Debit Card and Dog friendly shopping

This little IMP, Gracie often has the funniest things to say. So instead of a Peytonism, I'm going to give you a Gracieism. My sister was getting non perishable foods together to take to a food drive at Grace's dance class. She explained to Grace and Mason about people who are less fortunate and sometimes they need people to give them food. Grace said, "If they need food, why don't they just use their debit card?" She's 3 and 3/4! I think she looks like she's practicing her Sports Illustrated poses in this photo from August. I love it!

We visited my brother in law Ron, my dear sister in law, Michele and our nephews: Ryan, Dylan and Trevor this weekend in Virginia. Going there is always awesome. Well, not the going, because you have to go through D.C. but the being there is GREAT. They have a lovely home and I swear, Michele could open up a Bed and Breakfast! The food, amenities and entertainment (with 6 kids total) is always GREAT. We took Macy with us because we've been having some issues at home with the three dogs. VERY UNFORTUNATELY. It's very upsetting so I'm not going to talk about it but I will say that Macy ended up having over 20 staples a couple of weeks back. Ron and Michele have 2 sweet Shelties and the three of them got along just like cousins should. On Sunday, we went to a really cool outdoor Mall that was dog friendly. I think it's called StoneyPoint. They even have doggie water fountains! All of the stores had a little dogs welcome sign posted. The first store we went in was Restoration Hardware, and Macy wasn't really sure what to think. (I think she saw some of their prices!) By the second store she acted like she owned the place and went shopping everyday! Such a cool idea to have a dog friendly atmosphere! Although I DO wonder what would happen if a doggie lifted his little leg in Brooks Brothers?

Matt's working hard on the cabinets again. He has 6 more primed and coated with the first coat of black. I can't wait to show you those! He put a cool little plate ledge in the cabinet above my microwave so I can stand up a white platter in the back and put other goodies in the front. I scored some REALLY VERY nice large, thick clear glass cereal bowls at the dollar store the other day. They are BIG but my kids like cereal (I LIKE cereal) so they were perfect! He also put 3 cool undercabinet lights too. I totally love them because I didn't have a light over by my mixer.

Poor little Peyton has had a fever and tonsilitis. She's the first one of our kids to ever have gotten that. There has been another death of a school aged child in MD with the Swine flu. 2 out of 4 of one of my neighbors kids has been diagnosed with it...eeeek. Our kids haven't been around them at all, thank goodness. Our local health dept. sent home a letter saying that the many cases of flu in our county are predominately H1N1. That's freaking me out. The kids have had their reg flu shot (well not Peyton yet, 'cause she was sick), and I'm really debating about the swine flu shot. Scary stuff!

Reclaimed Wood, Second Chance Salvage Warehouse and Shepherds Pie, OH MY!

Don't mind these really terrible photos of my wood. I think that's Levi's lips and neck in the first one and Macy's shadow in the second shot. As soon as I got down to take the photos, the dogs thought I was down there to do something super-cool and special that definitely involved them, because according to their little boxer brain, EVERYTHING involves them! Anyway, the wood is super thick old white oak with some red oak mixed in. There is more than enough to do the island and desktop! It came from a torn down log cabin in WV. We'll either have it planed or we will sand it and the pieces get butted up against each other. We're (I love saying that when I fully know that there is no WE involved, it's just Matt but I have to say WE! ;-) LOL) going to finish it in a natural Danish Oil and wax finish.

About some more old stuff...A couple weeks back, my father, sister (and little ones) and I went to www.secondchanceinc.net in Baltimore to check out the 4 warehouses of salvage. One warehouse was all new kitchen cabinets, bars, vanities etc. so we skipped that one. We mostly skipped the antique door/window one as well because I'm not in the market for those
and I was trying to keep my walking to a minimum. The third is set up like a furniture store, little rooms and vignettes but with REALLY expensive antiques, chandeliers, rugs and stuff. That warehouse was a bit scary with a 2 and 3 year old niece and nephew in tow but they were great! The last one was my favorite and had bits and pieces of stuff. Buckets of hinges and glass door handles, shelves of corbels, and knockers. The only purchase I made was 1.49 and it was one of these wrought iron fence finials...I'll show you what I'm going to do with that in a later post (wink!). This shelf of amputated claw feet from old tubs was cool but kind of sad too in a weird way. It was a fun place to visit but not really worth my time unless I was looking for a specific size of old door or window. Believe me, they had PLENTY of stuff, but it wasn't really the kind of place where you felt like you were getting a bargain. I'm happier digging in the antique stores right in my own town.

RECIPE time!!!
Last year I found a shepherds pie recipe that sounded better than the one I had been using. This one is my modification of it to suit what my family likes and we REALLY like this one!

SHEPHERDS PIE

3 tsp. butter
1 1/2 cups: sweet onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 tsp. FRESH Thyme
2 lbs. low fat ground beef (the original calls for lamb)
2 tsp. coarse ground sea salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
3tbs. tomato paste
1 cup crushed tomatoes
(sometimes I add finely diced tomatoes)
2 fresh bay leaves (I use dry)
4 tbs. fresh parsley
(you can add 3/4 lbs trimmed and sliced 'shrooms...I don't)
3 cups roughly but small chopped carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
1 1/2 - 2 cups frozen petite sweet peas

TOPPING
1 egg
2lbs. yukon gold potatoes
2tsp coarse sea salt
3/4 cup half and half (I use fat free)
1 tsp.black pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup - 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (NOT IN THE CAN-ewww)

Preheat oven to 400
In skillet on med-high, add 1 T butter, onions, carrots, green peppers and the mushrooms if you use them. Saute' till onions are brown. Then add the garlic and fresh thyme leaves and cook a few minutes. Then add the ground beef and break it up as you brown it. After it's brown, add the canned tomatoes (paste and others) and the peas and bay leaves. Cover and cook 10 minutes on low. Season with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaves and pour into 9 x 13 casserole.

Topping: Boil potatoes with 1 tsp of salt till tender. Drain the potatoes and put back on heat to dry them, shake while drying. Mash the potatoes, add half and half and butter. Season to taste and add the egg and Parmesan. Spread evenly on top of the casserole. Bake about 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through and the top is slightly brown. I serve it with big hot biscuits. Enjoy!

SUNFLOWERS and a quick kitchen update!

Yesterday, my thoughtful husband and I took the Jeep by ourselves (YES, remarkably sans children!) to a couple sunflower fields a friend of his told him about. It really brightened my day. How can anyone, ANYONE ever be a bit gloomy while looking at that sea of happy SUNNY FACES! I just loved them all. Something about a flower that's as big as you and it's bloom is bigger than your head just makes me grin!

Last week I woke up one morning with a twinge in my ear and another little twinge in my OTHER ear. So I didn't think much of it. 24 hours later, I was feverish and miserable! Even on the pain medicine I take for my back pain, it sure hurt like heck! I went to Expresscare and was given drops and an oral antibiotic but by Tuesday, my jaw was sooooo out of line that I talked completely like Carol Channing. You know, the lady with the lamb puppet called LAMBCHOP? I don't have the best voice anyway, it's a bit Minnie Mouse-ish. It's okay, I'm a big girl and can pull up my big girl panties and admit it. So then I sounded like Carol Channings mutated lamb-ouse. Pretty funny considering I really couldn't hear either. I went at least 24 hours with almost complete silence minus the sound of my blood pumping and my breathing. Not looking forward to that ever again. I struggled to speak with the sweet mentally challenged gentleman at physical therapy. I really couldn't hear him and I don't think he could understand my speech! Finally, one of the aides came to his rescue and told him I couldn't hear him. He then gave me a sly and knowing grin 'cause I guess we were both sorta sitting in the same boat!

AND ON THE KITCHEN FRONT:   Matt has put 3 coats of satin poly on the cabinets and we painted the nobs.  Now there is only about 3/4 more of the kitchen cabinets to do!  LOL  On the upside...the reclaimed wood for the island and desk are supposed to be delivered tomorrow morning at 9:00 am!  I'll post photos tomorrow, so check back!  PLUS*** an awesome recipe for THE BEST SHEPARDS PIE!!!  It's totally DELISH~!!!

WHINNER

What is it about September that totally kicks my butt? I'm always way behind in September. I'm always way behind the other 11 months too but September feels like a special drowning in being behind month. And I usually don't do anything about it either. I KNOW all these things I need to do in September and it should move gracefully like freshly oiled gears gently clicking into each other. The pattern of so many things: school, dance, religious Ed, etc. all start again and I should find solace in the constancy. I. Do. Not. It's mid September, I need to open the door and step IN!

This door is at one of my favorite photo shoot sites...love it!

My sister finally erased the "schools out for the summer" happy quote on the chalkboard wall behind my computer desk. I just couldn't do it. I'd walk by it quickly in the morning with my coffee so I wouldn't feel it's false cheerfulness. Instead she wrote a lovely Walt Disney quote that seems to be apropos: "The way to get started is to stop talking and start doing!"

क्रेजी people

एस फॉर सम रासों माय ब्लॉग इस नो टाइपिंग इन हिन्दी, दोन'टी आस्क में वही! इ'ल हवे तो फिगुरे थिस आउट! अन्य्वय, हियर'स अ कूल लिंक तो अ नात लिटिल गेम!

http://emailsfromcrazypeople.com/

Okay for some freaky reason, my blog was totally written in Hindi this morning. I'm sure ALL my Hindi friends were THRILLED but unfortuantely, I don't speak or write Hindi or any other language and I'm lucky I have a relative grasp on English. So I'm glad I got that fixed! I hope I wasn't writing some incredibly inappropriate things because honestly I'm not familiar with the culture. I am of Polish descent and you can certainly tell a Polish joke around me without me being offended, or a blonde joke for that matter, considering mine comes from a bottle. I don't offend easily so I hope it wasn't offensive!

Anyway, check out that CRAZY link up there, the emails from crazy people one....it was cracking me up and I don't know about you but I could use a laugh or two.

BLACK CABINETS!!!

These aren't even all the way dry but I had to pop some of my dishes in their to take a peek of what it might look like. I quickly took the stuff back out so it won't stick! I am totally lovin' them! That little piece of trim at the top will get painted too but poor Matt has realized now that he may have to repaint the whole kitchen when he gets done because the black paint is bleeding through the painters tape! EEEEKK. I'm still going to stick with my pale buttery yellow walls when that time comes because I still love it! I really love how the bits of blue paint are peeking out here and there, I distressed where the knobs will go more heavily because that's how it would be naturally anyway. I think these open shelves are going to be so convenient and open up the cabinets because since they are dark it could have had a tendency to be DARK. ;-) Luckily we have a very sunny kitchen and family room area so I don't think that will ever be a problem.

We are going to repaint all of our brass knobs with a hammered aluminum finish spray paint. I've already tested it on my towel holder in the first photo at the
left and it worked beautifully! That sure will save us oodles of cash. The kids are having a fit because all of our appliances are stainless except our fridge, which is still off-white. It's a 17 year old Amana and doesn't show any signs of slowing down, THANK GOD! This currently one income family wouldn't be too happy if we had to get a new one! Well the kids would be happy but what do they know!

If you've been wondering about my back, I'll give you an update. If not, you can stop reading now! LOL I'm still going to physical therapy 2-3 times a week. I've been going over a year now and I love those ladies there! Sometimes it what keeps me semi-sane. I'm still having tremendous pain issues in my lumbar and considering we are now 4 months post-op I'm wondering how much could truly be post-operative pain. It's doubtful to me. I'm still keeping the one day on one day off schedule of activity. The days off, I basically spend the majority of it laying down (which is where I get the most relief) and the other days I still have to spend a couple hours laying as well. So yeah, I'm basically a total slug!

Our distressed kitchen cabinets!

I'll post more on this in a bit, later today...Come on back in a while!

Progress and a Peytonism

Matt used his handy saws-all and got rid of the middle strip in this large cabinet where we keep our plates and glasses and other often used stuff. These two cabinets are just going to be open shelving. Again this blue (Okeechobee Haze) is the primer and then we'll be painting them black and distressing them so the blue peek a boo's here and there :-) !

Here's my hard working man putting these cool corbels up to support the shelves because they no longer have the middle support plus don't they look so much cooler? The corbels and the shelves are also going to get primed too. But I thought you might want an update. All of our plates and glasses are all over the counters right now so don't mind the mess.

Here's the island the he did over the weekend. We originally had doors on both sides (which could have been convienent) but since we have stools there we never really used the second set. I'm LOVING how my honey has transformed the island! It's going to look chunkier and just so much more fun!
Now I'm debating if we should do it black like the rest of the cabinets or white (and distressed with the blue showing here and there). Regardless it's going to have a different top then the other counters. Our reclaimed boards are currently being kiln dried and the owner of the company is going to drop them off next Monday on his way to Manhattan to work on a restaurant. Matt's going to make them into the island top. They're old hard white pine. I CAN'T wait to see the boards!

PEYTONISM!

Last week, Peyton and I had a couple errands to run and we needed to get some supplies for the kids bath now that the floor is done. I needed a new shower curtain and all those kind of accotrements! So we popped by Pier One, where Peyton promptly fell in love with a double pappasan chair. She kept saying she could sleep in it, it was so comfortable, she loved it, it was so pretty...yada yadda yadda. I assured her that she would NOT be getting it as a bed. Finally she picked out a $1.99 loofa soap holder thingy that will match her new bath. As we get up to the register she says to me, "Actually, can I just get that bed instead!?" Like that was an even swap! Goofy girl!

CHHHHANGES and it's my birthday and I can be happy if I want to!

Matt took off some of the cabinet doors in preperation for the primer. I'm really tired of our current cabinet color. I really like natural wood finishes but we've had these natural oak long enough. It's starting to look so orangey to me...and I love orange but not like this. Our first house had natural pecan cabinets and they were so lovely, I still miss them! Anyway, as I said in a previous post, we are going to prime them in a medium robin egg blue then paint them in an eggshell black. Then we'll distress them some so you can see the robin egg blue through in the distressed spots. I say we when I mainly mean Matt, but you get the picture! LOL I think we are going to leave the doors off of the cabinet where our plates and glasses are and trim out the edges and just have them as open shelving. My sister gave me those AWESOME numbered coffee mugs that I'm totally and completely in love with for my birthday. The island and the desk area are going to be primed in the blue and painted white and have the same distressing technique. We found a really cool company with re-claimed wood for our island top and desk top. That'll be so exciting! They are in West Virginia but he's doing an entire bar in Manhattan so is going to deliver it for free because he'll basically be driving right by! Cool ;-)

At this age, my birthdays aren't so exciting anymore, LOL. But yesterday we went antiqueing in Havre de Grace, MD. That's one of my favorite things to do. I got a couple of those white bowls there and I went back to my friend Bob's place and bought a measuring cup I've been eyeing. It's just a clear measuring cup by Fire King with a hint of blue to it. It's at the bottom of the first picture hidden partially by the cabinet divider. I don't know why that measuring cup has been calling my name!

I'm guessing that my 39th year can only be better than my 38th year so I'm looking forward to it. I'm thinking happy thoughts!

I LOVE this and a yummy recipe!

HEY all FLEA MARKET-TEERS!!! WELCOME!!!  One of my favorite finds is this old chippy milk crate.  It's holds mason jars now, sometimes put flowers in them, sometimes I put my silver ware and napkins for a party....they are just too much fun!



This is the kids bathroom tile before Matt grouted it today. We used black grout and it looks awesome, very graphic. PLUS it's ALREADY BLACK! Just kidding! The kids bathroom before had white grout, like the rest of our bathrooms so it required MEGA-STORE proportions of bleach cleaner to keep it semi clean looking. I forgot a before photo but let's just say it was the cookie cutter house white bathroom tile. I really don't mind it but this is definately more fun!

I've been saving box-tops all summer. You may remember my semi-obsession with them last school year. I'm like one of those coupon people that buy stuff JUST because they have the coupon for it. Well not quite that bad but almost. If you look closely in that middle ball jar, you'll see my stack of box tops. I've had this milk crate for about a year and a half and I'm still in love with it. And YES, I did get it from my friend Bob at the YE OL'CURIOSITY SHOPPE. Okay the box tops leads me to the cake in a curcuitous way. You see I was reading the box top website and checking out the recipes and I came across this KEY LIME COCONUT CAKE. I ended up making it fat free except for the coconut and it sure didn't taste fat free! I'm going to link you to the recipe but I want you to know I substituted fat free cool whip and fat free sweetened condensed milk. I also brushed all the layers with a bit of just lime juice before I frosted them with the yummy, delicious and ohhhh so sinful tasting frosting! http://www.boxtops4education.com/Recipes/RecipeDetail.aspx?CatId=335&rid=7919

pony party

 
 
 
 
Peyton went to a VERY cool B-day yesterday for her friend Jordyn. It was a pony party at an equestrian center. She had so much fun! Here are a couple pics I snapped.

I've been dieting a bit, just basically trying to eat more healthy, tons of pro-biotics and anti-oxidants. I feel like with my spinal degeneration stuff happening, I should at least get the rest of me healthy! Plus loosing a few lbs can only help my back of course! Anyway, today on FB I came across this website that I figure I'll try to look at everytime I want to eat. Believe me, I think it will be an automatic appetite control! Check it out...if you dare! www.thisiswhyyourefat.com

Matt's grouting the kids bathroom right now. I'll post pics of that later. We are going to go very classic black and white and then pop it with a color (Callie is thinking CHARTRUESE - [okay I know I didn't spell that right], which is cool with me!) Then I'm going to put 3 black and white photos of the dogs on the walls and use a cool etsy store I found that does VERY matte wall decals so they really look like paint. I think I'm going to do the quote that's something like, "Lord, help me be the person my dog thinks I am". Just a bit of morning inspiration for the kids everyday! LOL

We also took the plunge and bought the paint for the kitchen cabinets yesterday. It's a soft black by Behr called, Beluga. Which kinda makes me laugh because Beluga's are not black, unless they are talking about the Beluga caviar which has never and will never pass this chick's lips!

Project Updates ;-)

Hey I changed my blog layout! I hope you like it! It's from Smitten Designs, I LOVE it! I still need to work on getting the title photo moved a tad to the right but I don't know if I'll ever get it right! LOL



These photos were taken in my backyard. I LOVE that orange butterfly. We always get the yellow swallow tails and then the pretty black ones with the bright blue spots and tons of smaller brown ones with white spots. But I've never seen one like this guy there. We have a huge butterfly bush that just attracks them in droves, of course. The other day, my father was sitting on our patio and he asked Matt if he noticed all of the butterflies on the bush. And my husband told him that it's always covered in them. My father then said, "They should call that a BUTTERFLY BUSH". Matt then said that "they do". LOL My father didn't say anything about that! ;-)

Matt and my Dad started re-tiling the kids bathroom...I'll post a photo of that. It's small octagonal white tiles with black diamonds. My Dad said it used to be called "barber shop tile". I'm totally lovin' it!

We had our primer printed for the kitchen cabinets. It's called Okeechobee blue, it's like a Robin Egg blue. We are going to paint them black and distress them here and there so the blue peeks through. I CAN'T wait! So excited! I'll be posting before, during and after photos when we (Matt) start.

Yesterday I stopped by my favorite antique store. It's a tiny tiny little shop (It's called the "Ye Ol' Curiosity Shoppe"). The owner is a sweet Vietnam Veteran that you either like or you don't. He's more than a bit eccentric and I think he might be a hoarder. Well, I'm sure he's a hoarder. You can't really walk into the store. You just kinda walk in and look as far as your eyes can see because you can't walk more than 4 feet from the front door. But you just ask him for certain things and he has a huge mental inventory. Yesterday I scored a YELLOW wooden Coca Cola crate that Cole has been looking for forever. (Yes, my kids like to go antiqueing too...it's a bit weird probably but I always like to go with my parents too!) So I made Cole's day!

You HAVE to check out this link...I never get political but it's too cute not to share! It stars a dog! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XivhwO_zWWg

Meet Smitty and a story about Cosmo and a duct tape couch.

Here's little pudgy Smitty. He's just so squishable and almost kissable but not quite! My sister Brandy and I and our Dad took the kids to Ye Old Swimming Hole...LOL It's a place called Jerusalem Mill (remember I went their with Steph awhile back). They had so much fun as usual and I just got to chill out and enjoy the kids. Grace named him Smitty immediately. Pretty funny name.
Tuesday (the J-Mill day) was the one year anniversary of my first surgery. Wow, what a year! I've had better years but I've had worse years too. It's all good! Although I really have to think hard about which years were the more difficult years, lol~!

I wanted to share a site with you if you don't already know about it that just makes me laugh... http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

So sweet Mr. Cosmo has been so good lately. So like total idiots, we thought he'd be fine with not crating him when we weren't home. Levi of course was a no go. Not an option. Probably never will be an option. Cosmo proved to us that he was WORTHY of not being crated when we left. For almost two weeks he had free reign with Macy and acted like a complete angel. Granted during the week I'm home almost ALL the time, you know I HAVE to hold down the couch. Anyway. He never once showed any little inkling of getting into anything. Obviously he was just waiting till our comfort zone got big and cozy. Then. It. Happened. The kids and I went swimming over Tina's Tiki Bar Pool and Resort. (It's actually my friend Tina's pool but doesn't that sound oh so much more glamorous?) Her pool is heated and is salt water so it's SO good for my back to just hang from a noodle. We were gone about 3 hours and we left kongs filled with cheese and dog biscuits for our fur babies to keep them happy and occupied.
Cosmo found another FUN way to occupy his time. He pulled off all three cushions of our leather couch and tore into the fabric on the bottom side of them( THANK GOD). He then meticulously ripped chunk upon chunk and bit upon bit of foam from them and coated the new family room carpet with a fun and cushy layer of foam. He had his very own foam pit! FUN! The kids and I had to squeeze as much foam back into the cushions and then form bases of the cushions with duct tape. It looks fabulous. I may go into the upholstery business because I obviously have talent in making a couch cushion from duct tape. Guess where Cosmo goes now when we are not home?

Keep Calm and Carry On

My blog title is what's currently on my chalkboard. It's from a British sign that was prevelant during one of the world wars but I think it's relevant anytime! Dang, I wish my kids would keep CALM. LOL This sweet and lovely water lily was smiling up at me from our pond on Saturday. I think it might be the most lovely one we've ever had!

I posted a photo of my husband's other woman last year. He was holding her like a baby on the couch watching tv. Now she is totally making the moves on my man. This is what I have to compete with. She's lovely, has gorgeous eyes like dark dove chocolate. Her hair glistens with russet highlights. Her body is sleek and toned and while athletic, she still has the grace of a princess and the regal bearing of one as well. She allows us to live in her dog house. How can I ever compare?

Stephanie is going to kill me for posting this photo. Especially since I haven't photo shopped it at all, although I'm the one needing the photo shop here. I'm getting a little Mt. Kilamanjaro over there by one of my eyebrows and look at those wrinkles! It's one of those extreme closeups where you hold the camera out...so yeah at least I think we look better in person! Several weeks ago, we took the kids swimming in a stream and
Steph and I just hung out. She is just the most wonderful friend that anyone could ask for and I can get teary-eyed thinking of the zillions of ways I'm thankful for her. She just had a B-day and we haven't celebrated yet, so I wanted to say happy Birthday Stephanie...I haven't forgotten!

Power of suggestion?

Yes, I'm sweet and petite. See me over there! Well, we are all friends here, right? 5 7 1/2 isn't petite. And I really have not been sweet at all lately. This whole not working, pain thing just isn't doing it for me. Yeah, so I've had more than my share of pity parties and especially lately since the pain's been back. But, I woke up today and shoook off that funk! And you know what, I felt better about my life. So if you've spent time with me this week...sorry! :-)

Since I'm not working and Matt and I are constantly fussing with this and that around the house, my lack of income has hindered more than a few projects. Also take into consideration that I really feel like some how my 3 kids feel like I'm feeding a small army when it comes to the grocery store. Is it just me, or do kids snack more now than we did? I REALLY don't remember having snacks like my kids (and their peers from what I hear~ Gosh, I sound like Dr. Seuss). Anyway, I've been just moving stuff around the house to keep me happy. Just little changes here and there. This hooray flash card was on one of my magnet boards but I moved it to the kitchen sink. You know, the whole power of suggestion thingy. That's where I have my little family but I moved "me" next to my antique flower frog w/hoooray sign so I'd look likea cute little Vanna White or something. Can't you imagine my little wooden arm in a sleek movement that showcases the letters? I revamped the foyer last spring but I just took a picture because you have to have something to look at, right? I'm really dying to spruce up the powder room and we have plans to paint the kitchen cabinets plus there is a REALLY fun little piece of outdoor furniture reading nook/covered bench that my very talented husband has drawn plans up for me.

Speaking of reading, I've decided my forced semi-restful lifestyle has really fed my book obsession. This is the whole, honest truth. Since last Saturday (it's Friday night now) I've finished a Barbara Delinsky book (Looking for Peyton Place) and read James Patterson's "When The Wind Blows" and it's sequel, "The Lake House", as well as Sara Gruen's (of "Water For Elephants" fame) "Riding Lessons". It's sick. I need help. Readers Anonymous or something.

This last shot is little Mr. Hammer. He's my dear friend Stephanie's new fur-nephew. He's just a doll! She brought him over for me to meet him and Levi and I fell deep in looooove. I put Macy and Coz outside because it would have been too overwhelming for him. He's just 10 weeks. SWEET!

just stuff and a recipe!

I thought maybe I'd share some of my favorite things(right now) with you. You know, like Oprah or something! :-)

This chalkboard-magnet board is in my kitchen. The frame is from an antique store, last summer I had my father cut some MDF board out and I first painted it with MAGNETIC PAINT (super cool stuff but not cheap) then I painted it with chalkboard paint. I plopped it in the frame and voila'! Of course I write extremely thought provocing or super cool quotes. NOT! It's usually something simple like what's on there right now. The sign above it is a fav too! I think I may have posted a pic of this last summer when I did it. If so, sorry for the repeat!

Our crepe myrtle is blooming and it's just gorgeous! So I lopped off some blooms and stuff them in this cheap pitcher. It's all sitting on a really awesome french wire tray and stand I got at Pier One at the summer clearance! YEAH!

My pergola that Matt and our friend Curt (www.wadecontractors.net) made after my father designed it. I know I've shown you before but now it's painted. Matt does have to replace that one piece of trim with wood instead of white, but oh well. I'm not in love with my chairs, I really like the other chairs (they are going to Goodwill) but when we figured out how much it would be to recover the seat to make them outdoor friendly, it was easier to just go buy these at Target. BUT I still think the others looked better :-)

Our fish, I LOVE these fish!

Okay, here's the recipe. It's from another blog so I'm going to give her credit of course. http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/2009/06/23/spinach-artichoke-alfredo-dip/ I know everyone has a spinach/artichoke dip but this one is better! LOL I swear it is awesome. You do have to roast garlic cloves in your oven first (VERY important for the flavor) But I just open the whole garlic thingy (don't really know what that is called, you know the white thing with the roots sticking out) and pour a little EVOO on it and put the little foil wrapped bit of goodness in the oven. I didn't think I'd like roasted garlic because I'm not a garlic fan, you'll NEVER see me order scampi. BUT Cole and I were smearing the extra buttery roasted garlic cloves on Townhouse crackers....oh my gawd! YUMMMMY!

THIS is DIRECTLY from her site in her own words. It's a FABULOUS blog you must visit!

Artichoke & Spinach Dip Restaurant Style
4 cloves garlic
1 (10 ounce ) package frozen chopped spinach ~ thawed, drained…I pretty much squeeze all the moisture out !
1 (10 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (app. 10 ounce) jar Alfredo style pasta sauce(I used red pepper alfredo sauce)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese- softened
*Preheat oven to 350*
*Place garlic in small baking dish wrapped in foil. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, until soft. Remove from heat. When cool enough to touch, squeeze softened garlic from skins. (It will be soft and a bit mushy) ***Don’t eliminate this step…it adds so much flavor.
*Mix all ingredients and put into a 8×8 inch baking dish (or something close to this!)
*Cover and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until cheeses are melted and bubbly! Serve warm with crackers or french bread slices…YUMALICIOUS!