A Few of my Favorite Things!

We interrupt the house tour to bring you the following messages: heee he

I have a few things that I am obsessed with lately and I just had to pass these good things on! This first item is something that I can wake up in the middle of the night, turn over and look at my clock and wish it was time to rise so that I can enjoy these!!!!!!!! Panera's Cinnamon Crunch Bagel with Honey Walnut reduced fat cream cheese spread. I am not kidding, they are like a dessert to me. I have given up eating so many of my favorite things this past year due to my stomach issues. This is sweet as candy for me!!! I litterally almost cried when I sent Dayton in the other evening to pick me up a few and he said that they were sold out!!! So warning, if you live in my area, please make sure you leave enough for me too!!!

I know this saying is everywhere right now but I went into my local Barnes and Noble and they are carrying a whole line of this and the pink cupcake version too. I purchased this little book for a special person in my life and I have been peaking through it until I deliver it to its new owner. I think I need to get one of my own! I love quotes and phrases and this book is filled with little ditties for many stages in ones life that might need a little pick me up. I LOVE it !!!
Here are a few of my favorites from the pages of the book. It was publised by Andrews McMeel Publishing and cost $8.99, a great little gift to keep on hand I think!!! Loving this one for obvious reasons!!
Isn't that the truth!

This reminds me of my sweet bloggy friends! Love both of these!!
Sounds so inspiring doesn't it!!!
I think this is my current state of mind!!!
My number one favorite!!!!!! I need to post this everywhere! I love this soap and rarely do I splurge on it for myself, it is so gentle on my sensitive skin! Lucky for me (and you) Marshall's has a small supply on hand for $6.99, a huge savings!!! I am stocking up when they get it in, I swear the people who live around here just don't like the things I do, this is such a great deal and yet there is always plenty there for weeks! Lucky me! My sister Melanie made these for me this week!!! She is so talented and has taught herself how to sew, she painted these with letters and numbers that had meaning to me!!! I put them on my hall tree and I love them so much!!!

I saved the best for last!!! My sweet little Myah can write!!! The other day she wrote my name without even asking me how to spell my name!! I will treasure this forever!!! Right now it has the distinct honor of gracing my fridge for all to see!!! Oh and I can't leave my Dayton out! Today he received his learners permit for driving! After completing his month long classes we went to the SOS today and got his permit!!! My life will never be the same, I swear that his driving is taking years off of my life!! Just kidding....well kinda!

More views of our Nest

After I posted yesterday I realized I have not shown too much of our home at all on here. It sure seems like I have so I plan on giving you the grand tour. While it is clean.. just kidding, I am a neat freak and like to have things in order. My family does not share my passion. I'm working on Myah at least!!! Here are a few more for your viewing pleasure.
This is in our downstairs bathroom: My sister Melanie got me this for my birthday a few years ago, she knows how I long to be at the beach all of the time.

This vanity just got a new coat of paint as well! It gave it new life! Oh, and check out my $8 stool! Myah says it is too wobbly for her!

Love this old grain scoop, I put extra flour sack hand towels in it for our guests or anyone who needs one! We get kind of messy around here! I have had my eye out for one of these after I saw it in a magazine used as a paper towel holder. I tried it but the paper towels were just a bit too thick to be convenient enough for me to use it all of the time.

I have an old beachy vintagey feel in this powder room. I love the picture of my family members from years and years ago at the beach in their old time swimming suits. I enlarged it and made it the inspiration piece for the room. I also found this cool group photo of Navy sailors for $7 the other day and because I have a special place in my heart for the military I had to snatch it up. These pictures are a good size they don't really look like it on here.

This was my Sweetest Day gift from (myself) ah hem, Mark. I have had my eye on it for a while, these vintage bathing suits are hard to find, and this was of course a good deal that I couldn't pass up. I hung it from a vintage hangar and then hung that from a cool hook that I found while thrifting. It really is a cute little potty if I don't say so myself! I love the color in this room, I have had it Rope by Eddie Bauer (Lowe's ) for quite a few years, I must love it to have kept it that long!

Onto the dining room that we never use..... I had left over twigs from the mantel project so I stuck some in this urn. I tucked in a tiny little nest and birdie, hoping to encourage spring along!!

Love this starfish from our honeymoon!! I really do treasure the little things in life.

Like the piece of birch bark in this jar, I gathered if from the special place that my Daddy wanted his ashes spread. I know he is at peace and whole again, this gives me comfort when I see it and it reminds me of that precious day that we carried out his wishes, HIS way! Ok, I need to go get a tissue....just a minute :(

Ok, leaving you on a good note....I spotted this super cool vintage tin mirror on final markdown at my fav thrift store, she was in my hands so fast!

I will be back with more....

I've Been Feathering the Nest

This is where we live. All the time. We eat here, sometimes sleep here, we play Wii here, and do Tai Chi here (ok, just kidding about that part but it rhymed with Wii). Last year after my Dad passed away we painted the oak kitchen cupboards if you remember. Since then, we have been painting everything white to give our home a more cottagey vintagey feel. Our house sits on property that used to be an old pig farm so I like to keep the feel in here warm and cozy yet natural and fresh. Doesn't that just feel like an old pig farm to you? I have been thrifting alot this winter and picking up little things here and there for a dime. I have finally let myself embrace all of the things I have always loved and have come to terms with the fact that it is just "my style", and I LOVE it!! Decorating is in my blood and I am constantly re-doing something till I like it. With that being said, I finally LIKE it!! It started with white paint, my little brush has been busy, I painted our old dining room set that I kept in the basement, I am so happy with it, I have always loved white furniture but never thought we could live with it but let me tell you, it has been the best thing that I have done to bring all of my old pieces together. They might not be shaped the same but they are the same color, brings harmony to my rooms. Besides the winter has been so cold that what else can you do when you are inside all of the time but create!!!

Here is a picture of my new sink, after my Grandma passed she left each of us grandchildren a gift of money, so mine went into badly needed new sink, disposal, and faucet, since my hubby is a handy person it cost us nothing in labor.

Not sure you can see it very well in this pic with all the white outside (snow) but I used a vintage table cloths and a pair of matching pillow cases and just clipped them onto my rods in the bay window. They look so cute!

This is where it all goes down, where I create delicious meals that make my family swoon, (yeah right!) We have had our stove for over 12 years now,it was a gift from my Grandparents when we were in our first house and it is still kicking, guess it pays to buy good quality! Oh and see my calendar, that was my first find of the new year, I went into Papyrus on New Years day and it was only $6!!! Most of the pictures are worthy of framing!

This is our little haven. It is not a very large room but it is cozy. I painted the little toy chest that Mark's uncle made for Myah and am using it as a coffee table. I love pieces that can do double duty! I also reworked the mantle a bit this week. I trecked out in a foot of snow to cut some branches off of a limb that fell in my neighbor's yard, people in my neighborhood think I am crazy.

I put them in my $7 silver ice bucket from last year and they look like a million bucks! I also scored some beautiful fan coral the other day in the most unlikely spot, a tacky craft mall, this one booth had the most beautiful shells and coral dirt cheap. I love the blacks with the whites, I love the natural feel.

Ain't she purty?

Another little ditty that I have been collecting lately are old scoops. For about a dollar I have found some cool old ones. I cleaned them up real good and am using them in my jars of sugar and flour. I truly would rather have old things with character than a bunch of new things anyday.

I finally put out my old suitcases,we love to travel (especially to the beach ) and these just help reflect our passion I think. Myah told me the other day that these were hers in China, I had to laugh.

I put tiny pieces of coral underneath a little cloche.

I love family heirlooms and these books are just that. These old German Bibles were from Mark's family, I love them dearly!!! They deserve my best piece of coral to hold them up! I love this lady that I bought from my sister's tag sale, she looks so proper sitting atop all of the German Bibles.

I really have to chuckle when I look at this picture, everything cost me next to nothing, yet makes me so happy. I am pretty easy to please.

I found these at Marshall's yesterday, I love them!!! I have spied them for a few years at my favorite boutiques but they were pricey! I got 20 of them for $9, that is a good deal!!

Old photos are my obsession, always have been so when I spotted the cutest booth at an art fair last year with these tiny little pillows I just had to have them. I tucked them into a bowl and they make me smile. How hard can those be to make???

I painted this pink table white as well, I love that it has two hinged sides so I can use it in many ways if I need to. I put some of my favorite frames from Dryads Dancing on there.

Thought you might like to take a closer look. Golly it really makes me giddy for garage sale season!!!!!!

Found this cool old tool trug at a thrift store for $4, it was a cool shade of gray but it could not escape my white paint brush.

I know you are probably sick of seeing this shelf but I love walking past it every day so it deserves another shout out!

This table also got painted white, it was given to me before we were even married, don't ask me how it has lasted so long, you know how I get rid of stuff! I needed a sunny spot in my kitchen for my plants so for now it works.

These French wine jugs are the rage right now, I have found these at my local antique mall for a few dollars. Lucky me!!

This little basket holds my Grandmas collection of old wooden cooking utensils.

Ummm, I love this look!!! Whites with naturals.

Another obsession, old things. These sit on top of my fridge, along with my Great Grandmothers old butter mold. When I got money for my birthday years ago I should have bought new shoes, or makeup or clothes instead I paid $30 for the large Flour jar. I know, I am sick that way.

I had to take a picture before they disappear, two members of my family love blueberries and they don't last longer than a day around here.

The same day I bought the Flour jar I bought this scale too. Yes, with my birthday money. It had a green top and the other day I decided to paint it white too, along with my paper towel holder. Somebody come and take my paintbrush away from me please!!!!

We are leaving in a month from today for the BEACH!!!!!!!! I cannot tell you how happy that makes me, we have not had a chance in 3 years to travel and after the few years that we have had we are ready!!!! So I am loving having all of my seashells around me, getting us in the spirit!! I cannot wait to bring home some new ones from our trip!!!

I could look at them all day!!!!

This urn was from Violets Blue a few years ago, I usually have it outside but decided to bring it inside and warm it up (it was burried in snow). I am using lots of burlap lately too. Cheap and full of character, right up my alley!!!

I took lots of pics today so I will share more later!!!

Don't Go Shopping Without Your Guardian Angel

Cabin fever has set in up here in the ol north! We have had over a foot and a half of snow at my house since Monday. Now I am a Michigander, I am used to having alot of snow but this year was unusual in that we had no snow till almost mid December. And not much of it at that. But lately, geesh, we have been hammered, so much so that this little lady did not leave the house unless I absolutley had to, (ie, picking up my son from drivers ed, taking my daughter to and from preschool). The roads have been awful, it snows from sun up to sun down, I am not kidding! So I have rearranged my house AGAIN, painted just about every piece of furniture I own white, scrubbed the baseboards, doors, and trim, watched more episodes of the Bachelor, American Idol, House Hunters and Barefoot Contessa than I care to admit and I am really suffering from a serious case of "needing to get out of here!!!" I am a homebody by nature but I have seen enough of my home to last me a year at this point. So on Thursday they called for a break in the snow and it actually did not snow like they said is was going to until late that night so my hubby kicked me out WITHOUT Myah and said go have fun. I hit every one of my favorite little shops within a 15 mile radius. I was on a mission! I love downtown Plymouth and headed there first, I am always inspired when I go into Haven, their vintage pieces are soooo cool, so I hung out in there for a while and purchased an old locker bin. It was so funny because it was like all of us ladies were coming out of hibernation, we were so glad to have a sunny day without the snow blowing us in the face, it was busier in there than I have ever seen it on a weekday. I wandered around the downtown area for a while, enjoying every minute of this day. I left that area and headed into Northville to a few of my favorite consignment shops. Would you believe that I found a few items in there that were originally from Haven! My lucky day! I then proceeded to run into Costco, Panera for my new obsession that I will post about later, Target and Trader Joe's all within about 1/2 an hour. I had Dayton's bat bag in my car so unfortunately I had to cut my day short so he could have it for practice. As I was leaving I just happened to see a few helicopters flying overhead, one was a huge military type. I turned on the am radio news and it told me that there was a serious police situation in Downtown Plymouth and they had the area shut down. They mentioned all of the streets that I had just walked down as being closed. Apparently a man was walking around downtown with a gun, shooting into the ground, he shot at least 4 times and even walked into a Tea store. I was right there just an hour before hand. Literally feet from where this man was taken into custody. He apparently was mental and considered suicidal. Let's just say, I felt very uneasy when I heard this news. He was arrested in a parking ramp behind Haven. I was having a hard time finding a place to park out front and almost parked in that ramp. But something told me that it was too darn cold to walk so try to circle around and wait for a spot out front. So I did. Thankfully. God was watching over me. I told my mom about it that night and she gasped and said "Leslie, you have guardian angels watching over you", I sure do.

You see, this stuff happens to Mark and I on a regular basis. I don't know why but we are a magnet to these type of situations. Thankfully Mark is a police Lt. so I feel protected when he is with me. We always joke that we leave a path of destruction behind us. Seriously, we have driven down expressways only to find out that a semi jack knifed behind us, ( ok, more than once), we even drove through Tennesse once on our way to Florida and 2 hours later the expressway washed down the mountain leaving our friends looking for alternative routes. I sadly could go on and on! Even this past week I found our old video of Sea World and sure enough, we have video of the trainer and THE whale that were involved in that tragic accident in Orlando, Dayton was obsessed with killer whales and we paid to have Dinner with Shamu, Tillilcum was the featured whale and his trainer Dawn was working with him, I have video of him coming right up near our table. Even when we were in China adopting Myah, a day after we left out of Tokyo Japan the Koreans launched a missle over Japan. Come on already!!!!!!!! So please don't let this discourage you from being my friend, I am a very nice person and fun to be around, and I would never put you in harms way just so I can buy a piece of someone's old junk if you hung around me. I pinky swear!!!

Before you think I have some special "voodoo" powers, I want to point out that I actually do nice things for nice people, like sweet little Shannon who is having her first little tiny baby boy, she has been such a special bloggy friend so I sent her a package the other day with some things that I thought looked like her. She was kind enough to post about it today on her blog over here. (You know I am kidding, I do nice things just cause, not so someone will write something nice about me!!! Hee hee! )

P.S. I would love to "meet you" so please leave a comment so I can stalk, umm I mean visit you, just KIDDING!!! No really, I love comments and I am lonely up here in the northwoods all alone with no friends and... ok, that is a lie too, I am just desperate to interact with people can you tell!!!!!!