Random Thoughts and Gorgeous Rooms 4/10/2012

Just so you know, I'm going to be having a giveaway this month—April. If you want to be entered you must be a follower. It's only fair to the people who follow me on a regular basis. Ooooh, and you really do NOT want to miss my giveaways. ;-) It will be something I'm working on at the moment. Something crafty. Something very, very pretty. Trust me on this. You've been warned!
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Hubs and I are so excited!! We found out last night our granddaughter is going to have another baby at the end of this year. We are over the moon excited to have another addition to our family of great-grands.

I'm a great-grandmother with bragging rights and want to show this video of Caroline and her kitties. You don't have to view it; however, if you wish to view it, just click. It's about five and a half minutes long so it's your prerogative to not view it.

Caroline and Kitty Love. She absolutely loves them, as does her mummy. Our granddaughter is a huge animal lover. She would just as soon let her arm go numb before she'd move a kitty off of it. This is true as her hubby told us this story.

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To me, this is a dream bedroom. The artist, whose house this is, is one of the sweetest women with whom I've ever communicated. I love this room, absolutely love it.

Eye candy. I have some similar file folders and am afraid to use them because they are so pretty. Ridiculous, I know.

This is elegant and very well organized. I only wish I could have such a darling space as this one.

Another idea for vintage doors if you can't put them in your home. Put them on your patio.

I have some plates almost identical to these. They are gorgeous when seen in real life instead of this internet.

I was drawn to this photo because of the color.

Okay, I think the home is lovely, but could we not have smelly sheep in the front yard. I think the backyard would be best. ;-)

Beautiful vibrant colors. I love red and purple together and this homeowner has done it magnificently.

A beautiful arbor to walk through.

Can you just imagine the scent of these roses as you walk or drive through this sweet area?

Looks to me like a cottage on the central California coast.

While I like green, it isn't my favorite color, but this kitchen is simply stunning.

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Random Thoughts:

Famous last words: "Moooom, Daaaad, I'm not a child anymore; I'm thirteen, ya know, and know what I'm doing." Which means they have absolutely no clue what they are doing.
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Never, ever say to your wife: Those shoes look cute on you; they make your feet look smaller.
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Have you ever thanked your garbage men for the utterly smelly and obnoxious job they have? We have and they were dumbfounded. But when you think about it, who in the world would want to have one of the most obnoxious jobs in the world? Go out and thank him or leave him a note or, better yet, a box of candy!
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There's a fine line between tan and looking like you rolled in a bag of Doritos.
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The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

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Photos courtesy of tumblr and pinterest.

Stealing Snickers Bars

Love Bunny and I were having lunch at home recently, which is where we have it when I can't talk him into eating out. :-( We had gone grocery shopping earlier to pick up a few things (Hah!! A few things cost me $79.35 that day.) and even with only 3 things on my list to buy, it always gets out of hand, let me tell ya!

Anyway, I bought a Milky Way Caramel bar for me and a Snickers bar for him as I usually do once in a while. We were eating lunch and he told me to stop eating half of his Snickers bar. I thought I'd replace it before he found out. Guilty! (It's the 2 bars in one wrapper kind.) Then he proceeded to tell me I'm not re-wrapping it properly. I just looked at him dumbfounded. Huh?! I get in the fastest way I can when I'm needing a chocolate fix, and how I'm supposed to open the candy bar is the farthest thing from my mind. He said I'm supposed to tear it down the side and then twist the wrapper to keep it fresh. Noticing my befuddled look, he continued and that's where the fun began. I had a mouthful of macaroni and cheese and almost choked from laughing and almost spit it across the table at him. He then knew why. Looking at me losing it he said, "Oh, I forgot—with you there is no 'keeping it fresh'." Since I wasn't able to stop laughing, I just kept nodding my head yes. The man knows me well after almost 51 years of marriage. And apparently he still loves me even when I steal half of his Snickers bar in the middle of the night. If that ain't love, what is? ;-)
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I have used this gorgeous fabric for pillows but this sofa looks beautiful also.

I'm not into rustic much but I could definitely live here. It's beautiful. Elegant Rustic or Rustic Elegance?

What to do when you find a good deal on vintage doors.

A place to daydream.

Another idea for decorating vintage items you find. I've done this to a bedside table and it's gorgeous.

Eye candy! Claudia, you could store all your knitting/crocheting yarn in here beautifully.

I also have a stash of this beautiful pink fabric.

A sweet garden room to fix your plants in for the season.

A Mackenzie-Childs style table and chairs.

I find this coffee table absolutely exquisite. I'd love a top like that.

I love this idea. Darling and inexpensive to make with scraps of fabric around a coat hanger and add a pretty ribbon for a hanger. Put on any door even.

A cottage you might like to visit for a vacation.



I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan my day. But I try my best to do something to lift at least one person up each day.
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Photos courtesy of tumblr and pinterest.

My Journey in Decorating for Pink Saturday 4/7/2012

Today is another Pink Saturday so click on over to Beverly's blog for all the participants of this wonderful meme.
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In the 1980s I was working for one of the very top Fortune 500 companies, highest paid woman, and loving it. Great company, great people who were very supportive, just a great job and, as I said, just absolutely loved doing what I did. I had found my niche in the working world.

I also loved being home and decorating my home.

When we got married we got hand-me-downs from my parents. They were going to move just after we married so they gave us a living room sofa, chair, lamps, tables, a dinette set, two beds and a dresser. It wasn't very elegant but it was very nice furniture and since it came from my parents I knew it was clean and good quality.

Our next furniture, or actually the first furniture we purchased, was a beautiful sofa and chair that was what I called Mexican Colonial. Our neighbors loved it. It was very unique and gorgeous. When we next bought new furniture, it was green avocado velvet but it was in vogue then. I cringe when I think about it now. In the 80s that sofa was recovered in a burgundy fabric. It lasted us several years.

Also in the eighties I discovered crafting. My hubby was thrilled that I had found a hobby since I worked. I didn't feel deprived at all but a whole new world opened up to me with crafting. And that also changed the way I decorated my home.

I then started stenciling my walls. My living room walls I stenciled with a beautiful and intricate design of flowers. Some of my stencils were very pricey, in the eighty dollar range. And if you have any doubts about what I'm telling you, look below at these gorgeous stencils that she sells on her website. Her name is Jan Dressler. I bought stencils from her back in the 80s. She is absolutely the best stencil designer I'm ever, ever seen. Her work is outstanding as seen below on two of her stencils. Going to her website is a visual treat on what you can do with rooms in your home. Do not doubt me on this one. I'm an excellent stenciler and my walls were gorgeous with her stencils. When I was stenciling I was in a world of my own. I loved doing it, and I would still be stenciling if my body allowed it. It isn't the arms or shoulders that get tired; it's the standing on the ladder in hiking boots that started to kill me. (How in the world have I got off topic here?!)


Anyway, I had changed from the fifties furniture of my parents to Mexican Colonial to (shudder) seventies avocado—and with it all the horrid visuals that style brings to mind—to Country in the eighties. I loved Country at that time. But then I discovered formal elegance and that struck me as nothing else could. This is my all-time favorite room. I love this room, absolutely adore this room. I've counted eleven different fabrics in this room. If I could duplicate it, I would absolutely do it.

But then in the late nineties and into this new century I found romantic and shabby chic. I love that decorating style just about as much as I love that room above. While I prefer a more formal living room, the rest of my house definitely leans more to the shabby chic/romantic style. And that's where it will probably remain for the rest of my life. I don't want an all white room as I love color, especially pink, too much to be void of it in a room. I have yet to see a living room I would choose over the one above.

This is a sweet living room. I don't find wicker especially comfortable though, and comfort is the highest consideration along with being beautiful.

I'm so tired of talking (writing) at this point that I'm not going to say much about the photos. Just enjoy the eye candy I've provided for you.

I do love viewing rooms through a pulled back curtain though. The entrance to my family room is like this.

I have lace on every single window in my home.

A gorgeous way to display lace.

This scene reminds me of a story I'll be sharing with you soon.

Hubby and I have been to these Cliffs of Moher. It is a breathtaking view. You actually look down on the birds flying.

I have debated showing this photo because it almost looks funereal, but it just has a haunting quality about it. I prefer to think of it as ethereal though.

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The word crisp sounds just like it means.
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Photos courtesy of tumblr and pinterest