Lunch with the Chicks at Cafe de Coco

Several weeks ago a group of us chicks went out for a lunch. We never know how many of us will be attending; it's just who shows up, shows up and we have a splendid time. It started with the older gals but we expanded it to include anyone who wants to come. We go to several restaurants in the area choosing a different one each time while trying to find new and interesting places. Enter: Cafe de Coco.

It's a very small restaurant in the downtown part of our city but not just a restaurant. They have a "boutique" of some unique items and antiques they sell. It's really quite cute inside and they have divine sandwiches and salads and DESSERTS! I abstained of course.......

Lots of goodies and pretties for sale in here.

Five different little dining areas.

The girls that participated that day. Lorene in front with long dark hair. Joann with her back to the camera. Darlene on the left with back to the wall. Stacey looking down - probably at HER camera. She's a budding photographer!

Darling little aprons! And we all know how I feel about aprons. Squeeeeeeeeal....

I would love to have that candelabra on the top of that cabinet but couldn't see the price, which makes Love Bunny verrrrry happy.

Lovely cosmetics, creams, soaps and lotions.

Little totes for sale in exotic prints.

Sweet lamp and lampshade by our table. Most of the lighting was lamps by or near the table but there was a skylight in the entry/shop area. This is a small restaurant and shop.

More coming up in a few days.
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Technical Difficulties Abounding Here!!

I'm sorry I haven't been able to get around to Pink Saturday participants or even the Rooster Party! I'm experiencing major technical difficulties since I loaded a new OS onto my desktop. This is what my browser looks like. But I'm not going to bore you with the MAJOR details of what's been happening, but being computer savvy I guess I had to eat a bit of humble pie to experience what some of you chicks have experienced. This, however, was my own stupid(!) fault. Back as soon as possible. Good thing I've prescheduled some posts for the next month or so. Sigh.......

Happy Birthday to ME on Pink Saturday!

Join all the participants on Beverly's Pink Saturday. Happy Pink Saturday to each and everyone one of you.
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Today is my birthday and I've received special things to share with you. Vickie sent me these adorable cards, ephemera and a glittered pink "C" to hang in my other "C" over my bedroom dresser. She is an absolute doll who travels continuously! I swear Texas weeps when that woman leaves the state.

She even knew what kind of Wallies roses I have used in my office. Squeeeeeeeal...


I am so thankful I know this woman.


Isn't this adorable with the glitter "C"?


Then my sweet friend, Katie, sent me one of her spectacular paintings on a box on which she attached a handle because she knows I love to hang things around the house.



Then my friend, Bertie, sent me this little ceramic pot with vintage seam binding. Squeeeeealing with delight! You will want to go see her blog because she is featuring her 180+ years old farmhouse this week. It is truly spectacular to see what Bertie has done with that place. Just exquisite.
It is truly my pleasure to have known these women in my ebay group for 4 years now and some even longer. They lift me up and delight me each day with their caring and humor and stories of grandchildren and life. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart and I truly adore each and every one of you!
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I've been sort of lazy the last several weeks and haven't done all I'd like to have gotten done but here is one thing I did do. I simply stuck a little print into a dollar frame I had painted and put a matte that I had painted from a hideous brown to a glorious blue and then Fun-Tac-ed it to the wall. Easy and fast. Just the way I like it!

Noooo, I have still not finished putting stuff back where it belongs because I just can't find places for it. You would NOT believe how many trips we've made to thrift stores giving things away. And there is still MORE! Anyway, some gals have emailed me asking how it was coming along so I photographed a few pictures to show you. Still haven't gotten the desired wall photo of the mantel and faux fireplace board but I'm getting there.

And lastly, this old stencilled towel I've had for about 20 years. I've used it for a painting rag but it hasn't even gotten thinner through all the years I've "cleaned" with it. Just goes to show you how long stenciling will last on a fabric. Plus the strength of that old fabric!

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Random Thought:

You never want to stand between a woman who has just eaten a quarter of a watermelon and the toilet. Personal experience with Love Bunny..........

Rooster Party

I truly have no idea why I joined this party but I do have an affinity for chickens, cows and bunnies. The former two being regal and the latter one being cute. But I thought I'd show you my chickens and tell you the story. But first of all to visit all participants in this party click here.

I've defied death to get these chickens. Yep. Okay, maybe not death, but several other threats on my life.

These two chickens belonged to my neighbor in another town. I loved those chickens and tried several times to talk her out of them. I loved that lady and she made those herself. No value to them except sentimental. Nope, she wouldn't give them up but she promised me I could have them when she died as she was much older than me. I ended up being her guardian until her death. But another relative of hers—a nasty, cantankerous old man—tried to prevent me from getting them. He had no use whatsoever for them but he was just vindictive. After she died I took them out of her house and hid them in my house. She told me they were mine. He noticed they were missing! Now, I ask you: how many old men would notice ceramic chickens conceived in a ceramics class would even want them?! I moved from there and proudly display them on my plant shelf between my kitchen and living room. They remind me of that lady every time I look at them. Value: priceless. And a pox on that mean man!

When we moved into this house I purchased this rug for our dining room at Lowe's because......I love chickens. DUH! Plus I love red on rugs. But I've been looking for a pink roses rug. Oooh, and I paid for the rug; no nasty old men told me it wasn't mine. ;-)

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On our recent trip to Washington to visit with our granddaughter we passed several farms. It got me to thinking about animals so I asked Love Bunny in all seriousness what animal will continue to eat even after it's full. His answer: humans.

American Men

A true man makes sacrifices in order to honor his commitments. Even though he will give much, the blessings he receives outweigh the sacrifice.
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Put them on an amusement park ride and the testosterone sprays from their ears, man!! Whoooooeee!!!! Let's hear if for th' man and th' son. *Smile*

Future man? Yep, just likes playing with mum's stuff to show what he'll do to men who mess with him - shiners!

They are NOT afraid to "accessorize" when the occasion calls for it. The photo says: "Thanks! I pity the fool who don't like to accessorize!" LOL Cool lil dude!

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Protect me and my family and country to their death if need be! I love our men in uniform. Ronda's son.

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Play with their children and teach them good ol' American sports even at this tender young age.

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I don't see any man in this picture that hasn't removed his hat for the National Anthem. These are men who love their country. And the woman who allowed me to use this photo told me that the man on the right in front was watching a man run up the aisle with his hat on. The man here used his own hat to smack the man and told him to remove his hat. He did. A true american loving man!!! I wish I knew him.

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Teresa's son-in-law and son. You might want to read about her "love" for the son-in-law. A truly inspiring blog.

Her son

Dave who works hard to keep his wife at home for their 2 sons and daughter.

A loving dad to these 2 boys.

Real men absolutely do wear pink. I know this from experience. When my son was in USMC boot camp I had a shirt made for him. It was a pink t-shirt that said "I miss my mom" and he wore it with pride. Real men are not afraid to express their feelings and are comfortable in their masculinity. This is TJ, Sherry's son. TJ, I loooooove the shirt, honey.

This man is my brother-in-law, Love Bunny's brother. He retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 2008 as a Colonel. He teaches at the War College in Pennsylvania. It's funny because he hugs just like my son so you know I have a soft spot for this man doubly because he is a Marine, my hubby's brother and a great American.

American men, we love y'all to pieces!
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New Faux Fireplace Screen

Hubby made this screen for me some weeks ago and since I have a "faux mantle/fireplace" I needed a faux fireplace screen, but I just now found time to decorate it. He keeps taking me to California, Seattle, the wilds of Idaho to camp (more on that soon!) and letting the relatives visit so I've been so tired and busy taking care of those things I've been neglecting the house.

So I ordered some decals on ebay, waited a week for them to arrive and put them on after our return from Seattle. Neither one of us like the decals on the faux fireplace screen so I took them off. I thought they'd be bigger than they actually were and they simply didn't work well on it. I think you'll agree it looks like a shotgun sprayed it.

Since I do much better with fabric I decided to cover it with some shabby roses barkcloth and any other pretty fabric that I had enough of without having to purchase more. (Hubby's kinda weird about all the fabric I have.) I left 2 small decals on the sides but the front I covered with fabric that I wet with liquid starch and "glued" it on with that so it can be taken off easily when I tire of it. (This has been known to happen frequently.) :-) I added some netting to the top and it looks much better than in the photo but I'm going take it off. I don't like it on there much. The fabric and roses and lace can really stand on its own merit. But I thought I'd show you what it looked like at first.

And this is how it finally looks. The picture above was taken at night and these two were taken in full daylight so I wanted to capture them accurately.

I like the final look of it. As is always the case, it looks much prettier in person.
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On our trip to Washington state we saw a bunch of cows lying in pastures—all of them. I asked Love Bunny why they were all lying down and he said they must have been "party hardy animals" who were too pooped to pop. He's such a kidder.
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Shopping in Seattle

Okay, let's just say it wasn't pretty, shall we? Whenever my daughter, granddaughter and I get together they think I have to be "remade" for some reason.

The year Mandy graduated from the UC Berkeley it was the blonde hair dye that did it. I had always promised her that when she graduated college she could change my hair color. Little did I know how that would turn out. I knew when she rinsed it and was toweling me off that the look on her face was not going to make me HAPPY with the new hair color. Plus the fact that she immediately said, "Nana, I'll fix it; I promise." YeppPPPppp, I knew there was going to be trouble when I looked in the mirror. There WAS!! It looked like one of those scary blond guys in the horror movies.

Fast forward five years to the visit to her the first part of august when my daughter, grandson and Love Bunny and I all met up at her house in Washington, near Seattle. Once again they wanted to "change" me—hair color, clothes, shoes, etc.

Now, I love my kids and my only granddaughter but I knew I was in trouble. First, I tried to ignore them. Then it got down right nasty. I told them to leave me alone. They said my hair color needed to be done to eliminate the gray. Hey, God, are you listening: gray isn't the "IN" color anymore. Nuuuuuuu, Clairol had to one-up ya on this one.

Then they said my clothes are too big on me. I told them I'm waiting to drop some more weight until I buy any more clothes. Would they listen? Again, nuuuuuuuu. Mandy said it was going to be her treat.

They dragged me to a store and kept throwing clothes into the fitting room. Stretch, hip hugging, bell bottom jeans, blouses that were clingy under the breasts. They called the jeans "boot-cut" but I have enough cowboys around here in Idaho to know they were NOT "boot-cut" but bell bottoms. Then the bras........ Sigh......... Mandy and I were laughing so hard trying to stuff my.........uhhhhh, top part........into the bra I almost didn't make it to the restroom. When she'd see a "look" she liked she jumped up and down clapping her hands. Now, I ask you, how many of you have had your granddaughter stuff you into your bra. I didn't even want a new bra but they just muttered something about the b**bs needing to be perky and not sit on top of the stomach............Sigh........

Then there was the pedicure. See photo. I'm the one in the middle. Daughter is on left and a friend of my daughter's is on the right. We three had the pedicure; granddaughter had the manicure. Ooooh, and since I wasn't supposed to get my toenail polish scratched they marched me over to a cheap shoe store to buy a $3 pair of flip flops. I liked the pink snazzy color but those things give you NO support walking. I was beat by the time we got home 4 hours later.

Mandy and Nan thinking they're so clever! I may write them outta th' will, chicks.

The very top photo is me after I got home with the new color. . I'm not thrilled with it because it is NOT my natural color but Mandy said it will wash out after 28 washes. So far it's been 12 days and I've washed it 10 times! I want my old color back! Sob........ This is the photo Mandy took of me after the new color, style and makeup job. I do not normally wear eye shadow, eyebrow makeup, blush, eye liner, hoop earrings and my hair is curly (permed) but they straightened it out that night. I'm glad they didn't change my eye color! But they woulda tried, I can assure you!

Some Beautiful Things I Received Lately That Make My Heart Sing!

Recently I helped a fellow blogger with her computer and an application that was giving her fits on her website. I made a few suggestions and she was thrilled. I was more than happy to help her as I do frequently with a lot of people because I'm somewhat computer savvy - somewhat(!). Anyway, for my help she sent the following items to me and I was astounded. I never do anything with the thought that I'll be rewarded and I am astounded at the things I've gotten for helping others.

These have got to be photos of her gorgeous garden.

The following are postcards she's had done from her paintings. Squeeeeeeal.......how fortunate am I to have received them! I spent last night painting some small humble frames to put these into and will hang them on a wall in my shabby chic family room with gratitude and honor. Thank you so very much, Jo-Anne. I've loved admiring her painting from afar for a couple of years now. They are beautiful and I only wish I could paint like that.

Plus a little tag and a sweet bookmark as I absolutely love reading and spend a part of each day with my nose in a book. Reading gets me out of this world for a snippet of time each day and I sooooo need that.

So like a wall I dedicated to Susan Rios when I repainted the house pink, I'm dedicating this wall beside the window in my family room to Jo-Anne. I framed the postcards and fun-tac'd the rest of the little cards she sent me. It looks kind of bare in this photo but it looks very pretty when seen in its entirety with the rest of the room. Isn't that always the case though? ;-)

Since I had 2 extra cards that were the same I tacked them to my laundry room wall under the shelf after I added some vintage handkerchiefs to the little shelf. I also tied a vintage hankie around an old clay pot (too lazy to paint it today) with some faux greenery (my favorite because I can't kill it!) and put that up there also.