Over The Weekend

It was so nice to have a 3 day weekend, almost brought me back to last year only working 2 days a week. My mother in law had an extra Turkey in her freezer, so we had "Thanksgiving" on Saturday I made the pie and it was pretty good. It was so yummy and totally hit the spot, I love stuffing and I want to make it all the time now and green bean casserole isn't so bad either. Also my aunt and uncle in law came into town from Moses Lake so we got to spend some time with them (they were at Thanksgiving too). We had pizza on Sunday, I love Trackside Pizza in Puyallup they have a great atmosphere and great food. We enjoyed letting the pups out to play in the back yard.  (the end...not sure what else I was going to write but thought I would at least share this!! actually posted on 4/27/2012)

Weekend Warriors

We have been hard at work the past couple of weekends on our front yard. When we moved in the front was horrible and the curb appeal was less than desirable. Since we have moved in we have removed all of the terrible, kept some of the keepers and basically re-did the entire front yard to our liking. We removed "Tumors" well that is what I called them, they are better known as junipers, rhododendrons are gone (I don't like how sticky they get) as well as some other things that I can't even remember. We added grass, flowers and a veg patch. Here are some pictures of the yard from this year. Please enjoy.
Our "Tulip"field at the end of the season. In addition we have Gus's memorial on the left (he was our little parakeet).
One of the things we kept, but are going to get rid of. It's a flowering plum, but the previous owners had cut it down and these are just the suckers growing off the stump, I thought it would fill out better but it just isn't working.
Our front yard showing the flower bed and grass along with our veg patch. All it needs is a new paint color and our house will have a more than desirable curb appeal!
Another view of our tulips, I think this one was taken last week or so.
My new additions from the Junk Salvation, an old but sturdy wheel barrow and a metal bin that will be used as a planter.
You can just see our raspberry bush, its going to give us golden raspberries (its on the right in the grass.



The veg patch. We now have the following planted: spinach, lettuce, parsnips, carrots, strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes and peas. We will plant our beans after the peas have finished.
Our cute little ducks from Rust and Ruffles in Snohomish.

New plantings by the front door, the roses died so we need to replace them, hopefully these will work out better.

We are hoping that we will get some good crops this year, we are praying for a fruitful summer! But please lets keep the weeds away!!


Are you working on anything in your garden? Do you grow veggies to eat? Or do you just enjoy flowers? I would love to know what projects my dear readers are doing.

Store Tours!

I wanted to take you all on a tour today of one of my favorite stores in Bellevue. It is called Common Folk Co. I first found it with my sister and mom as we were on the search for inspiration and items for our weddings (my sister and my weddings - not my mom's shes been married to my dad for a while) You can check out their facebook page here.
This store is a mixture of things old and new and they mix it all up in their displays as well. The vintage cake topper for my wedding I got from here, its similar to the one above. But mine came with a beautiful story. It belonged to this dear old couple, they had used it in their wedding and they were going to share their 50th wedding anniversary the same year we were to wed. And my sister got the pillow for their ring bearer. You can't really tell, but the centerpiece on the table has branches with vases hanging from them, they had three different styles and they were my purchase of the day.

I always find things I love at this store. And it tends to be reasonably priced. I got this really cute pig painting that I have on the wall in my living room. Its on a stretched canvas. This store has so many great things for the home, party's, wedding's, and baby. I always love it when I have an excuse to trek to Bellevue and visit this quaint shop. I learned when I was in there on Sunday, that it was originally form Chehalis and they moved 6 years ago to Bellevue.

I hope that you enjoyed my first Store Tour and that if you get a chance visit Bellevue Crossroads area anytime soon that you check out this great store!!

Here is their address: 15600 NE 8th Street, Suite A-5 Bellevue, WA 98008

Do you have a store that you would like to have featured on my blog? Just leave a comment and I will be sure to check it out!

Junk Salvation in Puyallup

This weekend I went to the Junk Salvation (you can check out their blog on my faves list to the right or by clicking here) this weekend, not once but twice. This time it was in Puyallup at the Competitive Edge and it was a two day deal!! How exciting. We got there early on Friday evening, but still had to wait in a really long line, then we got bracelets to get us in the next day. You have to move and buy fast if you want to get something you really love because if you think it will be there when you come back by in 20mins it probably won't be. There are lots of great finds, but some of the deals just aren't deals.


(I loved the herb signs in this old milk can, I have been trying to come up with cool plant markers for our veg patch)


Junking has become a favorite thing for me or more like a hobby. I don't always buy but I do get good ideas and inspiration! It has been so fun to see how my style and taste have evolved over the years, especially since we bought our house 3 years ago. At first I thought I wanted a more contemporary look to our house but as we have made it more into a farm, I am drawn to the more country and antique type styles.





I love these plain neutral tones and that fern is gorgeous!! I know just the place to put one of those in my house. The old pictures are so cool and I wish there was a way that I could stack furniture in my house and it not look weird but cool and uncluttered.

This show was full of such great inspiration I and intrigued by this birdhouse and I need my wonderful husband to help me figure out how to build one like this. And it was so cute how they found all these non-traditional ways to display house plants.




Not only was this an adorable buggy but there was the cutest little dog sleeping in it. Note: the dog was NOT for sale.








I love getting inspiration from Better Homes and Gardens, Country Living and of course my all time favorite, Martha Stewart. I get to watch her in the mornings before I go to work which is heavenly. And then of course and junk shows, flea markets and antique shops.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Why you should be Jealous of me because I have the most AMAZING husband!

This was our delicious breakfast on Saturday. Crispy hash-browns (you know how those Irish love their potatoes!!), Sour Cream Eggs and Bacon!!

We had a similar one on Sunday as well, minus the eggs. Another great reason why I love the weekends; Breakfast with my Hubby.

To top it all off, since I have been craving potatoes for the past 2 weeks and love hash browns. My wonderful and amazing and loving husband surprised me this morning with Hash browns this morning before he left for work! What a great guy. I am for sure the luckiest girl ever!!

Results...well part of them

Sew....I have been trying to be patient until I have completed my whole project but I just cannot wait any longer. If you remember I just showed you a picture of patterned fabric and well I had to make something out of them with my new sewing machine! I have been getting tired of the pillows and their colors in my living room on the couch and chairs. Sew I thought I would change them up a bit. And this way is so much more rewarding and cost effective than going out to say Pier One or Cost Plus to get pillows that were not quite what I was looking for. Sew here they are. Enjoy!!

The front patterned side of the "Big" Pillows.

The back plain side of the "Big" Pillows.

All of my finished pillows so far

New look on the cheap!

We have been living in our home for 3 years and while the furniture has changed in our living room the set up has been the same. It gets tiring after a while to see the same layout year in and year out, but we haven't had any great ideas on what to do. We have collected furnishings and trinkets to make it more of our home. So it was high time we switched it up a bit.

Since the pups love to climb on the chairs and look out the window to bark at the occasional bird or more frequent walkers, we did not want them jumping on our white couch! So we left the chairs where they were. We moved the couch to take advantage of our front yard view and to create a divider between the living room and dining room, as we have an open concept home. It was time to do something to divide the two rooms because the in between space just seemed wasted. We rotated the rug and now our vast living room seems more cozy and intimate.



This rearrangement also created room for my new work space area. As I have mentioned before I received a sewing machine from my in-laws for my birthday and I have been trying to find a space to store it where I can use it. Also so that I can get my creative juices flowing and make some nifty things. I love the new layout and have taken advantage of my new work space.


Please note that the horrific brass fireplace screen has been removed from the face of the fireplace and it seems much bigger now.


This was a great way to change the look of our room with out spending any money as we already had everything. It still needs a little work but I love it.

What do you think of the new digs and layout? Have you been wanting to change things up in your place but have no idea what to do? Just try moving things around and rearranging the space!

Let me know what you are working on.


"To keep your faces towards change, and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate, is strength undefeatable." -- Helen Keller

Gardening with Ciscoe...almost. And Mother's Day with my MOMALA!!!

One of my favorite things about Saturday mornings is that I get to watch Gardening with Ciscoe. He is such a strange person but gets me excited about getting outside and dirty! He has some great idea's and teaches me about various places to go check out in the greater Seattle area!

Thomas and I had the opportunity to go to Flower World in Maltby, near Snohomish this past weekend and we got some great flowers. It is so funny how as the seasons change our focus on where we are decorating or making improvements changes. In the winter we focus on the inside of our house and in the spring/summer we focus on the outside of our house. I guess it makes sense because when its dark and rainy outside we don't want to be there and things don't grow very well. So its cozier to stay inside. In the spring and summer its so rare to have those hot sunny days you have to take advantage of it. Anyways back to what I where I was going, we got to plant our little treasures this week. I am so excited for when they start growing and flourishing. We got a 'Money Plant' hopefully that will help us out during these hard economic times along with a lot more perennials. I have an eye for annuals but we need to start looking towards perennials so that the flower bed is more substantial and costs less each season.

While I was watching Gardening with Ciscoe, he and Meaghan were at the W. W. Seymour Conservatory at Wright Park in Tacoma. We decided to venture there on Mother's Day with my wonderful Momala. It looked like it was going to be a lot bigger on T.V. than it actually was but it was beautiful as was the park. My family and I had such a fun time honoring our mom and spending the day with her. We are so blessed to have her in our life and that we are able to have her as our MOM!! I love you so much!

Pictures of the garden are going to come soon. Here is a list of what we planted: Columbine, Zinnea's, Money Plant, Geraniums, Purple Alyssum, Hollyhock and then some Peonies I got at Costco.

In the veg patch we have Lettuce and Sugar Snap Peas. Hopefully they will start to sprout soon!

Project

I am starting a new project. Here is a little glimpse. See if you can guess what I am working on!!

Have a wonderful night!!

May you have many blessings and wherever your path may wind may every day that's coming be the bright and happy kind.

Ode to the Caribbean part 5

Did you know that President George Washington only went out of the country one time in his life? And the only place that Washington traveled to was: Barbados. The city of Bridgetown, Barbados was our third port of call.

Thomas and I had decided that we were only going to go on one excursion on our trip, that was going to be in Dominica, so again we decided to do our own thing. We were thinking about renting a scooter in Bridgetown but we waited in the line for about 15 minutes and no one was coming to the counter. We changed our minds and walked the 20 minutes into town/city. We walked into a fish market and got cat-called and were offered to take a picture while holding a little shark, I declined. No way are you going to get me to hold a dead fish with my bare hands. Onwards we walked and found the boardwalk along the canal. We found a really cool old church that had hundreds of birds (I think they were pigeons) living in it and there was poop everywhere. I had to dodge and run into the church because I was afraid that I was going to get pooped on. We looked inside a furniture store, but not that impressed. We stopped at little restaurant and had fries. (on our last foreign vacation to Mexico we ate off the resort and both got food poisoning so I was afraid to eat off the boat, so this was a big step for me). I drank water and Thomas had one of their local beers. On our journey back to the boat we decided to go a different way and came across info boards that told the story of George's visit to the Caribbean and many Plumeria trees.



We went back to the port shops because Thomas wanted to get some little shot bottles from the duty free and sneak them onto the boat. While we were picking out our alcohol I looked at my shoulder and noticed these little boil/blister like things all over my shoulders, arms and stomach. I started to get really mad because I was having an allergic reaction to something, either something I ate or the soap I was using from the boat. So we had to hurry and buy our alcohol and then get our artwork that we had picked out in another shop before we went on our little trek to town and get on the boat so I could take some allergy medicine and a shower. The blisters burned a little bit but mostly went away after I dried myself. Eventually I deduced that since it was so humid and hot, the top I was wearing did not breath very well, and I had a terrible sunburn that my sweat got trapped under the dead skin as my skin started to peel immediately after my shower.



It turns out that it was a good thing that we didn't rent a scooter. The drivers on the island were crazy. We were walking down the street and we were passed by a motorcycle going almost 60 in the city!! It was crazy and I guess that children getting hit by cars is a daily occurrence. Plus there were hardly any road signs. We had a map to help get us into town but could not find where we were since there were not any street signs. Very confusing.

If I were to travel back to Barbados, I would wear a better more breathable top and go see the estate that George Washington stayed at.

Ode to the Caribbean part 4

Our second stop in the Caribbean on this trip was to Basseterre, St. Kitts. The island of St. Kitts was founded in 1627 by the French, however the center of the island belonged to England. Basseterre quickly became the Capital of the French West Indies colony. The buildings are inspired by Georgian architecture. The scenery of the island is green and I have since learned that this is a beautiful island.

When we got off the boat we were greeted by locals with the cutest little monkey's wearing diapers and on a leash. They kept asking us if we wanted to take a picture...no way was I interested in getting some sort of disease on our trip so we declined. We were also harassed by a taxi driver who wanted to take us on a tour of the whole island he was just looking for two more passengers. We decided to do our own walking tour again, this time it was not a guided one. We walked around and took pictures of the churches and cemeteries and other architecture. Again when we got back to the boat we grabbed a brochure about the island and it showed a map of things to see in Basseterre, we got all of them on our short walk around town!! At the shops near the boat, they had mechanical Zombie's outside of the shop doors. We did not ask of their significance but I think it was to just get tourists into their stores. They were a little nerve wracking and I was sure that I was going to have a dream about them in some way or another (luckily that did not happen). Overall we were not too impressed with this island, I am assuming that this is an island that you SHOULD do an excursion on.

Ode to the Caribbean part 3

On our first stop on our Caribbean cruise we stopped at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. In the 18th century this island was the center of Pirate Culture with Blackbeard and Drake traded stolen wares. Overlooking the bay is Blackbeard's Castle and Rum Distillery. It is now known as the commercial trade capital of the Caribbean, with a plethora of duty free shops.

When we arrived to the island we briefly looked around at the port shops and then got a taxi to town. We could have walked the mile and a half into town, but I do not recommend this in such hot weather when you are a Seattle native. Charlotte Amalie was a beautifully historic looking town with old buildings and streets. I loved that there were wild chickens roaming around everywhere. But we were not too impressed with the shopping as every other store was a jewelry store. Now don't get me wrong, I can appreciate jewelry but after working in the business for 4 years, I am a little burnt out with all the jewelry stuff. I am sure that the prices were great and that it is a wonderful place if you are into that sort of thing. We stopped in a few cool looking stores but I was more interested in the "tent market" in the taxi parking lot where locals were selling their goods and cheap knock offs of designer bags.

Thomas and I visited the Amber Museum (and Waterfall see above), Blackbeard Castle, and period homes while we were there and it was a great little tour that we found on our own. We only paid $15 a person to go on this tour on our own (when we got back on board we found out that it was a "real" excursion and would have paid close to $60 a person to go through the boat). The period homes were great and they had people dressed up giving little stories about the homes and the furniture and such. Then we saw Blackbeard's lookout and even got to go inside. It was so cool to see the whole city and bay and all the boats that were ported. We got to taste various rums in the distillery for free so that was really fun.