*On the Mend*

It's been 5 days since my gall bladder surgery and I'm surprised that I'm still feeling as down as I do.  Don't get me wrong, I'm WAY better than I was over the weekend, but I'm not 100% yet.....maybe 70%.  I still tire very easily, my incisions are still sore and now ITCHY.....and my voice is still hoarse.

I have to say that I am enjoying my time away from my job.  Things are weird there right now and I'm glad to be away from it for even the short time that I am.  It's been nice to sleep in, it's been nice to take my time with reading the newspaper and having that cup of coffee, it's been nice to have the house to myself while the ones I live with are off to work and school.  It's been nice to have my kitties surround me with their attention while I've been home (a couple of them camp out where I do) and I've enjoyed staying up late trying to get caught up with what I have on our DVR and starting some new books.

I'm hopeful that I'll feel well enough by Friday to go see "The Hunger Games" with Fred and then sometime over the weekend,  all three of us will go see "Wrath of the Titans".

The weather has been fabulous and had I not been recuperating from surgery, I would have definitely been out in my gardens.  They are in desperate need of attention.  The per-emergent/lawn fertilizer that we put down on our lawn a few weeks ago really did it's job.....we've already had to mow the yard and right now it looks like green velvet.   I can't wait to feel good enough to get outside and do some gardening!

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

Fred and I thought it was finally time for us to have a grown up bar to hold our liquor, wine and various wine and cocktail glasses.  Prior to finding the cabinet, we didn't really have an organized spot for any of it and kept it where we could find room.  I had been looking for some type of a cabinet  that would match our kitchen and I found the perfect thing at Amazon.  I even got free shipping....Yay!

It fits the space perfectly and the top surface holds our wire cork holder, our Oster battery operated wine opener, a cute little "wine" sign I found, a ceramic Emeril's restaurant front I bought in New Orleans and a small topiary.  It sits below our Charles Wysocki "Ethel the Gourmet" print that has graced someplace in our home for years.  I also ordered the white Bon Appetit wall word online to go on the wall over the print.

Behind the left cabinet door is our liquor, usually a couple of different types of rum or vodka, the middle shelf holds martini glasses and has a nine bottle wine rack and behind the right cabinet door is our wine glasses, margarita glasses and our cocktail shaker.  It also has three drawers that hold wine stoppers, flasks, bar utensils, etc.

It looks great and is serving it's purpose perfectly!  Couldn't be happier!

Meow

This is one of the projects I worked on while at my annual scrapbook retreat weekend.  I just finished it up the other night and think it turned out cute!

In homage to our cats......

I used a KI Memories album that I had purchased on clearance quite a while ago and used various KI Memories embellishments with some other fun kitty things thrown in. I used my computer for the titles and some of them word blocks I used a pop dot to give a bit more dimension.

Thanks for looking and letting me share!

A Christmas Project

Yes, I know we're almost half way through February, but I'm just came across the photos I took of a Christmas project I did.  I had been looking for some type of a Christmas card holder that didn't include stringing them across a doorway or wall.  A friend of mine gave me a Vera Wang Eau de Toilet set that came in a beautiful white box a couple of years ago and I never through the box away.  I have a stash of things like this in one of our closets that I think I might do something crafty with.

I decided this book would be the perfect Christmas card holder, so I raided my scrapbooking stash and came up with a Jolee's Boutique Gingerbread House embellishment that I've had forever and some Christmas ribbon.

It worked perfectly for what I wanted and it didn't cost me anything but my time!

Thanks for peeking in and letting me share!

The Master

It look me forever to find bedding that I liked.  Everything that's been in style for the past few years just hasn't  been what I wanted.  Sure, if I could afford to spend thousands of dollars, I could probably find exactly what I want, but I don't have that kind of money to spend.

When we were at IKEA last September, I did purchase a plain white duvet insert because I liked being able to pick the thickness, but I didn't see any covers that I liked.  A month or so later I was at Target when I came across THIS and I loved the color, so from that I was able to finish the room.  I decided to pair the purple/plum with a sage green.

If you look close enough you'll see that our Tucker has staked his claim and this bedroom is HIS.  It's his lair and unless the other cats have approval from him, he doesn't like them in HIS bedroom...lol  He will chase them off.....especially Oreo!

All of the furniture we've had.  We bought the oak bedroom set a few years ago and the bookcase on the side of the bed is actually a re-purposed pantry.  That came from our old house and we used it as a pantry is our so very small kitchen.  I needed a book case in our bedroom, so off came the book and hinges and ta-da......a bookcase.

This is where I store books I haven't read yet, or that I'm going to keep.  The basket next to the bookcase came back with me from Negril, Jamaica and the hat box on the bottom shelf has eleventy billion buttons that I've kept from my clothing since forever.  Both the lamp and the mirror were spray painted plum to coordinate with the room.  The little heart shaped 3 tiered stand is for Fred's alarm and where he can put his nook, glasses and water.

We also have a large window seat within a large bay window with a palladium window above the bay window.  I bought some nice window shades a couple of years ago in a very neutral color so they would blend with whatever I decided to do with the room.

 

I found pillows at both Target and Pier1 to line the window seat.  I wanted different colors and textures in the pillows.  I also found these cool vases at Target and filled them with some silk flowers from Pier 1.

This is my corner of the bedroom.  I have a nightstand and a ladder bookshelf (re-purposed from the family room years ago).  The nightstand is kind of a catch all for my stuff.  I've told Fred that if I drop dead, he needs to go through the nightstand.  :)  The ladder bookshelf had more paper books that I haven't read yet.  It also displays pictures of my mother and my maternal grandparents.  Although you can't really see it, there is also a glass cat plate that my mother gave me for Christmas at least 20 years ago and I love it!  She gave me two of them and the other one is in the family room on display.

I have baskets on top of my nightstand for my nook, the remotes and my reading glasses.  Both lampshades on the lamps came from Target, but I wish I would have bought the other ones I had in my hand....too bad.....too late.  :(

Thanks for letting me share a bit of where I hang out.

LOOKIE!

Sorry it's taken me so long to post the "after" picture of our new foyer ceiling light.  This is much more in tune with the rest of the house.  We got it at Lowe's and it was super super reasonable in price.  I love the design and how it looks where it is, but it doesn't throw off the same brightness of light that the other one did and that took some time to get used to.  The hallway has another very plain dome light and we did replace that with virtually the same dome light only in brushed nickel rather than gold and if we need more light there, we can turn that on.

Last weekend I FINALLY painted our master bedroom.  It's been contractor white for almost 8 years.  I just had no clue what I wanted to do with it.  When we moved, I didn't buy new bedding.  We had a white, forest green and purple floral Waverly print that I liked, so I continued to use it because I wanted to focus on other areas of our new house for decorating.  Our bedroom wasn't a big priority....I was just so happy to have more than one bathroom now...lol!  A couple years later, the bedding was starting to look worn, so I did replace it was a nice set from JC Penney's and I went with a bronze, gold and teal (what was I thinking?) heavy tapestry look.......it was very rich looking but I got tired of it fast and it snagged and pilled something awful, but we lived with it for another 5 years.  Last summer I decided I wanted to change it.  I had finished what I wanted to do in the rest of the house as far as decorating went, and was ready to do some wall color.

I wasn't going to paint the whole room because the room has 18 foot high ceiling and it would be a PITA to paint and the Sherwin Williams Dover White isn't a bad white, so I decided to paint the biggest wall behind our bed a coordinating color once I found bedding........little did I know that would be easier said then done.

To be continued.........

Ugly Isn't It?

Well, it's no longer there.........after almost 8 years in this house, we finally bought something nicer and not as ugly.  I can't believe it took me this long to replace it.  We've replaced almost every fixture in this house and this one is right at the front door.....

Stay tuned.....

Should I start this back up again?

I quit blogging last year because I was finding it was become a chore, but I think I'm going about it wrong.  Rather than viewing it as an obligation, I guess I should take the attitude of posting when I feel like it.  Maybe some weeks it will be multiple times, maybe not.

So, we'll see how this goes for awhile.......again.....

Happy 4th of July!

From our home to yours....wishing you a wonderful holiday celebrating our nation's independence!

For us, it's a day at the pool and a family BBQ.

On the menu - Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Hot Dogs, Corn on the Cob, Cole Slaw, Cheesy Potato Casserole, Bacon/Crab Dip, Crudites and Watermelon.

The Bacon Crab Dip is fabulous!  It's a Paula Deen recipe that I've never had and I made it the other day for a neighbor's party and it was great, so I'm making it again for the family BBQ.

I cheated a bit and used imitation crab and already cooked bacon, but the taste of the dip is still great.  Here's a link to the recipe - Paula Deen's Bacon Crab Dip

Enjoy the day with your family and friends!

A Birthday Dinner

Instead of going out for dinner this year, Fred requested that I make my homemade Chicken Enchiladas for him. I had the foresight to order his favorite Key Lime Pie from Village Inn online and picked it up at lunch time.

I roasted a couple of chicken breasts and shredded the meat in a large bowl. I mixed in a small can of green chiles and chopped black olive. In a skillet, I added a little bit of olive oil, onions and red pepper and cooked them until the onion was caramelized and the pepper was roasted and soft. I added the onion and peppers to the chicken mixture, and topped them with a bit of shredded cheese. I assembled the enchiladas in a baking dish.

Beside the pan of enchiladas I made, I also roasted some bacon wrapped, crab stuffed anaheim peppers and spanish rice with olives.

and for dessert.......key lime pie.

Fred loved everything and had a very good birthday!