Sunday Favorites

Chari at Happy to Design does this great feature- Sunday Favorites. The idea is to"bring back" an older post that you would love to see again.

It was hard to choose...even though I've only been at this for about four months, but I decided on this one. It was titltled

"I Adore Mixing Old With New" (and I do!)

I just smile every day when I see this great workspace we created ourselves and it is truly used EVERY day.

We found these wonderful old piece of ironwork at the Alameda Antique Show over a year ago before we moved from California. I decided it was going to be a desk top. I wanted to look at it alot! I just adore it! Well....the way it usually goes is this.....I create the vision of what I want and explain it to my husband. Never mind the fact that I don't always understand the structural integrity and what materials will be needed. He mounted the iron piece to a thick piece of plywood that I had finished and stained. We then created a large box to create the desktop. We trimmed out the sides with some decorative moulding and then had a thick piece of glass cut to cover the whole thing.

Now the idea for the desk base came along just a few months ago, right before our house was completed. I had this great little corner of our great room with a window that I actually added to the floor plan in the final stages. It looks right out to the front door. The chairs you see in front of the desk are the kid's almost indestructible leather chairs (from Target) where they watch tv and play games. So...it's the perfect place to sit with my laptop with great light and be with the family.

I didn't want anything that would be too bulky for the base.....Those of you that know me well know that one of my very favorite guilty pleasures is looking at decorating magazines and catalogs. The sawhorse idea came from one of those. These sawhorses were made by my husband from a regular old sawhorse kit from Home Depot. My wonderful friend Diane helped me paint them in Benjamin Moore vVailla Ice Cream (matches my baseboards).

I'm just so happy with the way it turned out and wanted to share it with you. Is ther anything better than finding a beautiful old vintage piece of history and incorporating into our modern life? Gotta love that!

Where Were You On That September Day?

I was sleeping becuase I had worked the swing shift the night before. My husband was making breakfast for our three kids, an 11 year old, a two year old and the baby. The phone rang. It was my ex-husband, father to my oldest son. Turn on the news, he said.....He was born and raised in New York...used to work at the World Trade Center.

My husbnad woke me up. We sat and watched the television in disbelief. We called the people that mattered. My best friend since the 4th grade was an American Airlines Flight Attendant. We prayed.

My 11 year old was old enough to understand...and to HURT> My babies had no idea what had happened (thank goodness). But I walked around with their double stroller for weeks with little flags flying from the handle. We cried.

My husband and I were both called back into work. We worked in a big city police department. He was a sergeant and I supervised 911 dispatchers. It touched us to our very core. Those were our "brothers" and "sisters" trying to save people from the most unspeakable act we had ever witnessed. Many of them died doing their jobs.

You don't have to be political to know how that day changed your life forever.

No matter what you are doing today..

take some time to remember.

God Bless America.

It's A Party! ....a letter and number party..

This is my kind of party! It's one for those of us that just LOVE numbers and letters. So we like to put them around our houses. It's almost obsessive, at times.

Michelle at VINTAGE JUNKY has invited anyone who shares this same passion. Just click on her link and check out what others have done with their obsession. She has a great blog..take a peek at it....I follow her.

I think the timing of her party is perfect...why? Because I think those of us who love numbers and letters also love Back to School! Am I right?

Here's my stuff.....

a cake plate full of scrabble letters...

a big S in our guest cottage..


my recycled Starbuck's bottles that BLOOM...

my fun patio chair that I covered in a French feedsack...

(purchsed at the Farm Chicks)

printer's typeset numbers (this is our street address)

my monogrammed chaircovers that I ADORE...

my daughter's treasure-a typewriter!

a scale that I think is really special..

this fun date block set from Real Deals..

monogram pillow for my son's room...

and my daughter's...

her initial...

a lampshade I stencilled with a mongram...

his initial..

an old French table number...why 31? I gave birth to my oldest son on my 31st birthday...how cool is that?

baskets in our mudroom...

and my slipcovered monogrammed parsons chairs from Ballard Desings...

Thanks for stopping by......if you don't have any letters or numbers accenting your home...well...it's something to think about???

: )

What A Great Feeling...

In honor of Labor Day we decided we would work and work on our detached 3-car garage and get our two cars in there. We actually moved into our house 5 months ago...but we have used our garage as an "overflow" as we settled into the house and got things done. Then...summer came and it has been SO HOT here in Eastern Washington that the thought of sweating it our in the garage wasn't one bit appealling.

I decided a few days ago that Labor Day would be the day we worked on our garage...AND WE DID!!!! The kids cooperated...we unpacked, organized...swept...and around 5:00 p.m. we got both our cars into the garage.

What's behind Door #1? Well...that will be my husband's shop area...Hopefully he will motivate and get his workbench and tool storage done this next month with the kid's back in school. HE WILL~! I just know it.

But, when I lay my head down tonight I will feel so accomplished and wonderful because our cars are parked in the garage (where they are supposed to be)....What a wonderful feeling...

Now I need to orgnaized my closet/craft room....Diane...I need you!

Hope you all had a great long weekend...

My definition of a great weekend is accomplishing something and I DID!

YipEEEE!!!

My New Clock...And Seeking Some Advice....

I just purchased this clock at my favorite store in town-Real Deals (for $47.00...can you believe it?)


I just fell in love with it and knew that I would find a place for it in my home. Well....we ended up hanging it in our study. I love the colors and whimsey it brings to this room.



Our study is situated right off our master bedroom. This is where we watch television, read and use the desktop computer. Here is a photo of the wall. The double doors lead to the master bedroom and the doors on the right lead to the gallery/hallway.

This is another shot of the doors that lead to the hallway.

We have a very large screen television....

a couple very comfortable recliner chairs, some scenes from one of our favorite cities, Venice and fringed burlap draperies from one of my favorite online stores--Ballard Designs (I love the texture of the burlap in this room). Click here to browse at Ballard's.

Now...as you can see, the wall that the clock is on is quite bare. I was hoping I could ask for some ideas for this wall. I'm just not sure what I want to do here. The clock is a good place to start, but I'm looking for some ideas from you on the rest of the wall.

I'm thinking something over the double doors would be nice....a vintage sign?....an architectural element? How about the wall to the right of the double doors? Maybe some kind of display of favorite photos? I am open to any and all suggestions for this space. I really love this room, but I'm not quite sure how I want to finish accessorizing it.

I know there are a lot of creative women who visit my blog...please....please...let me know what you think.

One more thing...I used the simple area rug as a temporary solution...would also love to get some oopinions about another type of area rug and coffee table.

I'm looking forward to hearing form you...

Missing My Son....

His new Vespa...

This is my oldest son Logan. He will turn 20 in a couple weeks. I am missing him terribly.. He is in California going to school. His girlfriend sent me these photos of him on his new Vespa. He saved money from his summer job to purchase this. It's a great way to get around town with very little gas.

For those of you that have watched your kids grow up--you know how hard it is to have them go off on their own...for those of you with little ones...Well...let's just put it this way, the time goes so quickly...enjoy eaclh and every moment with your kids. Beofre you know it they will be off on their own and you will be missing them.

I miss you Logan and love you forever....Mom

PS: I hope you didn't have a helmut on for the photo shoot, but wear it every other time.

What Really Matters....

As we move into the last "official" weekend of the summer of '09 I remind myself of waht really matters....our family...our friends....our health. Sieze the day.

Why We Nest

Why Do We Nest?

Because it makes us feel safe in the sanctuary of our homes.

I have had the desire to nest for a very long time. In my 20's I moved around a lot...and I mean A LOT! I lived in nice apartments...not so nice apartments...even rented a room in a house once. In all these places I did a little nesting...made the space my own.

Then when I bought my first condo, I really got to nest for the first time. That was in 1982. Country decor was all the rage. I stencilled a duck border on my dining area wall and put a chair railing all around the living area. Country decor was everywhere...and some antiques including a liitle armoire that I still have in my guest cottage.

Since then I have owned four homes. I bought a townhouse in 1992 as a single mother to the cutest little three year old boy. In that space I kept the decor simple and little bit on the modern side. I did have a floral wallpaper border in the kitchen that makes me cringe just thinking about it now.

Then there was my first real single family home in Gilroy, California that my husband and I bought. I expanded my horizons there....lots of faux painting, stenciling, and even making our own cornice boards for some of the windows. We made fabric covered headboards and created a beautiful backyard filled with roses of all kinds. My husband laid the most beautiful herringbone brick patio and walkway paths that led to more trees and flowers. I even had an arched trellis covered with beautiful climbing yellow roses.

In 2002 we purchased a downtown house built in the 1920's. Oh how I loved this house! Everyone that entered felt a wonderful feeling. That house had the best aura...really! It called for a more vintage decor....I fell in love with ebay then. There were vintage linens, vintage dishes, teacups, and even a stained glass front door. After almost five years in that house we decided to sell (a smarter decision than we realized at the time) and rent for awhile so we could search for some property to build.

Now this was a challenge......nesting in a rental house that was built in 1980 and I couldn't paint or do anything since we were only going to be there for a couple years. I did have to change out the plastic brass chandelier in the dining room though.--just couldn't "hang" with that, pardon the pun : ) But I still managed to make it comfortable while we were there.

Now we are living in a house that we planned ourselves...every little detail. The style, the floorplan, the wall finishes, the light fixtures, the tile, the floors....ALL OF IT!

It is a wonderful feeling to be able to start from scratch and pick everything. Of course we had to stay within our budget and we were constantly on the lookout for the "look for less". We succeeded. We love our home and our guest cottage. It will be a work in progress, especially the landscaping of 10 acres! It is definitely a European style home and my husband and I both love the feeling of the wood beams, the hardwood floors and the arched doorways. It reminds us of a trip we took to Europe in 1996.

I am a self-proclaimed homebody. I love being home and feeling the security that it brings. But the truth of the matter is--we can nest anywhere, on any budget and in any size space. I believe that anyone can bring beauty to their surroundings. We can choose to be organized and tiday (as much as we can with kids) and put things in our home that make us happy and remind us of wonderful memories.

That is how I have nested. I will continue to nest as long as I can. I do love to be invited into the homes of other women who blog to see how they nest. What a dream come true for a self-proclaimed decorating magazine junky! I love seeing your homes and your creativity and your beautiful gardens. There is a neverending source of inspiration.

The icons of birds and nests are comforting to me. I took my camera and snapped some photos of things that I have in my home that represent nesting.(there were actually more than I realized)...

I hope you do a little nesting today as summer begins to draw to an end....have a wonderful day.

On...one more thing....I really do believe that if you purchase something that you absolutely LOVE, there will be a place in your home for it (somewhere) and it will continue to bring you joy for many years to come....

This One Is For All The Teachers....

and the school bus drivers..


This is a bouquet I put together for the kid's afternoon bus driver. She is just a doll!
She loves flowers, but then how many of us don't?

Since it is September 1st, most kids are already back in school or about to go back. I just wanted to say that I admire and respect the wonderful people that we trust our children with during the day...the teachers, the bus drivers, and everyone else who makes the schools run as efficiently as they do. Through my three childrn, I have met some of the most passionate and inspiring teachers. They change lives. Every day. They need to have the patience of a saint to do what they do. But they still do it.

Her'es to all of you who teach, have taught or who have been iinspired by a great teacher. You are special and important.

So...I will keep sending flowers, little gifts and cards, and remember you at Christmas and other holidays. I will also try to sign up for field trip chaperone when I can and always send in things you need in the classroom.

Thank you!!!