Mr. Sun

Well the sun has finally decided that the end of June would be a nice time to drop by for a visit. The past few days have been sunny and "hot" (Washingtonian translation: over 75) We have been at the pool and I now have lots of "color". To the untrained eye it might look pink, but it is actually my "base tan". We took the day off today so that my base tan could have some time to sink in a bit. Seriously, I am more brown than pink, but I did break down and get some sun screen. I know, I know, but I'm a sun worshipping child of the 80's so this is a big step for me. Maybe the next time I'm at the pool, I will actually apply some :0)
One of my favorite "you know it is summer when"'s is appearance of "raccoon eyes". Not the kind caused by running mascara, but the white kind you get from your sunglasses. I usually have "cat eye" shaped circles, but this year I'm rocking the "Jackie O" shades. I figured that the big glasses are at least some protection from the sun.

Life Goal: Pool Mom (check)

Between the ages of 12 and 22 I would spend my summers at the pool. All day everyday, I was either be teaching swimming lessons, lifeguarding or working on my tan. We belonged to a local pool and it was literally my home away from home. One of the most interesting facet of pool life was the "pool mom". Everyday at 1:00 sharp they would enter the gates loaded up with coolers, bags of towel and a flock of kids. Once they signed in, the kids would go screaming into the pool and the pool mom would make her way to the upper deck.
The ritual was always the same:
1. Try and score one of the "good" chezes (the one with the cushions)
2. Strip down and lather on the baby oil
3. Make sure your water bottle (for spritzing) was full
4. Put on big hat and sunglasses
5. Light up and gossip with the girls
It was the era of the "yuppie" and life was good. I decided that my goal in life would to become a pool mom. You think I'm kidding? I told my principal during an end of year review that I one of my goals was to become a pool mom and I would be leaving teaching to pursue this. (Okay, I had had it with teaching and all the awful politics and unresonable demands and we were trying to expand our family, but still, I did site my desire to be a pool mom and that it would conflict with my summer inservice schedule as one of my deciding factors)
Now the trick to pulling of total Pool Mom Nervana is to have kids old enough to manage themselves. We have been to the pool in years past and when you have a little one, it just isn't relaxing. This summer Sam is tall enough to bop around the shallow end. Ben of course, is a fish. That means the kids can be in the water, but not me!!! Yay!! I'm on my way. Now I just need a girl to gossip with. Just so happens Jenny P. is in town :0)
Today is actually sunny and supposed to be hot (high 70's). We are meeting at one with coolers and big bags of towles. We will immediately proceed to the upper deck with baby oil and spritzer bottles and spend the afternoon chit chatting away. I'm so excited. It is one things to achieve a lifelong dream, it is another when you best friend is there too to spritz your back when needed :0)

So lovin' the G'dub

My thrifting mojo seems to have returned. Today I went to the local Goodwill and was doing my usual browse. I was looking for some red transfer ware, but I'm a little OCD and must shop the store in a certain pattern (does anyone else do this, besides my mom?) Anyway, as I perused the linens something caught my eye, some pink chenille. I LOVE chenille!! So on further investigation it turns out to be a quilt and sham set (1 F/Q quit and 2 standard shams). I look a little more closely and see that they are "Simple Shabby Chic for Kids". SCORE!!!!
I have been wanting to redo Sam's room for a good 3 months now and I just haven't had any luck finding the right bedding. I had found some stuff, but it would have required some sewing, the pieces weren't completely right and I was getting a little overwhelmed. So today when I saw this set I snatched it up.
Now truth be told, it isn't exactly what I wanted. The blues are a little more 'aqua-y' than I like, but it was cute, complete and close enough. I have looked at the shabby chic stuff at Target many times and on several occasions come close to breaking down and just buying it, but I could never bring myself to pull the trigger on the $120 price tag. I figured I should really, really love it to justify that kind of money. On the other hand, for $38 close enough works just fine.
When I brought it home to show Sam, she loved it. I think this just might be the shot in the arm to get things going. I also saw a pic in the new BHG that showed some white cabinets with the backs painted pink. It looked great and I'm thinking I might do this with the shelves I got a couple of weeks ago. I love when stuff starts to fall into place.

Thanks, Marie !!

So I've just be given my first blog award. How fun is that?? I received it from Marie over at A Little Bit of Country on the Shore. She is so sweet and is always stopping by the blog to say hi. I guess she enjoys it because the has given me the Arte Y Pico Award. I'm so excited. I have throughly enjoyed my blogging adventures and getting to "meet" women from all over the world has just been icing on the cake. It is one thing to take a peek at someone's life, but being able to actually connect with them is truly amazing. So now I get to pass along this along to blogs that I enjoy and inspire me.

Here are the Arte Y Pico Award rules :

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award through creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.

2. Each award should have the name of the author with a link to their blog.

3. Award winners have to post the award with the name and link to the blog of the person who gave them the award.

4. Please include a link to the “Arte Y Pico” blog so that everyone will know where the award came from.

So here are my five:
Kate @ Our Red House
Jenny @ Bits and Pieces
Laura @ WSU Laura
Timi @ A Girl Named Timi
Lisa @ Costal Nest
Go check them out :0)

All Fired Up

One of the benefits of lack o' sun is that working in the yard isn't too bad. Today started out gray and cool (In your best Gomer Pyle now, "surprise, surprise, surprise") and it was looking like it would be one of those ho hum days. You know the kind where you just kind of meander around and get nothing done. Well, I decided the back patio needed some attention.

We have a two level patio off the back and it was currently serving as a junk catch all. After looking at the some of the recent garden tours on the web, I got a little inspired. It started out as me and Ben and through the power of guilt, I mean asking nicely, Joji and Sam chipped in as well. I'm such a better worker when there are more people around. When it is just me I tend to stare a lot and think about everything that should be done.

One of the things that has been bugging me was this little corner of patio. We have a retaining wall that just kind of stops. Had I know we were actually going to do something about it today I would have taken the "before" shot. We, and by that I mean Joji, dug out around the lower patio and we continued the wall all the way around to meet up with the upper patio. I think my favorite part of the project was when Ben got out the level and kept things from being "close enough". You gotta love a guy with a level. So here is my new wall and I must say it make the patio look a thousand percent better. It actually has the "outdoor room" vibe now. As cheesy as it sounds it's true. I love it!! I am a firm believer that the little things make the biggest difference (at least for me anyway)

So with the patio all ship shape we decided to dine el fresco and fire up the chiminea for making some s'mores. The kids have been dying to do this for months and since the sun did eventually decide to come out the weather was perfect. I think this will become a weekend ritual for us.
Another fun thing today was that I cut some peonies from the back yard to bring inside. I've never done this before because in the years past my peonies have only had one bloom per plant. This year there are actually a couple per bush and I snipped some beauts. When I brought them inside I had no idea that they smelled so good. The big blushy pink ones are my official favorite. I don't know what they are, but I plan to find out and get more. (I think I bought them at the grocery store a couple of years back) Anyway,they smell AMAZING!! The white ones aren't too bad either. I can't wait until my plants are super big and bushy so I can have lots of blooms to cut. Now if only my dahlias would hurry up and get going. I have forgotten what I planted last year so I'm dying to see what comes up.
Hope you all had a relaxing weekend :0)

The Fun in being Frugal

This weekend proved to be a very frugal one. On Thursday, our local market was having a meat sale and ended up spending $65 but saved $67. How can you pass up fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breasts for a $1.86 a pound?? You can't and I bought 20 pounds :0) They also had their really good thick cut bacon for $1.88 a pound, so I stoked up on that too. I also "prepped" the bacon so that even though it is frozen, I can just pullout enough for a meal. The prep is so important in cooking and so worthwhile when I actually take the time to do it. It is like Rachel Ray is always going on about when you come home from the grocery, prep you stuff so that it is ready to go when you are.

Last but not least, one of my favorite frugal pastimes is garage saling. Not a bad way to kill a couple of hours and you never know what you might find. Today I found this cute little memo board. I will probably replace the cork with chalkboard. I have my pantry doors painted right now and I really like them. However, The plan is to rebuild the space and the folding doors will be history. I do however love my chalkboard for that never ending grocery list so this little baby will be perfect.

For Timi: Frito Bandito

This probably you won't nab you the title of Top Chef, but it is easy to make, fun to eat and no dishes to clean up.
:0)

Heat up your favorite chili



Clip the side of a frito bag (yes, it must be the long side for optimal eating)



Add Chili



Add Cheese



Stir



Enjoy

Fabu Find

This past Saturday my mom and I did our usual garage saling. Since the weather has been less than stellar so has the garage saling. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. Well, the sun was actually out (for a while) on Saturday so we drove around looking for treasures. By far my biggest score was this tray.
Now some of you might recognize this tray. You too may have been invited to a Southern Living at Home party. Now don't get me wrong, truth be told, I like the stuff. I think a lot of it is really pretty. However, I do NOT like the price tags. This little baby is listed in the catalog for 70 bucks (not including tax and shipping) I however paid a whoppin' $2.

I like the Fleur de lis details on it and I think it will look really great when I dress my hutch for fall. Right now it is a little "heavy" for all the pink dishes I have in there now. Most of the SLAH stuff in my house I have gotten from garage sales and craiglist. Joji gave me a hard time once because I spent the afternoon in the car driving 20 miles to buy a cookbook stand for $5. The really sad thing is that I had just purchased the identical stand a few weeks earlier at a party for almost $50. Foolish I know. But you have to buy something at those parties and I already have the items under $20. What is a girl to do??

Ben is feeling better today so he and Joj went to go watch our friends clear trees at their job site. Ben gets to chop wood all day and is as happy as a clam. I was going to putter, but Holly called and we are hitting the beach. It is still gray, but not as windy. We should have the beach to ourselves and that will be nice.
Speaking of nice, I just had to share a pic of some flowers I cut from my mom and dad's house. We don't know what kind they are, but they are the best roses. They are long steamed, hardly any thorns and spell fantastic. If anyone knows what kind they are I would love to know. Of course, they are my favorite shade of pale pink and I love how they look in my cobalt vase.
Happy Wednesday Everyone :0)

School's Out 2.0

Well, the beach never happened. Ben came home with a headache and then proceeded to sleep for 3 hours. Oh well, I don't think it broke 60 and while it didn't actually rain, it was definitely "iffy". So instead, we laid low and did do anything. Enz and Lily came over for a while they played in the backyard with Sam. They got along so well, it was bliss. I made Rachel Ray's Surf and Turf Salad for dinner. I have made it before and I remember it being better.
Oh well, I always enjoy having company for dinner. I was able to feed the kids early so the grown ups could sit and chat. I think I must have lived on a commune in my former life.
I love the having having folks for dinner (or just around in general). The conversation is always so much more interesting. If I ever hit the mega millions power ball I'm buying a compound and moving all my friends and family there. I hope they are okay with that because it really would not be optional :0)

School's Out for Summer

On the last day of school, when I was teaching, after the kids where all on the bus and pulling out of the parking lot, the staff would bust out our best rendition of Alice Cooper's "Schools Out". It wasn't pretty, but it sure was fun.
Ben is out of school at noon and we are hitting the beach. We have been doing this for the past 5 years. It is so much fun. The kids run and scream on the beach (it is usually a low tide, so they are way out there) and the moms sit and chit chat. Of course, we woke up to grey skies and the chance of "sprinkles". I'm more concerned about the wind that is kicking up. Wet is fine, but wind make wet really cold. Should be interesting.
I will post more tonight. Happy Tuesday everyone :0)

Window Mistreatments

One of the best parts of blogging for me is "blog hopping". I love to get lost in blogland going from blog to blog through others' links and blog rolls. I was reading Kate's blog one day and she had a post about being inspired to tackle decorating her house after reading another post on Nesting Place. She had a link so of course I popped over to take a look.

Her blog was so pretty and the pics of her house were fantastic in that "real world" kind of way. She shared how she was getting her house ready to sell and all the "little" things she did that made a huge impact. As I strolled through her archives I came a cross a post about things "not having to be perfect to be beautiful". She shared her window "mistreatments" and I just LOVED the fact the material she used still had the raw edges and color dots on them (truly a girl after my own heart) Anyway, after receiving a bunch of comments from other bloggers refreshed by her "it is what it is" attitude, she decided to host a "It Doesn't Have to be Perfect to be Beautiful" post party and I decided to play along.


Since it was her window "mistreatments" that won me over, I thought I would share my own mistreatments. Curtains have always been kind of a challenge for me. I don't like things overly fussy and I really don't like the hefty price tags that usually accompany them. In the first issue of Cottage Living they had a feature about taking plain tab top curtains and embellishing them. I thought this was the coolest idea ever and decided to try it myself. I choose to "add a band of fabric" route since I liked the simple look and figured it would be the easiest to sew. Well four years later, here they are. If you look closely you will notice the stylish detailing of the big yellow quilting pins holding it all together :0)
The funny thing is that I really like the way they look. The fabric is a shower curtain I got at GW, it is very "me", and I love how it looks with the quilt on my bench. Simple and quiet (if that makes sense)

So there you have it, my dirty little secret. I guess it isn't sooo bad. No one has ever stormed out of my house due to the fact my curtains are "pinned". In fact I don't think anyone ever really notices and those who do just smile and compliment me on my "designer detailing" :0)

Look what a little sun can do

For a few hours yesterday the sun decided to stop by for a brief visit and some of my peonies finally bloomed. We are yet to get an actual full day of sun. When I went to the grocery store yesterday to temp said 54. At least the precipitation was only a light sprinkling, almost a "mist" if you will, which any true Washingtonian will tell you, "that doesn't really count as actual rain". However, when the sun did poke through my flowers look full advantage of it.

A few years ago I got two gorgeous peonies for Mother's Day. They were big and pink and fabulous. I say "were" because last year only one came back. I've never had that happen before. So now I my front bed is not symmetrical. I know that should not bother me, but it does. I was at costco the other day and they had BIG gallon peonies for $10. I should have grabbed them, but I had a bunch of kids with me, the place was a zoo and I figured, I'll come back. Well, the really fun thing about costco is that whatever you make that special trip for, they will not have it. A lesson I seem to be unable to learn. If you see something at costco that you like, BUY IT!! Not only buy it, but buy all they have because the more you like something, the better chance you will never see it again. But I digress...

This is the first year, my peony has more than one bud. I went out a while ago and "debudded" it to help with bigger blooms. Do you do that?? It sure seemed to help. These babies are big a beautiful. I really want to cut some and bring them inside. However, I know they will last longer outside.

Now if only we can get a few more hours of sun, something else might bloom. I have about 6 dahlias that I have trying to grow despite the lack of sun. Unfortunately, our recent windstorm reeked a little havoc on our fence and it has turned into a construction zone. My poor little dahlias. Who exactly trampled them is still unknown. It seems like we have had a visit from the pesky "Not Me" and "Ida know".
Oh well, I'm kid free today and the one nice thing about cool and overcast is that working in the yard is rather pleasant. We are having side yards cleared out which will be nice. I would really like to get the patio all cleared off and cleaned up so we can have a nice place for Father's Day.

I'm not sure what we are doing "officially". Joji has been "greenlighted" for a new grill (this is probably the best weekend to shop for one) and we will see what he decided to do. I figure the better the grill he has, the more he will want to grill. I made chicken satay last night and it was sooooo good. Of course, when asked by Joji's mom why was the chicken so good, Joji said, because he was the one who cooked it. I played along since it was his mom and she was astounded that her son actually cooked something other than top ramen.

Wet Wednesday

Rumor has it, it might hit 68 this weekend. This has been the coldest and wettest June in 140 years. I really need some sun because my checkbook is taking quite a hit. I mean what is a girl to do?? I have to get out of the dreary house, so where do I go?? The thrift stores of course. Now I know that a few dollars here and there is not that bad, but it is starting to add up. And while I'm finding things I do actually need, I am yet to find anything super fun. Okay I did find this the other day, so maybe my thrifting mojo is spent for a while. I just want some sun so my flowers will at least bloom. Field day is tomorrow at Ben's school. I sure hope they enjoy eating their Popsicles in their parkas :0)

Today is Tuesday, you what that means???

We are going to have a special guest... Not really, but I always think of this song on Tuesdays. It's from the Mickey Mouse Club (the original and only good one). Every Tuesday was "Special Guest Day", so the mouseketeers would "get out the broom and sweep the place clean" (shows like the MMC just remind me how icky kids programming is today. Was it really so bad that kid programming used to be an hour in the afternoon and 4 hours on Saturday with a little PBS midweek if you were home sick?)

Anyway, in honor of "sweeping the place clean", I am on day 2 of my housekeeping regime. BTW, yesterday's 45 minutes was more like a a couple of hours. That's okay, the more I clean, the cleaner the house becomes, the less time it should eventually take to maintain, right?? It was nice not to get my usual "what did you do all day" question :0) I was able to get everything done plus a little extra. The laundry is still "in progress", but that is okay because all the laundry that was done actually got put away (that is a big deal around here)
So here is my Tuesday To Do:
Make Beds
Dishwasher
Sweep Kitchen
Tidy Kitchen
Tidy Family Room
Scoop
Vacuum Downstairs
Clean Bathrooms
Not a bad list. I do have to say that I really hate cleaning the bathroom. I know it doesn't take very long, but I still don't like it. The good news is that 2 of the 3 bathrooms are in pretty good shape. Our bathroom, the one that NO ONE ever sees, is another story. No, no, I must not focus on the negative, but be excited for the joy a sparkling bathrooms brings. Maybe if my bathroom looked more like this I would be more motivated to clean :0)

Today is my mom's birthday and we all getting together for dinner. I don't know what we are having, but I do know that we are getting some cupcakes from Costco. We usually get a cake, but they are just too huge and the last thing that we need lying around the house screaming "EAT ME, EAT ME" is 10 pounds of cake and butter cream. The nice thing about the cupcakes is that they come in a "variety" pack so we can avoid the whole "should we get chocolate or white" debate. For the record, white with cheesecake filling and white butter cream (not that godawful "whipped" frosting) is the best. I know these cakes can be pretty sweet, so to combat we usually buy it the day before and "let it breathe". The only draw backs to these cupcakes is that they are kind of ugly. They just do a big swirl of frosting and that is not very "fun". At one of the local bakeries they do cupcakes that are nothing but roses on top. How cute is that?
Happy Tuesday everyone :0)

Monday To Do's

So it is the start of a new week and I'm going to finally start my "keep my house under control" regime. I have had a "job list" hanging on my fridge for a while now and I think it is time to start using it. I have a friend who has a theory that if stay at home moms just spend 45 minutes a day actually working on the house, it would stay nice and clean. Hmmmm. So now that I have gotten a handle on main rooms in my house, I am going to put this theory to test. I have been "reading" flylady for a long time and she is all about small does of work. Sounds good. So I have broken up all those pesky cleaning job and spread them out over the week. I figure if I do a little each day, the house will stay under control. The biggest challenge for this will be our downstairs. This is the room that sees the most wear and tear and tends to get the messiest. I did a major purge of random stuff that had been calling the downstairs home and now you can finally breath down there. The good news is that with less stuff down there, the stuff that gets taken out now has a much better chance of getting put away. I'm also really trying to do the pre-bedtime tidy. So far so good. Now that my kiddos are older, I'm really feeling the need to hold them to task. I don't want to unleash two more "messies" into the world.
So here is what is on the docket for today:
Laundry (I'm guessing I have about 4 loads, not too bad)
Make Beds
Empty dishwasher
Deep Clean Kitchen
Vacuum upstairs
Scoop
General Tidy
Doesn't seem too overwhelming and since it is RAINING I have no desire to leave the house, sigh.
:0)

Super Shabby Thriftiness

I'm so excited. Tonight I got the most screamin' deal at the Goodwill. I don't know if all Goodwills are partnered with Targets, but around here they are. That means that what doesn't sell at Target ends up at one of the local Goodwills, or the "G-dub" as we like to call it.
Anyway, I was at GW a couple of days ago and saw a shelf I wanted to get for Sammie's room. It was one of the Target kids' room furniture pieces and it was nice, still in the box and only $35!! It was a little taller and more narrow than what she has in there now and I thought it would work better. Plus I would then be able to use her current bookshelf in the nook outside our room for a little "library". Win, win all around so I was off to the GW.
I was worried that my little shelf would be gone. A screaming deal like that would surely be gone by now, but nope it was there and waiting. As I walked over to it, I saw something that really caught my eye, a big ol' "Simply Shabby Chic" box. Inside was a tall bookcase with a cute little draw on the bottom. I was even more excited when I looked at the price and it was only $40!!! I know this furniture is expensive so it was a no brainer to get it. It looks like the only reason it was at GW was the fact the box was pretty thrashed. We looked inside and everything seems to be there. I'm so excited!! Joji is going to put it together tomorrow :0)

The Burning Question: Why???

So I'd like to think I'm not a slave to my tv, but I must admit there are a couple of shows I really like and look forward to watching every week. One of them is Top Chef. When this round started it was clear who could really cook and those who were there to "fill out" the rest of the cast. Surely, they would weed the wannabes out and have the best chefs in the finale. Not this season. I could not be more disappointed in the results.

Why is Lisa in the finale???? She has been at judges table every week. Her attitude is less than pleasant and I'm not sure she can cook to the same level as the others. The week that she stayed and Dayle was sent home, I almost quit watching the show. He was sooo robbed, but I figured it would all be made right in the end. Wrong again, Antonia was sent home and Lisa is in the finals. I guess it won't bother me so much, but at the end of every show is the little disclaimer that eliminations are based on input from the judges as well as the producers. Producers??? That totally bites. I guess they need a villain in the finals (at least in years past the villains could actually cook) Oh well, I still have faith either Richard or Stephanie will win. I picked Richard from the start and I really like Stephanie as well. If Lisa wins I will no longer watch the show. I need my reality tv a little more "real".

Okay speaking of "real" reality tv... I caught an episode of Real World the other night. Although I lasted about 5 minutes, is was so bad. Now I know this dates me, but I was a religious fan of the show from the beginning. Loved the first 3 seasons. San Fran was by far the best season ever. Such a diverse cast, all with pretty interesting stories of trying to make it. When it moved to London it was a total snooze fest, literally, since all they did was sleep. Then some exec had the great idea to have the next season start a business. What a fiasco that was and it also issued in the constant screaming component of the show. Fast forward a couple seasons to Las Vegas and now all they so is drink, scream and hook up. There is no story line at all. I'm not sure if they still are given "jobs" or not. I can't tell if it is that bad or I'm getting old. I think I will go with it's just that bad :0)
Enough about bad tv, I'm getting excited for some summer shows to start and my DVR is ready and waiting. So here are my pics for good summer tv:

30 Days on FX: Morgan Spurlock (the dude who made "Supersize Me") puts himself and others in "someone elses shoes" for 30 days and documents the journey. Last night he was a W. Virginian coal miner. My great-grandfather was a coal miner, so I found it very interesting. Next week's episodes follows an NFL QB who agrees to be wheelchair bound for the 30 days.

Rescue Me on FX: I love this show, but be warned it is not for the faint of heart. It is gritty and brutally honest. It is also very funny and tender. I was never a big Dennis Leary fan, but he is great in this show. The supporting cast is also amazing usually end up stealing the scenes. If a little rough talking won't send you over the edge, this is a show you should not miss. The first few seasons are on DVD.

Lastly, but certainly not least, Mad Men on AMC. Kellie did a great little PR piece for this show the other day and she is completely right. There is nothing else like it on tv. The show has this slow pace to it which makes it almost dream like and like Kellie said it is FULL of eye candy. From dashingly handsome men to vintage kitsch galore, this show is truly a work of art. Not only is it pretty, the stories are interesting. The writers do such a good job of giving you just a bit here and there. They leave you hanging on the edge of your seat and the week can not speed by fast enough.
So there you have it, my summer tv scedule. Thrilling I know, but if the weather does not improve that list just might get longer. Today is our 5th straight day of rain. There is a saying around here that Washatonians don't tan, they rust. Yup seems about right :0)

June so far...

Well today is the third of June and it is raining, again. This has been the worst spring that I can remember and now the summer isn't looking too good. Where is global warming when you need it? I have been working in the garden, but it is not very fun to putter in the rain. Now of course my plants like the fact they are actually getting water, but the no sun thing is a real bummer. I planted my window boxes for the first time since we moved in 5 years ago. I think the reason I didn't replant them was because they dried out so quickly.
Taking a little inspiration from Martha, I modified her strawberry pot watering trick for my boxes. Had I been more with it, I should have taken photos of it before it was planted, but oh well. I had Joji drill the PVC pipe, but also attach an "elbow" on it so it would give me a place to water. The jury is still out on how it is working. We haven't had ANY sun, so my boxes are staying nice and moist. I guess time will tell. When they finally do bloom they will be very pretty. I planted a combo of white inpatients, burgundy and speckled purple petunias. I can't wait :0)

We have a baseball game today and it looks like we will be bundling up and bringing the bumpershoots, again. Out of a 15 game season, we have had one "baseball weather" game. Just one. Saturday is our last game and then we are heading over to one of the players houses for the team party. For the past 4 years we have had it at the coaches house, but last years typhoon on party day sent his poor wife over the edge. 15 boys, plus random siblings plus 30 adults would probably send me over the edge too. I signed up to make cupcakes and a salad. I think I will make the Applebees Oriental Chicken Salad. It could not be easier and it looks impressive :0)
I'm sooo all about the easy cooking thing. Joji called me on Saturday wanting to know what was for dinner. He and Matt had spent the day tearing out Matt's side yard and it was late and they were hungry. I wiped up some meatballs and made Sweet and Sour Meatballs over rice. I stopped buying the Costco bag of meatballs for a couple of reasons. First of all they are expensive and secondly they are "Italian" flavored. I want a "naked" meatball that can go into anything. So I have decided that making my own are cheaper and easier. I am making up a batch later today and I will do a post about them. Super easy and quick, my kind of cooking.

Speaking of cooking, I have an addiction to serving pieces. I have a closet full of platters, bowls, cake stands and baskets. For some reason I just can't rip open a bag of chips and call it good. So anyway, yesterday I'm at Goodwill and I found this little sweetie for only 99 cents!! Of course, I had to snatch it up. Now it isn't a very practical cupcake stand since it only holds 13 cupcakes, but I just couldn't pass it up. I have the perfect cake plate to put it on, but now I must bite the bullets and buy myself a cloche'. I was a t Michaels and they had some on clearance. I was tempted, but they were still a bit spendy. I'm hoping this weeks paper will have a 40% off coupon.

I try and be a good, responsible shopper. Whenever I come home I always tell Joj just how much money I have saved him. He just shakes his head and asks, "how many miles today" (we have an Alaska Airlines miles card). One of the items I had been shopping for was a new wallet. I don't like bulky wallets at all. Well, I was totally excited when Timi emailed me and said I could pick out one of her wallets as a "thanks for playing" prize. She had a contest on the worst party you had been to. You should totally check out some of the stories. Very funny!! Anyhoo, I picked this baby out and I love it. The best part is that it hold change without being bulky and my cell phone fits in there as well. I have actually been using it as a small clutch. I cannot have a big purse, so this is perfect for me. If you need a new wallet, check her out.


Well, it is 9:17 and Sammie is still asleep. I have to say I'm temped to crawl back into bed myself. It is hard to get motivated on such a gray day. I hate running errands in the rain, especially "big" rain like today. Not only is it raining, it is cold. I think tossing my sweater in the dryer for a couple of minutes might make getting dresses a little more appealing. Hopefully, the sun is out where you are. And if it is, feel free to send some to my way :0)