Happy Birthday, Baby

Twenty-two years ago today I had my second precious baby girl.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart, I love you!

We are so fair in our family (the girls anyway) that flashes wash us out. P.F. Chang's is too dark to not use a flash. I've been known to reflect light in photos. Seriously, I'm serious. I have a photo that proves it, but I'm not going to show it now. My babies inherited my reflective qualities.  

You Have Three Weeks

{country living}

I have actually made my homemade Valentine's already this year.  I think I was avoiding cleaning out the garage or something much more mundane.  

{bhg}

I've gathered some of my favorite Valentine ideas off the internet. I didn't even look at any of the fabulous creative blogs out there.

{country home}

{martha stewart}

I love this idea.

{martha stewart}

{martha stewart}

{last three images from the purl bee}

Don't let it sneak up on you!  Make sure you are prepared to do something special for those you love!  I'll show you my finished Valentine's after the day.  

Handmade Valentines

I've been a little crafty lately.

Making a mess on the kitchen table.

Trying to muster up my inner artist (she's hibernating). I can't really show you the final product, as if I was actually finished. The recipients check in here from time to time. 

This is what happens when you're wandering around Target trying to avoid a deluge, 48 gel pens for $13.99. I thought that was a pretty good deal. Gives me a lot more color choices. Do you still make your own Valentines? Check in with Melissa for a look at other inspiring posts.

UFO Finally Done

Who says a very old project can't finally get finished? I amass a lot of "projects". Some people focus on one kind of art or craft. I have an attraction to lots of different things. I am a master of none of them. The yarn for these socks was bought probably before 2002, I'm guessing. I made one sock and it was WAY too tight. I frogged it (rip, rip, rip) and put it away. I pulled it out again last Fall, I think, and started again. Finally finished last night. They look a little different. That's the beauty of handmade socks, I guess. It's a fun pattern called Crusoe from Knitty.  I would recommend it.  

Husband Decorators

I haven't really felt any inspiration lately to redo my decorating.  So, some things are sitting around and I'm "thinking" about them.  Hunky Husband decided to help out.  

This is the little lamplighter from my Christmas village that somehow didn't get put away with the rest of the Christmas decorations.  

Some people  have  husbands that actually have good decorating taste. Others just have husbands who think they do. I have a husband who pretty much let's me do things I like as long as I ask his opinion.  Then there are times he just does his own thing.  

It is always good for a laugh, though. Does your husband "help" decorate?

Classics

I was excited to get two of these beautiful Penguin Classics for Christmas. I bought the third with a gift card. Who doesn't love a romance where the poor, underdog heroine gets the fabulous, handsome, richest guy on the block. Well, maybe not in Jane Eyre, he was rich, though.

I've read them all before, but am starting over with Pride and Prejudice. It's going to take awhile. I usually only read at bed time. That doesn't last long. I'll have to again get used to the backwards way Jane Austen wrote, or is it the way the English form their sentences. Either way, it's a slow go.  

It's no surprise that you can get them at Anthropologie, our favorite source for all things unique and gorgeous. We have heavy duty rain today.  You can find me under the afghan with Jane. 

Buddy's Wondering

Mom took me to the spa today. She keeps calling it that, but I know better. I tried to get out the door, but somehow it never works. When she leaves I call out her name as loud as possible, but she just ignores me. I really should put my foot down. I don't see what is such a big deal. Aren't dogs suppose to be stinky and have bad breath? And what's the idea with the red bow? Don't they realize that this is very embarrassing? It all just wears me out.  

Floral Fridays

{citified.blogspot.com}

Organized Chaos

{martha stewart}

Wouldn't it be lovely if all our organization looked this good even inside the drawers? 

{martha stewart}

Or if all of our junk was color coordinated and fit into beautiful little vintage planters?

{bhg}

This is a smidge closer to what my donations look like, sans the beautiful basket. I would never give that away!

{country home}

I do have some organization in pretty bottles.  But, who has only one color palette of ribbon and who in their right mind has only that much yarn?  

{country home}

I love this tray used as a bulletin board.  Maybe it's just the red. I also love the beautiful wrapping paper, does anybody really store theirs like this? I could show you my organization, but the pictures would not be nearly as pleasing.  Better to be organized well than beautifully, correct?

Hi there!

{house beautiful}

Instead of saying "Goodbye" today, I'm welcoming you here for a visit. A friend suggested that I have a pattern going with doors and the color blue. So, I thought I'd just add at least one more.  Come on in!  I'm just organizing piles at home today. Gotta get through the stuff before I can play. While you're here, can I offer you a cup of tea?  

i'll be right back

I would love to sit and chat awhile over a cup of tea, but I'm off to work again today.  I'll be coming by for a visit later.

See Ya Later

I'm headed off to work this morning.  Thought I'd leave a pretty photo before I go!  Have a beautiful, sun shiny day today.  

Blogging Blahs

{country home}

Isn't this little puppy adorable. Looks like his little bed it up on top of a counter. Who does that? Well, I thought he had the perfect expression of how I'm feeling lately. The holiday crazies are over, but I'm still feeling a big overwhelmed. There's not even that much happening around here. Maybe that's the problem. Christmas is still not put away. Therefore, my house is trashed. I can't seem to get motivated into a new decorating direction. I feel very uninspired. DD2 goes back to school in 4 days. So, my focus is on her for right now. I think I'll be back in full blog swing next week. In the mean time, I'd love ideas on how you decorate after Christmas. 

Rent It!

I went to see "It's Complicated" today. I basically went to see the house.  It's directed by Nancy Meyers who is known for the beautiful sets in her movies. I loved the kitchen in this movie. It's even the before kitchen. She's planning a new kitchen. I can see how it's probably not adequate for a professional baker. I'd take it.

The house and the garden are basically the only really good things about this movie. 

Fabulous garden. You'd need a crew to keep up with it, though. Perfect little rows of vegetables and herbs. Really huge, red tomatoes. I always wanted a garden like this, surrounded by a cute fence. Not nearly this huge, though. I can't even imagine how much food it produces.  Btw, she makes baking croissants look really easy.  It did look like a fun date, though.  I'd give the movie a C-.