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