SoInspired

2012-02-12T09:18:00.008-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Taylor and I visited the "LOVE" statue in Scottsdale for a little photo shoot. Very fun. We had to wait our turn. In fact there were wedding photo shoots and several other families and couples taking advantage of this great Valentine photo opportunity.

2012-01-01T09:53:00.004-07:00

Last week I received an email from one of my favorite estate sale companies, Arizona Estate Liquidators, that included photos for their upcoming sale. I was very excited to see this outdoor barbecue/kitchen listed. I showed it to my husband and he said he would love to have it. Well . . . these sales are very popular. I contacted the company and she gave me suggestions that included arriving two hours early. My husband gladly waited. He arrived two hours early. He was all ready the fourth person in line, but HE GOT IT. We are beyond thrilled. It is brand new and was priced at least $1,000 under value. We really needed/wanted this. We are trying to spruce up our back yard for our son's high school graduation party. Yeah! It looks like it is wooden, but it is a faux finish on metal.

2011-12-27T10:40:00.021-07:00

Christmas - 2011 - Recap
Wow! What a blur. I can't believe it is over all ready, my favorite holiday. I did so much baking this year. I tried the white chocolates dipped Oreos with crushed peppermint. Definitely, a girl's cookie, pretty, but why mess with an Oreo, they are so great on their own. They were for our neighborhood cookie exchange. Next up, my husband asked me to bake and decorate 32 cookies for his junior golf clinic. 16 Tuesday and 16 Wednesday. It took two batches of sugar cookie dough. It was a 3-night process after work. I also individually bagged them in cookie bags and tied them with ribbon. Then on to our favorites, 3 batches of peanut brittle, 2 batches of chocolate balls, my Grandmother's Snickerdoodles and my Sister's butternut balls. We also made ten candy sleighs for Taylor's Christmas Caroling Party. Taylor and I wrapped beautiful presents for each other, we went and looked at Christmas lights, we celebrated Grandma's birthday at Aunt Janets. Mark's beautiful cousin, Patrice, came for seven days. We love her and love spending time with her! Santa left money for Cole and a new IPOD Touch for Taylor. Mounds of gifts were under the tree. I got a Kindle Fire and love it! Mark got a stereo system for our TV. The kids gave each other clothes for Christmas and I we enjoying a relaxing Christmas morning and had a nice breakfast at the dining room table. We went to Taylor's Winter Dance Recital. Taylor and I went to the NCL Christmas Tea.

2011-12-20T07:49:00.011-07:00

Remembering my Sister this Christmas and our happy childhood Christmas's. We lost her in July, due to a very long illness. She was my only sibling and the holidays can be very difficult for those who have recently lost family members. I am so lucky to be surrounded my friends and family, near and far.

2011-10-12T17:41:00.005-07:00

We celebrated our 25th Anniversary yesterday. My husband made reservations ahead of time, had a card waiting for me when I woke up and delivered these beautiful roses. We dined at The Melting Pot. I loved it. It was private and romantic and perfect. We have other celebrations planned for our 25th and are stretching them out throughout the year.

2011-07-04T17:55:00.003-07:00

Happy Fourth!
I hope that you are enjoying a Happy Fourth of July, celebrating with family and friends. We are! My sweet friend, Loretta, had a festive party yesterday. She taught several of us to play a fun card game called "Skit Skat". I'm enjoying my festive banners hung on my vintage window. Tina gave me the window and she will be up from Tucson on Wednesday. I can't wait to show her how I'm embellishing our window.

I made these cookies with my William's Sonoma Message in a Cookie set. Of course I was in a hurry and was out of unsalted butter. I used margarine and promptly threw them in the trash as soon as they came out of the oven. I learned my lesson.

Today the four of us are home together. I made a summer dinner of burgers, potato salad, watermelon, lemonade and flag cake for dessert. We will be watching the fireworks from our master bedroom window enjoying the air conditioning. I think it only hit 110 today.

Happy Fourth!

2011-06-18T12:22:00.006-07:00

Taylor's dance recital was last night. It turned out really well. Their performances were held on two days which helped significantly with the length of the recital, parking, etc.

The backdrop was amazing.

Daddy brought flowers.

2011-06-12T19:57:00.001-07:00

My husband got a Hole In One today. It's his fifth one. I'm so proud of him. He was so excited when he called me.

2011-06-07T16:56:00.002-07:00

Hello Pedicure! My husband left for work this morning while I was sleeping. When I came downstairs, I found this awesome surprise. I can't wait to go get my pedicure. What a great way to start my day. Thanks hon!

2011-06-06T10:25:00.013-07:00

Eighth Grade Graduation

These girls have been friends since third grade! I'm so proud of all of them.

Taylor and her friend Maddie. Maddie is so talented. She sang the National Anthem at the assembly a few weeks ago, just had an audition in LA, has stared in several musicals and sang a duet from Wicked at the graduation.

Two of her favorite teachers. She had them for the past two years.

Taylor and I whipped these cute cookies up for a graduation party. We literally had about one hour to work on them. I bought an awesome new gadget called "Message in a Cookie" from Williams Sonoma. I love it and highly recommend it. I wish I could write a review on it. You just never know if products are going to live up to your expectations.

2011-05-31T07:42:00.003-07:00

I think the baby hummingbird has outgrown its nest. Google tells us that only stay in the nest from 3-4 weeks, so it is about time for this little one to try out her wings!

We celebrated with Mark's family Sunday and our own little family yesterday. I love celebrating every occasion.

2011-05-30T12:00:00.006-07:00

Happy Memorial Day! Remembering my wonderfully sweet Father who has been gone for four years now. He enlisted in the Navy when he was just 17. He had graduated from high school at 17. His parents had to sign the permission slip. Now that our son just turned 17, I've been reflecting on my Grandmother's decision and how difficult that decision must have been. It was the last year of WWII. My Dad would be 83 now. I am thankful that he was not involved in any combat. He spent four years on a Navy ship. He always told us that it ruined travel for him. He was very happy staying home and was without a doubt, the kindness man I've known.

2011-05-28T08:39:00.065-07:00

MAY HIGHLIGHTS

Spent an afternoon with everyone's darling Canadian girl, Sasha. We met through Club Little House about five years ago. She is my go-to girl for EVERYTHING. I have never met anyone with so much expertise in so many areas. Read her blog and you will agree. I treasured every moment of our afternoon. She brought the necklace for me and the darling button bracelet for Taylor. Of course she made them both. Notice the vintage coin with the harp and the typewriter button. Love them! I was thrilled when I received Sasha's email saying she was going to be in town. Can't wait till she comes back.

Celebrated Mother's Day feeling very loved and spoiled by my family.

Watched a hummingbird build its nest above my porch swing. I couldn't wait to peak out at the nest every morning. Now we are watching the baby grow.

Celebrated our son's 17th birthday. I'm so proud of the young man that he has become.

Taylor and I attended our National Charity League's end-of-the-year brunch with several friends. So happy that my friends Angie, Laurie and Roxanne are members.

Cheered and cried after learning that Cole made Drumline for his senior year after four weeks of tryouts.

Attended banquet to watch Cole receive his high school letter for Drumline.

Celebrated my birthday and was spoiled again!

Took the photos for my daughter's school formal. They looked so pretty.

Went to a going-away party for our incredibly talented girl Maija. She is moving to Colorado and will be missed! Saw a friend at her party, Lisa, that I haven't seen in 15 years.

Attended the junior high assembly to witness my daughter receiving an award and $50 more (she all ready received $175) for her award-winning Patriotic essay. So proud of her!

Attended the 4.0 High Honors ceremony to watch Cole receive his academic letter.

Went to the Chandler Flea Market. I look forward to this event. Met Tricia there several years ago and have friends with her since. Saw her twice this month. She was at Maija's party too! She has the most awesome finds. I've never left her booth empty handed. Hands down, she's my favorite at the flea market, Blissfest, Art Unraveled, you name it. If she is there, she's my favorite!

Spent some time organizing around the house. Reorganized and decluttered our pantry. Love it now!

Dreaming of these jars for my pantry to replace my ancient bright orange Tupperware canisters.

Also with my de cluttering efforts, had a garage sale with a girlfriend, made $192, but more importantly watched our girls have a lemonade stand. They had a blast and made $18. A firetruck did a uturn and bought lemonade from them.

Sold broken necklaces and single earrings, etc at Valley Gold and made $805!!! Couldn't believe it.

Ended the school year with both of our kids getting FANTASTIC grades in their AP and gifted classrooms. Equally important, ending the year with both of them happy with their schools, friends and having fun!

My Cup is Full.

Now onto the weekend to include my birthday dinner, Cole's birthday get-together with friends and a Memorial Day family BBQ.

Summer is almost here. Yippee!!!

2011-05-08T17:49:00.005-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!
Mine began with a celebration last night. My husband surprised me by delivering these beautiful, pale pink hydrangeas to me. Our teenagers both went to birthday parties and we had the evening to ourselves. He not only grocery shopped, but cooked for me. We dined on salad, salmon and strawberry shortcake. This morning he gave me a sweet card. Taylor designed a darling card on Tinyprints.com. I cried when I read it. She is the most incredible writer.

I've been out of my favorite perfume for a few years now. I'm thrilled to have this new bottle!
We went to church this morning. They gave each of the mothers a carnation. We went out to lunch, shopped a bit and we are looking forward to a nice dinner and movie tonight.

2011-04-17T07:23:00.003-07:00

Our son is extremely involved in his high school band's drumline. We are very proud of the young man that he has become. Their drumline just won the state championship for the fifth year in a row. Friday morning we had to be at Channel 12's news station by 5:30 a.m. Here is a clip of their interview. (Note, fast forward 3/4 the way through to get to the interview with the female anchor.)

Here are some of us outside the News Station watching them perform.

http://www.azcentral.com/video/905738724001

2011-04-03T09:39:00.024-07:00

More of San Diego. I hauled all of my family to the Urban Barn in Escondido. I must say that they are very patient with making sure that I get to most of the places on my list. I always have a list. (wink). I also have a list of places that we didn't have time for which makes me look forward to our next trip. I didn't ever make it to the Barn in Temecula so I was thrilled to finally see Urban Barn. I was not disappointed. Of course, shopping with your husband isn't as ideal as with girlfriends that get the vintage thing. I would have loved to have brought home some furniture. I've been looking for a settee for over a year and they had one! It just wouldn't fit in my car. I even have the linen to have it reupholstered. should have asked about the history of that Gypsy wagon. Wow!

Love the shell cabinet.

And the cute little tiara. Why didn't I buy it for her??

I did find a necklace that I fell in love with. It did fit in the car!

I forgot to show off the little bird I found at Paper Tales. She fits right in.

On our last night, we stopped at Fashion Island. Fun stores. Restoration Hardware, Antropology, Kate Spade, Jimmy Choo shoes, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus. Love the Kate Spade window.

Here we are, dreaming of our next trip.

2011-03-23T08:24:00.020-07:00

Spring Break Get Away. Aaah, it was bliss. I think it was the first time in months that I truly relaxed. It probably helped that I had a serious cold/flu, asthma, sinus virus that I've been fighting for over a month that got worse the day we left. My husband bought me some Nyquill and I had a wonderful nightcap of that every night and was asleep before 9. Wow! I wonder what they put in it. It was a tad chilly in Southern California, but that didn't deter us. Luckily, the sun was shining the day we went my favorite beach on Coronado. It was a successful, beachcombing day. I found two sand dollars and a beautiful piece of sea glass.

We stopped in at Seaport Village. We were walking along the promenade and noticed these beautiful exotic birds. As soon as we walked up, the man put two birds on Taylor's shoulders. I'm so glad that I had my camera out!
I wanted to tour the Midway, but we arrived a little too late. I am crazy about the solider/nurse statue. It reminds me of the movie Pearl Harbor. It's gigantic!
After leaving the harbor, my dear husband drove us to Paper Tales, an incredible Scrapbook and Paper Arts store in Point Loma. Last time I saw Michelle and Helle, they were still in the planning stages of the store. I was thrilled to find Helle teaching in the store. We had a short little reunion and then I got to shop. The store is just darling. I love all the vintage decor items. Look at the sweet little pink stove and the doll buggy. I wanted to take them home. I adore both Helle and Michelle and wish I could have spent more time with both of them. Just as we were leaving, Michelle pulled up so I got to see them both!

2011-02-21T09:46:00.014-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day!
Valentine's Day is very special to me. It is the anniversary of my husband and I's first date! Not to mention, I am a romantic, sappy fool. The guys in our family cooked for us on Sunday. It was a crazy day because I took my son to a four-hour driving course entitled BRAKES. We both got to drive on Firebird Raceway. I learned quite a few things myself. Cole and Mark went to my inlaws house to cook and Taylor and I went to our National Charity League two-hour meeting. It was very nice to arrive at my inlaws where the guys were doing the cooking. They even decorated the table! They've been well trained.

I received a special delivery at work Monday. My husband usually uses Pro Flowers. This year he sent Shari's Berries, which is a division of Pro Flowers. Take a peek! Don't they look yummy?? They were!

This year I sent my Valentine's through the post office at Love Park, Idaho.

I was spoiled by my students!

Of course I brought them treats too!

Since I worked on Valentine's Day, I wasn't able to cook a big dinner so I bought heart-shaped pizzas from Papa Murphy's.

I'm very particular about my Pizza. I have to say, that their pizza was not bad.
I bought these beautiful, delicious cookies from AJs.

I set our table too!

Isn't this beautiful? I've been taking a friend of Taylor's home everyday from school. She and her Mom surprised me with this darling, bilnged out container filled with chocolates.

I found this cute frame at World Market. I need to get some photos in it.

2010-12-23T23:16:00.002-07:00

We noticed this sign from one of the ranches in our neighborhood. Love the simplicity of it, as well as, the message.

2010-12-19T12:36:00.006-07:00

This are the snowflake cookies that I made for our annual neighborhood cookie exchange. Even though I have my favorites, I change it up every year and challenge myself with a new cookie. I love the way they turned out. They are far from perfect, but it was my first attempt using royal icing. I bought the edible pearls from William Sonoma.
Taylor hosted her 3rd annual Christmas Caroling party at our house Friday night. I baked for five hours Friday, my first day off from school. We also set up a little hot chocolate bar, and of course, filled some candy jars and cookie trays.

2010-12-13T07:23:00.006-07:00

Hello Cupcake!
Saturday I went to a cupcake decorating party. It was actually for a fundraiser. We each brought a dozen cupcakes and received a lesson from a professional cake decorator. Needless to say, it was not as easy as we thought it would be. We got to bring two of our own cupcakes home and donated the remaining ten for the fundraiser. I wish I had all of her tools so that I could make recreate them while I remember all of the techniques we learned.

2010-11-28T10:35:00.002-07:00

Another milestone. Our 16-year old son got his driver's license yesterday. Yikes. Half of me was hoping he didn't pass the driving test. I'm not ready for this yet. He is though. He certainly is. I caught him smiling so many times yesterday. By the way, this rare photo of him was his extra credit for his Calculus class.

2010-11-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!

2010-11-21T14:55:00.018-07:00

Fire and Ice
Taylor and her friend's celebrated her 14th birthday Friday night. The theme for the party was "Ice Blocking". Taylor planned all of the activities including roasting marshmallows around a fire to warm up after their ice-cold ice blocking. Needless to say, I said whole lot of prayers and am so thankful that there were no injuries. They had a blast!

Some of were more adventurous than others.

The Candy Bar was a big hit. They each brought home a little goody box.

2010-11-06T08:26:00.004-07:00

"You have to decide early on in life if you are going to be a Tigger or an Eeyore." I love that quote from Randy Pausch in his book "The Last Lecture". Our daughter was invited to go trick or treating with a group of girls who all decided to be Pooh characters. Taylor was going to be Tigger. A few days later she was wavering over her decision and was thinking of another Pooh character. I told her about the quote. She loved it and decided that she, most definitely, would be a Tigger.

The girls went on a shopping excursion and bought tee shirts, shorts, duct tape in several colors, headbands, felt and face paint. I love how creative they were. At the last minute, I had to pull together a Hunny jar for Pooh, but other than that, they were on their own.

2010-10-25T06:36:00.007-07:00

Carmen and Tina came up for a birthday celebration. We were actually celebrating both of their birthdays. We went out to lunch and out to dinner with a whole lot of shopping in between.

Tina has a new job as a designer in a home decor boutique in Tucson and wanted to check out a few boutiques up here. Here's where we went:

Domestic Bliss
Found
On the Veranda
Paris Envy
Melrose Vintage
Relics
Bungalow
The Willows
Embellish Home
One Posh Place
Favor Fine
Frances
The French Bee
and we had to stop at Hobby Lobby. We were very inspired by the end of the day!

2010-10-19T08:01:00.087-07:00

Hello there! This little guy, well I'm pretending it was him, greeted us all three nights that we walked the new Iowa/Nebraska Pedestrian Bridge crossing over the Missouri River. Our final destination was Council Bluffs, IA where I grew up and where my sister and several family members live. This was on my sister's list of activities for the kids. We loved it and enjoyed seeing the river. We were amazed at how many people were there.

I never go home without visiting the Old Market in Omaha. It's been my favorite spot in Omaha since I was in high school. I remember my parents taking me there and talking about how it was a produce market when they were young. They said the window boxes on top of the buildings were always filled with flowers. I remember wearing heels going to a few pubs in college and slipping on the icy cobblestone streets. Lots of memories there.

I was able to squeeze in about one hour to myself this entire trip. My dear friend, Teresa, and I met at Second Chance Antiques. I loved it. The selection and prices were amazing. I brought home a few treasures. Teresa brought me the sweetest lavendar-scented gift. I love her and she now sits on my dresser.

Taylor and I stopped in for a quick visit to my favorite florist. She had a jar of Buckeyes on display. I remember finding those as a child. They weren't for sale though.

I love this building. I worked there one summer during college.

We were on the lookout for the "O" statues. This was the only one left. Apparently the rest have been sold. Dang! We were hoping for some good photo ops.

My sister has quite the green thumb. Her fall mums are always magnificant.

She recently received this candy corn vine as a gift. I want one!

She has several bunnies that have found their home under her gazebo. Taylor thought they were so cute. My sister, not so much. They eat her plants and make a mess.

I'm crazy about my Uncle Dick and Aunt Carol. They invited us to dinner. They live in a rural area. We spotted these wild turkeys on our way.

This is the view from their kitchen window. It makes me homesick just looking at these photos.

As you get to the edge of their property, you see this view.

2010-10-16T06:45:00.122-07:00

We left Kansas City and hit the road to Branson. Three and one half hours to go. Not bad, but I was doing all the driving myself and feeling very brave and accomplished to take my kiddos on a trip by myself. Half way there, I spotted what looked like an Amish man on a horse waiting to cross the highway. Then I noticed this sign. I looked for cute signs like this when we were in Pennsylvania this summer, but I couldn't find any. Sorry it's blurry, we were driving. It was an incredibly beautiful drive. We passed so many farms and red barns. I have a thing for red barns.

We arrived at our resort around 6 pm. We checked in, unloaded our luggage and drove back into town to have a nice dinner. Then I spotted Steak N Shake. Cole flies off to Ohio once a year for his drumline to compete in the world championships. Steak N Shake is always on their itinerary. I scored big points with Cole for nixing our plans for a "nice" dinner and dining at Steak N Shake instead. You know what they say, the way to a man's heart! After all, he did have to put up with a lot of girly stops during this trip. After dinner, we took advantage of the resort's recreation center playing pool, foosball, air hockey and sliding/flying down the water slide. The indoor pool was warm, but it was a cold walk back to our room.

The next morning we enjoyed a long-distance treat from Daddy, room service! He insisted. We love being spoiled. Daddy had lots of talks with Cole about being "the man" while on our trip and taking care of the girls. We then went and met the incredibly sweet and gracious Ruthann from Warm Pie Happy Home and Sugar Pie Farmhouse.

She brought me one of her precious books! I am so thankful that we were able to meet.

Our next stop was Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a quaint little Victorian town. One of my life's goals is to visit all of our fifty states.

I'm now officially at 41 states. 9 more to go!

We had ice cream at this darling little establishment.

We had to turn around and drive back to Branson. We had 4 pm tickets on the Branson Belle to see the show Todd Oliver and His Talking Dogs. The show was hilarious. Todd has been featured on both Leno and Letterman. We loved Table Rock Lake and had a thirty-minute break between dinner and the show to go out on deck and enjoy the view.

2010-10-11T08:54:00.048-07:00

We are on Fall Break! Yah hoo, I can't tell you how excited we are. We are on a year-round school schedule. It's hard to start school at the end of July, but it pays off when we have a 2 1/2 week fall, Christmas and spring break. I took the kids to see my sister in Iowa. She is very ill and I knew that my teenagers would be bored within a heartbeat so I decided to add an excursion on to our trip. My son has drumline camp this week, so I made our reservations for last weekend. I was trying to work out so many details and I overlooked an important competition date for him. He was so disappointed. We talked about it as a family and decided to work around his competition. I lost our three one-way tickets into Missouri and had to rework everything, but it all worked out in the end. We flew into Kansas City. I had a few spots on my list. Curious Sofa, Nell Hills and Urban Arts and Crafts.
Curious Sofa's Halloween decor was amazing!

We have been wanted to change our sofas in both the living room and family room and I wished I could fit a few of these in my suitcases.

Somehow, I don't think my husband would think this one is as cute as I do!

I have a thing for tin ceilings. I remember my sweet Mama pointing one out to me over twenty years ago before they were in. She loved them too.

Taylor found a few things for her bedroom. We are revamping it for her birthday. It will be black and white damask, chandeliers and hot pink.
Nell Hill's was amazing. Last time we were here, three years ago, we visited the original store in Atchison, Kansas. Loved this new store too.
I think my husband would approve of this sofa. Unfortunately, it wouldn't fit in my suitcase either!

I "Love" this pillow and had to bring it home with me.
We also stopped in at Urban Arts and Crafts. I found a few little trinkets. As we were leaving Nell Hill's and driving over to Urban Arts and Crafts I noticed this beautiful home. I mentioned it to the employee and she said it is the home of the owner of the shopping center and suggested that we drive through Briarcliff to see the beautiful homes. By this time, my son had about had it. Both the kids were exceptionally good on our little get away.

2010-10-03T08:40:00.013-07:00

I hosted my annual "Fall Bunco" this week. I made these darling little apple pies using my new Williams Sonoma pocket pie mold. I practiced last weekend. It's one thing to make a few, but to make 12 was a little time consuming. I highly recommend it. I love having everyone over. I planned Bunco around an early release day for me and after the kids had finished their finals. We are on Fall Break now. Yippy! We are leaving for a little adventure. We are going to the Ozarks, Arkansas, Kansas City, Council Bluffs, IA and Omaha.
I sugared this little house for the party. I have made several Christmas ones, but this was my first Halloween house. I'm still finding glitter on my face eight days later! It was wonderful, squeezing in a little time to create. Way too rare. I would love to find more time.

My dear friend, Angie, came to visit during Bunco. She brought me this darling crown wreath hanger from Utah.

2010-09-06T09:11:00.012-07:00

Our last day of vacation was spent at George and Martha Washington's Mount Vernon estate. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I could have spent the entire day there. It certainly made me think that if we lived nearby, we would spend an entire day. I learned that this estate and farm just sustained their family and slaves. They owned several hundred acres that provided them with a very comfortable income.
I loved the view from these arches. Their home was right on the river.

Martha was receiving guests. She was making bandages for the soldiers as she spoke. I could have listened to her for hours.

Surprisingly, this was just in a small walkway. I wish I could have one of these in our "garden".

2010-07-29T21:26:00.009-07:00

The Library of Congress. Without a doubt, this was my most favorite of all. The only book that I saw was the Gutenburg Bible. I was much too interested in the ceilings, walls and floors. They were breathtakingly beautiful. Everytime I plan an important trip, I check out both the Foders and Frommer's guides from the library. I spotted a small little 2 x 2 photo of one of the windows and knew that I couldn't miss an opportunity to see it.

The Senate Building was nearby. We met a very nice guide and informed her that we only had a few minutes and what should we see. Lucky for us, she recommended the spiral staircase.

2010-07-26T07:18:00.004-07:00

2nd Day - As promised to Taylor, back to the Museum of Natural History to see the Butterfly Exhibit. I think they liked my hairspray or something. I must have had at least 20 land on me and Taylor only a few. Had a difficult time getting the boys away from the dinosaur exhibit again. Gotta keep moving.
Enough with the train. We were frustrated the first day because there were so many things that we wanted to see that were miles away. I convinced Mark to start driving in and because of that, we were able to see so much more. Parking was a nightmare, but well worth it. Before we went to the Butterfly Exhibit, we drove over to the Bureau of Engraving to get our tickets. Tickets are free, but there are only a limited amount distributed every morning. We also drove to pick up our Ford Theatre tickets. All of this would have been difficult without a car.

2010-07-23T06:54:00.042-07:00

Our First Trip to DC. Well, not my husband's. He's has been there twice on business. He has been everywhere. But I'm slowly catching up. We were very excited to get to the Smithsonian's. We stayed in Alexandria, VA. Ironically, my husband lived there from the time that he was one until three year's old, while his father was based there with the Army. We took the train in. When we excited at the Smithsonian Exit, this is what we saw.

The magnificent Castle.

Our First Stop - The Museum of American History.
I couldn't wait to find Dorothy's Ruby Slippers.
I just read, a few days ago, that the ruby slippers are the most expensive piece of American Movie Memorabilia.

One of President Lincoln's hats. It is my understanding that there are three in existence. Three years ago, my husband and I spent our twentieth anniversary in Vermont, Cape Cod and Rhode Island. We toured the home of the President's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, in Vermont and saw a second hat there. The third is owned by a private collector.
Michelle Obama's dress. I would like to know her shoe size. It has to be a 12 or larger. There is an entire wing of First Ladie's Ball gowns. Nancy Reagan's was so tiny. Then there are wings and wings of Presidential Memorabilia. I could hardly get my husband to leave. The kids and I would keep touring around to different rooms and there he would still be. If we lived in the area, I'm sure we would visit often.

Julie Child's Kitchen. Bon Appetit! Look at all of her pans!

Next Stop - The Museum of Natural History
The Hope Diamond - Need I say more.

Cole was fascinated with their incredible dinosaur exhibits.
Taylor and I eventually left the boys and went upstairs to the live butterfly exhibit. We try to go once a year to our Botanical Gardens to see them. The butterfly exhibit had just closed for the day! We will be back to see them tomorrow. We found our boys and took another long walk. We wanted to see the Old Post Office.

The upstairs has a tower that is supposed to have an amazing view. It closed early too. It must be difficult to combine government hours and tourists. We were sitting on the steps, resting our weary feet and looking at the newer post office, when all of a sudden, police arrived from out of nowhere and closed off the street.

Sirens sounded and the street parallel to us started being closed off too. It was a little frightening and I wanted to leave. However, my much braver family members sprinted up the street where a crowd was gathering. 17 Black SUV's, a few with open windows and guns passed, and right in the middle was the Presidential car. I can't believe I was able to take a picture of it. They were speeding by.

It was, without a doubt, a very exciting way to end our first day in DC.

2010-07-22T06:38:00.061-07:00

Philadelphia to DC - Should have taken 3 hours, but took us 14
We really know how to pack it in. Because we were traveling to DC, I chose to stay on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Our first stop the next morning was Valley Forge National Park. Our troops stayed there during the Revolutionary War. We planned on staying there for one hour, but extended it to three. We drove the five-mile loop during which we saw the Washington National Chapel, George Washington's headquarters, the soldiers cabins and deer. We had to stop and check out the cannons.

The architecture of this chapel was amazing. You were asked to pray for active duty military when you entered.

Washington's headquarters. Martha lived here with him for several months as well. What a woman. I would love to learn more about both George and Martha after this trip. They were an amazing couple.
Next stop - Lancaster, Pennsylvania
I spent my birthday money on this Coach purse. I love it!
Now on to real reason we are in Lancaster - Amish Country!

Be still my heart. Being an Iowa girl, I've oftened wondered if I would have lived on a similar property had I not moved to Phoenix after college. I just feel such peace in more rural areas. I'll bet I'd go stir crazy very quickly! Who am I kidding?
>
I found a beautiful quilt in this shop. Sorry - no photos allowed. It was $2,200. I decided to pass on it.

I wish I had a photo of the farmhouse where we stopped to buy homemade rootbeer and lemonade. I gave up soda a few years ago, so I had the lemonade. I did have a sip of the rootbeer and I didn't care for it. I thought it tasted like actual beer.
While Taylor and I were shopping in the village, Mark and Cole were food shopping. Who would have thought? They discovered a little shop that specialized in homemade cheeses, bread, meats, etc. Mark came and found me and checked to make sure that it was okay to order us all sandwiches. Okay - it was, without a doubt, the best sandwich I have ever tasted. Everything was either homemade or homegrown. The bread, lettuce, tomatoes, pickle, mayo, sprouts, onion, meats and cheese. Our next stop was the proclaimed "yummiest canning kitchen". We brought back six jars of jam and several gifts. Anyone ever heard of strawberry curds? Cheese curds, yes, but strawberry curds? Cole discovered them, was brave enough to taste them, and encouraged me to try them. Delish!
Okay - time to hit the road again. Hershey, Pennsylvania is calling our name. Anyone tired yet? Not me, I'm an adrenaline junky. It helps on days like this.
Get ready to smell the chocolate.
We were greeted with kisses.
I could not smell the chocolate. Heavy sigh.
I'm feeling better - I can smell the chocolate now.

We walked along Twizzler edged pathways.

We took a ride through the factory.
After buying lots of chocolates, we were on to Gettysburg National Park.
We arrived after 8 at dusk. We were pleasantly surprised that it was still open.

It quickly became dark and SCARY. Mark drove us through the cemetery. Fog was billowing in and out of the white headstones. I felt like we were in a haunted graveyard and wanted to leave. The town looked darling with quaint little buildings and shops. We needed to hit the road, find some dinner, and drive to DC. We arrived at 11:30 pm. Now we're tired!

2010-07-21T19:22:00.046-07:00

Philadelphia in a Day
I wanted to get a much earlier start, but because of the previous night's late hours and two late-sleeping teenagers, we did not arrive downtown until after 10 am. The daily tickets for Independence Hall were long gone, but we were able to see everything else on our list. We tried to start with the Liberty Bell. The line was looooooong and it was in the direct sun. We decided to come back later. We really lucked out. This was the only warm day on our entire trip. We walked at least two miles. Little did we know that we would be walking 5-10 miles in the following days. The above photo is Philadelphia's historic City Hall.

The Liberty Bell. It was very crowded and exceptionally sunny. I tried to get a good photo from different angles, but I still have sunspots. The building in the background is Independence Hall.

I was hoping to find a "Ben" look-a-like. He was probably at the Franklin Center which we had been warned to avoid. It is supposedly so fabulous that you would want to spend the entire day there. We only had one day so I chose everything else.

Here's Ben's first fire station.

His final resting place.
His head made from keys.

The Betsy Ross House. - It was tiny.

The National Constitution Center where the Constitution was signed. The actual Constitution is in the National Archives. We saw it a few days later.

Cool Sign.
The LOVE statue.

The Rocky Statue = Yes we ran the stairs!

Last, but not least, a few beautiful buildings.

2010-06-13T08:19:00.018-07:00

We ran off to California to escape this oppressive Arizona heat. Aaah, bliss! We really enjoyed ourselves. We stayed in Dana Point. We went on a long hike, thinking the "cave" was going to come along any minute. We were all in flip flops and swimsuits with tee shirts and cover ups. We had no idea that it was going to be such a long hike, on rocks as well. But we made it! i took this photo from insidethe cave. I love their silhouettes.

The Dana Point visitor's center had this old bridge on it's website. I called them to find out where it was located. Taylor and I took a drive, while the guys were watching a game, and found it. It is from a luxurious hotel that was being built during the depression. It was never finished, but they kept this little piece of history. It is on a cliff, overlooking the ocean and surrounded by beautiful homes.

We found these awesome shells. I could happily beach comb every day of my life.

2010-06-12T06:26:00.015-07:00

Just returned home from another great family vacation. This one took more planning than any of our other trips. When we asked the kids where they wanted to go, Cole answered Philadelphia. We thought "great, he wants to see all of the history there." Oh no, that was not the reason. He wanted to go to Pats and Genos, the world renowned, Philadelphia cheese steak rivals. Coincidentally, they are literally right across the street from each other. So the wheels started turning and I spent several months trying to incorporate Pennsylvania, DC and Baltimore into a 7-day vacation. A few friends of mine from work are from Philadelphia, as well as, sweet friend, Maija. They were happy to help me with ideas and details.
Baltimore was not in our plans. However, because this area is so highly traveled, the rental car companies were going to charge us over $500 to pick up the car in one location and return it in another. There's always a fee, but I found it to be only about $100 in the past. There enters Baltimore into our plans. It was between the two cities. Phoenix is a short FIVE-hour flight to Baltimore. Tack on a THREE-hour time change and we have our days and nights mixed up. We flew in at 9 pm. Of course, everyone was starving, so even though our final destination was Pats and Genos, we stopped for dinner in Baltimore. I only had to mention that I had heard that Baltimore's Inner Harbor was beautiful and a very nice place to have dinner and it was decided. I do not eat red meat, so I was secretly thrilled that we were stopping for a nice dinner before hitting Philadelphia. We entered the restaurant at 9:55 p.m. They were closing at 10, but they graciously offered to let us have dinner. Can I just say that I had crab cakes three times during this trip. They were wonderful! After dinner, we walked along the harbor and then hit the road for Philly.
We brought Suzy Q with us. That's my name for the handy-dandy GPS system. We would have been lost without her. We weren't travelling to the nicest neighborhood in Philadelphia. Unfortunately we were arriving at 1 am. They were still lines at every window. You can't miss either of the restaurants. They are lit up like Las Vegas.

The center guy in the window is Pat. I have no idea why he was still working at 1 am. He obviously is doing very well and I'm guessing not paying too much in rent. I would be sleeping.
You literally walk across the street to Genos. He was probably home sleeping.

The taste test was completed. My three all voted for Pats!
We pulled up to our hotel at 2 am. It was only 11 Phoenix time, but I knew that we would be very sleepy when we woke up the next day.

2010-05-05T07:19:00.004-07:00

How I Spent My Weekend. My sweet friend, Angie, sent me a link to this FREE driving class. Our school district no longer offers driver's ed. Thinking back on it, and taking a poll with most of my co-workers, we concluded that we learned very little in driver's ed and mostly learned from our parents. However, if you want a discount on your car insurance for your teenager, they have to take a driving class. Toyota, as part of their community service efforts, offers these periodic, nationwide driving classes. The class is called Toyota Driving Expectations. My son and I were lucky enough to secure a spot for Sunday's four-hour class. Ah, the life of a teenage mother, or should I say, the life of a mother of a teenager. I brought books, magazines and a crossword. BLISS! However, when we arrived, we were told that the parents were in a class of their own. We learned how to be better driving coaches. It really was a great experience. I love being surrounded by positive, bubbly people and the Toyota staff certainly was. My son had a blast. They watered down the payment and had the kids drive 40 mph and then slam on the brakes. They got to experience ABS brakes! For a teenage boy, it's fun. The parents were off in their own class. We got to drive too. Ours was a driving distraction class (the teens drove this one too). We had to dial a cellphone while turning corners, open a water bottle, etc. Yikes, I missed a few signs, ran over a cone and learned that I need to watch out for my own driving distractions. I wish every teenager and parents of teenagers could take this course.

2010-05-02T08:20:00.002-07:00

My Sister's Keeper

Do not rent this movie unless you want to go through a BOX of Kleenex. I'm just saying - make sure that you go into this movie being forewarned. We rented it last night and there wasn't a dry eye in our home.

However, I wish I could find images of the incredible scrapbook that was featured in this movie. It was amazing!

2010-04-30T06:45:00.004-07:00

I'm playing alone with Sandy's "It's Friday and I'm In Love".
Here's what I love:

My Children and Husband
Beachcombing
Listening to The Waves
Vintage Treasures
The Hunt for Vintage Treasures
Shopping
My Outings With Carmen and Tina
Vacationing With My Family
Hawaii
The Outer Banks of North Carolina
Beach Houses
Babies
Pedicures
Wearing Sandals
Reading a Good Book
Finding Time for Crafts
Rare Dates With My Husband
Peonies, Lilacs and Wild Violets (none of which grow here in Arizona)
Doris Day Movies
Gone With The Wind
It's a Wonderful Life
Home Decor Boutiques
Decorating For The Holidays
Piano Music
Fleur de Lis
Gazebos
Red Kitchens
Black and White
Puzzles
Chandelier Drops
Reading My Favorite Blogs

2010-04-25T08:48:00.003-07:00

We celebrated the Fourth of July this week. It seemed like it anyway! My husband got us four incredible tickets to the Diamondbacks vs Phillies game Friday night. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I love going see the Dbacks play. We sat in Row 9 right behind the dugout. It was fun watching the players run in. They had five homeruns and we were pretty close to the swimming pool to watch the waterfall go off during each of the homeruns. Casino Arizona was hosting the fireworks after the show. It was so nice out. Fourth of July is miserable in Arizona, so we decided to catch our fireworks early.

2010-04-18T08:25:00.003-07:00

I had the honor and privilege of listening to this wonderful woman, Helen Handler, speak this week. My dear friend, Angie, invited me to attend this event entitled, Our Story, The Life of Survivors at Xavier High School. I don't think there was a dry eye there. Mrs. Handler was a Holocaust survivor. She was actually imprisoned at Auschwitz. It was inconvenient to attend. It was a 45-minute drive and I had to deal with the usual carpooling, dinner, homework, kids, etc, and not to mention it was a school/work night. However, never before in my lifetime, have I had the opportunity to actually listen to a Holocaust survivor in person and I suspected that I never would again. I am so glad that I went. She was amazing. She is 82 years old and full of spunk and wisdom. There were four speakers but she was, without a doubt, my favorite. She told us of the atrocities that happened to her, but she also said that her message wasn't about getting her audience to feel sorry for her for being tortured and starved, but to encourage us to know that there is always hope. There were so many young people in the audience. However, this high school is private and full of privileged kids. I know that Mrs. Handler also speaks at underprivileged schools and I loved that she also shared that she came to America with her husband with $5 and couldn't speak the language. Her husband died when her son was in high school. She opened a business and put him through college and law school, so she wanted everyone to know that there is no excuse for not furthering your education.

We also heard from a second survivor and two young men that were part of The Lost Boys of Sudan. Phoenix has a chapter hear. I have heard them speak before and their stories are also amazing. I hope to put the Holocaust Museum on our list when we travel to DC this summer. I've heard that it is not to be missed.

2010-04-10T08:11:00.004-07:00

My daughter and I put together this fun Dr. Pepper gift for her friend's birthday party. She said all the girls loved it. We made it from the book "Candy Bouquets". This is our second project from this book. I highly recommend it. The instructions are easy to follow and they make a great presentation.

2010-04-04T07:41:00.003-07:00

Happy Easter!
We had fun making these darling "bird's nest" for one of our Easter desserts. I was generously given a set of the darling lavendar cupcake digital Easter toppers. I new immediately that they would work perfectly on my new "Target" cupcake stand.
This little blogging world of ours is too fun. Another blogger shared these darling kitty tags.
I attached it to a little Easter gift.
Every year, we try a new way to color eggs. The past few years have included writing on the eggs with a wax crayon before dipping into the dye, tye die eggs and last year's chalkboard paint eggs. This year, we attempted - note the word attempted - Martha's plaid method using electrical tape. Didn't work. What a mess! Please share any tried and true methods with us! I'm off to start my au gratin potatoes and then get ready for church.

2010-04-03T08:03:00.006-07:00

Happy Easter! We are enjoying absolutely glorious weather here in Arizona and I hope that, wherever you are, you are too! As many of you know, I work for the school district. If I must work, this is the best choice for me, as it allows me to have the same vacation breaks as our children. We just enjoyed a two-week and one day spring break. We returned to school for three days and were off for Good Friday. It was a wonderful way to ease back in from our break. Now we are in for the long haul until Memorial Day. Because my husband works in the golf industry, he cannot take time off on our spring and fall breaks. Lucky for us, they are both the best times of the year to enjoy being outside and inside with the windows open. We stayed home and I couldn't be happier. I had all of that time to play Susie Homemaker.
We planted flowers in 18 flower pots. Cole fixed my fountain - yeah! I love hearing the water. Went to opening day of Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. Loved it. I took the kids out to lunch - twice. We went out to dinner - twice. We had company from New York, California and Colorado. We rented Whip it, Old Dogs, Couples Retreat, Time Travelers Wife, Did You Hear About the Morgans and The Amazing Mrs. Beeton. We went shopping more than twice. I read three books. I made strawberry jam and a home-made strawberry pie. I decorated and shopped for Easter. I went to seven upholstery fabric stores to find fabric to get our living room sofa recovered. I planted zinnia seeds to bloom in our hot summer heat. I washed everyone's comforters, sheets and mattress pads and hand-washed all my sweaters. I cleaned, and cleaned and cooked and cooked. Having all of us home during the day equals running the dishwasher twice a day. On the days that we were home, my husband came home for lunch. I did our taxes - we owe over $800 to the IRS - ugh! I worked on the kid's school albums, made Teresa Collin's paper flowers from her blog. I went to the dentist and took Cole to the dentist. We went on countless bike rides, played ping pong, several games of Bunny Jenga and took Chloe for walks. We are off to a spring training game and then coming home to color eggs. This year, we are attempting plaid eggs using electrical tape from my beloved Martha Stewart magazine.
I loved every minute of it!
Happy Easter - He Has Risen!

2010-02-28T20:29:00.004-07:00

We went to Mary Poppins Thursday night. It was incredible. We met my sweet friend, Angie, and her daughter. We didn't have tickets together and didn't even realize that we were going the same night. We were able to sit together during the second half. Loved seeing Mary fly through Gammage. I thought the dollhouse-type setting was magical.

I bought this cute little magical change purse. My friend, Laurie, always used to refer to my "restaurant bag" that I had when Cole and Taylor were little was my magical bag. I kept toys, books, coloring books, etc in there that they only got to use when we were in restaurants. I also had a magical sub bag from my substitute teaching years with a "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" book and several word searches, suduko, and other games. So I had to have another little magical bag.

This has been such a fun year for use to see shows. I usually only see about one per year and this year I've seen five. Lion King, Wicked, Mamma Mia (in New York), Little House on The Prairie and Mary Poppins.

2010-02-20T20:50:00.003-07:00

We were out having lunch today at AJ's. It was one of those "Oh it's 3:30 and we haven't had lunch yet" type of days. I talked my husband into stopping at a shopping center in Gilbert so that I could run into Anthropologie. Even he was impressed. Who wouldn't be?? Anyway, while he was paying for our lunch, Taylor and I ran over to the bakery side of the store so that I could order a passion fruit iced tea and I noticed the most beautiful chocolates I have ever seen. They are made by Julie Baker, a Scottsdale, trained in France, chocolateir. I would have bought several, but I gave up sweets for Lent. I know what I'm treating myself to after Easter. She is about to open a retail store in Paradise Valley, Can't wait!

2010-02-16T17:07:00.002-07:00

I'm always inspired after visiting my friend Tina's darling home. She has so many fun little arrangements in her china cabinet. I came home and looked at mine and even though it's a tad larger, it also holds all of our china, crystal and family heirlooms. I managed to clear out the middle shelf and have been playing around with it. When I came downstairs early this morning, someone had placed this box of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies in there and shut the doors. I laughed out loud.

2010-02-14T17:47:00.014-07:00

Early this morning on Valentine's Day. My dh is at work for a few hours. My teenagers are still sleeping. Ah, sweet, quiet bliss. Just for a few minutes. The pancakes are almost finished. Then we are going to church and out to lunch.

Happy Valentines Day! I hope you all have a sweet one.
My sweet daughter made me this card. Aaaahhh, so sweet.

My students spoiled me at work Friday. I received 2 heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, a Starbucks gift card and several cards. This hand-made one if my favorite.

2010-02-10T17:34:00.011-07:00

I went to the Tucson Gem Show with my friend Tina this week. I had a total blast as usual. Don't these beads look like candy?? I should have bought a strand just to look at them! But wait, this next table had total eye candy.

I always have to spend time at this booth. This Texas couple's booth is entirely vintage. Most of it is outside of my price range. I always manage to pick up a few treasures. Tina and I had fun wondering what these rhinestone pieces were once a part of.

This is my loot. I have a few pieces hidden away that are gifts.
Afterwards, we went to lunch, of course. Then shopping at a darling home accessory store and then a tour of Tina's exceptionally home. I love her style and always walk away from her home inspired.

This little bunny is eating all the flowers in her front courtyard. He sure is cute though and wasn't the least bit frightened of us.
Last but not least, the snow on the mountains. One of the many reasons why I miss our home in Oro Valley.
We missed you Carmen!

2010-01-03T10:09:00.021-07:00

We rang in the New Year by attending the Insight Bowl game. This wasn't just any bowl game for me. My husband, Mark, came home from work a few weeks ago and announced that my alma mater, Iowa State, was going to play in the Insight Bowl. I can't tell you how excited I was. I haven't seen Iowa State play for 25 years. I have not been back to my university since I graduated. Mark got us four tickets and my entire family had to watch me be giddy and cheer incessantly for my team. Mark and I have been married for 23 years and he is a diehard ASU fan and alum. I have attended countless football and basketball games and have purchased many shirts and ASU memorabilia for him. I loved seeing fans sporting Iowa State Cyclone teeshirts and seeing the sea of red and gold at the ASU stadium.
Before the game started, we were entertained by military parachuters landing on the field.

They first appeared as dots in the sky as spectators squinted into the sunny Arizona sky.
They started coming into view.
They each carried a flag including a United States flag, Iowa State, Arizona and NFL.
Immediately after they landed, we were treated with a fly by.

Here's Cy
Loved seeing my team name on the Arizona field. If you looked closely, you could see the Arizona State logo underneath
Our beautiful Arizona sunset.
The best part of the day, we won the game 14-13!
I hope I don't have to wait another 25 years to see my team play.

2009-10-31T16:09:00.003-07:00

Happy Halloween! You better believe that I'm wearing my darling new charm bracelet from Saucy's Halloween charm bracelet swap. Boy have I been getting a lot of compliments!

These "wicked" charms were my contribution.
I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween.
Best Witches!

2009-10-15T07:21:00.001-07:00

We are leaving today for New York and Connecticut for our fall break trip. Have a great week!

2009-10-12T07:25:00.014-07:00

It was my month to host my "Annual Fall Bunco".
This was my first time preparing appetizers, drinks, salad, dinner and dessert while working fulltime. I planned our date on a school half day to allow myself extra time. There's never enough time for all the details though.
We had a blast. I love having everyone over.

I served sugared-pecan salad with poppyseed dressing.

Homemade chicken salad on crossiants.

Fruit Skewers

Kettle Chips (I had to put something in this huge bowl)

Mini Pumpkin Muffins

For dessert, Banana Chocolate Chip Cake and Glazed sugar cookies

2009-09-08T06:55:00.002-07:00

We rented FIVE DVDs this weekend. It was my husband's birthday yesterday. We had plans to go out both Sunday and Monday. We were so looking forward to it. His sinuses and allergies had other ideas. So we stayed in, ordered pizza and watched movies. I am such a sap. I really enjoyed this movie and wanted to give it a thumbs up. Unfortunately I can't give the other four movies good reviews. I've been wanting to watch Coraline with my daughter for awhile now. My daughter thought it was "disturbing". Seriously, I really don't see the need to use overinflated balloons as female body parts, especially when they only have flowers over a very tiny amount of the overinflated balloons. This movie was rated PG! Anyway . . . I highly recommend "New In Town".

2009-08-14T18:36:00.020-07:00

It's all Tricia's fault. I wanted to go to Art Unraveled, but I "NEEDED" to stay home and get caught up around the house. She and I were going to hook up so that I could buy some of her awesome junque that she finds on her fun trips. Didn't happen. We were both too busy. So instead, I "HAD" to go to Art Unraveled. I woke my daughter up and "MADE" her go with me. After we exited the 101, we realized that we were passing Scottsdale Road and that Sprinkles was nearby. We went to Art Unraveled all right, but that was just one of our many stops and we didn't get home until 8:30 pm. We "NEEDED" a day like that. Our lives are so busy around here. I'm always shocked when I have time to reflect at how little down time we have.
I have two favorite booths, Tricia's and Hannah Dry Goods. This year, Beth Quinn had a booth! Here are a few of my goodies from Tricia.

She had a sample made for us to show us what she did with this charm.

Cool charms

Vintage "T" game piece
Cute little labels

A few cuties from Hannah's, where darling Maija, was helping out.
I fell for this birdcage.

Look how tiny it is.

My first "Charlotte" dollhead

More charms

Replacement earrings from darling Beth. I bought myself the same pair at Blissfest, but then gave them to my mother-in-law for Mother's Day.
.
After leaving Art Unraveled, we spotted an Islands Restaurant, our favorite lunch spot. Had to stop there. Then we worked our way over to Sprinkles.
I see myself in the window!
Yummy cupcakes!

I had a black and white, Tay had a strawberry. Did I say "Yum"?
Now, just as I was pulling out of Sprinkles, I noticed that Anthropologie was right across the street at Scottsdale Fashion Square. Of course we went. Of course, I found another dish towel that I couldn't pass up.

I have a thing about monograms. Found these cutie-pie file folders.

Guess what we spotted when we left Anthropologie?? Crate and Barrel. From there Taylor spotted Tiffany directly across the mall. Then Juicy was two doors down.
We finally left Fashion Square. Guess what you see when you leave Fashion Square?
Scottsdale Waterfront shopping center. We had to stop at Urban Outfitters. Found an awesome compass necklace for me.
Only two more stops after that. Ever have one of those days???

2009-07-31T22:09:00.006-07:00

We went to the beach 7 out of the 8 days we were here. We rented snorkel equipment, boogie boards and a surf board for the week. Mark was so excited to teach our kids to surf. I'm happy to say that they both got up!

They all three were in the water alot more than I was. They are stronger swimmers than I am. They would keep dragging me back out though. It gave me plenty of time for beachcombing, my favorite pastime. I happened to meet a very nice (handsome) guy on one of my strolls that asked me if I was having much luck finding shells. I said no and that I was really hoping to find an area where we could see sea turtles. He told me that he had lived on Maui since he was 8 and that he was going to tell me where his secret sea turtle spot was. I couldn't believe my luck. As soon as my family came in, we drove to the beach, swam out and saw 5 very large sea turtles. It was difficult to even stay away from them. They wanted to swim with us. They are endangered and you are not allowed to touch them. We were so excited. Mark and Taylor even saw an octopus. We all got to see the turtles and several tropical fish. I need to get the underwater camera film developed. Can't wait to go back!

The turtles were swimming around these lava rocks.

2009-07-31T21:53:00.011-07:00

We celebrated my birthday at The Hula Grill. Location is everything! Of course, the wonderful food, sipping a Blue Hawaiian drink, live island music and fresh leis help.

We also attended the Hyatt's "Drums of the Pacific" luau.
It started to rain as we were seated. I was certain that we would be caught in a storm. The wind was blowing strong and it was definitely sprinkling HARD. My hair was ruined. There went our Christmas card picture, but just when we thought the evening was ruined, it stopped. The show was phenominal. We especially enjoyed the fire dancers.

Of course you can't see us, but somewhere on that stage is my daughter and I taking a hula lesson. Yes, she drug me up there with her, but she fulfilled her promise to me and took a hula lesson.

As we were leaving, one of the dancers was available for photos. Let's just say that I'm happy that my daughter is the one to the left. The dancer's little coconut bikini top is about the size of the one I brought my daughter back from Maui the last time I was here when she was about 4!

2009-07-31T07:19:00.009-07:00

We made it, driving of course, 10,000 feet. We drove through upcountry Maui to the top of the Haleakala volcano. We were above the clouds and in the clouds. It's awesome to watch them float by you.

We spotted several of the beloved, endangered Maui nie-nie birds, as well as the silver star plant that only grows on Haleakala.

2009-07-29T20:41:00.014-07:00

Maui - Day 1
We arrived in the evening on July 3rd. We were up and ready to leave by 7 am. Those 3 hour time changes kill me. After walking across the street (gotta love that) to the beach exploring tide pools, we began our day at the Maui Swap Meet. A friend of mine is married to a native Hawaiian and she informed me that I "had" to do my big shopping there. We wouldn't have chosen that for our first activity of our first day there, but as luck would have it, the swap meet is only open on Saturdays. We were not disappointed. The flower vendors were fabulous.
The jewelers booths were amazing. My personal favorite! My husband bought me a beautiful Hawaiian Heirloom bangle bracelet. Cole bought Taylor a sterling flip flop necklace and matching earrings which totally stunned me. That's my boy!

When you are in Hawaii, everything seems to be in technicolor. There was a framed print of this flower in our resort suite. It was one of the many that we saw growing at The Tropical Plantation in Maui.
The Tropical Gardens were filled with incredibly lush flowers.

Wish I could grow this blue one in Arizona. Not a chance!

We had a picnic lunch in this charming gazebo.
We moved on to Kaanapali Beach, changed and spent the afternoon at The Hyatt.

I have a tradition of only having a Pina Colada when I'm at a tropical location. We were entertained by a patriotic parasailer.

To end our evening, we celebrated the 4th at an oceanside table at Bubba Gumps, watching the fireworks over the water.

2009-07-02T15:20:00.021-07:00

I'm spending every spare second getting ready for Hawaii!! Let's just say that we are stimulating the economy. Wanna see my dress for the Luai?

Taylor wanted to buy these Betsy Johnson earrings for my birthday. Instead I told her that I would buy them if she would take a hula lesson in Hawaii for me instead. I'm hoping we can find one.

This vintage necklace was my Mother's. She wore it when she was in her twenty's and gave it to me to wear when I was in my twenties. I own and cherish several pieces of her vintage rhinestone jewelry. I wore them when Mark and I used to have fancy, dancy parties to go to when we were newly married and he was the Head Pro at the very exclusive Camelback Country Club. On my list tonight is to rework a necklace to wear with my new dress using a few of the pieces from her necklace. I'm going to make a bracelet as well.
I needed a second nice dress for my birthday dinner. We are celebrating my birthday in Maui at the Hula Grill. My birthday was actually five weeks ago, but we were still in school.
Accessories are everything! Carmen has been helping me get ready. She gave me this darling tote for Christmas to take on our trip and this fun tropical beach bag for my birthday.

I'm taking this straw handbag with tropical flowers. I really get into theme dressing.

I hope you have a great week. Until then, ALOHA!

2009-06-27T09:46:00.012-07:00

I love the Fourth of July. I get that apple pie, baseball, patriotic feel good feeling. However . . . I try not to be in Arizona over the 4th. It's just not fun watching fireworks when it's 100+ at night. I miss sparklers! You can't buy any fireworks in the state of Arizona. Too many fires with our hot summers. So I try to create my own little spark of patriotism around our home.
I "borrowed" the red and blue stars from Cole's room. We decorated his bedroom around the armoire that I bought when we moved into this house.
I'm using an older photo. He no longer plays with those toys. Big sigh. He's a big high schooler now.

I made the mistake of filling the small jar with the blue jelly bellies before I had the licorice for the larger jar. Can you guess what happened?? I even threatened. I guess they're not scared of me. I need to toughen up.

I saved my Mountain Dew bottles from last year. Didn't see them this year.

I would like to take credit for the brilliant idea of using red, white and blue poker chips in my vase. I found the idea in my favorite seasonal home decor book "Celebrating Home".

I was thrilled that my lighted house that I found last year in a Scottsdale thrift store still works.

2009-06-17T22:25:00.005-07:00

We bought our tickets today for "WICKED". I'm so excited. It is always so much easier to get tickets when it's a return performance. My bunco group tried to get tickets when it was here last year, but they sold out immediately. This time my husband and I are having a romantic date night.

The streets of ASU are flying their Wicked flags. I can't help but here "I'll Get You My Pretty." I know that it's a take off from the Wizard of Oz and that's all I know and I'm purposely not reading up on it so that I will be surprised. We went down to buy our tickets in person. Our seats are in the 11th row. We like to sit in the orchestra section. Can't wait!

2009-06-16T12:32:00.012-07:00

It's the little things. I love the attention to details. It seems surprising that I'm like that because I don't have an anal retentive bone in my body. With my husband's permission, I turned our butler's pantry, which previously had a bar theme (wine bottles, etc.) into my baking area. During the holidays, we use it for entertaining. We have a little arched area in between the kitchen and dining room with a butler's pantry to the left and our walk-in pantry to the right. I've said this before, "I love our kitchen." It's the best part of our home. I walked by the butler's pantry and noticed out of the corner of my eye, Taylor's beloved Strawberry Crush bottles. I thought it was so funny that she displayed them there. They won't last long! They are a rare treat, too much sugar.
Our 4-shelf tall cupboards previously held wine and bar glasses. Now they house my baking supplies.

I found the darling candy-cane measuring cups at Hallmark a few Christmas's ago. Both the pink measuring cups and the cookie jar with the pink lid are from Pottery Barn Kids.

I keep my cupcake liners in the cookie jar.

Glass jars are wonderful for storage. I found the other glass cookie jar with the red knob at a thrift store for $.50. It's great for storing cookie cutters.

I found the cutest little cake pedestal at Blissful Saturday. I told Tricia that I was going to buy one after class. In the middle of teaching us, she said "Cindy, that lady just bought the last two cake pedestals." Lucky for me, she knew where there was one more in the back.

2009-06-13T18:58:00.013-07:00

I found a fabulous garage sale today in one of our nearby neighborhoods. I haven't been able to go out garage sailing in months. This family previously owned a home decor store in Denver, had just moved to the Phoenix area, and was selling the remains from their liquidation sale. I could have gone crazy. I restrained since our trip to Hawaii is coming up. They are expecting another truck and will be having another sale in a few weeks. Can't wait. Tricia called me a few days ago encouraging me to take her upcoming beeswax canvas class at Blissful. I have been wanting to take it forever. She is such a great instructor. There were just 3 of us in her class today, allowing her to give us her undivided attention. I'm sure I'll be making several more canvases as soon as I buy the beeswax, a few stamps, canvases and a mini quilting iron.
I loved learning this new technique. I really want to make her bunny canvas. She also shared the technique for using photos. Fun class.
On the way to Blissful, I stopped at my favorite thrift store. I found a set of four vintage "Marie" pictures. I gave two to Miss Tricia.

I couldn't believe my luck in finding this adorable tiny vintage cameo pendant. I know the image is blurry, but I wanted you to see the price tag. $2.00!!!

I stopped in at the produce market in Mesa where we used to shop with Mark's grandmother years ago when we would have family dinners in her home. I found these tiny, little red potatoes and decided to serve shish kabob for dinner. I also made a special trip to this little cornfield where they sell corn on the cob during the month of June. I had planned to grill chicken, red potatoes, yellow pepper and zucchini. Well, my family loved the idea, but wanted to expand on my menu. They went to the store and bought beef, shrimp, onions, asparagus, mushrooms and more peppers. I used my new grill pan to cook the asparagus on the grill and marinated the rest of the vegetables with olive oil. We dined on a feast. It's amazing what a little olive oil and cooking on the grill makes food taste so much better.

2009-06-09T20:02:00.010-07:00

My Fabulous Birthday Gifts
My husband and kids took me to the Coach store. Wanna see what's inside???
We all picked this one out together. I love the shape. Our second choice was a pink one, but it was a little over the top.
My next gift from my family is my new black island for my kitchen. I've been wanting one since we moved in. I've seen several with marble tops and was going to settle for a white one, but then we found this one. I'm loving it.

I'm thrilled that I now have a place to hang cute towels. My husband swears that I just wanted the island to have something else to decorate. Well duh!
Check out these drawers. All of those utensils used to be in this crock with my wooden spoons. It's always driven my husband crazy.

I wish my entire house was this tidy. My dear great Aunt Ruth, who I adored, and had an incredible Victorian home in Iowa told me that her secret was "A place for everything and everything in it's place." I think I just have too much stuff. I wish she was still around to help me find a place for everything.

Our birthday candles.

My sweet next-door-neighbor gave me this darling Willow Tree birthday girl angel. I love it.
These beautiful silver bracelets are from Mark's family.
I also received a gift certificate to my favorite pedicure salon
and money. I hope to spend it tommorrow shopping with my girl. I love summer!

2009-06-06T10:57:00.007-07:00

This is my first attempt at a diaper cake. My neighbor's daughter is having her first baby next month. Taylor and I will be attending her baby shower today. My go-to-gal, Sasha, has been making these for the past few years and generously shared a tutorial on her site. She is incredibly talented and lets her readers in on her secrets. Cole and Taylor both helped me shape and tie the 90+ diapers that we used. I found everything I needed in my "magical craft room" as my kids call it, except the pink teddy bear. I shopped yesterday specifically for a light pink teddy bear and was so happy to have found one. I hope she likes it.

2009-05-31T14:07:00.026-07:00

We went to Disneyland and California Adventure last weekend to celebrate my son's birthday. Mine just happens to be the day after his. Disneyland is offering free admission in 2009 on your actual birthday. Since ours are a day apart, we went for two days. They give you a button to wear that says "Happy Birthday" and your name. All day, complete strangers call out our name and say Happy Birthday. You can't help but be in a wonderful mood all day.

I wonder what Walt would say about today's Disneyland. It is still the happiest place on earth. No matter how many times we visit, I still find little details that I've never noticed before.
I don't know how we've missed this candy store. Are those the cutest carmel apples or what? We bought a Pooh rice krispie treat.

Disney has been advertising their "Dream Suite". We were racing around a corner and I spotted it.

It's official. My children are now both taller than me and I could barely keep up with them. As a mother, I can't tell you how strange that feels. We visited on Memorial Day weekend and I was afraid that the crowds would be unbearable, but we were pleasantly surprised. We raced through Disney and California Adventure riding 15 rides the first day and 10 the second.

We laugh through the entire ride on Big Thunder Mountain.
I never tire of Small World.

We loved the new Toy Story attraction at California Adventure.
There must be a camera near Toy Story's Mr. Potato head. As I was taking the picture, he said "Hey that lady's so famous her hair is wearing sunglasses."

The kids couldn't get enough of the Grizzly River ride. They loved the single rider option for immediate entry and rode their favorites 4 times in a row.

They must have magical elves that garden while everyone sleeps. I've never seen any gardeners, yet the flowers are magnificent.

2009-05-20T18:00:00.036-07:00

Friday night I went to the magnificent Bohemian Bliss. I haven't felt well since the event, or I would have posted sooner,even missed Maija's party, so you know I've been under the weather. Sorry Maija! Thanks for the invite. I couldn't wait a minute longer to share these photos. The house above belongs to the owner's of Domestic Bliss. Included in your ticket for Friday nights event, were home tours of their two side-by-side homes. They are both listed for sale. They hope to sell the one above and move into the larger, newly renovated home next door. Before the home tour, I met up with friends, Maija, Sweet Deb, Mary,, Tricia, Michelle, Maria, Laurie and Beth. I also met Sherry who is sisters with the Sweet-As-Sugar Ruth Ann whose blog I can't get enough of. I didn't take near enough pictures. I was too busy talking. At the end of the night, Beth said "Can you believe it's almost time to close up? It went too fast.

Now on with the home tour

I only have a few photos of the new home. This black piece sits in their living room. I would be in so much trouble if I owned Domestic Bliss. The store would be empty!
This is the divine wallpaper in the laundry room of the new house. I want it!

The new kitchen.
The rest of the photos are of the older yellow cottage. You can tell by the number of photos that I took, that I'm more partial to it. I had a personal tour about five years ago. I was amazed at the changes.
Both this kitchen chandelier and the background wallpaper are new since I was here last.

Believe it or not, their washer and dryer are disguised in their den.

Another piece in their den.

Master Bath

Master Bedroom

Now onto the patio and backyard.

Don't you love this darling little playhouse entrance?

How about the secret garden?
I could just move right in. Couldn't you?

2009-05-13T21:56:00.005-07:00

My husband came home a few weeks ago with four tickets for tonight's Diamondbacks game. Little did we know that they were in the infield box in row 24. We had awesome seats! We had been on the freeway about five minutes when we heard on the radio that Air Force One would be landing in 20 minutes. The president was speaking at ASU's graduation tonight. I noted the time and after 10minutes, instructed my family to start looking for his plane. Of course, the air traffic had been cleared for his arrival, so it wasn't difficult to see the only plane in the sky. We were so excited to see it. We had a great view as were driving parallel to the airport. I couldn't believe our great timing.
The game was fun! It helps having awesome seats. Unfortunately, our team didn't win, but we still had a great "family fun" evening.
My daughter took this picture of the mascot driving around in his jeep.

2009-05-10T16:35:00.008-07:00

My husband announced that we should empty out our entire walk-in pantry today and do a "clean sweep". Now most of you might think that this would not be a pleasant way to spend Mother's Day. However, I couldn't be more thrilled. We were starting to open the door, get what we needed, and quickly close the door. This was going to be one of my dreaded summer projects. We all worked together and after five short hours, completed our project. My husband stated more than once that it didn't need to turn into a decorator project. The pictures were all ready hung, I just added a few little touches. I had to share my photos because this will probably be your only glimpse into my pantry
I finally played with my new removable chalkboard stickers. I saw them on Kari and Kijsa.Thanks girls for the great idea.

My one empty wall houses a small bulletin board where I keep my current invitations. Can't wait for the Bohemian Bliss - Domestic Bliss event this upcoming Friday night and Saturday.

My copper molds are hung above the inside of the door. I love having little surprises everywhere.

2009-04-13T07:20:00.009-07:00

My kiddos woke up to this little table scene Easter morning. I baked a ham Saturday and their favorite breakfast of all is when I make them my version of egg mcmuffins.
We skipped dying eggs this year and decided to spraypaint our eggs with chalkboard paint.
As the kids get older, their Easter baskets aren't filled as high, money in eggs, etc. and we put their larger pool toys and sports equipment in the backyard for an Easter egg hunt. They never tire of that!

Then there's my youngest baby. "Mommy why are you trying to make me look like a bunny, I'm a dog."
"Why are you holding me near the pool?? You know I hate that swimming pool . . . I am not a water dog."
Taylor and I were on a mission. We found an adorable dress for both Easter and Hawaii. I hope you all had a wonderful day filled with family and fun.

2009-04-11T16:40:00.002-07:00

Happy Easter Peeps! I picked up this box of chicks and bunnies a few months ago at a church rummage sale for $2.00. I love all of them! If you need one or two, let me know and I'll share with you.
Wishing you all a joyful Easter.

2009-04-05T18:13:00.038-07:00

My husband, daughter and I went to the incredible "Chihuly" exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens. A friend recommended that we select the 4-8 pm reservation and I'm grateful that we wanted. No wonder that time frame is so popular. The weather was spectacular and it made us happy and grateful that we live in Arizona.
This tree was one of my 3 favorites of the over 100 displays.

This one reminded us of our "worm" succulent in our back yard that my husband brought us home from work a few years ago when they were clearing land for a new golf course.

This one was my favorite. They were all named except this one. I named it "Dancing Waters". I love the arch in the background that I didn't notice until I looked through my lense.
Next are the chandeliers. I'll show you a few of my favorites.

Daylight image before 7 pm.
After 7 pm image. This is why the 4-8 time slot fills up quickly.

We saw some feathered friends.

A few more of my favorite scenes.

A message to my local peeps: "Do not miss this."

2009-03-29T00:19:00.005-07:00

I guess it's my week to see famous vehicles driving around Phoenix. Earlier this week, we saw the Weinermobile. Today, I was driving to downtown Phoenix to see our son perform in the Arizona State Championship Drumline Competition and all of a sudden the most beautiful firetruck I've ever seen passes me on my right. Of course I wasn't able to take a picture while driving on the freeway, so I borrowed a photo from their website. I'm waiting for our son to come home now. What a long day it has been, it's 12:23 am and the bus hasn't quite arrived. However . . . they won! I'm so proud of all of them. They work so hard. While I'm waiting up, I've been reading some of the wonderful stories on pinkribbontour.

2009-03-25T06:43:00.014-07:00

I recently chaperoned our daughter's field trip to the Arizona Renaissance Festival. It was very entertaining to say the least.
This was my little group. I enjoyed spending the day with them and I tried my best to make sure that they had a taste of the entire experience.

We shopped at several of the vendors. The girls each bought a charm from this glass blower.

We each took our turn at archery. I had to show them what to do. Can't believe I even remember.

They all eventually got the hang of it. Too bad we can't do that more often. I think it would be great for hand/eye coordination.

They took a ride on the "Flying Machine".

We saw a fairy.
Check out her wings!

We went to a sword fighting show.

We went home very tired and happy at the end of a long, fun-filled day.

2009-03-23T14:53:00.006-07:00

Oh I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Weiner . . . is what we had to sing to receive a Oscar Meyer Weiner whistle today when we visited the Weinermobile that stopped in Chandler. Do you know that the Weinermobile drivers are called "hotdoggers"??
Check out their cool license plate!

My kids were disappointed that they were not giving out or selling hotdogs! Darn, I had to buy them lunch inside at McDonalds. My son told us a joke on the way home.
This guy was walking along the beach, found a bottle, rubbed it and a genie came out. He told him he had three wishes. Of course, the guy was amazed and couldn't believe this actually happened. He said his first wish was for a Corvette. His second wish was for five million dollars. The genie told him that the money would be in the trunk of his Corvette. The guy couldn't think of his third wish. The genie told him that whenever he decided, he could just say "I wish for . . ." and it would come true. He was driving home in his new Corvette with his five mil and the Oscar Mayer Weiner jingle came on the radio. He started singing along to it . . . and that's why a weiner was driving a Corvette down the road with five mil in the trunk!

2009-03-21T14:17:00.002-07:00

We are on our way to my father-in-law's 75th birthday celebration. He hates that number. I would too. My husband would tell us on every trip, everytime he spotted an A&W Rootbeer billboard that his father always stopped for them. When I saw this mug, I knew that I had to create one for him. I found the mug at the Dollar Tree and after looking at several stores, I found the A&W Rootbeer Barrels at Albertsons in their Brach's bins. I had fun putting it together for him.

2009-03-20T08:09:00.010-07:00

We had a big outing yesterday. My kids and I rode the new Phoenix Light Rail from a park and ride lot in Mesa to downtown Tempe/Mill Avenue near ASU. My son had the opportunity to earn extra credit for one of his honors classes by experiencing the light rail.
We were able to quickly purchase our tickets, cross the street and wait for the train. They run every 15 minutes.
WARNING! Find a seat quickly. The train starts as soon as the doors close and I almost fell! Wouldn't that have been entertaining for everyone on the train?

Lucky for me, my dear friend, Angie, had taken this same trip last week and suggested that we stop in at MOJO's frozen yogurt. Yum! I gave up sweets for Lent, so I'm counting my very small "Birthday Cake" yogurt as dairy.

I told the kids to hold out for "Cookiez" to get a homemade cookie/ice cream cookie.
I did not anticipate their cookies to be soft and fresh out of the oven. Oooh they were hard to resist.

As we walked further down Mill Avenue, I was surprised to see a little shop that I frequented with my girlfriends when I moved from Iowa to Tempe in my early 20's.
We went to several fun and funky shops, enjoyed people watching and had a great experience.
Next time we go to an ASU football game, I'm recommended that we take the light rail. There is a stop at the stadium door! Can't get any better than that.

2009-03-17T21:06:00.002-07:00

Okay, I promised to tell you how both of my kiddos sprained their wrists. Within one week of each other I might add. They are very competitive with each other, usually just with their straight A's, but this is ridiculous. Three years ago they both broke their arms within a month of each other. This time, we lucked out with just sprains. Taylor was first . . . both times. This time she came running in from the backyard crying and saying that she thought she broke her wrist. She had been doing handsprings and fell the wrong way. A few short days later, Cole fell walking down a slippery truck ramp loading their band truck after a drumline competition. Those modern-day splints have titanium rods in them. They run $45 each. Could they have possible shared one??? Oh no, one sprained the left, the other the right. Also they have to wear them for 2 weeks and their little accidents were within a week of each other. I guess we weren't blessed with the luck of the Irish. Or maybe we were. Sprained wrists are so bad. Just returned from a neighborhood St. Patrick's Day party. I brought Pistachio bread. It was surprisingly good. Everyone agreed. Here's the recipe:

Pistachio Bread Recipe
Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, I'm sharing one of my very favorite quick bread recipes--make it on Monday night to serve to your family for breakfast this Tuesday. They will LOVE it!

I got this yummy recipe from a Discovery Toys rep once--I went to her house for a Stampin' Up Party & concentrated more on this quick bread than I did the stamping. Kathleen, the hostess, willingly shared the recipe & I'm forever grateful. Kimber started calling it "Green Bread" and while it sounds strange, to eat something that is so very green, it really is delicious and Easter at our house (and St. Patrick's Day and, well, the 4th of July!) wouldn't be the same without it.

Pistachio Bread
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
2 small pkgs. instant pistachio pudding mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/8 cup water (may omit--but I always use it)
1 cup sour cream
pecans, optional

Mix all ingredients together on low with electric mixer. The mixture will be very thick & sticky. Grease the bottom of two loaf pans, then cinnamon & sugar them. Divide the batter between the two pans. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. You can also do this in one bundt pan or in mini loaf pans or cupcake liners--bake until they're golden and cooked in the center.
I found the recipe on Becca's Random Thoughts blog.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-06T17:00:00.019-07:00

One week ago today, I had the privelege of meeting Sandy. Sandy and I were Valentine swap partners two years ago. What are the chances that I would one day meet her. She lives thousands of miles away in Canada. She is as sweet and fun in person as I thought she would be.
Sandy met our mutual friend, Maija, at Silver Bella last year. Sandy arrived bearing the most incredible gifts. She generously gave us each one of her darling dollhead pincushions.
I will cherish it forever.
She also brought us each a package of goodies including Tim Horton coffee, a pen from Canada, luscious chocolate that I'm saving until after Lent and a fun, blingy eye mask.

Maija hosted a little soiree Friday night at her beautiful, warm, creative home. As you can imagine, Maija's home is filled with her incredible art. You see her jaw-dropping studio as soon as you enter her home. I loved being there and she is a wonderful hostess. She served us mango margarita's, mexican food and yummy cupcakes.
The famed Mary of Sweetpeas and Snapshots, super-model Tamerie, charming Deb who adorns the most fabulous tee-shirts, purses and aprons, Tricia and her sweet mama were there. Mary, Tamerie and Deb drove over from California.

Tamerie brought us each a wonderful bag of goodies. I can't wait to wear my aqua glittered starfish necklace.
I brought the out-of-town guests a chicken wire cloche with a love nest inside.

I can't believe it took me an entire week to post about our fun get together, but I will post more about what has kept me busy this week. Hint: Both of our children have sprained wrists.

2009-02-25T07:19:00.009-07:00

My husband called me on my way home from work yesterday and asked if I wanted to go to the Suns game tonight. Yes, I exclaimed. Yes, yes, yes! I love going to their games. I, of course, said "unless you want to take Cole". You know, when you have a son, you should offer him the ticket first. Turns out he was given four tickets so we all went for a great family fun evening.
It's been over ten years since I've been to a Suns game. Things have changed to say the least. The graphics are beyond cool with the flaming basketballs and flame blowing players on the screens. Also, I'm not sure when the whole planet orange thing started. The music was really fun and we loved watching both the Suns dancers and the cheerleaders. We had our own cheerleader in our section. We had no idea that Cole's cheeks turned that red.
We also were entertained by a Casino Arizona blimp dropping gifts on lucky guests.
Also by subway sandwiches parachuting from the ceiling.

Also by a vendor shouting "Lemonade, lemonade like Grandma made." I need to share his chant with my friend Angie whose kiddos love having lemonade stands.
The Suns won! Can't wait to go again. Also, I had to get out my program to see just how tall Shaq was. He looks like a giant. He is 7'1, towering almost 2 feet over me. Very fun to watch.

2009-02-20T18:11:00.002-07:00

Valentine's Day - Part VI
I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I certainly did. I usually make heart-shaped pancakes. However, since this year Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday, my husband made us omelettes. He surprised me with a dozen beautiful red romantic roses, a sweet card and chocolates. Our date consisted of me picking the movie. Yeah! I chose The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Loved it. My father-in-law invited everyone over for a "Boys Cook For Girls" evening. He loves to plan elegant dinners. We dined on Salmon Wellington, stuffed mushrooms and mandarin orange salad. Dessert was Sees Chocolates. Doesn't get much better than that.

2009-02-14T07:59:00.005-07:00

Valentine's Day - Part V
L-O-V-E is in the Air!
I couldn't let a holiday go by without filling my jars. I love the one in the center. Last year, after Valentine's Day, I found a bag of small Valentine lanterns at Walmart. While searching through my Valentine bin for something to fill my jars with, I decided to see if they would work.
I bought this LOVE ring for Taylor to wear this week while shopping at AJs, our local gourmet grocery store. It's the only place that I can find my Paradise Passion Fruit Ice Tea. Too bad for Taylor. It was too big for her, but fit me. My sixth grade girls at school this week loved it. They all wanted it.

I sent my kiddos Valentine's off to one of the many romantically named postal offices. This year, I sent them to Romance, AR. I love their cancellation. Sorry it's blurry. My camera wanted to focus in on the wings, not the lettering.
Happy Valentine's Day my friends!

2009-02-13T16:17:00.001-07:00

Valentine's Day - Part IV
Can you believe this beautiful chair??? My daughter and I were at an Estate Sale at least six months ago and spotted this chair. Taylor said she thought it was like a chair from something in Alice and Wonderland. We waited until the last day, which is always half-price day, and it was still there. We brought it home and I've been patiently waiting until Valentine's Day to show it to you. I'm now on the look out for a beautiful rubbed white desk or secretary for our bedroom to accompany this heart-shaped chair. Until then, it is in my office/scrapbook room.

2009-02-12T18:38:00.005-07:00

Valentine's Day - Part III
I Want Candy! I've been singing that song (in my head) for the last three nights while Taylor and I have been working on our assembly line Conversation Heart IPODS for her classmates. I found them on Familyfun.com. They had the downloadable playlist and dial. The earbuds are foil-covered mini Reeces cups. We made pink for the girls and red for the boys.

2009-02-10T19:33:00.002-07:00

Valentine's Day Part II
These are the Valentine's the Grandparents and Daddy will be receiving this year. Cole's just too big to go for a Valentine Photo Shoot anymore. I ordered these from Scrapbooksetc.com.

2009-02-06T07:07:00.002-07:00

I wish I could share my sweet, ruby-red grapefruit with all of you. We have been in our home for over four years now and the fruits of our labor have paid off. Our little grapefruit tree is loaded with the most delicious grapefruit I have ever tasted. I'm loving walking out to the tree in the morning and picking a fresh grapefruit for breakfast. I'm thinking we need to select another fruit tree to plant. Any suggestions? My favorite new fruit are the "Cuties". I take two of them in my lunch every day. Wish I could grow a "Cutie" tree.

2009-02-05T15:52:00.003-07:00

Valentine's Day Part I
Cute huh? I just found this on Paper Tales and I do love my Mark! Try it! I think I need to print this out for a fun project.

2009-01-31T08:06:00.002-07:00

PLAY
MAKE THEIR DAY
CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE
BE PRESENT
Seattle is such a fun town to visit. You can't visit Seattle without experiencing Pike's Place Fish Market. Pike's employees are unbelievably entertaining. This week, the school where I work, had a week-long "Fish" experience. We were all given the book to read, bowls of Beta fish were popping up everywhere. I personally painted four large fish with the phrases, Play, Make Their Day, Choose Your Attitude and Be Present on them. We ended the week with a staff breakfast and the Pike's Place video. It's been a unique work week for both me and my husband. I had to be at work one hour early two mornings for meetings. I brought food for two potlucks. One for the breakfast and the second (because we are in Phoenix and our Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl) a Super Bowl potluck. Last night, I attended our schools musical production of "Bugsy". It was wonderful seeing so many of the children that I know on stage. I can't wait to congratulate them on Monday. This is the second year that my husband, as a PGA golf professional, has had the honor of being asked to volunteer as a rules official at the FDR Phoenix Open. In his capacity, he walks with a four-some, including a celebrity or tour professional and four amateurs. Needless to say, I am quite behind with my household chores. I forgot to mention, I had two meetings in the evenings this week and Bunco. I'll be getting right to those chores as soon as I arrive back this morning from shopping for a Cardinals shirt, going to the Chandler Flea Market and getting my hair done! Have a great weekend. Go Cardinals!

2009-01-29T07:04:00.004-07:00

The Lion King was fabulous. We had front row seats! For those of you that have seen The Lion King, I'm sure that you can relate to my favorite characters, the giraffes and the cougar girl. That girl flowed. I loved watching her manipulate the cougar from using her arms and the wires attached to her head. Talk about coordination. Of course "The Circle of Life", Hakuna Matada" and several other songs are racing through my head. I would love to see it again! I'm currently working on coordinating another group of 25 for the "Wicked" production.

2009-01-25T14:05:00.005-07:00

B-I-N-G-O
I found these darling downloadable (is that a word) Bingo cards on FLICKR. I'm not sure whose blog I orignally found them on. That's a symptom of reading too many. Guilty!

I actaully played Bingo this week. My friend, Loretta, invited me to go with her and a few friends. I didn't win. Too bad Taylor couldn't come with me. That girl always wins. Boy has Bingo changed.
You need an instruction manual to keep up! Every game is different with names like small picture frame, double t's, etc. Yikes! When did that happen?
Gotta get back out to the pool. We are going to the Lion King tonight! Yeah! We are wearing dresses and are tanning our legs this afternoon. Just a little and yes, we are wearing sunscreen. I'm reading my 10th Stephanie Plum - Janet Evanovich book. She makes me laugh out loud. Probably because they are so out of character for me to be reading!

2009-01-23T07:20:00.002-07:00

Our Science Fair was yesterday. My girl and her partner won 3rd Place. I'm so proud of both of them. They get to go on to a higher level science fair next with their same project. They measured the different voltage levels produced from a potato, lemon or orange. GIRL POWER!

2009-01-19T17:34:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we watched "The Battle of The Birds", the play off game between the Arizona Cardinals and The Eagles. It was soooo exciting. We are all thrilled that the Cardinals and won and are going to the Super Bowl! Patti was so hilarious. She is a big football fan. She grilled "Eagle Legs", which were very large chicken legs marinated in maple syrup and beer. They were delish. She said early on that if we all had one that the Cardinals would win. Must have worked! She was yelling "I Love You Larry" too. How exciting for Kurt Warner who hopefully will be named MVP. I love how he professes his faith in God publicly.

2009-01-18T10:07:00.003-07:00

For the last two weekends, our son's high school band has been performing at Well's Fargo Events. Their first paying gigs. They have fun. There are lots of festivies including the Well's Fargo Stagecoach, free food and prizes. The fees they earn go against each student's $850-1250 winter band fees so I say bring it on. They pretty much take up our entire Saturdays though. After their event, they have to be taken back to other schools for competitions. Taylor and I have to drive him and a friend or pick them up from events anywhere in the Phoenix area. If you are familiar with Phoenix, that usually means a one-hour drive. We, therefore, have to kill 2-3 hours every week. I need to be home cleaning, organizing, etc, but it sure is fun to be out for the day shopping and going out to lunch. Yesterday we got pedicures for Taylor's straight A's. Of course Cole wasn't in on that deal so he chose a protective cover for his ITouch.

2009-01-13T07:13:00.011-07:00

My dear friend Carmen was up from Tucson over the weekend. They had planned on arriving Friday night. Plans changed to Saturday and we were afraid that we would not be able to get together. Fate intervened and my cell phone rang Saturday afternoon just as I was dropping off Taylor at a birthday party. We were both free for two hours. What are the chances? We had a quick lunch and off we went to hit about 4 or 5 nearby stores. She made my day! Saturday night we had a family barbeque at my sister-in-laws and watched the Cardinals game. I am definitely not a television football watching fan, but what a fun game to watch and Larry Fitzgerald is so entertaining! Last time Carmen was up, we visited her friend Carrie. I was too busy to blog it at the time, but wanted to share these photos. Carrie and her husband bought an older home, had it torn down and built an exceptional custom home off of Camelback Road in Phoenix. Carrie's mother is an interior decorator specializing in custom fabrics. She took one year off of work to sew exclusively for Carrie and to help her with her three children while she tackles her new project. I've been lucky enough to see it twice, one year apart.
Several pieces of her furniture were garage sale finds including this chaise in her daughter's room. I love the trim and wish I could slipcover!

Please excuse the dark photo. I wanted to show the trim.
I'm loving this skirt on her baby girl's rocking chair as well. It, too, was a garage sale find. You would never know it now.
Last time we visited, this bench was royal blue. They have made so much progress in a year. We walked to Tammie Coe Cakes and I had my first, but definitely not last, Ooey Gooey Cupcake. I saw her zebra cake in person. Incredible! Such a work of art.

2009-01-11T08:03:00.008-07:00

The Ever So Vivacious Scrappy Jessi was in town and hosted a blog party at The Arizona Grand Resort for several of us. Jessi requested a private room and after everyone arrived and the noise level went UP, they shut our door. I wonder why??? There was lots of giggling and chatting and several of us knew each other from our blogs but had never met in person.
Jessi had treats for each of us at our table. Maria presented each of us with her darling hearts, Tricia with a glassine envelope with yummy vintage papers and Jenny a pretty bag of Dove and Bliss dark chocolates. I brought Jessi a hostess gift but should have brought everyone else a treat too. I'll make up for it next time.

I finally had the honor of meeting Carol Wingert. I've been reading her blog for years and we seem to be at the same places but never at the same time. Leave it to Jessi to bring us all together. We definitely need to throw a party for her the next time she is in town. Thank you Maiji for sharing your photos with us.