his eye that means trouble just might be around the corner. Tomorrow he gets to see his Daddy for the first time in 6 months. His father, Todd has been deployed for a year and finally gets to come home for good tomorrow! We are so excited for Tyler his Momma Gina and Todd. Thank YOU Todd for serving our country so well! I know Gina is super excited to see you and she said she also can't wait for an uninterupted nap! LOL Gina and Todd are awesome neighbors and we are so thankful to have had them move in across the street. ;-)

Halloween is here in all it's spooky splendor! I think I'm going to put my chalkboard (directions on making one here: http://whimages.blogspot.com/2009/07/just-stuff-and-recipe.html) on the frontporch with pumpkins and the candy. My silly kids wanted to know why I wrote that because, "we don't have those things".  We might have some extra kids trick or treating with us this year.  Traditionally, I always make Chili.  I think everyone makes Chili on Halloween.  Am I right?  This year since we might have extra people, I saw a recipe for a chessy mexican layered bake I might try too.  If it's good I'll post the recipe in a couple days.

You might be wondering how my Rhizotomy (Neurotomy-nerve burning thingy went). If you remember, I stayed up and read a bunch of message board reviews, much to my horror. No offense to any male readers out there, but ALL of those reviews were obviously written by men. Remember the burly man who said his wife could hear him in the waiting room? I SURE feel sorry for her when he has a cold! Not that it was a breezy walk in the park. It's NOT like I want another one tomorrow or anything. BUT it wasn't like I thought it would be after the reviews. Yes, it did hurt. I had it done on my right side lumbar, L3, L4 and L5-S1. After he was working a while (I kinda thought we were on needle 2 but wasnt' sure) it started to hurt more than extra so I did say something like, "hey Dr. Doctor, why is it suddently hurting way more than before?". And Dr. Doctor said something to the effect that he was working almost next to the bottom of one of the screws or pedicals (whatever) in my fusion and he gathered that area was already irritated. I'd gather that too from how it felt! ;-) All in all, not so bad. Got sent home with my normal pain meds, some type of morphine and instructions
to have even MORE restricted activity for the following 2 days. I'm not sure if slowly walking outside to snap Tyler's pic counts or not be he looked so darn cute playing in the leaves from my window!

PROP HOUSES
In other news, one of my favorite blogs is www.theletteredcottage.net . Layla and her husband are just too dern cute for their own good and DANG do those two have awesome design ideas and energy out the wazoo. A week back or so the magazine called THE NEST came to shoot a segment on their INCREDIBLY delightful (I want to move in with them but not in a weird way, I just love the house) cottage. Layla gave readers a super cool behind the scenes tour of a magazine shoot. I HAD no idea! NO WONDER EVERY MAGAZINE LAYOUT LOOKS SO FABULOUS! They sent box upon box of accessories and props to the house, clothes for them and all kinds of fun goodness including a stylist, hair and makeup! If you want to see this awesome segment on Layla's blog, it's here: http://www.theletteredcottage.net/2009/10/nest-shoot-behind-scenes.html
While looking for something on the web tonight, I came across a designer/flea-marketer I've admired before, Eddie Ross. Well, he used to work at the Food Network and decided to share with his readers (said in a booming movie voice) THE FOOD NETWORK PROPS ROOM. Check out this sweeeeet goodnes and try not to tell me you didn't fall in love with at least 50 things? http://www.eddieross.com/eddie_ross/2009/09/a-tour-of-the-food-network-prop-house.html

Oh and my middle name is NOT Ludmilla.

SHE'S GOT LEGS AND SHE KNOWS HOW TO USE THEM! (Island countertop with legs! lol)

Our wonderful friend Bryan, planed the bottom of the reclaimed boards so they'd be sorta even on top. They still will be a bit off which is fine with me! CHARACTER PEOPLE, it's called CHARACTER! LOL He wanted us to check it out before he joined and glued it. The ends will be cut off so they are even. I got so excited when I saw it...I got CHILLS! Yeah, I'm a freak! He's going to lightly sand the top, not enough that we loose the gorgeous patina but enough so it's smoother. THEN he showed us the mahaghony knewl posts he had custom made for a client and then they didn't like them. They musta been CRAZY 'cause this chick is in LOVE with them! We are turning them upside down (like in the photo) and using them as legs for the bar part of the island top! I'm GIDDY! How GORGEOUS are they? I can't WAIT till it's all done!

Peyton did her pumpkin last night with Grandmom. I like how Peyton's teeth look like Pumpkin teeth!

I'm having my first of two Rhizotomy's today. Wish me luck! Unfortunately, I
had a coffee last night and couldn't sleep. I googled Rhizotomy's and read a bunch of stuff on message boards (which I think gives you more of a true sense of what a procedure is like...the doctors always make it sound like rosebuds and rainbows). Well, shouldn't have looked it up! One burly sounding guy said his wife could hear his moans out in the waiting room. Apparently the needle is so large that the scar tissue will show up later on your mri's. Cool. All this, and you are not under anesthesia so they can figure out if they are in the right spot (with the aid of the live xray machine and your pain reaction). So today should be an awesome day! LOL Shame I can't have a glass of Pinot Grigio before I go in! That would have helped!

Awesome Autumn? AND kitchen news

Brisk Air~ Morning Frost~ Jewel Toned Leaves~Hot Spiced Cider~Pumpkin Patches~Indian Summer Days~Dried Cornstalks~Smelling Burning Leaves~Squirrels Squirrying About~Thread-Bare Sweatshirts~Golden Evening Light~Gourds~Chili~Costume Hunting~Candy Buying~Trick or Treating~Crunchy Leaves~Bon Fire~Toasted Marshmallows!


What does the fall make you think of?


Recently, my mother in law asked me to have a quick photo shoot of our children with them. I had done a super quick shoot of my nephews (Matt's brother, Ron's boys) with my in-laws in August. Monday was a nice Indian summer evening, so we went to Tudor Hall which is just about 1 minute from our house to snap a couple shots. Honestly my kids were not on their best behavior. Actually, I guess they were just being themselves! LOL They weren't bad, just goofing off a ton and we had bundles of fits of giggles for some reason.
At the end of the shoot, Callie and Cole were semi-roughhousing and they looked really cute. Callie's so tiny and small featured and Cole is BURSTING into this body that we don't even recognize. Litterally his bones look like they are doubling in size! He's now a GOOD inch or more taller than my 5ft 7 1/2 . When he kisses me goodbye in the morning, I have to reach up a bit. YES, they ALL kiss me and hug me goodbye before they get on the bus. We often say we love each other too. I hope with ALL OF MY HEART that this doesn't end. Love is a word we share a lot around our house and I pray it stays that way. Please don't mistake me. There is a LOT of not so fun stuff said too. Many words full of teen attitude (even from my not so teen 7 1/2 year old). I just hope that the POWER of the word LOVE reigns eventually over all the other crummy stuff. I think it will.


Back to the pictures... At the end of the shoot, Callie and Cole, our twins, were goofing off (as they were most of the time) and I suddenly begged them for a hug.  Just ONE hug.  I pleaded.  So in about 30 seconds these are some of the shots I got. and...I. LOVE. THEM.  They may not have perfect composition, some are blurry, one is kinda gross, one is sorta mean (although he wasn't pulling her hair hard) and the squeeze just kills me how both of them squinch up their noses!
For all their faults, it's the EMOTION that I love.  These two really do LOVE each other even though sometimes you'd NEVER know it.  They have the best bond and I feel so blessed to be their mother.

IN super cool kitchen news, we took the reclaimed wood to a friend of Matt's to see if he could plane the sides so that they would fit together.  I didn't wan't to loose much of the patina if we sanded it a lot but I also don't want the kids to get splinters. If ANYONE can make magic with this wood it's Bryan Ford.  His company,  Bryan Ford Contracting does

some of the most amazing work you've ever seen.  The houses he builds have incredible attention to detail.  His home is now my NEW favorite house.  The mouldings in his house were all made by Bryan and they are GORGEOUS!  This house feels like it's been around for 200 years but it hasn't and the built ins and goodies he had just killed me.  I could have moved into his cape cod style shop, it's 3000 square feet!  But remember one of my favorite scents is freshy sawn wood!  So if you are in the Harford County area and need a CUSTOM home, call BRYAN!

Vintage Re-Purpose and a Peytonism!

Hey Folks...just as I was about to blog this, CUTE KamaCozi (AKA: Cosmo, the Cosman, Cosi-bear,Cosi-moto) puked up the little paper dry cleaning tag (that my husband must have accidentally dropped this bright and lovely morning) along with a large volumn of freshly drank(is that a word)water on the kitchen floor. So I'll be back after cleanup and physical therapy to tell you about these photos but they
are actually about repurpose-ing an old frame into a padded message board. ;-)

I can't do a tutorial 'cause I did this last summer. Sorry!  But it's super easy.  Find an old frame you like and pop out whatever is in it (or you could just leave it and work on top of it but regardless you need to remove it for now.  I had my father or Matt cut me a piece of luan (thin, hard board sold at stores like Home Depot).  The luan must fit the hole IN THE BACK ALMOST EXACTLY! 

For the message board, I used cotton batting and then fabric that would match Callie's room of light apple green and pinks.  You could also cut cork board to fit and then cover with just fabric.  We wanted to make our own pins from buttons and have them go in on an angle like when you sew instead of strait in like with a push pin.  You put your batting over the wood, leaving about a half inch to an inch not covering the edge where you'll be attaching it around the frame.  Then cut the fabric large enough so that it will cover the backing and the batting.  I then just used small nails and some of the little staples that were already on there to attach it all. The whole project took less than 15 minutes. Click on the photo if you want to see it larger. 
When I brought this hand home from an antique store, Callie immediately snagged it for her rings.  I think it looks pretty cool!  That little music jewelry box in the background was my husbands sisters when she was a little girl.  Callie keeps it close to her heart and often thinks of her Aunt Michele.

I've given the chalkboard/magnetic board directions before. Again, cut luan to size paint with magnetic paint like a kazillion times or 3 and then the chalk board paint about 3 times. Reinstall and VOILA a lovely message board! 

I love these two fortunes we got recently.  Mine and Matt's says : There is a true and sincere friendship
between you both!  I LOVE that and it's so true considering I've known him since I was 10!

 Callie's fortune says: Stop and look around, happiness is trying to find you!  How COOL!

AGAIN, click on the pics to make them larger if your eyes are getting old like mine or you just want to see the details. (Yeah, that's what they all say!)

PEYTONISM  ALERT!!!
Longtime blog readers will know that occasionally, I'll post something funny that our youngest, Peyton says.  As I've said in the past, and now offense to you blondes out there.  BTW, I'm a bottle blonde (thanks to my fabulous hairstylest to the STARS.  Okay, maybe that's pushing it, but she's good. Real Good) so I can say whatever I want about blondes.  Okay, about the Peytonism.

Over the weekend we were driving past Men's Warehouse.  This particular MW is on a corner of a shopping center, so that the windows on that side are blacked out.  Our little reader says, "Men's Warehouse, what would you BUY there?"  I then replied, "Well, when you get older, and if you can't find a man that's where you go to get
one."  She glances back at the store, and now she can see the mannequins in the window dressed in there dapper finery and she says

wait for it


wait for it


a little longer

okay:  "Oh."

Matt and I just looked at each other and smiled.  That's our girl!